#i have to admit that i knew this wasn’t publication order. i got it wrong on purpose for The Notes

[evilwizard]

never has there been a series with more underutilized background lore than the Chronicles of Narnia. book one establishes that there exists a world-between-the-worlds, an infinite glade that can be accessed only via ancient Atlantean magic, fractaling in all directions with infinite crystal-clear pools of water representing the various dimensions of the multiverse—dimensions which contain realms of gods and technology, and magic of various types, and different magical systems for each dimension, and dead worlds, and worlds that have not yet sprung to life, and a million other wonders. book two has a talking beaver

[brooklynisher]

People are asking about it so here it is!

The Spine Hc Angst Relating to Peter Walter I

This sorta turns into borderline a full backstory but aa who cares

Zer0 was abandoned and Rabbit was literally killed by Peter Walter I. I refuse to believe The Spine was such a perfect robot that Peter just left him alone.

I like to believe that after the success of Rabbit’s invention, Peter held The Spine to a much greater standard. So much greater to the point where he wasn’t being realistic. He knew he had the capabilities to program The Spine to be exactly what he wanted The Spine to be.

Two conflicting traits he gave were curiosity and maturity. Though curiosity isn’t inherently childish, you could only ask so many questions before people would assume you were born yesterday.

Because he expects The Spine to be mature, he doesn’t allow The Spine to indulge in any “childish“ activities.

One thing is that Rabbit thinks Peter prefers The Spine because he’s dedicated so much time into perfecting him, but The Spine thinks Peter prefers Rabbit because he seems like he actually likes her and she has many more permissions than he does.

Sometimes Peter will read stories to Rabbit to help her power down, but when The Spine asks to be read stories, he says no since The Spine is supposed to be, “More mature than Rabbit, and he doesn’t need them”. Rabbit might read The Spine stories in secret on occasion.

The Spine was not allowed to play with toys. If he was ever caught with a toy of any kind, they would be given away or destroyed depending on the quality of the toy.

The Spine was never allowed to read children books or watch children shows. He would have his siblings update him on any of his interests in media made for children if he had any.

He’s not allowed to play with his siblings, but instead, he’s expected to supervise.

Overall, he was expected to be “The best robot”. Whenever he wasn’t, he’d get adjusted, which he hated because he never knew what parts of him Peter was going to change. Most of the time he wouldn’t know what he did wrong. Which if he couldn’t figure out what he did wrong, the adjusting process would take 10x longer. The Spine would find himself overthinking everything he did wrong when he couldn’t be the perfect robot. This is part of the reason why he cares so much about the public perception of him.

During moments where he broke, he felt embarrassed and guilty. Peter would never tell him that his system failures were his fault, but he’d complain a lot whenever he had to fix them, making The Spine feel as if it was his fault for all the times he was broken. Like he was Wired Wrong.

Eventually, he’d start repairing himself. Which he got praise for, but if he ever made a mistake, boy did he feel like a failure. He’d be terrified of admitting to Peter Walter that he broke himself, but he would confess when he needed to because Peter would only get madder if he tried to hide it. Still, he was yelled at every time he made a mistake in fixing himself. The Spine would still keep trying though because he’d breakdown less when he attended to himself. His biggest issue is that he can get a bit too good at fixing himself and ends up overdoing it. Hence, over attenuated hydraulics.

Of course, after Delilah’s death, Peter was a lot more strict and critical with The Spine. There were times where The Spine was treated poorly due to Peter’s grief alone, but because he didn’t understand grief, he thought that his existence was the problem. He’d end up being hyper-aware of every little thing he did. Thinking that there was some sort of special way to behave around Peter in order to avoid setting him off. He was cautious of everything. His walk, his voice, the sound of the steam leaving his body, the glow of his eyes. He didn’t know what it was that would hurt Peter Walter I, but he always thought it was himself.

When Peter I died, the pressure to be the perfect robot only got stronger, so it ended up becoming a core aspect of his personality. To be the most mature, well maintained, and to keep his siblings in check.

It wasn’t until Peter Walter VI where he’d start to embrace his inner child. After seeing how well he responded to the rest of his siblings’ changes. He finally felt more comfortable with being himself. A tall robot dork.

[mandos-mind-trick]

The Bandana

Summary: You’re their medic. It’s your job to understand the ins and outs of their abilities in order to best treat them when they’re injured. Of course, you can also use that knowledge in other ways. 

Pairing: Hunter x reader

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, teasing, oral, edging, orgasm denial, kind of public sex (it's like half a second), inaccurate medical stuff, reader and her praise kink once more, Hunter's a bit of a dom, light bondage, use of Hunter's bandana.

A/N: It's gross. It's filthy. It's Hunter. None of the medic!reader fics are really related. I know that's kind of a theme lately and I wanted to throw that out there. It's just easiest making the reader a medic, and a couple of them are ideas from a scrapped Bad Batch x medic!reader fic I was working on for a minute. You can read them as being related if you'd like, but that's not really necessary. If you need me, I'll be back in horny jail.

MASTERLIST

Hunter’s abilities are fascinating.

Not that the others’ weren’t, but Hunter’s were the most interesting from a medic’s point of view. He could sense even the most subtle changes within the human body. He could sense a change in someone’s heart by feeling the change in electrical impulses that cause the heart to beat. Even more simply, he could hear someone’s heartbeat if they’re standing close enough. Not only that, the more time he spent around someone, he could smell even the simplest changes in their body. An infection, hormone fluctuations, any sort of dysfunction he could tell almost immediately. 

It had been jarring at first, but he had assured you he didn’t purposefully try to listen in on certain things. He had gotten good at blocking most of it out. He’s very in tune with his squad, in tune enough he usually only notices when there’s something wrong. Not that there usually was, among the perfected specimens of the clones. 

That’s what led you to developing this game. 

You spend a lot of time alone on the Marauder while the boys are in the field. It was what led to you developing an experiment, which quickly became a game. 

Just how crazy can you drive Hunter with your scent? 

Your illicit relationship with the Sergeant hadn’t taken long to develop. After all, who were you to deny when such a fine specimen was offering? He had admitted to being able to smell your arousal, and as soon as your pants were around your ankles, he had buried his face in your pussy and inhaled like he’d been starved for oxygen. 

He’d stolen your panties after that brief foray in the fresher. 

That led you to this experiment. 

You started simple. You’d let yourself get aroused, then you’d leave your panties somewhere only he’d find. Under his pillow in the barracks, in his knife stash, even once dropped into his helmet while he wasn’t wearing it. 

Not long after he’d find them, you’d both disappear for a few minutes so he could fuck you into oblivion for teasing him. 

Then you got bolder. You’d slip a hand into your pants while they were away, coating your fingers in your slick before touching areas of the ship you knew he frequented. Then you started touching things of his. Pieces of his armor, his spare blacks, the wall of his bunk in their barracks, the inside of his helmet, even once bravely letting your fingers brush the hilt of his knife. 

It was less obvious than your panties, and most of the time he figured it out. It was hard on such a small ship to find ways to slip aside, to find a private moment to fuck each other’s brains out. 

You took advantage of shore leave more than anything. The others know you don’t disappear together to do a medical exam. Of course, that was the excuse if anyone ever noticed outside of the squad. It was your job to be thorough, but you don’t think GAR officials or the Kaminoans would consider Hunter’s cock in your mouth a necessary medical test. 

They would blanche at the things you do with the Bad Batch’s Sergeant behind closed doors. 

You’re excited for this shore leave, already having planned your next move to tease your Sergeant. It’s risky, and going to require perfect timing, but you’re well prepared. You’ve thought all this through perfectly. 

The barracks smell as they always do. Despite your best efforts to keep things clean, the stench still manages to linger. You wonder if all the barracks smell this bad, but you’re not about to take that chance. At least you had an excuse for being in the Batch’s barracks. 

They all disperse, going about their normal routines. You settle yourself on the couch, your normal perching spot, and begin to enact your plan. You watch Hunter, the way his body moves, his muscles shifting under his blacks as he removes each piece of armor. Your eyes trail his form from those wide shoulders to his slim waist, then further down to his thick thighs. Heat begins to pool in your stomach as you think about him and just what that body is capable of. 

You drop your gaze to your pack as he turns to look at you, obviously beginning to sense the change in your body. You’re starting to get wet, thighs pressing together for friction as you pretend to go through your med kit.

Hunter leaves to take a shower, and you make your move while the others are distracted. You slip your hand into your panties, gathering some slick on your fingers before grabbing one of Hunter’s spare bandanas. You make sure to rub your fingers all over it, trading it out for the old one sitting on his bunk. It’s not that unusual for you to grab their dirty clothes to add to your bag of things you need to wash. 

None of them blink twice as you toss his old bandana onto the pile. You sink back onto the couch, continuing to go through your med kit like nothing had just happened. 

“We’re gonna get some food, you coming?” Wrecker asks, breaking the comfortable quiet of the barracks. 

“I’ll meet you there. I need to put in an order for some supplies.” You say, sending a wink his way. 

“Right.” Crosshair drolls, lips lifting in a smirk. “Have fun with that.” 

Wrecker looks between you utterly confused as Crosshair practically drags him from the barracks. Tech follows, electing to ignore your exchange with his face buried in his datapad. 

You really do need to get some more supplies. You get up, moving to the crates stacked next to the big windows. It’s dark and raining outside, as it usually is on Kamino. It’s silent in the barracks, the unnerving quiet making the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight. 

A body presses into you from behind, pinning you against the glass window. It hadn’t taken him long to discover your little gift. 

“You’re playing a dangerous game mesh’la.” He growls in your ear, voice low and rough. You can feel the hard bulge of his cock against your ass. 

“I don’t hear any complaining.” You gasp, his hands grabbing yours, tugging your wrists behind your back. 

A smooth cord wraps around them, one of Tech’s spare cables he had lying around. You tug at the knot, secure but not too tight. He turns you around, pushing you towards the table. He bends you over it, pressing your top half flat against it. You bite your lip, anxious for what he’s going to do next. 

He tugs your pants down around your ankles, exposing your underwear to him. He can see the wet spot, the fabric sticking to your pussy from how wet it is. He groans quietly, the scent of your arousal hitting him like a wall. 

He presses his nose against your underwear, breathing in the scent of your arousal. “So sweet.” He groans, lapping at the fabric. 

You moan, more and more arousal pooling in your stomach, soaking your panties. He nips at you through the fabric, drawing a louder moan from your lips. 

“Quiet.” He commands. “We don’t want anyone to hear you.” 

You bite your lip harder, trying to keep the volume down as he moves your panties to the side, dragging his nose through your folds. His tongue follows, tracing a line from your clit to your hole. You let out another moan, hips jerking at the feel of his warm tongue on you. 

He tsks, standing back up. “Can’t do what you’re told? Here, let me help you.” 

He grabs your jaw, prying your mouth open. He balls up a familiar red fabric in his hands before stuffing it in your mouth. You let out a quiet sound, muffled by the fabric of his bandana. 

“Maybe that will help you be quiet.” He says, kneeling back down between your legs. 

He slips his fingers under the gusset of your panties, pulling them taught against your pussy. He drags them through your wetness a couple times before tugging them down your legs. He tosses them towards his bunk, the sound of them hitting the floor audible in the quiet barracks. Your cheeks heat up at the knowledge that you’re that turned on by him. 

And he’s barely touched you. 

His hands grip your thighs, tugging your legs apart until you’re on your toes to keep steady. His hands move to your ass, using his thumbs to part your lips. You can feel his gaze on your dripping pussy, your hips shifting in his hold in anticipation. 

His tongue is warm as it prods at your hole, ignoring your clit entirely. You whine in betrayal, pulling at your restraints as he presses his tongue into your pussy. You moan at the feeling of him, his tongue tasting you directly from the source. He moans against your pussy, slurping at your wetness as it spills from you onto his tongue. 

You can’t cum like this alone. You know it and he knows it. He’s doing it on purpose, revenge for all of the times you’ve teased him in the worst way possible. You whine, trying to press your hips back against his face but he holds you still. He’s not going to relent, not until you’re desperate.

You whine his name from behind the bandana, inaudible from the fabric. He ignores you, continuing to eat your pussy like a man starved. You squeeze around his tongue, trying to seek any extra sensation you can. You’re so close. One tiny touch to your clit would send you over the edge, but he’s not going to give you that.

Not yet. 

He pulls away from your pussy, licking his lips. He stands up, pressing his hips against your ass. His blacks are rough against your skin, and you can feel how hard he is through the fabric. He leans his body over yours, dragging his hips against your pussy. 

“Think you can tease me like that?” He growls in your ear. “Spreading your scent over everything. Drives me crazy.” 

You sob behind his bandana, trying to grind against him, against the table, anything for some relief, but he’s keeping you pinned with his body. 

“Desperate little thing, aren’t you. You want to cum, huh?” He moves his head so he can see your face. “Do you think you deserve to cum?” 

You nod, trying to plead with him, but only muffled sounds come out. 

“What’s that?” He tilts his head. “I can’t seem to understand you. Guess you don’t think you deserve it.” 

You let out a cry as he moves off of you, kneeling back between your thighs. Tears gather in your eyes as he swirls his tongue around your pussy before slipping it back inside. You clamp down desperately against his tongue, seeking out any sort of relief for the ache in your pussy. 

You’re soaked, coating his face as he continues to fuck you with his tongue. Your legs are shaking with the effort of holding yourself up, tears sliding down your cheeks as you moan and cry through the bandana. 

