#i actually almost said company for josh

[corvidcrossbow]

~•♡•~ Double The Fangs, Double The Fun

➳ Summary: Daryl and Scud are regulars at the bar you work at, but they're only really there for you. One night while chatting, you injure yourself, so they help you home to heal up (Vamp!Daryl & Vamp!Scud x Fem!Reader)

➳ Setting: idfk sometime, somewhere, no apocalypse (this is a crossover fic for smut lets be real)

➳ Word count: 5.5k (3k of it is smut)

➳ C/W: VAMPIRES ‼️‼️, minor wound, blood (duh), biting/vampire feeding, double penetration, hints of Scud's mommy kink

➳ A/N: I wrote doc title for this as “DTFx2” cuz of the lettering, not even realizing the “down-to-fuck” till later, plus it being 2 partners – I cooked on this title. BUT ANYWAY I AM FUELING THE VAMP!DARYL FIRE AND VAMP!SCUD TOO BECAUSE THIS IS A PLAGUE AND I AM ILL AND I WILL SPREAD IT

You stretched your arms up over your head, leaning forward against the counter in front of you. It was another slow weeknight, no customers present, hindered by the fact the bar was tucked away in some deader part of the city. It was pretty boring, but you got paid for kinda just diddleling around a lot of the time. You rhythmically tapped your fingertips against the surface, but straightened up when the door jingled open.

“Fuck, I was about to start praying you two would show up. ‘Ts borin' as shit in here,” You laughed as two familiar faces walked in from the night; Daryl and Scud. They were your regulars, stopping by most any time you were on shift. And you heard from coworkers sometimes they'd show up, see that you weren't there, and just leave.

You never found it creepy though, it wasn't like that. They were always very respectful towards you, kind of chivalrous, but not obnoxiously. They'd always buy a drink and tip heavy, or just straight up give you money – and would scare off the actually creepy drinkers: the one's that'd prey on a woman as if she was frail. You didn't require them, having pepper spray and a gun beneath the counter, but they gave you extra security. And we're good company.

Scud, who you knews real name was Josh – the more ‘loverboy’ one of the two – popped by most nights after work. He was really sweet, having grown a soft spot for him and letting him bend the rules; like allowing him to smoke a joint, or three, inside, so long as he shared them with you. He claimed he was a sort of engineer, which you found a little surprising given you'd never seen him without the skunky smell of weed wafting around his figure, but it's not like it mattered to you.

Daryl, on the other hand, was much more reserved, and you'd be lying if you said that didn't intrigue you. He appeared older, and more of a rarity, seeming to drift in and out of town: which made sense given that scratchy, deep southern accent he carried.

“Ain't gon’ pass up seein’ ya, moonshine,” Daryl grinned as he sauntered up to take a seat, Scud following right behind and taking the one opposite him. ‘Moonshine’ is what he always called you, given you were a bartender, and it was ironic because you never saw either of them till after sundown. “Shift slow?”

“Painfully,” You groaned and rolled your eyes. “Ion even know how we get enough profit to keep this place open. Not sure anyone in our staff remembers the last time we saw the owner in person. I swear this is some money laundering scheme.”

“‘Least your gettin’ paid, yeah? My boss don't even got me onna regular schedule,” Scud tisked, reaching into the pocket of his large, layered jacket and pulling out the container he kept his joints in. “Ya wanna J?”: To which you nodded and he passed you one. Daryl's observant gaze watched your every movement, as he typically did.

“Ya get yer nails done, darlin’?” He asked, squinting his pale blue eyes and setting his hand out as you lit the joint.

“Hm?” Your eyes flicked to him, understanding, and you set your palm in his hand so he could see. Pressed to your nail beds were coffin acrylics, painted a rich red, the gloss making them almost bloody. “Jus’ got ‘em done this morning. Figured if ‘m gonna be sittin’ here twiddling my thumbs half the time they might as well look good.”

“Looks perfect on ya.” Your gazes locked together for a moment, hypnotic in a way as his irises seemed to pulse, then suddenly shift down. He loomed closer and ran his thumb over your fingers, appreciating the gleaming texture that reflected in the dim light.

“Real pretty momma's,” Scud added as he took a long drag of his smoke, holding it for a moment before skillfully exhaling in a long plume that dissipated and began to fill the small space with a haze.

“Mm, thank you boys,” You turned a little, offering a bashful smile at their endless complimenting – they showered you with affectionate comments every time they came in. “Either of you want somethin’? It can be on the house, think the workers drink more than customers.”

“‘Ll take'ah whiskey – ‘nd m’payin’ ya anyway, angel,” Daryl replied, fishing for his wallet and passing you bills that more than doubled the price of a shot. Frankly you felt bad sometimes, like you were taking his money, but gave up a long time ago with trying to decline. He insisted.

As you went to grab the iconic bottle of Jack Daniel's off the shelf behind you, your elbow stuck out a bit too far and knocked over a large glass you'd been using for water, sending it to the floor where it shattered. “Ugh, never complain that you're bored at work. Fate'll always make ya clean.”

You quickly poured the auburn grog into a shot and slid it across the wood countertop to Daryl, dropping to your knees to pick up the larger shards.

“Fuck!” You seethed, accidentally slicing open the palm of your hand by sweeping it over the edge of a fragment in the other, your joint nearly falling from where you'd pinched it between your lips. Both men bounded from their stools to look over, simultaneously uttering ‘Ya alrigh's?''s. You half-clutched your fist and rose to be level again, hitching your breath with a small whine as striking pain electrified your nerves.

Blood quickly began to spill from the gash, running down your wrist and upper forearm before dripping to the floor a couple times as Daryl snapped to grab a clean rag from behind the bar so you could hold pressure, moving so fast he registered as just a whoosh. As your eyes were shut in pain, theirs were blown open, locked onto the crimson that tinted your skin. They could see the microscopic way it gushed a bit more from every beat of your heart.

Tendrils of that sweet, mind warping scent curled through the air and around the pair's bodies. God it smelled so damn good – you smelled so good. They didn't wish you harm, but they'd just been agonizingly waiting to someday, by some chance, get to smell the life-giving fluid that pumped through your veins without the blockage your skin created, keeping the complete experience inside of you. And they could only dream of getting to taste it…

You spun back to face them, and swore for a second, the color of both their blue eyes had altered to match the plasma soaking into the grey washcloth in your grip – their faces flat like they hadn't eaten in years and you just baited the idea of a gourmet feast. But once you blinked, they were back to azure, concern etched across eyebrows and frowns. Maybe it was just the shitty brilliance of the bar.

“‘M fine, jus’ being mindless I guess. Scud, how the hell are ya smokin’ and working with wires ‘n soldering shit,” You shook your head, blaming your incident on the brain fog from weed, although it was a poor excuse given it should not have taken effect that fast. Perhaps you were just embarrassingly locked on auto-pilot.

“Ya look like yer bleedin’ bad, princess. Lemme see.” Daryl beckoned you over and took your hand. His body tensed, that dangerous feeling of his canines extending creeping up. It took all he had to not press his mouth to you. He knew better, he had control. You let him remove the rag, examining the cut and finding it to be quite deep, him stating it might have to be closed

“We don't got any medical stuff here ‘sides maybe a few bandaids. I'd be surprised if anybody else came in ‘ere tonight so I'll just close up ‘n deal with it home. Sorry to cut our chat time short guys…” You gave a half frown, taking an unsteady inhale and trying to mask the aching in your extremity. You smothered the joint, enjoyment ruined.

“Don't gotta apologize mama's. Wantcha to be okay,” Scud commented, mirroring your expression. Looking between him and Daryl, you felt there was some synergy connecting them, like they were communicating despite both staring at you.

“Why don't we take ya home, mebbe have me patch tha fer ya, hm?” Daryl suggested, readjusting his leather jacket as he tilted his head slightly.

“Oh, no. I don't wanna bother either of ya with that…”

“‘Ts no bother, sugar. We wanna make sure you're safe. ‘Ts late, dark, ‘nd you're bleedin’. Don't want anythin’ bad happening to ya,” Scud explained, his every word ending on a sort of mewl as he plucked his joint from his mouth to speak clearly.

“Alright – just cause I know you two will follow me to check anyway.” You grabbed your things, Daryl and Scud helping to close up the bar so you didn't further injure yourself, then leaving with you. It was reasonable for them to come with, and this wouldn't be the first time. And this wasn't the safest part of town, so it wouldn't hurt to have them.

❥-》》—————➣

When you returned to your apartment, both of them praised your designing of the interior, having not been inside before. To you it wasn't much of anything special, but again, it was just in their nature to say kind things to you.

You nodded Daryl in the direction of your bathroom so he could grab some ointment and gauze, going to sit on the couch as Scud plopped beside you. You easily could've nursed it yourself, but if there was anything you really knew about Daryl, it was his tendency to always be doing favors – and not letting you decline.

“Y'know… I know a way tah make that heal faster than any dressings could,” Scud broke the silence, dragging his gaze over your frame, and landing on your hand where you still held the soiled rag. He couldn't fucking take it anymore. He didn't have the control that Daryl did.

“What do you mean?” You now faced him, confused at the way his breathing seemed to grow a bit heavier, chest puffing further out despite his lazy posture. But he straightened some, scooting closer to you and reaching for your hand.

“Just trust me on this…” He was salivating, bottom lip practically trembling with anticipation. He was so close, access to your fresh blood right there. God how he ached for it every time he saw your beautiful face, just so damn entranced by you. He tried not to completely lose his mind as he neared your palm.

“Um… yer gonna get it infected doin’ that.”

“Won't.” And his mouth hovered right above it.

“Seriously, Scud, what are you doing?” Now you were concerned, tempted to call Daryl back. Was this some weird sex thing? His way of trying to seduce you? Taking ‘kiss my boo-boo to make it feel better’ a bit too far. But you sensed this… energy, radiating off of him, drawing out your naïve trait of curiosity. Something felt different about him, although you guess it always did – but only now could you really perceive it, having him so close. “What are you? ”

Scud's eyes flicked up to yours, blue flipped across the scale of hues to match the color you'd caught a glimpse of at the bar – the color of your blood, and those flawless new nails. “Whadda ya think I am, sweetheart?”

As his lips peeled back with a grin, you could see the lengthy, pin-sharp fangs that descended from the roof of his mouth, glistening with his famine. Your mouth fell open, pupils dilating as realization worked through your brain. Oh shit. Oh, shit..? You didn't speak, but didn't know what to say anyway.

He chuckled at your reaction. “Jus’ relax, mama's.” Finally. His tongue darted out, dragging a long lick over the front of your wound, causing you to wince and jerk a little. It didn't particularly hurt, but was so odd at the start. Scud held back a moan, but couldn't help his remarks: “Mmm, you taste so good… bettah than I ever imagined…”

You swallowed thickly, watching him work saliva over your tender flesh, and lapping away any remnants of the blood that ran down your arm. He stared intensely into your eyes as he drew a long, excessively slow lick up your limb and back to the wound. You felt it begin to radiate, an unfamiliar warmth centralizing over the cut but spreading out into your entire palm.

He brushed his lips against your fingers with a featherlite kiss, and reluctantly pulled away, letting you watch branches of skin connect together from both sides, color quickly shifting back to your normal tone, and your hand completely unscathed. You flexed your tendons, feeling it for yourself. It was completely healed, a two-week time lapsing into under a minute.

“Why'd ya show ‘er.” Daryl's voice was stern, silently standing behind the couch and startling you as you whipped around. You should've figured – it wouldn't take that long to find simple first aid in your bathroom.

“Known ‘er for long enough, D. Why let'er suffer with some gash if we can just heal it for her?” Scud replied and shrugged innocently. But his wording was key; ‘we’.

“You're both vampires,” You nodded dryly as Daryl grumbled something under his breath and came around the couch to sit on the other side of you. Now the ‘moonshine’ was really ironic. “Okay… I assume if you were gonna drain me ya woulda done it by now.”

“Don't tempt me, baby,” Scud smirked, and Daryl shot him a harsh glare. “What? Sure she appreciates the healin’ at least!”

“Yeah, I do… but it's weirdly intimate, no? Just, wetly runnin’ yer tongue all over someone, gathering saliva on their skin, tastin’ the irony remnants of their blood-”

“Quit talkin’ like that,” Daryl hissed, your sight passing back to him, watching his adam's-apple bob and his jaw tense. His eyes reddened as well, and it dawned on you how teasing your choice of dialogue must've been for them.

“Or keep goin’. Like hearin’ your gorgeous voice say such pretty words,” Scud wet his lips, volume just above a whisper. You felt trapped between two sides of a spectrum, both equally covet… and you were way more into it than you would ever want to admit. Your jaw laxed with a weary breath, mind wandering further ahead than you liked it to. “But you're right, can be real intimate.” His voice dropped lower as he neared you, keeping sights intertwined.

“You're torturing me momma's… pleas’... would give anythin’ to feel ya,” He almost whimpered, puppy dog eyes peering up at you. “He would too, he's jus’ a lil’ more shy.”

It'd be the fattest lie of your life to say you didn't find him attractive, both of them. Closing the door behind you some nights after they'd walked you home, tempted to just bring them inside. How many times you muttered dirty words as your legs tangled in your bedsheets and you touched yourself, imagining how they'd sound in Scud's whiny hitches, or Daryl's gravelly grunts…

You reached up, taking Scud's chin in the light hold of your acrylics and bringing his mouth to yours. He directly melted, turning to puddy from that alone and cravingly dabbing your lips with his tongue. When you pulled back, he tried to follow, pining for more. But you wanted to be fair, and switched to the other man.

Daryl looked like he didn't know what to do, that effort of displaying confidence broken the second the gate he'd been waiting outside of for so long actually opened. But a quick ‘C'mere’, and the curling of your pointer finger brought him to you expeditiously, rough lips chafing over your moisted ones. He shoved away his groan, not quite ready for that yet.

“This ain't gonna stop at kissin’, right?” You checked on an exhale, both their eyes boring into you from either plane, the patterns of their breathing reworking themselves. Dropping it here would be teasing you now.

“S’ain't gon’ stop less ya want it to, moonshine,” He rasped, irises captivating and luring you back to him, clawed hand coming to his cheek – that made the groan slip. He inhaled sharply, ardently guiding his tongue into your mouth, which definitely made Scud jealous.

The engineer brought his hands to your waist, toying with the seams of your shirt as Daryl harshly tugged you closer to him, gaining momentum, growing hungrier. He explored the entire cavity of your mouth, feeling the heat of your gums, the smoothness of your teeth in comparison to his canines, and drew a moan from your throat, hints of a smile crinkling.

“Yer not good at hidin’ whatcha want, honeysuckle,” The southerner purred, trailing down to your jawline as Scud's lips pressed to the nape of your neck. You weren’t sure if he could tell by your body language, or was able to read your mind or something; all the near whorish thoughts running through your psyche.

“Then you should know how long I've thought about this.”

Daryl immediately hooked his strong arms under your thighs, shoving Scud back to stand up off the couch, your legs instinctively latching around his torso as he started to leave a hickey on your neck and find his way to your bedroom.

Scud awkwardly stood behind for a second, shyly glancing to the floor, feeling literally and figuratively pushed aside by the other's dominance. “C'mon Scuddy,” You mouthed, and he looked like he came in pants right there – hurdling to track after you.

Daryl roughly threw you onto the edge of your bed, simultaneously ripping your shirt up over your head. He reached down for the button of your jeans, quickly popping it out and tearing them off, leaving you in just your lacey, red bra and panties.

“Jeez, you ‘nd fuckin’ red, woman.” He bordered on a growl, sliding off his jacket and tossing it to the floor. You sat upright on the rim the mattress, aiding Scud in dropping his many layers, but he teetered like he just wanted to fuck himself senseless with all it still on.

Both them now shirtless, you raked your nails down their chest, taking extra notice to follow the lightning-like scars carved into Scud's abdomen to your left. You let out a breathy curse at their defined v-lines and mouthwateringly sexy happy trails, discarding Daryl's belt, and gently cupping his pulsing erection through his jeans – the same through Scud's cargos.

One twitched, then the other, and you chuckled. “You two really want me that bad, huh?” You questioned, beaming up through your lashes with a flirty smirk: but that mischievous temping simmered seeing the pure lust on their features. They looked like they were gonna eat you alive, and honestly… you wouldn't mind it.

You undid their pants to drop them down, and with some sort of unspoken permission translating between the three of you, they pounced forward, resistance snapping like twigs. Scud hauled your body up the bed and instantaneously found your lips, already gasping into your mouth. His hands each found one of your breasts, fondling and pawing impatiently through your bra.

Daryl grabbed your hips, tugging you back down a little and drawing a wet lick from the hem of your panties up your navel, holding you to him as your spine arched. He kissed and sucked at the delicate skin on your pelvis and inner thighs, leaving behind litters of those gentle bruises on the surface, spotting across the curves of your body. His fangs grazed you as he worked, a persistent reminder of what a feral vampire could just take from you – but he was a humble man, and prefered to give.

You directed Scud to strip your bra, given he'd basically lost all ability to function the second your clothes were off, and even worse once he was on you. Now with your chest fully out, he was gone. He greedily sucked one nipple into his mouth, kneading the other like a cat, while Daryl curled a finger around the hem of your panties, deliberately running from side to side before he suddenly ripped them away – literally ripped. “Promise ‘ll buy ya new ones, babydoll.”

Whatever deeply guttural noise that erupted from you when Daryl's tongue made contact with your cunt was everything but holy. Your hips bucked up into his face so rapidly it almost caught him off guard, his palms splayed out on your thighs and his mouth latched onto your clit. He sucked in rapid pumps, before trawling down then back up and spreading your folds. He lapped up every bit of your pooled wetness, taking a deep inhale and the hidden claws in his fingertips nearing shooting out as his toes curled.

“Fuck! Yer pussy smell's'so fuckin’ good.” His words came out as near snarls, reverberating against your core. Should the view of him not have been obscured by Scud, you're sure you would've came at the sight of him so deeply intoxicated by just the scent of you. “‘Nd tastes so goddamn lovely.”

“‘Ts not fair, man, ah wanna taste ‘er-”

“Nah. Ya got ‘er hand, pussy's mine.” Now he was snarling, possessive crimson eyes stabbing into the other man as he'd turned to look back at him, burying himself deeper into your cunt and earning another wild moan. Scud frowned a little, but you brought your hands to his hips and readjusted him to be sitting on your chest, legs on either side of your body.

“Don't worry, baby.” And you rolled down his boxers so his dick was free: fully hard, tip swollen up and flushed with color, absolutely weeping for you, and it bobbed with a twitch. You wrapped your hand around the base, giving a few pressurized strokes as he bowed forward over your head and straight up whimpered in your ear, aching and pulsing and starved of touch and attention.

“Oh-.. God, momma's… t’so good…” He wove his fingers through your hair to tug lightly at the roots and anchor himself. But the second you put your tongue on him, he jerked forward and shoved into your mouth, cumming abruptly. He couldn't help it, you were; “Jus’ so warm…”

Still you swallowed it down, swiveling the tip of your tongue along the underside of his head, prolonging his high. You weren't surprised; with how frenzied he was, acting like he'd been edged for far too long – which you supposed he had, based on how he talked earlier – you pegged him for the kind to cum fast. He probably wanted you to actually peg him too.

Daryl tipped a domino by chuckling at the early orgasm, the sound waves making you moan around Scud's cock, which in return made him slide a bit deeper again. Daryl started to hum, and removed one hand from your thigh to slip two girthy fingers into you, curling them up and pressing into that sensitive spot in your walls. He focused his mouth on your clit, drawing it in with suction while he rapidly wagged his tongue, soon pumping his fingers in and out of you, and your moans picked up.

