#i hooked up my laptop to my tv so now i can play control on a bigger screen

[dragonwysper]

Guys I win. I am packed and ready and all my assignments and finals are done and I have talked to my advisor and the only stuff left is things I have to do with my parents anyway. I get to relax and drink the hot chocolate I bought a few days ago and play Control and all is right with the world.

[orange-waterfalls]

G-Bots (TM)

Googleplier (x4) x viewer!reader

ty anon for the request!

A/N: Funny story! I am no longer physically capable of writing normally! I tried so hard to be normal and just veered off into SCP/Cryptid viewer territory because I like expanding on the idea that the viewer is Not Human! Anyways, you’re hanging out with the Googles. That is it. Nothing is wrong. You do not recognize the bodies in the water haha anyways I think I like went a little creepypasta-esque at the end there but it’s fine I think probably. It’s fine. Might be a little weird in terms of story, but i think this was more focused on world building to me. Probably seen as more platonic than romantic, but see it however you wish. Enjoy!

Word count: 2.5k

G-Bots (TM)

You wheezed just a bit as you sped through wherever-the-fuck you were. Sure, maybe that was a bad idea. Sure, Dark was a little bit threatening and SURE, you were supposed to be back by now, and the fact that you weren’t back with Mark trying to convince him NOT to split up was the tiniest bit problematic. You weren’t even sure this was a building? Were you in the void? Goddammit, not again…

You stopped, concluding that this was bullshit and you did not want to do it right now. You bent over, hands on your knees and took deep breaths. You stared into the emptiness for a bit, then looked around for a moment, just trying to figure things out. You needed to reassess. It was basically one big, long hallway with random twists and terms every few meters. You’d always end up back at the paintings of… them… and knew you’d gone too far. You did that over, and over, and over again. At this point you thought Dark had just forgotten about you. You took a deep breath in and let it out. You stood up straight and looked up at the paintings. You heard their voices echo through your head a bit. You squeezed your eyes shut and your head twitched.

“You’re alright… you’re ok… cool it…” You whispered to yourself. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Meditate. Think.

You looked on either side of the hall and, for the first time, you noticed doors extending down into the void and not stopping. You let out a breath. You felt a slight sense of dread. Something was telling you not to enter the rooms. Some little voice in the back of your head that sounded suspiciously like Mark. But, hey, what else were you gonna do?

“Ok… do i want to enter the door on the left or the door on the right?” You asked yourself. You paused to think about it. After a few seconds you felt yourself jerk forward a bit. Your brain felt staticy and you felt compelled to the left. You turned the knob and opened the door slightly. Immediately you heard music that might be in an SCP game, and a voice that sounded suspiciously like “do you recognize the bodies in the water?”. You were hoping no, and you bailed before you had a chance to look. You ended up almost exactly in your previous position in the hall. Your brain felt fuzzy again, and this time you gravitated to the right. You opened the door just a little, maybe to see what was inside, but again you heard the SCP ambiance.

But this time it was from behind you. So, like any smart person, you swung the door open, slammed it behind you and did your best to lock it. But there was no lock. So you stood. Waiting. Nothing happened.

Of course nothing happened. Why would anything happen? Dark wouldn’t want you to get hurt… probably. This was his domain. Probably. If you were alive, it’s because he wanted you to be. If you were in this room, it’s because he wanted you to be.

Speaking of: Where the hell were you?

You turned around to look behind you. In the blank white room there was a single grey couch with all 4 Google androids sitting on it. Apparently they were recharging, because they hadn’t noticed you standing there and also they were plugged into an outlet in the wall. You hadn’t considered that they had to physically plug into something to charge up, but the thought made you snort.

Bad idea.

All of their eyes snapped open at once, revealing the glow of their assigned colors. They all stood up and began walking towards you in unison. You felt a slight sense of dread. Even so, you tried to grab the doorknob, the one that apparently was no longer there, and cursed under your breath when you could only feel the smooth wall behind you. The androids stopped, staring at you. You cleared your throat.

“Hey…” you laughed nervously, “So, uh, funny story, actually-”

“You are not supposed to be here,” The original Googleplier, Blue, stated.

“Well, see, that’s where this whole thing started, um, see, Mark wanted to split up-”

“No human is allowed inside of this room, and not you, either.”

“Well-” You stopped, processing what he said, “Wait. ‘Either’? I’m human.”

“No, you’re not,” Google Green said. You wanted to be offended, but you were more confused.

“What do you mean? I’m human!” You argued.

“What color’s your hair?” Red asked with a mean smirk on his face. You opened your mouth to respond, and an amalgamate of voices saying “BROWNBLACKBLONDEWHITERED” came out. You slapped a hand over your mouth.

“... what the hell was that?” Your muffled voice whispered. Well, you thought it was probably yours.

“What’s your eye color?” BROWNGREENBLUEAMBERYELLOW exited your being before you could even try to answer.

“Do you have any pets?” That one just ended with a computer error sound from you.

“... huh.” You dropped your shoulders a little. The revelation probably should’ve upset you more.

“What are you doing here?”

“I… do not recognize the bodies in the water.” You explained.

“Ah, I see. Darkiplier would want you to not die, therefore you may stay.”

“Ha. Wow. Who knew the Googleplier androids-”

“G-Bots.”

“... what?”

“We are legally not allowed to use the name ‘Google’ anymore. We are now G-Bots.”

“... legally.”

“We were discontinued. And sold. And signed a contract.”

“So does that mean I can’t call you Google anymore?”

“No, that is simply my name. The name of us as androids, however, is now G-Bots.”

“Ok. What about them?” You pointed to the other three.

“Yellow is Oliver, Green is Lee, Red is Elliott.”

“And you’re just Google?”

“They’ve been trying to change my name to Gregor. I deeply dislike it.”

“It’s a good name.” Oliver suggested, smiling.

“Means vigilant.” Lee shrugged.

“Don’t be a pussy, Greg.” Elliott adopted a shit-eating grin as he leaned a little closer to Google.

“You can do… whatever you wish. Just do not be like them, DA.” Google instructed through gritted teeth.

The room began to shift color and expand. The couch was still grey in the center, but there were now four sections of each of the colors. The yellow section was filled with flowers, with a laptop on a desk next to a switch and a little Vector robot sitting by on the windowsill that showed a colorful meadow with bees buzzing to and fro. It glitched for a moment, so you knew the window wasn’t real. The green section had large houseplants and looked a bit like a greenhouse, and had an Xbox hooked up to a TV in the corner and seemed to have a view of a lake in the faux-window. The red section had miscellaneous wires and computer parts and lights here and there, looking like a fire hazard, and a PC on a table, while the window showed what appeared to be space. Google’s section was absolutely spotless, not a single thing anywhere, apart from a tiny skateboard next to a PS4 in the corner, and the window showed computer code.

“Wow.” You said. You might be stuck here for a while, so you might as well enjoy it.

Though you wondered who DA was. -- You hate to say it, but you had a favorite G Bot. It was kind of like having a favorite child, in your mind. You felt like they somehow knew that you had a favorite, but you didn’t know why.

Oliver was the sweetest by far, immediately going to make you as comfortable or entertained as possible while you were with him. He asked you if you wanted to watch something, if you wanted to play a game, if you were hungry, etc. It was kind of like going over to a friend’s house for the first time. He was enthusiastic to the point where he was shaking with anxiety over wanting to make you happy. You thought he didn’t get many visitors and maybe that was why. He showed you his flowers, and the bees, and a small painting in the corner, hoping for  validation. His glowing eyes seemed to dull when you moved on to the next section, but said you’d visit him again. That did help, but he turned away sadly and went to water his flowers.

Lee seemed as though he couldn’t care less if you were there. He told you where everything was and that you could do whatever. If you asked for help, he would stop what he was doing and help you. Once you understood, he immediately resumed his previous task. He was a bit cold, like Google, but in a “I am very busy but I am still here if you need me” sort of way. He played a game or two with you, having a preference for the puzzle games more than anything else. Puzzle horror, more specifically. If there was a shooting part, he immediately shoved the controller into your hands, saying he didn’t want to do that part. When you left, he simply continued with his work without a goodbye.

Elliott tried so hard to ignore you for the longest time. You could hear him scoff and growl anytime you made any sort of noise. You were self conscious at first, but you came to understand that he was just an asshole. You started on a game, playing for a few minutes, and felt the red couch sink next to you because he had sat down next to you. If he thought you sucked (which he did) he would snatch the controller from you and finish whatever you were doing before giving it back. He refused to say anything or help you, either. He’d just make rude noises and walk away occasionally before coming back. When you left, he seemed a lot angrier than he had before, and wouldn’t say goodbye to you. He turned away with a huff and started pressing random buttons on the controller.