Hunter pulls away from your pussy, pressing a kiss to your inner thigh. “You’re a good girl. Always such a good girl for me, even if you are a tease.” 

You make a quiet noise, the table starting to get wet under your face from sweat and your tears. 

“That was a good one, spreading your scent on my bandana. I’m going to remember that.” He kisses closer to your pussy. “You’re such a smart little thing. Always so good for me. I’ll let you cum, just for that.” 

You practically sob with relief, his tongue pushing into your pussy once more. The rough pad of his thumb brushes your clit, sending you hurtling over the edge. Your legs shake, back arching into him as you soak his face, his tongue lapping up every last bit of your cum. He works you through your orgasm, licking up every last bit of your cum. 

He releases the cord around your wrists with a flick of his fingers as he stands to remove his bandana from your mouth. He eases you onto your back, wiping the tears from your cheeks. “Always so good for me.” He says, stroking your face lovingly. 

You practically purr under his touch, leaning into his hands. “Only for you.” 

His eyes darken a bit, the very obvious bulge in his pants pressed up against your pussy. “Think you can take me before the others get back?” 

You nod, using every bit of energy you have to lift your feet onto the edge of the table, spreading yourself out for him. “Easily, Sergeant.” 

You only hope the others take their time getting their dinner. 

Taglist:

@kaminocasey, @rosechi, @mxkyrie, @bobaprint @star-trekker-0013, @padawancat97, @bamfahsoka, @rain-on-kamino, @annoyinglylegendarygoose

[discretocincel]

Promises we keep (win your heart)

My sixth story for RadioApple Week 2024, this one for the prompt 'Dancing'! Go check it out on AO3 if you want, or read the other parts on Tumblr in the in-universe chronological order:

Day Three – Watch the world keep changing: The beginning, for Lucifer.

Day One – When skies are black: Early into their relationship, Lucifer is a little insecure.

Day Five – Before we float off in the wind: Keeping the relationship a secret is trickier than they expected.

Day Two – (Still) Craving your kiss: Lucifer can relate to a lowly sinner.

Day Four – Shores that cure: Alastor could see that Lucifer was suffering from keeping their relationship a secret, but since he isn’t ready to have all of Hell find out, he decides to start small, and tells Rosie. They have dinner at her home.

And lastly (so far?), the story for the sixth day, for the prompt 'dancing':

Promises we keep (win your heart)

Just to make sure the news was all the more shocking, Lucifer arrived at Rosie’s party almost an hour after Alastor. While both of their living arrangements were common knowledge in Hell, it was also wildly believed that they didn’t get along. Arriving together might’ve disputed that. And if Lucifer knew his sinner well, then it was certain that Alastor was planning on milking the rumors for all they were worth before the big reveal. Not that Lucifer found anything wrong with it. He himself intended to have some fun as well.

Truth be told, he had never been a very involved king. Lilith was the one who ruled, the one who interacted with the public, the one involved in politics. Lucifer rarely ever interacted with the sinners, until he joined his daughter at her hotel. While he was working on correcting his mistakes after realizing that the good of humanity wasn’t barred from Hell as he’d been led to believe at the beginning of time, he still didn’t interact much with the overlords. He got all the information he needed from Alastor, and he didn’t like it much. With the exception of Rosie and his lover, he preferred to stay away from them. Still, he hadn’t done anything as drastic as making a public statement about it. He didn’t try to hide his distaste for their business, but many overlords still chose to ignore it and attempted to get close to him whenever they saw an opportunity. Rosie’s little party was the perfect chance to indulge in a little sadism and mockery, fanning the flames of their ambition only to pull the rug beneath their feet at the very last second. He couldn’t wait.

“Your Majesty, it’s so good to see you! I’m glad you accepted my invitation,” Rosie welcomed him, loud and cheerful, immediately catching the attention of everyone in the room, including the staff.

Lucifer smiled, keeping his gaze on the leader of Cannibal Town and fighting the urge to locate his lover. He would later sweep the room, make it look like he was simply watching the scene, the décor, but he wouldn’t give any sinners the chance to try and chat with him just yet. It would be best to make them feel unimportant in the beginning.

“You’re lucky I’m in charge of organizing these little soirées,” Rosie said, accepting naturally when he offered his arm to her after she kissed his cheek. “The last time we allowed Valentino to throw one, it was a disaster.”

“I can only imagine,” Lucifer muttered, brow furrowing in distaste while they walked through the room towards the back, where the snacks were.

Like the lady she was, Rosie covered her mouth with the back of her hand to muffle her giggles.

“Velvette helped him a little bit, I believe, so it wasn’t as awful as it could’ve been. Alastor sunk into the shadows as soon as we entered though, never to return.”

“I’m surprised he went at all,” Lucifer admitted, knowing how much the Radio Demon detested the obscenity that was the moth’s brand.

“Oh, he didn’t want to,” Rosie clarified, smile stretching to showcase the sharpness of her teeth, “but I can be pretty convincing.”

“That’s good to know.”

His grin turned mischievous, and through the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Alastor’s shadow sporting a concerned grimace, which suggested he’d been eavesdropping. Infuriating, that even that he found adorable.

The shadow, if one looked closely, never failed to wag his tail when Lucifer granted them his attention. It made him physically ache to smother his lover in kisses. Alas, that would have to wait a couple of hours at least. Rosie was a gracious host, which meant she couldn’t stick to his side, for she had other things to do, and as soon as she left him, overlords swam towards him to get on his good side. Lucifer squared his shoulders, willing himself to be patient and strong. As Alastor kept reminding him, he was a king. He needed to face his subjects every once in a while. He needed to endure.

It took him exactly twenty minutes to grow tired of them and abandon all pretense of interest for their affairs. He excused himself, not as politely as he might’ve done earlier in the evening and made it clear that he would be stepping outside for a moment to be alone, and that anyone who intended to join him wouldn’t be welcome.

He knew that Alastor had been eavesdropping, his shadow wasn’t as subtle as he liked to believe, not to Lucifer, who had a habit of scratching the shadows’ ears whenever they were within reach, and still, the sinner had no shame, and didn’t even wait two minutes before joining him outside.

“Was their company not to your liking, sire? You left them awfully soon.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, going further into the back but making sure he was the one facing the glass doors, to keep the eyes on his lover’s expressive face to the minimum.

“They were… a lot,” he admitted with a grimace.

“I suppose we can cut short our plans for the night, deliver the news sooner so we can go back home.”

“Are you sure about this? Don’t feel pressured, really.”

Alastor shook his head while he reached out to hold Lucifer’s hands in his, bringing them to his lips to brush them softly over the fallen angel’s knuckles. With the sinner’s habit of always keeping a smile on his face, his lips were often a bit chapped, making the contact almost ticklish.

“I want to do this. You seem to forget that you’re the one getting the shortest end of the stick here—I would like to brag that you’re mine, Your Majesty. Unless you changed your mind?”

“I’m not forgetting anything. I think you’re the one who is confused.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes in reproach. “Don’t doubt that most of the people in that room genuinely believe they have a chance with me. It’s you they know as unreachable. If anyone is going to brag tonight, that’ll be me.”

Alastor snorted a laugh in disbelief, but he knew better than to try to argue with his lover, who was as stubborn as the sinner himself.

“Do you wish to go back inside, or not yet?”

“Can we stay here a little longer?” Lucifer asked softly, feeling silly even as his stomach churned with anxiety. Alastor had only just released his hands, and he already missed the warmth and comfort that his hold had offered.

“Of course.”

The bastard seemed so relaxed, too. It wasn’t fair. He was the one who asked for secrecy, how come Lucifer was the one feeling nervous? He took a deep breath, hesitating just a moment before taking a step closer to his lover and posing his hands on him, fingertips curling over bony shoulders, then he looked up.

The lights coming from inside created a nice effect on the sinner’s hair and ears, although it obscured his angled features and softer smile. It was so easy for Lucifer to lose himself as he studied the details on that face he knew so well but never tired of watching, the length of his elegant nose, the fulness of his lips, the prominence of his cheekbones and the coloring of his skin. His eyes, which would communicate so much more than the smile he honed as a weapon to keep the world at a distance. Lucifer loved those eyes.

Lucifer loved him. He had loved him for a while now, and he knew he would for a very, very long time. For eternity, he wanted to say, and he only didn’t because he knew it would send the deer running. Within minutes, they would reveal what they had to all of Hell—or to the overlord who controlled what the masses learned, anyway, which was the same thing. The overlord that Lucifer’s lover had once considered a friend.

Looking back, he still felt a bit ridiculous about the first time he’d allowed his insecurities win, when he’d ended up drunk out of his mind out of worry because his lover would be seeing the only man he had ever considered letting into his heart before Lucifer came around. It felt silly now, meeting Alastor’s eye as he gently rested his hands on Lucifer’s hips, delicately swaying them in tandem with the music coming from inside. It was no jazz, not that Rosie didn’t like it, but she found that violin concerts tended to exasperate the Vees faster, so that was what she favored when they were invited. It suited them just fine; it was one of Lucifer’s favorite pieces, and Alastor loved to twirl him around to the sound of it.

Perhaps it was foolish, what they were doing. It would mess up the plan, ruin the fun, give it all away. But Lucifer didn’t care, and Alastor’s gentle expression suggested that he didn’t either. So, they danced. They were alone in Rosie’s patio, but the glass doors didn’t offer even the illusion of privacy. If he listened closely, he could easily detect the buzzing of Voxtech’s drones, no doubt recording it all. But Lucifer didn’t care. They could livestream their dance to all nine circles and seven rings of Hell, and he didn’t care. If they shoved a microphone on his face at some point later in the night, he wouldn’t hesitate before confessing, knowing that he had Alastor’s implicit approval.

Lucifer loved Alastor. And he knew, without a doubt, that Alastor loved him in return.

[inevitablysomber-dark]

Shackled (Chapter 9)

Dark! Rafe Cameron x Pogue! Reader

Warning: There are some intense, dubiously consenting and nonconsensual sexual themes in this series, MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. MINORS DNI.

Summary: You hate Outer Banks with a passion and are working hard to get out despite all the obstacles in your way. Rafe himself eventually becomes one of those obstacles after a night of low impulse control. Will you be able to overcome him or with you have no choice but to submit.

Slow Burn

Series Masterlist

It’s been 6 weeks since you’ve last been home, and your weekly schedule has completely changed.

When Rafe comes to pick you up on Mondays, you do all necessary errands, chores, and repairs (it's why it’s his second most hated day of the week, the first being Friday). Bringing laundry over to his house to use his washer and dryer, then bringing it back over Tuesday morning.

Rafe usually insists on getting breakfast, maybe chilling at the beach or country club, or hanging out with Kelce and Topper, who were wary of you but eventually learned to tolerate your presence. It helped that Rafe got a little snippy whenever they copped an attitude with you.

Mary tried to contact you twice, but her passive-aggressive speech withheld a response from you.

But Ether seemed a bit more genuine; it looked like she got over the idea of you and Rafe being together and wanted the details of how it came about. You ignored her the first few times, but she was persistent, so you eventually gave in.

Since your rendezvous at the beach, Rafe had gotten a tad more clingy, constantly touching, holding, and kissing you as often as he could.

You have to beat him off with a bat to let you go to the mainland on weekends. He concedes but not without some kind of resistance. One week he threatened not to drive you to the ferry, eventually yielding when he realized you were willing to walk to the bus stop to get there.

He’s also gotten a bit braver with his public affection for you. He must have thought it was ok since the prominent people you were hiding from, Mary and Ether already knew.

You got a nickname from the younger pogues on the cut: Wannabe. The kooks just call you a gold digger. But not in front of Rafe, never in front of Rafe, considering how feral he gets whenever anyone insults you.

You can’t say the attention you’ve managed to garner up until this point wasn’t expected. However, you were still very much uncomfortable with it.

Since the beach, you’ve sort of just accepted everything that happens.

In very few words, Rafe admitted to being in your corner on this miserable island. Although you weren’t sure how much of that sentiment you could trust, you were willing to ride the wave until you fell off.

It was Tuesday, and Rafe was pulling into his driveway. You had just dropped off laundry at your father's house, surprised to find him on the couch snoozing, but you managed to get in and get out without waking him up.

The last time your father has been on the couch mid-morning, he’d just been fired by Ward Cameron, Rafe’s father. You were hoping that history wasn’t repeating itself.

“I was thinking we could order in some Chinese?” Rafe opens the front door allowing you to walk in ahead before closing it.

You shrug your shoulder, indicating your indifference, heading towards the kitchen for a drink of water.

“Hey,” he pulls you by the waist before you can get past the kitchen island to reach the fridge. “What's wrong?”

“My dad was home.” your voice low unsure of what to make of the situation.

Rafe cocks his head to the side in confusion “ So what?”

“Last time he was home Midday, he lost his job,” you clarify.

Rafe nods his head in understanding before lifting your body to place you on top of the island.

“Don’t worry, you could always stay with me?” he moves to situate himself between your legs.

“Can my dad stay with us too?” you ask, playfulness in your voice.

“No,” he said it with such finality you didn’t know how to respond.

His face softens before he moves to plant licks and kisses along your neck. His hands creep around your waist before he squeezes and pulls you closer. Shifting his mouth down towards your cleavage.

You can feel the mood accelerating before something catches the corner of your eye. It was a bookbag, covered in sparkly accessories, sitting on the sofa in the living room. It could blend in with the modern decor of the space it occupies.