The shallow edge of Scud's claws inched further out and held your skull, careful to not scrape into your skin, but exigent nonetheless. His breathing descended into ragged heaving against the side of your head as you worked his cock like you knew every little thing that got him going.

“Getch'yer dick outta her mouth so Ah can hear ‘er cum,” Daryl barked, breaking contact from you for just a moment. Scud groaned, wanting so badly for you to deepthroat him, but he shifted over to the side, knowing Daryl would forcibly do it anyway. Now he moved impossibly faster, fingers stretching you open and filling the bedroom with wet noises from how he had you dripping.

Getting to hear you clearly now sent him into overdrive, grunting against your clit while Scud just laboriously returned to toying with your boobs. “C'mon girl, jus’ cum. Cum fer me. Wanna see yer gorgeous face.”

“Jesus, Daryl-” Your sentence split, and you cried out, trembling legs coming together and forcing him flush against you. You rode his face, a hand flying down to tug at his shaggy locks and assisting you in rolling your hips. He clutched you bruisingly hard, nearing ripping into you.

When your limbs relaxed again, he lavished long licks over your cunt, swirling the tangy, sticky nectar of your release over his entire mouth. “Mos’ perfect fuckin’ thing.”

“Pleas’ mommas, can I fuck ya?” Scud pleaded, cupping your face to catch his distress. Sharing was hard when one party was so much more controlling. Poor thing needed you.

But seeing Daryl yank down and discard his boxers, hard cock visibly throbbing and tip shaded red, he needed you too. And you could tell a blowjob just wouldn't settle it for either of them. “Fuck, just-.. both of you fuck me.”

“Can ya handle two, sweetheart?” Daryl exhorted, swiping a strayed bit of hair from your forehead and deftly tucking it back, slightly softened eyes checking for sincerity in your expression. With your nod, they acclimated to desire once again.

He flipped onto his back, and manhandled your body overtop of him, your back flattened on his chest, and Scud hurriedly positioning above. Daryl kept your legs spread apart with his, reaching around and palming at your breast while going down to slick himself between your soaked folds, slapping himself against you a couple times. “Ya tell us if s'too much, alrigh’?”

“Yea, yeah- please, just fuck me already,” You wailed as he angled you down and slipped deep into you, Scud giving you a second to adjust before coating spit over his shaft, and gently guiding into you as well.

Your back arched as Daryl held you firm, whining in delectable pain as they strained you further open than you ever had been, your acrylics digging into his waist beneath you. Scud layered himself onto you, sucking another hickey into your chest then rocking his hips a couple of times.

When you handled it well, Daryl took it as a cue to join him, plodding more in his thrusts to still give you the opportunity to bail if this wasn't to your liking. Your eyelids fluttered closed, head lulling back to rest on Daryl's shoulder as your heavy breaths fell in line with the pace. When Scud pushed in, Daryl would pull out, and vice versa: always keeping you full while maintaining the motion that granted so much ecstasy to you three. Every one of their filthy noises sounded incomprehensibly better than you'd ever pictured.

Scud mewled against you, head buried into your breasts and giving quick pecks or licks any time he wasn't being uncontrollably vocal. Daryl did the same, groaning into your shoulder and hair.

“Takin’ us so good, arentcha darlin’? So wet, pussy so tight,” Daryl hushed into your ear, hooking up faster and faster following each of his thrusts like the speed was on a multiplier.

You twisted fingers in the back of Scud's head, triggering a loud whine when you tugged on the roots of this hair and that metal choker he always wore. He started to waver, weakly humping you like his brain was fried and just focusing on staying as deep inside you as he could. “Mmm… mommy, I… ‘m so hungry. Please…” The hinges of his jaw started extending on their own, humid exhales dampening an area by your neck. Tasting hints of your blood earlier spawned a black hole that decimated the sinkhole he'd previously had caving in over time. In the near year he'd known you, that urge to just feed from your tender flesh was all he ever thought about. And now, warm walls of your cunt wrapped around him, urging him to another orgasm… He couldn't wait much longer, he was starving.

Daryl planted his feet to make up for Scud's faltering rhythm, the strengthful build of his hips and thighs making it easy to lift you. He was trying so hard to focus on just fucking you, but as the other vampire's imploring got the best of him, he started to follow suit. “Ya know yer'a damn tease, righ’ moonshine? Lookin’ so sexy all tha time, tha seductive scent ah yers… Fuck, I kno’ ya taste like heaven…” He craned his neck up, applying pressure to your carotid artery with his tongue, feeling everything he wanted pump through you at a rapid rate.

You took in a shaky breath, vivacity emanating from the both of them and encircling you. Their dicks throbbed inside of you, the drifter pistoning while the engineer hunched, but that just wasn't enough, and it made the craving so much more pressing. Their pairs of fangs rested on the edges of your skin, tracing over it, each on one side.

“Shit… just do it-.. Jus’ fuckin’ do,” You panted, and it happened so fast you barely even realized it. Scud's bite was eager, being more frantic and on your left: Daryl's more longing, savoring the feeling of piercing into your silky flesh on the right. They drew long siphons into their throats, sultry crimson flooding their systems as their eyes blazed a mutual color.

A strangled moan ripped from your being, your consciousness floating in a haze. Daryl fucked you faster, empowered by your smooth blood, grunting savagely as his razor-edged talons dug into your breasts, Scud's on your waist: but they were so careful to not rip you up.

“Mmmnngh… oh, gods momma, m’gonna cum…” Scud lost any last sense of his composure, curving his spine and slicking out of you to cum over your pelvis. He whimpered like an injured dog, anchoring himself with the teeth lodged in you, grinding against you a few times to ride out the bliss as he messied your body with lengthy ropes of white. Waves of body-wracking pleasure made him writhe around on your chest, lost in some other realm.

“Fuck… cum fer me again, dollface. Know yer good fer me,” Daryl mumbled against you, driving into your cunt with every newfound bit of liveliness he garnered from feeding on you. Your brain stopped working at this point – those red acrylic nails scratching at Daryl's thigh with your left, and Scud's back with your right.

You felt lightheaded, loss of ichor incapacitating you even as they'd ceased thirsting, just keeping fangs planted in your muscles. The crest of euphoria floated your soul to nirvana, Daryl's tip brushing past one specific golden point in your walls and shoving you off the cliff of your climax, tightening his hold on you as you bowed and bucked, vision stripped from your senses.

Your pussy spasmed and massaged around the southerner's cock, and with a final few abusing thrusts, he withdrew and spilled his own load over your folds, resistant moans rumbling from his vocal cords. All three of your chests heaved intensely, fighting to steal any oxygen from the lust-filled atmosphere of your bedroom.

Daryl's hands drifted to your midsection to push up and roll Scud off of you to the left, knowing he was too much of a fucked out mess to do it himself. He gently laid you between the two of them, smoothing a caring hand over your chest and pressing a kiss to your upper arm. “Ya feelin’ okay, moonshine? Didn't take too much, righ’?”

“Yea, ‘m good.., jus’ need a minute,” You wheezed, eyes shut and soma trying to recuperate. Daryl peeled himself from the bed, going to wet a rag, and fetch some water and food. Returning, he compassionately cleaned away the cum smeared across your curves, supporting you as he helped you drink and all – then gathered extra layers of healing saliva over your puncture wounds just to make sure they'd seal over.

He soothed you by tracing patterns with his calloused palm, the three of you resting for a long while and wrapping thoughts around what just happened.

Scud snaked his arm around yours and cuddled right up against your side, keeping lips pressed against you with his whiny hums. “Wanna feel more'ah ya mommas…” To only say he was needy was an understatement, he was full on reliant – vampiric endurance adapting the role of an exponent for such.

“Let ‘er rest.”

You brought your nails to Scud's scalp, gently scratching his head and he practically began to purr. Even if Daryl shoved him off, you appreciated how benevolent he was to you, and could tell he felt less-than right now, lacking your focus. “That spit of yours work on swellin’ too?”

He nodded with a mumbly ‘Mhm…’

“Then how bout'cha lick my pussy till it feels better, ‘nd we'll keep goin’ till botha ya are ran dry, hm?” You suggested, planting a kiss on the top of his head and sensing the energy shift.

And they were both on you all over again in an instant.

©corvidcrossbow 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified or adapted to other platforms. My work may be translated only if asked and with proof of given consent.

[admirationandromantics]

Gettogether

Chris Hartley x reader!

An idea that came to mind. The day before the disappearance of Hannah and Beth. You and Chris have a thing for one another, and it escalates. The original idea was putting eyeliner on him, and I had so much fun writing it!!

PS! Involves drinking and sexual themes (18++)

Word count: 1,7 k (Unedited!)

Everyone is laughing while sitting in the uneven circle. Emily and Jess went to the kitchen a while ago and are still gone. Jess was the first to stand up, a mischievous look plastered on her face. Her excuse was mixing a new drink, and she forcibly dragged Emily with her while laughing. I don’t know what they’re planning, but it must be good since I occasionally hear loud snickers coming from them. 

While the others talk I glance over at Chris. He’s sitting at the other side. Not on the sofa, but below it, using it only as back support. In his hand is his fifth beer. At least not less than that. He’s wearing a dark green sweater, which suits him perfectly, curving at the best angles. Suddenly he brings his eyes up, meeting mine. A bit of blush covers him, but I’m probably just seeing things. Shit. I look away quickly, not feeling the heat on my cheeks. I do know it's there though. Luckily, the dim light and alcohol makes it almost impossible to see, I hope. In the corner of my eyes I see Josh whisper something to him, and they both look at me. I need some air, or at least a reason to get out a little. The storm outside is not slowing down, and is said to be even stronger tomorrow, so I wouldn’t dare to actually go outside. For now, I’m keeping calm. I should just try to join the conversation. 

Mike is talking about his latest occurrence at the gym. He was apparently hit on by a girl, and it was quite an ordeal. While he’s talking I notice long stares shifting between Sam and Josh. I automatically smile and signal to Ashley and Beth to look. They notice and then both look at each other. We have to do something. Before I get an idea, Hannah turns beside me, looking strongly at my face. I stiffen, and give her a look. 

“Everything okay Hannah?”

She loosens up, laughs a little. 

“Yeah yeah, sorry”.

She shifts before moving her hand up to her own face. 

“Your mascara is a bit smudged, want me to fix it for you?” 

Oh. I haven’t touched up my makeup since I put it on in the morning. I thank her, but tell her how it probably all needs to be fixed, so I would do it quickly in the bathroom. 

“Let me know if you need anything”.

“Thanks Han!” I shout while walking up the stairs. 

I hear whispers behind me, but can’t make out what they’re saying. Instead of trying, I quickly get my make-up bag from my room and go to the bathroom. My mascara is not a bit smudged. It’s very smudged. How didn’t I notice before? I clean it up before deciding to redo both my eyeliner and mascara. The highlighter is still going strong and I have a hint of the eyeshadow present. I will only take three minutes max. 

Right before completion, Chris burst into the room. I give a screech before covering my mouth. 

“Gosh I’m incredibly sorry” he says with hands covering his eyes. My heart rate slows and I give a giggle before walking over to him and pulling his hands down. 

“I was just wondering if you wanted some company?” 

“No other reason for coming here?” I ask while walking back to the mirror. 

“Well, I don’t know, maybe” he mumbles. I can’t make out the rest as he sits down on the chair beside me. I complete the last part of my makeup before looking down at him. 

“You’re really good at that” he says while pointing up at the mascara wand. 

“Do you know what this is?”

A long silence falls, and before I can tease him, he says it’s for the eyes. I smile at him while he’s sitting there, very proud. 

“Do you want some?” I ask, taking out my eyeliner pencil from the bag. 

“Me? Absolutely not, I’m not putting that junk on my face”

My eyes narrow a bit, and he quickly follows up. 

“But you look great though, beautiful, hot, sexy everything you know, just…” 

As I get closer, he gets up from the stool and backs away. 

“Hey hey, I told you I didn’t want any of that”

I get in front of the door, locking it. 

“You didn’t just do that”

“I believe I did”

“You’re gonna pay if you put that thing on me”

“Oh please” I plead. “Just a little on the undereye, you would look dazzling”. 

“Nope, not a chance”. I think about the rest of the night, trying to remember something that I can use. I know. 

“Think of it as a form of payback for scaring the shit out of me when you walked in.”

He smirks. “Payback?” 

“And you thought I was naked for a second as well” I hurriedly add. 

“Damn you, fine. But only this time”. 

Chris is a funny and smart man, but thank goodness he also has integrity. I take his arm and lead him down to the floor. I have to release him as soon as he gets where he’s meant to be. I can’t help thinking about what’s under his clothing. He’s strong, I know he is. 

With his back against the bathtub, I carefully sit down on his lap. His breath stops for a moment, and I quickly lift myself up from him again. My own breath holds, and I look away. Boundaries, I seem to forget sometimes that we’re just friends. 

“Sorry, it’s just easier this way, we can do it some other way if you want.” As I turn around I feel his hand grabbing mine, dragging me down on him again. Both his hands are placed on either side of my hips. 

“No it’s fine, really. I was just surprised.” His grip is firm, and I can feel my face heat up once again. He takes my expression as a sign to drag me closer to him. Chest to chest. My breath is uneven, and I notice a faint blush on his cheeks. 

“So, are we gonna do it?” he asks. I’m stumped. 

“Wait what?”

“With that scary sharp thing you’re going to put in my eye”. His comment takes me out of my trance, and I give a genuine smile. 

“It’s not going inside your eye, just under it” I laugh, and he looks down. He shares my laugh before quickly taking hold of my waist, getting my face closer to his. His breath is on my chin. I’ve never felt as hot as I do now, like I’m steaming. He looks down at my lips before returning to my eyes. Then, in a swift motion, I meet his lips. My arms automatically go over his shoulders and in his hair, whilst his take all over my back, pressing me even closer if that’s possible. The kiss is warm and wet, and it doesn’t stop. I barely get any small breaks for breathing, making my head go a bit dizzy. I feel euphoric, and I can’t believe it’s actually happening. In the small breaks, he manages to make out a few words. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this”. I mumble a little ‘me too’ back, as I feel his fingers on my skin, under my shirt. 

“Fuck” I mumble, getting even hotter. How am I suppose to take this? And on the bathroom floor? 

“Chris?”

“Mhmm?”

“Where is all this confidence coming from?”

“Pent up energy”

He starts kissing my neck, moving down to my collarbone. 

“And some drinks of bravery”

“Got it”

He finds my spot, making me moan out his name. As we’re going on, I suddenly hear faint voices. 

“I told you it would work”

“I’m the perfect matchmaker”

I pull away. Chris looks confused, breathless, and needy, looking up at me with pleading eyes. 

“Wha-” I stop him with my hand. I know who it is. Tucking down my shirt, I quickly open the door and catch Josh and Hannah with their ears against the wall. I cough. Loudly. They both turn at the same time with completely different reactions. Hannah slowly backs away before running down the stairs, while Josh faces me with a smirk. 

“I told you he liked you, but you didn’t believe me,” he says. I give him a confused glare in return. 

“You know, I’m the reason this happened, I’m the perfect matchmaker.” he looks through the door, winking at Chris, who rolls his eyes. 

“I just had to make sure something happened, and knowing how skittish you are made it a perfect bonding moment”

“Josh, what the h-”

He interrupts, “But at the same time, if something were to happen, it can’t happen in there. We got people who want to use the bathroom tonight”. 

I can’t do anything but nod. The mood is ruined anyway. Chris appears behind me, one hand used for leaning against the door. 

“Dude, we had like, a moment”

“Yeah bro, and I’m sorry about that, but just do it somewhere else” he winks before walking away, joining the others. I then feel a hand going up my side, turning me around. I look up at him, and his perfect sweet face. 

“We should probably talk about this before we do anything.” he whispers. I nod in agreement. 

“Though, we’ve both been drinking, so this isn’t the time” I add. He smiles down at me, taking my face in his palms before lifting my chin. 

“What about tomorrow?”

“That sounds good” I turn around to join the others while taking his hand with me. I’m stopped by him and dragged into his embrace. 

“But, we could also just go to my room” he whispers against my ear. I think about it. I truly want to, but Josh kind of ruined it. 

“Isn’t the mood kinda low right now?” 

“Let me show you how good I am at picking up the mood then” he says, tracing a finger down my neck. Fuck he’s good. I grab ahold of his hand, dragging him with me. 

“Wait wait, that’s all it took?” he asks, clearly confused. 

“Yep” I reply. “Especially when you look like that and talk in such a manner”

“I had a whole thing planned, like, you know, stuff and things like that”. 

“Use them next time” 

“Will that be later tonight?”

“Of course”. As we’ve agreed he locks the door and turns around. Before I know it, I’m slammed against the bed, him immediately going on top and kissing me.

“I could do this all night” I say between kisses. 

“Good, cause we’re gonna”

[acroagoraphobe]

Writting request: Joshua helping the Courier fall asleep while they are sick :)

OOoooo

i like this one (Courier and Joshua content my beloved)

"Courier, you must rest. You will need to so you may recover."

Joshua stated more factually than as if he actually cared to the sick Courier 6. He was busy working on his many guns that he had and didn't even glance at the courier as he said this. But he knew they were awake, he assumed they were just being their usual defiant self.

But after a small amount of time, Joshua had a little bit of concern tug at his heart for the unfortunate Courier. He could tell they were having trouble sleeping due to their generally feeling terrible from illness. So The Burned Man set his weapons down for a moment and looked over at the courier, their eyes droopy and tired, but he knew they were having difficulty with sleeping. And words alone can't fix that.

He sat down next to them and tried his best to be a comforting prescence to help them sleep. The Courier mumbled some inaudible words and turned to him.

"I can't sleep..." The Courier mumbled, exhausted.

"I am aware. That is why I'm sitting next to you. I hope it would help with that at least somewhat."

The Courier smiled at Joshua, and that smile felt like it crept it's way into his very soul. That was a smile of someone who appreciated his company. Something that Joshua sees ever so rarely.

"You would not have to be struggling now, if you were not out in the rain all day."

Joshua said in his lecture voice, yes there is a difference. (A very tiny difference from his normal tone.) But still, the Courier knew all too well, since they had been lectured many a time by Joshua.

"I know... You told me this.. like Five times now Josh-"

The courier sighed and Joshua rolled his own eyes at the shortening of his name by the courier. He never liked it, but he has accepted it at this point.

"Just try to sleep Courier. Conversation will only leave you awake."

"Fine..."

The Courier leaned their head against Joshua's arm, and Joshua almost pulled away, but their eyes were already closed, and they looked much more comfortable than before.

Joshua moved his hand to gently pat the courier on the top of their head, this was likely the most affectionate he would let himself be with the Courier, and only this once since it helped them sleep while they were feeling unwell. But he couldn't deny that it made him feel warm in a part of his heart he thought was long gone cold.

[w2soneshots]

Friends? -W2S

words: 1.3k+

warnings: angst with a happy ending, mention of a break up, friends with benefits. (I think that’s it?)

summary: you and Harry start a new relationship but he breaks your heart.

Liked by wrotoshaw and 461,093 others

y/username: my weekend❤️ @wrotoshaw @miniminter

-comments-

taliamar: stunning😍😍

-> y/username: me or @miniminter ??

miniminter: I look like a neek

y/nfanpage21: the shoes🔥🤍

user85358013: Is she on a date with Harry!??🫢

-> user91245750: no you can see other people there.

I've been best friends with Simon for as long as I can remember. We hit it off during school, I supported him when he first started YouTube, I introduced him and Talia and have always been the one person he actually talks to about things. Simon is a surprisingly closed off person, so when he cried into my arms because him and Talia were struggling I knew I'd finally broken down that wall.