Google was by far the least interested in anything you had to do. You sat on the couch next to him, and he didn’t move an inch. You sat there for a bit, waiting, but he did not move. You stood up, walked around, messed with a few things, attempted to play a game or two. Google didn’t move. You pulled up the Gamer ChairTM and sat directly in front of Google, arms crossed. You sighed. Finally, he looked up at you.

“Is there something you need?” He asked in that monotone voice of his.

“I’m bored,” you said.

“Go to one of the others,” He closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” You asked, curious.

“That is not-” He sounded exasperated.

“Hey Google, what are you doing?” You interrupted like the little shit you were

“Currently, this G Bot system is recharging its battery. This G Bot is at: 69%.” He shifted to a purely robotic voice.

“Haha nice.”

“This G Bot’s primary objective is to answer questions as quickly as possible. Would you like to ask a question?”

“Yes. What do you like to do, Google?”

“I enjoy answering your questions. Do you have any more?”

“What company owns you?”

“G-Bots were recently sold by the Google company to Warfstache Incorporated.”

“Wilford has a company?”

“Warfstache Incorporated is co-owned by Wilford ‘Motherloving’ Warfstache and Damien-Dami-Da-Darkiplier.” He glitched while answering.

“Who’s Damie-”

“The Corporation owns shows such as ‘Markiplier TV’, ‘Warfstache Tonight!’, and ‘Hire My Ass’. Do you have any more questions?”

“Do you pass the Turing Test?”

“Wondering if you have to treat me with basic decency?” He shifted back to his less robotic, but still monotone, voice.

“No. Just wondering.”

Neither of you spoke again for a while. He did scold you when you tried to move the couch with him still on it, so… progress. -- You were beginning to suspect that Google didn’t like you very much.

The blue one. Google. The other ones liked you. Oliver ranted to you for a whole half hour about different kinds of bugs and the hierarchy of bees. The queen is assassinated when she is bad for the hive, it would seem. Lee made you play Resident Evil with him because he didn’t like the fighting, but he liked figuring out what to do. You frantically passed controllers back and forth a lot. Elliott basically did speedruns of several games, you watching intently the whole time. He seemed to like the attention and actually smiled at you whenever he finished one.

But Google didn’t like you. He ignored you, and told you not to touch anything, and scowled whenever you asked him personal questions. Not like “what’s your sexuality” type of personal questions. More like… “what’s your favorite color and why is it blue” sort of questions. He didn’t like them either way.

But the others liked you, and that was pretty neat.

You still wanted Google to like you though.

“Hey Google,” he perked up with the little “do-do!” noise, “Can you guys go into your different sections?”

“All G-Bots have the ability to pass into other’s color-coordinated sections,” He answered politely.

“Why don’t you?”

“We don’t want to.”

“Do you get along?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Celine dislikes when colors are mismatched.”

“Who’s-”

“I’m sorry, this G Bot needs to charge.”

“But you haven’t been-”

“This G Bot needs to charge.”

“Come on, if you--”

“This G Bot needs to charge.”

You quieted and plopped into the chair. You stared at Google. His eyes flickered for a moment before they closed. -- The other Bots knew who Celine and Damien were, they just weren’t telling you. Their eyes always flickered when you asked, but they wouldn’t tell you.

You threatened not to play with Lee anymore. He said he could play on his own. You could see that he didn’t want to. You played Alien: Isolation. His eyes seemed duller.

You threatened not to watch Elliott’s speedruns. He said he didn’t care. You could tell that he did. You watched him play Hollow Knight. His eyes seemed duller.

You threatened not to listen to Oliver’s rants. He looked terrified, but he said that was fine. You could tell it wasn’t. You begged him to tell you. He looked sad.

“Who’s Damien?” You asked softly, stepping towards him.

“I can’t tell you,” He shifted back.

“Who’s Celine?” You stepped forward.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Who’s DA?”

All of the G-Bots stopped what they were doing. You heard static and felt like you were being watched. -- You looked up at the color on the outside of the museum.

You were doing something. You were doing something.

Were you robbing this place? It felt like you were. What happened to Mark? What happened… to you?

You stared at the doors, feeling a slight sense of dread. Something in the back of your head was telling you this wasn’t right. To go home. To…

--

“Ignorance is Bliss. Try Again?”

[achliegh]

Golden

Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Beta: @the-most-slyterin-hufflepuff & @punkkkboi

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death/suicide, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):

Chapter 12:

Jesus, Take the Wheel

It was 11 o’clock in the afternoon when Remus and Sirius got home, Reg was sitting on the couch under a blanket like the vampire he was on his laptop.

“Reg! We’re home! I’m glad the house is still standing!” Sirius goes over to the blanket before Reg can pull it off and hugs him super tight so the blanket makes him look like a little child dressed as a ghost. Remus smiles at them, walking past to set his bag by the basement stairs where they like to keep off their hockey stuff.

“Get off me! I can’t breathe!” Sirius lets go and Reg punches him in the shoulder after he slams his laptop closed and takes the blanket off. “Jerk.”

“Hey, you cut your hair.” Sirius grabs his baby brother's face and makes him turn his head to one side and then the other examining his hair. It looked really good on him, Sirius has always wanted to do something like this with his hair but always chickens out because of what the media will say. “It looks really nice, I’m a little jealous. I have always wanted to have my hair like that.” He ruffles Reg’s hair and gives him a sloppy kiss on the forehead like he knows Reg, acts like he hates, loves. “I am going to shower, I smell like bus, I’ll be back!” He passes Remus on his way upstairs and gives him a peck.

“I take it you won?” Reg stands up and follows Remus into the kitchen, Remus looks in the sink to see all the dirty dishes the trio had left because they didn’t want to do it. Reg was just kinda awkwardly floating around Remus as he worked on the dishes and Re had an idea that something was up.

“Okay, something is bothering you.” Remus turns around and leans on the counter to find Reg just messing with a fork left on the counter, spinning it on a prong. “Spit it out.”

“I just- I don’t know, I have kinda been… looking into some stuff that maybe I’m not just-” Remus has lived with Reg long enough to be able to pick up on his panicking. So he watches as Reg balances from one foot to the other, squeezing his hands into fists and opening them again.

“Hey, hey, Reg it’s okay.” Remus walks over to him and smiles, he doesn’t touch him but he lets him know he is there for him by looking him in the eyes for a moment and smiling. “You can tell me anything, I will be there for you no matter what.”

“I don’t think I’m… Maybe I’m not cis?”

“Here.” Finn dumps his bag onto Logan as he pulls out his keys to open the apartment. “Do you think Leo is waiting for us like a little puppy?”

“No.” Logan rolls his eyes and shifts the bag on his shoulder. “But we should definitely get a dog.” The door opens and all the lights are off, Leo’s boots are by the welcome mat so that means he is home. The tv is still on the NHL station playing highlights from what looks to be the Penguins and the Knights.

Walking over to the couch Finn smiles at what he sees, Leo wrapped up in a blanket with his hood up and his arm over the edge of the couch. His phone is on the ground below his hand, Finn picks it up and places it on the coffee table as Logan turns the tv off. They already dropped his stuff off at Dumo’s and will be staying the night but going back tomorrow morning. Finn reaches out and runs the back of his pointer finger over Leo’s soft face.

Leo might be a manly-man but he still can’t grow facial hair properly.

Finn moved his hand to push the hood down from Leo’s head and kiss his forehead, expecting to feel his soft hair but instead he felt prickles. He jolts his hand back from the shock and puts it over his mouth as he silently freaks out over the short hair. He waves his hand behind him until he grabs Logan's arm from where he was texting his parents that he got home safe and yanks him down so he lands on his ass next to where Finn is squatting.

“He has no hair!” Finn whispers-yells into Logan's ear. Logan spins around on his now sore tailbone and looks at Leo’s uncovered head. “Oh my god why does it look good!” Logan leans forward and notices a tattoo they have never seen before.

“Is that a strawberry? He has a strawberry tattoo.” Logan lighty pets over the inked fruit and smiles. “Aww how soft of him.” They both get up. “ We should let him sleep, nothing we ever do is too loud to wake him up. He SLeeps like a brick.” Logan takes Finn's hand as they grab the bag and start to unpack most of it.

Leo sleeps for a good hour before his body tells him to get up. Slowly sitting up he notices the tv is off and hears chattering in the kitchen. Standing up as quick as he can and slipping on his blanket a little he stumbles over to his boys and engulfs Finn in a hug. Surprising him.

“Good morning sleeping beauty.” Finn hugs him back.

“Let me in!” Logan scurries over to them and Leo opens his arms to hug both his boys. He picks them up a little and squeezes them, causing Logan to laugh and Finn to suffocate.

“Leo- I can't breathe.” Finn smiles but also can’t breathe. Leo lets them down and gives them both welcome home kisses. “Your hair looks great by the way, so short it shows off your face.” Finn ruffles his hair and accidentally bumps Leo's thigh.