The bookbag could be considered juvenile, and where there were youthful objects, there were juveniles. You could feel a drop in your stomach when you realized what might be happening.

“Rafe,” you whisper, trying to catch his attention.

He moans before moving his fingers underneath your top.

You place your hands over his own to stop him.

“Rafe!” you repeat. “I think someone is here.”

At this, he lifts his head, and you point in the direction of the book bag. It takes him a minute before he notices his fingers twitch against your skin as if contemplating whether or not he should continue.

“She could’ve just left her stuff and gone back out.” he shrugs.

“No, she’s home,” an unknown voice chimes.

Rafe quickly removes his hands from under your shirt but doesn’t move to let you off the island.

“What are you doing here?” he asks. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school in something?” waving a hand around to emphasize the disruption of her attendance.

“ School let out early today,” she says. “Hi, I’m Wheezy.” she holds her hand for you to shake.

You awkwardly grab it, responding with your own name.

“Nice to meet you, Wheezy.”

You’ve never met with Rafe's family; you only ventured to shared spaces when they weren’t home. Otherwise, you were a recluse, coddled in the corners known as Rafe’s room.

“You’re Rafe’s girlfriend, right?”

Before you could fix your mouth to say no, Rafe quickly responded with a Yes. You almost get whiplash with how quickly you turn your head to look at him. But he pays you no mind as his youngest sister has most of his attention.

He finally backs away, pulling you off the island and letting go once you’ve settled on your feet.

“People have been talking about you a lot,” she says. “I never thought Rafe would be into pogues.”

“Wheezy!” Rafe hisses.

“Honest;y, neither did I, but here I am” you take a peek at Rafe, and it looks as though you offended him.

You give him a look before turning back to Wheezy, “so we were about to order some Chinese. Did you want some?”

“For Sure. Get me some extra wontons please,” she smiles before heading into the living room “can we watch a movie while we eat?”

“Whatever,” Rafe responds.

Wheezy hops on the couch, grabbing the remote and shifting through the apps on the television. You turn toward Rafe as he pulls out his phone, searching for the restaurant number.

“Why did you tell her I was your girlfriend?” your voice lowered so Wheezy couldn’t hear. You needed to know Rafe's reasoning before you embarrassed him in front of his little sister.

“What? Was I supposed to tell a 13-year-old that we’re fuck buddies?” he says

“No, but you didn’t have to lie and say we were in a relationship either.”

“Two randos just making out on a fucking island,” he dials the number putting the phone to his ear “trust me, it’s easier this way– Hey, I’d like to put in an order” Rafe walks away, making the order.

You look back into the living room to catch Wheezy staring at you before she quickly turns her head back to the TV.

You sigh.

It could be easier this way. It’s not like you bothered to correct Mary and Ether when they called you out at the country club. And people seem to be getting those vibes from you anyways. As long as Rafe knew what it was, you’d didn’t see a reason to correct it.

—

When it rains, it pours.

Wheezy seemed a bit wary of you at first but eventually warmed up to you throughout the movies and Chinese food.

Before you know it, Ward, Rose, and Sarah are walking in through the front door, and like a deer caught in headlights, you stand there waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Ward clearly isn’t happy, asking who you were and what you were doing in his house. This seemed to offend Rafe as he again claimed you as his girlfriend. The look on Sarah’s face should have been documented and placed in a museum labeled ultimate confusion.

Rose didn’t seem to mind you, though, asking you to dinner. Unsure of what to do with yourself, you respond with “Sure.”

What have you gotten into?

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

'IS NO TIME FOR LIQUOR' 2 MUNITION WORKERS TOLD,” Toronto Star. April 1, 1942. Page 8. --- Police Found Herbert McKinnon and Cecil Kay Sound Asleep in Auto --- CAR WAS DITCHED ---- Special to The Star Whitby, April 1 - "This is no time for liquor," Magistrate F. S. Ebbs told two munitions workers who appeared before him on charges of drunk driving. Provincial police said both had been found in the same car, so intoxicated they could not be awakened, so they charged each man.

Herbert McKinnon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven days. dating back to the time of his arrest. He was also assessed costs or an additional seven days, his car was ordered impounded for three months, and his license suspended for three months. Cecil Kay pleaded not guilty and was acquitted. Kay admitted having liquor illegally in a public place and being intoxicated. He was fined $10 and costs or 10 days.

Police stated they found the car "ditched" on the heavily travelled road to the plant, south of No. 2 highway. 

Warns All Others "I think a warning should be issued right now to these men and all others engaged in war work," said the magistrate. "These cases are becoming altogether too frequent. These are serious offences particularly in view of the fact that the road to the plant is very heavily travelled and there have been numerous accidents on it lately. 

"I believe this is one of the most heavily travelled strips of road in Canada. Some people seem to insist on using it while intoxicated; fortunately, not many are in the extreme state of intoxication these claimed men were in," the crown commented.

Provincial Constable James Sutherland said he and Provincial Traffic Officer Gilbert Robertson had been driving down the road early in the morning of March 25. "Half-way down to the railroad bridge we noticed a car in a five-foot ditch, facing slightly northwest," said witness. "The front of the car was almost buried in mud and when we stopped to investigate we found Kay lying behind the wheel in the front seat and McKinnon in the back. They were so intoxicated we couldn't wake them up and we finally had to carry them to the police car." The officer stated the McKinnon car was also in the ditch on the wrong side of the road.

"McKinnon said he had driven the car, got out to get a shovel and then knew no more. The left front door was so jammed we couldn't get it open."

Had Three Drinks Kay said he had never driven the car. He claimed that he and McKinnon had been "working double- shift and just came off work when a fellow asked us to have a drink with him. I had three drinks." He admitted having a bottle of liquor in the car and said it had been given him "by a man in the plant parking lot.”

McKinnon told the court he had driven several workers to Whitby and was on his way back when the car went into the ditch. "When we couldn't find the shovel there was nothing we could do but stay there till morning. I wasn't drunk when I was driving. It was when I lay down that the whiskey hit me," he claimed. "I drove the car all the time. It's my car," McKinnon asserted. 

"What were you doing in the back seat when Kay was in the front," Crown Attorney Allin Annis inquired. McKinnon said both had been riding in the front seat and that he had crawled over the back of it to search for the shovel.

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, Kay. There's some doubt as to why you were behind the wheel, but I'm going to accept the evidence on this point and dismiss this charge against you," the court ruled.

"From now on we are going to have to deal with such cases far more severely. You don't look like the ordinary type of men who get into such difficulties. You are engaged in very important work requiring that you be in first-class physical condition."

Martin Hickey, munitions worker, pleaded not guilty on charges of wounding Corporal Robert Watson of the plant staff of guards, assaulting Corporal Watson, and assaulting Jack Johnston, caretaker of his bunkhouse.

Magistrate Ebbs convicted him of assaulting the constable and reserved his decision on the other two charges.

[sticksstonesbonespoems]

The Tower of London

The Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, French, Germans and all the “nationalities” that make up the people soup of London have been joined by the civilizations that soup colonized. It is a wondrous, multi-cultural city. Smack dab in the middle is a fortress that started as a medieval palace and became infamous for executions. The central building was erected by William the Conqueror who is responsible for making the English at least partly French even if they will not admit it as England and France became the Cain and Abel of Western Europe for centuries.

Power, monarchy and human weakness fed war and cruelty. Edward the first taxed the Jewish population higher than anyone else to pay for the construction of towers. Then he kicked them all out of England. The one room dedicated to devices of torture has boards glibly stating that there was not nearly as much torture as you would think. Oh no. There were only 81 cases of state-sanctioned torture. Mmmm hmmm. Who are you trying to kid? That statement should not be allowed to assuage any guilt felt by the largest purveyor of medieval hijinks and abject colonization. There is a quaint little pub across the street from the Tower called the Hung, Drawn. And Quartered. Own it England.

There are some things that have not evolved well. In the 50 or so years since my last visit, the ravens of the tower are now kept locked up. When I was a child, they free-roamed the grounds when tourists were there. Men just cannot be trusted.

Also, not one of us avoids death. Life is for living.

Haman

“So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.”

Esther 7:10

“The loveliest lynchee was our Lord.”

Gwendolyn Brooks

Haman, good provider, brought his own rope.

Arranged with care his own unique reward.

He was risen higher in public death

Than he dared hope to rise in public life,

High as the best carpenters of the realm

Could build, high as the best gallows makers

He could afford to hire could lofty reach.

He twists slowly, slowly, at his rope’s end,

Turning slowly, his gaze could see for miles

Around now if still his eyes could see,

Turning slowly, could scan the capital,

The ways and and avenues that lead to power,

Turning slowly, South, East, North, West, search for

The junction where it all went somehow wrong.

Always and only he had expected

Simple justice: just what he had coming,

Had served his king, had shirked no drudging task,

Kept his desk clean, filed reports on time,

Learned decorum proper to high command—

Whose wife to flirt with and whom to avoid,

How to carve the roast, when to chill the wine,

How to serve up what the king wants to hear

At conference, and serve it up sincere.

Order, protocol, rank, degree, respect—

He knew his place and merely asked that those

Below know theirs; he wasn’t asking much:

The easy bow, the bending of the knee

To rank, acknowledging the earned degree.

His wife at first had thought his ravings odd,

A petty agnostic fret; his friends

Had humored him and failed to understand

His point that so much more than wounded pride

Was on the line, that the whole nation reeled

When one small wretched Jew refused to kneel.

If order, rank, and rule were not for all,

None would have them—the gutted state would fall.

The king, poor blind mindless amorous fool,

Must be saved from himself like it or not,

The state pushed back from the brink of chaos:

Blot out a people to save a nation,

Encourage a race for civilization.

The sentimental sops might call it cruel,

But realists would cautiously applaud:

And see him clear: a man doing the job

That years of public life had trained him for.

He liked to think that the years had prepared

Him precisely to meet this Jewish threat:

A moment to shine high in the klieg lights

Of all the focusing historians.

The man who knew his job and got it done.

Let the klieg lights of time affix him now

Twisting, slowly, slowly, at his rope’s end.

See him now in the bright harsh light of time

As man the butt of all ironic jokes,

Prickled on his own barbed wire, blown to hell

By his own bombs, gassed in the seclusion

Of his own chambers, and asking always

Only for what he has coming to him

And always, always, always getting it.

Man twists, slowly, slowly, at his rope’s end.

Turning slowly, scanning North, East, South, West:

History’s avenues all lead to death.

The light winks, the bands play, the boots march on.

Man dances absurd at the end of his rope.

For life is gala lynching party

Where every swinger brings his own rope:

It’s bring your own rope and reap your reward.

Except once: that grim party crashed by Him,

Intruding, who brought no rope of His own,

But borrowing man’s He stole the scene

And died, took what wasn’t coming to Him.

Look on Him, scene stealer, on His hilltop,

Changing the rules, muddling simple justice

With mercy, redemption, something called grace,

And cheating man of his hard earned reward:

Man’s antic rope’s end dance eclipsed at last

By the still shadow high on Golgotha.

E.W. Oldenburg 1936 - 1974

[arcaneprism]

Coffee and/or Tea - Julie & Bobby

Eleven!!!! We’ve officially gone past ten I’m so proud of myself ajndsf

I had Julie and Bobby drink some SEA drinks here and their reactions to the tea and coffee were based on me, a Malay who was overexcited about the drinks they had but at the same time was lowkey judgey about them

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Julie wasn’t one for experimenting with the drinks she drank. She was more than happy with the coffees that Alex made her every morning and, unless she had reasons to pull all-nighters or hadn’t had enough sleep the night before, she didn’t tend to have more than her Alex-made pot of coffee in a day. Most of her other housemates were similar. They liked a particular drink and they stuck with it. At most they’d taste each other’s drinks. It was better than trying something new and not hating it.

Unfortunately, she was out with Bobby right now. Bobby did not think that way. Bobby was one of the few in the household who actually enjoyed trying new things even if he ended up despising some of what he consumed and more often than not, Julie found herself getting swept up in his pace and letting him pick something new for her to try. She’d order a plain herbal tea instead of his chosen concoctions, but there was a brightness in his expressions whenever they found something she liked that let her continue indulging him.

Julie figured that that’s how she found herself in this tiny Malaysian cafe, head buried in her laptop as she worked on her assignment. Bobby was sitting beside her quietly highlighting notes from one of his social work classes. There had been a smug pride in the tilt of his lips since the moment he placed their orders and Julie wasn’t sure if she should be scared.

If they weren’t in public, Julie would have strangled him the moment their drinks came.

Bobby happily took what looked like a really dark coffee for himself, then presented Julie with a drink that was milky white at the bottom and blue at the top. Blue. Why was it blue!?

“I got you an iced butterfly pea tea latte,” Bobby announced with an excited glint in his eye that made him look adorable enough Julie changed her mind about yelling at him. Sometimes she regretted being in a band filled with the cutest people. There really was no winning with them.

“The flower is blue and that’s why the drink is blue. It’s all natural. No food colouring and it’s caffeine free and Julie! It’s magic!”

Julie narrowed her eyes at him, looking sceptically down at her drink, a part of her somehow doubting the lack of food colouring. Still, Bobby looked particularly proud of himself still and so she mixed the drink up and took a sip. Julie had to admit it wasn’t quite what she was expecting. It tasted like matcha in a way, all earthy and grassy but nowhere near as bitter. She would have liked it a lot, she thought, but it was sweet. A lot sweeter than she thought it should have been — maybe Bobby forgot to tell them to hold the sugar, he’s done that a couple times before when he got excited. She didn’t hate it but it wasn’t something that she would go for either.