When he began the Sidemen channel and moved into the house he shared with Vik, Josh and JJ we grew apart slightly. He was so busy: constantly streaming, making videos, editing those videos and his sleep schedule was royally fucked up. He had no time to hang out or even give me a call. But once he met Talia it began to change and I quickly found myself back in his life like nothing had happened.

I soon became good friends with the rest of the boys as I came around to the house more. I especially enjoyed Harry's company, he's funny, slightly awkward until you get to know him and he's very fit (which helps). As the years went by our friendships became stronger even as people began building their own lives with girlfriends, pets and even kids.

Almost 2 months ago while on a night out me and Harry got a little closer than friends should be... aka we fucked. The next morning I woke up next to him in my bed and slightly freaked out. But after that night it happened again and again until one morning as we sat lying next to each other, my head resting on his sheet covered chest we decided we were labelled as friends with benefits. I wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea but what else could I do? Tell him I was sorta starting to catch feelings... no way.

Another 2 months later... we have now been fucking, whenever one of us needed a release after a long day or just someone to hold them while they drifted off to sleep, for around four months. One day I woke up to a phone call from Simon. Me and Simon tell each other everything, we always try and find the time for a phone call at the end of the day or whenever anything big happens the other person is always one of the first to know. So it was no surprise he was very aware of mine and Harry's... situation. I answered the call "hello?" I said groggily through the phone. "Hey y/n... Harry-" he said hesitantly. "What about Harry?" I asked slightly pissed off that I was woken up from my deep sleep.

"His ex... she's back." he said. I was quiet for a second. Harry's ex abruptly up and left him almost a year and a half ago. She didn't give him a proper reason and he was left broken. "What do you mean she's back? Does Harry know?" I asked rapidly. "Woah woah, yes he knows... he told me he's getting back with her." he said the last part with pity in his voice. I felt as though all of the air in my lungs disappeared along with the oxygen in my bedroom. I blinked and a single tear rolled down my cheek. "y/n?" Simon said softly. I glanced down to my phone and clicked the red decline button.

As soon as I put the phone down I burst into tears. In that moment I knew I'd fallen hard for Harry Lewis. I was so confused on how he could completely disregard the past few months with me and get back together with the person who left him broken for everyone else to pick up the pieces. Almost an hour later there was a knock on my door. I signed and stood from my bed. Once I got to my front door I cracked it open to see Simon and Talia stood there. Talia also knew about me and Harry since she caught us making out in the back of a club so I told her the rest.

Simon opened his arms and I fell into them and began sobbing again. I broke away a minute later once I calmed down. Talia gently rubbed circles with her hands on my back as we sat on the couch. "How could he get back with her after what she did to him?" I said quietly. Simon spoke up "he told Behz that she just got scared of how serious they were getting so left, but I'm not one hundred percent sure about that." I looked up "he could have at least told me before I had to find out from you." I said fiddling with my hands. "I'm sure he just didn't want to hurt you." Talia said trying to think of any positive. "I would have found out ether way." I said.

They left soon after and I sat holding myself on my couch while I watched a movie. Then when 5 o'clock hit I ordered myself a Nando's, ate it and fell asleep on the couch. The next morning I woke up and took a long hot shower, got dressed into a sweat set and left my apartment.

I got the lift down into the car garage below my building and found my car. I hopped in and drove to Boots to pick up my click and collect package. After I picked that up I decided to go to Asda to pick up some stuff since I was in need of a food shop. I was wondering down the isles when I got a phone call from Faith... "hello." I said once I answered the call. "Hey, you ok?" She asked. "Uh ye, I'm just in Asda." I replied. "Oh ok, just because I heard about- um Harry's ex and I knew you too sorta had something." she said. "Wait what? You knew?" I said slightly flustered. "y/n. Everyone knew it was obvious." she said. "Shit."

After my phone call with Faith I paid for my food, packed my car and drove home. As I walked towards my apartment, three bags full of groceries in hand, I spotted someone sat next to my door. "Harry?" I said as he stood. "Hey." he said. I stared at him wide eyed "what are you doing here?" "I just- I- I need to talk to you." he said nervously. I sighed "come in."

Harry sheepishly walked into my apartment and we stood in the kitchen. I put the bags down and began unpacking them into the fridge and cupboards. Harry stayed silent until I was finished. I sighed and placed my hands on the counter that Harry stood on the other side of. "Listen, if you're coming here for a quick fuck then-" I started. "What- no- I- I just came um- to apologise." he said and I furrowed my brows. "What?" I said confused. "I broke it off completely with my ex... I just couldn't believe she was back- I was so stupid, I took her back immediately but last night I realised that she wrecked me and I'd already moved on and also that I loved someone else," he said and finally looked up at me properly... "you, I love you."

"You do?" I asked stunned. He nodded "it's okay if you don't feel the same but I just needed to tell you." I walked around the counter and stood in front of him "I love you too Harry."

[darkangel1791]

I’m an Environmentalist. That’s Why I Can’t Vote Green.

Award-winning filmmaker and director of Gasland Josh Fox on why he will never vote for Jill Stein.

November 1, 2024

The Nation

Milanville, Pennsylvania—Progressives can truly win in this election, even though we have a moderate Democrat on the ticket. And it’s not by voting for Jill Stein. But first, a little history…

Not long ago the entire upper Delaware River basin in Pennsylvania—one of the most beautiful areas in the country, in the watershed for New York City, southern New Jersey and Philadelphia—was on the chopping block for fracking.

A 75 mile stretch of the Delaware River could have become a toxic oil field. Fracking is an environmental apocalypse: millions of gallons of toxic fracking fluids, radioactive waste, underground water contamination, hundreds of thousands of truck trips, air pollution, land scarring, massive public health crises, and depleted water supply. Everything about the practice is toxic; it is inherently contaminating in the long and short term.

Our community was quick to understand the threat and organize and mobilize against it. Every little town along the Delaware across New York and Pennsylvania had a mom-and-pop anti-fracking group spring up. My film Gasland, on HBO, was part of this campaign, and our Gasland tours went from town to town, Johnny Appleseed–style, fostering our new movement.

Amazingly, we won. We banned fracking in the Delaware River basin and in New York State, saving the water supply for 16 million people. One of the greatest achievements of the environmental movement in this century.

We did this by convincing the Democratic governors of New York and Delaware and the president at the time—Barack Obama—to ban fracking here. These were all moderate Democrats. Not exactly Bernie Sanders, if you know what I mean.

I consider myself far to the left of Andrew Cuomo and Barack Obama. But I know that if those moderate Democrats hadn’t been in office, there’s no way we would have won.

Republicans would have just said no. This whole place would have been completely fracked to hell. We would have lost. And the whole gorgeous, life-giving national treasure of the Delaware River would have been a toxic fracking zone.

Our victory against fracking kept more carbon and methane in the ground than almost any other single environmental win in history—making it a huge win for the climate as well.

Here is the key point: I’m not in love with Kamala Harris’s positions on fracking. I find it utterly infuriating when moderate Democrats think that they need to pay lip service to a toxic destructive climate monster of an industry to win Pennsylvania. I don’t actually think that is true, because studies have shown that 70 percent of Pennsylvania residents want fracking either banned or much more tightly regulated.

But I don’t need to be in love. I need to be able to vote strategically.

Hundreds of thousands of people showed up to protect this place and to hold moderate Democrats accountable, and that was the key to victory here.

You know who didn’t show up for this place? Jill Stein. She doesn’t show up for these frontline battles. Ever.

Stein says she’s against fracking, but Stein has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the oil and gas industry. Did you know that? Did you know that she actually profits off of the oil and gas industry, that she has had investments in the Keystone XL pipeline and multiple fracking companies?

Did you know that she has investments in Raytheon, that she’s had investments in ExxonMobil? Did you know that she has investments in Home Depot—one of the most rapacious companies in the world, guilty of horrific deforestation throughout the world?

How is it that the Green Party candidate hasn’t divested her own personal fortune from fossil fuels? It’s sheer hypocrisy. And so is the strategy of running for president every four years but never showing up for battles like this.

In 2016, Stein defended these investments by saying they are mutual funds and indexed retirement funds.

But that, plainly speaking, is bunk.

Her claims are a slap in the face to the entire fossil fuel divestment movement. It is easier now than ever to have investments that are fossil free; doing so is a huge plank of the environmental cause. Hundreds of real activists were arrested this summer in New York City calling for Citibank to divest as part of the Summer of Heat campaign. For Stein to ignore all this and still attempt to call herself an activist is beyond hypocrisy, it is political malpractice. Shame on you, Dr. Stein! Shame on you for profiting from fracking and oil drilling.

I’m not in love with Kamala Harris’s positions—on fracking, and on some other issues. But I will tell you what I am in love with. I’m in love with our movements.

I’m in love with what we can do. The entire history of progressive progress in this country is of movements pushing moderate presidents. It happened with FDR and the labor movement. It happened with LBJ and the MLK and the civil rights movement. It happened with Obama and Biden and the movement for gay marriage. We organize and push them—and that’s how we get what we want. That’s our progressive history in America.

But in order for us progressives to do our jobs and fight effectively for a more just and equitable world as a movement, we need to have Harris in office. If we have Donald Trump in office, there’s no chance in hell that we’re actually going to advance an environmental agenda.

So I urge you to please believe in us as a movement. Love us. Believe in our power. We have done this before—and we can do it again with a moderate Democrat in office. Which is the only choice we’ve got right now.

If everyone in who voted for Stein in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan had voted for the Democrat instead, Trump would never have been the president.

We have the true power. It comes from the bottom up.

And I believe in us.

A vote for Harris is a vote for us, a vote for our movements to have a fighting chance for change. Progressive politics and advancing our agenda in this country is not something that happens every four years when you vote, or every four years when a toxic egomaniac like Stein (or Trump, for that matter) runs for president. It is a daily commitment. So vote for Kamala Harris. Join the movement—and I’ll see you on the front lines.

[scarabsinthestardust]

Better in the Morning // Ch. 3

MASTERLIST

At last, this is why I chose the title that I did. This chapter is a little rough, a little sad. Please forgive me for the horrible things I'll be putting poor Jake through.

word count: 2500

CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language (as always), drinking/alcoholism, severe bouts of depression, mentions of suicide and self-harm, Kya might have some anxiety

“I can hear you worryin’ from across the store, Kya.”

I tried to still my shaking knee, a nervous tick, and hit the button to light up my phone. Still nothing. “What if something’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Do you think there’s something wrong?”

“This isn’t like him, Richie. He’s never done this. In the six months we’ve been together, he’s never just ghosted me. Even if we argue, he always texts or calls.”

“But you didn’t get into a fight or anything?”

“No. At least, not that I’m aware of.” I opened my text thread from Jake, the last message was the usual ‘goodnight’ text at around ten o’ clock last night. We were supposed to get breakfast this morning, but he never showed, and he wasn’t answering his phone. It was now almost 7 PM and I hadn’t heard a word from him. I debated reaching out to Josh, but it felt so intrusive. And I especially didn’t want Josh to think I was overreacting. Maybe they had just gotten super busy; they were supposed to do some work at the studio after all. “I think I’m just going to go to his house. Unless you think that’s too much. Do you think that’s too much?”

“I think you’re worrying too much, kid. If your gut is telling you to go over there, just go. I know you ain’t gonna be able to relax until you talk to him.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I’ll go after-“

He cut me off. “Just go, now. I can handle closing up shop. You’ll, uh, let me know everything’s okay?”

“Of course. Thank you.” I gave him a quick hug before heading out to my car.

I couldn’t turn my brain off. For the whole drive, I imagined all the worst-case scenarios, which of course only caused my anxiety to spike. To push it down, I focused on my mental to-do list. Obviously, I couldn’t decide what to do with Jake without knowing what was going on. I worried he wasn’t even at home, and decided if that was the case, and if I still couldn’t reach him, I’d call Josh. I just needed some assurance that he was okay.

I let out a sigh of relief when I arrived at his house and his car was in the driveway. As was Josh’s. But as my mind started racing again, I tried to convince myself to remain calm. “Okay, deep breath,” I said to myself. “Don’t go in there mad. I’m sure he’s got a perfectly good reason for ignoring you all day.”

Josh must have seen me pull up. He exited the front door and was walking in my direction. I got out of my car to greet him, but it didn’t soothe my nerves that he didn’t look pleased to see me.

“What are you doing here?”

Through gritted teeth I answered, “I’m trying to find out why my boyfriend stood me up and has been ghosting me all day.”

“He’s not feeling well.”

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. “Bullshit. There’s something you’re not telling me. So, spill, or I’m gonna march my ass in there and he can tell me himself.”

“He… doesn’t want company right now. I’ll tell him to call you later.”

I noticed he was fidgeting a lot, and he seemed… worried. “Josh, please tell me what the fuck is going on. I’m worried about him. Is he pissed off at me or something? Does he have another girl in there? Just tell me. I’m not leaving until I get an answer.”

He averted his eyes to the ground and lowered his voice, so it was barely audible. “Do you love him?”

I scoffed, kicking around a small rock on the ground. “Stupid question,” I mumbled. Jake and I hadn’t actually said it to each other. Not officially, anyways, outside of drunken or wild sex. But we showed it to each other in other ways. I knew what was in my heart, but this had me second guessing what was in his. I could have just pushed past him and went inside, to face whatever awaited me there, but I was curious as to why he was asking me this. “Yeah, I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

Josh let out a sad sigh. “I want to trust you; I just don’t want to see him get hurt again. His ex was a really shitty person, and she wasn’t good to him.”

“I’m not his ex,” I spat.

“I know. I’m sorry.” I let him have a few moments of silence while he gathered his thoughts. “Jake has these, I don’t know, depressive episodes. It’s something he’s dealt with since we were teenagers, probably every few months or so. He hasn’t had a bad one since you guys got together, though.”

I felt bile rise in the back of my throat. “Episodes?”

“Yeah, he just gets really… sad. Comes out of nowhere usually. Then he spirals, tends to freeze everyone out. Won’t eat, won’t sleep. I’m lucky if I even get a text, you know?”

I voiced the first question that came to mind, the one that scared me the most. “Is he… suicidal?” I held my breath for an answer.

“No. Never. He’s never hurt himself or anything, other than not eating. And he’ll drink until he passes out.”

“How long does it usually last?”

He shrugged. “I’ve seen it go anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks.” I ran a hand through my hair and turned from him, searching for the words that I couldn’t find in the sky. I was so heartbroken for Jake, and scared. I just wanted to go to him.

“Listen, I know it’s a lot to deal with. If you can’t handle it, then walk away now. Better to break his heart sooner rather than later,” he grumbled.

I spun and stared at him incredulously. “What? What are you…” I shook my head. “I’m not leaving him. I’m not going to walk away from him. Why the fuck would you even think that?”

He shrugged again and hid his hands in his pockets. I was seeing red, and Josh was getting on my last nerve. It felt like he was trying to scare me off. Surely, he was just being protective of his twin, I knew that. But I didn’t need him sticking his nose into my relationship. I huffed and marched past him towards the front door.

“Where are you going?” The panic was evident in his voice.

“Where do you think? I’m going to see my boyfriend.  If he doesn’t want me here, he can tell me himself.” I ignored him as he called out to me, in a half ass attempt to stop me. I don’t think he really wanted me to, though.

The house was dark except for a small lamp in the living room. When I didn’t see Jake, I headed upstairs. I heard Josh come in the front door behind me, but he didn’t follow.

I found Jake in his bedroom, sitting on the floor next to the bed with an almost empty bottle of whiskey next to him. All he had on was a pair of gray sweatpants and his signature Atocha coin around his neck. He had his arms rested on his knees and his head bowed in between them, his disheveled hair hiding his face. If he heard me come in, he didn’t acknowledge me. I moved slowly, not wanting to spook him, and knelt on the carpet in front of him. I carefully moved the whiskey bottle out of his immediate reach before calling out to him.

“Jake?”

His head shot up at the sound of my voice. His eyes were bloodshot. Even in the darkened room I could see how rough, how defeated he looked. I wondered how long he had been crying. He started shaking his head in what was probably panic. “No, Kya, you shouldn’t be here. You- you shouldn’t see this. Fuck, I didn’t want you to see this.”

“It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it?” He was glancing around the room, looking anywhere except at me, but I gently placed my hand on his cheek, lifting his face and not really giving him much of a choice in the matter. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want me here and I’ll leave. But I’m hoping you won’t.”

The silence seemed to drag on forever as I struggled to read his expression. It was an all too familiar expression, one I’d unfortunately witnessed on someone else’s face before. I shook that memory away, though, focusing on the man in front of me. He was terrified, maybe of my reaction, maybe of what was in his own head. I couldn’t be sure. But he didn’t tell me to leave and that was a step in the right direction. I felt his hands grip my arms, as if pleading for me to stay. He needed me to, and I would do whatever he needed me to at this point.

When he finally caved, leaning forward to rest his head on my shoulder, I was perfectly content to hold him like that, to let him cry. “It’s okay, baby. Let it out. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.” I understood depression like this well enough to know that sometimes, there was no rhyme or reason behind it. There didn’t have to be any particular trigger for it; sometimes it just decided you were long overdue for a visit when it reared its ugly head and tried its damnedest to take you down with it.

He kept apologizing to me for anything he could- for all the things that were not his fault. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m like this, why I’m so fucked up. I can’t get it out of my head.”

“I think we’re both a little fucked up, in some way or another. Maybe that’s why we work so well together. And it doesn’t mean I’m not going to help you through it.”

“You can’t fix me.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Can’t fix what’s not broken, silly. I know I can’t make it go away, but maybe I can at least help smooth out the ride, if you’ll let me.”

“You don’t have to do this. I don’t deserve it.”

I huffed. “You know that’s not true, Jake. You only think that because your head’s clouded right now, ‘cause you’re having trouble seeing through the fog. But it’ll pass. And I’m not doing this because I feel like I have to. I’m here because I want to help, I want to be here for you. All of this, what you’re dealing with… I get it. And it doesn’t make me love you any less.”

I think I heard what sounded like a hushed sob, but I couldn’t be sure. After a few more moments of silence, I somehow convinced him to move from the floor to the bed.

“Please stay.”

“I already told you I’m not going anywhere.” I removed my shoes and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I shot a quick text to Josh letting him know I was staying, and another to Richie just so he wouldn’t worry, before laying it on the bedside table and crawling under the blankets with Jake. I wrapped an arm tightly around his waist and heard his breath hitch, but he didn’t pull away. He slowly inched closer until there was no space between us, his face nuzzled up against my shoulder. I could still feel the remnants of tears that were falling, dampening my skin. I held him like that for the rest of the night, constantly whispering reassurances that I was here with him, until his breath finally evened out and he fell into sleep.

~

I squinted my eyes against the sunlight that was creeping through the windows. I stretched and breathed deep, inhaling the scent that was so obviously Jake. Waking up in his bed was nothing new; it was becoming the new normal for me. I reached over to find the other side of the bed empty. That alone also wasn’t unusual; he typically was an early riser and would have coffee and breakfast in the works by the time I regained consciousness. But when memories of the night before finally materialized in my brain, the worry returned, and I shot up in bed.

I threw my hair up in a (very) messy bun and padded downstairs. Jake stood in the kitchen talking to Josh, who was perched on the countertop. Jake looked a million times better, if only a little sleep deprived. Their conversation quieted and they both greeted me good morning. Josh was still eyeing me like he was weary of my existence and Jake smiled nervously at me.

“Do you want some coffee?”

“Mm, yes please.” He made me a cup, just the way he knew I liked it (entirely too sweet for his taste). I grazed my hand over his. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh, better. Tired.” He crinkled his nose up and made eye contact with Josh, no doubt utilizing that eerie twin telepathy.