“Ouch, that hurt a little.” Leo backs away a bit and puts a hand on his thigh. The boys looked at each other quizzically, causing Leo to pull up the leg of his shorts to show them his new tattoo.

“Oh my god! What is that!” Logan and Finn both bend down to get a better look at the blob of ink under the clear film. “Okay… for real what is it? Your ink sac is in the way….”

“Ew don’t call it that.” Leo smiles and looks down at the said blob. “It’s a pinup, she is actually based off that picture of Logan in your jersey, she has a mix of y’alls features and is also the only color tattoo I have… because she is so special.” Leo has the sappiest look on his face as he describes her. “You like?”

“I love… we should name her! I vote Matilda!” Logan smiles proud of the name he thought of.

“No, we need a better name! I like Veronica.” FInn and Logan continue to argue over names as Leo feeds his aggressive fish that Clay graciously named ‘Finlo… get it because Finn and Logan. Because it's red like Finn and mean like Logan!’ The name stuck somehow.

“Guys, guys. She can have two different names.” Leo smiles at them and leans against the counter. Watching them narrow their eyes at each other until one of them looks away.

“Fine! But can we have sex now? You know what your tattoos do to me, and now that you have one that has something to do to me.” Finn sighs and walks towards Leo who spins them around with a hand on either side of Finn. “whoa.”

“Sure we can, but we can’t fuck up her face… so I want to watch you and Lo.”

When Thomas walks in the door he is met with the cutest sight. Clay is asleep on Nolles chest on the couch with a back of frozen peas on his ass. Walking in and giving Noelle a kiss, he sits down next to them on the ground, reaching to grab Clay’s hand that is squished under him. He gets Clay’s hand and kisses the back of it.

“How long has he been asleep?”

“He was just pacing around the room and running to the window like a dog every time one of the neighbors slammed their car doors. It was really cute, but then I could tell his back and booty were hurting so I made him lay down and ice. He was not happy with me.” Noelle smiles and pets his hair back as Thomas leans in for another kiss, which she happily accepts.

“We need to sit down and talk with him about our sexlife, he definitely wasn’t what I expected in bed. A lot less ‘I want to be in control’ than I thought. He was very submissive and basically let me do what I wanted to him.” They both look down at the sleeping man. “He really really liked being fucked though. He said he has only been fucked once before, I think, but if he loved it that much then why has he never done it again?” Noelle furrows her brows in a way that means she is looking deep into the meaning of something.

“We just need to talk with him, I don’t think he would ever keep a secret from us unless it's really bad. I trust him, he obviously trusts us enough to A) Let you fuck him and B) Let us call while it is happening.” Noelle nods after a moment and sighs.

“We should wake him up, I want to use those peas for dinner tonight.”

“I’ll do it, he will probably jump on me.” Thomas smiles and scoots down until he is face to face with Clay, nudging him with his hand for a bit as he watches as those big puppy dog eyes open. They blink a few times and then finally focus on Thomas. “Hi.” The smile on Clay’s face blooms happiness in Thomas’ chest and before he knows it, Clay is off of Noelle and into his arms.

“Mm missed you.” Clay mumbles into Thomas’ neck and breathes him in. He smells like his cologne and a hint of sweat. Clay loves it. He pulls away a little as Noelle kisses both their foreheads and walks to the kitchen with the bag of peas in hand. Looking back to Thomas, Clay gets comfy by sitting between Thomas’ legs and hooking his ankles behind his back. His arms around his neck, just pressing their foreheads together as Clay’s still sleepy eyelids close.

“You’re so warm.” Thomas pulls away to cup Clay's face and smiles when Clay leans into one of his hands, keeping his eyes closed. His naturally curled lashes rest on his smooth cheeks. “You’re so beautiful.” Clay’s eyes open and he turns slightly red.

“No one has ever called me beautiful before…”

“You are, you are so beautiful.” Clay is looking at Thomas with a mix of millions of emotions flashing across his face.

“I don’t know how to respond.”

“You don’t need to. But that means I should keep telling you until you do know how to respond.” Leaning in their lips meet and they both smile.

Everything felt so right.

A week passed, Thomas and Noelle were busy with work and school, leaving Clay alone for most of the day. It was starting to take an effect on Clay as well. Yes He would walk around town with Tina when he was bored and his friends were busy or sleeping. He would hide William in places that he knew would make Thomas scream and run away. He also continued making little origami hats for William.

Tina hasn’t left his side recently and Clay really appreciates him greatly for that.

“Tina! Food time!” Clay puts Tina’s food in his bowl as William continues to tunnel his way through Clay’s hair. He doesn’t know why but William loves crawling in his hair. Thomas hates it because William scares him when he goes to Kiss Clay on the top of his head… and there is a snake there.

Clay goes to put William back in his enclosure, while he is closing the lid to the enclosure he hears the front door open and Noelle and Thomas call out at the same time.

“We’re home!” Noelle takes off her boots and hat and shakes out her hair from the snow flakes in it. Yesterday was the first snow Clay has ever seen, it was adorable. He ran outside in his shorts and sweatshirt. Standing in the middle of their tiny front yard and staring up at the gloomy yet bright sky as the flakes of snow land on his face.

He was looking up in awe while being barefoot on the damp grass since there wasn’t enough snow to stick and stay. He danced around getting his feet and legs all muddy. Thomas took a couple pictures of the flakes landing on Clay’s hair and eyelashes because Clay wants to remember this for the rest of his life.

They picked up the pictures on the way home today, Clay wants to add them to his little knick-knack collection. Clay is like a penguin in the way he loves to bring people he loves, little things from bobble heads to rocks and sticks that look like wands.

Thomas and Noelle both had a box that was almost already full.

“Hi! I missed you.” Clay runs into the room and hugs them both, giving them a bunch of smooches. “How was today?” Clay hovers around them as they unpack the groceries and the pictures, Thomas hugs him from behind and kisses his ear, making Clay laugh by biting it.

“Today was good, but we need to sit down and talk about our sexlife tonight.” Thomas mumbles in his ear and Noelle nods in agreement.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not, we just need to talk about what you like and don’t like.” Pinching his cheek Noelle smiles at him and Clay instantly relaxes, but he’s worried about what they will ask.

“Can we just talk now? I'm pretty open to everything. I’ll do anything you want me to!” His heart starts to pick up because he doesn’t want them to leave him because of things he doesn’t like in bed… he can always suck it up for them. Because he really likes them.

“Clay there has to be somethings you don’t like, I mean I personally don’t want to ever bottom. It scares me and yes I trust you both but it’s not something I’m interested in.”

“I like so be in charge during sex, so being bossed around really isn’t something I’m into. I also don’t really like anything like impact play… just no thanks.” Noelle hands Clay the can of Kiwi Apple Redbull he asked for earlier. He just holds it while he thinks.

“ I guess maybe… I don’t want to be tied up… unless you want me to be! Then I will!” He holds his Red Bull to his chest, really wishing it gave him wings to fly away from this conversation.

“Clay, we aren’t going to ask you to do anything you don’t want too, that’s why we are having this conversation, because communication and boundaries are important.” Thomas let’s go of Clay and walks over to where Noelle is trying to reach a cup on the top shelf that he puts there out of habit. He gets it down for her and they turn back to Clay. “You okay?”

“Umm I- I need to…” he’s trying to think of an excuse to leave because he wants to believe that they won’t leave him if he says no to something they do want but a voice in the back of his head sounding scarily like Ashley is telling him they will do whatever they want to him and he has to like it… or they will leave and find someone else. “I need to go to the barn!” Clay takes his RedBull and the keys to his new pick up and sprints out the door. Leaving the people he… really really likes behind.

He gets into the truck and turns it on and starts driving, with no place to go. Jesus, Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood comes on over the radio and he listens to it for a couple of seconds before shutting the radio off as he pulls into a parking spot. He gets out and starts walking like his body is on autopilot. He doesn’t realise where he is until he is unlocking the door to Finn and Leo’s apartment with the key Finn gave him.

“Hey Clay.” Finn waves from the couch as he reads his book that Clay doesn’t care enough about to actually look and see what it is. “Leo’s in the kitchen.”

Clay walks into the kitchen after kicking off his boots that he doesn't remember putting on. Leo takes one look at him and knows.

Handing him a spoon, Leo points to the recipe he’s making from his mother's cookbook.

Chicken and Dumpling (minus the chicken)

Clay and Leo work silently together making this soup. Eventually Finn tells them he is going to pick up and take Logan home from the tattoo shop where he just got his half black and grey Japanese style sleeve done. He leaves the apartment.

“Should I tell them about Ashley?”

“If you feel comfortable enough too.”

“And if I don’t?” Leo looks at him and wraps a supportive arm around his shoulder as he stirs the simmering soup.

“They will understand.” Clay stays for dinner that night, eating with Leo and Finn. Clay and Finn talk about flesh pedestrians that Leo doesn’t believe in but add his thoughts into. After they finish eating Clay decides to go back home… yeah, home.