“It’s not quite to my taste. I’d like it if it was a bit less sweeter I think.”

Bobby’s lips opened to a quiet ‘o’ shape and Julie just knew he was going to apologise for forgetting that she wasn’t the biggest fan of sweet drinks. Still, it happened. There was nothing wrong with tasting things how they were intended every now and then so Julie shook her head again, pushing the drink closer to Bobby, “How about you try?”

Bobby’s face was indecipherable when he drank the concoction. But he made a satisfied little hum around the straw, and by the time he gave it back there was a small upwards tilt to his lips that indicated how much he liked it. Julie wasn’t surprised, much unlike what his aesthetic would suggest, Bobby had always had a bit of a sweet tooth. 

Just before Julie was about to take another sip, Bobby stopped her, waving to small pitcher that Julie hadn’t noticed before.

“What’s that?”

“For the magic,” Bobby stopped then tilting his head questioningly, “Do you mind if your drinks are sour? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten you something sour before.”

Julie scrunched her nose, not quite sure how to answer the question. She’s never actively went out of her way to try sour drinks before so she couldn’t really say. Perhaps she might mind it? It felt safer to leave the drink as is but Bobby was looking at her so expectantly she crumbled. Grumbling under her breath about peer pressure, Julie let him ‘do the magic’ and make her drink sour, pouring what he told her was lime juice into her glass and - oh.

Oh, it was purple now.

If Julie had been looking at Bobby, she would have seen the moment that the smug pride on his face turned into a full smile, practically Cheshire grin for his standards, but Julie didn’t look that way. She was too distracted by the swirls of colour in her glass, blue turning to purple where the lime juice touched.

Oh it did look like magic.

She did pull a face when she drank it after. Sour lattes weren’t quite to her taste apparently, but she didn’t mind so much this time, getting easily distracted by Bobby describing his drink – something called Kopi Cham that he looked mighty pleased about. Somehow even more pleased than when they were talking about Julie’s drink.

“Wait what do you mean it’s tea and coffee and sugar????”

Sometimes Julie thinks she should trust her boys less than she did.

[thefortunatefrugal]

All that I think of is my family and friends that I am no longer friends with / connected to…

As far as boys/men go, I thought I had loved before when I was in the moment, ya know. In the relationship I thought, “oh sure this is love right?” but always looking back afterwards I understood that it wasn’t really… I know that I cared and gave myself to them to “have”, I was loyal and all. Emotionally and physically. I did all the “right things” and tried to be what they wanted but I can admit that I kind of got lost in wanting more in return than they could give or be for me. I had zero boundaries or self-respect myself, and expected them to be as self-sacrificing. (It was unhealthy, I get it now) I understood this was wrong when my last relationship ended. It was pretty mutual, and I forgive him and myself for not being what the other person really wanted. I was young, I didn’t set standards for what I deserve, and it was nobody’s fault. I was the “chill” girlfriend that his friends always enjoyed having around. I had a hard time saying “no.” or standing up for myself. I honestly just kind of always stumbled into having a boyfriend bc boys have always liked me and wanted to date me. (I wonder why lol) I mean, I was kind of desperate for love or attention maybe? I had never had it growing up. I knew I wanted marriage, and not just any marriage, but to be with someone that I was unconditionally and completely in love with and head over heels for, so I was willing to go for it, and try. The idea of settling into a marriage and looking back in regret has never ever even been a remote consideration for me after seeing my parents seemingly so easily end theirs.

Yes, it is extremely sad to know that I have never been in love before and even worse to know that no one has ever actually been in love with me. I know this because I just know in my heart that real love, mutual in-love’ness’ doesn’t just up and go away and abandon you one day. It has to stay in order to be real? When divorcees make some public announcement like “We still love each other very much…” I just want to shout OH THAT IS SO RUBBISH. Bullshit you do. Our else you would stay together? And for anyone who says “what about abuse???” Well then THAT’S NOT LOVE. You don’t abuse someone that you love… (emotionally or physically) I can say this because trust me, I have been there, and if you are abusing someone it’s more about the fact that you don’t love or respect yourself enough to remove yourself from the scenario without resorting to abuse… and if you don’t love yourself, you are not capable of and cannot love the other person, bottom line. So that is not love. You can’t convince me otherwise lol. There is no grey area in love. There is no 50-50. There is no halfway. There is no “loving two people at once”. There is no loving someone but not wanting them around you. None of that is real. It sucks. I have this idea of what love looks like in my head but I don’t know if I will ever be able to experience it here on Earth in this lifetime at least.

If you think you have, that’s amazing. I’m genuinely happy for you. Seriously. “It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all”, as they say.

i hope that when i die there will be an apartment with everyone i’ve ever loved in it and we are together always

[swtki]

Enemy - E. C

Pairing: Edward Cullen x Vampire! Fem! Reader

Summary: Edward meets his seductress once again

Warnings: Smut, 18+ content, banter between muses, femdom, Sub! Edward, not in an alternate universe just set in the seventies, Volturi! Reader, oral (m), mention of Edward being killed, swearing of course, Vaginal sex, kinda dubcon but not really? Public alley sex.

A/N: Edward smut is hard you mfs better love this.

If he had a working heart, he was sure it would be pounding so loud the whole city could hear. He sat on his balcony, eyes scanning the crowded Paris streets. To find her, the woman who was to destroy him. Alice had warned him just a week ago, her vision being one of chaos and pain. Behind it all, was a womans face. Not just any face however, it was Y/N. A member of the Volturi, whose heart was set on pulling him limb from limb. Everyone in the house had decided it would be best if Edward were to depart from their permanent home, flee to Paris for a short time. He was akin to being alone, but to be alone while watching over your back 24/7 was not the same. While he hated every second of his existence; He knew that if he were to give up and let her kill him, she would surely only continue to his family. He couldn’t let that happen, so he kept moving in the shadows. She wouldn’t move on until she had his head.

He racked his brain, trying to figure out a long term plan as this could only work for so long. She was strong, killing her wouldn’t be easy nor would it be something he wanted to do. Perhaps he could change her mind, he could talk her down from her dedication.

He sighed, walking into the main room and grabbing his jacket.

He needed to eat.

The elevator ride down was slow, and he tapped his finger against his thigh. How he hated human life, but at the same time desired it more than anything. Tedious elevators, the need to eat every single day, the need to sleep. The doors finally slid open, allowing him to walk down the lobby and out of his building.

The street was unusually crowded at this time, the past five days the streets were deserted as soon as the clock struck nine-pm. He couldn’t run to the closest forrest or country plaine, he needed to leave the area before they could see him take off.

So, he started walking. Voices filled his head - the French didn’t try to hold back compared to Americans. Thats when he realized, it was friday night. There were people flooding the streets. More specifically, humans flooding the streets.

“Shit.” He breathed out, knowing that he’d not only have to cancel his meal, but interrupt someone else's. He started walking to the loud music, cursing himself for being this stupid. Who other than Edward Cullen would want to find his potential murderer?

As people danced to the music, he slid toward the bar. He ordered a beer to maintain face amongst the others around him.

“Merci.” He started to turn back to the dancing bodies, but stopped when he heard the order the bartender was receiving.

“Un whisky et un verre de ce champagne.“ The man said, waiting for his drinks to be prepared. Thats when Edward realized. He had ordered champagne. Both the human man and the bartender had thought it was weird someone would order champagne in a club like this. But she always ordered champagne, always. It was what she would tell her victims to order before she took them outside.

He watched the man take the drinks, hoping he was wrong about the partner. He cursed as he realized he wasn’t. She drank, flirted, and of course lured him outside. Throwing some coins on the bartop, he quickly followed. But, he was too late. Her body was flush against the human mans, she was having a bloody good meal. Edward would be lying if he didn’t debate joining her.

“I see you’re still denying your nature.” She pulled off of him, letting the body drop as she stood still.

“I see you’re still wearing red so you don’t need to worry about stains.” He replied. She smiled and turned to him, looking him from head to toe. “I don’t know why you still despise me after all these years, Y/N.” her smile faded.

“Despise you? No, Edward I quite admire you.” She walked over to him and pressed her hand to his shoulder, “I really do think you’re one of the strongest of our kind. You could be stronger, but you suppress yourself. You drink rats blood, while I drink how our kind is meant to. Shame, really.” She walked behind him and her hand wrapped around his neck. He couldn’t move, her powers overtook him. “Imagine the life you and I could lead if you would just submit”. He shuddered at the last word. He was always a sucker for her when it came to seduction and she knew it.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just want the natural order to be restored.” She smiled and kissed his neck sofly. “Imagine yourself, in Italy with the most powerful of our kind. You could have me every night - for the rest of eternity.” his eyelashes fluttered as she continued kissing his neck. “Do you want to see how good it would feel to be with me every night?”

“Please.” He whimpered. Thats all she needed to release him from her grasp and push him against the dark brick wall. Their lips connected as if they were puzzle pieces, moving in perfect harmony with each other. She pulled away, slithering down on her knees, she was going to make him realize how much he needed her.

“Shall I?” She asked, running her hand up his thigh softly.

“Yes, God, please.” Edward begged, she loved hearing him beg for her touch.

“You always were weak when it came to sex, wonder if you still moan at the smallest, little,” Her hand groped his growing cock. His stomach fluttered with pleasure, and he couldn’t hold his moan, “Touch. Edward, you can read my mind, you can see what I have planned.” He looked inside her head, seeing the pleasure she could inflict upon his body if he would just wave a white flag.

As she took off his trousers, he debated surrendering or not. Was she worth living a life he wanted nothing more than to shun? Every time they saw each other, the sex was electric almost. She made him feel like a prey being hunted by a predator, and he loved that. As much as he hated to admit it, part of the reason he kept turning down the offer was because he didn’t want to ruin the cat and mouse relationship. He knew she loved the chase, that was why she was so persistent. But did he still feel a hatred towards her? Yes. He had seen her slaughter entire groups because she didn’t get her way. But tonight, he decided, he would wave a white flag and lower it once the sun rose.

He snapped back to reality, she hooked her fingers around the waistband of his briefs, looking up at him through her long lashes. He looked down, beginning to place his hands on her head, but was stopped by her pinning him to the wall. Her gift was useful in many situations.

Tugging down, she smiled when his dick was finally isolated. He was all hers tonight, he was painfully hard for her and only her. Her hand grasped the shaft, pumping a few times before licking a long stripe up. He made a moan of pleasure and she rewarded him with taking his length down her throat. She gagged and felt his hips buck, making her withdrawal.

“Wait-” He began.

“No, you broke the rules. What did I tell you about greed, Edward?”

“That it had no place in our sex life.” She smiled and stood, slapping his cheek a few times.

“Dress. We’ll be going to my hotel room, you may not deserve anything, but I do.” He rushed to pull up his pants and follow her.

She pushed him down on the bed as soon as the door was shut, lifting her dress up, she straddled him.

“Imagine, you agree and this is every night for the rest of our time.” Pulling down his pants she spat on her hand and guided him to her slick cunt. He slid in with ease, making her eyes roll into her skull. He could hear her mind scramble as she slowly rocked her hips. “Feel so fucking good, shame you have to be so fucking stupid.”. He was sure if he had blood he would have just bitten it and bled out. She was so fucking hot, watching her nails dig into his firm stomach. He adored her from this angle, especially when she didn’t even bother to to take her clothes off.

“Can I touch you, please?” She smiled and nodded, letting his hand move so his thumb could skillfully rub her clit, making the coil in her stomach tighten. Her movements got faster, and he heard her mind beg for more. He slightly lifted his hips while continuing his fingers. Her orgasm washed over her, causing her to scream out in pure bliss. She stopped her hips, swinging her leg over his body and straightening her dress. He looked at her in confusion, he still hadn’t cum.

“You can cum when you agree to join me. I had my fun, now leave.” She said coldly. He pulled his pants back up, stumbling back to the apartment he had spent every night and day in. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t consider saying yes to her.

As long as it was her

—

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[buckyownsmylife]

I’ve Told You Now - Bucky Barnes smut

The one where alpha!Bucky fucks you in front of the other avengers

Warnings: smut, a/b/o dynamics, public sex, oral (f), p in v, possessiveness

Word count: 2.3k

A/N: Thank you to my lovely @wakingbeauty​ for giving this a read for me! This is strictly the product of mine and @navybrat817​‘s belief that public sex should be more common in A/B/O dynamics, so there you have it 😊 Also, I used a prompt the sweet @jbreenr​ gave me ages ago for a headcanon and I asked to save it for this story since it made such perfect sense! Hope you guys like it! I might write more public sex A/B/O smut in the very near future!

Bucky’s P.O.V.

Everyday was the same. I’d wake up and join the rest of the team for breakfast to find out that despite the fact that someone had saved me a seat, that same someone had thought of a new joke to make at my expense.

If I thought Tony’s nicknames were bad, this was a whole new level. It’s like she wanted to find all the little ways to annoy me, while still remaining mindful of my recovery process and triggers.

I’d never met an omega like that before. Back in my time, omegas were mostly prim and proper, almost shy around alphas, even if they were starting to show a little more skin and entertain the possibility of staying closer to us for longer periods of time.

I wasn’t used to someone who felt so comfortable with my intimidating aura, and the alpha in me definitely couldn’t grow used to seeing so much of her skin all the time. By now, I was sure she was doing it on purpose.