Josh hopped off the counter and glanced back at his twin. “Okay, well, I’m gonna head out. Get some rest. Call me if you need anything.” Jake nodded and Josh gave me one more questioning glance before making his departure. I put my coffee down and took Josh’s spot, hopping to sit on the counter.

“I feel like my countertop has seen a lot of ass this morning.”

“I don’t recall you complaining about it when you-“

“Hush.” He closed the distance between us, planting himself between my legs and giving me a soft kiss. Sighing as he pulled away, his hands rubbed the skin of my thighs. He was still worried. “I’m sorry again, about last night. I… I take meds for it, but it still happens. I can’t make it go away.”

I grabbed his hands, anchoring him to me. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to shut me out, I just wish there was more I could do to help you through it.”

He leaned forward so our foreheads were touching. “I love you, Kya,” he whispered. “You’re too good to me, but I’m just glad to have you here with me. Thank you. Thank you for being here, for being you. And being too stubborn to let Josh scare you off.”

I snorted a chuckle. “I love you, too. And it would take a lot more than Josh to scare me off.” I closed my eyes, reveling in the proximity of him, breathing in his scent, feeling his touch. I just hoped it would be enough to keep him with me. I can’t lose him, too.

[fruitylo0pz]

A New Start pt. 2 (NSFW)

(pt.1 here if you haven't read it)

Larissa Weems x fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, smut, 18+, sub!Larissa, choking, fingering, masturbation, cunnilingus, strap-on, degradation kink, some light fluff

A/N: First of all; THANK YOU!! I never thought anyone would actually read or like this, so it was really overwhelming to receive positive feedback. I had been thinking about writing something with multiple parts and I really liked this when I started writing it. This one is longer than the other one because I wanted to implement some story and not just smut. Sorry about that! I do however hope it's a continuation people will like as much as the first one. I might start planning part 3 tonight if this is something you'd want more of. I have proofread it, but again I apologise for any mistakes.

Word count: 4.7k

____

You and Larissa’s arrangement had been going on for a few months, and you managed to keep it hidden from everyone. She would come over a few times a week, or you would pay her a visit at the school when she worked long days. Naturally, after meeting you, she worked more long days than before but they had been far more pleasant than they used to be. You both sorely wanted more, but you knew that wouldn’t happen for now, if ever. Your life was pretty much the same aside from the affair you had going on with Larissa, and you had been working on a huge project at work when your boss came to give you an invitation.

“Y/N! Take a break every now and then, will you? You’re basically running on coffee at this point. In fact, I’m here to share something with you so you can take a break right now!” Your boss was laid back and always down to earth, and you had a great relationship with her. She sat down and you reluctantly took a break from your project.

“Sure, what is it? And I do take breaks! I just get really caught up and lose track of time.” You leaned back and actually found yourself grateful for the break after having worked on the project that turned out to be a lot heavier than you thought it would be.

“Tomorrow, one of the powerful and important businessmen in town is hosting a dinner and party for some of the companies in town and we’ve been invited. I know you don’t really like these things, but hey. It’s free food and booze and I think you’d actually really like it. He’s a bit of a prick, but it’s good for the company to keep in touch with important people in the town and it gives us some good exposure. Please come? Josh is out of town, but me, Kelly and Jess are going and we would all love for you to come. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet some pretty lady?” She laughed, and you could tell that she really wanted you to come. 

She was right, you didn’t really do much other than hang out with Larissa any time you could, work, run or go to the gym. Although, you weren’t really interested in meeting some pretty lady, you already had that even though she wasn’t yours. “Fine, I’ll come! But only because you’re all going and you said there’s free food and booze. Can’t say no to that.” You chuckled and she squealed at your response. She had probably prepared some long speech because she thought you needed some deeper and more aggressive persuasion, so she was probably just as relieved. 

“Awesome!! Oh, it’s gonna be so much fun. It really isn’t as bad as you probably think it is, I promise. Now, I’ll let you get back to your work before you push me away.” She almost skipped on her way back to her office and you went back to work.

The next workday went by a lot easier as the heaviest parts of the projects were done and you were beginning to wrap it up. You hadn’t heard from Larissa for a few days and you were getting worried, although this wasn’t really a unique occurrence. You knew what you had gotten yourself into, and you never nagged her. It was all on her terms, but she would send you the frequent picture posing with new lingerie or a nice selfie while taking a break. You appreciated these small, delicious gestures. She never had the confidence to do these things before you came along so it was truly special to you. You had picked out your outfit the second you got home after hearing about the dinner because you knew you’d never have the time after work, and it also made you feel like you were closer to a commitment. You were actually looking forward to this and getting your mind on something else, if only for a night. 

The girls were waiting outside for you, and your boss once again squealed when she saw you. She was the complete opposite from you, but you got along surprisingly well. “I actually had my doubts and I thought you wouldn’t show. I didn’t go as far as to take bets, but I have to admit the thought crossed me. You look smashing, by the way! Let’s go inside and get ourselves a good table and a drink.” She ushered you all inside and you ordered a drink at the bar before finding a table.

Suddenly, your eyes caught her at one of the tables. She was sitting next to an older man and she looked just as shocked as you probably did when your eyes met. Your boss must have seen you staring in that direction when she gave you a friendly push. “Hey, that’s the wife of the guy who’s hosting this thing so please keep your eyes to yourself. I know she’s probably right up your alley, but that’s a no go.” She laughed and you were left stunned, and let out a nervous chuckle. 

Her husband got up and held a speech filled with cliches about how a strong community with solid companies is important for a town but you couldn’t really focus on it. Your eyes were glued to her the entire time, and you could really see how unhappy she was when she was next to him. She gave him a fake smile whenever he looked at her, but that was about it. After some time, you excused yourself and you managed to catch her eye long enough to give a nod towards the exit. Hopefully she understood that you wanted to see her. 

You went outside to the hallway when you saw her approaching you, and she took you to a storage room. “I’ve missed you so much, Y/N. I didn’t know you were coming here. I’m so sorry you haven’t heard from me, but the time leading up to these things are always busy because naturally I have to take care of everything.” She shook her head but you gently stroked her cheek to assure her that you weren’t upset. 

“Hey, Larissa. I know this is how things have to be, and I knew that from the beginning. You look stunning, by the way.” You gave her a smile filled with admiration and she leaned down to kiss you. You had missed her soft lips so much, and she had been longing for yours just as much. 

“I was going to text you after this to see if you wanted company. He never comes home until early in the morning, or he passes out because he’s too drunk. He wouldn’t notice me leaving. And I have missed your touch so much.” The look in her eyes became darker and her eyelids fluttered. She wanted you, and seeing you had only reminded her how much she had missed you.

“And I have missed my beautiful princess so much. I would love company, but since we’re already here… How about you spread your legs for me?” Your hands wandered to her back and down to her ass and she whimpered.

She looked at you with a slightly shocked look on her face. “H-here? Now? I… There are people walking past this room all the time.” Your hand gently started lifting up her dress, and her legs started spreading automatically. 

“I know. And I love it. Do you know how much it would turn me on to know that he might walk by while I’m eating out his wife while my fingers are buried deep in her cunt, completely unaware of what’s happening in this room?” Your fingers continued pulling up her dress, and she helped you. She moved to an empty table where she sat down. She pulled the dress all the way up and spread her legs.

“Oh, you are such a desperate whore, Larissa. My desperate whore. Such a good girl.” She let out a groan when you praised her. She loved the name calling, and whenever you called her a good girl it automatically made her hiss.

You got down on your knees before her and pulled down her panties, knowing you wouldn’t have time for the foreplay you usually loved so much. Teasing her was just as fun as fucking her, because it made her so weak. You lifted up her legs and let them rest on your shoulders before you let two fingers slide down her slit. She was already soaking wet and you chuckled to yourself before you devoured her and she gasped. You felt her pulling you closer and you looked up at her while shaking your head. She knew better, and she removed her hands. Your tongue picked up the pace while two fingers slipped inside of her. She was struggling to keep quiet and you loved it. You started fucking her harder as her walls clenched around your fingers and her breath became more erratic. 

“Please… Y/N… I’m going to… O-oh…” She couldn’t even finish before she came as you curled your fingers so they reached her magic spot. She arched her back and her thighs tensed up. She was a mess for you and you smiled to yourself before getting up and wiping off your chin.

“Oh, I have missed the taste of you. You’re intoxicating.” You leaned forward to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around your neck. You helped her fix her dress, hair and makeup and made sure the coast was clear before you left. You went to the bathroom while she went back to her table so it wouldn’t seem too suspicious. 

You frankly had no idea how long you had been away, but enough to make your colleagues give you collectively confused looks on their faces. “I just needed some fresh air. Big crowds make me nervous.” You chuckled awkwardly and went to get another drink. Time passed and you were actually enjoying your evening, and not just because of Larissa and your little trip to the storage room. Suddenly you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. 

Larissa: You look good from behind. Almost as good as you look between my legs. ;)

You smiled to yourself. She was getting bolder with you and you loved it.

You: Are you checking me out? No one looks as good as you when you’re a moaning mess underneath me.

You turned around and saw that she was sitting alone and she smiled at her phone.

Larissa: The idea of almost getting caught was so thrilling. I want to do something like that again. I’m so wet again, and I need a release. I’m going back to the storage room now. Follow me, please. 

You were stunned by her hunger, but you loved that she was so desperate for you. Especially since you were probably at least twice as desperate for the tall goddess. You looked at her with a nod as she disappeared again. You went to your table with your drink before lying about a phone call you allegedly had to take.

You entered the room, and saw Larissa on the table. She had hitched her dress up and she was sitting there with her legs spread and she was rubbing her clit with her gorgeous fingers and moaning quietly. “Please watch me, Y/N. Please let me show you what a dirty whore you make me. How wet just the thought of you makes me.” You looked at her with a grin and nodded while you leaned on a shelf and watched her intently.

She gasped and whimpered while her fingers slowly circled her clit. “Now you know how I look when I touch myself to the thought of you. Sometimes when I’m in my office, I take breaks so I can fuck myself because I catch myself daydreaming about you and the things you do to me. I love being your dirty little fuck toy. I love it when you fuck me for hours and I feel so used by you.” She let her fingers slip inside before taking them to her mouth and sucking them clean. The sight of her being so liberated, so uninhibited was wonderfully surprising and a huge turn on. It also pleased you that she felt comfortable and confident enough to take control a bit, although she would probably always be submissive to you.  

“Fuck yourself. I want to watch you when you make yourself cum.” She nodded and slid her fingers back inside, adding a third finger. She maintained eye contact which was even hotter. She loved having you watch her while she was fucking herself and she was once again struggling to keep quiet. She picked up the pace and you knew she was close judging by her breath as she started whimpering. She was fucking herself deep and fast, both because she knew she couldn’t take the sweet time she so sorely wanted to but also because she was too hungry for another orgasm to keep going.

“Oh, Y/N. I-I’m gonna cum.” It only took seconds before she tensed up and gasped into yet an intense orgasm and threw her head back. You walked up to her and took her fingers to your lips and licked them clean. “I love that you’re such a dirty girl, Larissa.” You kissed her and once again helped her with her appearance so it wasn’t too obvious what had just happened in that storage room.

She left first and you waited until you figured the coast was clear. You went over to your table, and your colleagues were luckily too drunk to make any snarky remarks about you disappearing once again. You glanced over at Larissa and she smirked when she noticed you. Most of the guests had already left, so you figured it wouldn’t look too weird if you went home. Quite frankly, you just wanted to get home and take care of Larissa for the rest of the night. You decided to text her to let her know you were leaving so she had time to wrap things up.

You: I’m going home now. Join me soon, please?

Larissa: I’ll try and come over soon, darling. People are leaving and he’s deep into one of his poker games so I think I’ll make it within 30 minutes.

You said your goodbyes to your colleagues, complaining about a headache and some cliche about how you’re exhausted. This wasn’t fully a lie, so you didn’t really feel bad about leaving. You felt slightly bad about not spending too much time with your colleagues, but they had fun regardless and aside from the confused looks on their faces they probably wouldn’t even remember it the next workday. After some time, you heard a knock on the door and smiled to yourself.

To your shock, it was your boss and Jess, your colleague. “This little missy has had too much to drink and you’re the only one who lives relatively close by. I’m so sorry, but can we just stay until the Uber is here? I’m going to make sure she gets home, but the party ended and the wife of the host seemed like she was in a rush to get everyone to leave. Not that I blame her, since her husband didn’t even look at her the entire evening. Anyway, could you please get her a glass of water while we wait?” You nodded and smiled to yourself, knowing why Larissa was so desperate for everyone to leave. You were however hoping she wouldn’t arrive before they had left. 

“Y/N, I just love you soooooo much.” Jess threw her arms out while declaring her love for you and you had to laugh. Suddenly you heard a knock on the door again and you froze.

“Damn, are you hosting an after party or something or do you always have guests over at all times, Y/N?” Your boss laughed and you froze. It had to be her, but you couldn’t just leave her out there. It was freezing cold and you hesitantly opened the door while thinking of a good excuse.

“Ohhh, it’s… You. Hello?” You realised how terribly awkward it sounded, but this was truly a scenario you had never thought you would encounter and you had no idea how to work through it.

“Hello, Y/N. I am just here to talk to you about the volunteer work you said you wanted to do with Nevermore’s website? I know it is an extremely awkward time to visit you, but I was just so terribly intrigued by your mind when you told me about the ideas you had when I met you outside.” Oh, she was good. This was undoubtedly an excuse that sounded believable and you could feel the nervous tug in your chest let go.

Larissa moved so her back was facing the living room where your boss and Jess were sitting on the sofa and she opened her coat enough for you to see that she was fully naked underneath it. She bit her lip and gave you an innocent look. You coughed to hide your gasp and tried to collect your thoughts. “Y-yes, that’s right! I almost forgot about that. I’m sorry, these are my colleagues, they’re just stopping by because Jess here is a bit… Indisposed at the moment and they’re waiting for their ride.” You pointed to your boss and Jess on the sofa and let out an awkward chuckle.

“Oh, hello! It’s nice to meet you! My name is Larissa Weems. I’m the headmistress at Nevermore Academy. I met Y/N here while we were outside getting some fresh air, and she told me what she does for a living. One thing led to another and she offered her skilled mind and hands.” She smiled and walked over to shake their hand to greet them properly. 

“Oh, hi! Yes, she’s pretty awesome and great at what she does, so you’ll be lucky to have her! I’m sorry about Jess here, she seems to have fallen asleep. Otherwise I know she would have greeted you.” Your boss laughed and gently tried to wake up Jess who was long gone. Eventually Jess woke up with a twitch, just in time for the Uber to arrive.

“Are you okay, or do you need help with her?” You gave your boss a concerned look, but she just laughed and told you that this wasn’t their first rodeo. Jess rarely went out and she was a lightweight so it wasn’t uncommon for her evenings to end this way. You helped your boss and sent them off, before eagerly heading back inside to Larissa.

“Do you think that was appropriate? Hm? To tease me like that when I have people over?” You gave her a stern look and she looked down. She knew she had been too bold.

“Forgive me, miss. I should know my place and I should have known better.” Her voice was shaky, and she knew she was in trouble. 

“Take off your coat and go upstairs to the bedroom. Now.” She nodded and you followed her up the stairs.

“You are going to apologise, and you are going to explain what you did wrong. I want to make sure you know exactly what your mistake was.” You sat down, and she stood before you still looking down. 

“I am so sorry, miss. I was a disobedient whore, and I am not allowed to tease you unless I know I have the permission to do so. I was bold and reckless, and now I must take the punishment you are going to give me now.” You got up and she knew what was coming. She got on all fours on the bed with her ass up in the air. She had learned what her punishment was whenever she disobeyed you or did something without permission.

“You know the drill. You will count. 20.” You positioned yourself on the side of the bed and rubbed her ass before the first spank hit her. You loved the sound of your hand hitting her skin and how she whimpered but counted each and every slap.

“T-twenty. Thank you, miss.” She whimpered quietly after your last spank and you gently kissed her red and sensitive skin.

“Good girl. Now, I can see how hungry you are for me. It’s running down your thighs. You love it when I’m rough with you, don’t you? Tell me what you want.” You turned her over so she was on her back and she immediately spread her legs for you and you smiled. 

“I want you to fuck me, miss. Please fuck me. I’ll be good, I swear. Please just use me.” She sounded so whiny, and you loved how pent up she was. This time, you had a surprise for her and you went over to the drawer to grab the new strap-on you had bought. Her eyes widened with excitement, and you could tell how much she wanted it.

“Stand up. What do you think, my pretty slut? You want my strap?” You attached the harness and adjusted it before moving slowly towards the bed. 

“Y-yes, miss. Please. Please let me have it. Pretty please, I’m so desperate for you.” She sat up and her pupils were blown with desire for you. She really was desperate for you, and she didn’t even try to hide it.

You sat on the bed and leaned back. “Get on your knees and show me how much you want it.” You pointed to the floor and she immediately knew what to do. She got down on her knees and took the strap in her mouth. She whimpered and looked up at you while sucking it, and the sight drove you crazy.

After some time you pulled out and she looked up at you again with a begging look in her eyes. “Oh, my sweet whore. I’m going to destroy you.” You stroked her cheek before grabbing her throat and pulling her up on the bed. She loved it when you choked her, and you could see a new wave of arousal pour down from her already soaked cunt when she laid on the bed. 

You spread her legs and kneeled between them, teasing her with the tip. She whimpered as you rubbed her clit with it, and you knew just how much she wanted it but you wanted to hear her say it. “Please, miss. Please fuck me. I’m so wet for you, miss.” Her hips started rolling discreetly and you let the strap slide in slowly and a deep groan escaped her. You started off painfully slow, both to tease and torture her but also to let her adjust. She gasped with each and every thrust, and you grabbed her thighs and went deeper.

She quivered when you bottomed her out and you picked up the pace and fucked her harder. You reminded yourself about the way she had acted the first time you met, and grinned at the thought of how much she had changed from upper class bitch to your submissive whore, begging you to fuck her hard whenever she had the chance. At times, she would give you a certain look when you were cooking together, always ending with you on your knees between her legs eating her out until she had soaked your face in numerous orgasms.

You picked up the pace even more and she furrowed her brows while looking you deep in your eyes and you knew she was getting close. You grabbed her throat while fucking her raw “Cum for me, my pretty slut. I want to see your face when I make you cum, and then you’re going to ride my strap.” You barely had time to finish the sentence before she exploded with a scream and her back lifted from the bed. You pulled out and laid down on the bed, and she followed almost instantly. You knew how exhausted she was, but that didn’t stop her. She straddled you before letting herself slide down on the strap. She started off slowly, allowing herself to find a comfortable rhythm before picking up the pace. She threw her head back as she started riding the strap harder, and you grabbed her ass. She hissed as you grabbed her sore skin, but she had grown to love the mixed sensation of pain and pleasure. 

“O-oh miss, I love riding your strap. It feels so good inside me.” She was riding you hard and fast until she cried out and came in an orgasm that made her shiver on top of you. You caught her when her upper body slowly collapsed and slowly pulled out the strap from her sensitive cunt. You placed her softly on the bed and went to remove the strap before joining her in bed.

“You have done so well tonight, darling. Are you feeling okay? Was I too rough or did it feel good?” You kissed her forehead and wrapped your arms around you. She just hummed and you knew she felt good. You had told her that you wanted her to let you know if it was too much for her, and made it very clear that you would never be upset with her if she said something was uncomfortable or painful.

“I feel perfect. You feel perfect. This is absolutely perfect, thank you.” She kissed you before placing her head in the nook of your neck. 

“If you think this is perfect, do you want to stay? I mean, not just now.” You kissed her cheek, but she pulled away immediately and gave you a sad look before getting up. 