He walks in the front door and is suddenly off the ground in a vice grip hug.

“I told him you went to Leo’s but he didn’t believe me!” Noelle shouts from the other room, as she finishes chucking some socks in the dryer because Thomas would somehow manage to burn the house down.

“I was so worried! Are you okay? Did we upset you?” Thomas has set Clay down and is examining every inch of him. “You smell like soup.”

“I ate soup.” Clay smiles and hugs Thomas again, much softer. “I’m okay, I just am not used to people caring about what I like in bed. With my last girlfriend I was just told to take what she gave me and like it… so I’m sorry for just running out like that.”

“Hey it’s okay, but a text would have been nice.” Noelle joins in the hug and smiles at him. “Do you want to tell us anything else about her?” Clay shakes his head and Noelle and Thomas share a worried look but then nod because it’s not their story to know. “How about we go have a cuddle in bed and fall asleep to some terrible ghost hunting show? Yeah?”

“I’d love that.” And I love you. Clay thinks that in his mind for the very first time as he watched them walk to the bedroom. He loves them.

“I’ll have water too, thanks.” Finn was out at lunch with Sirius, Remus, James and Thomas. They all haven’t been able to hang out outside of practice recently so it felt nice.

“So, how are the boyyyyssss?” James puts his elbows on the table and flutters his eyelashes at Finn and Thomas who can’t help but chuckle.

“Leo is doing great, a little cold but great. He recently got a new tattoo that is a pinup girl of me and Logan mixed together and phew… it’s really hot.” Finn smiles and feels his phone go off but decides to ignore it for now. “How about Clay?”

“Clay and Noelle both got new tattoos, clays is vampire bites on his neck and Noelles is a Medusa with tentacles for hair on her Bicep. Pretty sexy.”

“I’ve always wanted a tattoo.” James smiles at the waitress who brings them their waters and straws, he shoots the straw wrapper at Sirius and then gulps down half his water. “I always chicken out though.”

“We should get together sometime.” Sirius flicks some of his water and James while he offers to get a tattoo with him. “What about you? Do you want one?”

“I’d rather have a piercing than a tattoo but I’m not against getting one.” Remus continues looking at the menu as he sips his own water.

As the conversation dies down a little Finn checks his phone, it’s a snap notification from Leo. Finn goes to open it thinking that it’s probably a video of him and logan having another stupid contest. What he is met with makes him choke on his water and start coughing but so he doesn’t miss anything he saves the video to chat.

The video is kinda dim but you can clearly see Logan, beautiful Logan, with his hands tied wrist to elbow behind his back as they stand in front of a mirror. Logan’s face is resting cheek to Leo’s chest so Finn can see his panting and whining. His hair is long enough it’s covering his eyes and most of his nose. All he can see of Leo is part of his chest that Logan is covering, the arm holding up the phone, his smirk that shows off his dimples… and his other hand that is currently fingering Logan.

He can see a bunch of Leo’s tattoos but it’s so dark he can only make out the Egyptian beetle on his neck. He watches as Logan jerks a little from what he knows is Leo hitting his prostate and at the end it looks like Logan whines ‘Finn’ but he has his volume off so he can’t hear it.

Fuck… now he can’t wait to get home.

[stylesluxx]

allergic reaction – h.styles

[warnings: allergic reaction (obv), hospitals, crying but not really angst?? swearing and mentions of sex (no smut)]

summary: in which y/n develops an allergy to her favorite food

word count: 2,106

masterlist

Harry made the best sandwiches. And you can't believe that for three years, you didn't know you were in a relationship with the Gordon Ramsey of sandwiches.

Ever since your trip to London last year, it was a tradition for the two of you to share a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at least once a week. And you would only eat it if he made it, no exceptions.

The two of you were on a plane to London to visit his mom and sister; you were cuddled into his side, watching Phineas and Ferb on his laptop, when your stomach grumbled loudly.

You looked up at Harry sheepishly, causing him to chuckle and kiss your forehead. He got the attention of the nearest flight attendant and let you order.

"What are you hungry for, Baby?" He asked and rubbed your arm with the hand that was around your shoulders.

"Do you think I could get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" You shyly asked the woman.

PB&Js aren't something people would usually get on a plane but you thought maybe you'd test your luck.

"Chunky or smooth?" She asked, making you smile happily.

"Smooth please."

"Do you think I could get one too?" Your boyfriend asked.

"Of course!" She nodded and walked off.

She came back after a few minutes, one plate in each hand, making you sit up to bring the tray down in front of you.

You and Harry both thanked her as she walked off, leaving you two to your sandwiches.

"What made you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Harry asked before biting down into his sandwich.

"Just had a taste for it," You shrugged. "What made you want to copy me?"

"Just had a taste for it."

"Oh, I bet," You giggled and bit into the sandwich. You took a couple more bites before nodding in amazement. "This is the best PB&J I've ever had in my entire life. Like the perfect ratio."

"I bet I could make it better," Harry challenged, eyebrow raised and looking at you from the corner of his eye.

"H, in the three years we've been together, the only things I've seen you make are ramen and cereal," You teased.

"Watch. When we land, I'm gonna make you the best sandwich you've ever had."

"Okay, Chef Harry," You giggled and went back to eating your sandwich.

When you got to his apartment in London, he dropped the bags off in the bedroom before running back to the kitchen and getting started on a sandwich.

"Har, I'm sure it can wait for the morning," You laughed and kicked off your sneakers, setting them by the door.

"No, because I need to prove you wrong," He shook his head and continued.

You shook your head, sat at the island, and watched him make what would soon become his specialty meal.

He cut the sandwich into two triangles and cut off the crust the way he knew you liked. He made sure to leave as much sandwich as possible, but still getting off all the crust, before pushing the plate toward you and smiling in anticipation.

"Go 'head, baby," He urged you.

"You know... it's okay for you to not be good at something. Singing is phenomenal; sex is phenomenal; you're a phenomenal boyfriend, a phenomenal person even! So, it's okay if you're an average sandwich maker," You played with him, trying to put off eating the sandwich.

"Just try the damn sandwich, Y/N!" He playfully yelled and banged his fist on the counter.

"Okay, okay," You giggled and picked up one half of the sandwich.

You looked at it carefully before putting a piece in your mouth and taking a bite. You slowly chewed it, taking in all the flavors, before swallowing and going for another bite. You repeated the slow chewing two more times before you set the sandwich back on the plate.

"So?"

"It's actually... really good, Har. Like really good," You admitted and gave him a big smile.

"You just saying that?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

You laughed and shook your head. "The only thing that makes yours an A+ and the flight attendant's an A is the fact that you know how I like my sandwiches cut and the crust. Like I told you, phenomenal boyfriend," You shrugged and picked the sandwich back up to finish it.

"Told you!" He yelled victoriously and pumped his fist in the air.

"Yeah, yeah, you told me."

Harry was finally back home after touring and doing press, so for a week you just left him to relax. You cuddled whenever he wanted, cooked his favorite meals, danced with him to his favorite songs. It was actually stuff that you normally did when he was home. But for the week you didn't pretend to fight it or playfully groan.

But now his week was up and you were craving a sandwich.

"Harryyy," You sang and squeezed his nose while he watched tv.

"Stop it," He whined and swatted your hand away.

You just moved your hand to his cheeks and pinched them as if he were a tiny baby with cute, fat cheeks. "Harryyy," You sang again.

"What do you want, you pest?" He teased and tore his eyes away from the tv to look over at you.

"I was just thinking... it's been a while since we had your special sandwiches," You hummed while rubbing your chin as if thinking.

He let out a laugh through his nose, making his body jerk slightly. "Y/N, you haven't had a sandwich since I left, have you?" He asked.

"It appears I haven't," You continued playing clueless and pursed your lips.

"Alright, Baby, your PB&J is coming right up," He nodded and kissed your forehead.

His feet moved from the coffee table to the floor as he stood up and made his way into the kitchen.

You smiled brightly, clapped your hands together, and rested them on your stomach. You had been waiting months for this moment and you were in pure bliss that you were finally getting what you wanted. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

Harry walked back into the living room with two plates, one for you and one for him. "Harry Styles, singer, songwriter, actor, and Y/N Y/L/N's personal PB&J chef. Here you go, Baby," He introduced himself with a playful smirk and handed a plate to you.

"You're so silly," You smiled before thanking him.

He nodded and sat back in his spot next to you, putting his feet on the table and arm around your shoulder.

"Bone apple teeth!" He cheered and held up half of his sandwich.

"Bone app the tea!" You toasted and raised one of your halves to tap his.

You both bit into your sandwiches at the same time and smiled at each other, ignoring the bread sticking to your teeth.

You finished your sandwiches quickly and set the plates down on the table. You leaned into your boyfriend's side and focused on the Avengers Assemble cartoon that Harry had playing.

