#hes literally a candle guys jesus christ
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Father Arthur Alvarado?
More like...
Daddy Arthur Alvarado~
KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS.
#hes literally a candle guys jesus christ#just kidding though I get it. I get it.#oc stuff#father alvarado (oc)
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Vengeance Is Mine- Day 3 of watching Con's Filmography
I'm live posting my reaction cause I don't think this one will be as thought-provoking to need an essay as Telstar.
Love to hear your thoughts down below!
If you have any Con recommendations, I'd love to hear them. I've watched Telstar, Uncle, OFMD, Chornobyl, and Blood Brothers. Planning to watch Cucumber, though I've heard mixed things.
Content Warning for car crashes, suicidal imagery, suicidal ideation, gun violence, murder, explicitly shown drug use, wounds, and overdosing.
the effects are what they are. Keep expectations low; we're here for Sad Con, not anything else, really.
LOVE the DIY suicide chair. It's definitely not how I, or anyone, would do it. Was the plan to bleed out? He'd stumble over the legs, then fall onto the ground. There's a good chance the tape wouldn't hold.
I know he hates himself, but that church has to be freezing cold. My guy, throw on a hoodie and some sweats.
If only you could go to therapy or a support group. Like the one, you watched creepily. Probably couldn't afford it.
You know, that getting-hit-by-a-car effect wasn't as bad as I expected.
I like that since he doesn't talk to people when he talks, it's all cracked and unused.
WHY WOULD YOU GET IN THE CAR OF CRIMINALS. I know this guy you're following was an accomplice to a hit-and-run, and you have no self-preservation. BUT HOLY SHIT, MAN.
Con is too good at playing depressed dissociation.
Imagine being a criminal, and you aren't hunted down by cops but by a guy whose family you accidentally murdered 5 years ago.
Most sturdy switchblade to ever be invented.
GUN TIME, BABY. Does he know how to use, shoot, or take care of it? Who knows? The idea that British people know how to use a gun based on American media and general pop culture is odd.
You probably aren't meant to eat the decoy sandwich. That's to hide suspicion. Not for eating.
GET IT CON! I can't do a single pushup, so this is enough of a training montage for me(I don't think we learn his name, so Con it is. If we were supposed to learn it with the letters in the beginning, I've already forgotten it)
Love the candle imagery/ holding your hand close to a candle for no reason. This makes 2 characters of his that do this shit. why is he doing this? Does the fire make him stronger?
I know this is the first kill, but babe, anyone could grab that gun out of your hand. Wandering around with it out isn't smart either. LOVE THE SHAKING.
OW. That looked like it fucking hurt. Also, the camera angle makes it look like he gets stabbed anywhere from the arm, chest, neck and eye. Which is great. I think he gets it in the shoulder.
"That's my pen." Priorities
I love that Con looks as messed up about murdering a guy as the guy getting murdered
"Just like we killed those bitches" Well, that sealed the deal
I don't know why he's standing up to clean his wounds like that. He could sit, or lie down. STOP EATING THE FUCKING SANDWICHES.
Love interest? Okay, I'll roll with it. Maybe the best time to hit on her isn't when she's talking about her dead husband.
Love the hoodie, chest half out look con.
She immediately went for the tits in the make-out session, a wise option.
Good to know Con-the actor does the whole mouth staring thing to indicate interest. Putting that in my back pocket.
"Still Married?" "Separated." BITCH she literally told you her husband was dead. BOND. make a single friend. I know it's probably just in case so his crimes can't be returned to him, but Jesus Christ.
"Do you know what they (the French) call an orgasm?" WTF. Why are you like this? I will have that line in my brain now. It's definitely going into a fic.
Murder Con vibing to pop music on his way to a kill is just funny.
Say what you will; I'm impressed they got so many locations to film this.
You are in a grassy field, in a dark black winter coat and baseball cap. You should have been spotted ages ago.
CHARGE!
Well, he's got maybe half of them so far. Screwed the pooch a bit on that one. Please deal with your knife wounds. New gun acquired.
If only shotguns worked like that.
GO TO A FUCKING HOSPITAL AND SAY YOU WERE MUGGED
Okay. So in the pharmacy, I think he wanted the controlled substances to kill himself? Maybe? I don't know why else he'd want them.
OH, GOOD. A pharmacist shouldn't do that. Unless Pharmacists in the UK are so much different. Also, he's going to get addicted to morphine, isn't he?
"I'm getting old." MAM, you are WRONG. Not a single gray hair or wrinkle, or crows foot, what are you on.
Also, Sans Undertale Con look.
HARRY. Love the name. Love that they were polite enough for her to leave the room to threaten him.
OW
FROM THE 2nd STORY ONTO A TABLE. RUN. RUN MY MAN.
"He fucking bit me" ICON
I don't know what he's doing, but he's doing it, and he's about to get himself killed. (He's just running through a field wounded for some fucking reason)
Oh no, half-naked wounded Con, whatever will I do.
I like that British people always seem to offer cookies. It's very lovely. In a Paddington sort of way.
WHY DOES HE OWN HORSES. Oh, he left this life to go become a church person for the past 5 years. Funny that he passed out, got rescued, and then insists to be housed and left alone.
WHAT IS THIS WHIMSICAL MUSIC. It's legit from a Breath Of The Wild soundtrack to visit his family's graves.
GET SUITED UP FOR MURDER BITCH.
That definitely isn't how you hold a shotgun, but it looks fucking badass, and he has a shit arm, so I'm cool with it.
Well, the deeds have been done, is he going to kill himself or move on....
HE'S SMILING YEY!
Nvm. Morphine overdose on their graves. Damn. Thought he'd move on once they were all dead. Damn.
Wait
Love interest on the beach?
He joins her?
Is he imagining this before he dies? Is that her dead husband?
Music: 8/10. Not a big action piece that covers the acting. Besides the music at the end everything fit really well. I think they should have swapped the end song at the graves with the first grave song.
Film overall besides Con: 6-7/10. Very self-contained story. Shame he wasn't able to make a new life, but at least he found peace in the end. Con is the only real standout just because it's so short and mainly focused on Harry.
Effects: 6-7/10 This had a budget, but the only stuff that really took me out was the gun stuff and the opening gun fight.
Con:8 maybe even a 9/10. Even with a script where he doesn't talk, he radiates the vibe. He's sad, and not afraid to have those 'ugly/embarrassing faces' I love so much about his work. He knows he's breathing with his mouth open, grunting, and looking half dead and rocks it. He can do so much with just his face. It's impressive. It lets the audience not see him as an actor but as a character in a shitty situation. Loved the scenes between him and the love interest. Loved that he kept up how injured he was throughout the film. When he's stabbed in the arm early on Con makes sure to keep it braced, it's a good touch.
At first I gave him a 8 until I remembered I've watched blood brothers then Telstar then this. Then I remembered the OFMD pannel video I remembered that he is genuinely a fun and happy person, which bumped the rating up higher. He just seems so fucking sad in all his roles.
Movie Overall: 7/10. Would watch again, and wished he got to live a happier life after.
I'd love to see everyone's interpretation of that ending.
#Vengeance Is Mine (2021)#con o'neill#Watching all of Con's stuff cause I'm bored#and genuinely want to see all his work#con oneill#Vengeance Is Mine#Con's Conography#Harry Kane
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Live reaction: Goosebumps (2023)
Spoilers below the cut
ok emo i hope he dies WAIT IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE RL STINE?? ding dong bitch DONT WALK OUTSIDE JESUS HAVE U NOT SEEN A FUCKING HORROR MOVIE??? mans gon die the doorbell ghost really be trolling LMAO THE CHANDELIER candles. ofc he has candles. sth gon burn HIS NAME IS HAROLD? LMAOOOOO i knew there was gonna be a fire. mans burned i love being right ooooooh pretty introoooo me likey NOT UNHOLY BY SAM SMITH PLEASE I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SHOW FOR LIKE 12+ NAUR Ayo AYO IS THAT HER???? OMG I LOVE THAT HER NOT THE BIKING ACCIDENT LMAOOOOO i love lucas already PLEASE NOT MORE UNHOLY I AM GIGGLING oooh its the same school as the guy who died harold isaiah is the jock lucas is the nerd/idiot margot is the girl thats not like the others NOT HER READING AT THE EVENT PLS HARRY STYLES WONT PICK U BESTIE PLS THE POOR GUY LEAVE HIM ALONE D: isabella seems like the girl who is actually chill and just wants to do her thing AYO SAM BE CUTE im in love with james i need james in my life james is me oh so jocks gf is an insta popular girl "im literally super nice" "so why am i being trolled?" maybe bc u called it being trolled jock who doesn't get good grades? i hope they get less...two dimensional like give the jock an actual problem maybe he has adhd or a learning disability so he focused on physical activity now who tf is glasses nathan bratt BEN HOLY SHIT U ARE FATHER PARENT ok so nathan is the lil nerdy weird adult the parents were grieving their kid wtf dude??? nathan has killer vibes hes gon die or at least get hurt HE GOT HURT LMAOOOOO yeah nah he deserved that ben tho? king. love him NOT THE BLOOD KEY LMAOOOOOO OH IS BEN JOCKS DAD? oh baby :( now he is too scared to tell them he won't be playing in the game bc there is no way he will be able to get that A THEYRE TALKING IN THAT IDIGAH LANGUAGE margot is not for me but she seems like a good friend to him ayo you know but hamilton seems like helpful dont help him cheat just help him study yeah nah thats so dumb yall deseve to fail trust me i can say it bc i used to cheat in this one class HOW OBVIOUS CAN U BE JESUS CHRIST okay so margot likes isaiah but he is dating allison so far im not as invested as i could be tbh not the murder hourse being the new place jesus this is so stupid all of you deserve to die all of you so fucking dumb like i get the rush of it. i've been in an abandoned psych clinic before a few years before it burnt down but this? idk besties, you should know this is dumb thor he is obviously thor he has a blonde wig and a hammer actual stupid people dont go to the basement please YES IT IS HAUNTED YES IT MAKES FOR A GOOD PARTY UNTIL EVERYONE DIES BESTIES so far i hate the main characters dont go down there dont go to the basement dont walk TO THE DOOR THAT MAGICALLY OPENED TO THE BASEMENT WHERE A DUDE DIED "i bet the fuse box is down there" - okay video game main character oh okay so allison knows she likes him and is insanely jealous girl why are you such a bitch to her?? she just didn't know to be late to parties wtf fuck them yes walk down the creepy stairs i hope u get hurt for being such an asshole cause wtf stop exploring and just find the fuse box ur not a video game there r no secrets to find good attempt at the jumpscare. unfortunately not random enough oh no the ghost door to the ghost basement closed how unexpected i'm so surprised wow this was so surprising omg hes fine he will walk up and scare you guys SEE i knew it SHAKE IT LIKE A POLAROID PICTURE
okay we finished the first half of the ep 2nd half reaction coming soon
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Live-blogging my first time watching SAW
- oh shit, starts off full on
- my phone’s on 28%, when it dies I have to stop watching because I’m not doing this on full attention
- NO HEAD! NO HEAD! (Early 2000’s gore is surprisingly bearable)
- why is Laurence Gordon kinda…
- I’ve made it through 6 minutes!! Only 1hr37 left to go and then I can say I’ve survived watching SAW
- what if he just…didn’t play the tape lol
- Adam! (The vine reference…it’s…funny to me)
- oh Lawrence KNOWS they’re gonna kill each other
- puppy dog eyes my beloved
- bathroom’s a lot bigger than I always thought it would be, honestly shit’s SPACIOUS
- if they could just waste as much time as possible trying to get this cassette player that would be great thank you
- honestly what did Adam do
- you could just slide the tape but go off I guess
- it would suck to be Adam, like imagine not being the main character, just being brought in for some guy…objectification
- follow your heart —> kiss Adam
- aww the heart on the toilet it kind of bbg, at least he gave them deco
- Adam why would you pass him the hacksaw. He is trying to kill you.
- great job Adam, now only one of you has a weapon and it’s the one actively trying to murder you.
- workers of the world unite, the only thing you have to lose is your…feet
- I mean, I think he died because he got sawed in half, just a crazy guess
- HE TORTURED A GUY BECAUSE HE TRIED TO KILL HIMSELF??
- maybe I’m just dumb but like how does the razor wire kill him? What even is razor wire
- that is not a jigsaw piece, that is a misshapen lump. Let’s not reach at times like these
- if I were him I would just have like…not picked up that candle
- cancelling Jigsaw for not normalising mental illness, I’m getting problematic vibes from this guy
- getting homoerotic vibes from him painting a naked man’s body with flammable liquid, like…did he NEED to be naked? Or was that just a want.
- hate to say it but Gordon kinda looks better all grimed up
- oh that’s that one guy! He’s in like every crime show. This man has Stable Employment.
- short break to flex my unshackled legs, charge my charger and turn on the light
- honestly this is still fine, more interesting than horrible
- someone survived? People can do that?
- how come she got the horrifying bear trap and all they got was ankle cuffs? Kinda sexist ngl
- make your choice?? I feel like it’s a pretty easy choice
- oh shit that’s a grenade
- so wait how did she survive? Surely that’s impossible
- girl now is not the time to faff around
- OH WAIT HE’S ALIVE!!
- she could’ve just killed him, honestly that’s on her
- I’m pretty sure she’s evil but girlboss, honestly
- here comes this fucking guy, Jesus Christ
- girl he did not help you let’s be real here
- lightheaded from nerves but I’m half an hour in
- my smart little detective bb Adam
- this is the most fun I’ve had without lubricant lmaooooo Adam tell em
- if he kills the daughter I’m gonna riot. I better not see that fuckass puppet right now
- he’s kinda a good dad, like that was cute I can’t lie
- is someone gonna ask the daughter what the man said to her?? I feel like you would definitely at least ASK
- I’m a good chunk through this movie and it’s only mildly unsettling, I’m beginning to think I’m just a pussy
- sneaky, ranks are breaking in the spacious bathroom
- I am simply not afraid of a man wearing a blanket
- if he kills them I will stop being able to tolerate this “jigsaw is morally grey” narrative, they did literally nothing wrong
- actually the child’s kinda annoying, why can she only make one noise
- did he only have 3 prior victims or did they only have the budget to show flashbacks of those guys
- I’d love to be an over-dedicated detective, staying back from drinks to eat shitty Chinese takeaway at my desk and stay up all night in a rumpled shirt, running my hands through my hair over ‘evidence’
- oop he knew they were comingggggggg
- in half an hour I gotta go cook my spaghetti
- if the puppet move’s I’m freaking out
- call me crazy but just shoot jigsaw the minute you see he’s gonna screwdriver lobotomise that guy? Clearly this mans is bad
- arresting him is objectively more important
- at least pull the hood back, I swear to god
- again, I cannot be afraid of this caped crusader, Dungeons-and-Dragons-ass villain
- short break for my mental health (mommy came home) then back to it and feeling strong
- rahhhh death metal as the killer escapes, I simply have to vibe
- oh he survived, that’s rad
- it’s zander!!
- the girls are fightinggggggggggggg
- glow in the dark paint are you fucking kidding me this film is so unserious
- so do Adam and Lawrence fuck or what
- I don’t know how to explain this but Lawrence’s face is so Lana del Rey genderswapped
- ewwwwwwww he’s so ugly in a suit😖😭😖😖😭
- oh lawd he crawlin
- what in the fuck is. That
- Adam choking is genuinely the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, genuinely why does he do that
- the acting is killing me, why is this a comedy movie
- Adam’s literallt just an urban photographer
- let me guess, jigsaw’s right there and it’s gonna show him in the flash (wow, crazy)
- come out I’ll kill you! - he says, with no weapon and zero upper body strength (I love my pathetic babygirl)
- how did time go that FAST, goddamn
- oh Jesus, kidnapped child moment
- ohhhhhhhh, shit boutta go DOWN
- I really thought these SAW traps were a time-crunch, in-and-out thing, it feels like these guys have so much downtime
- vigilante Adam arc
- is the picture of Lawrence drinking a smoothie really necessary??
- Lawrence killed a hooker confirmed
- it’s giving Nicki Minaj phone call
- why does Jigsaw, a stalker, hate Adam, also a stalker
- Adam’s just a girlboss trying to survive in this modern economy
- they have made no progress out of this goddamn bathroom, these guys are utterly useless
- how come everyone else gets these crazy punishments for running out of time and theirs is like…he just fucking comes in there and shoots you
- the I Need You was unnecessary and gay
- why am I suddenly feeling the urge to also watch the sequel
- could he stop yelling
- Adam is yelling because he is an empath
- nooooooooooooooooo Adammmmmmmmmm
- bitch the time was up!! He wasn’t going to let you see your wife and kid!!
- I appreciate the bit of fabric covering up his gross leg
- see, just like I said.
- get his ass, baby
- are they about to kiss
- why does he fucking sound like that
- why do I feel like he absolutely WOULD lie to him, that sneaky bitch. Tricksy
- That’s a bigass bullet wound
- so that’s not even jigsaw
- who the fuck is that wait what who the fuck is that
- I thought that was what happened to the key!!
- no way he lay there that still the entire time that’s crazy
- game over lmao that’s so funny he can’t be serious
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okay, okay... im not disrespecting your religion as a neopagan, i love you guys, but... i do believe there are a LOT of very prevalent misconceptions about historical witchcraft and paganism in the neopagan community and... well, this is kinda exactly what i was thinking about when i made this poast...
let me take that point about christianised pagan holidays, for example. do you think that the newly-converted roman christians didnt notice their ancestral pagan festivals were being changed to align with their new faith? of course they did! it was on purpose! the roman catholic church, the greek church, the coptic church, etc. have always been keenly aware (and fairly proud) of their pagan past. they celebrated christmas INSTEAD of saturnalia. it was a statement. this is why its so hilarious when fundie christians say christmas trees are satanic; to a first century christian, the whole point of christs sacrifice was supposed to be that he redeemed both jews AND pagans! thats why christians are allowed to make images of saints and eat pork, etc. the rise of christendom did violently destroy a lot of indigenous culture and religion, that cant be denied, but the celts arent a good example because, by all accounts, the celts embraced christianity quite readily readily, with comparatively little violence (perhaps why their culture retained more pre-christian elements than others?)
now to the second point: let me make this clear, because i am so tired of this; NO ONE was ever charged with being wise, or for providing herbal remedies or assisting in childbirth. herbal remedies (and verbal remedies) were literally the only medical recourse people had back then. women were assisted in childbirth by elder women in their communities, thats just how things worked. it seems weird and pagan to us now, but thats just how people lived. what people nowadays call witchcraft (blowing out birthday candles, celebrating the seasons, using herbs) is NOT what witchcraft historically meant. no magistrate could charge you for these things, unless he really hated you and could somehow twist it into a much more serious charge. people were charged with witchcraft for propitiating evil spirits, causing strife, poisoning people, murdering children, causing supernatural destruction to animals and property, etc. the 'if she floats shes a witch if she drowns shes innocent' myth has to die, its ahistorical, and its disrespectful to the people who actually lived through these times.
NOW, you do have a point about the demonisation (and occasional beatification) of prechristian deities. but wasnt cernunnos once a symbol of wild masculine animal power? then when the celts were christianised the horned figure became a symbol of ridicule and cuckoldry, and the devil was portrayed with horns to show his frightening and low bestial nature. its not hard to understand how it happened, culturally. but i AM a strong believer in the witch-cult hypothesis, because ofcourse during the process of christianisation there were those who kept the old ways and refused to conform. yes, there were even those who saw the devil as a symbol of rebellion against the corrupt establishment, and (i believe) we have proof of this in the secret survival of 'old school' coven wicca, and in the tradition of italian stregheria, and the romanian schools also. and this is evidenced by the collected writings on these topics, where both primitive local and roman gods are invoked, along with jesus christ and beelzebub, and the tetragrammaton.
anyway, these things have little to do with modern so-called witchcraft. because as we both know baneful magic breeds nasty things, and that we must never do it. never ever. because there are consequences for all things. and every thought and deed is kept in heaven, in written records undying,. it is no sin to cast a good spell, or to work white magic. my point, basically, is that its not all make believe (teehee) and if you call yourelf a witch you should know this. and know why there were once laws against these things.
irregardless, the
theres this prevailing idea in all discussion of historical witchcraft that... it just didnt happen. it was all hysteria and nothing but the deranged fantasies of misogynist men levelled at innocent women.
like. okay. i get it. most people dont believe in witchcraft in this day and age. its easy to read historical grimoires and think 'this is all just fantasy. this is like creative writing. anointed with milk in which nine bats have been drowned? a lions pelt smeared inside with the fat of a murdered baby? wearing a dead mans shroud stolen from his very grave? theres no way people actually did those things...
but they did. we know they did. even if you dont believe it 'worked', the fact remains that people did, infact, do these things, and did believe that it worked. we have not only the books and grimoires themselves (and the cultural oral tradition of it all, references in literature and idiom etc) but actual, physical archaeological evidence of people performing these kinds of rites. like, toads sealed up in jars etc. and most importantly - PEOPLE STILL DO THIS SHIT. occultism still exists. yes, you might think they are just nutters who like playing dressup, but ritual murder/animal sacrifice/all sorts of other bizarre shit DOES still go on, and it is in direct cultural lineage with this.
it isnt a perfect metaphor, but what i always say is this: if you want to truly understand the cultural environment which brought about the witchtrials in england - look to modern day nigeria. that is: a deeply religious country, historically colonised, where pre-christian animist traditions are still a strong part of society but sit uneasily with the religious establishment. where many people do still believe in witchcraft, generally despise it, but often resort to it for matters of love/business/to curse ones enemies/etc in secret. ive heard it described as two rival vendors at a market, each vying to win over the people. one side is a fairly new foreign import which is more respectable and has the backing of the establishment, promising a better life in the beyond in return for living righteously; and the other side has been there for years, everyone knows her products are bad but theyve all relied on her in the past, and she doesnt care how righteously you live, and doesnt promise a better life far far away but offers immediate improvement in the very primal aspects of life. and there are still laws against witchcraft in nigeria, but the higher government would rather just ignore it, leaving such matters to the local level and; the law failing, often these shoddy venders end up at the hands of mob justice. and its not hard to imagine (back to medieval britain) how this kind of situation, considering all the rest of the turmoil in the period (both the government and the people deeply anxious about their lives and livelihoods), eventually bubbled up into complete hysteria.
basically my point is this: what you have to understand is that during this period, there were bitches runnin round (claiming) to toil merrily in the service of satan, and (claimed) to have the power to destroy crops and do other wicked things. and people were fucking terrified of this.
#again seriously no disrespect i love to debate about these things#and i am intoxicated as i am was is write the second half of this now so beg pardon (burp)#this is just how i write this is my literary style you should understand; as a fellow wordwitch#takes a long drag from my cigar
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72 Hours In Montreal [Part I]
A/N: Many moons ago, the incomparably lovely @im-an-adult-ish pitched a Montreal concert fic idea (jokingly, I think), and quite a few of my followers fell in love with it. They were even kind enough to vote on which Queen member should be the love interest, and there was a clear winner: John!
I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and at last, here is the first of three chapters of this new mini-fic. I’m going to tag some of my past readers, but I WILL NOT TAG YOU AGAIN unless you ask me to. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy. 💜
Series Summary: John Deacon is a rock star at a crossroads. Y/N is a world-weary employee at a Yankee Candle shop. They’ll only ever have three short days in Montreal together...or will they??
Chapter Warnings: Language, sexual content (not graphic).
Word Count: 6.8k.
Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE
Taglist: @queen-turtle-boiii @bramblesforbreakfast @culturefiendtrashqueen @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark @escabell @im-an-adult-ish @queenlover05 @someforeigntragedy @imtheinvisiblequeen @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhyee @deacyblues @tensecondvacation @brianssixpence @some-major-ishues @haileymorelikestupid @youngpastafanmug @simonedk @rhapsodyrecs @joemazzmatazz @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhyee @namelesslosers @inthegardensofourminds @sleepretreat @hardyshoe @sevenseasofcats @jennyggggrrr @madeinheavxn @whatgoeson-itslate @herewegoagainniall @anotheronewritesthedust1 @pomjompish @allauraleigh @bluutac @johndeaconshands
The obnoxious British men are still laughing. The one with the mustache, suspenders, and illogically tight red leather pants is standing on the tiptoes of his equally red Adidas shoes to paw candles off the top shelf so he can sniff them. The blond one has no less than eight jars balanced precariously in his wiry arms. Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing is billowing through the shop speakers.