“You know it’s not that easy. I need to clean up and go home.” She left the bed and went to the bathroom, and you sighed. You knew she couldn’t stay, but that didn’t prevent you from asking. You knew that with her position, and his position it wasn’t an option to just leave him. But on the other hand, all he did was ignore her and neglect her. She was a trophy wife, but he didn’t even appreciate her. He brought her along on dinners and parties, but aside from that he didn’t even notice that she was away several times a week. 

She came back and grabbed the clothes from her bag. You gently grabbed her wrist, and she sat down but didn’t face you. “Larissa, I know it’s not as easy as I make it sound and I don’t mean to nag about it every time we see each other. I would just like to have you in my arms for one night. One full night where I can keep you safe and make breakfast for you the morning after.” You kissed her hand and you knew she blushed whenever you did. It made her feel like a princess, and you loved making her feel that way.

“One day, I promise. But for now, you’re gonna have to settle with this. And I hope that won’t make you lose interest.” She looked sad and spoke to you with a concerned tone in her voice while she was getting dressed.

You chuckled and sat up before kissing her. “Larissa, have you seen yourself? And have you seen the way I look at you? I won’t ever lose interest in you, my precious goddess.” You kissed her cheek and she blushed.

You both got up and you followed her to the door. She once again leaned down to kiss you and gently stroked your cheek. “How on earth did I end up this lucky? It might be out of place for me to say this, but you make me feel so good and you make me feel so pretty.” 

You chuckled and once again kissed her hand. “If anyone here is lucky, it’s me. You are pretty smashing if you hadn’t noticed.” You gave her a playful wink and she laughed.

“Darling, I know you’re stressed at work nowadays, so tomorrow… Keep an eye on your phone. I might be sending you a few surprises throughout the day.” Her voice was deep and sultry, and she leaned down to bite your ear. She knew exactly what to do to tease and frustrate you.

“Oh, Y/N. You are beautiful. I think I’m falling fast and hard for you.” She stroked your cheek once more before disappearing out the door, leaving you both stunned and excited. 

[joshym]

Lilac Moon: Chapter 3

Pairing: Josh Kiszka x f!Reader

Word Count: 7.4k+

Warnings: (specific to this chapter) alcohol use, a good amount of angst, some pretty fluffy fluff, lot’s of cursing (sorry, lol), an almost physical fight, mentions of past trauma, mentions of anxiety (future chapters WILL contain smut, so MINORS DNI)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

a/n: this story means a lot to me, & i hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as i love writing it. 🤍

with that being said, i just want to reiterate that this is a complete work of pure fiction, & this is not in any way meant to be reflective of real life.

as always, don’t be afraid to let me know what you think, & let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist. :)

love you all so much!

-lis🤍

You stayed the whole night with Josh, wrapped up with him in the chill of the night. It was an accident; you hadn’t planned on staying at this house, sleeping in his arms in the serenity of his backyard. But he’s so comforting, so calming…you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t want to be with him just like this for the rest of your days. 

You’re falling for him, and you’re falling fast.

♪°•°∞♬°•°♪°•°∞♬°•°♪

The peace of the morning has settled in. You're awoken by the melodic sounds of the birds chirping their forenoon songs. The sun is just beginning its dawn, the dew ever present on the grass.

Your body slowly rises and falls with his, his breathing still indicating the patterns of a deep sleep. He’s so warm. His comforting scent penetrates your senses. His arms are wrapped snug around your body, keeping you safe and close to him. You wish this could last forever. You wish the rest of the world would go on, leaving the two of you alone in this bliss you have created together.

You finally start to come to a bit more, your mind wandering out of its dreamlike state. You stretch your stiff limbs, causing him to stir as he’s starting to wake up, too. Half asleep, he leans down to give a gentle kiss on top of your head.

“Mm, good morning. At least I think it’s morning, anyway.” His voice is deep and raspy, still sleep laden.

You suddenly come fully to your senses, realizing that you accidentally spent the entire night with him, sleeping under his pergola in the backyard. You quickly grab your phone to investigate the time.

6:18am

“Holy shit, oh my god. I’m so sorry, Josh. I can’t believe I fell asleep like that.”

You lift your body off of him, finding he’s almost reluctant to break the embrace, but does it anyway.

“Why would you be sorry? I don’t mind at all. It’s actually the most restful sleep I’ve gotten in a long while.”

“I just hate to be so intrusive. This is your home, I shouldn’t have stayed all night like that. That’s so rude of me. I’m so sor-” he cuts you off before you can apologize for a second time.

“Y/n, please.” He sits up on the couch to be eye level with you, smiling a toothy grin at your embarrassment that he finds adorable. His hair is in a fluffy mess from sleeping outside all night, but it’s wonderfully charming to you. “Don’t say sorry. I’m happy you stayed. It gets a little lonely here sometimes and you’re fantastic company.” He lifts your hand to give it a quick peck.

“Well, I guess this means I have to make you breakfast now, huh.” He gives you a sly wink, making you blush as you both break out in a set of sleepy giggles. 

He leads you in the house. You’d only seen his home in artificial lighting since you came over so late, but now, you’re seeing it in the glow of the day. The rising sun has encapsulated the space in a warm golden tone showcasing the architectural detailing and his elegant decor. There’s one wall in the living room that is entirely made up of floor to ceiling windows with a view of the forest behind it. You’re in absolute awe as you take it all in.

You’re in desperate need of freshening up, so you ask him where the restroom is. He points down the long hallway, telling you it’s the second door on your right.

You take your time to splash some water on your face, use the small brush you keep in your purse to fix your hair a little, and you’re thanking your lucky stars that you always carry around a travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste set.

Once you feel a little more presentable, you head back to the kitchen to find Josh rummaging through his fridge and cabinets for ingredients to make breakfast. 

“What can I help you with?”

“Uh, absolutely nothing. You’re my guest and you will be treated as such. I am but your humble servant.” He bows to you, then walks over to the first seat at the island and pulls it out for you. “Your throne awaits, my dear.” 

“If you insist, good sir.” You can’t even begin to hide the smile taking over your face. 

“Sir, huh? Kinda like the sound of that.” he says with a sly wink as you both laugh.

Any other time you’ve stayed at a man’s house, it usually involves sex that is less than pleasurable for you, and the mornings consist of them practically shoving you out of the front door. (if they even let you stay that long)

But with Josh, it’s completely different. He didn’t need sex from you last night. He was perfectly content with just being with you, being in your presence. Completely okay with just a kiss, the most beautiful kiss you’ve ever shared with anyone. A kiss that happened when you were in the depths of explaining the most vulnerable parts of yourself that he wanted to know about. And not only that, he wants to cook for you this morning.

What is happening?

You’re watching intently as Josh gathers his ingredients for what appears to be quite the meal he has planned.

“So what are you making me?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” he says with a smirk.

“Oh no. You’re not going to poison me, are you?”

He huffs out a laugh. “ Of course not. Unless you’re allergic to blackberries.” He puts some blackberries in a pot on the stove, stirring in a mixture of lemon juice, vanilla and water. “I’m making a blackberry compote to go on top of our french toast.”

“Oh! That sounds amazing, Josh!”

“Well, don’t give me too much credit. It’s a Jacob specialty. He’s a far better cook than I. But don’t ever tell him I said that. Wouldn’t want it going to his head.”

He lets the compote come to a boil before meticulously mixing in a little cornstarch.

“Jakes a cook?”

“Oh absolutely. He’s been cooking for the better part of our lives now. And I don’t mean he makes some measly pasta dish with premade sauce in a jar from the store, he is up to par with the professionals. I love all things culinary, but I don’t hold a candle to him.”

He continues stirring his concoction until it’s thick enough to his liking. He puts a little on a spoon, blowing on it until you can no longer see steam. He walks over to you and gently holds the spoon up to your mouth. 

“Here, tell me what you think.”

You look in his eyes while you taste it, this moment feeling awfully romantic.

“It’s perfect.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yes, I do! Josh, are you sure you don’t need my help? You’re doing too much, I feel bad just watching you slave away.”

He walks back over to the stove to begin preparing the toast.

“Like I said, you’re my guest. I don’t get to do this often, so let me spoil you, okay?”

You nod and smile in agreement while you watch him finish the toast. He decorates your plates to near perfection, taking his time to drizzle the blackberry compote on top of the toast in a certain design. He tops it off with a little powdered sugar before setting your plate in front of you.

“Ladies first.” he says, signaling you to take the first bite. He watches you closely as you do so, anxiously awaiting your reaction.

“Well? How is it?”

“My compliments to the chef. Or should I say, the far less cuisine-talented Kiszka twin.” He covers his face in an attempt to conceal his laughter. “No seriously. This is incredible. Thank you for doing this. You really didn’t have to.”

“I know, but I wanted to. I don’t get to have people over here often, in fact I don’t even get to be here as much as I’d like, so this is nice.”

You both finish your breakfast, talking about anything and everything that graces the forefront of your minds. You talk a little about the tour and he offers some life-on-the-road advice to you, you talk some more about music and the future for both of your bands, things of that nature. 

“Just so you know, I’ve been down the rabbit hole that is Lilac Moon.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Been listening to your music, watching your videos…I know I’ve already said this, but you’re pretty fantastic. Your stage presence is outstanding, y/n. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do in an arena. Lilac Moon truly deserves to be on a bigger stage.”

“Well, thank you. It’s going to be a change of scenery, that’s for sure.”

As much as you feel your music is going nowhere, that’s not entirely true. Your band has roughly 60,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, which is pretty damn good for a group that rarely leaves its home state. You’ve also been featured on NPR Music's YouTube channel for a Tiny Desk concert. That’s no small feat. The bands’ Instagram page has nearly 80,000 followers, with your own personal page reaching close to 30,000. You’ve been able to do multiple professional live recordings for various radio stations, even have two music videos out for your original songs. The recording of your first EP, self funded, of course, was a pivotal moment. It garnered a lot of attention from people, and its success allowed for a second one to be recorded and released within just a few months. Things aren’t quite as stagnant as you feel they are, it's Jay that has made you believe that it’s not enough. He’s convinced you that fame is all that matters, and you’ve allowed yourself to believe it. You know that’s not true. Those things don’t matter. The music matters the most, and that’s your true love. You’re finding that you’re starting to fall in love with that aspect of it all again. 

“I uh, also happened to stumble upon a cover you all did at a few shows. A little number called Safari Song, I believe? Can't seem to remember who does that one…hmm..” he giggles at the blush creeping on your face. 

Lilac Moon has performed that song countless times in front of audiences. Obviously a crowd favorite.

“Gee, I can’t remember who does that one either.”  you say to him with a wink.

“I have to admit, I’m incredibly nervous, Josh. I mean, what if they don’t like us? I doubt many of them know us…I just…I don’t handle criticism well…I know that’s something I have to fix if I want to continue any kind of career in this field. I’m just nervous. This is the biggest thing to ever happen to us…I’m terrified they’ll hate us.”

“Ah, I remember those feelings quite well. It can be frightening, I know. But I can promise you this: they’re going to love you. I know our fans. They’re some of the most accepting, loving people. They feel it from us, and they reciprocate it. Just go out there with love, and they’ll love you right back. Love is the key.”

He pats the top of your head in a silly, loving way to reassure you a little extra.

“But you should know this already, I mean you are one of them, after all.” he says with a wink. “Just how big of a fan are you, anyways? Just out of curiosity. I hope you’re not a crazed, stalker type. If you are, well, you’ve done a good job of it because you’re in my house.” he says with a boisterous laugh.

“Well, I went to as many shows as I could back in the day. Got a few guitar picks, a drum stick. You even handed me a rose one time.”

“What? You know…” he stops to ponder in thought a bit. “Yeah…yes! I remember you! Oh my God, how could I have forgotten this. You and Ivy! I remember seeing you at tons of shows, and I remember handing you the rose.” He taps his fingers on his chin while he thinks. “St. Louis. Ballpark Village in 2017. You were wearing the most lovely purple dress with these huge sleeves that were just beautiful…and you had the most wonderful flowers in your hair. That’s why I wanted to give you the rose, because of your flowers. Such a lovely sight.”

You’re left in complete shock. His memory is serving him right, because that’s exactly what you were wearing. 

“I can’t believe you remembered all of that. That’s just…how on earth do you still remember that? It’s been so many years, and you’ve done thousands of shows since then..”

“You just spoke to me, I guess. You were so sweet, so gentle in the mix of people who were screaming at the top of their lungs. You just radiated this energy that I didn’t feel from anyone else in the crowd. You were there for the music, for the peace it brought you, I could tell.”

You’re struck aghast at hearing this from him, because he’s absolutely right. You always felt a sort of peace at their shows. They felt eerily intimate to you, and you can’t believe he picked up on that from the crowds of people that surrounded you.

“Wow, Josh. I’m just astounded. I never knew you noticed me, let alone remembered me.”

“Look at you, y/n! I’d be crazy to not remember the likes of you, sweet girl. Like I said last night, the universe is mysterious. It wanted our paths to cross again, and now look what’s come of it? It’s a wonderful thing.”

♪°•°∞♬°•°♪°•°∞♬°•°♪

You’ve been so lost in conversation that you don’t even realize three hours have gone by.

You start to help Josh clean up in the kitchen when you hear his phone going off.

“Shit. Hold on, I have to get that.”

He answers it, opting to put it on speaker. You’re taken aback by this. This man really has nothing to hide, and nothing to hide from you. It’s a sweet, seemingly insignificant gesture that makes you smile to yourself.

“Where the fuck are you?” You recognize Jake's voice instantly, and he’s not thrilled.

“Oh fuck, man. I totally forgot. What time was I supposed to be there?”

“You were supposed to be here over an hour ago to get hair and makeup done, Josh. The shoot starts in 30 minutes. You better get your ass over here now.” You hear Sammy’s unmistakable laughter in the background, clearly mocking his older brother's irresponsibility.

“Tell Sam to shut the fuck up. I’m on my way.”

You hear the call disconnect from the other end.

“I’m so sorry, Josh. This is all my fault.” 

“No, don’t be. It’s just a silly magazine. They want us pretty damn bad for this next cover, so they aren’t going anywhere.”

You help him get the last few things tidied up in the kitchen before grabbing your stuff to head out the door with him. He walks you to your car, opening your door for you but stops you before you get in.

“Can we- can we do this again sometime? I know we’ve both got busy schedules with everything coming up. But I really, really enjoyed talking to you. I’m sorry if I got a little carried away last night. I just couldn’t help myself and-” you’re not sure where or how you got this sudden courage, but you grabbed him lightly by his shirt and brought him to your lips in a sweet, longing kiss to cut off his apology. He wrapped his arms around you tightly, bringing you even closer to him.

“Don’t be sorry.” you whisper as you move away slightly from his lips. “I would love to do this again. Soon, I hope?”

“Yes, very soon. Every night if we can.” 

You meet each other in another kiss but it’s cut short as Josh’s phone is going off yet again, presumably Jake.

“I really hate to, but I have to go. Text me, okay?” 

“I will.” you say as you sit in the driver's seat of your car.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Bye, y/n.”

He smiles as he shuts your car door. You watch him walk to his jeep. He looks wonderful in the sun, effortlessly stunning. The butterflies in your stomach are in a fluttering mass. You’re not sure what any of this means or where it could possibly be going, but you’re welcoming all of it with open arms.

♪°•°∞♬°•°♪°•°∞♬°•°♪

Your mind is racing on your drive home. In fact, you decide to take the long way to your apartment to give yourself some space for deep thought. You love to take long drives to just let yourself think, to let yourself be.

You decide to skip going home right away, opting to drive yourself to Ivy’s to see if she’s home. You have to talk to someone, and who better than your very best friend. 

You breathe a heavy sigh of relief when you pull up to her complex to see her car in her usual parking spot.

It’s not out of the ordinary for the two of you to show up to each other’s places unannounced. You even have a key to her apartment, and she owns one to yours as well.

You lived together briefly upon moving to Nashville, that is until Jay came into the picture. He moved in with you and essentially forced Ivy out. She didn’t take it well, and you can’t blame her one bit. He always said it was for ‘privacy.’ You hated that you let him do that. You hated that he tried to put a wedge between you and Ivy. It left a dent in your friendship for a while, and as much as she says she forgives you and doesn't place the blame on you, you can’t help but feel shameful for letting him run your life the way he did. Despite all of it, it somehow made you and Ivy stronger in the end. Your friendship has stood the tests of time and tribulation.

You make it up the steps to the second floor of the complex and let yourself in the front door of her apartment. It’s still early, so you have no doubt she’s still asleep. 

As you walk inside, your theory is confirmed when you see her sprawled out on the couch in a deep sleep. You giggle a bit as she has always been notorious for falling asleep on the couch almost every night.

You sit down next to her and try to wake her up without scaring the shit out of her. She’s also notorious for getting a bit aggressive when she’s startled awake. 

“Ivy…wake up. It’s me. We have to talk, like now.” you say in a hushed tone.

She starts to wake up a bit, tossing around to grab her phone that's buried in the cushions.

“What the hell are you doing here so early? Why are you even up?”

“I wasn’t at home last night..”

“Wha-what?” She's more awake now, sitting up in a better position to talk.

“What do you mean? Where were you? I literally dropped you off after practice.”

“Well, I was home for a bit. Then I got a text from Josh…”

Her eyes are now fully open and displaying shock as she’s scanning your face, desperate to hear the rest of your tale.

“Wait, what? What did he say? Did you hangout with him?”

“Yeah, I mean I don’t think that was his initial intention. He just wanted to apologize for being so sappy at the restaurant yesterday. He said some beautiful things, Ive. That’s why I was about to cry.”

She nods her head as if to signal you to keep going.

“Well, then he asked about Jay and why he’s such a prick. I told him it was a long story. One thing led to another, and he asked me to come over to have some wine and talk. So, I did.”

She has the biggest smile on her face, her eyes squinted almost entirely from her grin.

“And you stayed? All night? Holy shit, y/n. You slept with Josh. You slept with Joshua fucking Kisz-” you interupt her with an obnoxious laugh at her ridiculous assumption.

“Ivy! We did NOT sleep together. I mean, we slept together, but we didn’t fuck. Jesus, get your mind out of the gutter.” You playfully slap her arm. “We did kiss, though…and I told him about my dad. I don’t know what happened, it just..did. It happened so quickly. I felt so safe with him.”

“You kissed him? Y/n, oh my God. Tell me everything. Who initiated?”

“I told him a little about my experience with my mom…and you know me, you know I don’t talk about these things. I told him about how my dad instilled in me this passion for music that I have. I started to cry, and he said he wanted to kiss me…and I told him to do it..”

“That’s…that’s amazing, y/n.”

“And he listened to me, Ivy. He actually listened to me. He was so..intentional. I felt so heard. I think that’s why I fell asleep with him. It just…it felt nice, you know? Maybe I’m overthinking everything…and odds are this doesn’t mean anything. But it just felt really…nice.”

Ivy leans in and wraps you in a hug. She knows all too well of the struggles you’ve faced, and she knows how hard it is for you to talk about it all. The two of you share a bond together that no one else will ever be able to fully comprehend. She’s also been through her fair share of traumas, so the two of you understand one another in a way that is different from other relationships in your lives.

“Okay so..is there anything else I need to know?”

“He cooked me breakfast this morning.”

“What the fuck. This man isn’t real. There’s no way. It’s too good to be true.”

You both laugh at this, and you halfway agree with her.

“If I wasn’t there, I don’t think I’d believe it myself. You know my track record with men is absolute shit. I mean I even apologized for staying all night, and he practically thanked me for staying. Said he gets lonely. And he wouldn’t even let me help him with breakfast. It was so sweet.”

“What did he make you, anyway?”

“The most incredible french toast I’ve ever had. He told me it’s Jake's recipe. Apparently Jake is some high-end chef. Isn’t that amazing?”