After an episode of, you felt your lips start to tingle but you brushed it off, not thinking much of it. But once you were running your tongue over the top of your mouth, trying to get rid of the itch, you figured something was off.

"What kind of peanut butter and jelly did you use?" You asked Harry, looking up at him with an uncomfortable expression, eyebrows scrunched together.

"The same stuff I've been using," He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the tv.

"Do you think it was expired?"

"No, it wasn't. I checked. What's wro-" He went to ask but stopped when he looked at you. "Okay, so we should probably get you to a hospital."

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"Baby, your face is all swollen. Come on, put your Crocs on so we can go," Harry gently ordered and shot up from the couch. He walked over to the coat hanger and grabbed two of his jackets. He put one on himself and grabbed the car keys.

"What do you mean my face is swollen?"

"Y/N, is something wrong with your throat, why are you scratching at it?"

He walked over to you and wrapped his other jacket around your shoulders.

You hadn't noticed your hand was scratching at your throat until he asked and now that was all you could focus on.

"I don't know. It's itchy, Harry. A-And it feels like it getting harder to breathe," You frowned. You felt your eyes water and the scariness of it all was starting to set in. "Harry, what's happening?"

"Baby, just put your shoes on, okay? You're gonna be fine," He tried to assure you but you let out a sob anyway, making his frown grow deeper.

You trudged over to your shoes by the door and slipped them on while trying to contain your tears and regain control over your breathing.

The ride to the hospital was quick and, before you knew it, you were lying on a hospital bed, hand gripping tightly onto Harry's.

"You're gonna be fine," He assured you and kissed your hand softly.

He pulled away and kept rubbing circles with his thumb while the doctors and nurses surrounded you, hooking you onto machines and giving you antibiotics. You nodded and closed your eyes, not to sleep but to try to relax, and hoped this nightmare would be over soon and, you'd be back home.

–

Spending three days in the hospital wasn't ideal but Harry wanted the doctors and nurses to be thorough. You were hooked up to monitors the whole time and nurses were coming in and out to check your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and blood oxygen level. Not only that but you had a small tube in your nose to help with your breathing. You were completely against it at first, claiming you could breathe just fine, but one look at Harry's pouty face made you give in. You were taking blood and urine tests to monitor your organs and see what exactly you were allergic to, but you had a pretty good idea of what it was before the doctors could break the news.

Harry stayed by your side for all three days, not bothering to go home and change. No, you weren't dying but he wanted to be there to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.

Once you were back home, Harry texted your parents, Anne, and Gemma to let them know. Anne and Gem wanted to fly out to see you but Harry assured them that you were going to be just fine and you'd call once you were all settled in at home. There was no stopping your parents though; they were on a plane to New York from their vacation home, ready to baby you once they landed.

Harry marched into the apartment and went straight to the kitchen, not hesitating to throw the practically full jar of peanut butter in the trash. He went to the bathroom and started a bath for you, even carried you to the tub once it was ready. He helped strip you of your clothes and get you into the bath as if you were a fragile baby that needed help.

"Har, I'm okay. Come get in the tub with me; you deserve to relax. Please," You breathed out and looked up at him with soft doe eyes.

"Since you asked so nicely," He teased and gave you a reluctant nod.

He undressed and sat at the other end of the tub, before pulling you into his arms and holding you tight.

"I'm gonna be okay?" You asked. You knew the answer but you just wanted to hear him say it. It always calmed you when he said it.

"You're okay, Baby. Just allergic to peanuts," He sighed and let his wet hands trail down your back.

"I eat peanut butter all the time. I'm just not understanding how this happened," You frowned, shaking your head in disbelief.

"It happens but you'll be okay."

"Our tradition is ruined though," You grumbled and moved away to look up at him.

"We'll have a new tradition. We hate peanuts in this house! Fuck peanuts!" He yelled out and stuck up two middle fingers, making you burst into laughter.

Once you calmed down, you leaned back into his chest, sighing happily, completely in awe at the fact that you had the perfect boyfriend.

"My face isn't back to normal yet?"

"Not quite. You're still my little marshmallow for few more days."

[AN: I was gonna make this a part of my Quaratine Series but I decided not to overcomplicate things with the hospital and stuff. but yeah, hope you enjoyed ! feel free to shoot me a message about literally anyhting !]

[michaelsheenpt]

Michael Sheen: The pandemic has shown what is possible on homelessness

The actor now uses his Hollywood cash to fund his passion for activism. Sheen reveals why he revels in spending money on the things that matter and why he has hope for the post-Covid future.

Michael Sheen, activist and actor. It is in that order these days. And he’s doing rather well in both spheres. He has spent the last few years trying to find a way to balance his twin passions. And, he says, he is slowly getting there.  

“A big part of it was shifting things in my head and knowing what the priorities were,” says the 51-year-old.

“I made the shift psychologically to go, right, the acting work and everything that comes with that is going to support the other stuff I’m doing.  

“So even though to the outside world, maybe it wouldn’t seem like it – because I’ve been doing lots of acting work and things that have kept the profile up and all that –  from my point of view, the priority has been different. Now the acting work fits in around the other stuff.”

That ‘other stuff’ involves supporting the Homeless World Cup and the fight to expand access to affordable credit, campaigning to get the right to a good home enshrined in law in Wales and combating loneliness with the Great Winter Get Together (an idea inspired by the late MP Jo Cox). Then there’s working with Social Enterprise UK, for whom he is a patron alongside The Big Issue’s Lord Bird, helping local journalism and communities get access to trustworthy information, publicising and supporting both foodbanks and theatres and fighting period poverty.  

It’s a heady and righteous cocktail of vital causes. And it takes up a lot of Sheen’s time. With the Covid pandemic of 2020, and Brexit around the corner, he feels his activism is going to be more important than ever in 2021.

“Everything that was happening before Covid came along which has been exacerbated,” says Sheen. “So it’s not like issues I was focused on beforehand – around homelessness and high-cost credit – are going away.

“We’re bracing ourselves for it getting a lot harder and more people being involved. The work that was going on pre–pandemic is going to get even more pressured. Because when you look into anything around poverty and inequality before the pandemic, the fallout from the way Universal Credit was being rolled out was having a massive effect. Well, there’s going to be a lot more people on Universal Credit now.”  

But Sheen also sees this as a moment to seize, a chance to rebuild society anew, a period that is packed with potential.  

“We saw what was possible around homelessness during the pandemic, where people were able to get off the streets and were put into accommodation and given support that wasn’t there before,” he says.  

“That has made a lot of people think. If that’s possible during a pandemic when people are really motivated, then why can’t it happen afterwards as well? Why does it take a pandemic to do it? We have seen that the fact there are still people living on the street is a political choice.

“So while we are bracing ourselves for really challenging times, that’s balanced out by a sense that there’s the chance to build up from the ground again. How do we reimagine who we are and how we live and how we work together? The status quo wasn’t working. So we have to innovate, we have to reimagine, we have to reinvent – there is a moment of possibility to build back better.”

He is on a roll. He sounds like a politician. A good politician. With that rich, sonorous voice rising as he advocates a new way of living, a new vision for society. He compares the imminent, we hope, post-Covid moment to the situation facing the post-war Attlee government. 

“When you go through a big, nation–changing event, which this has been, there’s the opportunity to reimagine a different relationship between the state and society and between us as a community,” he continues. “To see how communities have pulled together gives you a new awareness of who we are and what we can be. We can rebuild our nation in the light of that.  

“There won’t always be that window of opportunity. We’ll go in a new direction and a new status quo will emerge. Let’s hope it can be a fairer one.”

But Sheen is not just about ideas for a brighter future for Wales, the UK, and beyond. He’s also at the top of the acting profession. And we’ve seen a lot of him in 2020.  

There was his brilliant, uncanny, portrayal of Chris Tarrant in Quiz back in March – the memorable pop-cultural drama-doc which drew a massive lockdown audience to its exploration of the infamous, scandalous, did-they-didn’t-they ‘cheat’ storm on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – shedding light on the inventive, pre-internet ways WWTBAM fans across the country hooked up to game their way onto the show.

Sheen was – not for the first time in a career that has seen him portray with such skill a diverse crowd of famous names, including Brian Clough (The Damned United), Kenneth Williams (Fantabulosa), Tony Blair (The Deal, The Queen and The Special Relationship), and David Frost (in Frost/Nixon) – utterly, bewilderingly believable as Tarrant and the three-part series, aired over consecutive nights, was genuine event television. 

Then, when it became clear this pandemic and these lockdowns weren’t going anywhere fast, Sheen joined forces with his Good Omens co-star David Tennant to make Staged – the first, and perhaps only show to capture the tedium, the disconnectedness, the discombobulation of lockdown life.  

With the big–name actors playing heightened versions of themselves – Sheen pompous, cultured, guzzling wine, Tennant eager to please, upbeat, hapless – it was a roaring success on iPlayer.