She knew how it affected me, she could smell it - every omega was able to identify when a nearby alpha was aroused. And I knew it turned her on in return. I was also biologically wired to sense that.

It was basically a game of who would break first. And I knew she thought she would win, but my resolve still wasn’t broken.

“Ah… What a lovely day. So full of possibilities… if you’re not a hundred years old,” she quickly added, throwing me a glance that had me rolling my eyes. “What do you say, grandpa? Feel like going out for a run?”

Who knows what I would have answered if she hadn’t decided to pull her hair up right at the second Wanda opened the window to look out into the field? The smile that had been on my face quickly dropped when I was hit with a heavy wave of her scent and my knees buckled as I tried to hold myself back from just jumping on top of her.

Unfortunately, because awareness was not something she seemed capable of having, she did not realize my struggle. “What’s wrong, old man? Can’t even keep up anymore?” The growl that escaped my chest at her joke was all the warning she needed to finally understand what was going on.

“I’ll show you what I can keep up.” I was on her in a second, my consciousness of our surroundings reduced to absolutely nothing. It was only her and me, and the way our lips moved as I guided her back to the couch, until we both fell on top of it.

“Is this what you wanted, huh?” I asked as I tore her shirt with a simple flick of my wrist. “Is this how you wanted it to happen? For me to lose all control and just take you right here?” All that left her was a garbled sound, her hands clawing at my back as I easily got rid of her jeans until they were nothing but scraps on the floor and then exposed her pussy to the tower’s living room.

“Fuck yes,” I growled, immediately leaning down to get a taste of her. Sweet and wet and mine, all mine. I had no idea where that possessive instinct had come from, but I would be crazy to ignore it - especially since it felt like I’d kill and die for her at that very second.

Her hips jerked up, instinctively searching for my tongue, but a breeze of clarity seemed to brush over her and make her sit up on her elbows, looking down at me. I knew what was running through her mind before she said it, and I wasn’t having any of it.

“You better lay back down and let me savor my meal,” I warned, knowing the rest of the team had gathered around to watch the show. I didn’t have to take my eyes off her debauched state to know it, but her gaze was on them, even if the rest of her body was still spread open for anyone to see, uncaring of the fact that we were being watched.

“You poked the beast, now you’ll entertain it,” Steve warned, shaking his head as if to scold us, but when I met his eyes, I could see the glint of desire in them. He wanted to be in my position, he wanted to have his own tongue shoved deep inside my girl’s pussy, and it only made me eat her more hungrily.

“Eyes on me, ‘mega,” I called out to her once I saw her eyes linger on Steve. “Let them watch, that’ll keep them away from you.” She groaned at the possessiveness in my words, but it was the sounds of someone who was relishing in it. And I was relishing in her juices.

“Fuck!” She cursed when I buried my tongue as far as it could go in her, something deep inside of me desperate to be drowning in her scent. “Should have gotten you mad before.”

The thought was amusing to me. Did she really think this was only the result of pent-up anger, and not months of desire and lust that had finally spilled from my weakened resolve?

“Well…” I started, pushing two fingers inside of her to scissor her open for me, although my scent had already made her body as prepared for an Alpha an Omega could get.

I was a bit larger than usual Alphas, though - courtesy of the serum - so I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t go through any pain whatsoever. “You keep me mad all the fucking time, kitten.”

Y/N’s P.O.V.

“With desire or anger, it doesn’t really care,” he continued, like it was any ordinary day and we were chatting in the living room, our usual teasing banter taking over the conversation, instead of him eating me out on the couch in front of all of our teammates while I was spread out for their eyes to take in.

“You’re always a tease to me, in one way or another.” His huge hands massaged the inside of my thighs as he finally lowered himself to suck on my nub again, making me instinctively buck my hips up in search of his tongue.

“Stay…” he ordered in his Alpha tone, and the whine that broke free from my chest was more animal than human now. The way he used his mouth was nothing short of sinful, licking me from ass to clit with an eagerness I had never expected the former Winter Soldier to have.

But I guess today I was discovering all of my fantasies about Bucky had been a bit misplaced. For one, I never thought he’d be the type of Alpha to take me in such a public environment.

In every dirty dream I’d had, Bucky was far too possessive to allow anyone to explore what was his - even if it was only visually - but what I’d come to learn was that while he was definitely dominating, there was a hint of exhibitionism in his craving.

He liked to have people see him break me into a million pieces only to glue me back together with a lick of his tongue. He liked that they were seeing his talent - and I had to admit, by what I saw in his friend’s stare, that they were also admiring me too.

And he got off on that. I didn’t expect it would make me get off too.

“Delicious,” he hummed when he finally pulled away from my cunt, having brought me to my release and licked it off of me. Still, an overwhelming amount of wetness covered the lower part of his face, prompting me to raise myself to my elbows and lick my own juices off of his lips, the omega in me begging to scent him as mine.

“You’re a nasty little bitch, aren’t you?” He chuckled once the surprise faded away, easily manhandling me onto my stomach, the sound of a zipper being opened denouncing that he had undressed.

“Keep fucking me and you’ll find out.” I heard him spitting behind me, a shiver running up my spine as I realized he was playing with himself while looking at me presenting for him.

“Oh, I’ll do much better than that.” That was all the warning I got before I felt the head of his member poking my entrance, slowly but surely sliding in until he had bottomed out.

My whines became intensified when he pulled me up by my hair, his free hand covering my breast to rub my nipple as he whispered, “I’m gonna claim you, sweetheart. You think you’re ready for that? Think you’ll be able to take it?”

I was quickly realizing I had severely underestimated the man inside of me, even if not to the extent he thought I had. I was not ready for that. I don’t think I ever would be, but fuck if I wasn’t gonna take it anyway.

Because it was so much better than I ever imagined it to be.

“No more playing hard-to-get,” Bucky continued, finally starting to move and immediately settling on a punishing pace. “No more teasing me with your short skirts and tempting scent. You’ll be mine now, ‘mega. Forever. How does that sound?”

God, I wanted him to do it. I wanted him to keep exercising this complete control over my body that he had so easily managed to take. His cock was stretching me in ways I’d never been stretched before, his inflated knot slamming against my opening with each thrust.

“Always mocking me… Am I too old for you now?” I shivered as he licked a stripe up my neck. I knew he wouldn’t actually bite me in front of everyone - a claiming ritual was a sacred ritual, even the most feral of Alphas respected the intimacy of that. But the way he was taunting me was all too arousing, I couldn’t deny it. “Tell me.”

His hand squeezed my hip, looking for an answer. I tried to open my mouth, but nothing came out. His palm slipped further down, finding my clit, and as two fingers rubbed my own juices, around it, I screamed.

“N-No!” Bucky chuckled against my neck, body continuing his onslaught against mine as he nuzzled my scent gland. “Y-you’re not too old for me. Take me, take me please.” His coos were too provoking, making me cry out loud at the mocking sound.

“Aw, kitten…” His warm mouth breathed the next words against my ear, “I already did.” He turned my face towards his with his fingers tangled in my hair, engulfing my mouth with his.

“Alright.” A familiar voice spoke from not too far, startling me for a second as I once again was reminded that we were still very much surrounded by our team. “You two might just be the sexiest mates I’ve ever seen fuck.”

A growl escaped Bucky’s chest at hearing someone refer to us as mates for the first time, and I panted in need, desperate to cum, desperate for him. “Seen a lot of mates fuck, Romanoff?” He nibbled at my ear, hands roaming over my body as if to make it very clear to every person watching that they could look all they wanted, I was still his.

“You have no idea.” Looking over a bit to the side from where she was seated, there rested Sam’s almost limp body, a hand curled over his boner as his eyes never wavered from the place I was connected to the man behind me.

“Well, I know what I’m gonna think about tonight.” Something between a laugh and a moan escaped me, making Bucky growl again, hands pushing me back down onto the couch as his hips picked up the pace with which they’d ruin me.

To say I was soaked was the understatement of the century. I could feel it, running down my thighs, drenching the couch underneath me. I don’t know how we’d be able to use it again, but that was the least of my concerns in the moment.

“I am begging you to let me lick her pussy after you guys are done,” came Tony’s voice, and I knew Bucky would growl in his direction just from the way his fingers pressed tightly on the flesh of my hips. “Not that type of Alpha, sorry, I got it.”

I heard his footsteps retreating quickly, probably scared of what Bucky would do to him once we were done, but in the Alpha’s defense, Tony seemed to disappear from his mind the second he left the room, all of his senses directed to me and his goal of making me cum around his cock.

“C’mon, kitten,” he whispered, fingers easily locating my clit to play with me as he pulled me up to rest against his chest one more. “Come for me, milk me dry.” That was all I needed to give him what he wanted, and although I was anticipating to moan loudly as I creamed his knot, his mouth covered mine to swallow all of my sounds in a deep kiss, hands protectively covering me while pawing at my breasts at the same time.

“Steve,” Bucky called after he managed to catch his breath, having fallen on top of me on the couch once his knot popped open. “I won’t be able to work out with you today.”

I looked up as best as I could to find Steve already staring at us, although red from head to toe. “That’s understandable,” he spoke in a thick, rough voice that I barely recognized as his. “You seem to have worked out enough already.”

Bucky stopped running his nose against my cheek at his friend’s attempt at teasing, a slow smirk taking over his face as he joined me and stared at his friend. “Oh, I’m not nearly done,” he warned. “You’re more than welcome to join us for some cardio, if you want to.”

The soft smile Steve sent our way told us everything we needed to know about his plans for the evening.

[genshin-no-simp]

Diluc x Reader - Birthday Boy (Smut)

Pairing: Diluc x You/Reader (Female)

Sexual conent below the cut

Warnings: semi-public sex, tummy bulge? fluff ending.

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

It took a weeks worth of preparation on your part to get everything in place, all for this one day. This one special day. But it was worth it.

After all, Diluc did deserve rest on his birthday.

You made sure there was nothing that needed doing, nothing that warranted Diluc to leave the comfort of the Manor. You were exhausted but you knew this was only a fraction of the work that Diluc did. It was your motivation to make sure everything was in order, of course with the help of Elzer and Adelinde.

And when the night before his birthday approached, you reassured him that he could take this chance to sleep in for once. Diluc wasn't against the idea but he wasn't sure if his body clock would allow him to sleep in. But little did he know, he was exhausted and only once he hit this pillows did he realize this.

When Diluc had finally woken, he groaned softly bringing his hand up as he ran his fingers through his unruly morning hair, that's when he noticed you weren't beside him. In an instant he shot out of bed, looking around. You never got out of bed before him. About to leave the bed himself his door opened and your figure came into view. You were still in your night dress. Diluc sighed in relief, then raised his eyebrow at the tray.

"What's this?" His voice low and husky since he had just woken up.

You weren't going to lie, his voice was enough to set a fire burning inside you. But today was about him. You smiled with a giggle.

"What does it look like? Breakfast of course. So sit back in bed." You came to his side of the bed.

From this close up Diluc could see properly just how little your night dress left to the imagination. Then he realized, you went to the kitchen like that, and he frowned, anyone could have seen you, which seemed to pissed him off.

"Don't worry I had the kitchen to myself, only Adelinde, Moco and Hillie are here at the moment." You knew what was running through his head. Diluc had a tendency to get overly possessive sometimes. But it's one of his faults that you fell in love with regardless.

Diluc looked away, half embarrassed and half ashamed that you knew without a doubt that he didn't want other people, especially men to see you like this. You gave another soft giggle setting the bed table down.

Diluc cleared his throat and looked at you, "what's the occasion?" He then lowered his gaze to the food and didn't know where to start, everything looked so enticing. He smiled at the eggs that you put a little extra effort in to make look like hearts.

You sat on the opposite side of him careful not to knock the glasses of grape juice over on the tray. You gave a little hum.

"Well what day is it?" You asked him instead. Diluc tilted his head, pulling the fork from his mouth. Once he was finished chewing he spoke.

"Friday." He stated matter of factly.

"Yes, but what date is it?" You cocked your head to the side, watching him. He totally forgot about his birthday didn't he? You thought to yourself.

"Um..." Diluc didn't know why but he felt pressured, as if you would give out to him, if he got this wrong.

Was it your birthday? No that's not till a few months.

Was it your anniversary? No that just passed.

At this point you were struggling to keep your laughter in.

"Luc, come on. It's your birthday." You rolled your eyes laughing.

Then it clicked, it suddenly made sense, from why you told him to sleep in, to breakfast in bed.

"That's it?" He asked, indifferently.

"What do you mean 'that's it's? You only get one birthday, and I'm going to make sure you get the most out of it." Diluc could hardly deny you, not with how passionate you were about it. But it's just another day, birthday or not.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but there's still work-"

"I do believe there is nothing for you to do today. Everything is already taken care of. It's you day." This time you were much more calmer as you smiled sweetly at him.

Now he definitely couldn't say no. He had a feeling you did a lot to get him this day of peace. Besides it's been so long since he's actually celebrated his birthday. Not that he cared to remember it considering what happened all those years ago...but maybe now is the time to move on from that, it's getting real tiring anyway.

Diluc smiled at you, yes from now on he will celebrate his birthday with you.

Diluc had to admit, it was nice, having all this free  time AND getting to spend it with you. The two of you spent most your time outside, walking through the vineyard and occasionally eating a grape or two, at one point you started playing hide and seek. Instead of finding it childish, Diluc found it oddly refreshing. Just being able to let loose for once.