Ivy perked right up at that.

“So, since you’re all chummy with Josh, can you set me up with his outrageously sexy, guitar-god of a twin?”

You both burst out in a fit of giggles.

“You are absolutely ridiculous.”

♪°•°∞♬°•°♪°•°∞♬°•°♪

You’ve spent the entire day with Ivy. Relaxing, watching your favorite tv shows, eating snacks. You’ve been so busy with Lilac Moon lately that it’s been hard to find time to just rest, so you’re grateful for the opportunity that arose today.

You held off from texting Josh at the risk of seeming too eager, but you were starting to feel guilty that your promise fell through. You decide that it’s probably okay to text him, given it’s been several hours since you saw him so you shouldn’t look that desperate.

You: How did the photoshoot go? Jake didn’t kill you for being late, did he?

Josh: Unfortunately, he did just that. I am speaking to you from the grave. ;) 

You’re surprised by the almost instant reply. 

You: Oh! What a shame. I was really starting to like you. :( 

You: I really am sorry I made you so late!

Josh: Not your fault, sweet girl! Jacob gets agitated quite easily but it’s nothing to bat an eye at. All was well, as I knew it would be! What are you doing on this fine evening?

Ivy catches you smiling at your phone.

“You look an awful lot like you’re talking to a gorgeous rockstar over there.” 

“And what if I am? You’re jealous, huh.” you say with a smirk.

“Shut the hell up, y/n.”

You return to responding to Josh when suddenly your phone starts ringing with an incoming call. To your disgust, it’s Jay. Him calling this late can only mean one thing, a last minute gig at a shitty bar.

You turn your screen to show Ivy, to which she responds with a heavy eye roll.

“Hello, Jay.”

“Are you with Ivy?”

“Yes, why?”

“Be at The Basement in 45 minutes. Juliens on his way with the equipment. We’re on at 9.”

“Are you fucking kidding me-” he hangs up before you can argue.

You look at Ivy who’s got annoyance written all over her face.

“Well that’s just fucking great.”

“Please, y/n, don’t tell me we’re playing where I think we’re playing..”

Ivy puts her face in her hands, knowing exactly what your response will be.

“Yep. The Basement. The fucking Basement. I don’t know how many times we have to tell Jay that we hate this fucking place.”

The Basement in south Nashville is quite literally your least favorite place to play. It’s such a small bar that gets crowded quickly, it’s gross and always smells like regurgitated alcohol, and the sound system is absolute shit. Also, this place never fails to attract the nastiest, most disrespectful men that yell the most horrendous things at you and Ivy. 

“How much time do we have to get ready?”

“He wants us there in 45 minutes.”

“That gives us..” she looks at her phone to confirm the time “..20 fucking minutes to get ready. Why does he wait until the last minute to plan these things!”

The Basement also conveniently doesn’t house any dressing rooms for you to get ready in, and you’re sure as hell not getting ready in the bathrooms that don’t appear to have ever been cleaned properly, so you have to hurry and get ready here.

Ivy runs to her closet to grab some outfits for the two of you while you rush to her bathroom to get out all of her makeup. You start quickly putting on your face when you realize you hadn’t responded to Josh yet. You really didn’t want to leave him hanging.

You: Well, looks like we’re booked for a last minute gig at my least favorite bar, thanks to none other than Jay.

Josh: Where would said gig happen to be?

You: The Basement. And he’s only giving us 20 minutes to be ready and get there for a soundcheck. I can tell you know, it’ll sound like shit.

Josh: I’m coming. What time is your set?

You: We’re on at 9. You really don’t need to come. This place is a dump and it’s way too overcrowded. People will probably maul you once they figure out you’re there. It’s not safe.

Josh: That’s what our security is for. :) I’ll be there. Daniel and Jake will also be in attendance. I think they love your music almost as much as I do. :)

The thought of him coming to a risky place just to see your band perform has you feeling so warm inside. You can’t explain it, but you feel safer already at the thought of him being there.

You finish your makeup in record time. Ivy barges in with an outfit for you. A pair of black velvet bell bottoms and a strapless sage green corset top donned with flowers. It’ll do. Ivy’s wearing a mini skirt the same shade of green and a black crop top with sequins.

You get dressed as Ivy rushes to finish her makeup.

“How much time, y/n?”

“We need to be in the car in 3 minutes.”

“Shit. You’re driving, then. I’ll just finish this in the car.”

You both sprint down the stairs of the complex to your car, tripping over your bell bottoms with each step.

“You just had to give me the fucking bell bottoms? I should get to wear that skirt! My legs are shorter than yours!”

“Well my ass looks bad in them, so yes! Get over it!”

♪°•°∞♬°•°♪°•°∞♬°•°♪

You finally made it. The drive here was brutal, but you made it right on time.

You head in for the soundcheck. You’re groaning at the thought of playing here again. The stage is so small that the four of you on there together are practically on top of one another. There’s hardly enough room for your equipment, but Julien is the best at making it all fit. 

Joe is here and talking to the owners of the bar, probably negotiating a form of payment. These places never pay much. Stingy asses.

You quickly run through a few songs before the doors open for people to start coming in. You sound mediocre at best. This place has the absolute worst sound.

8:31 pm

There’s only about 10 minutes until doors, so you and Ivy decide to grab a drink from the bar to calm your collective nerves. 

“So, Josh is coming tonight, with Danny and Jake. He insisted on it.”

She takes a sip of her angry orchard.

“Isn’t this place a little dangerous for them? Like won’t people freak out over them?”

“I literally thought the same thing, but Josh said they’re bringing security with them so it would be fine. I told him they didn’t need to come, but he sounded like they really wanted to. Said they loved our music.”

You’re suddenly startled by Jay yelling at you from backstage.

“Y/n! Ivy! What the fuck are you doing? Get back here! It’s almost time!”

You both roll your eyes simultaneously at his rude behavior and head back to join him and Julien. You decide to tell Julien about your guests attending tonight's show.

“Guess what, Julie? Josh, Danny and Jake will be here tonight!”

“Uh oh, guess that means we better be on our best behavior!” he says with a playful nudge at your shoulder.

“Why the fuck do they need to be here? Do they think they need to come see us to make sure we’re actually good enough for them?”

You’re not surprised by his nasty attitude towards it, in fact you were expecting it. He’s already a few drinks in, not much of a shock.

“They just wanted to see the show, Jay. They like our music. I don’t know what the big deal is.”

Jay scoffs obnoxiously. “That’s a load of bullshit. They don’t give fuck. They just want to make sure we actually fit their standards. I know how the business works. We’re just the openers, y/n. They couldn’t care less about us and you’re better off to realize that, too.”

“Why do you have to have such a shit attitude about it? Not once have you shown an ounce of gratitude for this opportunity. You’re being an asshole about it. You were so fucking rude at the meeting. It was embarrassing.”

“I was the embarrassing one, y/n? Hm. See, how I remember it is you were flirting up a fucking storm with the miniature lead singer. Everyone noticed. Seems like you’re trying to make it good with him, get yourself a step ahead of all of us. He’s your ticket to fame, isn’t he?”

Now you’re pissed. 

“You’re just mad that I don’t want to be with your sorry ass anymore. You can’t handle when another man gives me attention, can you? Sounds like you’re pretty fucking jealous to me.”

“You’re just using him, y/n. You don’t want him. And there’s no way he’d want a nobody like you. It’s pathetic. You’re just fulfilling some stupid fantasy of yours, huh?”

“Fuck you, Jay.”

You storm off towards the stage. Ivy follows close behind, about to bite a hole in her tongue to keep from making things worse.

“It must suck to be so fucking miserable all the time. It’d be great if you’d get over yourself for once.” Julien says before he follows your lead to head on stage.

For the first time in a long while, you and Ivy aren’t the last ones making it to the stage.

8:59 pm

People are piling in fast. You hit the stage to a loud collection of cheers. You scan the audience quickly, seeing your distinguished guests towards the back of the bar surrounded by a slew of security guards. The anger you were feeling has instantly melted away at the site of Josh and his toothy smile. His energy instantaneously makes you feel lighter.

9:01 pm

You tap the mic a few times to ensure it’s working. You take a deep breath. 

“Good evening! How are we all doing tonight?”

The crowd is exceptionally loud tonight, and you’re starting to feel better about the whole situation.

You look around to your bandmates to signal you’re ready, when you notice the absence of your high strung guitarist.

You look back to Julien with silent question, to which he responds with wide eyes and a shrug of his shoulders. 

You decide to buy a little time by doing your usual warming-up-the-crowd antics. 

“We’re Lilac Moon, in case you’re new here.” You start nervously adjusting the mic stand, an anxious fidget of yours. “If you like what you hear, don’t be afraid to tip us. If you don’t like what you hear, still tip us and we’ll be sure to use it for lessons.” Julien punctuates your cheesy joke with a *ba dum tss* of his kit.

That one gets them everytime, so you’re not surprised to hear a lot of laughter from the crowd.

9:07 pm

You look to your left, still no Jay. 

Shit. 

“Lots of lovely faces out here tonight. It’s a shame you’re stuck looking at ours.” Another *ba dum tss* from Julien and plenty of laughs from the crowd.

9:10 pm

Still no Jay. You’re starting to panic. Julien senses it and decides to head backstage in search of him. 

You and Ivy do your best to buy more time, but people are getting antsy. You periodically look to Josh to see his face filled with worry.

9:14 pm

Finally, just as you were about to head backstage yourself, here comes Julien with a clearly disordered Jay. 

Great. He’s fucking wasted.

You’re nervous for what could happen, but the show must go on.

“You all ready?” you say as Ivy taps a few notes on her bass and Jay strums a chord on his guitar.

The crowd cheers, and you begin.

The first several songs go as well as you could’ve hoped. The crowd is really into it tonight. You’re trying not to keep your eyes set on Josh the whole time, but it’s proving to be quite difficult. He looks so enthralled, and you notice that he’s even singing along to some of your songs. It’s surreal, to say the least. He even blows you a few kisses, causing you to become flustered. 

9:53 pm

The next song is your newest piece, Alone Again, the one that requires you to play some rhythm guitar with Jay. You go to grab your instrument, feeling slightly less anxious than the other night for its debut and your first time playing on stage. 

You make your speech about playing guitar, finding the opportunity to say once again “if it sounds like shit, just blame Jay” only this time, he doesn’t appear to be too pleased with your quip. He stares at you with an empty, angry glare as he steps closer to his mic.

What is he about to do..

“No, no. If it sounds like shit, blame her. She’s the one who wrote this song. Oh, should I mention she wrote it about me? You know, we were in the ‘throes of love.’” he uses air quotes, making his sarcasm apparent, “but all love stories must end, isn’t that right, y/n? I bet your new fling didn’t know this little number was about me, did he?” He looks towards Josh. “Did you know that? That she wrote this about me?” He’s slurring and stumbling all over his words, clearly very drunk as the alcohol has had more time to settle. Luckily, no one in the audience seems to register that he’s trying to point out someone in the crowd. But their security is wrapped tightly around them, just in case.

You’re speechless. You’re embarrassed. You're not even sure how to go about beginning the song now, but thankfully, Julien taps his snare a few times, and the song finally begins.

The last time you performed this song, you were full of emotions that forced you to become somewhat vulnerable on stage. This time, the only emotion you feel is anger. Pure, unfiltered anger. You’re nearly screaming the lyrics. Your strumming is intense. You’re just ready to get it over with.

Despite it all, the audience loves it. Their cheers make it apparent that they’ve mostly forgotten about the awkward intro to the track.

Thankfully, Jay keeps his mouth shut for the rest of the set, and everything ends rather smoothly. 

10:26 pm

“Thank you all so much! We hope to see you again soon!” you say as you blow a kiss and wave to the audience, getting tons of kisses and waves right back as they cheer.

Once you’re all backstage, Joe takes Jay aside and corners him.

“What the hell was that about, huh? You trying to make yourself look like a damn fool? ‘Cause you’re doing a great job at it, bud!”

Your adrenaline from being on stage has quickly left and anger is seeping in your blood once again. 

You walk over to Joe and push him aside.

“What the fuck, Jay? You’re going to make us look like a fucking joke. You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

He starts screaming at you. You’re not even able to make out what he’s saying. A lot of ‘bitch’ and ‘fuck you’s’ being thrown around is all you can manage to understand.

“What the FUCK is your problem?” Danny yells loud enough that it startles him and cuts him off. “I’ll be God damned if I let you speak to her like that any longer.” Just as he says that, Jay lifts his fist, ready to land on Danny.

“Oh I don’t fucking think so.” Before he can swing, Danny grabs him and locks his arms behind his back.

Jay is trying to release himself from his grasp, but the drummer is far too strong for him and his drunken, belligerent state. 

Josh and Jake are close behind, running up to you to be sure you’re okay. 

“Y/n, you and Ivy come with us. You don’t need to be in his company any longer.” Josh says as he grabs your hand to pull you away, glaring at Jay.

“You know you’re nothing to her! She only wants you ‘cause you’re famous! She doesn’t give a fuck about you or anyone else!” he screams as Danny, Joe and Julien take him outside to the back of the venue to cool him off.

“Get fucked, you piece of shit!” Josh yells back in a deep, angry tone, one you didn’t think was possible from him.

That…was fucking hot.

You’re mortified. He demeaned you in front of the audience, but worst of all, he tried to start a physical fight with a member of the band that’s helping you further your career. Embarrassment doesn’t even cover it.

“I am…I’m so sorry about all of this. We were fighting before the show and I guess he took it upon himself to get absolutely trashed.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, y/n. You guys shouldn’t have to put up with this bullshit.” Jake says.

“Josh, please don’t believe anything he says. He’s completely out of it, I don’t even think he realizes he lost his shit on stage. He’s an asshole, but he takes his music very seriously. That’s not like him to do that, I swear.”

“I have no reason to believe a word out of his mouth, y/n. And you need to stop justifying his behavior. There’s no reason for him to act that way. But I do want to know something…” you look to him to let him know he can continue his thought, “Did you really write that song? About him? It’s a wonderful, beautiful song. But, the lyrics. How could you still feel that way about him?”

“Yes, I did. I wrote it the day I broke things off.” You’ve thought the same things. How could you possibly waste your energy on a song about him? “I guess I didn’t write it about him so much as I wrote it about who I thought he was. I, I don’t know. I thought he was different, Josh. I was naive. I don’t feel those things..and to be honest, I’m not sure I ever did. I think I liked the idea of being with him more than anything. There wasn’t any real love there. It felt so empty.”

Jake and Ivy take it upon themselves to leave, to give you two some space.

“You are worlds better than him. Universes, even. He doesn’t deserve to share space with you.”

“I wish he wasn’t in this band. I wish things were different. I wish we could just kick him out and find someone else, it’s just not that easy. None of us can stand being around him anymore. He’s gone completely off the deep end since the break up. He makes it really hard for me, for all of us, to love this band like we used to.” 

You’re in a tough spot. You feel the need to make excuses for Jay because he’s still a vital part of this band. And you feel it’s your responsibility to keep the peace amongst everyone, because you feel a sort of guilt for everything that happened. You’re convinced that you’re the reason he acts this way. 

Josh doesn’t speak for a few minutes, looking like something on his mind is plaguing him.

“Josh? What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to say anything until I had more information. But…we found out today that the label is kind of being difficult about you coming on tour with us since you’re not signed with them. We all thought it’d be okay, given you’re not signed with anyone, but apparently that’s somewhere in the fine lines of the contracts. Our manager didn’t even think it’d be a big deal.”

You stare blankly at him, watching as his expression turns more and more distraught.

“They were here tonight, y/n. They were prepared to sign you, but after Jay’s outburst on stage….I don’t know, they weren’t happy. They left before you finished.”

Fuck.

“I…I mean what do we do? Can we have a meeting with them? We can’t let this happen, I won’t let it happen. I won’t let that mother fucker ruin this for us. He’s such a fucki-” he stops you before you can really work yourself up and brushes his hand gently on your cheek to calm you down.

“Listen, I will make this happen, okay? We can pull some strings. You deserve this and I’ll prove that to them. But, that could mean finding a new guitarist. I don’t know for sure, so don’t stress too much about that yet. I just want you to know that might be a possibility, okay?”

This news should send you into a spiral, but his voice is so calming…his demeanor is peaceful…you can’t help but trust everything he says. Looking into his eyes, you have no doubt everything will be alright.

“Okay, Josh..” you say with a heavy sigh.

He smiles at you and leans down to place a kiss on your nose.

To be continued…

Chapter 4

join the taglist!

taglist: @jakeyt @fwzco @jessicafg03 @blissfulbellss @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface @arsonkween @sicksadandrad @gretavansara @witchofendora @andtherestishistory13 @aintthatapity @itsdannysworld @thetroublegetssoloud71 @slaythelightfantastic

i *think* i got everyone, but, again, tumblr is being weird with tags.

a/n: here’s a little playlist of songs that, to me, represent the kind of music Lilac Moon would do, if they were real. ☺️ 

i’d like to think of their music as a mix of all of these sounds put together, if that makes sense. lol

[noys-boise]

Can you infodump to me about whatever youre currently obsessed with

can i? dude you're going to have to stop me with force i REALLY want to infodump I just never have the excuse to do it. I'll be nice enough to put it under a read more though because this is very long.

let me tell you about this little streaming service called dropout.tv because it has taken over my life. it was started by the people at collegehumor (idk if you know it, they made sketch comedy and that sort of videos for over a decade) when they got tired of having to conform to advertisers on sites like youtube or facebook. and also not long after dropout launched collegehumor's parent company tried to sell the brand since it wasn't profitable enough for them leading to Sam Reich, who's worked at collegehumor pretty much since the beginning, acquiring the rights. however he did have to lay off pretty much everyone except a skeleton crew plus Brennan Lee Mulligan who created the most popular series on the platform. but everyone else keeps working at dropout on a freelance basis so it's all good.

anyway with the launch of dropout they moved away from scripted comedy to really a wide variety of unscripted content. the series that got me into dropout is game changer, a game show where the contestants don't know what game it is they're going to play since the game changes (almost) every time. it is SO fun?? there's been so many insane concepts including lie detector that's secretly controlled by the contestants' significant others, selling useless shit like a keyboard that only has the letter p or a rubik's cube that's all green, murder mystery that's somehow both fictional and real at the same time (it's. really hard to explain this one it was really just to troll one specific contestant, a lot of episodes are made with specific people in mind since these people have worked together for a very long time), escape room but it's just locking these three people in a room and also there's some insane lore around it that people still make conspiracy theories about, an actual time loop and of course the multiple survivor parodies and the one batchelor parody (it's very bisexual). i could honestly rant about game changer forever. it really has that appeal of being able to get to know the contestants (a majority of whom are former collegehumor employees who appear in many episodes across all dropout shows) and that they're all professional comedians who know each other and the host very well. it has fun cozy vibes except when it actively breaks my mind (looking at you deja vu).

there are three shows that were spun off from game changer: make some noise, which is prompt based improv (sidenote, my icon and url are both referencing this show, specifically the original trio this series started with back when it was in game changer. the noise boys refer to Josh, Zac and Brennan who after doing four episodes of this game within game changer are also the contestants in every make some noise season premiere and finale), dirty laundry which is kind of based never have i ever as a game show and also Grant O'Brien is there as a bartender (Grant O'Brien is the tall bisexual theatre nerd i post quite a lot about), and play it by ear in which they improvise entire musicals, which i still haven't watched and I'm fully aware of how out of character that is for me. however i do really love the original game changer episode play it by ear is based on.

so.... here's the thing. i kind of lied. i said game changer is the first dropout show i got into but um, actually, i was into a dropout show before i really knew what dropout is. Um, actually is a game show where the host (originally Mike Trapp, now Ify Nwadiwe) says incorrect statements mostly about nerdy media which the contestants have to correct, but they have to start their corrections with the phrase "um, actually" or they don't get the point. they made two musical theatre themed episodes that i found back in 2022? i think? that were on youtube and then i got into Howard the duck which got me kind of into marvel comics which are referenced in a lot of episodes leading me to watching quite a lot of the episodes that were up on youtube (i think out of all dropout shows this one might have the most free on youtube content) and then i kind of forgot about it until this year's april when i started properly getting into dropout.

however the most popular and longest dropout show is dimension 20, which is a dungeons & dragons actual play. almost every season is a new setting and there's been a lot of different players though there is a main cast known as the intrepid heroes (Zac Oyama, Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, Siobhan Thompson, Emily Axford and Brian Murphy + Brennan Lee Mulligan as the dm). the first season that then got two continuations is fantasy high which is set in a more modern dnd setting but with the same fantasy races as the original game but there's been a lot of seasons that completely break away from all traditional dnd elements (some of them aren't actually dnd at all but different game systems) like the one I'm watching right now is a murder mystery with anthropomorphic animals.

there's sooo many more dropout shows i could talk about but this rant is already getting way too long. i love so many things about dropout. they make so much original, fresh content that no one else is making. there's so much diversity in such a natural way (to me especially seeing Ally Beardsley's transition is very special) and it's generally extremely progressive and ethical. idk what else to say, watching dropout makes me very happy, I'm very hyeprfixated on it, it's my main comfort thing right now and i can't recommend it enough (there's a bunch of stuff on youtube for free already but also imo it's absolutely worth 6 dollars a month)

I'm sorry for how long that rant turned out unfortunately i am very unnormal

[nomoreusername]

Instincts (Pip x Ravi One-shot)

It was finally over. Pip and Ravi could finally let the world know the truth. Sal was always innocent, but no one had bothered to look past the surface. Everyone has failed him including the cops, but was that surprising? For years people had looked at Ravi's entire family as monsters because of one lie. Now it was over, and they could finally get some peace.