“Oh my god, he’s gonna break something,” you moan in a whisper, covering your eyes but peeking through your fingers. Your apron is suddenly too tight around your waist; your cheeks are roaring with blood as you envision the inevitable confrontation: Sir, unfortunately you ruined some of our giant tacky overpriced candles and so now you have to pay for them. So sorry. Paper or plastic? We take Mastercard.
“Who?” Kevin asks. He’s holding a broom in one pudgy, pinkish hand and a dustpan in the other. He has surrendered.
“That one. Suspenders and moustache guy. Red shoes guy. Dorothy without Toto.”
Kevin cracks a smile. “That is frighteningly accurate. He is rather whimsical, isn’t he? Maybe he’ll click his heels and disappear back to London or wherever.”
“We aren’t in Kansas anymore,” you mutter in commiseration. Actually, to be perfectly literal, you’ve never been to Kansas in your life.
“Wait, I think I might have met that guy before somewhere.” Kevin squints with great concentration. “He looks oddly familiar…”
“Hm.” You check your eyeliner wings in your reflection in the cash register screen. From what you can tell, they’re every bit as tragically asymmetrical as you remembered. Spectacular.
“Staring won’t make it better,” Kevin notes, very unhelpfully.
“I know,” you reply, miserable, toying with your bangs so you can hide behind them.
“How does that even happen? The right one is practically a 90-degree angle. The left one looks like you drew it on with a Sharpie.”
You groan. “I’ll try to scrub them off during my break.”
“If you’re not too busy helping me sweep glass off the floor, sure,” Kevin says. “I told you, I took an electrical engineering class as an elective once. I could totally take a look at your bathroom.”
“I thought you said you failed that class.”
“No, I said I got a D in that class. Ds aren’t failing.”
“Well now you’ve convinced me.” You scrutinize your reflection again, frowning. You rent a rather dilapidated one-bedroom apartment above a bakery just a few blocks from the Yankee Candle shop. The apartment always smells like powdered sugar and baking bread, which you like. What you don’t like is everything else about it: the peeling paint, the low water pressure, the windows that you can’t wrestle open, the occasional mice, the shoddy electrical wiring. On any given day, there’s an approximately 27% chance that the bathroom light won’t turn on when you flip the switch. This morning you had been on the losing side of those odds, and with the only mirror in the apartment being the one mounted over the sink—and the overcast November skies outside offering painfully little natural light—you had haphazardly guesstimated your way through your makeup routine before dashing off to work. Your guesstimation skills, apparently, are not all that great.
“If he’s The Wizard of Oz...” Kevin points his broom handle from the snickering moustached man to the gangly, poodle-haired one who has been trying to decide between two candles—Christmas Cookie and Cinnamon Stick—for twelve uninterrupted minutes. He’s wearing a parka spotted with patches: a NASA emblem, a soaring rocket, a smiling green extraterrestrial face, Saturn and its rings. “That guy’s gotta be Star Wars.”
“Or Alien,” you suggest, clutching your chest and pretending to die melodramatically.
Kevin laughs. “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“Close Encounters of The Third Kind.”
“What about that one?” Kevin nods to the guy who has large blue eyes and bleach-blond, fried tufts of hair sticking out in every direction and a grin that is simultaneously childish and foxlike. Under Pressure comes on the shop speakers, and the British men all start cheering and high-fiving each other, leaving their candles momentarily tucked under their arms or quivering precariously on the edges of wooden display tables. You are entirely mystified. “God, he’s gorgeous.”
“Bye Bye Birdie,” you decide. “Beautiful. Charming. Beloved by all. Perhaps a little dangerous. I can picture teenage girls sobbing themselves to sleep as he gallantly marches off to war.”
“You think he’s gay?” Kevin asks hopefully.
“I don’t think he’s dressed well enough for that.” The blond man is wearing a shapeless, polka-dotted sweater that has ‘NIVEA’ spelled across the front, for reasons that are difficult to fathom.
Kevin sighs, crestfallen. He suffered a nasty breakup with his boyfriend Patrick two weeks ago, and is enthusiastically on the hunt for a rebound to distract him. “You’re probably right. Okay, last but not least.” Kevin aims his broom handle at the fourth and final British stranger. “What shall we call him?”
You consider the man who has wandered away from the others. He’s wearing Levi’s, a black bomber jacket, aviator sunglasses, a mop of unwrangled auburn hair, thoughtful lines that break around the corners of his hidden eyes. He is browsing unhurriedly, perhaps even distractedly, through the fruit-scented candles. He picks up a jar of Macintosh Apple, sniffs a few times, then sets it back down precisely where he found it. He even spins the jar so it’s label-side-facing-outwards again. You warm to him immediately.
“One of the James Bond movies?” Kevin offers. “He seems…enigmatic somehow. Esoteric. Yet still clearly leading man material.”
“Casablanca,” you say, not tearing your gaze from the stranger. “I can imagine him waving off some old flame on a foggy, night-draped airport runway, breaking hearts with sparse words of wisdom. Can’t you?”
“Oh, that’s exactly right!” Kevin sighs again, dreamily, yearningly. And whether he’s yearning for his ex-boyfriend Patrick or Bye Bye Birdie a.k.a. NIVEA-sweater man or passion or sex or love or maybe just the ineffable high that accompanies the beginnings of things, you couldn’t say.
You peer at your reflection in the cash register screen once again, feeling more self-conscious than ever. “Maybe if I—”
“Freddie!” Star Wars cries, and you whirl just in time to see The Wizard of Oz, whizzing around and giggling and preoccupied with teasing NIVEA-sweater man, stumble into the six-foot-tall tower of Christmas Tree-scented candles and send countless jars crashing to the tile floor.
“I knew it!” you unleash in a rush of misery and exasperation, the biting threat of tears in your eyes and the back of your throat. And of course, it isn’t just about the mess on the floor, it isn’t just about having to tell your manager and hoping to God he doesn’t fire you. It’s about your derelict apartment, it’s about your fucked up eyeliner, it’s about everything that’s happened in the past eighteen months; it’s about the never-ending feelings of helplessness and inertia and predestined ruin, it’s about not being able to get fifteen meters down the street before life throws up another red light, another jagged sinkhole gaping like ravenous jaws. And none of that is these ridiculous British men’s fault; yet still, in that moment the fury you feel towards them is overwhelming.
“Jesus christ,” Kevin mumbles, stepping out from behind the counter to survey the damage, his hands still clutching the broom and dustbin.
“You couldn’t just mosey around and ask which candles are on sale and maybe sniff one or two like a normal person?!” you explode. “You had to come in here acting like goddamn animals and destroy like a third of our inventory?!”
“I’m so sorry,” The Wizard of Oz sputters, looking at you and Kevin with wide, profusely apologetic dark eyes. Star Wars and NIVEA-sweater man are helping him to his feet, albeit with very spirited chidings. Kevin is grudgingly asking if he’s alright. Casablanca is already trying to sort through which candles are broken and putting those that survived aside. And when he casts furtive glances from behind his aviator sunglasses, they’re directed not at Kevin or The Wizard of Oz but at you.
“Freddie, bloody hell,” NIVEA-sweater man laments.
“I’ll pay for them all,” The Wizard of Oz tells you. “I’m so, so, so terribly sorry, you’re absolutely right to be cross with me, and I’ll pay for everything. Here, let me get my wallet…” He digs around in the pockets of his preposterously tight red leather pants.
“Uh…sir…” Kevin begins uncertainly, not wanting to break the bad news.
“It’s going to be hundreds of dollars,” you inform The Wizard of Oz. “Maybe over a thousand. You’re really going to pay that? Or are you just going to wait until we start sweeping up and then sprint out the front door the first chance you get?”
“Hey,” Kevin warns you quietly. He wants you to keep this job probably even more than you do. You are, by his own admission, far and away his favorite coworker.
“No, no, darling, please, let her scold me, I deserve it.” The Wizard of Oz at last locates his wallet. He sashays to the counter, brushing nuggets of glittering glass off his clothes, and counts out two thousand Canadian dollars in hundreds. “Will that do? You can keep the change as compensation for the inconvenience. And we’ll help clean up as well, has anyone got an extra broom?”
As you stare down at the money, shocked into speechlessness, three hulking men dressed in black come barreling into the shop.
“Lord in heaven, Freddie, what happened?!” one asks. He has a thick beard and an Irish accent and closely resembles a grizzly bear.
“I made a complete ass out of myself and am now trying to win the affections of this marvelous creature,” The Wizard of Oz replies, flourishing a hand towards you. “Is it working, dear?”
“Kind of,” you admit, still stunned.
“Oh my god.” The broom tumbles out of Kevin’s grasp and clatters on the floor. He points at The Wizard of Oz. “I know where I’ve seen you before. You…you…you’re Freddie Mercury, right?”
In reply, The Wizard of Oz only flashes an enormous, toothy, dazzling grin.
“Oh my god,” Kevin says again, a starry, awed smile rippling across his round face.
“Please don’t make his ego any bigger,” Star Wars pleads.
“And you’re Brian May!” Kevin replies. “And you’re…” He turns to NIVEA-sweater man, snapping his fingers, trying to remember. “Robbie…no, Ronnie…uh…Ricky…?”
“Roger Taylor.” But it comes out like ‘Rogah Taylah.’ NIVEA-sweater man extends a hand for Kevin to shake, not the least bit offended. “It’s a pleasure. Sorry about the candles.”
“No problem, sir!” Kevin squeaks as he takes Roger’s hand, beaming. The men in black—the band’s security, you’ve gathered—have descended upon the crime scene, confiscated Kevin’s broom and dustbin, and are rapidly clearing glass and chunks of candlewax from the floor and discarding the mess in a trash bin that usually collects only chewed gum and unwanted receipts.
“So I guess I probably shouldn’t have yelled at you,” you tell Freddie Mercury guiltily, all the venom in your voice evaporated. You’re no Queen superfan, true, but everyone knows the words to Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. And Another One Bites The Dust. And Killer Queen. And Crazy Little Thing Called Love. And Somebody To Love. Your thoughts are suddenly a racing, indecipherable blur. Your knees are boneless. You’ve never met a celebrity before. Well, not unless you count professional hockey players, which you definitely don’t.
“No, you absolutely should have,” Freddie retorts. “I was dreadfully discourteous. I’m positively mortified about it. I should be punished severely. Have you got anything behind the counter to whip me with? A riding crop, perhaps?”
You laugh, shaking your head. “Not that I know of. I’m sorry I called you an animal.”
“I’m sorry about the candles. There, now we’re even. Wait, not quite yet.” He calls over to Kevin: “Darling, how would you and your friend like front row seats at our show tonight?”
The squeal that bursts out of Kevin is not human.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Freddie Mercury says, very pleased.
“This is really too generous of you,” you protest, although your heart isn’t in it; Kevin might legitimately strangle you if you screw this up, and you’re finding that you want to see Queen in concert too. It’s something to interrupt the powerless, unrelenting monotony; it’s like something that might happen in a movie or a dream.
“Nonsense!” Freddie announces cheerfully. Star Wars and NIVEA-sweater man—or, rather, Brian and Roger—are chatting with the security guys and nodding along as the bearlike Irishman reviews the day’s itinerary.
You peer over at Casablanca. Now that the floor is mostly clear, he’s migrating towards you and Freddie. You glance apprehensively down at your reflection. “Goddammit,” you mutter, manipulating your bangs again, wishing you could disappear. “I meet a rock star for the first time ever and I look like this.”
“It’s not that bad,” Kevin says, obviously lying.
“I like it,” Freddie tells you, propping his elbows on the counter and resting his chin on his knuckles. “It’s very goth raccoon chic.”
“My bathroom light wouldn’t turn on this morning and I was late for work and I guesstimated and that was clearly a poor decision.” Poor decisions are my expertise, you think instinctively, and feel a tug of something you don’t quite have the words for. Shame, grief, disappointment, a raw sting like a flame beneath your palm, a dread like a child who’s lost their mother’s hand.
“I’ve offered to take a look at the wiring!” Kevin exclaims. “I told you, a D is passing!”
“Kev, babe,” you reply. “I really, truly appreciate your enthusiasm, but you’ll probably just make it worse. And then my landlord will hate me and keep my security deposit and write me awful references and I’ll have to live in an endless string of ancient, hideous apartments until I die.”
“It’s an electrical problem?” Casablanca asks, pushing his aviator sunglasses up into his unruly hair. His unveiled eyes are a blueish grey—they remind you of one of the candles, maybe Beach Walk or Bahama Breeze—and very direct. He stares at you and you stare back, and at some point you realize that everyone is waiting for you to answer.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess so. Sometimes nothing happens when I flip the switch. That’s the extent of my handyman knowledge, unfortunately.”
Casablanca nods. “I could take a look, if you like.”
Not Beach Walk. Not Bahama Breeze. Warm Luxe Cashmere, maybe. “Now that really is too generous. I couldn’t possibly put a rock star to work on my terrible apartment.”
“John’s got a degree in electrical engineering, that’s right in his wheelhouse,” Brian counters.
“Yes,” Roger says, grinning, teasing in a way that has absolutely no malice in it. “He’s more of an engineer than a rock star anyway, isn’t he?”
“Seriously?” Casablanca—John, you mentally correct yourself—doesn’t seem much like an electrical engineer. But Roger’s right: he doesn’t really seem like a rock star, either. What John seems like is steady and abiding and perceptive, attentive, unflinching. He studies you like some people study paintings, like you once studied paintings; not in a passing-by-in-a-crowded-hallway type way but in a patient way, a methodical way, with the quiet that comes from knowing that vision in the frame is older than you will ever be and will still be hanging on that wall when you’re bones in a box somewhere.
Freddie lights a cigarette and puffs on it decadently. Smoking definitely isn’t allowed inside the Yankee Candle shop, but you aren’t about to snap at Freddie Mercury for the second time today. “Oh, let him tinker around in your flat, darling. It’ll make his day.”
“Is it far?” John asks you.
“No, really, Casa…uh, I mean, John, I appreciate the offer more than I could possibly express but I—”
“It’s just a few blocks north,” Kevin says, and tosses you a wily smile.
“How convenient!” Freddie trills. “When does your shift end, dear?”
“Not until 5:30.”
“She can take a long lunch break.” Another smile from Kevin. “Honestly, there’s not much to do around here now that the Great Candle Massacre of 1981 has been remediated.”
“Splendid!” Freddie says, radiant.
You shake your head, very slowly. “This is the weirdest day of my life.”
“Then you clearly haven’t lived enough,” Freddie quips.
“Fred!” Roger presses. “Are we going to the bookstore down the street or not? That was the whole deal, we suffer through your candles, you suffer through our books.”
“You didn’t seem to be suffering,” Brian says.
“Of course I’m suffering. That cashier over there almost murdered me,” Roger slings back.
Freddie sighs and rolls his large, dark, expressive eyes. “Yes, darling, of course, don’t give yourself an aneurism. We’ll go to the bookstore, John can rendezvous with us later.” Now he turns to you. “We’ll send a car to your flat at 7 to pick you and Kevin up for the show tonight. Don’t let John leave without knowing your address. Wear something deliciously opulent. Lots of sparkle. Maybe furs.”
“I make eight dollars an hour,” you tell him.
“Or you could just wear nothing.”
“Sparkle and furs it is.”
Freddie chuckles and turns to the men in black. “Chubby, my dear?”
The towering bearlike Irishman replies: “Yeah, I’ll go with John. Don’t wreck anything else while I’m gone. Don’t get yourselves deported before the show. EMI will have your heads on spikes.”
Freddie pretends to be scandalized. “Causing destruction? We would never.” He saunters towards the shop door, jingling the bells as he swings it open, and waves like royalty. “See you tonight, darlings!”
“Bye!” Kevin shouts after him. And then, after Freddie, Roger, Brian, and the two non-bearlike men in black have departed: “Oh my god I just met Freddie Mercury and he’s amazing and he knows I exist and he spoke to me and tonight he’s sending a car to take me to a concert and I’m going to have front row seats and what if he invites me to have a drink afterwards oh my god.”
John, evidently unaffected, prompts you: “So your place is just a few blocks away?”
“Yeah. Just let me get my coat…”
The man in black—Chubby, as Freddie had introduced him—fetches your coat off the rack by the door and holds it up so you can slip inside it. No one has ever done that for you before.
“…Thanks…?” You button your coat, feeling a little like royalty yourself at the moment.
John pulls open the door, the tiny metal bells jangling, and gestures out into the streets of downtown Montreal. He’s wearing his aviator sunglasses again; the November wind gusts through his hair. You catch threadbare ghosts of cigarette smoke and cologne that the breeze lifts from his skin like pages of a book. And he smiles, just barely. “After you.”
You walk north together along the path of the sidewalk with your hands in your pockets, your breath fog in the cold, weaving through the bustling crowds of tourists and holiday shoppers, Chubby trailing not far behind and displaying his talent for keeping watch while not letting on that he is. To even your own horror, you can’t seem to shut up.
“John, this is so kind of you, this is completely unnecessary, you really shouldn’t feel like you owe me anything because Freddie already paid for the candles twice over and I was totally unprofessional for yelling at customers, even annoying customers, and Kevin and I are already getting a free concert tonight and so—”
“Okay,” John says firmly. “You have to talk about something else now.”
“I can’t talk about anything else. All I can think about is how ridiculous this is.”
“Have you lived in Montreal long?” he asks, very casually, as if you’re strangers in line next to each other at Starbucks.
“My whole life.” Minus a little over three years, but you don’t need to get into that. “My parents live over in Verdun, right on the St. Lawrence River.
“Sounds scenic.”
“It certainly is.” You’re trying not to look at John, because every time you do it’s hard to stop. You look at the cars rolling by instead. “This is super embarrassing, and I don’t mean to offend you, but what exactly do you do in Queen?”
He’s not offended; he thinks it’s hilarious. “I’m the bassist.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“Does it?”
“Yeah, bassists are quiet and reliable or whatever. Bassists don’t terrorize Yankee Candle employees.”
“You’re not a Queen fan?”
“I’m a casual and appreciative listener, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. I couldn’t pick any of you out of a lineup, clearly. Roger is the drummer, right?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Drummers are feral, almost universally. Which means Brian must be lead guitar.”
“And what do you think of lead guitarists?”
“Word on the street is that they are brilliant yet micromanaging egomaniacs, but I don’t want to bash your friend or anything.”
John chuckles, like there’s some joke you aren’t in on yet. “No, please, bash away. So you prefer bassists.”
And finally you do look at him, and you regret it immediately; because now you’re caught in the thoughtful crinkles around his eyes and the barely-there stubble of his cheeks and the playful curve of his lips and how the wind ruffles his auburn hair the same way it steals leaves off of slumbering trees. You almost walk right past the bakery. “Oh, wait, we’re here.”
You lead John and Chubby upstairs to your chronically irritating apartment. John removes his sunglasses, inspects your bathroom light switch, then asks if you have a specific kind of screwdriver. You bring him the toolkit that has lived beneath the kitchen sink since before you moved in and he roots around, finds what he’s searching for, and unfastens the light switch plate from the wall.
“Please don’t electrocute yourself,” you fret, as Chubby meanders around in the living room and tries not to intrude. “If you die your groupies will never forgive me.”
“Who says I’ve got groupies?” John replies, amused.
“I just assumed all rock stars do.” Your eyes flick down to his hands as he fidgets with the wiring; and you notice randomly—or, maybe, not all that randomly—that he’s not wearing a ring. You’re still ruminating over that when he returns the light switch plate to the wall, secures each of the four screws with a few deft twists of his wrist, and performs a test flip. The light turns on immediately.
“Mission accomplished,” John says mildly.
“What?! No, no way, no freaking way.” You flip the switch again. The light turns off and on obediently. You try it at least five more times. Perfection. “…How?!”
“Just a few loose wires. No great hardship.” He tucks the screwdriver back into the toolkit.
You gape at him. “That took you…like…two minutes.”
“Aren’t you glad my band wandered into your candle shop and almost demolished the place today?” He rests his hands on his waist; his sturdy, skillful, ringless hands. “Anything else I can fix for you?”
“Definitely not.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He stares at you. You stare back.
“Stop looking at my fucked up eyeliner.”
John laughs. It’s a delightfully clear, disarming sound. “That’s not what I was doing.”
“I should fix my makeup and go back to work now. And you should probably go help your friends burn down the bookstore or blow up a Starbucks or do whatever else is on your agenda for today.”
“Soundcheck and dinner, actually,” John says. He slides the toolkit back beneath your kitchen sink, meets Chubby by the front door, and pauses there to give you one last lingering, laden gaze. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“In my best furs,” you purr in your most convincing Freddie Mercury impression.
“Or nothing at all,” John suggests levelly. And then he’s gone.
~~~~~~~~~~
It turns out better than you thought it would. Your tan, knee-high suede boots are celebratory without being too uncomfortable. Kevin brings you a faux fur jacket that he stole from Patrick during the breakup. You find a glittery black dress in the back of your closet that you once loved, then couldn’t stand to look at, then forgot existed entirely; but tonight it’s like you’re seeing it with brand new eyes. It fits even better than you remember. In the mirror, you look like a stranger and a hauntingly familiar acquaintance and yourself all at once.
Chubby arrives in a black limousine at precisely 7pm, parks along the curb next to the bakery, and honks the horn twice. You and Kevin dash down the narrow steps and climb into the backseat, finding complimentary cigarettes and bottled water and chilled champagne. As the limo rolls though Montreal under changing traffic lights, Kevin prattles on about the band, their history, their albums, their tours…and John in particular. He tries to tempt you. You resist valiantly…for the first fifteen minutes, anyway.
Finally, you sigh in capitulation. “Okay. Fine. I get it. What do you know about him?”
“I know he’s divorced,” Kevin says, wiggling his eyebrows. “I saw it on the cover of a tabloid a while back. Very contentious, spicy stuff. He’s got like eight kids.”
“He does not have eight kids!”
“Okay, maybe not eight. But he has a lot,” Kevin insists.
You rearrange your hair with deliberate flippantness. “What do I care if he’s divorced?”
Kevin grins. “You know why you care.”
“Stop,” you plead.
“Look, all I’m saying is that he definitely likes you. And you like him. And I haven’t seen you like anybody, ever, in the…wait, let me count…the nine whole months that I’ve known you. When was the last time you even had a boyfriend? When was the last time you got laid? Oh my god, it hasn’t been nine months, has it?! That’s way too long to go without sex. No wonder you’re so serious all the time. It all makes sense now. You poor thing. You’re in dick withdrawal.”
“Assuming that’s my problem—which it isn’t, by the way—if I wanted to get laid there are far easier ways to accomplish that.”
“Sure,” Kevin says. “But you don’t want just any dick. You want British bassist dick. John Deacon dick. Casablanca dick.”
“This friendship is terminated.”
Kevin cackles, pouring himself a glass of champagne that bubbles over the top and spills onto the limo floor. “I’m really glad you’re here with me. I’m glad we can do this together.”
You fill a champagne flute with bottled water and clink your glass against his, smiling. The limo is turning into the parking lot of the Montreal Forum. “Me too.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The backstage room that Chubby escorts you and Kevin to after the show is full of chatter and heavy smoke and roadies and fans and musicians and journalists, trays of hors d'oeuvres, wine and Stella Artois and vodka and tequila and rum, the electric promise of things that will go unmentioned in the morning. There are stacks of stereo speakers in the corner rumbling out Another One Bites The Dust. You and Kevin camp out on a green velvet couch—making small talk with each other to avoid making it with anyone else—until the band arrives.