Currently he was hiding, making sure to keep his eye out for you and staying on the move, it was cheating of course but it added to the fun, but you were an expert at hide and seek and knew all the tricks in the book. Just as he turned around, you seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"Found yooou~" you giggled tackling him into a hug.

Caught of by both your sudden appearance and the hug he fell backwards onto the ground.

"Thought you could escape me huh?" You nuzzled into his neck.

Diluc chuckled holding you close to his body.

"I thought I would've had a better chance than that." He admitted.

You sat up on his chest, while he propped himself up his elbows. The light from the sun creeped through the cracks of the vineyards many grape pergolas. It wasn't the most private of places but nobody would notice the two of you unless they looked.

Cupping Diluc's cheek, you leaned down to kiss him, which without hesitation he accepted. It was a delicate kiss, both of you could feel the love and affection that you held for each other. It was truly something.

When you went to pull away from the kiss, Diluc pulled you back for more, shifting his weight onto his left arm, his right arm snaked around your waist his hand pressing agaisnt the middle of your back, giving you no chance to move. Diluc wasn't done with you just yet.

Gripping his shoulders you pushed him back down onto his back, Diluc gave a mental sigh finally able to take the pressure off his left arm. Now he had both his around wrapped around you securely. He made you feel so safe, you never wanted to leave his arms but lucky for you, he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

It wasn't long before his hands started to wander, touching and caressing your body. Soft gasps and pants escaped from you, Diluc used every opportunity to dive into your mouth. The intensity of the kiss was making you lightheaded, but in a good way. Your body burned and your heart was racing. You could tell Diluc was the same, you could feel his heart pounding against his chest right under your hand, not only that but at how brazenly he lifted your pale mint dress up to touch your bare skin. It made you shudder, Diluc had opted to be gloveless today, it was certainly a change in pace compared to his usual leather. Being able to feel his skin on yours right away was making you feel impatient.

Finally allowed to pull away from the kiss, a string of saliva followed. Diluc gazed at you with hooded eyes, his normally bright ruby eyes, dark and heavy with lust. You licked your lips, sitting up on him once again. One of the straps on your dress slipped down your shoulder. Diluc held back his growl and his urge to flip you over. You weren't even trying to seduce him and he was already under your spell.

Gripping your thighs he pushed you lower down until your clothed womanhood rubbed against the bulge in his pants. You failed to catch the moan before it fell from your lips. Diluc smirked, knowing you were just as excited as he was right now.

Diluc was planning on teasing you some more before you had decided to take back some control. Abruptly you grinded yourself against him, biting your lip. It was Diluc's turn to let out a surprised moan as his hips bucked up into yours.

"Ah~ Diluc." You fumbled for his belt buckle. If Diluc wasn't as impatient he would've chuckled and teased you. Maybe it was the sun, maybe it was the free time or maybe it was just you. But he wasn't complaining. Diluc hissed in relief, feeling his member finally free of its painful confinement.

You were going to lower yourself further but he grabbed your arm pulling you into a kiss.

"No time for that." He breathed heavily between kisses. Of course there was time he just wasn't interested in that right now, he just wanted you, in which case he used his Vision to burn the sides of your underwear and discard the rest.

Now with your underwear out the way, Diluc could feel how wet you really were. It was cute how excited you had gotten without any foreplay, perhaps the fact that you were technically out in the open played a part but regardless, he was happy that it was him who made you feel like this.

You moaned against the kiss feeling the tip of his member push against your awaiting hole. Breaking away from the kiss you pushed down against him, taking him all in at once.

"Fuck!" It was so strange hearing Diluc swear but it filled you with a strange sense of pride knowing you were able to break his nobility.

The stretch of taking him all at once burned but it felt good. It was certainly much greater compared to when he would prepare you first. But you weren't complaining at all. Tilting your head back with a moan you began to bounce up and down, your slick made it easy to slide up and down. You gripped the front of Diluc's shirt for support as he snapped his hips up into yours. A series of wanton moans escaped your lips, the harder and faster Diluc went.

Your head fell forward your eyes glossy and your pupils blown wide with pleasure. Now both your dress straps had slid down your shoulders, making Diluc lose his mind. He gripped your hips so tight, there wasn't a doubt that there would be fingerprints even through the dress. You choked on your moans as you swore you could feel Diluc in your stomach. He was reaching places you never thought possible, or your were so drunk on pleasure it just felt that way, but it didn't matter what was the truth, it was fantastic.

"Ngh, haA~ mm close..." you struggled to get the words out.

Diluc grunted thrusting upwards even faster, you had struggled to keep up before but now it was just impossible. It wasn't long before you came all over him. Diluc wasn't too far behind, feeling your release edged him into his, you felt his hot seed fill you up more than your already were, you threw your head back with a shameless moan of his name. You were certain everyone around and in the Manor had heard you. But Diluc didn't care, let them know who was and had made you feel good.

You panted heavily as your body shook from the after math of your orgasm. Diluc too was desperately gasping for air as he came down from his high. Letting a soft puff of air, you looked down at Diluc and grinned leaning in to kiss him. He chuckled kissing you back.

Getting off Diluc he fixed his pants as you picked up what was left of your underwear.

"Luc." You pouted, "you ruined my panties." You huffed and rubbed your legs together, you could feel some of his cum dripped down your thigh.

"My love, they were ruined before I even touched them." He winked with a cocky smirk.

Your face flushed a deep crimson as you looked away from him, Diluc smiled wrapping his arm around your waist tenderly.

"Come on, let's go take a bath." He smiled gently, ushering you back towards the Manor. You snuggled into his side contently.

During the short trip back inside, not one of the employees dared to look in your direction. Instead of it making you feel better you felt embarrassed. You weren't surprised that they heard you but they didn't have to make it so obvious.

"Luc, nobody would look at me." You sounded more mortified than you intended as you pulled your dress off, which only added to Diluc's amusement.

"Good, they shouldn't be looking at you in the first place." He stated stripping himself of his own clothes.

Upon returning to Diluc's private quarters, you were both pleasantly surprised by the already drawn bath, with scattered rose petals and scented candles. It seems Adelinde knew exactly what the two of you needed. You were the first to settle into the bath despite Diluc's confusion, usually he got in first so you could rest against him, it felt weird that he was resting against you.

"Are you sure I'm not too heavy against you?" It was the fourth time he asked now.

"Oh for Celestia's sake Luc, I'm not made out of glass, I'm fine. But you won't be if you keep asking." At least you gave him a warning which he took to heart, despite not having a Vision yourself, you were very capable of looking after yourself.

"Alright, alright." Diluc sunk a little lower into the tub, his head now resting between your boobs.

"Oh." He said softly, he hadn't expected this to be so comfortable. You giggled softly.

"Someone looks content." There was a lot of fondness in your voice that made Diluc's chest flutter. He let out a soft hum and closed his eyes when he felt your fingers massage some herbal shampoo into his scalp.

Diluc couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to have someone like you. Someone so caring and aware of his needs. He didn't expect to meet someone like you, or anyone in general for that matter. He thought he was going to be alone, forever, and he was okay with that. Until he had met you, he didn't at the time realize just how important you would be to him, but he knows now and he's incredibly grateful towards you and towards himself, for letting him step out of his comfort zone and let someone in again.

Before he knew it, Diluc had fallen asleep, between the soothing heat of the water, your massaging and the sweet sound of your voice, they had all lulled him into sleep.

"Luc? You listening?" You asked softly, "Luuuc~" you cooed. Perplexed with his quietness, you tilted your head to the side to peer into his face, where you noticed he had fallen asleep. You grinned with a giggle.

You were so preoccupied with talking, you didn't notice the change in his breathing, as it steadied out. But now you didn't know what to do. You knew you couldn't stay in the bath but you didn't want to wake him either. But you also knew the water wouldn't go cold anytime soon thanks to Diluc, placing a kiss to his damp hair, you decided to let him sleep for a little while longer. After all he deserved it.

[illuminatingprowess]

“Does that not give off the impression that I’m sad to be single? Drinking a whole bottle to myself?” If anything, it was here hoping and wishing that with each sip the night would progress faster. Perceptions were never a bother for Alessa beyond keeping up the appearance that she had it all together. Being thoughtful, considerate, and particular about her decisions was imperative. At least in Westland, eyes were on her whether she wanted it to be or not to some regard. It came with the territory of being a Light Shaman. All the more if people knew who her mother was and what she had done. “Well thank you,” she said, offering Hale a small smile. 

“Oh gosh no. I’d very much be happy in my place, reading a book and enjoying a glass of wine there.” Alessa lived a very simple life when she wasn’t in the public eye. It was the one place where she got to peel off the layers of perfection and just be. “Business? Care to elaborate?” Now she was curious. Hale didn’t seem like the type to take orders from people when it came to finding love. Perhaps his duties of being prince to the Divine Forest was finally catching up to him. ��That’s not enough time to figure out if I actually want to spend my life with someone. Let alone be attached to them by way of a child.” Her friends could have that big fantasy, but that was not practical. Alessa needed surety and she didn’t believe that a quick of a timeline would allow that nor guarantee that she could have the life she actually wanted. “I’m not looking. Someone who knows nothing about me is preferable actually. Hence a different realm altogether.” They may not know her directly, but people have certainly heard things in Westland when it came to the name of Farias. Especially the witches. 

“You seem like a bachelor. Noncommittal. So, although it’s a nice gesture for the political precedent your presence here sets, it’s only a bandage.” If she was wrong in her perception she had no problem admitting her own fault. “That I can agree with. This is too forced. I think love or finding it should be a bit more natural. Spontaneous even?”

-🥀-

“Why not just ask them for it?” Hale replied, his attention briefly falling onto her wine glass. Seconds later, he got the bartender’s attention, who’d just sat Hale’s firewater on the bar top. “The house white that she’s drinking? Leave the bottle please. And if you get in any trouble, blame me.” He turned back to her. “There, now that’s taken care of for you.”

“Ah, so you don’t want to be here either.” Hale uttered before he chuckled. “I’d say that I’m here for the wonder of love but that’s a lie. For you, it’s friends. For me, it’s business.” He finished and took a much needed drink of the clear liquor in his glass. While firewater was strong, it would help the nymph to deal with a room filled of emotional strangers. “Is that what you’re looking for? A spouse and kids in three years? ‘Cause that’s a short timeline.” At the quip of Westland’s dating scene being stale, Hale made a face. “I dunno, where are you looking? I’ve been a few places in Westland, maybe I can help.” He offered.

“And me?” He asked before laughing again. “I should say that a room full of desperate singles entice me. But it doesn’t. It’s like being an epileptic in a room of strobe lights. I’m here because, politically, it’s a good look.” He blinked, his brows furrowing at her last comment. “What do you mean, my scene? That’s new - do I have a scene that I’m just learning about? What about you - what’s your scene? ‘Cause this doesn’t look, or feel, like yours either.”

[aomine-ryo]

Hi can you do a jealousy headcanon for GOM? 💜

Of course! Hope you like it :)

Headcanons: GOM getting jealous

Kuroko

He doesn’t get jealous very often because he just has so much trust in you

If he ever does, he’s really subtle about it that you won’t even notice unless he tells you

He knew that he could talk to you about anything so he was never particularly uncomfortable with you being around other guys

There was a boy in your class who you had been getting quite close to

He quickly became a good friend of yours, and you’d often hang out with him when Kuroko was busy

He was objectively rather attractive, but you didn’t really see him that way because you only really had eyes for Kuroko

Kuroko wasn’t in your class so he’d sometimes see you walking around the school hallways, however more often than not, you would be with that boy

He seemed like a nice and earnest guy, which is probably why Kuroko began to feel a little threatened by him

Not knowing any better, you invited your friend to come watch one of Kuroko’s practice games with you since you could use the company

Kuroko wasn’t very pleased to see him to say the least

He’d usually glance over at you during games because seeing you watching him motivated him to do better

But now when he looked at you, he’d see you talking to that boy and he’d just feel annoyed

And it definitely showed in the way he played as well because his moves became uninspired and predictable

You went to grab some food with Kuroko’s team and your friend afterwords and Kuroko would not keep his hands off of you

He’d constantly be holding your hand

And he’d leave absolutely no space between you two

Of course, you noticed all of this, but you didn’t want to bring it up in front of everyone

“Hey, so you’ve been spending a lot of time with that guy from your class, huh?” Kuroko said when the two of you were walking back home together

“Yeah, I suppose,” you shrugged, beginning to connect the dots

“Hm,” he hummed, his grip on your hand getting a bit tighter

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing,” he mumbled

“You’re jealous aren’t you?” you grinned

His face just became red as he averted his gaze

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he denied almost instantly

“So that’s why you were being so touchy back there,” you giggled

“Well I was just making sure he knew that you were mine,” he said, finally deciding to give in

“For what it’s worth, you really don’t need to worry about him— I’m sure he knows.”

“I’m not a violent person but if he tries anything, let him know he can catch these hands,” he said, clenching his other fist and holding it up

“Tetsu, he’s twice your size, but sure.”

Kise

Okay so we know that Kise is really cold with people he generally doesn’t respect

Well, this coldness becomes so amplified when he sees someone he doesn’t know with you

The two of you were on a date at a cafe once and he went to the cashier to place your order while you remained seated at your table

That was when a classmate of yours spotted you and approached you

“Y/N? Didn’t expect to run into you here,” he said, grinning widely before engaging in conversation with you

Meanwhile, Kise was standing in the queue, glaring at you two

In Kise’s eyes, he was very obviously flirting with you— and he was, you just didn’t realise it

Every moment that he looked at you two angered him more and more

The damn boy even made himself comfortable by taking Kise’s seat

Was what he said so funny that you needed to be giggling like that?