Except there was something terribly wrong. As they left Pip (or Sarge as Ravi affectionately called her) with Becca something in his gut was screaming not to leave her alone. He told himself he was being ridiculous. Becca had no reason to hurt Pip, and the killer was behind bars.

As they were driving to the festival for the first time in years Ravi wanted to enjoy himself. He was trying to, but there was something reminding him how Sal got freed in the first place. Gut instincts had gotten them this far. Even when it was wrong they were closer to the truth. Instincts kept people alive, and he'd be damned if Sarge wasn't going to be alive because he ignored them.

"Stop the car,"He demanded.

Everyone turned to look at him except for Josh who was playing on his DS.

"Stop the car. There's something wrong with Pip,"He explained. "How do you know?"His mom asked. "I don't, but I do. Look, we only found the truth because we trusted ourselves. Please, trust me,"He pleaded. "We'll go back to look,"Her father agreed. "Check her location. We need to be sure."

Her dad pulled over and unlocked his phone. Ravi couldn't see the phone, but he could see her dad's face pale before twisting in horror.

"She's near Jason Bell's company. Why would she be there?"

"Then that's where we need to go,"Ravi told them firmly. Even Josh was listening now. Normally he would be upset by missing the festival, but this was his sister. If his sister was in trouble he was going to help her.

"Okay. You keep looking at her location. Tell me if it changes,"Her dad directed. Ravi nodded as his stomach kept doing almost painful flip flops. He could never live with himself if something happened to her. She wasn't just Pip. She was his hero, his partner in crime, and most importantly she was Sarge. He didn't doubt her strength for one second. He doubted Becca's intentions with her.

It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but it felt like days or even weeks when they made it. Before anyone could say anything he jumped out of the car and ran towards where the phone said she was.

He stopped and looked up to see Pip, but she wasn't alone. She wasn't conscious either. There was Becca dragging her with a tear streaked face. It was unfathomable that Becca could be the one crying when Pip was the one being dragged.

Ravi could only stand there in shock as he heard faint footsteps behind him. It wasn't that they were actually quiet, but all sounds were muffled to him.

Becca stood there with her mouth agape staring right back at him. She wasn't running or coming to attack him. Instead, she had accepted her fate. Soon she'd be behind bars. Maybe she'd even be there until she died.

From around them red and blue lights were flashing. Sirens were ringing almost making it possible to properly hear again. The cops had done something right for once.

Detective Hopkins was there with his gun drawn. Becca only put her hands up showing defeat. She was going to accept anything that came her way, but she didn't want it to be bullets.

A cop walked behind Becca and handcuffed her while reading her rights. Becca had watched plenty of cop shows as a kid to know them. Back then she had innocence and a bright future. Look where she was now.

"We need to ask you some questions. Come with us,"Detective Hopkins said, putting a hand on Ravi's shoulder. He shook it off and stared at the man in disgust. He didn't deserve his title. He had failed his brother, and the only reason he didn't fail Pip was because of a phone call.

"I know you're upset about Sal."

"Don't you dare say his name. Do you know what you helped do? I had to move schools because of the beatings. Even the teachers hated me because you failed him. My parents suffered the loss of a son because of you, but yeah. I'm just upset that you killed my brother,"Ravi spat, giving a bitter laugh. "I'm not a killer,"Hopkins defended. "Not directly, but you made him look like a monster. Thanks for rescuing Sarge though. It's about time you didn't fail someone I love.",

Ravi didn't say another word as he walked to the ambulance Pip was being put in.

"Sorry sir. Family only,"The paramedic said, lightly pushing his back. She had seen what young love could do. She didn't even need to hear the conversation. She could see it in his eyes.

"I need to be with her,"He argued.

She sighed remembering what it was like for people to watch someone they love die. They couldn't save everyone. Life didn't work like that. She was about to repeat her words when Pip's mom spoke up.

"He is family. Let him in."

Ravi was surprised, but nevertheless he was grateful. The paranormal knew time was limited so she let him in.

The ride was almost silent. It was just Ravi and Pip's mom not knowing if she would make it. Ravi had faith in her, but he knew she wasn't indestructible. Even our heroes are only human.

The rest of the ride to the hospital was spent with silent tears and prayers. His prayers had never been answered before, but he needed them to be this time. He could lose his Sarge. He couldn't lose the girl he loved.

----

Ravi had obviously been in hospitals before, but ever since that day with Sal he found a way to avoid them. Even when he was sick he refused to go back to the smell of disinfectant and the cold air that was supposed to help the ill.

For Pip though he would do anything, even if it killed him. Even if it reminded him of every agonizing memory he would do it for her. He felt like he owed her that much. She felt like he owed her nothing, though she couldn't say that just yet. They were waiting for her to open her eyes and make some kind of remark because that's who she is.

Together the two families sat together waiting for her. At some point they would become one, but that takes time.

Josh was in the corner of the room with his legs curled up to his chest. The normally relaxed he always had seemed to be wiped away. It almost reminded Ravi of him. Of course the circumstances were different, but the idea was very much the same. Their beloved sibling was lying in a hospital. The difference was Pip would wake up.

Ravi was more than aware of these facts, but he already grew to care for Josh. Even if they already knew Pip would be conscious soon he was still her brother. To be less specific he was human, and the majority of humans have fear and empathy. There was more than enough in this room to go around.

"Hey buddy. Do you mind if I sit?"Ravi asked, moving away from Pip. No matter how badly he wanted to be by her side when she woke up he had the urge to comfort the little boy.

"I guess,"Josh shrugged, unable to take his eyes off his sister. In his simple kid mind if he kept watching her breathe she couldn't stop.

"She's going to be okay. Sarge is strong,"Ravi assured him. "Who's Sarge?"Johs asked, refusing to move in any way. The average person blinks twelve times per minute, but extreme or traumatizing situations seem to change the way we behave. Josh hadn't blinked for an entire minute and thirty seconds.

"Pip. Pip is going to be okay,"Ravi clarified. "Dad called her pickle. She hated it at first,"Josh responded, sounding like he was in a trance. "What do you call her?"Ravi asked, taking the approach of distracting the little boy. It was clear no words of reassurance were going to help. "I call her Pip it Pippa,"Josh answered.

Together they sat listening to the beep of her heart rate. Each beep seemed to fill the room with more oxygen. Even though the nurses explained she hadn't been given enough to kill her someone still tried to murder her.

"Pip really likes you. She writes about you in her journal,"Josh stated. "Why are you reading your sister's journal?"Ravi asked, pretending his heart didn't flutter at the thought of her writing about him.

"That's my job as her brother. As her little brother I also have to look after her so be a good boyfriend to Pip."

"Boyfriend?"Ravi asked, too shocked to get out any other words. Josh didn't notice the disbelief in Ravi's voice nor did he care. He might be a kid, but he wasn't stupid. To be fair Pip and Ravi were far from that as well, but they were blind.

"Yes. I am giving you my blessing,"Josh stated, sounding much older than he actually was. He was only repeating a phrase from a television show he heard his parents were watching when he was supposed to be in bed, but the sentiment was there. It didn't take away the fact that they were still powerful words. Of course the truth always is. That was learned in the most memorable and unfortunate way possible.

Pip opened her eyes disoriented and confused. Josh sat up staring at his sister who was finally awake. Ravi snapped his head over to see her staring at the ceiling. The emotions that ran through the room changed in an instant.

Even though Ravi's parents hadn't known her very long they still cared for the girl who brought justice for their son. As for their other son, she taught him how to smile again. In a way they had lost both their children for a while. At least now they could have one child back.

"Come on bud. Let's get you a drink,"Their father suggested. Josh cocked his head puzzled at why they were leaving, but he was hoping to get a Pepsi.

One by one everyone left the room until it was just Ravi and Pip. He walked to his original seat directly next to her and pulled it out. Pip was going to ask questions once she was all there. That's one of the things she does best. Technically, anyone could ask questions, but people rarely go to the lengths she did to get the answers they seek. Pip was different though, and even if she didn't see it he did. He saw the spark in her the same way she saw the strength in him. They were Pip and Ravi, partners in crime, detectives, mystery solvers, friends, and most importantly soulmates.

They would do anything for each other, and they would see just how deep that ran very soon. Until then they'd rely on Instincts to keep them going. There was another thing that would keep them going as well. They would keep each other going.

There was plenty of time to think about that later though because their story wasn't even close to ending. This is only the beginning of the bittersweet mess that is their love.

[thetaylorfiles]

This whole 'friend dating Taylor' thing reminded me of something else from way back in the day - didn't you have a friend who took a photo of Taylor and Karlie when they happened to be at a gym at the same time as her? Or am I remembering incorrectly and that's a different tumblr account altogether? Anyway, been following you for ages. Whenever Taylor does something, I check your tumblr to see the takes on Kaylor nonsense lol

Aw! I love that you come back here. I miss this place a lot just because I had so much fun with you guys. Sometimes my inbox would be so full I literally couldn’t answer them all. You guys and interacting and laughing is the best part of tumblr and conspiracies and Kaylor and everything!

Please note that TTB is TayTaysBeard who got kicked off tumblr for her antisemitism and outing and doxxing of people. When she got shut down, she came back as Spade Riddles. TTB = Spade. They’re the same person

As for the rest, yeah, that was me. The person you’re talking about was a woman who lived in NYC and her husband works very closely with Josh at his company. She got to see Karlie a couple times at business dinners and parties.

She also went to the same gym as Taylor. She ran into Taylor and Karlie in the same class as her one day and snuck a photo.

Here’s where it gets weird. Before she and I started talking, she had been a curious Kaylor. Since she personally knew Josh, she was fascinated by TTBs blog and Kaylor. She believed for a few weeks or months and then realized it couldn’t be true because of what she knew from real life vs what nonsense TTB was spewing.

TTB has always maintained that Josh Kushner is gay and with his best friend Mikey (who is married to a woman with a baby). She’s also always maintained that Josh is a criminal on par with his brother Jared. And TTB claimed that Josh has had gay rumors for ages, everyone knows Karlie is a beard.

So my friend, after a while, and after actually communicating with her, she was like, “I’m out. This bitch is nuts. No way is it true.” Back then, there was no Gaylors. It was Kaylor or Taylor is straight. Nothing in between.

So my friend sent TTB that picture she took of Karlie and Taylor and had shown it to TTB. She said she could post it and say what she’d overheard them talking about, which was just normal stuff. Except at one point, I guess Taylor was talking about some app and said to Karlie, “oh! You should tell Josh about this!” Pretty harmless. But to TTB image thought that if taylor had suggested showing Josh, they must be amicable. But TTB needed Karlie and Taylor to hate Josh for keeping Karlie under lock and key, due to her contract.

That used to be a thing, btw. There were years where the narrative was that Karlie got duped by Josh when she was a teen. He needed a beard to do business with Saudis. According to TTB and Kaylors, Saudis won’t do business with anyone who’s gay. So Josh needed a beard. That’s why he’s with Karlie.

My friend knew this part was bullshit too. Her husband is high up in Joshs company and TTB was spewing bad fiction.

Anyway, sorry so long! Almost done!

TTB refused to post the pic my friend took and instead sent it around to the other big Kaylor blogs at the time, making up a better story around it and using it as “proof”, saying the person who took the pic confirmed Kaylor was together. Which never happened.

So I posted the pic and told my friends story for her. She was literally scared of TTB. TTB had her real email address and she was freaked out she’s dox her and mess up her husbands career. And we know TTB has doxxed and outed people before which is so fucked up.

I think that’s it? This was way back during the time when Karlie and Taylor were still friends.

The pic is on this blog along with the story. I may not remember it all perfectly.

Thanks for being around so long. And thanks for reading to anyone who made it this far!

[bookoformon]

"Remember." Moroni, Chapter 10. Conclusion to the Book of Mormon.

I was walking down the street six years ago when I had this unswering need to figure out what was up with those kooky Mormons, and I started reading their Book. It was the worst mistake in my life. I have suffered greatly, long and long at the hands of these very strange immoral persons for long and long in every possible way. They put on a good show with their freckle faced, apple cheeked, coiffed dudes in starched white shirts with name tags on them, and very formal church services, but underneath, they are the most vile, evil, polluted, and diseased sub-species of humanity one could ever hope not to meet.

One day, I was not precisely where I was supposed to be and met a man who trafficked in drugs and underage porn for the Mormons, some of whom were very prominent in world government, like Josh Hawley, Mitt Romney, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, King Charles, and others of their ilk. Washington DC is a small town. I spoke to the police several times about this but nothing prevented their activities from proceeding. A shame for the many hundreds of little boys and girls they filmed, raped, even killed waiting for an appropriate federal if not global response to what I discovered.

When they learned I turned them into the authorities, the Mormons, who were invited by Donald Trump, attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Once again they were not properly prosecuted or apprehended and again, I was sexually assaulted, including by the President himself hundreds of times and left for dead in mid-December at a hotel on Vermont, Avenue NW. As I have said under separate cover, in their employ and company were members of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian Republican Guard, indicating a much deeper agenda that just gay kiddie porn, about which the Mormons are positively obssessed, along with the extraction of repurposing of male boy semen.

They talk about and lagabout doing nothing else but extracting and inserting the stuff in the strangest of places and manners, all the while fueled by enough crystal method, porn, bondage gear, and boy buttholes to fill a circus big top the size of at least two Wal Mart Super Centers. This they do when they aren't fucking around with global geopolitics, elections, picketing, yelling, screaming or defiling the ground every where they step foot.

At first I thought they were just weird, but I did not suspect how dangerous or how widespread their religious fervor actually was. I thought they were just defending their turf, the prevalence of their practices of incest, child abuse, and drug abuse, but as it turns out they were planning to attack Israel, kill every Jew, Muslim, and every typically developed adult living there. Then along with their friends in Russia, China, North Korea and elsewhere, try to conquer the world. Thanks to our negligence of the crimes of Donald Trump they almost got away with it.

They attacked Israel on October 7 and thousands of innocent people are dead, but at least the secret is out and the world can respond. The sight of some of the very same cunts that raped me running towards the settlements in Israel and beating drums in front of universities within the guises of freedom fighters enraged me in ways I cannot explain. Especially after the body count was tallied, is tallied now all the time.

I too lost everyone I love and everything I own trying to survive the filth called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but I survived, and just as I planned, discovered the long lost secret of the Book of Mormon, lost since Abraham Lincoln, the last great Mormon Prophet was assassinated in 1865.

The Book of Mormon is as I have said the greatest American artifact and one of the most significant in human history itself. The authoring of the Book did one thing that has never been done since time began- it aroused an entire nation against the horror of slavery and genocide of the black man without hesitation and the effort was successful. Not before nor since has the world witnessed such Christian activism.

If we believe God would send for Moses to free the Israelites from Pharaoh in a work of fiction, surely we now we know he would do it for real to soothe the cries of the black man in America and this, He and His Prophet did indeed do.

How we must wish the real Mormons were still with us today instead of the ones that are the seminal residue of the losers that were left behind after the real saints of the faith were hosed off by anti-abolitionist forces out of revenge for Emancipation Day. All 6,000 original Mormons were killed, their identities lost, all but one, the most famous American to have ever lived.

The final chapter of the Book, like all good religious texts is hooked to the first. After the chapter concludes we will unveil the final mystery contained in the Book of Mormon and send everyone on their way.

I remain determined to end the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and bury every member, Donald Trump in particular, and end the Republican Party out of vengeance for what they did to this country and its allies. I believe the Book of Mormon can help all of us heal and make of ourselves a better people after this revenge is complete.

CHAPTER 10

A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the power of the Holy Ghost—The gifts of the Spirit are dispensed to the faithful—Spiritual gifts always accompany faith—Moroni’s words speak from the dust—Come unto Christ, be perfected in Him, and sanctify your souls. About A.D. 421.

1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.

2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.

8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

9 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

11 And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;

13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;

14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;

15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;

16 And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.

17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.

19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men.

20 Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.

21 And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.

22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

23 And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief.

25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.

26 And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not.

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.

29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

THE END

The Values in Gematria are:

1 Nephi 1: 1- I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

The Number is 11412, יא‎דא‎ב ‎"I will love it."

Moroni 10: 1: 1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.

The Number is 15914, י״הטאד, Y'Hatad "Pin in place what is at stake..."

10:34: And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

The Number is 9408, ט‎דאֶפֶס‎ח, tdafesah, "The place where people who love one another gather to celebrate the Passover."

Here ends the forum called Time and Spirit, a splendid Midrash on the scripture known as the Book of Mormon entitled an Additional Testament of Jesus Christ.

"You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. "Don't abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt."

-Exodus 22:21.

The Book of Mormon, which was given by the Archangel Metatron, "who lives within the cell as its potency sap" begins in 600 BCE in Jerusalem in Nephi 1, and ends at 421 AD in the Book of Mormon its namesake in the very same place. The final Gematria "600 BC to 421 AD" is 160, אס‎ ‎"The Ace". Who completes the Book of Mormon and celebrates the Passover is verily of the potential to be a King of Israel.

Who taps into this potent power of the Mor, the Myrrh, the Balsam of God and grants the freedom of America to the rest shall be its new Prophet and spread the Good News to those who need to hear it the most.

It was my sincere hope the Church would reform America and make it great again, that this uniquely miraculous manifestation of the Spirit of God in the lives and lifetimes of man would repeat itself. I had a vision of weaponless, corruption free nation with an LDS synagogue on every corner, and everyone young and old in our country would love going in order to learn about the Book of Mormon, our own uniquely American scripture. There is still so much we can learn from it. That dream is not dead.

[dankusner]

Elon Musk’s Plan For AI News

emailed me about his plan for AI news on X.

The idea is to use AI to blend breaking news and commentary, building real-time summaries of events.

Then you can go deeper via chat on Grok.