John is still wearing his concert outfit: blue pants, blue shirt, a black leather jacket that gives him an edge like a knife. He passes out a few polite nods; but Freddie and Roger are undeniably the suns in this room, and the guests their planets. Freddie is soon surrounded by a constellation of followers and whisks Kevin away with him. John, meanwhile, comes straight to where you’re sitting on the couch and stands in front of you with his messy hair and his veil of cologne and his mystery-candle-blue eyes.
“Can I get you anything?” he asks in that calm, measured way that you’ve learned he has. “Rum and Coke? Moscow Mule? Hurricane? I’ve been on a mojito kick recently.”
“I don’t drink.” And you wait for the inevitable awkwardness that usually follows that sentence, when he says why? or seriously? or maybe just oh in wilted disappointment.
Instead, what John says is this: “No problem. Rum minus the Coke?”
You smile up at him. You can’t help yourself. “That would be perfect.”
There are innumerable drinks already poured on a table, dark carbonated liquid trembling in red plastic cups as the bass from the stereo speakers quakes through the crowded, droning, smoke-hazed room. John moves from cup to cup, taking tentative sips before shaking his head and putting them back down on the table. After each attempt, he casts you a rueful smirk before continuing on to the next cup. At last, he finds two unadulterated Cokes and brings them to the couch: one for you, and one for him. He sits beside you with one of his legs crossed over the other, a lit cigarette in his right hand, a red plastic cup of Coke in his left, and his eyes on you in a way that isn’t hungry or arrogant or restless but merely, benignly contemplative. You find yourself thinking of paintings in museums again, you even start to feel a little like one; and you wonder what colors he sees in you, what types of brushstrokes, what signatures scribbled in the corners of the canvas, what shadows painstakingly penciled in to mimic the angles of the sun.
You tell John about growing up in Montreal, about autumn strolls along the St. Lawrence River, about snowfalls and Mont-Royal and Chinatown and the Notre-Dame Basilica, about the exhilarating turmoil of the Summer Olympics in 1976. You tell him about how Kevin is in his last year at Concordia University and works part-time at the Yankee Candle shop for money to invest in his hair gel and travel fund. You tell him so many things he doesn’t notice all the parts you leave out. In return, John tells you about himself; not about John Deacon the bassist of Queen, but about the understated man who likes cars and electronics and the Beatles and tea in the evenings beside a roaring fireplace. And when his arm comes to rest on the back of the green velvet couch, and then across your shoulders, and then around your waist, it doesn’t feel strange at all. You lean into him as you exchange stories and clandestine giggles until you’re nearly in his lap, and that doesn’t feel strange either. And you haven’t had a drop of alcohol—you haven’t in almost a full year, in fact—but you feel a little drunk tonight, because your cheeks are hot and the room is blurry and the world is brimming with a pure, rose-gold, uncomplicated happiness.
The other band members periodically stop by to say hello, clutching their drinks and making stilted pleasantries as you and John smile drowsily up at them, looking nothing like the soberest people in the room. Chubby and the rest of the men in black are simultaneously omnipresent and scarce, which you are beginning to think is a requirement inked into their job description. Kevin, having been fully absorbed into Freddie’s entourage, is beaming and flushed and extremely, blissfully tipsy. And they all watch you and John not with scandalized sideways glances but with warm approval swimming in their gleaming eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you yet,” you tell John when you are alone again. “For improving my dreadful apartment. So thank you. You really didn’t have to do that. I hate that I marred your time in Montreal with unpaid labor.”
He shrugs it off. “I like fixing things. It’s what I’m best at.”
“Besides being an internationally acclaimed rock star, you mean.”
“I’m honestly not so sure I’m cut out for the rock star life.”
“You are, though. I saw you. I watched you all night.”
John just stares at you, and then he leans in even closer, inhaling deeply. You can feel the heat of his breath on your collarbone, your shoulder, your neck; goosebumps spring up across your skin like stars at twilight. “What the hell is that? Perfume? Lotion? Shampoo?”
“It’s probably sugar and baking bread, because I live on top of a bakery.”
“Does Yankee Candle make anything that smells like you?”
You laugh, shaking your head. “They definitely do not.”
“They should,” John murmurs. And with the rough whirlpools of his fingertips he turns your face to his so he can kiss you.
It should be kind of humiliating, right? Making out with some guy you just met on a green couch in front of thirty strangers, your hands getting tangled in each other’s hair, your lips meeting again and again, taunting darts of the tongue and quick painless bites and stifled moans and grasping tugs at clothes that you’re starting to wish weren’t there at all. It should feel embarrassing, you should feel overexposed, here in this land of unfamiliar expectations and accents and faces. But no one seems to be watching too closely. This must be so tame in the world of rock stars, it occurs to you; almost wholesome. And you can’t remember a time you’ve ever felt more at peace.
“There’s a pool table in the next room,” someone says, startling you, and you break away from John to discover Roger perched on the arm of the couch, grinning coyly as he sips his emerald glass bottle of Stella Artois. “I mean…you know. If you’re into that. John’s got all sorts of moves, we played for days at a time at Ridge Farm. You could challenge him to a round or two. Place bets. But be warned…he’s a total pool shark.”
“Is he?” you ask mischievously, clasping the lapel of John’s leather jacket. Even if you freed him, he shows no indication of retreating. He’s raking his knuckles back and forth along the length of your thigh that your little black dress leaves exposed, never venturing above the hem.
Roger winks. “Just thought you might want to know.” Then he hops off the couch and disappears into the crowd again.
John is trying to keep his eyes locked on yours, and no lower. He’s trying to not be even vanishingly forceful. He’s trying not to sway you. But you know exactly what he wants. “Do you…?”
“Show me how to play pool,” you whisper. And you lead him through the shuffling bodies and boisterous, increasingly intoxicated laughter and cumulus clouds of cigarette smoke to the door on the other side of the room.
Beyond the threshold you find a pool table and not much else. It’s terribly unceremonious; it’s absolutely perfect. You can hear Blondie’s Call Me playing back in the packed room where the rest of the band is still reveling, the bass crawling through the walls to radiate in your eardrums, your bones. You lock the door and reach out to flick off the harsh florescent lights, but John stops you. You don’t have to ask him why. He wants to be able to see you. He asks if this is okay—again, wordlessly, with the forthright blue of his eyes—and you nod. And then he kisses you as you drag him in, breathing in his cologne and nicotine, tasting the virgin Coke on his lips that he drank just for you.
John tears off his leather jacket. You toss the faux fur that Kevin lent you to the floor. You climb up onto the pool table, and John follows you. You yank off his shirt, link your suede boots around him as he positions himself between your naked, down-soft thighs. And then John stops.
“Look, I have to be honest,” he says. His hands tremble as they cradle the small of your back, just barely. “I’m newly divorced, and I’m really out of practice, I mean really out of practice, and this is not at all my usual way of doing things, and if I’m total rubbish or only last like thirty seconds or something I just want to apologize in advance and swear that I’ll do absolutely everything I can to make this worth it for you. Because I like you. I really, really like you.”
“I’m a little rusty too,” you confess with a small, sheepish smile. But he doesn’t need to know exactly how rusty you are, or in how many ways, all those layers of blood-hued ruin that spin webs from the skin down to the marrow.
John seems relieved. “Then maybe we’re even.”
You’re not even, you’re nowhere close; but it’s comforting that he thinks you could be.
John kisses you again. His hands find the zipper on the back of your dress, and then the tiny metal clasp of your bra, and then the black lace of your panties…and then everything else as well.
~~~~~~~~~~
Afterwards, you return together to the green velvet couch in the next room, not with bashful swiftness but with your hands entwined, your eyes satiated and calm, your clothes unapologetically rumpled. The partying is winding down. The song pouring through the stereo speakers is In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins. And now you and John don’t talk very much at all; you just sit there with fresh cups of Coke, your head resting against his chest, his left arm draped around you, watching the rest of the universe spin on like a carousel as your feet stay rooted to the earth.
“So you’re the smart one,” you say eventually. “You must be, with an electrical engineering degree.”
“You’d be surprised. We’re rather erudite, as far as rock stars go.” He smiles drowsily down at you. “Freddie’s got a degree in graphic art and design. Roger has one in biology. Brian has the better part of a PhD in astrophysics. He might even go back to finish it one day. He probably will, just to be able to lord it over us.”
“Wow,” you reply, distantly, suddenly feeling very small.
“What did you study?” he asks you.
In truth, you never finished college; but you aren’t going to tell John that. “Something useless.”
John is intrigued, and perhaps a little concerned as well. His brow furrows with grooves like lines of fortune in an open palm.
“I wanted to be a painter,” you explain, smirking at the absurdity. “But the world doesn’t need painters anymore. They have pictures and videos that are just as clear as real life. They don’t need my fantasies or interpretations. They have reality.”
“I think we still need painters,” John disagrees, his calloused fingertips tracing lazy circles around your bare shoulder.
“Really?”
“Yeah. For when reality requires improving.”
You let a few moments of silence tick by. And then you put on your faux fur jacket, finish the last of your Coke, stand and find your balance on the low heels of your boots with exhausted, shaky calves.
John jolts upright, somewhat alarmed. “Hey, you don’t have to—”
“This was great, John. This was the best night I’ve had in a long time. So thank you for that. But I have to go home now.”
“Okay.” He studies you, processing. “Okay, okay. I’ll have Chubby drive you.”
“That’s really not necessary, I can get a cab…”
But John has already waved Chubby over, and the massive man appears serendipitously with an impossible degree of stealth. Kevin finds you, staggering, babbling breathlessly about all of his adventures, showing you where Freddie and Roger and Brian signed his chest with a black Sharpie, repeating the same stories on an identical loop every few minutes. As you leave, you offer John a brief parting wave; and he returns it, like a reflection in a mirror, but he’s wearing a pensive frown and eyes dark with thought. Then again, maybe you are too.
Chubby leads you and Kevin outside to the waiting limousine. You slip into the backseat, ply Kevin with bottled water, open the sunroof so moonlight and cold, reviving November air can flood in like a river.
Kevin is coming down now from the high of the champagne and the concert and the carousing with Freddie Mercury. He blinks, soaking you in, really seeing you for the first time in hours. “Wow, you had a good night with Casablanca. You had a really good night.”
“Yeah,” you reply softly, resting your head against the window and watching the stars and streetlights pass by above like seasons. “And it will never happen again.”
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Accidental Anniversary (Llewyn Davis x Reader)
ACCIDENTAL ANNIVERSARY
💜💘 Happy Valentine’s Fic Exchange, @samrockweil 💘💜
I am your Valentine’s elf (or maybe cupid?) It was an absolute blast writing this for you!! At first I couldn’t decide which guy to write for, but Llewyn spoke to me and I ran with it and I hope you love it even half as half as much as I did writing it. Happy reading and happy beeps!
Also, huge thanks to @sergeantkane for putting this fic exchange together! Love you Clarke!
Word Count: around 8k oops look i had a whole MONTH okay i’m not sorry
Summary: You meet Llewyn Davis one night at the Gaslight, and soon find out that the universe has an odd sense of humor and an even weirder sense of timing.
Warnings: A few curses. Nothing else, it’s 99.999999999% fluffy fluff.
March 14
The air inside the Gaslight is thick with smoke that coils and kinks around the dim lights on the walls and the candles on the tables. Someone at the end of the bar calls out for a whiskey, which you pour and pass down. The sound system shrieks with feedback for three painful seconds as your boss flips the power on.
You’ve been working there for a couple weeks, a side job to help make your rent and keep you busy on the weekends. It’s not a terrible gig, most of the time; the patrons are pleasant enough, the performers hit or miss, and Pappi, your boss, is okayish, so long as you can mostly steer clear of him.
You begin to wipe down part of the bar while the next performer sets up on the small, dingy stage. You haven’t seen him before, but whispers from the stools at the counter hint he’s semi-popular around these parts. You quirk an eyebrow; he certainly is easy on the eyes, at least.
From the minute he takes the stage, your focus is ninety percent on him (you do need a little brain power to do your job, after all) and you find that he is also very easy on the ears. Dark curls, dark beard, dark eyes, dark clothes, but a surprisingly bright voice singing lovely songs. He finishes his set, comes off the stage, and sidles up to the bar. You hand him the requested bourbon with a soft smile.
And the next thing you know, Pappi is on the ground and this stranger is holding his hand, wincing, flexing his fingers. Your mouth drops open.
“Oh my god!” you cry. “What--”
“Jesus Christ, Llewyn,” Pappi groans from the floor. “I was only kidding.”
“Yeah, doubt that,” this Llewyn person mutters under his breath, taking a seat on the stool closest to him. “Can I bother you for some ice?”
You keep a wary eye on him, and on Pappi as he gets up and wanders to the other side of the room like nothing happened, and wrap some ice cubes in a towel and hand it to him. “You decked him.”
He scoffs and takes a sip of his drink. “You hear what he said about you?”
Well, no, you hadn’t actually, but having heard what Pappi has said about others in the club over the past two weeks, you can imagine. “I can handle him,” you say archly.
“I’m sure you can,” a huff of air escapes his lips, “but you shouldn’t have to.” He turns around to look at Pappi, who just glares and shakes his head. The man in front of you flips your boss off.
You refill his glass without him asking and stick out your hand, telling him your name.
He shakes it and says, “Llewyn Davis” with a sheepish smile.
April 14
Llewyn shuffles down the sidewalk towards the Gaslight, really only noticing the early spring chill that hangs in the air. It’s early, before noon, but he wants to run through his set before the night’s performance and the early hour is convenient for him to be able to do so in peace.
He’s about a block away when a sound distracts him. A voice is singing, pure and sweet - if a tiny bit off-key - and if he didn’t know any better - and he certainly does, at least most times - he would call it angelic. No, not angelic. An actual angel. That’s what it sounds like.
Llewyn stops and looks up at an open window on the third floor. He can make out the vague outline of a figure inside, but he’s unable to see any details. But that voice. A few minutes pass as he just listens, staring up at the window, thinking about calling up to get the attention of the mysterious singer. But he doesn’t, and he just stands and listens, until he finds his feet starting to carry him on to his usual destination.
Three steps into his walk, he realizes he knows the song. It’s one of his songs. Part of him can’t believe it, and the rest of him wants to offer pitch correction. Three more steps into his walk, and his face makes very solid, very resounding contact with the light pole on the corner.
“God dammit,” he shouts.
A few seconds later, the window on the third floor slides open and a head pokes out. “Oh my god. Llewyn?”
Llewyn looks up and groans inwardly as he recognizes your face from that last gig at the Gaslight. “Hey,” he waves awkwardly, leaning on the pole.
“Are you bleeding?” you call down to him.
He reaches up near his eyebrow and realizes he is, in fact, bleeding. Quite a bit, honestly. Before he can answer, you call back down, “Come up the fire escape to the side window!” The window drops shut and he can hear another slide open.
So Llewyn Davis climbs the fire escape steps and meets you at your side window, a first aid kit in your hands as you motion for him to sit. He does and you start to patch up his wound.
“You should be more careful,” you mutter as you worked, stopping briefly to look him right in the eyes.
He holds your gaze. “Sorry, I was...distracted.”
“Mmm,” you return. You fold a gauze pad and hand it to him. “Hold this on that cut. I’m going to get you some ice.” You turn to walk to your kitchen.
He mumbles his thanks and leans his head back against the fire escape railing.
May 14
You glance back behind the bar, making sure the bottles are stocked and the glasses are ready. Another night at the Gaslight is about to start, and although Llewyn isn’t playing tonight, he takes up a spot at the end of the bar and thanks you as you pass him a drink.
“How have you been?” you ask. You’d seen him a few times over the past couple weeks, here and there in the Village, but it’s been several days. You found Llewyn’s company quite enjoyable. You’d talked a bit and even shared lunch once at the diner a couple blocks away.
His lips turn up, a shy smile lighting his face. He opens his mouth to respond, when another voice breaks in.
“He’s been an asshole.”
Llewyn’s head ships around and you follow his gaze. A slender woman with long, straight brown hair and piercing eyes stands about ten feet behind him, arms crossed and glaring. Neither of them says anything for a beat, Llewyn turns away from her, and then she’s on him, daggers flying from her lips, going on and on about assholes and responsibility and electrical tape.
Llewyn keeps his eyes down, the bottom of his glass suddenly staring back at him. “Jesus Christ, Jean.”
You bite your lip as you glance between them. You have no idea who this woman - this Jean - is, but it’s clear she is not a fan of Llewyn Davis. In three seconds flat you decide you do not like her either.
“Is there something you needed?” you break in.
Her eyes flare at Llewyn, then at you, then bore into the back of Llewyn’s head. You resist the urge to literally toss a glass of whiskey in her direction.
“I need Llewyn to stop being an asshole,” she seethes. Llewyn rolls his eyes.
You arch an eyebrow and the words are on your tongue - I need you to back off, you crazy weird bit-- you bite your tongue just hard enough to make your mouth behave. Fortunately, she’s distracted by someone else calling her name and her attention drifts to the stage. With a final mutter of “asshole” and a rude hand gesture, she flounces off.
You point over Llewyn’s shoulder. “Um, what was that?”
He snorts. “A night of bad decisions and a lifetime of regret.” A pause. “It’s...a long story.”
You watch as she adjusts the microphone center stage. “Good lord, is she a singer? Tell me she’s not going to just smile and sing after...whatever that was.”
“Yeah. Well,” he offers by way of explanation and doesn’t say anything else. It’s almost like this woman sucked all the fight out of him and you feel your heart give a little twinge.
You toss the rag in the sink and take his glass. “Do you wanna get out of here?” The air around you has a weird vibe now, and you felt a sudden impulse to get out and take this man - your friend - with you, away from this...whatever she was, somewhere safe.
“Fuck yes,” he sighs, a grateful glimmer passing through his dark eyes.
“There’s a great cafe down the block.”
“But don’t you have to...you know...work?”
You look around and shrug. “It’s dead in here, and Bobby can handle it,” you hook your thumb at a co-worker behind the bar. “And if Pappi says anything, I know someone who can set him straight.”
Llewyn’s eyes glint and his lips turn up in a real, honest smile this time. “So, coffee?”
“Coffee.”
June 14
The summer - or very last days of spring, technically - is starting to get hot and your open windows are doing the bare minimum to alleviate the warmth. Of course, the third glass of wine you’re drinking probably isn’t helping things either.
Whatever. It’s your day off.
Shoes kicked off, jeans rolled up above your ankles, feet up on the arm of the couch, a record on the turntable and your glass of red as the dusk slowly melts into dark. The night is tranquil and relaxing and perfect. It has been a shitty week, and all you want is to ignore the outside world and do exactly this.
The shrill ring of your phone bursts that bubble..
You close your eyes and tilt your head back on the couch. Ignore it. If you just ignore it, it will go away. The phone stops ringing. Deciding to take no further chances, you switch off the ringer, completely, then sigh happily, settling yourself on the couch and sipping your wine.
Perfect.
A resounding, repeated thump echoes through the room. You bit back a shriek. Ignore it. If you just ignore it, it will go away - lightning can strike twice, right? It was extremely rude of people to just call you and knock when all you wanted was--
“Hey, are you home?” a muffled voice comes from the other side of the door.
Suddenly alert and somehow much less annoyed, you spring up and cross to your front door. Yanking it open, you find a very disheveled Llewyn Davis on the other side. He doesn’t seem to notice right away that the door was now open, and you had to jump back as his hand, raised to pound on the door again, almost knocks you in the head instead.
You take a deep breath. You catch a waft like the mat under the taps after a long night at the bar.
“Shit,” he mumbles. “Sorry.”
“Are you drunk?” You take him by the arm and drag him inside, appraising him quickly. His eyes are glassy, red-rimmed, his curls an absolute mess, and there’s a dark mark under his left eye and a split in his lip. He looks terrible, smells just as bad, but suddenly all your desire for a quiet, no-other-humans night evaporates. “And did you get in a fight?”
“...yes?”
You sigh and point to the couch. “Go. Sit. I’ll make some coffee, and then you’re getting a shower..”
“You’re incredible,” he slurs, smiling, “And you’re so…I tried t’call you, from th’phone on the corner but you dinnt answer. An’ then I realized, hey, I’m on your corner, so decided t’come up and see you. You’re pretty.”
You take him by the elbow and lead him to the couch, only stumbling twice and managing to catch him as he sways, precariously, once. “Uh huh,” you bite your lip to hide a smile. “Sounds like you’ve had a fun night. You wanna talk about it?”
“Nope.” He flops down on the couch and buries his face in a pillow.
By the time you make the promised pot of coffee and get back to the living room, Llewyn is snoring, still face down in the throw pillow. Turning off the music and the lights, you cover him with a blanket and take your glass of wine to your room.
July 14
Ring, ring, ring.
You’d remembered to turn the ringer back on three days after Llewyn slept it off on your couch, but your phone hadn’t actually rung again until just over half an hour ago, and honestly you weren’t sure if that was a blessing or if it was just sad.
You are sure, however, that the sheer desperation in the voice on the other end when you answered is the reason you’re on this train to Queens. Are you doing anything, Llewyn had asked, because I could really, really use some help right now. Please, I’m begging you. And now the echo of your phone ringing just, well, rings in your ears.
The train screeches to a halt and you exit, making your way to the given address. You knock on the door of a smallish, nondescript row house and it swings open almost immediately, revealing a very disheveled, slightly panicked looking Llewyn.
“Oh, thank fuck,” he breathes and grabs you by the arm, dragging you inside.
“Llewyn? What is going on?”
“It’s a disaster,” he says. He’s completely serious.
You’re preparing yourself for blood, broken bones, water damage, collapsed ceilings, possible dismemberment, anything, really, that could explain your friend’s current frazzled condition. What you get is completely, unexpectedly, not anything like that.
There are about ten kids, all around ten years old, running around in the living room, which is also full of balloons and streamers. One giant pinata, shaped like a baseball glove and bat, hangs from the light fixture. To Llewyn’s credit, it is kind of...chaotic, but it’s far from a disaster and you can barely contain the guffaw that escapes your lungs.
“Whose birthday?” you grin at him.
He narrows his eyes at you. “It’s not funny.”
You consider this and try to straighten your lips. Nope, not working. “It’s a little funny.”
Llewyn smacks you lightly on the shoulder. “It’s my nephew’s birthday, and my sister forgot some party thing and made a run to the store. I was stayin’ here last night and she just decided, oh, Llewyn can watch the kids, and she was gone.”
“So what’s the problem, exactly?”
“She should be back by now,” his eyes look slightly panicked.
“Maybe she had to go to a couple stores? Maybe she just got delayed by transit?”
“I can’t do…” Llewyn gestures around weakly, shaking his head. “This.”
“Llewyn, they’re kids. They can’t be more than what, ten years old? Just blindfold them and let them whack at the pinata.”
“You’re the people person. I can’t...can you help me, please,” he turns to look at you. Directly at you. You’re fairly certain his eyes cannot get any bigger or shine more pleadingly.
“Fine,” you sigh. “Let’s go wrangle some kids.”
The panic slides from his face and to your surprise, he throws an arm over your shoulder and kisses the top of your head in his thanks.
And when one kid takes a wild swing at that tacky papier-mache sports equipment, misses completely, and lands a clean hit on Llewyn’s thigh, neither of you talk about it.
You just get him an ice pack.
August 14
“I’m making lasagna. Come over for dinner.”
You worked early that day, and said this to Llewyn as you left the Gaslight for the day. He isn’t playing tonight, and he’s really just here to stay out of the sun, and as much as he doesn’t like to push his luck with others’ hospitality, he has to admit that a home-cooked meal does sound incredible.
He has a feeling your invitation was partly due to Jean showing up, ready to do unnecessary verbal battle because she just can’t let it go, and you’d asked to both deflect her and keep yourself from actual physical battle. But whatever.
So he finds himself at your front door a couple hours later, a bottle of cheapish red wine in hand and an odd tingle in his chest. He dismisses it offhand; he’s probably just hungry.
You open the door and Llewyn’s nose is assaulted by the smell of homemade sauce - he’s half Italian, he knows these things - and cheese and garlic. You smile brightly at him. Yeah, he’s definitely hungry.
“Hey! Come in, it’s almost ready.”
He hands you the bottle. “Brought wine.”