Kise hastily placed his order and then stormed over to your table, not bothering to wait for your food

The boy was just about to reach out to touch you when Kise slammed his hand down on the table, startling both of you

He didn’t intend to do it with so much force but it just happened and he didn’t care

“Hey Y/N-cchi, who’s this?” Kise snarled, voice calm but menacing at the same time

“Oh hey Ryouta, this is Satou, a classmate of mine,” you introduced innocently

“Hi there,” Kise said, flashing him a fake smile and not even bothering to register his name in his head, “Y/N-cchi and I are kind of on a date right now, and you’re in my seat.”

Kise took your hand that was resting on the table and squeezed it tight, making the jealousy much more obvious to you

Your classmate visibly showed his annoyance through an eye roll as he stood up from Kise’s seat

“Alright,” he sighed. “See you around, Y/N.”

His and Kise’s eyes were shooting daggers at each other at this point

“Sure you will,” Kise mumbled sarcastically as he watched him walk off

“Babe they’ve been waving at you from the counter for the past two minutes now, trying to get your attention,” you pointed out, looking at the worker who was just about to give up and bring the order to you herself

“Ah crap,” Kise muttered before rushing over to meet the worker halfway and apologise

“I think someone got a bit carried away with their jealousy, don’t you think?” you said once he got back

“Tch, the guy goes to our school. He should know that you’re mine by now. Yet he still thought he had a shot, what an idiot,” Kise scoffed, just the thought of the boy talking to you getting him riled up again

“You’re intimidating when you’re jealous, it’s weird.”

“Weird? I can be intimidating! Why is that weird?” Kise pouted, switching back to his usual eccentric self

“Because you still sleep with stuffed animals, Ryouta,” you giggled

“And so do you, what’s your point?”

Midorima

So he’s not one to really initiate things like PDA

He’s the kind of guy that just holds your hand in public and that’s about it

However when he gets jealous, he becomes a whole other type of possessive

You’d be hanging out with him and a few of your friends from school

And one of the guys would constantly flirt with you

You didn’t really think too much of it because you thought he was just being friendly

But between the flirtatious teasing and unnecessary touching, Midorima was slowly losing his patience

He’d be really subtle at first

He’d hold your hand a bit tighter and hold you by your waist every now and then, all while eyeing the guy down in hopes that he’d get the message

Obviously, it wasn’t enough because he’d barely even notice Midorima and would continue chatting away with you as if your boyfriend wasn’t right there

“Hey Y/N, do you wanna go to that manga store over there together?” your friend said, seemingly inviting only you even though there were five other people in your group

“Actually, Y/N and I were just planning on leaving, sorry,” Midorima intervened, the ‘sorry’ oozing with so much sarcasm that it was clear that he really didn’t like the guy

“Oh already? You don’t have to leave just because Midorima is, you know,” your friend said

Hahaha it took everything in Midorima to not send him flying like his three pointers

“Excuse me? I think you’re crossing the line there a bit, don’t you think—“

“It’s getting pretty late, we should get going,” you said quickly before things could escalate

After shooting one last glare at your friend, Midorima walked away with you

“The nerve of that guy— unbelievable,” Midorima sighed

“I thought you were going to punch him or something, that’s why I stopped you so quickly,” you giggled

“Honestly, I might have,” Midorima chuckled. “How are you even friends with someone like him?”

“I guess he’s just friendly,” you shrugged. “Looks like someone was a bit jealous though.”

“Please, why would I be jealous of an idiot like him,” Midorima scoffed

He’d never admit to an emotion like jealousy— ever

Aomine

Oh god this boy does not handle jealousy well

He would 100% break someone’s nose if he feels like they’re getting too close

The two of you were at a party once and Aomine decided to take a break from dancing for a moment to grab a drink

So he was leaning against the wall sipping on his drink while watching you on the dance floor

Of course, he wasn’t very pleased to find you dancing with some other guy

Aomine recognised him as someone who went to your school, so he very well could just be a friend of yours

However that didn’t stop him from feeling a growing amount of jealousy as each moment passed

Did you really need to be dancing that close to him?

Aomine should be the only one you dance like that with

He was already a bit tipsy so he may not have been thinking straight

But he completely lost it when he saw your bodies swaying so carelessly together

Next thing he knew, he was storming over to the dance floor

You didn’t even notice him until you were suddenly ripped away from the boy you were previously dancing with

And once again you were dancing with Aomine

He was holding your waist tight and his face was as close as ever

“What do you think you’re doing dancing like that with someone else?” Aomine growled

“Why? Is someone jealous?” you joked as you continued to move along with him to the music

“Don’t tease around like that. You’re all mine, don’t you realise?” he grinned, shoving his lips onto yours before you could say another word

The kiss was desperate and heavy, and as a result, sloppy— not that you minded too much

After seeing that act, the guy from earlier backed off, though you didn’t even notice or care for that matter

I mean, why would you care about any other guy when Aomine Daiki was in front of you?

Murasakibara

He gets jealous very easily

He’s like a child when it comes to most things— he doesn’t share

You’ve had your fair share of encounters with other guys that ended with Murasakibara scaring them off

The two of you were seated on the couch together on your phones

There was absolutely no reason for Murasakibara to have come over to your house just to be on his phone, but he just enjoyed your presence

You were scrolling through TikTok because you’d run out of things to do

You landed on a video of these two shirtless boys dancing to a song that you liked so you just watched for the hell of it

You started scrolling through the comments while the video kept replaying, garnering Murasakibara’s attention

The second he saw what you were watching his possessiveness just kicked in

“You really like watching those boys, huh?” he said, glaring at the boys as if they could see through the screen

“Not really, I just like the song,” you shrugged before turning to him with a smirk, “why? Are you jealous?”

“Well if it means I can get more of your attention then sure, I guess I’m jealous,” he answered simply. “Do I have to take my shirt off and do a dance too?”

“I wasn’t going to say that, but now that you mention it, I’d love to see it,” you giggled

Next thing you knew, he wrapped his arms around you, sending you toppling back onto the couch

“Too bad I can’t dance, I guess you’ll have to make do with some kisses for now,” he said softly, making your heart flutter

“Ah dammit, I wanted to see you dance,” you sighed, pretending to be disappointed

“Shut up,” he groaned, before pressing his lips against yours

This was what he was usually like when he got jealous though

He wouldn’t necessarily get angry or anything like that unless a guy was relentlessly hitting on you

But he’d just become really lovey and clingy just as a way of reminding you that it was him who’d love you the most

Akashi

We all know he’s a classy gentleman

So you can’t expect any dramatic outbursts from him when he gets jealous

He’s always able to keep a calm and composed exterior (not that that’s ever stopped anyone from feeling threatened by him)

Anyone who knew Akashi knew never to mess with him

And they especially knew how much he valued you so one step too far would probably lead to their demise

However, there was one boy at a dinner party you both attended who somehow didn’t get the memo

You ended up being seated in the middle of him and Akashi, which gave him the opportunity to chat with you as much as he liked

Of course, Akashi wasn’t the most pleased to hear what he had to say to you

It was very obviously some awful flirting

You just thought he was being friendly so you entertained his conversation

“Y/N, maybe you should stop chatting and eat— your food is getting cold,” Akashi said in attempt to get him to stop— it was getting frustrating at this point

For the rest of the night, Akashi remained clung onto you with his arm around your waist, monitoring every movement of that boy

It was particularly strange because Akashi was the type to mingle at events like these so you knew something was wrong

Akashi’s cold gaze seemed to be enough to make the guy keep his distance though

Akashi is just too powerful lmao

Once the two of you got back home, Akashi pounced to kiss you almost immediately

“Woah what was that for?” you asked when you pulled away from the kiss that seemed so urgent

“You looked gorgeous tonight, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” Akashi said sweetly

“Aww, thank you, Sei.”

“A lot of people seemed to think so too by the looks of it. Especially that guy that sat next to you at the table,” Akashi pointed out

“Oh. Did you get jealous or something?” you questioned

“Well, yes. I want to be the only one looking at you like that. But I guess it can’t be helped sometimes,” he said, body still as close to yours as ever

“You’re the only one I want so you don’t have to worry for even a moment,” you said reassuringly

“Then that’s all that matters,” Akashi said with a smile before pulling you in for a soft kiss filled with nothing but adoration

[whump-a-la-mode]

Hi! First of all, your writing is ASTOUNDING. I adore how you characterize. Secondly, I have a prompt idea:

A Villain who is falling in love with a Hero, but won’t admit it to themself. They stop being able to effectively fight Hero because they don’t want to hurt them. But Supervillain notices, so they capture Hero and use them to lure Villain in.

-Wicky

🥺🥺🥺 Thank you so very much! You just made my day. I thank you for the compliment and the prompt! I sure hope I did it justice, and I hope you enjoy!

CW//Injuries, threats, implied torture

Villain’s world spun as their skull cracked against the rough concrete of the roof. Opening their eyes, their field of vision was filled with only an array of stars.

Everything hurt.

They were convinced, in that moment, that there was not an inch of their flesh that was left unbruised, not a rib left unfractured. Breathing on its own was an ordeal, an ordeal that they endured only out of pure necessity.

Pain rippled through the stocks of jelly they had once called limbs as the villain scrambled first to hands and knees, and finally to their feet, even as unsteady as they were. They could do nothing but gasp as they faced down their opponent.

There was something in Hero’s eyes. Something that even their nemesis, their sworn, life-long foe could not quite name. It was not quite sympathy, no, but it was not quite pity, either. Something inbetween, perhaps, with only the slightest garnishing of regret.

“Come on, Villain.” It was with a pleading tone that the hero spoke, as though attempting to coax a frightened cat down from the top branches of a Redwood tree. “Just stand down! You can’t win this. We have you surrounded. No harm will come to you- No more harm.”

Yet, the villain only shook their head.

For any outsider, the matchup would have looked more like a massacre, waiting to happen. Villain themself was perhaps not the picture of musculature, but what villain was? No, they may not have been the strongest. But everyone knew what power they held in their palms, the lightning they could unleash at will. Enough to topple the building upon which they stood. Enough to topple the whole city, perhaps. The city had yet to so much as see their full potential.

But it was their potential that the villain now refused to use.

Hero, on the other hand, was... well, they weren’t much. As strong as they were, as clever, as smart, superstrength could only do one so much good. Villain could have destroyed them in passing, with the snap of a finger!

Why wasn’t the hero in the nearest emergency room? Even Villain themself wasn’t entirely sure.

“I’m not giving up, asshole!” They snarled, balling their hands to fists. It would be so easy. So very simple to send a torrent of lightning forth, to shock Hero within an inch of their life. Hell, Villain used their powers to make popcorn on the weekends!

But, they couldn’t. They couldn’t imagine Hero, the poor thing, the pitiful little fool, fallen to the ground. The very thought of using their powers against their opponent made them feel sick.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Hero spoke, eyes wide and glimmering with that same mix of sympathy and regret.

“Too bad.”

And, with that, the rooftop once more became a battleground. Villain surged forward, met in the center by their nemesis. A blow to the side of their head sent them stumbling.

They couldn’t go on like this, they knew as their vision clouded once more with stars. Another hit and they would be unconscious, in the custody of the so-called good guys. They couldn’t do that.

They had two choices.

Three. Three choices.

The first? To take the hit. To bite the bullet, to find themself behind bars.

The second? To hurt Hero. To wipe that oh-so-innocent quiver from their lips. To destroy-

No. They had two options. That wasn’t even on the table. Villain could be beaten, or they could flee.

It was with a shivering gasp that they chose the second.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Sidekick placed down their fork with a resounding clack. In the silent room, the sound resembled the ring of a gong.

“Are you absolutely certain you’re alright?” They asked with a quirked brow. With the day turning to evening, they had left their sidekick’s uniform behind, replaced now with a casual set of garments. After all, the restaurant at which they were eating was far from fancy. That wasn’t the type of villain that their mentor was.

“Of course I’m alright. Do I look like some kind of ailing senior citizen?” Villain muttered under their breath as they looked over in displeasure at their sidekick. For someone so young, they certainly had a mouth.

“Not now. But on the battlefield last night-”

“I’m fine. I’m up and walking, aren’t I?”

“It’s not about that.” Sidekick shook their head. “It was in the battle. You could’ve taken out Hero easy-”

“Keep your voice down, we’re in public.”

“Sorry.” They lowered their tone. “But, I’ve seen you take Hero out dozens of times. Recently, though, you’ve been all over the place. You can’t even land a single hit! I’m worried. You’ve lost your edge. Up on that rooftop, it was like you were somewhere else entirely.”

Villain had been somewhere else entirely, not that they would ever dare to admit it. They had been lost, hopelessly lost- Lost in the eyes of their damn nemesis.

“I just wasn’t on the ball. Everyone has off days.” They grumbled, turning their embarrassed gaze away.

“Everyone has off days. But you’ve been having an off month! Don’t think I haven’t noticed that it’s just them. Just Hero.”

“They’re getting better.”

“So are you.”

“Really, I’m fine.”

Sidekick reached across the table, placing their palm upon the back of their mentor’s hand, which had unconsciously been balled into a fist.