Elon Musk emailed me this week with some surprising details about his plan to distill and present news on X using AI.

I’d written him after trying Grok — X’s AI chatbot — and noticing it didn’t link to a Time story it summarized.

I wanted to click into the article and read more, so I reached out.

Musk said better citations are coming, but shared a deeper vision for the product, which he wants to build into a real-time synthesizer of news and social media reaction.

Effectively, his plan is to use AI to combine breaking news and social commentary around big stories, present the compilation live, and allow you to go deeper via chat.

“As more information becomes available, the news summary will update to include that information,” Musk told me. “The goal is simple: to provide maximally accurate and timely information, citing the most significant sources.”

That goal won’t be easy to achieve, but the bot might become a novel news product given its access to the X firehose.

“Grok is analyzing sometimes tens of thousands of X posts to render a news summary,” Musk said.

Already, Grok is displaying a running list of headlines and incorporating social reaction into its summaries, including the chatter around the Time story I sought about Trump’s potential second term.

Grok has plenty of room to improve — and will have to figure out issues like citation and hallucination — but it could be valuable if X gets the execution is right.

“That's actually what I used to come to Twitter for — news and commentary,” @semaforben, editor-in-chief of Semafor and author of Traffic, told me.

Conversation on X will make up the core of Grok’s summaries — or, really almost all of it.

Musk said Grok will not look directly at article text, and will instead rely solely on social posts.

“It’s summarizing what people say on X,” he said. “Definitely needs to do a better job of displaying relevant posts, including, for example, the TIME post that links to the article.”

Musk’s approach will make Grok distinct from all AI news summarizers, and likely more controversial, but there is an opportunity to satisfy users, publishers, and the platform together.

It starts with solid citation, giving users a way to go deeper into the source material once their curiosity is piqued.

Josh Miller (@joshm), CEO of The Browser Company, whose Arc browser is doing AI summarization, told me that platforms, users, and publishers could all win with aggressive citation.

“People want trust in the data,” he said. “They want to understand where it's coming from. And more importantly, if we do a good job giving them what they want, they want more of it. They get more curious. They want to read deeper.”

Grok could similarly be an entry point to news stories that people might otherwise not see, giving them more reason to come back and engage.

“I definitely don't go to http://Time.com,” Miller said. “So if that was pushed to me, I would probably go read that Time article. And I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.”

Igor Babuschkin, a technical staff member working at Musk’s xAI, said his team is focused on “making Grok understand the news purely from what is posted on X.”

Regarding citation, he said that “since news is often discussed on X, this can sometimes lead to Grok making references to existing news outlets. We are working on improving the citations so that we reliably capture who the information in the article comes from.”

For publishers, the value exchange on social media has long been fraught, and this time’s no different.

News companies’ work — like the Time article — drives news cycles. Summarizing that work without a prominent link back could cut them off from the economic reward, harming their ability to produce more.

That said, publishers are moving away from subsisting on social media traffic, which has always been tenuous, even as the fallout’s been brutal for the industry.

“As an editor in this basically post-Twitter news environment, I would much rather the platform was taking my content than taking my journalists’ time,” Semafor’s Smith said.

Building summaries just from the posts on X — and not the articles themselves — could give X some distance from the publisher lawsuits hitting AI companies.

Eight newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement this week, for instance.

And the New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft as well.

Courts tend to include commentary under the provision for fair use, as opposed to original work, said Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance, which represents thousands of news publishers.

But using just commentary to summarize the original source, she said, “is a bit too cute by half though.”

Under Musk, X seemed to initially deprioritize news — with the temporary removal of headlines from articles, verification revocations, and some initial algorithm changes — but Musk’s emails demonstrate that he still views news as a core X capacity.

It’s a potential competitive advantage as competitors like Meta’s Threads distance themselves from news.

In a perfect world, original sources and commentary could blend in Grok, drawing details from insiders, analysis from outsiders, and commentary from the herd.

Leaders at Twitter had long dreamed of such a scenario.

And perhaps the latest breakthroughs in generative AI have made it worth trying once more.

https://bigtechnology.com/p/elon-musks-plan-for-ai-news

[daisiesconstellation]

We All Have Our Own Demons

Josh checked his watch, it was almost midnight.

He stared at his friends on the dance floor, still dancing under the blinding lights with no signs of getting tired anytime soon. They were in a club, celebrating Paulo's newly released song that he had worked on as a producer, which was a hit. Almost all of the people from their social circle came to celebrate together with them, so it was definitely crowded.

Stell and Justin were busy doing dance battle with spectators around them cheering loudly. It did make Josh giggle a little. On the other side of the room Paulo sat on a couch visibly wasted, clearly celebrating way too far.

Josh started to fidget on his seat. He really, really want to go home before midnight. Of course, he could just slip out of the club and go home right away, but-

"Are you not enjoying the party?"

Josh flinched. He was startled by the sudden baritone voice speaking next to his ear. A familiar baritone voice.

"Ken! Stop sneaking on people like that, I almost had a heart attack." Josh hit Ken's upper arm.

Ken chuckled. "You won't be startled if you're actually joining the party and not brooding here by yourself."

"I'm not brooding."

"Then what are you doing? Haunting this place, Count Dracula?" Ken said, poking Josh's red suit.

Josh narrowed his eyes. He forgot he was wearing his red suit which he wore on last year's Halloween party hosted by Stell. The suit was actually Stell's idea and he kept telling people at the party that Josh was dressed as a sexy vampire. Ugh, Josh could still feel the embarassment until now.

"Please stop with the vampire jokes, I hate it."

Ken raised his eyebrow, "But no one can deny that you look like a sexy vampire in this suit."

Josh blushed and averted his gaze to anything but Ken.

Josh knew Ken had the hots for him since their first meeting 3 years ago. Josh was an intern working at his current music production company when he met Ken, one of the music producers in the company. Ken was very adamant on flirting with Josh at every chance he got. Of course Josh denied all that for the sake of professionalism, but.. well, Josh couldn't deny that Ken was indeed a fine specimen of a man.

He tried not to fall in love, tried very hard.

"I hate vampires." Josh stated.

Ken laughed. "Why? You're scared of vampires?"

Josh nodded.

"There's no such thing as vampire, though. You shouldn't be afraid of something that do not exist." Ken shrugged.

"What do you mean by 'do not exist'? Supernatural beings are clearly real. There are lots of sightings and experiences about them. And I'm not shy to say that I'm scared of them" Josh shuddered.

Ken slided closer to Josh's side, their arms were touching. "So, you're scared of ghosts? Demons?" he smirked.

Josh ignored it. "Yes. Very much. And that's why I really need to get home as soon as possible. I hate to ride the elevator on my apartment alone. I'd rather sleep here than go there alone."

Josh checked his phone to see the time, and it was 00.43 AM. Well, fuck.

Josh searched the bar with his eyes for Justin. He was supposed to get back to his apartment with Justin before midnight since Justin's place was on the same way to Josh's.

When he finally found his younger friend, well, all Josh could say was he's fucked.

Justin passed out on one of the bar's high chair, slumped on the bar counter. Josh facepalmed himself and then went to Justin. He also could feel that Ken was following him.

"Damn it, Jah. You're really having fun, huh?" Josh said, ruffling Justin's damp hair. "Seems like I gotta spend the night at Stell's place again."

"I... don't think so, Josh." said Maverick, who had been sitting next to Justin the whole time. "Stell had already left with Paulo just minutes ago. I don't think you'd want to go to Stell's place." Mav smirked meaningfully.

"What?! They had left already? And, ew, gross." Josh frowned. "I'll get a taxi to Jah's place with him then."

Mav raised his finger, "Nuh-uh, not so fast. Early this evening he'd agreed to go to my place, I can show you the chats!" Mav said while searching his phone in his jeans pocket.

Josh cringed, "Y-you don't have to show the proof, oh God. Just promise me you will take care of him, or else..." Josh balled his fist and showed it to Mav's face.

Mav grimaced and nodded.

Josh knew about his best friend's situationship with Maverick, one of their artists, and he trusted him to handle his best friend.

Josh watched Mav took Justin away and realized that he was really fucked right now, both of his best friends were away with their respective partners and he was left all alone-

Damn it, he wasn't alone.

"Need a ride?" Ken grinned so wide that Josh wanted to punch those perfect smile off of his face.

"I'll get a cab, no thanks."

"But it's past midnight already. I'm pretty sure your apartment is so quiet right now, there are no people... you'd probably meet a ghost, though." Ken casually said.

Josh's face paled. "D-don't say that kinda things."

Ken shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it's up to you. I'm leaving." He walked to the exit door.

Josh mulled over Ken's words. Shit, he was right. There probably no one awake in his apartment at this hour. He gotta ride the damned elevator all the way to his floor, alone. And the last time he did it...

"Wait!" Josh ran after Ken towards the exit door.

Ken grinned. "Change your mind?"

"Shut up. If I weren't so afraid of that damned apartment I won't take your offer." Josh puffed his cheeks.

"This way, my prince." said Ken while motioning his hand towards where his car parked.

Josh starting to regret his decision, but nonetheless he followed Ken to the car.

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

I did it lol enjoy if people really like it I might do more~ Kudos if you get all the TMA references I sprinkled into the 'main plot'. Cw: long post, smoking mention

There is more than one way to archive a statement – Welcome to Night Vale.

It is not unusual for people to go missing in Night Vale. People go missing, or are taken and called missing by any number of the shadowy organisations which run Night Vale all the time. I'm mentioning this because a missing persons was slipped onto my desk this morning by Intern Gertrude which means I'm supposed to report on it. I told Intern Gertrude that many many people go missing in Night Vale and they almost always go missing for a good reason so it's not really news. She shrugged her shoulders and made the universal sign for 'passing it along so Station Management doesn't eat me'. So I guess I'm doing a missing person's report today.

Ahem – Missing: Jessica McEwen. Last seen around the Old Fishmarket Close. Above average height and weight. Brown hair with a pink streak. Hazel green eyes. Last seen wearing a t-shirt and jeans, her purse slung in a carefree manner over one arm as she strode up this long road in Old Town Night Vale sometime during the late evening/early night. If you have any information about Jessica's whereabouts, please whisper it into the nearest Sheriff's Secret Police hidden microphone. So pretty much just grab anything and start whispering.

It's strange, listeners, but I actually have memories of Old Fishmarket Close. That's where all the cool kids would go to smoke during their lunch period. I was uh...never invited to join – which is fine because I've also never smoked. Terrible habit.

Now for today's sponsor:-

The stranger is standing in the unlit alleyway. The stranger is swaying from side to side. You cannot see their face. Your stare at the stranger and they are expressionless. You stare at the stranger and they do not stop swaying. Sweat breaks out along your brow and upper-lip. You lick the sweat from your lips and it tastes smokey. The stranger is not coming any closer nor are they getting any further away. It's a lot darker now but your eyes cannot help but see the stranger. Swaying. Swaying.

You stare harder. What are you trying to see? The mind is a scattered thing. Stop seeing. Move forward. Move towards the stranger. Their mouth does not open and yet you hear them clearly ask as your trembling hands reach for the packet bulging in your front pocket;

“Can I have a cigarette?”

Kindly, you step forward to oblige.

Marlboro;- ignoring the warning labels means you consent to the health issues. Come to flavour.

Oh well I mean, that was a little awkward giving what I said before. Is it really alright for us to be sponsored by a tobacco company...? It's not like I get to choose who gives us money. Oh well.

Intern Gertrude is gesturing to the missing persons report that I read earlier. Ah I see. It's a missing persons report plural, not singular. The sheets of paper are so thin I didn't notice there was more. Here is the full list of missing people;- Jessica McEwen as mentioned, Sarah Baldwin, Daniel Rawlings, Ashley Dobson, Megan Shaw and most recently John Fellowes just...a couple of nights ago actually. Wow and they all went missing around Old Fishmarket Close! What a coincidence.

I'm just getting word that the Sheriff's Secret Police are taking the case very seriously and have blocked off both entrances to Old Fishmarket Close. They are calling the names of the missing people into the alleyway alternating between encouraging them to come out and threatening them with imprisonment if they don't. Sounds like they've got it all under control.

It seems my earlier sponsorship ad for Marlboro cigarettes has not gone down well with some members of our community. Night Vale PTA member Diane Crayton issued a statement saying that the local radio should not be promoting deadly habits to the young impressionable minds of Night Vale. Her son Josh Crayton was listening and immediately took on the form of a tall smoking chimney stack. It won't be long before other children are smoking too, because the radio told them it was cool and as everyone knows you have to do what the radio says is cool.

I can only apologise Diane, as a concerned uncle myself I want nothing more than the best for the children of Night Vale. I'm going to write a note to Station Management asking that we maybe drop today's sponsor and try for a new one. Intern Gertrude will deliver it and after the mandatory 24 hours of grovelling at the foot of Station Managements door I'm sure we'll get a positive response.

Let's take a look at the community calender.

Sunday is getting way too cosy with being both the start and end of a week depending on how you look at it.

Monday recent college graduate Joshua Gillespie fresh from his vacation in Amsterdam will be daring people to open the coffin of unvarnished pale yellow wood bound tightly by a thick chain that he's been watching for a friend. You know the one. It has the words 'DO NOT OPEN' scratched into the lid in three inch high letters which just makes it even more tempting to open.

He has the key and has almost opened it several times before chickening out. It's not that he's afraid of coffins, he says, it's just that it's a weird kind of coffin, ya know? Like if you put things on top of it there's this soft insistent scratching sound from within and it's always warm even after being inside and out of the sun for ages. Anyone interested in opening it will first have to get the key from the block of ice Gillespie has put it in so as to stop himself from being tempted.

Tuesday is imagine a farm day in which all citizens are required to sit still no matter what they are doing for at least ten minutes and imagine a farm. It can be any kind of farm you like but must contain at least one animal and at least one statue to an old god of fertility.

Wednesday is cursed literature day at the library where books by Jurgen Leitner will be proudly displayed by cursed literature enthusiast and librarian tamer Mary Keay. One of these books is written in fine ink over every inch of her skin making it difficult to read or comprehend but for those dedicated enough to the craft of reading what you should not it's sure to be worthwhile.

Thursday is a blank to-do list you restlessly tap your pencil against not knowing how to start. You have things to do, but should you order them based on how difficult they are to get done or based on how quickly you need them doing? Do you have to follow the order of the list anyway or is it okay to just do bits here and there? Where did you even get these illegal writing implements?

Friday is esoteric garbage day. This day only comes once every blood moon, so be sure to leave out all your bags of teeth, haunted dolls heads, frantic prayers to your god written over and over on one long thin strip of paper and anything else that doesn't go in your usual recycling bin.

Saturday Siobhan Dobson, sister of the missing Ashley Dobson, says she might show us the apparently empty picture of Old Fishmarket Close that her sister took shortly before disappearing providing that she hasn't been returned or found dead. It's not a very useful picture, Siobhan said, but people who like true crime might enjoy looking at it for morbid curiosities sake anyway.

Sounds like another busy week! Whilst we ponder how any one of us could become missing at any point, I take you now to...the weather.

{Checkout 'Lure of the Rock Pools' by Marine Girls}

Local university student Nathan Watts says he thinks he knows what has been taking those who linger at night around Old Fishmarket Close. Last night he was out drinking with some friends of his and having had maybe a few too many started to feel violently ill. He decided it was time to walk home. He was cutting up Old Fishmarket Close when he took a tumble and was just getting up when he heard someone asking him if he had a cigarette.

The person they saw was possibly male, their face expressionless, their skin damp and slightly sunken like they had a bad fever. Nathan says that the figure was swaying from side to side a couple of inches off of the ground, moving mostly by the waist and otherwise motionless – not even opening their mouth when they asked their question again.

Nathan offered the figure one of the cigarettes he'd just rolled but it didn't make a motion to come closer and get it, nor could Nathan made his fear-frozen feet move any closer to it. He decided that he wanted to take a better look at the figure so fumbled for his phone. No sooner had it brought it out than the figure folded in two and was pulled rapidly back into the darkness. When Nathan was able to shine light into the alleyway it was completely empty. He says he has no doubt in his mind that this was the thing which had lured away those other people.

Upon this release, City Council finally revealed that all of this was actually a part of a new anti-smoking initiative they have going which involves reprogramming a Marlboro representative anglerfish to target smokers in dark alleyways. So basically don't smoke and stay out of dark small spaces, they said, it'll be fine.

When reporters mentioned that only two of the missing people were confirmed smokers city council waved all of their hands in unison and made a scoffing sound in the back of their throats.

Diane Crayton expressed approval of the City Council's new initiative, believing it will surely scare most kids and many adults into never smoking. She asked if vaping would be considered along the same lines, or if the initiative only targetted the smoking of tobacco and other such products.

City Council groaned deep in their many throats and said; “Oh we have a special plan for those kinds of people...vapers.” and then they groaned again for three minutes straight before ending the press conference with another disgusted muttering of “vapers...”

The missing people are still missing, but they were all smokers anyway (probably) so I guess that's alright? The Sheriff's Secret Police has taken away the blockades around Old Fishmarket Close and congratulated themselves on doing absolutely nothing. So, that's that.

I guess if City Council is against smoking then our own stance against today's sponsor will go down much more kindly with Station Management...I hope Intern Gertrude is okay. I might go and check.

Stay tuned next for several people breathing deeply and audibly into the microphone,

goodnight Night Vale, goodnight.

You have no idea how tempted I am to write a kind of... parody fic where I take TMA episodes and switch them to the WTNV format i.e. take the plot and act like it's just something casually happening in NV.

[letterstojori]

11.23

Dear Jori,

Hey Jori! Happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is almost over here in Japan. They actually don’t celebrate “Thanksgiving” here but they do celebrate the Autumn Harvest Feetival on November 23rd each year. It just so happens that this year they’re one in the same.

This is actually the first Thanksgiving that I haven’t spent it with family. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone back home every Thanksgiving.

This week has been a lot of fun. Especially on Wednesday. My elementary schools had a music show were each class sang a song and played a song. They were all very cute. I recognized a few songs like zippidy do da and IDOL or Under the Sea. It’s so surprising how loud kids can be for things like a greeting or a skit. Like they well fearlessly shout things out to a crowd full of adults. I feel like elementary school students in America are more timid or shy for big crowd things.

I keep running into my students everywhere. I saw Taisuke on Sunday at the mall, Aki at Sushiro on Monday, Takuya and Yuujiro at the Konbini yesterday and Hino and Kaho and friends at Sushiro and some other group of girls at Sushiro today too.

Yesterday was also a company dinner. I just feel so out of place sometimes with the other ALTs. But it makes sense they’re all a lot younger than me. Josh especially. He’s the one that lives closest to me so we get Sushiro sometimes. He’s good company, easy to talk to, but he’s so young haha. Like we’ll get food sometimes but that’s usually it.

Most of my time I’ve been TFTing. One of the people I made friends with randomly on TFT wanted to play. His name was Bryant Zenpai and I was like we’re both Senpais but he also said that his girlfriend goes to Davis so we became friends. And we just played some games together tonight so that was kind of fun. But other than that mostly just been in DGs chat. I love just saying things and waiting for him to turn and read chat and he laughs as he reads it aloud. Wish that could be you though haha.

I wanna climb. I’m behind on sleep soo much cause the set just came out. But I kinda wanna invest my time into other things. I want to work out. I want to watch Attack on Titans too. And master Chef. And Blue Lock and Talentless Nana. And more Japanese studying. I can do simple sentences in Japanese now. Like I did something somewhere at a time. And sleep. I really should be sleeping but here I am in DGs chat. I still wonder if you ever stopped by. And if you saw me. I still wonder too much. I wanna play but I really should go to bed.

Goodnight Jori, hope your thanksgiving is fun and full of turkey, family, and friends.

-bearbear