“Excellent,” you lead him to the kitchen table and motion to a seat. He settles himself into it and grabs a piece of bread from the basket on the table as you grab two wine glasses.
“What’s the occasion?” he asks around a mouthful of carbs.
The timer dings and you pull the lasagna out of the oven. “No occasion. I just felt like making this and I didn’t really want to eat alone.”
“Lucky for you I like to eat,” he chuckles.
Your face suddenly feels warmer. Well, you did just pull a piping hot casserole dish out of the oven, so that does make sense, you suppose. You turn and put the lasagna on the trivet in the middle of the table, then turn and grab two regular glasses for water. There is an outlandish, metallic ka-chunk-ing noise as you turn on the tap, and suddenly water is shooting from under the sink and halfway across the room.
Llewyn jumps up and dives at the faucet, a chunk of bread clutched between his teeth, at the same time you crawl halfway under the sink to try and shut the water off. The stream blasts you in the face and you sputter.
This is not how you imagined tonight. Blasted ancient, rickety building. You make a mental note to have words with the super tomorrow.
You finally get the water shut off, and Llewyn closes the tap and sinks down onto the wet floor next to you. You lean against the cabinets and try to wipe the water out of your eyes.
Llewyn fares a little better; he’s only wet from his waist down. Your head thumps back on the soaked particle board behind you and you turn your head towards him. For a long moment he looks back at you, then rips the butt off the hunk of baguette in his mouth and passes it to you.
You snort. He bites his lip.
“Sorry, I think dinner might be a bit late,” you deadpan, eyes still on him, and take a bite of bread.
He bumps your shoulder with his. “It’s okay. Lasagna is always better the next day.”
Llewyn has to admit, though, it’s still pretty good a couple hours later, after you’re both dry and the lake in the kitchen is mopped up and you settle on the couch with your plates.
And if you use the water glasses for the wine, well, neither of you mentions it.
September 14
It’s pleasantly warm today, the heat of late August dragging itself into the beginning of September, and you find yourself in Washington Square Park, on a checkered blanket, a basket in the middle and a guitar by your feet. Pigeons wander and plot to steal food, but it’s easy enough to shoo them away.
It takes a little convincing, early that morning, to get Llewyn to agree to join you. It didn’t, really; he’s quickly become one of your best friends, and he doesn’t have anywhere else to be, he just likes to tease you.
But he does accept, and you eat some of the bread and cheese you packed and drink the iced tea you brought, and you get out a container of fruit salad and package of cookies your down-the-hall neighbor, Mrs. Peterson, made for you that morning.
“For you and your lovely man,” she’d said as she knocked on your door. You feel the warmth in the tips of your ears and you certainly see the color rise in Llewyn’s embarrassed face, but you don’t have the heart to correct her. She’s such a sweet old lady.
Llewyn plays a song or two while you enjoy your lunch, and even asks if you want to hear a new song he’s been working on, which you are more than happy to agree to.
It’s such a pleasant afternoon.
Until a small, brownish-gray blur jumps onto the blanket and grabs a chunk of bread and darts further onto the lawn.
“What the hell!’ Llewyn shouts as you yelp in surprise. The squirrel, for its part, just stops fifty feet away and turns back with a triumphant gaze, then scoots off into the bushes, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in its wake.
He starts to make a comment about the nerve of the wildlife, but you’re not really listening. Your eyes are fixed on the path the squirrel just ran and you tug on Llewyn’s sleeve. He keeps muttering and you tug harder.
“Llewyn.”
He finally looks up and follows your finger. There’s a flock - an honest-to-god flock, not that he has any real idea on the technical makeup of a flock, but there’s more than one so as far as he’s concerned, yeah, it’s a flock - of geese marching directly at the blanket.
Okay, so there’s only three of them. But they look angry.
The leader strides forward deliberately and bites at Llewyn’s shoe. Another yelp leaves your lips and he grabs your hand, pulling you to your feet. He also grabs the remainder of the bread and tosses it in the opposite direction as he takes off running towards the fountain, dragging you behind him.
“Where are we going?” you shout.
“No idea,” he replies. The leader falls for the bread feint, but his loyal minions do not, and they follow behind you, quacking and honking and flapping and Llewyn isn’t sure but he may dislike geese even more than he dislikes pigeons.
He jumps up on the edge of the fountain and pulls you into a protective embrace as the beasts close in. Only Llewyn doesn’t account for, you know, physics, and the force of your bodies colliding sends you both straight into the water.
Spluttering, you try to wipe the water out of your eyes. Llewyn is doing the same when a loud HONK startles you both. The leader is back, flanked by his friends, and they’re all staring at you.
“Um, Llewyn?” you whisper.
“Yeah?”
“...don’t geese like, love the water?”
His eyes flick to you, then the winged monsters, then you again, then the fountain like he’s seeing it for the first time and all he can do is mutter, “Shit!” and grab your hand as he pulls you to your feet and takes off running again.
You manage to swing by and gather the leavings of your picnic, blanket and basket tucked under your arms and his precious guitar clutched to him, as you beeline out of the park, soaking wet and laughing.
October 14
Llewyn slides the key into the lock and turns it, an odd flutter rolling up his spine as he hears the bolt click open. He’s had a key to your apartment for almost two months now. You gave it to him, insisted really, telling him this way he wouldn’t need to worry about finding somewhere to crash. That your couch is always open.
It still doesn’t feel real and he doesn’t always use it, but tonight he really, really doesn’t feel like making the rounds. You’ve been spending more time together recently anyway, and he feels mostly comfortable around you.
He’s greeted by the sight of you wearing a catcher’s mask and knee high rubber boots, and you’re wielding a tennis racquet. He doesn’t know what to say for a full minute.
“What are you...why are you wearing...what the hell.”
“There’s a bat,” is your whispered response.
Llewyn’s nose scrunches and he isn’t any less confused than he was a second ago. “What?”
“There’s a bat,’ you repeat. Your voice is slightly on the edge of hysteria because, well, “there is a bat. In the bathroom.”
“...okay?”
You jab your finger at the closed door. “I was just going to wash my face and brush my teeth and I went in there and it was just...in the corner, by the shelves. It was staring at me.”
He bites his lip, trying his hardest to suppress the smile tugging on his face. It isn’t working. He drops to a whisper himself and asks, “Baby, why are you whispering?”
Your head jerks towards the bathroom, and your shrug nearly sends the tennis racquet into his shoulder. “Because that’s how they...they’re...how they do the...the bat hearing thing!”
Llewyn laughs fully. He can’t help it; you’re ridiculous and his face heats a bit as he realizes it’s entirely endearing. “I don’t think that’s how it works,” he says, his voice sliding back to a whisper. He avoids your death glare as he makes his way to the bathroom door. “But sit tight, slugger, I’ll get rid of it.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
Hand on the doorknob, he pauses and considers this. “Just gonna encourage it to go home? I dunno.”
Your grip tightens on the racquet. “How will that work?!”
“I don’t know! I’m not a fucking bat!” he hisses at you. “Just, make sure a window is open.” He opens the bathroom door.
Several things happen at once. Llewyn doesn’t so much open the door as he flings it wide and it slams into the wall. The bat makes a squeaky-shrieky noise (you were entirely unaware, until now, that they could even do that) and swoops out, recklessly streaking through Llewyn’s mess of curls. You make an actual shriek and fling the side window open as wide as possible. Llewyn makes a sound he can’t describe and you’re honestly not sure if it was Llewyn or the bat. The bat decides to take a few laps around the living room and you duck under the window sill just before it mercifully decides that outside is the place to be. Llewyn slams the window shut and you spring back to your feet, crash into his chest and his arms wrap around you.
Neither of you say anything, and Llewyn isn’t sure how much time passes, but he’s very aware of your hand running through his hair, and your soft words catching as you say you’re just trying to smooth out the bat damage.
He clears his throat. “I, uh, I’ll keep watch out here, make sure that thing doesn’t come back,” he jokes. “You okay?”
You finally - finally, he cheers internally - take off the catcher’s mask and nod slowly. “Yeah, I’m...good. Thanks for...thanks.”
Llewyn lets you go and takes the tennis racquet out of your hands, placing it next to the couch. He throws you a soft smile. “Just in case.”
November 14
It’s been a long night at work, a lot longer than it has any right to be and infinitely insufferable. The Gaslight is packed, patrons nearly crawling the walls and not an empty seat to be found. Drink orders stack up and you try to keep up. It’s so crazy that even Pappi doesn’t have a chance to be a smartass like usual.
Apparently it always gets like this, closer to a holiday.
Note to self - skip holidays.
There are two acts tonight. Llewyn is first, and it’s clear much of the crowd is here to catch him. It cheers you slightly, and it would certainly cheer you more if you had the time to pay more attention to him, but the constant call for whiskey and gin takes most of your focus. But for the time he’s on stage, your heart feels lighter.
Then the second act takes the stage, and Jean launches eye missiles at Llewyn from behind the microphone, and your mood sours instantly.
Yeah, it’s a very long night.
Everything is blurry for the rest of the evening, until last call mercifully rolls around and you can finally get to straightening out the mess the bar has become. You notice Llewyn still sitting on his usual stool at the end of the counter, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Don’t even say it,” you point at him sternly. “When will you stop fussing about this?” Ridiculous man. He has a key to your apartment, and still he worries that he’s an inconvenience.
You toss an orange slice at him, and he allows you a sweet grin.
Finally - finally - you’re home and Llewyn follows you inside, locking the door behind you. He heads for the couch and you head for your room, a mumbled g’night the only word that passes between you. You’re far too exhausted to deal with anything higher level.
It could be minutes or it could be hours later - your alarm clock somehow ended up on the floor and the darkish sky outside giving nothing away, and when did it start raining anyway - when a loud SPRONG and then a yelp and a THUMP from the living room jolts you awake.
It takes a few seconds to regain your senses. “Llewyn?”
“Fuck.”
You stumble out to the living room to find him half-sitting, half-sprawled on the floor, the quilt he normally uses tangled around his knees and ankles. He rubs a spot on his lower back and winces.
“Llewyn! What happened?” you cry.
He points to the middle cushion and you see something sticking up from the padding.
“Oh, Llewyn, jesus. I’m so sorry,” you apologize. You really do feel terrible; your couch hasn’t been in the best shape for ages, and it looks like the squeaky spring you noticed a few weeks ago finally gave up and poked it way through. And stabbed Llewyn in the back as he slept. Damn it.
“It’s...it’s fine,” he tells you, still wincing. “I can turn the other way, or sleep on the floor. Not a big deal.”
You shake your head. “Yes big deal. My couch just stabbed you, and it’s cold outside, you can’t sleep on the floor.”
“S’fine. Not the first time I ended up on the floor.”
You make up your mind before you even think about it and reach your hand out to him. “Come on,” you wiggle your fingers. “Come to bed.”
Llewyn’s eyes go wide and he opens his mouth to protest, but your look is so firm that he relents with a soft sigh and extricates himself from the blanket. He follows you to the bedroom and asks, no less than seven times, if you’re sure this is okay and says he really has no problem sleeping on the floor. You eventually tell him to shut the hell up and get under the covers.
You both lay on your sides, facing each other, but keep a space between you. Llewyn still looks mildly uneasy but relaxes as you smile at him and the warmth of your duvet and the softness of your pillows pull him under.
“Good night again, Llewyn,” you whisper.
“Good night again,” he replies with a soft yawn.
The rain steadily patters on your window and the sky slowly lightens as morning breaks and you languidly wake, curled into Llewyn’s chest, his arms secure around you.
December 14
Snow falls lightly outside, coats the grass and sticks to Llewyn’s curls, and his breath swirls and makes curlicues in the chill winter air. It’s two weeks until Christmas, and you decide to put up a tree, a real tree, and you tell him he’s going to help decorate it.
You also tell him that a bunch of your light strings have stopped working, and before you can ask him to run to the shop down the block that sells replacements, he volunteers and is out the door.
He can’t remember the last time he was anywhere with a real tree. It was usually those cheap-looking fake ones, the green plastic branches a color that would never exist naturally, if there were any tree at all.
So yeah, maybe he’s a little excited. He comes up the steps to the apartment, a bag perched in the crook of his elbow as he unlocks the door.
“So I got the lights, like you asked,” he says cheerfully, and sets the bag down on the table by the door.
“Help.” That’s...not the response he’s expecting.
It’s two weeks since the entire living room has been rearranged. The new, non-back-stabbing couch is on the opposite wall. You rearranged all your shelves, got a new armchair, and much to Llewyn’s wary delight and bewilderment, a new side table. The side table has blank sheet music and pens and there’s a guitar stand next to it and he doesn’t really know what to make of it. You just smile and tell him he needs a space to be himself, whatever that means.
The newly-opened space under the window is where the tree is going. Or, should be going. Llewyn looks down at the toppled fir and sees a foot sticking out near the trunk.
“Sweetheart? What happened?”
Your voice answers from beneath the branches. “Can you just help get this off me, please?”
Llewyn rights the tree and turns his head to check on you. He’s more concerned about you than the tree, of course, but he wants to make sure it doesn’t take you out again so he secures it to the stand as he takes you in. Thankfully you look fine, a few needles stuck to your sweater and a tiny scratch on your cheek, but otherwise…
He tries to stifle a laugh. “You’re looking very festive.”
Your eyes narrow. “Go ahead and ask,” you bite out, “because I know you’re going to ask.”
“I already did ask, before I had to be your lumberjack.”
You refrain from telling him that lumberjacks fell trees, not upright them. Whatever. You motion your head to the shiny silver tinsel wrapped around your torso. You can’t use your hands, really, and you’re not sure how they got tied up in this mess, exactly, but here you are, sitting on your living room floor in a pile of pine needles, trussed like a Christmas goose in sparking silver twine.
And your best friend is laughing at you. Jerk.
“I was trying to get this around the top part, and I lost my balance. Then like an idiot I tried to catch myself on the tree, and the whole damn thing went down with me,” you sigh. “I don’t even know how the rest of this tangled mess happened.”
He does laugh now, full and rich. “I was only gone for like, twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, yeah. Um, can you maybe...untie me?”
“Oh! Wait, here, I got something else,” Llewyn jumps to his feet. He ignores your request and pokes around in the shopping bag.
“If it’s not chocolate, I don’t want to hear about it,” your grumbled response brings another laugh.
Llewyn’s back in front of you seconds later, holding a small white cluster above your head. The grin on his face is equally charming and infuriating.
“You have got to be kidding me,” you blink at him.
“I mean, I was just gonna, y’know, hang it above the door later and let it happen, but now seems like a better time for some Christmas cheer.”
“I think you’re pretty satisfyingly cheerful right now, idiot.”
He waves the mistletoe over your heads. “Come on. It’s tradition.”
One day, maybe you’ll be able to stop sighing in his presence, but today is not that day. You sigh again, roll your eyes, and lean in, planting a soft kiss on his cheek and delighting in the shade of crimson he turns in response. He clears his throat and places the mistletoe to the side.
“Now will you untie me?” you ask, sugar-sweet.
He does, and helps you get the tinsel where it’s supposed to go and you spend the rest of the afternoon decorating the tree and drinking hot cider.
Llewyn sings you more than one Christmas song to make up for all the teasing.
January 14
It seems like a good idea at the time. One of your friends at your actual day-to-day job offers to set you up with another coworker, and it’s been ages since you went on a date and you figure, why not? What could possibly go wrong?
It turns out the answer is, a lot. A lot can go wrong. So much that you don’t even want to think about it.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. There is no chemistry, no spark, just an hours-long recitation of how your date is god’s gift to pretty much everything under the sun and possibly also the moon. The name-drops are just the cherry on top.
Maybe your first impression isn’t wrong after all.
You trudge up to your apartment, the bag of your favorite takeout under your arm filled to nearly bursting, and get the door open. All you want to do is stuff your face and maybe take a long, hot bath with a glass of wine. Yes, that sounds perfect.
The melody of a strumming guitar stops as you place the bag on the side table and shimmy out of your coat. The lamp in the corner is the only illumination and you tilt your head towards the armchair’s occupant. You’re surprised that he’s there, but only because he was supposed to be somewhere else tonight. Knowing he wouldn’t be around was at least...half the reason you agreed to this stupid date in the first place.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on a date tonight?” Llewyn asks in a low voice through the dim light.
“Aren’t you supposed to be playing at the Gaslight tonight?” you retort, brow raised.
He shrugs. “Might have had a few too many an’ said some things. Might’ve gotten thrown out.”
“Mmm,” you appraise him. He just looks the same way you feel; ridiculously tired. Exhausted. “Might’ve told my date I had to use the restroom but… maybe didn’t mention I meant the one at my house.”
“That bad?” Despite his snort, Llewyn sounds genuinely curious.
You sigh as you flop down on the couch and hold up the takeout bag. “I’d rather not talk about it. You wanna help me eat this?”
In an instant he’s on the couch next to you and you hand him some plastic utensils and a napkin. You get up and grab two beers. For a while you just focus on eating, passing containers back and forth with occasional comments about the food. Your knees bump sometimes as you each reach for different containers or your drinks.
“So what happened?”
You stab a piece of chicken a bit more forcefully than necessary. “I said I don’t want to talk about it. It was a stupid idea to go on a blind date.”
“Kind of a stupid idea to go on a date at all,” Llewyn replies softly.
“What.” It’s not really a question. You definitely don’t mean it as a question and you vaguely think about throwing an egg roll at him but that would be an honest waste of decent takeout.
“I know what the problem is,” he continues in a normal voice. “It’s the fourteenth.”
You look at him with a raised brow. He has an odd look on his face and you wait a beat before asking, “Okay? And?”
Llewyn also waits a beat before replying and points at you with his fork, a green bean stabbed on the end. You lean forward and pluck it off with your teeth. He needs a moment to clear his throat before he can go on. “It’s the fourteenth,” he repeats. “Don’t know if you noticed, but...well..weird things seem to keep happening. On the fourteenth. Of every month.”
“Huh.” He’s right, now that you think about it. You stab your food again. “What do you think that means?”
Llewyn looks like he wants to say something, like he’s going to say something, but instead he just shrugs. You put the container down and lean back on the couch, swinging your feet into Llewyn’s lap.
He idly strokes your ankles as his expression grows serious. “I think it means we should not go out on any fourteenths, ever. Just to be safe.”
You poke him with your big toe. “You’re an idiot. There are things that can happen inside. There are things that have happened inside.”
A smirk creeps through his beard. “Shit, you’re right. One-a your crappy novels might fall off the shelf and crack me on the skull.” He pauses. “More run-ins with wildlife? Oh! I know. Squirrels, but this time, in the walls.”
“That’s not funny!” you try to poke him again and dissolve into giggles as he tickles your foot. Your combined laughter ricochets off the living room walls before dissipating back into silence.
This time, you’re clearing your throat before being able to continue. “It’s been a day. I’m gonna go take a hot bath.” You get up and walk down the hall to the bathroom.
“Please don’t fall asleep in the tub!” he calls after you. “Don’t forget what day it is.”
Idiot.
After your bath, you head to the bedroom and find Llewyn passed out on top of the covers. He has a key, and he stays over far more often than not nowadays, and even though he’s been told numerous times since the broken couch that it’s okay if he’d rather sleep in a bed, you don’t mind sharing, he rarely takes you up on that offer. Okay, so this is the first time since the broken couch that he’s even sort of taken up the offer.
It’s been a weird day.
You grab a quilt and curl up on the other side of the bed, pulling it over both of you and snuggling down into your pillow.
“I wonder what happens on the next fourteenth,” you yawn mutter into the darkness of the room.
You’re asleep, so you can’t notice that Llewyn isn’t, really, and he rolls to face away from you and whispers, “Yeah, me too.”
February 14
The air inside the Gaslight is thick with smoke that coils and kinks around the dim lights on the walls and the candles on the tables. Someone at the end of the bar calls out for a straight bourbon, which you pour and pass down. The sound system shrieks with feedback for three painful seconds as Pappi flips the power on.
You glance back behind the bar, making sure the bottles are stocked and the glasses are ready. Another night at the Gaslight is about to start, and Llewyn isn’t playing tonight, and he hasn’t shown up yet, which is strange.
Another thing that’s strange? This weird feeling of déjà vu. Whatever, you’ve been working more nights at the club recently, and they’re all starting to blend together.
“Your friend’s out back,” Pappi’s voice breaks into your thoughts as he sidles up to the bar and leans back on it.
“My friend?” you ask, confused.
Pappi shrugs. “Said he was a friend of yours. Dark curly hair, worn corduroy jacket, always looks tired or pissed off or both.”
Your expression doesn’t change. “Wait, why is...did he get the crap kicked out of him again?”
“Nah,” Pappi shakes his head. “At least, maybe not yet. Anyway, I dunno, he just asked me to tell you he was outside. I don’t know what the hell he’s up to.” He nods his head towards the back exit and turns to tend to the bar.
Strange.
You duck your head out the door and glance up and down the alley. You see nothing except the usual debris; trash containers, the dumpster, the rusty drain pipes that run down from the gutters, weathered fire escapes. Something skitters off at the far end and disappears between the buildings. Was that a raccoon?
You snort a laugh as you recall Llewyn’s jab about wildlife run-ins. It would be something that happens, in a dark alley behind a basket house in Greenwich Village on the fourteenth of…
Oh. It is the fourteenth.
“Hey,” a familiar voice calls from the head of the alley.
Llewyn stands there, leaning against the brick, dark curls and worn corduroy and all. He holds a single yellow rose in his hands. He looks incredibly nervous, enough to match you looking incredibly confused.
You step fully outside and the door clicks shut behind you. “Hi?”
“Uhm, this is for you,” he says, awkwardly holding the rose out. “Saw a guy selling ‘em a few blocks down, thought you might like it.”
“Thank you? But what’s the occasion?” Why is everything coming out as a question? Even that.
He bites his lip. “You don’t know what today is?”
“Yeah, it’s the four---” Oh. Oh.
“You wanna get out of here? Have dinner with me, maybe?” Llewyn rubs the back of his neck. It’s a nervous habit you’ve seen him done countless times, usually when he’s thinking about something serious and… Oh.
You twirl the rose in your fingertips and don’t quite meet his eyes. “I thought you said maybe we shouldn’t go out any fourteenths.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, well. Um, I don’t know if you also noticed, along with this whole fourteenth business, but I...I really like spending time with you, just hanging out with you, and...I don’t know. Maybe it’s stupid, but I thought maybe we could, y’know, have a non-weird fourteenth day of the month for a change.”
He’s rambling and it’s adorable. You hum softly. “...on Valentine’s Day.”
Llewyn’s hands twitch in his pockets. “Well...yeah. I mean, I like spending time with you, but...I also like you. So why not?”
He has a point. And really, now that one of you has said it out loud, you really can’t deny it. All the time spent together, all the shared meals and drinks and late-night talks on the couch and letting him basically move into your apartment...it’s no secret, you realize, it never really was, how close you’ve become over the past many months. How easy it is with him. How natural it is.
All the times he helped you. All the times you helped him. All the times you were together, just being.
The fourteenth of the month be damned.
You pretend to think about it for a little longer than necessary as Llewyn watches you anxiously. “Well, I do have to work, you know.”
“I already asked your boss,” he shakes his head, “and he was more than willing to agree. Something about not getting a black eye on your behalf tonight.”
Your laugh rings out into the street. “But it is the fourteenth. What if one of us gets food poisoning or chokes on dessert or something?”
“Vomit doesn’t bother me and I know the Heimlich,” he smirks. “And I’m already asking you out in a dark alley in the Village, how much weirder can it get?”
“You make a fair point, Llewyn Davis.”
He extends an elbow and a hopeful smile.
If he notices, as he brushes his lips on your knuckles as you take his offered arm, that your breath catches and your heart rate increases, he doesn’t let on.
But later that night, as he trails kisses along your jaw and down your neck and asks you what you want to do on the next fourteenth, well, Llewyn Davis definitely notices then.
~end~
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roommates (III)
i’m literally obsssed
I, II , IV<- additional roommate fluff
prompts i used: 1 2 3
spencer reid x reader
synopsis: and they were roommates
word count: 1.3k
masterlist
————
sunday paper
to you the paper was just something to be eventually recycled
but to spencer it was something so special, so special he’d wake up at 8 am on a sunday just to grab it. usually waking you up in the process
“spencer why”
he was perched on his chair, coffee in hand getting settled in to read
“why what?”