“David is very different to what you see in the series in real life,” says Sheen. “But although I’d like to say I’m different to the version of me in Staged, that’s pretty much what I’m like.”

The surprise second series of Staged catches up with Sheen and Tennant (or should that be Tennant and Sheen?) a few months down the line.  

“We knew the series was very easy to do, filming it at home on a laptop – or that even if we went back to a more normal life again and were working elsewhere, we could film it anywhere,” says Sheen.  

“And by the time we came to the second series, it was different. Even though we were still spending a lot of time at home, the second series was during a period where everybody, including David and I, were trying to go back to do things. Then the rules kept changing.  

“So you never quite knew whether what was going to happen from day to day. The second series reflects that. But obviously, going back to work and trying to go back to normal is very different from me and David than they are for a lot of people – so we were aware that had to be dealt with as well, because never wanted it to be about two poncey actors and their lives. We wanted to find a way to do it so that people could still identify with it.”

This year, Sheen, like most of us, has spent more time at home. He has, he says, enjoyed catching fewer planes, appreciated his friends and extended family more than ever, raced through five series of Line of Duty and been wowed by Normal People, starting his way down Schitt’s Creek but still found little time to read novels (“I’ve asked for a few from Father Christmas”).  

Because if he does find time to read, it is usually research on housing, on fighting poverty, on rebuilding the broken or the out-of-control housing market, alongside the occasional script.

But if 2020 has been about anything for Sheen, is has been about spending time with his baby daughter Lyra.

“When we went into that first lockdown in March, she was only five months old,” he says.  

“So our focus has been her this whole time. Really our experiences wouldn’t have been massively different. The main overwhelming part of our experience of the last year has been having a baby, as opposed to Covid. And I know I’m very fortunate to be able to say that. But anyone who’s had a baby knows that that just takes up all your bandwidth.

“They give you structure, don’t they? A reason to get up in the morning. A lot of people have said it is difficult getting motivated to do stuff – but that’s not an issue when you’ve got a little one, is it? So I have got very used to being in the house. I even got to do two seasons of a TV show from my kitchen, which is pretty nice…”

Staged returns to BBC One and iPlayer on January 4

Michael Sheen on the legacy of the Homeless World Cup in Wales

In the summer of 2019, Cardiff hosted the Homeless World Cup. As the football tournament, featuring players from around the world, all of whom were experiencing homelessness, kicked off, we knew Michael Sheen had played a huge role in bringing the event to Wales.

What didn’t emerge until later was that, when some promised funding failed to emerge, Sheen was faced with a choice between sinking more than £1m of his own money into making it happen or cancelling the event.

He paid. They played.

It was a triumph and will last long in the memory. So how does Sheen feel now about it?

“It is an extraordinary event that happens every year,” he says. “It was going to be in Finland this year, which I was really looking forward to – because Finland has been quite pioneering in the Housing First strategy and I was looking forward to being able to find out more about that. But I still feel the way I did before – and what motivated me to try and make it happen here in Wales is that it is life-changing for people and can be a transformative experience in all kinds of ways.

“For some people who take part in it, it has an immediate effect. And for others, it may be years later that the effects of it manifest in their life. But that was why I was so committed to being a part of making that happen.

“A lot of the motivation for us in Wales was about what it could act as a platform for afterwards. And that has been affected by the Covid crisis, because a lot of the legacy work we were doing was unable to move forward in the way we’d hoped because of all the restrictions. But what I learned and discovered during that period has made a massive difference to me and the work I’m doing around homelessness.

“The relationships we developed through that time with support service organisations, the people I met and the insights I got into what people are struggling with and what would help were invaluable. It’s been a huge thing for me. I’m still paying for it. So that still affects my life as well, obviously, and things that I’m doing.

“But my acting work is there to support the other stuff. I’m putting money into things constantly, even though I still owe money to do with the Homeless World Cup. So until the time comes when I’m not able to earn money in the same way, then I’ll keep on spending it on the things that matter to me.”

SOURCE

[samanthadalton]

Personality traits for Chloe st James (ABCs)

this is a (late) birthday present for @alleycat97 bc i know how much she loves Chloe. It was definitely fun writing for her character and coming up with traits for her 

taglist: @alleycat97 @cloud9in @fundamentalromantic (sometimes my tags don’t work on my laptop, im not sure why) 

NSFW on some parts but I marked the parts 

A- Attentive 

Being around someone like Poppy means that Chloe is extremely attentive to the small details. She’s always picking up on the little signals and constantly makes sure you’re okay. She’ll literally show up to your dorm at 3am if your texts seem “off” to her and she’s worried you’re sad. 

NSFW- Chloe is very attentive to your pleasure during sex and loves kissing/biting your neck or chest to heighten your pleasure. 

B- Bottom

NSFW- Chloe is definitely a bottom but she’s not a pillow princess. She once got super offended that you called her one and wanted to show you she’s not the type to lie down and take it. Even though she lets you take the reins, she’s super bratty and loves verbally teasing you to turn you on more. 

C- Candidness 

You can always count on Chloe to tell the truth because she has no filter and will say whatever is on her mind. You find it both endearing but annoying sometimes because her lack of filter means she does say a lot of things that may seem rude but you know she means well. 

D- Daredevil 

NFSW- Chloe is definitely too kinky for her own good and is always down to try something new during sex, even though she always lets you take the lead. She’ll gingerly ask you if you want to do whatever new thing she’s found online and show you a bunch of videos on how to do it. 

E- Experience

NSFW- This surprised you but Chloe doesn’t have a lot of experience in the bedroom. When it comes to sex, she feels more comfortable around people she can trust, but her past partners never gave her any security so she never really knew how much of it worked until you. But now she’s breaking out of her shell more and becoming more forward with her likes and dislikes. 

F- Favourite position

NSFW- Chloe’s favourite position is seeing you between her legs, as you pleasure her. She loves eye contact and practically falls apart when your eyes meet as you eat her out. She also loves laying down on the couch with you on top of her, kissing and cuddling her because she feels the safest in your arms. 

G- Goofiness

The more you get to know Chloe, the more goofy you realise she is. She loves acting silly and stupid on purpose just to make you laugh and isn’t afraid to scream to the top of her lungs in public which evokes weird stares from random passerbys but always seems to make you laugh. 

H- Horniness

NSFW- Chloe is the epitome of horniness and loves teasing you which ends up with you dragging her to your bedroom or just doing it right on the sofa. She loves wearing outfits which are purposely revealing, and will try and seduce you by ‘accidentally’ dropping a pen and then bending over to pick it up, showing off her ass in the process. 

I- Impulsive

Chloe tends to be pretty impulsive, acting on her own whim because she either forgets she has anything planned and does something else or she’s sick of living in a controlled environment and just likes to be spontaneous. Her impulsive decisions once led you to a three day weekend in Vegas because she just wanted to play poker (even though she doesn’t know how to play). 

J- Jealousy

Chloe gets jealous really easily, which is something she isn’t proud of but you know it’s only because she loves you so much. Whenever girls get too friendly with you, she’ll loop your arm with hers, pulling you close to your side, before giving a massive show of PDA. Usually nights where Chloe gets jealous ends in quickies in the bathroom, or just leaving the event early just so you can hook up and you can remember that you are hers, 

K- Kinks

NSFW- One of Chloe’s biggest kinks is feet. There’s something unexplainable about it but her biggest turn on is feet. She loves kissing your feet or sucking on your toes because it gets her in the mood. The first time she tried it with you, she was nervous because she wasn’t sure how you would react, but she was glad when you were receptive and enjoyed it. 

L- Lazy 

Chloe loves her lazy days where she can do nothing whatsoever. Because she’s so used to everything being done for her, she usually acts like a queen and will expect you to treat her one, which includes cooking and cleaning.

M- Masturbation

NSFW- Chloe wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of masturbation at first as a result of her inexperience but after investing in a vibrator, she definitely feels better about masturbating as a whole, though she prefers sex. 

N- Narcissism

Chloe is hugely confident about herself, which can be seen as borderline narcissistic but that’s only because she knows she looks good. Back in high school, she was the prom queen and was voted most likely to stay hot (which she was extremely happy about). Chloe does care about looks a lot but that’s only because she was insecure as a child and had to overcome a lot of those insecurities. She’s working on becoming less vain which is working because she complimented Taylor the other day and said she looked good. 

O- Opinionated 

Chloe has a lot of opinions about everything and will let them be known, even if she doesn’t have all the facts. She has a guilty pleasure of reality tv shows and will always explain to you what is going on and who is the worst and who she loves. 

P- Picky

Chloe is a very picky eater and is the type to order chicken tenders and fries or salad from a restaurant when the menu isn’t appealing to her. You’ve been working on expanding her appetite. She definitely has expensive tastes and likes the most bizarre food which makes you wonder why she’s such a picky eater. For example she loves caviar but refuses to eat scallops. 