“You nearly got captured, last night. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Villain. If you’re sick, if something’s wrong, anything at all, you need to tell me.”

Villain suddenly spotted something very interesting on their shoes, and kept their gaze fixed there.

“It’s stupid.”

“Are you sick? Everyone gets sick sometimes, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Not sick.”

“Then what?”

Villain gritted their teeth.

“Lovesick.”

Sidekick withdrew their hand in shock.

“What?”

“Look, it’s stupid! I don’t know. I shouldn’t be feeling that way about a hero, but- They’re a good person, I swear it. They want to help, and they’re kind, and I just can’t bear the thought of hurting them. What if I changed them? What if I hurt them, and that was what made them lose hope, lose faith? Then that’d be on my shoulders!”

“You’re saying...” Sidekick’s jaw was still ajar in shock. “You’re saying that you can’t fight Hero, because you’re in love with them?”

Villain looked up with a sigh.

“To put it shortly, I suppose.”

The both of them were shocked as a figure appeared next to their table. A sharply-dressed figure with a notepad.

“Are you two ready to order?”

“Yes, my apologies.” Villain cleared their throat. They and their sidekick presented their orders, which the waiter scrawled down with a series of understanding nods.

It was not until that particular waiter disappeared from the dining room that they slipped out of their disguise, and dialed a number into their phone.

“Hey, Boss? You might wanna hear about this.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

To say Villain was in a bad mood would have been an understatement.

The injuries covering every last inch of their body, too, ached with every step they took. Bruises and beatings rippled, forcing them nearly to limp. Yet, they forced their gait to remain normal, even if it meant pain.

They couldn’t call attention to themself. Not when they were in civilian clothes like this, and not when they were on the streets. Still, they kept their head low and their sweatshirt hoodie up as they went along. No need to stick out in the crowd.

This was the only solace they ever got, after all. When some got frustrated, they would go for a drive in the night. But their vehicle was distinctive enough that that wasn’t an option for the villain.

Instead? They walked, moving along with the crowd as though they were a single fish in a school. Usually, this helped them calm down. Now, however, every step they took only made their thoughts spin more wildly.

First, it was Hero. Hero and their stupid eyes. Then it was Sidekick. It wasn’t that Sidekick had confronted them that made them so worried, it was that they’d noticed at all.

That meant that other people out there might spot their weakness. Might use it as an advantage. Who would it be, though? Hero themself? Or, even-

A gasp rippled through the crowd around them in a wave. Voices shouted and fingers pointed, all in the same direction. Villain wiggled their way out of the crowd in order to see what had caused such fuss.

A billboard. An electronic billboard.

An electronic billboard that no longer housed an advertisement for the latest cellphone or insurance scam. No. Upon the massive thing, multiple stories in height, surely, was broadcasted a video.

“Good evening, and I do apologize for interrupting. But I just had to get my friend’s attention.”

Villain’s breath caught in their throat. They would know that voice even if they had to pick it out of a crowd of thousands.

Most would have expected that two people so similar as Villain and Supervillain would get along, but the reality was just the opposite. Villain couldn’t call themself a good guy, no, but they had ethics. Morals. Real aims to work towards, rather than burning the city down and laughing among the flames.

Supervillain, on the other hand? There was a reason that they were so feared. Their goals were far grander than Villain’s.

To say that they had never been very good friends would be an understatement.

And, now? Now they were enemies. The video projected upon that billboard made that fact certain.

Supervillain themself was not visible in frame-- Perhaps that was lucky for Villain. Seeing that stupid face would have certainly goaded them into destroying the projection outright. Instead, the video displayed a room.

A concrete room, with a chair in the center. A chair that was far from empty.

It was always Hero’s eyes that they could not help but get lost in. Now, that wasn’t a factor. Not when the hero was so tightly blindfolded. Their soothing, calming voice, too, had been eliminated-- the cloth gag in their mouth was already soaked-through with spittle.

Tied to the chair, bound, gagged, and blinded, sat Hero.

“Now, I don’t want a ransom. No, no. I only want to see a dear friend of mine. And it has been oh, so hard to track them down.

So, Villain, dear?”

They shivered at the sound of their name. Their name.

“How about you come to my base, and pick up your little friend, here. Or else, I might just have to do something drastic.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

For six hours, Villain did not move.

As soon as the broadcast had left the billboard, it had repeated itself upon every news channel that gave half a crap about the metropolis. National news, even international, with subtitles in two dozen languages telling of Supervillain’s threat.

They’d found out. Of course they’d found out.

Villain knew they  should have been furious. They should have strangled Supervillain, strangled Hero, strangled themself! After all, this was all their fault. Falling for a hero, how could they have possibly been so stupid?

Now, they stared. Hands balled to fists in their lap as yet another newscaster explained the same events, over and over again.

“Boss?” Sidekick’s voice was soft, nothing like their usual, nosy self. They sat in a chair behind their mentor, who was seated criss-cross on the floor.

There was no answer.

“Boss... What are you going to do?”

“I can’t leave them.”

“Leave who?”

“Leave Hero. You know what Supervillain is like! They’ll destroy them. Destroy the last good hero in the city.”

“You didn’t want to hurt them.”

“And I don’t want to see them hurt, either.”

“I know you don’t. But it’s all Supervillain has over you. You can just... Leave them, right? It’s not like Hero has any real power over you.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I have to.”

“You don’t!”

Villain stood.

“Yes, I do.” They spun around, stalking towards the room that held their costume. “And I need to wipe that damn smile off Supervillain’s face.”

[arrowflier]

if you still take prompts: ian coming out to the rest of the gallaghers causally or dramatic i'm just curious how he'd do it

It's been a bit but I'm thinking the show gave us Fiona, Lip, Frank, and sort of Monica?  So I went with the other siblings and an extra

Clayton

He didn't mean to come out to Clayton.  His dad?  His uncle?  Well, whatever he was, he didn't need to know that Ian dreamed about muscled biceps and short dark hair and sinking his teeth into the back of strong shoulders.

Unfortunately, Clayton happened to stop by the house just in time to see Mickey leaving it wearing Ian's shirt, the neck stretched out enough to show off an impressive hickey on the side of his own.

Mickey had scurried off with nothing but a glare--and a double bird when Clayton didn't avert his eyes quick enough--but the damage was done.

"One of your sister's boyfriends?" Clayton asked lightly, maybe serious, maybe giving him an out.

Ian knew he should take it.  Mickey would kill him if he ever found out he hadn't, even if Clayton had no idea who he was.

He should have taken the out.

But he didn't.

"No," he answered simply, "one of mine," and watched his something's eyes widen.

"Oh, um."  Clayton coughed.  "Well, it seems like a bad time, so I'll just..."

He backed away down the sidewalk.  His clean shoes scraped against cracked concrete, his neatly hemmed trousers just skirting the dirt.

"Yeah," Ian said, "Okay." 

And he pretended it didn't hurt when Clayton walked away.  Why should it?  The man was nothing to him anyway.

Debbie

It was early afternoon on a summery Tuesday, after Ian got home from an early shift.  Debbie was sitting on the front steps as he walked up, idly braiding yellow dandelions into a crown.

"Hi Ian," she said as he tried to sneak past, "you're late."

Ian winced, halfway up the stairs, looking down at her fair red head.

"You keeping a calendar or something?" he asked, reaching down to ruffle her hair.

She pulled out of reach, and frowned up at him, green stems twisting between her fingers.

"I do when you were supposed to help with the daycare pickup," she countered, and oh.  Oops.

Ian sighed, and turned to plop down on the step next to her.

"Right," he said lowly.  "Sorry, Debs."

He put an arm around her shoulders, and she hunched over, but let him.

"What were you doing?" she asked, eyes on her hands.

Ian shrugged, the movement making her sway in the curve of his arm.

"Nothing," he tells her.  "Just hanging out."

"Are you cheating on Mandy?" she asked suddenly, going stiff, and he stared at the side of her head in shock.

"What?" He says.  "No, why would you ask that?"

"Because she came over to help me when you didn't show up," Debbie muttered, "so I know she didn't give you that hickey."

Ian's free hand flew to his neck, slapping over the spot Mickey had bit a little too hard less than twenty minutes before.

"Uh..."

"You are cheating," Debbie said morosely.  "I knew it.  Boys are all awful."

She started to rise, flowered weeds falling from her hands to the steps.  Ian had only a split second to think, to decide, and then he was pulling her down again by a thin arm.

"I'm not cheating," he forced out as she collapsed back down with a huff.  "No, really," he insisted when she rolled her eyes.  "It's more complicated than that."

Debbie raised her eyes to his, then looked down again, biting her lip.

"Is it because you're gay?" she asked, and the wind went out of him again.

"Do you even know what that means?" he questioned, gathering himself.

"I go to public school," Debbie answered with a huff.  "Of course I know what it means."

Right.  Fair enough.

"Yeah," he admitted on an exhale.  "Yeah, it's because I'm gay."

"Does Mandy know that?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, she does."  Then he rubbed a hand over his face.  He had to ask.  Had to know how he had given himself away.

If not for himself, for Mickey, who had just gotten over their last scare.

"How did you know?"

"Mandy," was the unexpected answer. "Carl is always drooling over her, it's gross.  But you look at her the same way you look at me."

And what a thing to be outed over.  Being a decent guy.

But at least he didn't get Mickey outed with him.

His heart rate settled, and Debbie settled against him.  She picked up her half finished flower crown, and set it on his lap.

"You finish that one," she ordered.  "For your boyfriend."

Ian took it with a fragile smile, and didn't bother to correct her.

Carl

Carl had a lot of questions when he came back from care.  Questions he liked to ask indiscrimate of time, place, or person.  Questions that really weren't appropriate for the dinner table, with the full family around, right after they had all dished up.

"Does gay sex hurt?" he questioned absently, dragging his fork through the mess of gravy-covered meatloaf on his plate.

The table went quiet, except for the sound of Lip choking on lukewarm beer.

"Well?" Carl asked, directed toward Lip this time as the one with the greatest reaction.  "Does it?"

"Asking the wrong brother," Lip muttered under his breath, and Ian kicked him under the table.

"Lip," Fiona hissed, then looked apologetically at Ian.  As if that were somehow less obvious.

"Why are you asking that?" she directed to Carl, and the boy shrugged.

"Saw some videos at that fancy house," he told her.  "The guy seemed to like it in one of them, but in the other one he was crying."

Fiona hesitated, eyes going to Debbie, to Liam.  To Ian again.

"Well," she started, "they probably just--"

"Yeah, it can hurt," Ian cut in, suddenly feeling tired.  Tired of lying, tired of hiding, tired of everything.  "If you don't do it right."

Carl's attention was on him immediately, and so was everyone else's.  Except Liam's, at least.

"Have you done it?" Carl asked eagerly, leaning over the table toward Ian. 

Ian shrugged.

"Yeah."

Like it was no big deal.  Like his heart wasn't racing.  Like he wasn't thinking of what had happened the last time he said it out loud.

Carl's face twisted as he came to a belated realization.

"Does that mean you're gay?"

"Yeah," Ian said again, and held his breath.

Carl nodded.

"Okay," he said, looking back to his food. 

And...it was. 

No one continued the conversation.  No one even looked at him again.  And Ian felt himself relax, felt himself calm...until Carl spoke up again.

"Is that why you always hung out with Mickey?" he asked, and the blood drained from Ian's face.

"No," he answered shortly, then pushed back, the legs of his chair squealing on the floor.  "Mickey isn't gay."

He looked back on his way up the stairs, ignoring Fionas outstretched arm as he passed.

"And don't ever let him hear you say that," he added, "or he'll kick your face in, too."

Months later, when Ian was back, Carl asked him again, in his own way.

"Is Mickey gay?" as he walked up to the makeshift pull up bar in the doorway.  "Do you love him?"

And Ian wanted to answer, that time.  He really, really did.

But he honestly didn't know anymore.

"I like the way he smells," he said instead, and ignored the way his stomach clenched when Mickey glared on his way to the bathroom.

Liam

It's not like he ever told Liam, not really.  At least, not in any way that counted.

He didn't really have to; Liam had grown up in the middle of it all.

He had been there when Mickey stayed, the first time.  Sat watching them wake up in a too-small bed, share the bathroom, share breakfast, share all of it.

He had been there when Ian left, too.  Gone to live with Mickey in the dreaded Milkovich house.  He'd still seen him plenty--stroller rides with Yev, the odd babysitting gig--but more often than not, Mickey had been there too.

And when Mickey was gone, and Ian found others, it just didn't seem so important. 

By the time Caleb came around, and then Trevor, he just figured Liam kind of knew.  Obviously he knew when the whole Gay Jesus thing happened.

But they had still never talked about it.

"You love Mickey?" Liam asked when they were both back.  When he wandered past their bedroom to see Mickey sound asleep under the covers, head pillowed in Ian's lap as Ian tapped away at his phone.

Ian was transported.  To another time, a different brother, a different self that couldn't say the words.

He could say them now.

"I do," he answered, voice soft but sure, hand stroking through Mickey's hair as the other man hid his face against Ian's thigh.

Liam shrugged.

"Okay."

Simple.  Anticlimactic.

Perfect.

And maybe they didn't need to talk about the specifics.  Because it wasn't about Ian anymore, that he was gay.  It was about them: Mickey and Ian.  Together, no matter what their labels were. 

That was how Ian wanted to be see, now.  As part of a whole.

Mickey mumbled against him, and Ian looked down, and smiled.

He'd never have to come out alone again.