“why must you get up at 8 am, that stupid news paper would still be there at noon”
“i don’t wanna risk the neighbors stealing it, they’re sketchy y/n”
“believe me spencer no one wants to steal your news paper, and anyways wake up when you want but you don’t need to be so loud”
“hey it’s not my fault i tripped over your 100 cords plugged into the wall”
you rolled your eyes are we about to go back to bed when spencer called out
“so you don’t want the cross word y/n?”
you immediately turned around, you had a love for crosswords
you stood in front of him “give it”
he tuts “i thought you said my news paper was stupid”
“it is, give me the cross word”
“you have to respect the newspaper to get the cross word”
you scoffed
“fine i respect the news paper”
“and?”
“and??????”
“what else”
“it’s very cool and it’s totally not a waste of paper and ink when you could just look at news online”
he nods and hands you the crossword, that you work on fervently
——
white board
you and spencer had a little white board that was on your fridge, you’d write little notes to each other as you came and went
“we’re out of coffee creamer
- reid”
“okay i’ll get more creamer, why do you sign your name? there’s only two people living here
-l/n”
“the new creamers great, thanks. and i don’t know what if someone broke in and decided to leave a note. it could’ve been them
-reid”
“fair enough, have a good day spence!
-l/n”
—
“y/n, question that’s too awkward to ask any other way: do you miss me when i leave on cases?
-reid”
“yeah of course i do, i miss having someone to talk to constantly, of course i miss my best friend when he’s gone spencer was kind of question is that. but it’s not too bad because we work together and we’re always on the phone. anyway yeah i do
-l/n”
“oh okay, that’s good to hear because i miss you too, i never wake up in the middle of the night to find morgan baking in our hotel. and i miss hearing the singing from the bathroom. anyways,,, we’re leaving on a case tonight (as your most likely aware). don’t forget to feed the fish for me!
-reid”
-
“have a good day y/n!
-reid
p.s. attached is a drawing of a lady bug!“
“i quite enjoy your lady bug spencer, have a good day as well!
-l/n
p.s. i tried to draw a bee”
“y/n i love you but that’s the most a.) terrible drawing of a bee and b.) most scientifically un accurate bee i’ve ever seen, why is its stinger so big?
-reid”
“dont stinger shame my bee, he likes himself how he is
-l/n”
——-
blackouts
you and spencer were both in the home office, you were sitting through emails and spencer was reading a book under the lamp, when suddenly the light went out
“my computer! i was just- my emails!!”
“ugh now i can’t see my book”
“dont you have that book memorized at this point spencer”
“yes, but i like to re read”
you laughed and went under the sink to pull out the flash lights
you stood up, immediately tripping over spencer
“jesus christ spencer dont sneak up on me like that”
he caught you mid fall
“apologies, do the flash lights work?”
you clicked them on and off, gave the back of them a good smack as well
“shoot no, i think i have some candles”
you wandered off into your room, spencer hearing another loud thump and rushing to see if you were okay
“y/n?? are you okay?”
“yes i’m fine, this wall came out of no where”
you found the few candles and the lighter, giving a couple to spencer to spread around the apartment
you were criminally bored, your whole life revolves around your computers, which were useless without an electricity
spencer was reading his book next to one of the candles, he looked like an 18th century philosopher, crouched down with a tiny worn out book in his hands, next to the light of a candle
you were hanging backwards off the couch in boredom
“spencerrrrrrrr”
“yes?”
“i’m bored. the super said the power won’t be back for a whole TWO hours”
spencer looked around, your apartment wasn’t nearly illuminated enough to play any sort of game
“do you want me to read to you?”
he flashed you the book, “the prince” by niccolo machiavelli
“it is much more secure to be feared than loved”
“ahh you’re an expert already”
he crawled on the couch next to you, moving another candle near him to start and reading the pages to you
you listening peacefully as spencer read the pages to you, his voice like music to your ears
———
spiders
spencer was finishing up his nightly routine, about to enter his bed when he heard a scream from tour room
he immediately ran in “what’s wrong? are you okay?”
you trembled as you pointed to the spider on your wall, you then took refuge under spencer’s arm
“y/n seriously? it’s not going to hurt you”
“i don’t careeeeeee!! spence kill it please please please”
he looked at you, you were glossy eyed and had a terrible fear of spiders. he didn’t wanna kill it, but he’d do anything for you, including insect murder
he grabbed a tissue and crushed the spider, disposing of it in the trash
“my hero!” you flung your arms around him, he stroked the back of your head
“y/n if the food chain in this apartment is thrown off now i’m blaming you”
———
keys
“hey y/n you ready to go home?”
you wearing in the cave with penelope
“hey tonight i’m gonna stay a little late, penelope can give me a ride home”
“oh okay, see you at home then”
you guys waved to each other
penelope started to tease
“you’re so in love”
“am not!”
penelope put her best spencer impression on
“are you ready to go home the dearest y/n? ready to come with me? your genuis future boyfriend?”
you threw a piece of paper at her
“shut up! oh my gosh it’s not even like that”
a couple minutes later you get a call from spencer
“hey spence what’s up?”
“okay so, i um. am locked out? i t-think my key fell out on the jet?? i’ll check tomorrow but for now can you please come and open the door for me”
you laughed and told penelope
“yes of course i can my love, sit tight i’ll see you soon”
“okay thank you y/n, bye”
you put down your phone and laughed to yourself a bit
penelope dropped you off at your yet apartment, you found spenxer sitting on the steps on the front door
“spencer?”
“oh hi y/n sorry for making you come out”
“hey no worries, i live here too”
you opened the door and spencer followed you in
“thank you y/n, you’re the very best roommate”
you nodded but in your head you said
“if you like me as a roommate you should see me as a girlfriend”
#criminal minds#spencer reid#spencer reid fanfiction#criminal minds fanfiction#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid fluffy#spencer reid x fem!reader#spencer x y/n
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What about (for seb/bucky/lance/chris- whichever works for you) the first time the seb character and reader are celebrating her birthday together. And the seb character goes overboard because she has never had someone spoil, or make her feel so loved and important, in a relationship before. Thanks!
IM SORRY IMMA HAVE TO WRITE CARTER FOR THIS ONE BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT BOY IS GONNA BE SPOILING YN LIKE A FUCKING PRINESS
-
“just a few more steps, beautiful, ooh, watch your step.” “i can’t very well watch what I can’t see, baizen.”
he rolls his eyes as he covers her eyes, leading her through their shared penthouse of six months but he’s no less excited for y/n to see what he set up for her
“alright, princess, open your eyes”
and she gasps so loud
he’s literally turned their living room into a palace
it’s been redone completely, velvet upon velvet furniture and gold inlays into the fireplace below the television
candles, vanilla of course, are scattered around the room and there’s a wholeass fur rug on the ground that he’s got planned for later... activities, yes, we’ll say that
soon enough there’s a double layered pearl necklace surrounding her neck and here eyes are widening because holy shit this has to cost more than a year’s paycheck for her
even after two years she’s adamant to accepting his gifts because she feels absolutely astonished still that he was born and raised on the upper east side with affluence and had somehow allowed a girl of her “lowly brooklyn status” (dan’s words not hers) into his life
but, as if he can read her mind, immediately pins her arms by her sides before she can remove and return it
“lemme spoil you on your birthday, gorgeous, you deserve it”
but JESUS CHRIST this man is an absolute romantic
like the absolute lovesick fool he is he’s created a little map of their relationship, an entire wall dedicated to gold glittery ribbon connecting the locations and pictures pointing out his favorite parts of their relationship
and y/n is at a loss of word so she cried instead
no guy has ever made her feel special
except for carter
he’s dedicated every second of his life since he started dating her to making sure that she felt loved
and damn if she knew well enough that that man would lift the skies for her
“i’ve got a bottle of pommery on the rack if you wanna put that to use” and she just grins cheekily at the suggestive expression on her boyfriend’s face
and they’re doing it in front of the fireplace and it’s slow and sweet and he’s uttering words of absolute adoration in her ear
when they’re absolutely spent she just snuggles up close to his chest as he strokes her hair and runs his fingers up and down her back
“marry me”
and she stares at him with those innocent eyes of hers, the eyes that had pulled him to her when they first met, and she’s nearly whispering “what”
and he’s smiling, oh god nothing has been as big as his smile whe he asks her again, but that might change when she says “yes”
🥲i’m fine
#carter baizen#carter baizen x reader#carter x reader#carter baizen x you#gossipgirl#xoxo gossip girl#gossip girl#sebastian stan#sebastian#tinymalscoffeedrabbles#bucky x y/n#bucky x you#bucky x reader#bucky barnes#sebastianstan
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Watching Phantom with my cousins but it's only the commentary they made:
Opening scene:
"WAIT! Doesn't the girl die at the end?? She.. she gets tossed in a.. a hot thing in a basement right???" "Dude, I think you're describing hell"
*chandelier crashes* "HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE-"
Think of me
"He's theEEERRrEEEeE tHHEEE pHHHaAAaNnNTTTOOOomMMm of tHe OPPEERRrRRRaaa" "SHUT UP, IM TRYING TO WATCH" (This will continue everytime Erik appears)
*madame Giry slams her cane on the ground while Christine is singing* "oop she had to do it to them"
*while Christine is singing* "HER EYES??? HER EYES! H E R E Y E S!!!"
Angel of music
""Gee, there's a phantom in this opera house?? Damn, wonder who that could be, anyway, Meg, have i told you about my angel of music?""
"If I can't be Christine then I wanna be Meg, she's i c o n i c"
Little Lotte/The mirror
"Who's he??? He's cute." (About Raoul)
"DID HE REALLY GO TO THE GODDAMN SEA JUST TO GET HIS CRUSH’S SCARF??? D E D I C A T I O N”
"JESUS CHRIST" (When Erik screams "INSOLENT BOY")
"HE'S HERE!!! THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERAAAAAAAAA"
Main theme/Phantom of the opera
"TUN TUN TUN TUNNNNNNNN TUN TUN TUN TUN TUNNNNNNN-" "liteRALLY SHUT UP"
"*insert various variations of Christine going "AAAAAAAAaAAaAaAA" here*" (this will continue on at random parts when someone disagrees with what's happening on screen)
Music of the night
"*sighs dreamily* When will someone serenade me in the moonlight with a bunch of candles everywhere??"
"Why are his lips so big??"
Stranger than you dreamt it
"Oh. That's why."
Notes/Primadonna
"Literally what in GOD'S name are they saying???"
Poor fool he makes me laugh
"WHO CARRREEEEESSSSSS???? Where's the phantom????"
"THERE HE IS!!! HE'S THERE, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERAAAAA"
"WOW, what a dick." (When Carlotta starts to croak and the Raoul supporters realize it's because of Erik)
Why have you brought me here/Raoul, I’ve been there
"WOW, WHAT A DICK." (Erik supporters When Raoul grabs Christine and says "There is no Phantom of the opera")
"RAOUL YOU WERE LITERALLY JUST IN THE OPERA HOUSE WHERE HE J U S T A P P E A R E D????"
"He's a dumbass, but he's MY dumbass"
All I ask of you
(When I mentioned that Hadley only had 2 weeks to rehearse and he almost forgot his line) "DAMN HE RECOVERED HELLA QUICK THO"
"They're so cute,,,,, they're so cute,,,,,"
"She's pretty, she's talented and she gets to sing with a handsome guy???? QUEEN"
"OH MY GOD ARE THEY GONNA KISS????" "NO THEY'RE NOT"
"AHHAHAHAHHA YES!!!" "nOOOOOOOOOOOO"
"AAAAAAAAAAaAaAaAAAaAA" (Erik supporters when they kiss) "SHUT UP"
"HIS LAUGH OMG"
All I ask of you reprise
(Phantom appears) "oh for GOD'S SAKE" "He'S hEEERRRREEEEEE THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA"
"Oh, you gonna cry?? You gonna cry because you're a little bitch who can't handle getting rejected???" "SHUT UP!!! DON'T DISRESPECT THE PHANTOM LIKE THAT, HE'S A COMPLEX CHARACTER-" "HE'S A LITTLE BITCH IS WHAT HE IS" "AAaaaaaAAAAAaa" "SHUT UP"
“Lmaoooo he’s covering his ears”
Masquerade
“RAOUL AND CHRISTINE DANCING I-“
“THEY’RE SO CUTEEEEEEEEE”
“Wait, if this is a masquerade, why doesn’t Raoul have a mask?” “Because his face is too pretty to be covered, duh.”
“He’S THEREEE THE PHANTOM OF THE O-“ “OKAY WE GET IT”
“He really had to have the most extra costume huh”
Notes/Twisted every way
“The managers should honestly just find another opera house to run.”
“”They don’t have to they can’t make you” BUT THEN HE FORCES HER???? LMAO OK THANKS RAOUL”
(Picture above happens) “HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA” “SHUT UP HE’S TRYING HIS BEST”
“Raoul and Christine should just move. They should just find another place where she can perform. She doesn’t deserve this.”
Wishing you were somehow here again
(No one was talking because we were all just taking in her vocals)
Wandering Child/Bravo monsieur
“OH HE’S BACK, WOW WE’RE SO SURPRISED” “HE’S THEREEE THE PHANTOM OF THE OP-“ “I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP-“
“CHRISTINE NOOOOOOOOO” “RAOUL JUST RUN UP TO HER, THAT’S LITERALLY ALL YOU HAVE TO DO”
“What in Christ’s name are they saying: the thrilling sequel”
“YESSSSS GIVE INNNN GIVE INNNNN”
“DAMN IT RAOUL” “YES RAOUL”
“Take a shot every time someone says “monsieur””
Point of no return
“HE’S THEREEEEE THE PHAAA-“ “SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP”
“UGH, HE WAS WATCHING THEM WHEN ALL I ASK OF YOU HAPPENED??” “SHUT UP, HE’S ONLY DOING THAT BECAUSE HE’S CLINGING TO THE FIRST LOVE HE’S EVER FELT IN HIS LI-“ “IT’S CREEPY” “IT’S ROMANTIC”
Final lair
“Wait where’d Raoul’s coat go??? Did it just dissapear off the face of the earth?”
“THE PHANTOM AND CHRISTINE LOVE EACH OTHER, YOU DONT GET IT” “SHE’S ENGAGED, YOU DONT GET IT” “HER FIANCÉ’S A DICK” “THE PHANTOM IS A DICK”
“RAOUL, WHY DID YOU GO ALONE, YOU DUMBASS???”
“RAOUL YOU WERE GIVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE AND YOU DIDN’T TAKE IT, HONESTLY YOU DESERVE THIS”
“They don’t deserve this. No one in this musical deserves this”
“What are they saying: a trilogy”
“NOOO WHAT THE FUCK” “GOD DAMN IT” “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME” “YESSSSSS YESSS YESSSS” “WE WON!!!” “WE LOVE TO SEE IT!” “AAAAAAAaaAaAaaAaAAaAaAaAAAAaAa”
“NO CHRISTINE, CHRISTINE STAY WITH HIM!!” “PHANTOM, ANSWER HER!!!” (Raoul: say the word, and I will follow you) “SHUT UP RAOUL, YOU WERE CLEARLY NOT SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT”
*insert sobbing here*
Aftermath
“Honestly, Christine should just find another person to date, both of them suck.”
(No, they don’t know that there’s a sequel.)
#phantom of the opera#poto#raoul de chagny#christine daae#erik#the phantom of the opera#raoulstine#hadley fraser#sierra boggess#ramin karimloo#poto 25th
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SD ANON BUT I AM 20 NOW! what the fuck ! what the fuck ! i still feel 18! but i am going to the tide pools for my birthday with two friends who are in town! tragic thing about being in college is that your spring break either doesn’t align w high school friends’ or your college friends go to their homes BUT some of my hs friends came back early so i am excited and also like. existentially terrified a bit about my early 20s.
ANYWAYS a ton of things have happened since last time i responded!! i kept meaning to and then another Thing would happen so. car crash poem went over very well my established poet prof was like. i thought you were an english major. and also said she would waive any prereqs for me if i wanted to take her advanced poetry class which !! requires a manuscript acceptance usually!!
soba stir fry was excellent i put in a little too much chili sesame oil but once i got used to the spicy it was fantastic
well see my roommate is 19 and he is now 24. but whatever! she is an adult. the big news is that my other roommates have broken up in a Big Thing that was like. not just a dating thing also a roommate boundary thing. and it is not my roommate’s fault at all. it’s such a long story but basically the other one literally won’t acknowledge she did smth wrong/apologize to my roommate/apologize to me/have a conversation instead of running away every weekend
so. she is finding a way to get out of her lease. good riddance imo she was Something.
also yes!! dishes + stream or dishes + chuckle sandwich is my go to. now that my college doesn’t do gym reservations anymore gym is also where i catch up on vods and videos! have to hide phone screen when people walk past but i am unlearning that
arc 2 arc 2 arc 2 i love your writing and i’m always excited to see where it goes!
lyft. painful. uber is cheaper sometimes but like, i went to two concerts in feb and for one i had to ask someone to drive bc the lyft was a whole 70$ for 20 minutes
also yes! the dead kelp smell i miss it i can’t wait to be near the ocean again like it’s still cold n stuff outside but!! ocean!! i wish i could get an ocean scented candle but like a Real One
agnes hit me so hard every time and it’s so so so good man i just love glass animals ! i have heard heat waves everywhere at this point and it hasn’t gotten old but sometimes you are standing in a sally’s beauty supply thinking about how you know far too many things about why this song is playing.
i missed these conversations! work somehow just has a habit of sneaking up and drowning you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SD ANON!!! hope you have fun at the tide pools, they're so cool! and yeah spring break never aligns istg, I don't have spring break till next week (and I have finals rn I'm suffering)
YOOO that's so cool your prof will let you into the advanced poetry class! so awesome that she liked your poem!
oh god every time i use chili oil i end up putting too much and then i suffer but god soba stir fry with chili oil sounds so good rn im so hungry
that's a lot of roommate drama goddamn. at least the one roommate is looking to move out so you guys aren't all stuck in a very awkward situation! roommate fights are terrible especially when the other person refuses to try and work it out
lmao i still hide my phone when i'm watching streams at my favorite coffee shop. like no thanks don't need anyone to know i'm using my free time to watch a 17 year old british kid play minecraft
SEVENTY??? JESUS CHRIST tbf I guess gas is like. insane rn. but holy shit that's so much
god same i love heat waves as a song because it's a bop but it always makes me think of That and i'm like why...
and ty i'm excited for arc 2 too!! we're finally a bit into it and i'm just like yesss the entire reason i wrote this fic aaaa
i've missed our conversations too but i totally get the busy thing, I gotta go study for finals now OOPS
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PPG One-Shot: Six Degrees Chiller (Brick/Blossom)
A new cute one-shot in honor of @carriedreamerx birthday! In the same high school AU as part 1, part 2, and part 3, but can totally stand-alone. Also posted on my AO3. Tune in for some laughs and some Reds cuteness!
Summary: Brick goes deodorant shopping. It doesn't end well. (Or does it??)
xxx
Brick squinted at the nine-foot shelf packed with a full color wheel of deodorants and antiperspirants. The sheer surfeit of brands and scents was as daunting to behold as it was absolutely batshit insane—how many ways did people need to not smell like a dirty gym sock?
He picked a random stick and scowled at the label as if it had offended him and all his future progeny. Who the fuck would want to smell like mango lassi?
The squeak of a shopping cart rolling down the aisle sent Brick into a febrile panic for a hot second, and he shoved the saccharine deodorant stick back onto the shelf. A geriatric woman with a hunched back, a bright head scarf, and eyes so folded over with wrinkles it was a miracle she could see anything at all wheeled her cart slowly past Brick, who froze where he stood. She smiled politely at him, and he nodded out of sheer self-preservation instinct. The moment she passed him, he yanked the bill of his red cap lower over his eyes.
“Get a grip,” he grumbled. He was an eighteen-year-old guy buying deodorant, not stool softener. He was totally casual and had absolutely no reason to be so fucking paranoid. Nobody who might recognize him was coming to Cooper’s Market at 8 a.m. on a Sunday.
Brick wiped his clammy palms on his jeans and searched the shelves for what he’d come for so he could hurry up and leave. There it was, fifth shelf in a sea of sleek black and edgy, neon letters: Axe Ice Chill.
“Okay, do you consider yourself more of a music lover, sports star, gaming guru, or style icon?” Boomer had asked as he sat cross-legged on the sofa with his laptop open to the Axe “Find Your Magic” test a few months ago.
“Sports star,” Butch had said on his left, and poked the screen that wasn’t a touch-screen.
“That’s you, moron,” Brick had said, totally above this stupid test. “Pick style icon.”
Boomer grinned. “Oh yeah, your hoodies are so stylin’.” He clicked the next question. “Signature scent? Huh, maybe warm and aromatic?”
“Sounds like one of those Yankee holiday candles,” Butch had said.
Unfortunately, he had a point.
“Well, you're not exactly woody and earthy, and you’re definitely not fruity and sweet—”
“Just go to the next one.” Brick clicked on “fresh and cool” and waited for the screen to load. “Smellin’ good!” the loading page flashed at him. Jesus fucking Christ.
When the quiz presented a true or false statement, Butch moved like he had a bug up his ass and slammed the touchpad before Brick or Boomer could do anything about it.
Boomer tried not to laugh. “Dude, come on.”
“Please, he’s a punk-ass dweeb who’d never make the first move in a fight, let alone on a girl—” Butch had taunted.
Brick punched him in the throat with his Super speed and smiled at the sound of his asshat brother gagging. “Choke and die, motherfucker.”
Butch wheezed as he laughed through the pain, and Brick and Boomer breezed through the more generic age and appearance questions: under 18, long hair (“Mane Man!” the quiz gushed, and Brick almost melted Boomer’s laptop right there), and natural look. After an artificially anticipatory loading screen, a picture of a dude with a clown nose crowd surfing in a sepia Instagram filter appeared on the screen with the generic “Be your best self!” encouragement in blocky letters superimposed upon it, and finally the expert, personalized recommendation for Brick’s body spray needs.
“Because you’re hotter when you’re chill.” Brick had cringed when he read that idiotic tagline the first time, and he cringed reading it again now in the deserted personal hygiene aisle where he prayed no one would find him buying this cry-for-help vanity spritz.
However.
He sprayed a bit of mist in the air and reveled in that cool, icy scent that wasn’t a scent so much as a feeling. Six degrees chiller in a bottle. The first time he’d tried it (under great duress), he’d griped and bitched and slammed his bedroom door to get away from his howling brothers. Settled on his bed with a frown, he had to admit it did cool him off. It was almost pleasant. The smell wasn’t overwhelming like that tiger piss Butch bathed in on the daily. But it wasn’t out of this world compared to the generic shit he’d been using before.
It wasn’t until Blossom sneezed on their way out of AP Lit that her ice breath—and understanding—hit him with the force of a cold snap to the balls.
“Sorry, did I get you?” she’d said, abashed as she covered her mouth with one hand and fished out a bottle of Purell from her messenger bag with the other. Her ice splatter fast melted on his shoulder as his too-warm body absorbed the cold with a bizarre, but extremely pleasant, shiver down his spine.
Son of a bitch, but he had a kink.
Which, of course, spiraled way the hell out of control when he found himself here months later with a recycled shopping bag he’d brought so he could carry the three bottles of Axe Ice Chill he planned to purchase home, because Brick planned ahead and liked to keep his bathroom well-stocked.
Which also, of course, was why at that very moment, fate decided to punch him in the dick.
“Bubbles, you have, like, fourteen bottles of shampoo at home! You don’t need another one,” Buttercup groused at 8 in the goddamned morning on a Sunday.
“Those are all different products, not just shampoo. Honestly, Buttercup.” Bubbles zipped into the aisle with Buttercup on her tail just at the moment Brick had his second panic attack in the span of five minutes and completely lost his shit.