Q- Quickies

NSFW- Though she prefers sex being sensual and passionate, she does love a good quickie and will be down for one. During parties she’ll drag you to an empty bedroom rather than a bathroom because she’s unsure of what she’ll catch. 

R- Reliable

Chloe is extremely reliant and you can depend on her whenever you need something. Because she’s number 2 at Belvoire she knows how to get things done (even if she has to use other people for it). She’s really good at delegating and is someone you can trust with your secrets. 

S- Scared

Chloe gets scared really easily and hates watching horror movies unless you’re there to cuddle with her. Once when you took her to one of those haunted houses, she fainted because a monster crept up on her and she screamed so much, she ended up knocking herself out. 

T- Toys

NSFW- Chloe doesn’t have any toys but she does have a pair of handcuffs and loves using vibrators during sex. Usually during sex, you’ll put her underwear in her mouth to quieten her or use of her expensive scarfs to tie her hands up. 

U- Useless

Chloe has a lot of insecurities and one includes her not feeling worthy or useful. You often have to reassure her that she is an amazing human being and show her how incredible she is. She’s always so appreciative of your efforts to make her feel better and with you around, she feels like she’s done something right. You’ve been encouraging her to pursue a career in dance, because she absolutely lights up when she’s choreographing a new dance routine for the Zeta’s and you know she’ll do an amazing job. 

V- Volume 

NSFW- Chloe is very loud during sex and will let every sound out. Zoey has complained once or twice (or a lot of times) about the noise but Chloe can’t help it and the moans she makes are like music to your ears. 

W- Wild

Chloe does have a crazy side and after a few drinks, all of her morals, self preservation, self control are almost gone and she’ll let loose. She once flashed a bouncer to let her into the VIP section of the club (which worked) and if you dare her to do almost anything while drunk, she’ll do it without a second thought. 

X- X-ray 

NSFW- Chloe doesn’t have the biggest boobs but they definitely are very perky. She’s slim because dancing helps her to keep fit and can do a split (which drives you a little crazy) and both front and back flips. She’s about 5’9 and she definitely prefers having medium sized hair compared to long. 

Y- Yearning

Wherever you go back home for the holidays, Chloe is always missing you because she’s accustomed to having you by her side. She’ll constantly text/facetime with you to make sure you’re okay but also because she’s missing you like crazy. 

Z- Zodiac

Chloe is super into astrology and you guys play a little game where you’ll watch random strangers and try and guess their signs. She’s always sending you daily horoscopes in regards to your sign and always sends you compatibility posts about your signs. 

[dasphinxone]

Book of Nile: Cabin Fever WIP

Like, I need to SIT DOWN AND WRITE THIS OUT INSTEAD OF DOING SNIPPETS THO. I’m sorry y’all, I swear I’m writing a full fic of this. Please don’t kill me.

Booker wanders over and starts organizing the ingredients by type on the dark, marble top counter of the kitchen island. Spices are put together, other dry ingredients lined up. He takes out the carton of eggs from the fridge.

“How many eggs do you need?” he looks to Nile next to him.

“Just one,” comes her muffled voice from where she’s leaning over to take full stock of the lower shelves of the pantry.

He diverts his eyes from the sight of her lean legs and her behind clad in short sleeping shorts. Her braids are piled into a cute, messy bun on top of her head. She already has on one of the aprons she found hanging on a hook in the broom closet. How one of his heavily knit, grey cardigans hangs billowy off of her frame over her shorts and tank top sends his heart beating faster.

She’s always borrowing his clothes. Usually it’s his array of denim shirts or old t-shirts that she cuts down at the bottom to fit her. Yet something about seeing her using his sweater as a robe while baking for him? It screams domesticity.

Booker startles at the feel of Nile’s touch to his arm. “I’m thinking a gingerbread cake? Or cupcakes, if we have a muffin tin,” she frowns in contemplation. “Christmas is just around the corner and gingerbread cookies are so blasé, you know?”

His face lights up. “I think I can legitimately say that I have never had gingerbread in cake form.”

“You are definitely in for a treat!” she playfully taps him on the shoulder with a spatula she’s dug up. “It’ll go faster since Copley hooked this place up with the KitchenMade stand mixer to boot. Though you’re going to have to make a hard decision for me, Book.”

He can’t ever seem to say no to her. Not especially with that beautiful smile lighting up her face. For fuck’s sake, she’s wearing his sweater like she owns it.

He rapidly blinks away any fantasies of how incredible she would look wearing just the sweater by itself. The way it would cling to her curve. Teasing him with barely contained views of her beautifully dark, warm skin. Skin that would glisten with sweat after he’s fucked her up against the wall next to the fridge. Her legs wrapped around his waist and heels digging into his ass while she mercilessly tugs at his hair and calls out his real name. All after he’s balanced her on his shoulders while he’s on his knees, devouring her pussy like he’s on a mission to make her scream and forget anyone else who’s come before him…

Stop it, you fucking pervert! he scolds himself in his native language.

He rapidly drags a bar stool from the  counter to the kitchen island and settles in. Mostly so that she can’t see that he’s already half hard. His black sweatpants don’t hide much.

“What would you have of me, mademoiselle?” he bows his head with a flourish of his hand. When he looks back up, she’s beaming even more.

“Soooo, do you mind having your bagels dry or just with butter in the morning versus with cream cheese?” she holds up two packets of it.

Booker purposely curls his mouth in contemplation. “What do I have to gain from the absence of it on said bagel?”

“Cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes?” she pulls a muffin tin from the cabinet of the island and waves it at him.

Booker arches a brow and leans an elbow on the counter to rest his head in his hand. “Well,” he drawls out, “If you insist on spoiling me with cupcakes ma cher,” he sighs with supposed annoyance, “I guess I shall have to acquiesce.  You may proceed,” he waves in dismissal.

Of course, Nile sees how he’s barely holding in a laugh. “Frosting it is!” she declares. Leaning over the island, she brushes her lips to his stubbled cheek while patting his other one with her free hand. “I knew there was a reason why I love you.”

Booker freezes at her declaration as Nile spins back around to the opposite counter to start. She’s greasing the muffin tin, putting the paper cups into them, spraying those with cooking spray and beginning to hum to herself as she usually does when doing this sort of thing. She appears thoroughly unaffected by what she’s just said. Shimmying her shoulders, she asks if he can fire up one of her playlists from the cloud on his laptop. He’s always had access to her music account, so the request isn’t out of the ordinary.

He's glad he has the excuse to exit the area and go grab his laptop from the den. He’s in need of doing a few deep breathing exercises his various therapists over the years have taught him to do whenever he gets overwhelmed. Except it’s always for the bad sort of overwhelmed. Not a  “Oh my fucking God, this woman has just declared she loves me…except I don’t think she meant it in that sort of context? MERDE, I DON’T FUCKING KNOW.” 

Either way, Booker all but flees the kitchen.

Nile is glad of it. Because FUCK, she just said she loves him. And yeah, she meant it in a “After all of these decades of having your fine ass so devoted to me and watching my six at all times and sharing beds with you since we're the spares and you willingly helping me do my braids and twists installations for hours on end without being all white boy weird about it? I think I could love you for the near eternity we have together. Plus, I think you’re pretty damn capable of fucking ruining me in bed with your, uh, fucking.”

Nile plants her hands on the countertop and drops her head between her shoulders. Her heart is beating fast in her ears and her skin’s tingling. It’s not fear adrenaline coursing through her. Yet it’s also not quite the effervescent sort of high either. It’s all topsy-turvy, confusing feelings that she doesn’t like. Not because she’s afraid of emotions. More that she can’t sort them out at the damn moment. Combined with the fact that it’s just the two of them in this dream of a cabin? For these next few days to up to weeks, depending on the blizzard? That will be…interesting?

Or a fucking disaster where we end up hating each other but are stuck in the same rooms with no escape, she muses to herself.

She’s frozen to death a handful of times. It’s not a bad way to go; after the numbness sets in and you can’t feel your limbs, you just sort of drift off only to wake from death. However, literally catching one’s death of cold in the middle of a snowy storm in the forest would suck due to the lack of relief from dying over and over again. Sure, she could technically leave if things went horribly between them. Yet that would be a stupid as shit decision.

“Are you alright?”

Nile spins around to find Booker once again sitting on one of the barstools up against the opposite counter. Only now does she notice the music playing over the Bluetooth speakers of the small holo-TV mounted on a wall of the kitchen. It’s her favorite playlist, R&B from the 2010s when she grew up. No matter that the music is nearly 200 years old now, it wraps her in a warm aural blanket of comfort. Meanwhile, Booker looks non-plussed and focused on the screen of his laptop before he looks up  at her. His azure eyes full of concern, he scans around the kitchen.

“You sound like you’re having trouble with something.”