He launched the bottle of Axe Ice Chill so hard into the ceiling that it lodged in there tighter than a prairie-dogging turd.
“Brick?” Blossom’s hand on his shoulder nearly sent him yeeting after his abused body spray, if the sheer mortification didn’t rob him of further motor function and exactly one hundred percent of his brain cells.
Like her sisters, she wore a jacket over her pajama pants. They must have just popped over for some last-minute breakfast staples and a side of peer humiliation. But even in those criminally hideous Ugg boots and five boxes of pancake mix in her shopping basket at 8 on a fucking Sunday morning, her smile glowed.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he returned lamely, because that was all she was getting from him until his neurological functions rebooted.
“Hi, Brick,” Buttercup said, suspicious like usual and searching for some excuse to bust his balls for a laugh. “What’re you doing here?”
The Super sisters had cornered him in front of the Teen Spirit, which came in an absolutely frightful eighteen scents because there was nothing pubescent teenagers needed more than eighteen reassurances that their social survival depended on smelling like a potpourri candy bar.
“Shopping, obviously,” Bubbles said. “Ooh, Brick, you have straight hair. What do you think?” She held up two bottles of brightly colored free-range, organic hair shit.
“I think I was just leaving,” he managed.
“Empty-handed?” Buttercup peered at him like he might transform into a literal dick with ears if she only managed not to blink for long enough. He could smell the threat of a joke on her.
“They didn’t have the brand I wanted.”
“Oh, that sucks,” Bubbles said, genuinely stricken.
“Girls, let’s get going. I really want those pancakes,” Blossom said.
“We better grab more syrup. Buttercup finished it all,” Bubbles said, already moving away. She dropped both hair products in Blossom’s basket, not bothering to choose between them.
“Oh please, everybody knows you and the Professor are the syrup fiends in this house.” Buttercup floated after her and waved to Brick. “Hey, tell that shithead to answer my texts. He owes me $20.”
“Uh-huh,” Brick said, fully intending not to mention anything about this conversation to Butch at all.
“Sorry about your favorite brand being sold out,” Blossom said.
It’s fine, he would have said had she not caught his cheek in her hand and pressed a frosty kiss to the corner of his lips before he could do anything about it. Frozen fernlings crept over his cheek and chin, down his neck, and slowly absorbed through his now flushed skin, and he shivered. Without even thinking about it, he reached for her, but she was already walking away to catch up with her sisters.
When she got to the end of the aisle, she shot him a cheeky grin over her shoulder and had the nerve to wink at him. “Stay cool, Brick.”
Red in the face and high on her, Brick just stood there like an idiot gawking at his kind of unofficial girlfriend and the singular dominating object of his fantasies, be they sexual or otherwise. What was dignity when she smiled at him like that? What was a paltry imitation in a bottle when she kissed him like that?
The paltry imitation fell from its hole in the ceiling and exploded on the tiled floor at Brick’s feet with a winter ferocity that, in that moment at least, rivaled Blossom’s in the heat of battle.
When Brick got home later that morning and Boomer asked him why he smelled like a snowman’s asshole, Brick burned the clothes on his back and spent the next half hour in the shower thinking about how he was going to convince Blossom to make the first move and finally make them official.
xxx
Y’all better appreciate the research that went into this fic. That Axe quiz is real and I took it pretending to be Brick, and it literally does spit out a photo of a dude wearing a clown nose in a club. If that’s not a sign from the Daddy that I’ve chosen the righteous path, then idk what is. Sacrifices to my Chrome search history were made for this fic in the name of celebrating Carrie, ergo, worth it.
#Blossick#PPG Reds#Blossom#Brick#Powerpuff Girls#PPG Fanfic#Powerpuff Girls Fanfiction#february fic prompts#ppg shook
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A Need So Great-Chapter 10
Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.
Word Count:
Warnings: Alcohol, smut, unprotected sex
A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.
Taglist: @dirtynerdy98 @1zashreena1 @heresathreebee @deliciouslyclassytrash @maybege @kid-from-new-zealand @clydesducktape @revolution-starter
Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
The bathing suit still fit. Eva was glad of it, she hadn’t had time to go out and shop for a new one. A cherry red halter top paired with high waisted bottoms, she’d purchased it a year or so previous on a whim and only worn it a handful of times. Being a consultant for the DEA didn’t lend itself to lounging by the water. She threw on a soft cotton cover up, stepped into her sandals, and grabbed the fifth of vodka sitting on her counter before walking over to Steve and Connie’s apartment.
The sun was shining brightly that day, as it did most days. And, like most days, the humidity was high. Eva could feel the heat rising from the asphalt as she crossed the parking lot and made her way down the street. When she got to their door, she shifted the vodka to the crook of her arm and knocked.
The door opened and Steve welcomed her in with a wave of his hand. He was wearing swim trunks and an unbuttoned short sleeve shirt, his hair wet and slicked back. She shuffled inside, putting the vodka in the freezer and heading out through the back door to a rectangular courtyard. The pool was encircled by a black metal fence about waist high. She spotted Connie standing next to Javier at the grill, setting down a plate of uncooked meat. She caught sight of Eva and smiled wide beneath her shades.
“C’mon,” she yelled, waving her hand wildly, “We have the pool for about four hours—til the sun goes down.”
Eva returned the wave, passing through the gate and over to where a few lounge chairs were situated, towels hanging over the back. Umbrellas provided each lounge with some shade from the sun.
“Okay,” Eva said, motioning to the courtyard, “Someone in housing definitely hates me. My shower barely works and you’ve got a fucking pool.”
Connie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, with a schedule so tight and political it could run for president. It took two months of sending brownies to the landlord just to get a half day booked.”
Eva squinted at her, “You have to book time?”
Nodding, Connie gestured for Eva to sit on the lounge chair opposite her, “I know, right? There are families here who have standing appointments months out.”
Steve, having followed Eva outside, called out, “What Connie isn’t telling you is that I slipped a stack of money into one of the brownie pans last week. Only way we got the permission.”
“Can’t you just...jump in?”
Connie’s eyes went wide, “Oh, Jesus. Saw someone try to do that the first week here. The guards fucking swarmed them, hauled ‘em out. Haven’t seen them since.”
Sounds about right, Eva thought. Everything seemed to be a quid pro quo down here. She’d seen a couple agents pay off their informants only to turn around and expense it to the department. Money could buy literally anything here.
“Let me tell you what happened yesterday at work,” Connie sighed, turning to lay back on the lounge, “I started at the NICU four months ago and I thought I had a handle on it. But, oh no, one of the other nurses has been taking my reports and shredding them. So, now my boss thinks I just don’t turn in my work.”
“No way,” Eva blurted out, scandalized.
“Yes, way,” Connie confirmed, pushing her sunglasses up on her nose, “So, I started making copies and locking them in my desk. But, I found out one of the maintenance guys has been letting her into it and she’s been taking my copies.”
Eva rested her head on her palm, mouth curling, “What’re you going to do about it?”
Connie smirked, “A little Ipicac in her morning coffee.”
Brows hitting her hairline, Eva’s mouth dropped. Connie was a forceful woman, could be outright domineering when she wanted something, but this was shocking behavior for her.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. Its harmless. Just a little vomiting during the staff meeting.”
“Does she know you did it?” Eva’s voice came out as a whisper, as if she was trying to keep the story secret.
“Nope,” Connie shook her head, blonde hair falling over one shoulder, “I was pretty slick about it.”
“I’m sure,” Eva confirmed. “One question: How is the behavior going to stop if she doesn’t know it was you who did it?”
Connie shrugged, “Every time one of my copies goes missing, I’ll do it again. She’ll get the picture eventually. I also had Steve get me a false bottom for my desk. I’ll have a third copy waiting, just in case.”
The smell of meat wafted over, a welcome change from the chlorine. Eva glanced at Javier and Steve, both of them staring at the grill intently. Javier was fidgeting with a metal spatula, forearm wiping at his brow.
“Is that a guy thing? Standing by the grill and watching food cook?”
Even though Eva couldn’t see Connie’s eyes behind her shades, she could tell that the other woman was rolling them, “I guess. Every man I know does it.”
“Same here,” Eva said, eyes squinting. “I mean, they’re not even talking.”
Connie laughed a little, reaching into the cooler and handing Eva a beer. She popped the top for her and grabbed one for herself, “I suppose it could be worse.”
“Could be fireworks.”
Brows raised, Connie asked, “Is there a story there?”
“Ah,” Eva edged, “When I was a kid, my parents used to have this block party on the fourth with this huge fireworks display. One of the neighbors built a potato cannon that they primed with hairspray. One year they shot roman candles out of it.”
Jaw open, Connie took a few seconds to reply, “Did...someone get hurt?”
“Oh, no,” Eva clarified, dismissing the thought with a wave of her hand, “A window got knocked out, but no one got hurt.”
A while later, Eva was fanning herself with her hand, sweat falling down her neck. In the late afternoon, the sun beat down on them. Even with the umbrellas above, Eva could feel her body fighting to keep itself cool. Standing, she pulled off her cover up.
“I’m getting in,” she declared, “I can’t take it any more.”
Connie laughed and stood with her, “I’ll go with you. Nice suit, by the way.”
Eva thanked her, returning the sentiment. Connie was wearing a canary yellow one piece, the thighs cut high to highlight her muscular thighs. She threw off her sunglasses and pulled her hair atop her head into a tight bun. Eva wished she’d thought to bring a hair tie. She’d never really been concerned about the way her hair curled in irregular little ringlets and waves before, but knowing that Horacio would be stopping by afterwards made her a little self conscious. With a little effort, she shrugged it off and darted out to the edge of the pool, jumping in.
The water was cool, a shock to her body as it enveloped her. Eva felt the air rush out of her lungs as she sunk beneath the surface. Her feet touched down and she kicked hard, breaching the water with a sharply indrawn breath.
Wiping the water from her eyes, she laughed at Connie, who had used the ladder to drop daintily into the pool.
“I haven’t done that since I was a kid,” she said, her cheeks hurting a bit with the force of her smile.
Connie nodded enthusiastically, “We had a pool, too. Above ground. Mom would make us wear pool floats the whole time we were in it.”
Eva shook her head, “I suppose there’s something to be said for safety. I was an only child, so my parents let me do whatever I wanted, mostly.”
“Are they still around?”
Eva swallowed, her eyes falling to the water she was swishing between her fingers, “No, they died a long time ago.”
“Oh, my God,” Connie gasped, “I’m sorry. How did it happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It was an accident,” Eva explained.
It was the same explanation that she’d given a million people before and would likely continue to give. A plane crash. No survivors. They were headed to a little resort that Josh had booked for their anniversary. Eva could still remember what her mother’s face had looked like when Josh handed her the tickets—excited and charmed. It turned her stomach.
Connie read her expression and approached slowly, arms pushing through the water, “Was it… was it because of your husband? Because of the things he did?”
Eva had been as honest as she could about the things that had occurred in her marriage, had told Connie about the way she learned to cover bruises, about how she used the work to give her purpose even though she knew it resulted in the destruction of people’s lives, about how he hurt her less when she did a good job.
“Yeah,” she croaked. “Um, I tried to run away—had a passport and some cash hidden. I can’t prove it, but I think he killed them to make a point.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Eva,” Connie breathed. “That’s horrifying.”
Eva blinked at Connie, trying to smile, “It was a long time ago. I’ve made my peace with it.”
“That’s not something you make peace with.”
She was right, Eva hadn’t made peace with it, not really. It had taken a long time for her to stop feeling guilty and to place the blame solely on Josh. It was part of the reason that she was able to kill him that night. She’d channeled all that rage into the fight, and she’d finally come out the victor.
“I got him back, though, didn’t I?” She said, chin lifting.
“Yes, you did.”
They swam for a while, until the food was done. Steve called out to them, a pair of tongs clapping together in one hand. They ate off paper plates, beers fresh from the cooler dripping condensation onto the cement below.
After wards, Eva laid back on the lounge, feeling sleepy. She kept a beer next to her, drinking from it lazily. One arm thrown over her head, she stretched her legs out long, enjoying the sun and relaxation. That’s how Horacio found her. Eyes closed, half shaded by the umbrella, suit drying out on her body. She heard him walk up and sit on the lounge next to hers.
Eva opened her eyes and smiled, “Hey.”
“Hey.”
She sat up, swinging her legs around so that she could face him, “You get everything done at work?”
He nodded, “Got some paperwork in the truck I need to finish. I parked at your place, I hope you don’t mind.”
“That’s no problem, you park there most of the time anyways.”
That was very much the truth. They hadn’t spent many nights away from one another, almost all of them at her place. Horacio told her that he liked her apartment better than his house because it was cozier. Eva could see why. She’d finally gotten to see his house, and it was sparsely decorated, indicative of a man who lived at work and only slept when he had to.
“Did you eat?” she asked.
Another nod, “Since its a Saturday, we order take out for the guys.”
Eva started to reach out to touch him, but the first two fingers of his right hand lifted quickly, stopping the motion.
“There are a lot of eyes here.”
Right. Although he hadn’t explained in detail, Javier had let it slip during a meeting that Carillo had a literal bounty on his head. In his fight against the rise of drugs in the country, he’d ruffled a lot of feathers. And, that made anyone associated with him vulnerable. When they were in public, he kept a distance between them and, outside of rare occasions, he didn’t touch her. The longer they were together, to more strict he became about it. Eva was still adjusting.
Eva pointed to the swim trunks he was wearing, “Did you go home to change or did you wear this to the office?”
Shooting her a sardonic look he asked, “What do you think?”
“I know, I know,” she replied, “God forbid you show up anything less than immaculate.”
It was probably the only point of contention between them. He always got up early to get dressed for the day. Eva argued constantly that he could go in one day without going through his entire routine, his coworkers wouldn’t notice. He argued back that he was supposed to be setting an example and that meant ironing his undershirt. She hadn’t yet managed to convince him to sleep in with her, his internal clock kicking in like….well, clockwork.
Now, though, he was wearing teal colored swim trunks and one of his more casual polo shirts. His hair was still combed back from his face, the curls tamed by the pomade he kept next to his aftershave on her bathroom counter. He’d taken a little extra time to shave that morning.
Eva gestured towards the cooler, “Go get yourself a beer. Relax for two seconds.”
She watched him as he rose and sauntered over to the little cooler by the grill, greeting the others along the way. Connie stepped over and sat next to her, leaning a little into Eva’s space.
She handed Eva a fresh beer, saying, “So… you guys are good?”
Eva nodded, “Yep.”
Connie stared at her.
“What?”
“You like him.”
Eva snorted, “Of course I like him. We literally discussed this a few days ago.”
“No, I mean you really like him,” Connie clarified, “You do this thing where the more you want something, the less you talk about it.”
Looking at her with a flustered expression, “What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?”
Connie took a swig from the bottle in her hand, “I don’t know, maybe admit that you like him more than you let on and you’re afraid that its going to self destruct because you’re both working dangerous jobs in a dangerous country where one or both of you could be killed and the pressure is a little too high for such a new relationship.” She took a deep breath, “And that scares the shit out of you.”
Eva’s mouth thinned as she regarded her friends, “Way to put it so succinctly.”
“Thank you.” A beat, “So, are you going to admit it?”
Eva glared.
Connie rolled her eyes, “Alright, don’t admit it. We both know its true.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Eva glowered. Then, after taking just a moment to think about it, she said, “He thinks I’m going to become a target if they find out.”
She didn’t have to say who ‘they’ were. Connie knew, had married into it.
“That’s possible.”
“I don’t know how to prove that I’m not scared. Hell, I was on the other side of this fifteen years ago. I know the risks.”
Connie rolled a shoulder, resting her arms on her knees, her gaze following her husband as he told yet another wild story, “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“Some thought,” Eva agreed.
“Sounds like you’re willing to take on those risks.”
“Some risks.”
“Sound like you just admitted you like him a lot.”
“Jesus, Connie,” Eva grumbled.
Flashing a smile at Eva, Connie cajoled, “Is it that hard to admit?”
“Given my last long standing relationship ended in literal murder, I would say I’ve got grounds to be cautious.”
Lifting a finger, Connie asserted firmly, “Cautious, not cowardly.”
She had a point. Eva kind of resented her for it.
They spent another hour or so talking among themselves, until the cooler ran out of beer.
“I bet that vodka’s good and cold,” Eva announced, heading for the gate. She didn’t bother with a towel or her cover up, already mostly dry from the sun.
Connie threw up her hands, “Yes! There’s orange juice in the fridge. And, another six pack.”
“I’ll help,” Carrillo offered, following Eva towards the door.
The sliding glass rumbled as she pulled it open, pushing through the vertical blinds to duck inside. The air conditioning hit her hard, goosebumps rising over her skin. She hissed a little bit, rubbing at her arms as she made her way across the kitchen to the fridge. Behind her, the heavy glass door slid closed.
Bare feet shuffling across the tile, Eva opened the fridge and found the six pack and orange juice, setting them on the counter beside her before pulling the vodka out of the freezer. It was definitely cold enough, the bottle immediately frosting despite the cool air.
“You know, there’s going to come a time when I’ll be able to out drink Connie, but today is not going to be that day,” she said with a smile.
Eva stood and ran abruptly into Horacio, who reached behind her to shut the freezer door, the other hand taking the bottle from her and setting it next to the orange juice and the beer. Without further preamble, he leaned down and kissed her hard. She squeaked a little, unprepared for it, before settling into the motion.
He pulled away, hands skimming her waist and hips, “I’ve been meaning to do that since I got here.”
Eva wrapped her arms around his shoulders, “I think we’ve discussed that you’re free to kiss me whenever you want.”
“Not always,” he replied, the implication heavy in his tone.
She gave a little bob of her head in understanding, “Still, offer’s on the table.”
“Noted,” he whispered before leaning down and kissing her again. Slower. Deeper. “Have I told you how much I like kissing you?”
Eva smiled as she ruffled the little hairs on the nape of his neck, “The feeling is mutual.”
Hands spanning her waist, he gazed down the length of her body, “Have I told you how much I like this suit.” His grip tightened the tiniest bit, “So much skin.”
At this, Eva’s smile morphed into an abashed laugh, “You’ve seen me in less.”
His brows quirked, mouth curving into an almost but not quite smile, “Usually, I can touch you.”
“You’re touching me now, Big Guy.”
She watched his lips as he pulled them in between his teeth, pressing lightly before letting go. He pulled her into him until they were pressed together, standing between the counter and the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. Little kisses trailed up her neck to her jaw, and finally to her mouth. Though his arms held her tight, his mouth was soft and gentle, tongue snaking out to taste.
The easiness of the kiss, the fact that they’d been apart for almost a day, the knowledge that once they stepped back outside she couldn’t touch him again until they were safely ensconced in her apartment made Eva greedy to have what she could, when she could. Despite the fact that he wasn’t doing much more than holding her, she felt the echo of arousal bloom in her belly. Lifting up onto her toes, she deepened the kiss, tilting her hips into him.
His response was...absolutely to be expected. Thigh pushing between her legs, he walked her back to the counter until it dug into her lower back. One hand came up to grip her damp hair, angling her head back so that he could press his face into her neck. Eva tried to roll her chin down to get at him again, but he held her still.
Dark eyes looked up at her from beneath his lashes, “As soon as we get back to your apartment.”
It took her maybe half a second to process his meaning, and then she was giving a quick jerk of her head. He breathed deeply, taking in her scent, before stepping away. Shoulders tense, he picked up the orange juice and six pack and gesturing towards the sliding glass doors.
With shaking hands, Eva grabbed the vodka, thankful for the freezing bottle. She pressed it to her belly, walking ahead of Horacio. By the pool, the group had gathered on the lounge chairs.
Eva held up the bottle as she approached, “I come bearing gifts!”
“Ah, Jesus,” Javier groaned, leaning over to stage whisper to Steve, “I don’t think I’m up for this.”
Connie rolled her eyes as she took to bottle from Eva, cracking it open, “Man up, Javier. This is a party.”
He reached into the pocket of his jacket, hanging from the back of the chair, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, “All your parties end in fights.”
“Excuse me,” Connie retorted, offended, “One party ended in a fight, thank you very much.”
Eva frowned, “Is this the bar fight, gun fight?”
Beside Connie, Steve dropped his head into his palm, shaking it. Javier took a drag and blew out the smoke. Connie glared.
“So, here’s what happened,” Javier said, making room for Carrillo to sit by him. “We’re at a work thing, schmoozing with the big wigs in the department. Usual stuff. One guy gets a little drunk and makes a pass at Connie, who proceeds to grab his hand and break it.”
“Sprain it,” Connie cut in. “I sprained it. Barely.”
Javier scoffed, “Anyways, the guy happens to be a major player for this political group who gave us money. They don’t give us money anymore.”
Connie handed Eva a cup—vodka and orange juice, “What was I supposed to do? Let the guy grab my ass in a room full of people.”
Eva thought about it, “I agree with Connie. Break his fucking hand.”
“Thank you,” Connie said, touching Eva’s arm in solidarity.
“One thing I don’t understand,” Eva said, crossing one leg over the other, “How is that a fight?”
Javier’s brows lifted as he recalled, “Oh, right. Steve got in the guy’s face.”
Eva made a sound of disbelief, “Alright, no. This wasn’t Connie’s fault, Steve’s the one who escalated things.”
“What was I supposed to do?” he echoed Connie’s sentiment.
She shrugged, “I’m not the best person to answer that question.”
Three pairs of eyes crept over to Carrillo, who was already shaking his head, “I probably would have done the same.”
Eva had to take a deep drink from her cup to cover the expression unfolding on her face. She couldn’t help the image of him pushing into someone’s space, a threat spoken lowly. His thick frame blocking any hope of escape. Eva thought she’d like to see that someday.
“That’s not the point,” Javier cut in.
“What is the point?” Connie asked.
“That your parties end in fights.”
“One party—not even my party.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Eva blurted, setting down her cup. She grabbed Connie’s hand, “Let’s go.”
Tugging the woman along, Eva hauled ass towards the pool tumbling headfirst into the water. She heard a second splash nearby, and she smiled beneath water as she kicked to the surface. Breaching, Eva pushed her hair back from her face, her eyes going wide as she caught a body flying over her, sending a wave of water over her. She ducked under, hearing a third splash.
Coming up laughing, she spotted both Javier and Steve swimming away, Connie following not far behind, shouting. She looked up, smiling at Carrillo, who was popping to top off a beer.
“You gonna join us?”
He looked dubious.
“Oh, don’t tell me you can’t swim,” Eva wheedled before ducking down and pushing off the edge of the pool to shoot out towards the center.
She popped up next to Javier, dodging Connie as she pushed him under. Tiptoeing around Steve, Eva put a little distance between them, her wide smile dropping as she looked down to the other side. Carrillo had set down his beer and was walking towards the pool, tugging off his polo. She would never, ever get used to it. Eva had spent many nights holding onto those shoulders, feeling him move between her thighs, and she was still struck dumb. He caught her eye, and though his expression didn’t change, she could tell that he was gloating. With sure movements, he gave a little bounce and then his arms swung forward as he executed a seamless dive into the pool.
Righting herself, Eva leaned against the wall of the pool, flicking water at Connie, who swam up beside her.
“Please tell me you…”
“Yeah.”
“And its…”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Eva confirmed with a long sigh.
They relaxed in the water as the sun started it descent towards the horizon. Eva held her position against the wall, talking with Connie and trying like hell to keep her eyes and her hands off Horacio. It seemed all too easy for him to act casually—a little sarcasm here, a little small talk there. She envied that ability. Her body, already attuned to him, seemed constantly on edge. Anticipation simmering under her skin to the point that she was surprised the water around her wasn’t gently steaming.
Too soon, a couple men in uniforms approached the gate, yelling out towards them. Connie grumbled and loudly announced that their time was at an end. They were, evidently, being forced out. After gathering the cooler and towels, they headed inside.
The phone was ringing, pausing the conversation for a moment. Steve answered it, speaking for a few minutes, then hanging it up. He looked annoyed.
“Well, looks like we’re heading into the office tomorrow.”
Connie scowled, “Its a Sunday.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Steve replied with a shake of his head, “We’ve got a meeting. You too, Carrillo.”
Beside her, Carrillo put his hands on his hips, “They tell you want its about?”
“Nope, just said we report in at eight.”
Eva pushed her wet hair back from her face then pulled her cover up over her body despite the fact that her suit was still pretty wet, “They say anything about me coming in?”
Steve opened the cooler and popped the top off another beer, “No. I think its just us three.”
She nodded. Highly classified meeting, then. She didn’t want to admit that she felt left out, so she shrugged and said, “Alright. I’m going to head home. Thank you for having me over, Connie.”
Connie hugged her, “Thanks for coming over and saving me from hearing more about office politics.”
They said their goodbyes and Eva headed out into the night, stars just beginning to shine above her. A little tipsy, she strolled along leisurely, not surprised when Carrillo followed.
“That was really fun,” she said when he moved up beside her, keeping pace.
He made a noncommittal sound, his gaze focused in front of them.
“When was the last time you actually spent a weekend afternoon not attached to your desk doing paperwork?”
Or, attached to her kitchen island, or the little dining room table in the nook of his house. More often than not, he brought files home with him. Eva had seen him sign his name so many times she could have probably forged it by now.
Lifting a shoulder, he replied, “Its been a long time.”
Eva scratched at the skin above her brow, a little unsure of herself, “You should do things for fun more often.”
He looked at her, “I assume you have ideas.”
“I might,” she said coyly, spinning to walk backwards in front of him, “There’s apparently some beautiful scenery, here. We could go hiking.”
His brows lifted and she could see a ghost of a smile, “We could do that.”
“Alright, its decided, then. We’ll go hiking when you get some time off.”
Eva knew that it was a long shot that he’d have more than a day off at a time, if past history was anything to go by. Still, it was nice to make plans, ambiguous as the timing may be. She hadn’t ever made plans like this before, and the prospect made her warm inside.
Keying into her apartment, Eva left the door open for him to come in. She started to say something innocuous about being home again, but she was cut off. Horacio grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into his body and kissed her. She gave a stilted gasp, arms coming up to rest on his biceps.
Hands traveling down her body, he scrunched the fabric of her cover up in his palms, pulling it up and over her head. When he slipped the pads of his fingers down into her suit bottoms, Eva stepped back, pulling him along with her.
“I have to get this chlorine out of my hair,” she explained, pacing backwards towards the bathroom, “You want to join me?”
Fire sparked in his eyes, his steps guiding her back and into her bedroom, rounding the corner and pushing her into the bathroom. As she moved to turn on the taps, he pulled at the ties of her top, throwing the fabric to the floor. After doing the same with her bottoms, he yanked her back into his chest, one hand tracing down her stomach in a confident caress.
He cupped her mound, fingers sliding through her folds and pressing firmly. Eva swallowed back a moan, head tipped back as he kissed along her shoulder down to her collarbone. Steam began to fill the room, heat wafting from the shower. She reluctantly pulled away, tugging off his shirt and swim trunks and stepping into the spray.
Eva half expected that he would push her against the tile and fuck her against it. His touch was impatient in a way that was new and shot heat straight into her core. She was, however, surprised to find that he reached down and grabbed her shampoo, lathering it through her strands thoroughly. He crowded her under the water, tilting her head around to rinse the suds away. She watched him grab a loofah and pour some body wash on it, her skin sizzling with anticipation.
Long, careful strokes swept the pool water from her body. She could feel the arousal that was always at a low simmer ramping up even though his touch wasn’t remotely sexual. Unable to help herself, she pressed a kiss to his sternum, resting her forehead against his chest. He sighed, his arms wrapping around her.
Wanting to return the favor, Eva reached back and took the loofah from him, running it over his broad chest, his stomach, his thighs. Though his erection bobbed up between them, she avoided it for the moment. Switching sides with him, she let the water fall over his body, her hands pushing the soap down towards the tub.
Dropping the loofah, Eva grabbed the shampoo and poured just a little into her hand, arms lifting to gently scrub it through his curls, finally free of the pomade he regularly combed through it. Using her nails, she lightly scratched at his scalp, smiling when his eyes closed in pleasure. Tilting his head back, Eva rinsed the shampoo from his hair, hands tracing down his face and neck.
Leaning down, Horacio’s lips found hers, his tongue darting out to taste. The water falling over his back sluiced down to run between her breasts and down her stomach. Eva pressed against him rolling her hips invitingly.
He broke the kiss with a moan, one hand grabbing her ass. Eva knew that, if she didn’t act quickly, he’d slot his fingers inside her and she would cease to be able to think, let alone respond. The omega in her loved that he was taking care of her, reveled in it, even. But the omega in her also wanted to make him want her just as much as she wanted him, wanted him feeling wild with it.
Lightly, so as to not give herself away, Eva traced down his chest, palm turning so that she could grasp him in her hand. He rested his forehead against her temple, mouth open, breath stuttering. She pumped him slowly, but firmly, wrist twisting at the top.
When the hand holding her hip started to dip down towards her center, Eva stopped him, holding him by the wrist. She kissed him, teeth catching at his lower lip. The wrist in her palm flexed as he tried to pull free. Eva shook her head, stroking him just a little faster. He groaned, pushing his thigh between hers, using the hand on her ass as leverage to drag her clit against him.
He breathed her name, the sound of it loud against the tiled walls. Eva felt her chest swell at the strain in his tone, power building with every choked moan, every sigh. She watched him lick his lips, her gaze dropping to his cock. He was hard, pulsing, his hips tilting towards her. It was a sight that she knew would always be with her, a feverish memory locked intimately with his scent.
As she contemplated dropping to her knees, the water began to turn cold. Eva laughed as he hissed, spinning to turn off the faucet. When he looked at her, Eva’s laughed faded, blood rushing in her ears at the intensity of his expression. He ushered her out of the tub, hands pushing her forward. Impatient, he hauled her up and over his shoulder, walking quickly to the bed.
He tossed her down, her body bouncing with the force. Eva watched him crawl over her, the muscles of his body flexing with every motion. More deep, intense kisses followed, his hands arranging her beneath him. When she reached for him, he swatted her away, lifting to his knees. Balanced over her, Horacio opened the nightstand to grab a condom.
When he paused, brows together, Eva asked him what was wrong, her voice a hoarse rasp.
His eyes closed, his chin dropping to his chest, “We’re out.”
She squinted up at him, “Out?”
“Of condoms, we’re out.”
That was impossible. She’d gone out and bought some maybe two days ago, they couldn’t possibly…Her brain very eagerly explained that they had been having a lot of sex. Eva tried to suppress it, but the giggle burst forth, her hands coming up to cover her face.
Horacio looked down at her, mouth half smiling, “I’m glad you’re amused.”
Affectionately, Eva pulled him down to her, rolling them to their sides, “C’mere.”
Her name was a warning as it passed his lips, but she shut him up with a kiss. Stroking along his skin, Eva kept kissing him until he relaxed against her, big body falling deep into the mattress. Arms wrapping around her, he rolled to his back, pulling one of her legs over his thigh. Hands on her hips, he encouraged her to move on him.
Eva couldn’t get close enough, her hands falling to his shoulders, using them to help her get friction on her clit. She ground down on him, her slick coating his skin and easing the movement. Still, she couldn’t quite get there. Her arousal burned through her, soaking into her very bones, but she couldn’t make herself come.
Sweat beaded on her temples, her muscles burning. She bit down on her lip, eyes closed. It wasn’t going to work, not when she could feel him pressed against her hip. Not when all she wanted was to be stuffed so full of him that she could barely move.
Shifting, Eva wavered over his body, weight on her palms as she kissed him, licking into his mouth. Moving determinedly, she opened her hips and swung her leg up and over, straddling him. The first contact seared through her, and her body screamed out that this was much better. She rocked against him, hands falling to his chest for balance.
“Yes,” he breathed, urging her faster, hands pulling at her hips, her thighs, “Like that, just like that.”
Eva picked up the rhythm he was guiding her to, her body working to get off. This was so, so much better, but she still couldn’t get there. She felt on fire from it, a whimpering, desperate mess. The orgasm was so fucking close, but not even his thumb circling over her clit was pushing her over the edge.
He pulled her down, sandwiching his cock between them, hips arching towards her. Horacio planted kiss after kiss over her neck, her chest, her jawline, her mouth. Little yearning growls sounded in the space between them. Eva pulled her knees beneath her, letting her hips open so that she could rub as much of her pussy against him as she could.
Every upward thrust brushed against her clit, every twist of her hips, coated him from root to tip. The pace picked up, and Eva’s eyes rolled back when their bodies aligned perfectly so that the head breached her just a little, sliding in then out and along the length of her folds.
Eva moaned his name, her nails digging into his shoulders. Beneath her, Horacio groaned long and low, eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly, he rolled her over, most of his weight falling atop her. His hands held her to the mattress so that he could grind down on her. Even though she could barely breathe, Eva let out a pleased gasp. The force of his body pushing against her, the way he buried his face in her neck, arms holding her tight, all of it pushed her pleasure higher.
“So good, so good,” she chanted, hands in his hair.
Lifting a little, he looked down between them, his cock pushing up through her her folds, wet and swollen. Hips fluid, he grabbed her ass in one hand, pulling her to him. Eva braced her feet on the mattress, shifting beneath him to get that feeling of him opening her up just a bit. It was almost enough, that tiny breach followed by a hard drag across her clit.
Giving a frustrated grunt, he dropped onto an elbow, catching her chin and forcing her to look at him, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you have to stop trying to fuck me, Eva.”
She whined, wrapping her fingers around his wrist, “I can’t help it. I want it. Please, Horacio.” She stole a kiss, “Feels so good with you inside me. Love when you fuck me.”
Against her, he pulsed, hips jerking. He blinked down at her, jaw unhinged. Deep breaths, grip tight, “Evangeline. Listen...listen. I’m gonna.” The thought alone seemed to spur him on, movements snapping against her, “I’m gonna… you need to listen. When I tell you, you need to let me pull out.”
Eager, she nodded, taking another kiss as he lined himself up and pushed inside. This, this was what she needed. Fuck, but he felt bigger than he ever had, the stretch tight. Eva arched, pushing her breasts into his chest, neck exposed for him to mouth along. Her body clenched so tight he couldn’t get more than an inch or two inside.
“Fuck, Eva. You have to let me in.” The words were half growled against her neck, teeth pressed against her skin.
She bit down on her response, “I’m trying.”
He pulled back, another thrust stunted by the squeeze of her cunt. His fists clenched beside her head, a wordless groan sounding.
“Try harder.”
Eva breathed deeply, trying to form coherent thoughts, “Maybe if you, if I...if you let me on top.”
He shook his head hard, “No. No—feels too good when you ride me.”
A laughed bubbled up, Eva cupped his face, catching his eyes, “Its supposed to feel good.”
“Too good. Come too fast,” he breathed, then, “How are you still so fucking tight?”
He still hadn’t bottomed out inside her, and Eva’s desperation grew every time he pulled out and pushed in again. She wanted him deeper, harder, wanted him to hold her down and leave bruises in his wake. In between breaths a plan formed. Eva reached down and grasped his hips for purchase, pulling him down as she rotated her hips up. Yes, yes! The feeling spanned electric down her spine.
With a curse, he snagged her hands, yanking them above her head, her name a warning on his lips. She arched her back, her hips working against him, moving on him from below. Ignoring a second warning, Eva rolled her hips as best she could, taking him further and further. He’d stilled above her, eyes watching as she moved.
His hands gripped her tighter, voice rough, “Look at you.”
She kept throwing her hips up until she’d worked him all the way inside, the feeling short circuiting any ability to think beyond the ‘more, more more’ that chanted in her head.
“There you go,” he praised, “Take what you need. Take it from me.”
The snap of his hips resumed, shoving his cock inside her and hitting every pleasurable spot she had. Eva felt a sharp, high pitched gasp rush out of her. Words fell from her lips, encouraging him, telling him how good it felt, how much she needed him, nonsense syllables rising along with the orgasm that fairly exploded outward from her center, her muscles locking down on him from the inside.
He rode her through as much of it as he could before he pulled away, reaching down to stroke himself—fast, hard pumps until he was spilling over her lower stomach. Still breathing hard, Eva leaned up and wiped the sweat from his brow, kissing his cheek softly. His come dripped over her mound, falling down over her lips. He watched it with dark eyes, jaw tight.
With one hand, he pushed her back to the mattress, the other threw a leg over his shoulder as he moved down the bed, mouth on her before she could draw her next breath. Eva might have had the capacity to be embarrassed by the sounds coming out of her, the choked, half screamed moans, but her body was already skyrocketing towards another orgasm. What pushed her over the edge was the sight of his hand, resting on her pelvic bone, sliding upwards to drag his come over her skin, his eyes watching her face. She threw back her head, cunt clenching down hard enough that her vision blacked out momentarily.
For a long time, she could only stare at the ceiling as she tried to catch her breath. She felt him move, heard his footsteps, sighed at the warm cloth he dragged over her sensitive skin so tenderly. He threw the cloth towards the bathroom, gathering her in his arms. She fell asleep to the feeling of him kissing her shoulder softly.
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Eternal Flame- Kol Mikaelson 7/?
A Hundred Dead Witches!?!
Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time
Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.
With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all between she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.
And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...
Tonight was the night of Illuminations, a town tradition that has been going on for centuries so a group of us had volunteered to help or in my case forced to. While hanging lanterns from the trees Carol Lockwood decided to make a speech to the volunteers deciding to thank the people actually doing the work instead of sitting around making speeches along with introducing Tobias Fell.
"Remind me why we're here again?" I whispered to Mark but before he could answer Sam butted in.
"It's my uncle Tobys night, my mom's forcing me to volunteer and I'm sure as hell not doing it on my own." Making me roll my eyes at the bassist.
"Yo, what'd I miss" James said coming behind us making me jump out of my skin giving him a push.
"Nothing the speech is about to begin." Sam informed him.
"The first illumination..." He started, going on about history of the town and the founders.
"I'm gonna dip. Finish my lantern" I whispered to James making him look at me incredulously. I just looked at him and blew a kiss at the drummer before a quietly and as slyly as possible trying to escape the wrath of Sam Fell who although may look skinny and weak can destroy you.
When it looked like I was in the clear for now I walked up to Caroline and Bonnie who were tying lanterns to a branch.
"-comment on that."
"Comment on what?"
"There. You Commented"
"I'm confused, what are you commenting?" Asking the duo confused at what is going on and what is being commented.
"What do you want me to say Caroline?" She asked clearly distressed before finally addressing me "I went against the balance of nature when I brought Jeremy back to life and now, I'm paying the consequences. Whenever he wants to see Anna and she wants to see him, she's still here". Jesus this is fucked up.
"Bon..." I started looking at her sympathetically before Caroline butts in
"I want you to tell me you're not okay with it."
"I'm a thousand times not okay with it. I just don't know what to do about it" she said looking deflated at the entire situation making me throw my arm around her shoulders in comfort.
"You, Bonnie Bennett are the most powerful, smartest and amazing witch. You'll figure out, trust me. You're Bonnie Bennett for Christ sake!" She smiled at me giving a small laugh before a blue Camaro comes out of nowhere pulling up with a raven haired vampire driving.
"Greetings, blondie, witchy, brainy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan." She tells us with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Vicki Donovan?" I questioned confused to how a dead vampire was being brought into this conversation,
"What do you mean, why?" Bonnie questioned the annoyed/annoying vampire in front of her.
"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost." He explained. What the hell did Damon do to that poor and attractive werewolf?
"What?" Bonnie asked very confused.
"And why exactly do you think that?" I asked wondering how Mason Lockwood was the first person he thought of.
"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker into my chest. let's say I'm having deja vu." With this being told me and Caroline both look at Bonnie who looks very confused and conflicted.
"I thought you said ghosts couldn't interact with people." Caroline said talking straight to Bonnie thinking how it can't be possible that Bonnie may have been wrong.
"They can't"
"Yeah well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up fix it." He ranted towards the witch after that he drove away extremely quickly and most likely above the speed limit.
Across the road was Matt watching the interaction of the four of us. I was the first to cross the street to talk to the quarterback with Caroline and Bonnie following closely behind. I asked him quickly if he had seen Vicki.
"I haven't seen Vicki, I swear" He told us all before looking down upset about having to go through the loss of his sister a second time "I sent her back like you told me to do."
"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked making sure that Matt actually did get rid of Vicki "Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does."
"90% of the people who have been killed in the past two years has as much reason to haunt Damon as much as Mason Lockwood." I added making Caroline nod in agreement.
"She's gone Bonnie. If she was here, I'd know it" I gave him a small sympathetic smile it clear that he was severely upset about this whole ordeal.
"Why do you think its Vicki and not Mason?" Caroline asked the witch.
"Because if any ghost other than Vicki Donovan has a physical foothold on our side, that means Damon's right." Words I never thought I'd hear "and something has gone really, really wrong." Bonnie states looking extremely worried about this situation and what would happen if all the ghosts from our past come to literally haunt us.
"I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever. So can you guys can leave me out of this one" Matt tells the three of us, I nodded understanding that if that happened to me, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed forget going to work. He walks away from us, and you can hear Caroline talking.
"I feel so sad for him. It took a lot for him to send his sister away."
"Yeah" Bonnie replied shortly.
"I highly doubt I could do that, if I got to saw my mom or dad again... I don't know if I would be able to let them go." I stated feeling so much sympathy for the blue-eyed boy. "It took a lot of guts anyway." This made the other girls nod.
"So much strength in a man." Caroline continued looking at both of us.
"Caroline it's never going to happen, get over it." Rolling my eyes at her Insinuating that Matt would be a perfectly good boyfriend as she's done for the part two months.
"I've got a ghost problem to deal with, Caroline. Save the Jeremy lecture for later" She snapped while grabbing her bag all of her stuff falling out when the strap broke. I bent down and helped her pick up her things and just as she was going to put her grimoire up it opens itself to a page in the center of the book.
"Did that just..." I asked the witch and vampire not believing my eyes.
"I think so." Bonnie said cocking her head to the side while picking up the book reading the page that the book opened itself to.
"Okay please tell me that's a recipe for witch cookies" Caroline half joked half serious about the page Bonnie was currently reading.
"It's a manifestation spell. It's used to reveal veiled matter." Bonnie told us the meaning of the grimoires spell.
"What's veiled matter?" Caroline asked and before Bonnie answered I said in shock.
"Ghosts." looking at them all.
"What do we do? Do we do the spell? What is the spell exactly?" I questioned Bonnie repeatedly wanting the ghosts to be a thing in the past and look into the future.
"I think we need to go somewhere more private."
***
Caroline pulled her car up to an abandoned creepy looking house. the three of us enter the front room me and Caroline a little bit more apprehensively than Bonnie.
"So, this is where you brought Jeremy back to life?" I asked Bonnie looking around the room severely creeped out, the interior being as bad as the exterior.
"Yeah. Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place to do the spell." Bonnie apologized getting ready to do the spell.
"Hmmm. There's no chance it's haunted by the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot, is there?" Caroline question clearly scared, and that question alone made me just as scared.
"A hundred dead witches?!"
"They're not here anymore. And they made it clear they were never coming back." she reassured us both trying to calm our nerves or well attempted to.
"Right. You pinkie swear?" Caroline asks trying to make a joke in the tense environment. Making me give her a look. I got the candles out and gave Caroline a lighter so she can help light the candles with me for Bonnie to start the spell.
"Ready do you need us to do..." I started turning around to see Bonnie already starting to start the spell "Right. Okay" I looked at Caroline while Bonnie was continuing to do the spell getting louder every chant a breeze beginning to surround us getting stronger and stronger by the second making everything in the room moves. Seeing all of this makes my eyes widen and start to worry about Bonnie and how safe this is for her.
"Bonnie, I don't like this. Bonnie..." Caroline voices my thoughts while also looking around that was until we saw something shocking.
"Oh my God, is that your...?" I started but couldn't finish due to the pure shock of what I as seeing. All three of us shocked Bonnie can't say anything, it even leaves Caroline speechless. The silence was broke with Bonnie saying quietly.
"Grams."
*************************************************
A/N:
Small chapter but next is quite long an different than others as a special character will be appearing. Hope you enjoyed, Part two will include more of the boys (a slight twist).
Please correct any grammar, spelling or British slang.
Any positive or negative feedback is appreciated.
Thanks for reading lovelies xxx
#kol mikaelson imagine#kol mikaelson x you#kol mikaelson x reader#kol mikaelson#the originals#the vampire diaries#the originals imagine#the vampire diaries imagines#kol mikaelson series
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OKAY IVE ACTUALLY PLAYED TWO SESSIONS SINCE MY LAST POST SO IM GONNA COMBINE THEM HERE SORRY FOR THE LENGTH BUT,,IVE COME SO FAR I DONT WANNA STOP NOW
this is gonna be very messy cause i WILL be jumping back and forth as things come back to mind so uhh pls enjoy this absolute ramble <3
anyway. i continued playing omori and boy do i have some Thoughts
so first session; i went through the pyre(something i forgot the full name sob) forest/sprout mole village/sweetheart’s castle in one go and let me TELL YOU. DOING THAT WAS FUCKING INSANE I WENT NUTS holy shit.
so anyway.
pyre forest!!!! the lil race against the big spider coming after u for disturbing the smaller spiders mechanic was very fun i had a lot of fun figuring out the best routes to take. i know normally mechanics like that lead to ppl getting frustrated cause u have to keep retrying but i had a lot of fun!!!! sum annoyance but good natured type, th kind that just makes u try harder u know? i just enjoyed it JKFN;FN; candles in the foggy forest....now That is an aesthetic
the rare bear scared the fuckin shit out of me i remember it didn’t attack me straight away so i was like “aw (:” but then when i press x on him it takes me to a BATTLE SCREEN AND SUDDEN THAT MF IS TERRIFYING I WAS LIKE WHWHWHWHWKJDNJ. very funny i honestly wished i recorded my reaction
also omori is afraid of drowning...................................i am breathing heavily. i think whatever happened to mari is related to at least one of the things omori is scared of. so either heights, spiders, or drowning it seems. spiders doesnt seem super likely as a contributor to her death, and while falling from a height is more realistic, such a senseless way of dying doesnt seem to rlly fit ? with the vibe i get from the kiddos in the real world. which makes me think maybe drowning/otherwise suffocating is how she died...but we’ll see. also due to the forgotten library part, we know omori explicitly feared spiders/drowning before mari died so it’s also probable im jus talking out my ass here but still,,,,thoughts
also this motherfucker?
literally fucking terrifying. IT’S BODY IS MADE OF SUCC’D SPROUT MOLES...i still have no idea what exactly it was doing to them but jesus h christ!!!! evil and fucked up. do not feel bad for curbstomping it
sprout mole village!!!! very cute, im v excited to send that one dude his brother’s care package. i like how, when theyre not lost, sprout moles can be real endearing lil guys,,,theyre not my fav lil enemies but (:
also for some reason omori is the first game ive played where i really care about getting achievements ? so i literally did the back and forth on my save file just to get all the season sprout mole achievements JKDJFJ;. i ended up sticking w spring tho before moving on for real cause spring is my fav season irl (:
also i felt SO BAD for cutting down that one sprout mole’s chistmas tree he was just trying to celebrate but i wanted to see that present and coincidentally becoming a christmas ruiner was an achievement so all’s fair in love and war i suppose
ALSO. th fuckin plant monster thing under the scientist sprout mole’s room. major little shop of horror vibes from the design, absolutely adored it!!!!! originally i did just cut the wire holding the piano over it, ending it in one go, but i was very curious abt it so i reloaded a save file to actually fight it and
i know it only spread that gas to make the kiddos happy cause being happy reduces attack i think ? it decreases attack/defense but seeing the kiddos smile so much was nice (:
however
omori...sunny....son boy.........u good ?
and now. sweetheart
the way the sprout moles completely adore and depend on sweetheart gives me such awful evil vibes and combined with such a luxurious background was fucking incredible
sweetheart herself, speaking of. bitch (sorta affectionately, certainly not derogatory)
i talked to every sprout mole in the audience before taking my seat and i literally dont know why. even when i picked up the pattern of where the unique dialogue could be found (usually the sprout moles farthest right) i still talked to all of them......just in case ? i have no idea. i dont know why i did that. i feel it’s important that i note it tho
LMAO SO WHEN SPROUT MOLE MIKE DID THE MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR YE OLD SPROUT MOLE
I LITERALLY FELT SO FUCKING BAD LMAO I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD NO!!!!!! I DID THAT!!! I KILLED HIM!!! OH MY GOD!!! I WONDER HOW AWKWARD OMORI KEL HERO AND AUBREY FELT IN THE AUDIENCE HOLY SHIT THEY HAD FRONT ROW SEATS TO SPROUT MOLE MIKE’S MOURNING!!! MY GOD FJKFN;;
also sprout mole mike describing 3′7″ inches as ”towering” was the FUNNIEST shit i have ever seen. also i have to wonder, since sweetheart made up the whole show of sweetheart’s quest for hearts in the first place, if she was seriously down to marry a sprout mole if one suited her fancy. jus v funny to me honestly. SPEAKING of sweetheart’s dating patterns I NOTICED THOSE FEM SKELETONS IN THE DUNGEON!!!!! BI SWEETHEART!!!! SHE’S JUST AS DOWN FOR GIRLS AS SHE IS BOYS
i know TECHNICALLY not everyone is in the dungeon for failing to be a good enough suitor but STILL...COME ON. THIS WAS BEFORE WE KNEW THAT. SWEETHEART BI I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
anyway
when the lights when out and lightning struck the third contestant, i knew Immediately something was gonna go down. and when the mustache sprout mole was like “oh yes!! u!! in the striped pjs!! u absolute beast ur perfect!!!” i KNEW hero had just been selected as the replacement i was goign completely fucking nuts i was like OH MY GODNFNG; HIS HEART IS ALREADY TAKEN BY MARI!!!!!!! STOP
i ended up taking so many screenshots during this part cause i was going feral so here take a glance just cause i love, uh, hero
OUR HERO IN SHINING ARMOR DJLBH;KFJB
also GOD FUCKING DAMMIT IM SHORTER THAN HERO
hero shaking on the stage when he was introduced...oh my HEART....IM SO FOND FOR THIS BOY WTF!!!!! DKJDN;N
this is not really NEWS to me since it’s implied hero is tall but like come ON..... sorry just every time i find out a character is explicitly taller than me i need to huff about it, moving on,
HERO FUCKS
sorry i just have so many screenshorts during this aprt cause i was going fucking crazy but
literally terrifying! sweetheart bathes in that shit!! christ!
is blood good for ur skin? i imagine, so long as like...gore isnt in it and it’s solely blood it cant be BAD necessarily......but good ? regardless very fucked up. besides the fact that well, uh, BLOOD, blood is also sticky as hell. ur telling me sweetheart willinglhy bathed in that shit? disgusting. at least thin it out
anyway I HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING THE PUZZLES AT SWEETHEART’S CASTLE....FROM THE DUNGEONS TO THE KITCHENS TO THE BALLROOM TO THE LIBRARY TO THE GARDENS JUST EVERYTHING!!!! IT WAS SO FUN I ENJOYED FIGURING IT OUT SO MUCH IT WAS LITERALLY DELIGHTFUL...I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH THE GAMEPLAY IS SO FUCKING EPIC I LITERALLY HAVE SO MUJCH FUN.......OH MY GOD I JUST. INCREIDBLE!!!! FUCK
also the lil sir maximus bit.........i honestly felt really awful over having to kill them ): i think i even tried running once but it wouldnt let me...it hurt man ): they were just a family....
um but anyway,
i think it was rlly sweet how aubrey protested to the wedding cause she was worried abt sweetheart,,,like i cant rlly explain it idk how to put it into words,,like sweetheart is clearly not mentally well and having an episode, and aubrey being the only one to say “hey what ur doing is self-destructive and isolating” just mmmh. she cares a lot,,,and *i* care aubrey
also sweetheart’s battle theme fucking SLAPPED...SO GODDAMN HARD IM STILL QUAKING OVER IT....FUCKING BANGER YO!!!!!! INCREDIBLE
ah but alas
BASIL........I NOTICED THAT IT WAS HIS GHOST/SHADOW DURING THE EXIT FROM OTHERWORLD AS WELL BUT JUST FUCK
im so worried about basil ):
and it being so obvious that none of the others can see...........them asking omori if he’s okay.....oh my god. i go nuts
and then...the forgotten library part
i literally cried, again, oh my fucking god
these kids loved each other so much they ADORED the time they spent with each other and im QUAKING to know WHAT HAPPENED TO MARI......HOW DID THE FALLOUT GO. I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW
i know there are multiple endings to this game and on god i am not QUITTING until i get the happiest ending there is for these kids im literally a goddamn fuckign mess oh my god
MARI SHWOING UP IN THE LIBRARY AT ONE POINT AND LEADING OMORI...........IM LTIERALLY GOIGN INSANE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD HE LOVED HIS SISTER SO MUCH HE’S SO CLEARLY LOST WITHOUT HER I CANT FUCKING DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW
GOD
okay sorry i just. ive said ti before but the grief in this game is so real and palpable and it aches, it aches so bad. also the white egret orchids in the library...i see u
but regardless.... session two real world electric boogaloo
LOVE that kel is like “so i need to run errands but u wanna come with me right? of course u do!” like fuck i rlly do. kel is just so delightful i would literally do anything to spend time with him
ALSO i noticed u can just refuse to open the door both times kel’s knocked now and it makes me wonder....if u could choose to ignore kel ? and then venture out urself or just ? i wonder what would even happen if u chose to not open the door. im CERTAINLY not doing it myself at the very least not this playthrough but i am curious...i bet that’s how u get a bad ending, by not talking w kel
but anyway....
aubrey and her gang not saying anything in the pizza parlor........i jus think abt that is all
ALSO!! pet rocks!!!!!!!!! LOVE this lil thing it’s so cute. jus rock paper scissors it babey
speaking of lil bits, love all the mini quests in the real world...it’s just rlly fun and builds up this cute lil town........it also makes me think that whatever happened to mari cant have been anything except an accident, bc no one comments on what a tragedy it was to omori. like if it was murder, there’s no way such a horrific situation wouldnt engulf the town for a bit and sweep over it for weeks at least, but that just doesnt seem to have happened. this is def me reading too into it tho;; point is neighbors nice (: also i got the seashell necklace and i go apeshit
ALSO......THE FUCKING...........CHURCH. I VISITED WITH KEL ON A COMPLETE WHIM CAUSE I WAS CURIOUS IF THE PASTOR WOULD TALK MORE ABT AUBREY BUT NO. INSTEAD HE TALKS ABT THE WEIRD VIBE FORM THE GRAVEYARD HE’S GETTING!!! AND THE DUDE WHO CHILLS IN THE GRAVEYARD SAYS SHIT ABT THE SPIRITS GETTING READY FOR SOMEONE TO JOIN THEM!!!! BITCH WAHT THE FUCK
THERE’S NOF UCKING WAY THIS ISNT ABOUT BASIL. THERE IS NO!!! WAY!!!! I SWEAR ON GOD IF BASIL DIES I WILL LOSE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ESP CAUSE THERE IS LITERALLY NO OTHER WAY HE COULD DIE EXCEPT SUICIDE THAT’S WHAT IT HAS BEEN IMPLYING OVER AND OVER I GO NUTS I GO APESHIT NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!
FUCK
OKAY SORRY I JUST. HHHHHHHHHHH
baby has acquired baby
kel’s family is rlly cute,,,,v heartwarming. i trust them
i do worry abt like...the stark difference between recognizing kel’s accomplishments and hero’s...i just idk. i just keep thinking abt that bit in kel’s story abt hero’s depression when his parents focused on hero and ignored him, and i just. kel’s family is good People but i worry if kel has a good support system...i jus........): i am watching
ahh THE BASIL MISSING PART MADE MY HEART LITERALLY FUCKING DROP..I WAS SO FUCKING PANICKED I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD THIS IS IT BASIL IS DEAD
THANKFULLY HE WASNT BUT HOLY GOD HOW THAT WHOLE SITUATION PANNED OUT MADE ME GO NUTS!!!!!!! BASIL...AUBREY...HER GANG.......FUCK OH M YOGD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
THANK G O D I SNOOPED AROUND KEL’S HOUSE BEFORE LEAVING I WOULD HAVE H A T E D TO FIGHT THEM ALL AT ONCE IM GLAD I WAS ABLE TO JUST PEPPER SPRAY THEM JESUS CHRIST
oh my god kim like asking for aubrey all concerned before deciding to trust her and leaving.....kim i diagnose u with lesbain
the whole fucking. basil almost drowning scene. i seriously feel like ive changed like as a person over it. i am thinking . i am thinking. i am only evee thinking about mari and how omori just loved her so much and how the thought of her gave him strength. th pic of her ghost holding omori’s hand in the water made me cry
MMMM BUT. HERO!!!
I DIE I DIE I DIE HE’S SO PRETTY FUCK ALSO HIM PICKING UP BASIL WOOOOOOOO THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT YEAHHHHHHHH
god i feel so bad about leaving aubrey tho. shes so clearly not okay and she so clearly did not mean to push basil in and oh my GOD I JUST...PLEASE....PLEASE CAN WE JUST TLAK TO HER I NEED TO TLAK TO HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO FUCK
the ghosts of omori and aubrey on the swings made me cry out like i had been physically assaulted
AHH BUT THEN TAKING BASIL HOME AND WHILE HE’S IN HIS BED HE JUST SAYS “oh sunny...there’s not way out of this...is there?” I LITERALLY GO BUCKWILD APESHIT INSANE STUPDI!!!!!! BASIL YOURE PUTTING UP A LOT OF ALARMING FLAGS HERE!!! PLEASE DO NOT FUCKING DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!
FUCK. CHRIST. HELL. SHIT. THIS GAME IS DRIVING ME FUCKING CRAZY
GOD
oh my god but the day ending with hero and kel sleeping over at omori’s house...im kdnd im jkdim im not uhm okay THEY BUILT A BLANKET FORT PLEASE..I LOVE THEM
goddd hero going into the piano room....playing sum........and then asking omori abt the song he and mari used to play on violin...and then THE TITLE SCREEN MUSIC STARTS PLAYING....HI. HI HELLO HI YOU CANT FUCKIGN DO THAT HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOUFBJFGJNGN;EJNE; IM GOIGN NUTS
also the name omori comes from the piano.............interesting...i wonder why sunny likes being called omori in the dreamscape...
god but omori not having a srs hallucination cause he’s w his friends and he feels safe...im gonna sob
However. i did glance into the bathroom mirror. AND INSTEAD OF THE EYE MF IT’S A DISTORTED AS HELL GHOST MARI???IM SO FUCKIGN SCARED. IM SO SCARED. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK? CREEPY AS HELL!!!
ohh my god this GAME
so finally i ended up in whitespace again. do NOT like that omori is completely alone in the world!!! what the FUCK!!!!!!!! I AM SO SCARED AT ALL TIMES. im literally about to go play sum more tho after dinner so i will see what happens. god i jsut......this game is so fucking good it has me by the balls dude. SO glad i decided to play it bruh
anyway thanks for reading all of this if u did, it’s an absolute monster ik and ur a real one
#cass cries#omori#omori spoilers#more like cass goes CRAZY this is so long#also id dint proof read this sorry </3
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Ahhh I love your work. 🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍 Ok au where Steve and Billy break up so Steve gets really drunk at a party and Billy has to go pick him up and basically take care of him the rest of the night, so Steve doesn’t like choke on his own throw up or do something dumb
Dear anon,
THANK YOU, I love you too!!! Which is why it pains me to say that.... I’m so sorry. This got SO SAD and I promise I didn’t intend for it to! But it just came out this way, and I hope you can forgive me!
-
Billy's not entirely sure what the fuck Steve is doing here.
Had he even been invited? Carol sure as fuck hadn't asked him to come, maybe Tommy did just to tease Steve; dangle his lost popularity in front of the dethroned King Steve, in hopes that he would be dumb enough to show up, to then just be ridiculed for having even had the thought that he was actually welcome around here anymore.
Billy nearly dropped his jaw when he saw Steve arriving earlier, but when their eyes met, his ex-whatever had quickly looked away and run off to probably grab the first drink in reach.
Maybe he's regretting breaking up with Billy? Not that there really was anything to break up, they were just having fun, just fucking around, literally. Which only makes the entire situation even more infuriating, the more Billy thinks about it.
There wasn't supposed to be any feelings or emotions or all that girly crap, just two guys blowing off steam together!
So when Steve asked him, “Why do you keep treating me like this?” and demanded an explanation as to why Billy continued to bully and agitate him so, all he could say was,
“What the fuck are you talking about, Harrington?” and really put pressure on his name there, as if to drive home the point that they're not beyond that.
And Steve had cried, not a big sloppy mess, but tears rolled, and he shouted that they were done for, then drove off before Billy could even gather enough thoughts to be coherent.
That was three days ago, and he really hadn't heard a single sound from Harrington since then, seen no hide nor hair of him till tonight.
Now he sees him everywhere he goes; no matter which room he moves to, Steve's there, looking back, eyes hooded and dark with all the alcohol he's swimming in, some even staining his nice polo shirt. Tommy had at one point earlier gone up to Steve, grinning wide and talking shit, but Harrington seem unbothered by it all.
Steve sits in the middle of a long couch, surrounded by people all with their backs turned to him, and as he swings back another of numerous beers, Billy finds himself staring like one would at a particularly morose painting, wondering what it all means, even though it's clear on the surface level and doesn't run that deep.
He himself stands leaning over a cute, short brunette, her hair falling down over her large breasts, a manicured finger playing with the buttons of Billy's open shirt. He's got an arm resting against the wall above her head, and even as she smiles all flirtatious and talks to him about something something parents not home something, he can't look away from the way Steve stares back.
There's too many thoughts in his head that even the alcohol can't wash away; things he wants to say to Steve, things he wants to do to Steve.
And he doesn't move till Steve does.
Limbs inept as he rises up from the couch, accidentally bumping into a girl who glares daggers at him, to where Steve mumbles out a sloppy sorry, sorry, before tripping a bit over the others legs as he tries to squeeze out from between the sofa and coffee table. But even as he goes through all the obstacles of a full house, Steve never looks away from Billy as he walks in his direction.
When he gets all too close, Billy looks away- can't stand being this close to Steve anymore, a torturous thing that he came here tonight to forget; to hopefully drown himself in pussy, or find a nice big dick, but all of that is impossible to look for when fucking Harrington is present in his life this way.
After counting down from five in his mind, Billy turns to look in the direction Steve went, just to catch the front door closing, and he immediately pushes off of the wall, abandoning the busty brunette here with now a shocked expression across her face, as he gives chase for another dark haired beauty.
Outside Steve fumbles with his keys, standing by the first car he found.
The music goes low as the front door to Carol's house slams closed, and Billy stands underneath the light of the veranda, hands deep in his pockets as he braces himself for the chilly evening air sweeping in from the woods.
“That's not your car,” he calls out to Steve, who jumps a bit at the sudden voice.
Steve looks at the white Ford that he's spent nearly a minute trying to get into, muttering about why the fuck doesn't the key fit. Then he looks at where Billy has stepped down the stairs and is making his way over.
He huffs out drunkenly and moves to the next car, a dark green Honda and tries again.
“Still not your car.” Billy stands now only a few feet away, watching with a slight frown at how Steve continues to shuffle over the sidewalk to the next car in a long line.
And counting from here, there's a good seven cars more to go or so before they reach the BMW.
“What are you doing here?” he asks and finds it maybe a tad bit amusing how frustrated Steve grows.
“What's it look like?” Steve slurs back and tries a key that isn't even for any car in the world, but rather his front door. “I'm trynna get home.”
“Not at this pace you won't,” Billy mocks and shrugs a bit. “Try the next car.”
Steve doesn't argue, probably can't, and he moves on to a dark blue camaro.
But before he gets to have a chance of scratching the nice, expensive paint job, Billy interrupts with, “Here, let me try.” And fishes up his own keys from his back pocket.
Almost like magic, Billy's keys works wonders, and the passenger door opens up to allow for Steve to stumble inside.
Billy takes long strides to the other side and lands with much more stability in the drivers seat.
“This... this isn't my car,” Steve says with the purest form of confusion, as if he's just woken up from a coma thirty years later to discover all sorts of new things. He touches the leather seat, opens and closes the glove compartment, looks between the front seats into the back, yeah it's definitely not his car.
“No, it's my car,” Billy speaks all matter of fact, firmly so as to ensure that Steve understands what's happening.
He looks over at the other; almond eyes squinting through the darkness and haze of inebriation, and Billy's heart beats uncomfortably, if he were to tell the truth for once. He wants to reach out, brush away the bangs that falls down Steve's forehead, kiss those bumbling lips, caress the moles on his cheek, his chest, his legs.
“Why am I in your car?” Steve mumbles and looks out the window, away from how Billy is caught wanting.
“I'm taking you home, put on your seat-belt.”
The car roars as he sparks it alive.
“Why?” Steve asks but doesn't hesitate to do as told, although with shaky hands that could be from the alcohol or nerves.
“Because you're a drunk mess and I'm a goddamn fucking saint,” Billy grumbles as he pulls out from his spot and onto the street.
“Oh so now you decide to be nice to me?” Steve laughs without joy and thunks his heavy head against the cool window.
“I have my moments.” Billy grins, but refuses to let silence fall upon them, because that's when there's time to think, which is the last thing he wants right now. “So, why did you come tonight?”
The tense energy here palpable as Steve thinks too long on his answer, which spills out carelessly, “Because I wanted to see you,” and there's almost a sob.
“Jesus Christ, Harrington-” Billy groans and rolls his eyes, but Steve cuts him off,
“Don't call me that,” with a more apparent sob now.
“I can call you whatever I want.” The hand on the wheel tightens. “Princess. Dickhead. Amigo. Pretty boy.” And he steals a quick glance at where Steve stares out the window; street lights flashing like stars in his wet eyes.
“...Steve,” a whisper not meant to be heard, and perhaps it doesn't.
The silence between them is painful. Billy bites at his nail to hopefully keep himself from blurting out all the wrong things. Steve snivels occasionally, his breathing labored.
Driving from Carol's place to Steve's feels like it takes years through uncertain darkness with no saving grace, no light at the end of the tunnel, a vast eternity in where Billy keeps fighting his own inquisitive thoughts.
Because why is he doing this? Why is he helping out Steve, who was the one to end whatever it is they had going on? Why is he looking at Steve's lonely hand? Wanting to reach out and hold it. His own hand aching for the touch, like a childish need to play with the flame of a lit candle. So he grips the steering wheel harder till the strained skin hurts.
Till they pull up into a driveway that isn't empty. A black, sleek, shiny Cadillac sits all prideful in front of the grand house.
And it runs freezing cold down Billy's back, eyes pinned to the slumbering windows, hands still choking the leather.
“Are... are your parents home?!” he hisses out.
Steve moves as if he was just abruptly awoken, and blinks hard to still his focus. He leans towards the dashboard to peer out the front window and sees his father's car.
“Oh, yeah, they showed up some hours ago. Took me out to some fancy restaurant for dinner, but...” Steve slumps back into his seat and moves to get comfortable. “They still don't know how to talk to me.”
Billy finds himself in the same situation now. He watches how twisted Steve's expression is; a distressed pull of the lips and an anguished brow knit together with tales of distant parents and a lonely childhood. And maybe Billy is starting to understand a few things about Steve.
Who pulls his knees up to his chest to hug himself, shrink a bit, fleeing whatever is undoubtedly coursing through his mind.
A sight that makes Billy sigh, loudly in exasperation, and then backs up the car.
“W-w-what are you doing?” Steve stumbles through his tears as he realizes they're now driving away.
“I...” Billy starts off with, eyes hard on the road and both hands on the wheel. “I don't know.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just-” Billy stops himself from raising his voice too loudly, and takes a deep inhale as to calm down, refusing to meet the way Steve is staring. “Just... don't worry, ok?”
Although he's drenched in worry himself, uncertainty dripping down the back of his neck as his own nerves heats him up unbearably so.
Neither of them talks at all as they drive through the woods, underneath the cloudy skies that threatens with rain; teases with a few drops here and there upon the windshield.
And somehow they end up by an open field - more specifically the location for the 4th of July fair that stood loud and colorful a few months back. Billy hadn't been thinking of any place in particular, rather he was spending all his mental power to not think at all, lest he'd start having doubts about... everything.
“Did you... did you bring me out here to, what, beat me up?” Steve sounds legit scared, and it hurts to hear.
Like a thousand paper cuts across Billy's heart, and he cannot keep back the anger that bubbles up at something so ludicrous. “No I'm not gonna fucking beat you up! Jesus!” he growls out through gritted teeth, which doesn't exactly help his case.
For Steve holds an unblinking stare aimed at Billy, expectant of only the worst things, which probably isn't completely unfair, because he hasn't exactly been... nice lately. Or ever. And even though Billy often refuses to apologize and feel bad for his behavior, it's a challenge to stay an asshole at times like these.
Because even if his father is all too present in his own life, he understands the lack of parental love that probably makes Steve the way he is. And he feels pity. Which is gross and unfamiliar, but it sits so strong around his bleeding heart. Which just makes him angry, and lash out, then fight the regret and... start all over again.
“Get in the back,” he demands, but as soft as he can, of course.
“What?” Steve asks with brows raised to the sky, eyes wide in... shock? Disbelief? Something that might be a sign of distrust and anxiety.
“Please?” Billy tries but it feels horrifyingly wrong on his tongue – like he was mispronouncing some foreign name.
“Why?” Steve remains in his seat, curled up like a depressed child. Which... he might just be.
And Billy groans out his irritation and rolls his eyes, but he tries to say it in a nice way, “Because, I can't take you home like this, and we can't go to my place because... yeah, and we can't exactly go to a motel anywhere this way either.” He pauses and hopes that Steve catches on, but alas he remains in confusion. “We're going to sleep in my car, so get in the back.”
Steve still doesn't move. Disbelief clear in his expression, and maybe it takes him a bit longer to process everything due to the countless drinks he's been pouring in tonight, but when Billy gives a somewhat kind nod towards the backseat of the camaro, Steve finally moves between the seats.
Billy follows right behind, and sits as far away from Steve as possible, who sits like a ball of despair against one window, and god fucking damnit it feels like watching a puppy get kicked, how pathetically Steve whimpers with his face buried in his knees.
“Fucking... come over here,” he grumbles out and spreads his legs.
The poor wounded puppy looks up, brown eyes wet and hair a complete mess, and he hesitates.
“Come on.” Billy pats the spot between his thighs. “We'll keep warm if we sit closer.”
It proves enough of a friendly invitation, as Steve moves closer, slowly, as if he's approaching a sleeping dog wearing a spiked collar and muzzle, waiting for it to try and bite.
But all he's met with is a soft hand that goes through even softer hair, as Billy gently pats him on the head and allows for Steve to settle in between open legs and against a warm chest.
They don't speak, for what is there to say that one won't remember and another will regret? The only coherent and recognizable emotion that Billy can find in the tornado of feelings is anger. A fury that isn't technically Steve's fault, and directing it at him would only be unfair, because he isn't the one struggling with his own feelings towards another guy. No he's ardently clear about it all, which spills from his lips as he falls into slumber against the beating of Billy's heart.
“Billy?” he whispers and closes his hand around the unbuttoned shirt.
“Yeah?” And Billy knows what he's about to say. He fucking knows it; won't be the first time someone has been that foolish.
“I think I'm... in love with you...”
He can feel Steve's heartbeat go rapid where their bodies are pressed rather awkwardly together. And Billy sighs through the nose. The muscles in his jaw twitch, a lump grows in his throat, and he looks out at the stars in search for a world where everything is better. Where everything could be.
“I'm sorry to hear that.”
#Harringrove#My Writing#Steve Harrington#Billy Hargrove#drunk#alcohol#angst#fluff if you squint???#I guess???#Anonymous#answered#request#IM SORRY
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