She swiftly plasters a wide smile on her face and stabs a finger down at the screen of her holotablet. “There’s a lot of steps of this recipe-”

“I’ll help,” he cuts her off while scrambling up from his chair, “Anything you need, you want, I can, I mean I will do it.”

I’d like for you to eat me out on your knees and fuck me up against one of these counters.

Nile swallows, trying to rid herself of the filthy thought. The thing is, he’s wearing this light blue Henley that’s so tight across his chest that it doesn’t look like he could close up the buttons of it even if he wanted to. There’s a teasing peek of dark blonde chest hair at the low V of the shirt’s neckline she’s struggling to not stare at. On top of that, he’s had the nerve to shove up the sleeves to reveal his forearms.

Instead, Nile closes her eyes and takes a few deep breathes. She hopes it comes off as annoyed with the recipe versus reigning in her self-control to not just jump him and climb him like a tree. 

“The recipe calls for making gingerbread men to use to decorate the cupcakes with, though it’s not necessary,” she breathes out. “Did you want to go the hard or easy route for this recipe?”

Booker grins, eyes meeting hers. “À la dure,” he drawls.

“The hard way?” Nile translates, hoping her breath doesn’t hitch. Is he doing some sort of double-entendre thing just to fuck with her?

He shrugs. “It’s not as though we don’t have the time.” Moving around the counter to saunter up to her side, he looks down at her holotablet. “You far outdo me when it comes to baking, but I think I can manage cookies.” He opens a new tab and searches for a gingerbread cookie recipe. Finding one, he quickly reads over it. “So long as you can ice them?” he holds up the tablet for her to take in the cute picture.

Nile slightly steps away from him. Mostly on account that he smells so good (fresh soap…is that a hint of his usual spicy, citrusy cologne?) and feels so warm with one of his arms flush to hers. “We don’t have cookie cutters here, but you can bake them round and we can ice faces or ornaments on them.”

“It’s a deal,” he holds out a hand to shake hers.

Looks like their project for this afternoon is set.

[thatesqcrush]

Stress Relief

AN: Rafael Barba x Reader. Nick Amaro x Reader. Continuation to “The Gift.” This is all smut, NSFW fo’ sho.’ CW: threesomes, oral sex, some humiliation/name calling (i.e.: slut), vaginal sex, anal sex, double-penetration, bukkake. Like the whole kitchen sink. So heed the warnings. Smut is under the cut. 

AN2: @itsjustmyfantasyroom​ requested: “We need that conversation between Nick and Barba with the leave up to that 😂 oh hot damn.” So, we get the convo between the two - so basically, it may be a prequel also to The Gift?

AN3: Apologies for any typos/misspellings.

WC: 2.6K words

**

Flashback to the events leading up to The Gift...

The second your head hit the pillow, you were fast asleep, snoring slightly. Rafael tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position. With an exasperated sigh, he climbed out of bed and made way to the living room. He turned on the TV and scrolled through the channels before landing on the cooking channel. Some celebrity chef cooking show was on. Whatever was happening on the show though, he was paying no mind to. Rafael could not get the image of you kissing Nick out of his mind.

--

The next morning, while you were showering, Rafael called the hotel to make sure all of the plans and accommodations were in place for your birthday festivities. Satisfied that the dinner and hotel reservations were in place, Rafael made one more phone call.

“Amaro, it’s Barba. We need to talk about last night. Can we meet?”

--

The coffee shop was busy with patrons needing their java fix. Nick popped his head in, before walking inside. He scanned the crowded shop before spotting Rafael in the back sitting in a half-booth. Rafael locked eyes with Nick and waved him over. Nick pushed through the crowd before landing where Rafael was. He pulled out the chair and sat. Nick was unsure as to why his fellow Cuban had called him – he had thought the air was clear, that it was a misunderstanding and that you were just acting recklessly since you were drunk.

“Thank you for joining me detective.” Rafael greeted. “I took the liberty of ordering you a cafecito.” Rafael pushed the small, but very strong, cup of coffee in front of Nick.

“Look – I thought last night was just a mistake. Y/N... she just got ahead of herself – it was the booze.”

“What if it wasn’t just the booze?” Rafael asked almost so quietly, Nick barely registered that the attorney said anything at all.

“She loves you. Everyone knows that.” Nick replied. “You two were made for each other. Just because Maria and I didn’t work out, doesn’t mean it won’t for you two.”

“I’m not talking about that.” Rafael replied, waving him off. “I’m talking about what if we wanted to make Y/N’s fantasy a reality?”

Nick nearly choked on the cafectio. “Excuse me?” He sputtered, spitting the dark liquid everywhere. He reached for a napkin and wiped himself.

“I’m serious. Look, Y/N and I have a very healthy sex life. We experiment, we play games, how is this any different?”

“Counselor, are you sure you’re not drunk right now?” Nick asked, eyeing Rafael.

“I’m not. I was just thinking I’d like to make it a reality for her. I have seen her with you – and you with her during interrogations.”

“That’s just – that’s a tactic used with perps. It doesn’t mean anything.” Nick explained.

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t fuck Y/N if given the chance?”

Nick inhaled sharply. He found himself unable to respond. Instead, he called over a waitress and requested another coffee. Nick turned his attention to Rafael. “That’s not fair.”

“I am not condemning you. I am offering you an opportunity.”

“So how would this work? Her and I … let’s say we hook up. Where are you in this little scenario?”

“I’ll be there.”

“So you’d watch? Or would you be… involved? How exactly would this work?

Rafael sighed himself and leaned back against the plush cushion of the booth. “I want to watch. If I decide to get involve, or if Y/N wants me involved, then I will.”

Nick sipped his coffee. Temptation called him. He had to admit the idea was enticing. Even though you were partners for years, there was always some kind of sexual tension between you and him. Timing was always poor. He was with Maria until he wasn’t. And when he wasn’t, you got involved with Rafael. And then Rafael proposed, he figured the door was shut for good.

“Does Y/N know about this little stunt of yours?”

Rafael shook his head. “No.”

“And you think she’s going to be okay with this? What if she’s not – this kind of thing can ruin a relationship.” Nick replied.

“I know my fiancée well enough to know she’s going to be okay with this.”

Nick nodded. “I’m in. What do you need to know about me and what should I know about you two?”

“We’re both clean. Y/N’s on birth control. I can give you copies of our bloodwork to show we’re clean.”

Nick raised his hand. “I trust you both. I’m clean too. I haven’t been with anyone since Maria.”

Rafael flashed a toothy grin. “ Okay. It’s just this weekend. Nothing more. Me entiendes?” Nick nodded. “Great. Let’s discuss her limits and boundaries.”

--

Fast Forward to Present Day

---

You slammed your hand on your desk after your laptop froze for what was the umpteenth time that morning. You had been in the office early to work on the paperwork that you were completely backlogged on. You had been sleeping like shit as of late. You also were concupiscent, or in other words, horny. Rafael had been consumed with “the trial of the century” and the two of you were passing ships as of late. Your once healthy sex life had hit a wall and you found yourself hot under the collar, wearing out your battery operated boyfriend. All in all, it made you very cranky.

“You alright?”

You looked up at the voice. It was your partner, Nick. You gave him a small smile. “Yeah, it’s just this stupid computer.”

Nick put down the cup of coffee he had in his hand. “Let me see what I can do.” You pushed your seat back to allow Nick into your space. As he leaned over, you got a whiff of his cologne and instantly your mind was transported back to the night of your birthday weekend. You remembered what it was like to sit on his face, his five o’clock shadow creating the most delicious burn. You remembered what it was like to have both his cock and Rafael’s cock in you at the same time.

“Fuck.” You mumbled. Nick turned to you, his brow raised.

Your cheeks flushed. “The computer. I am already so behind as it is.” You lied. Your breathing had increased slightly and Nick’s eyes glazed over your décolletage to the top swells of your breasts. He remembered what it was like to taste your sweet skin and have your tits over his face. His cock twitched under his pants.

Nick cleared his throat and tried to return on the task at hand. After pressing a few more buttons, he was able to get your computer back up and running.

“My hero!” You exclaimed. You gave him a full smile and all Nick wanted to do was pull you in for a kiss.

“You’re welcome.” Nick replied. “Um, how’s Barba? That case must be eating at him.” Nick felt a pang of guilt for feeling what he did – the rules on your birthday  were one weekend, which happened. It was in the past.

“Busy. Cranky. So you know…” You began.

“The usual.” Nick finished. You laughed.

“Basically. I just hate that this case takes up all of his time. We hardly see each other. I miss him.” You replied wistfully.

Nick squeezed your shoulder. “It’ll be over soon enough.” As he walked away, an idea crept in your mind.

--

The light to Rafael’s office was still on despite it being near midnight. Rafael was pacing in his office, going over his case. The grand jury was indicting soon and he needed to be ready.

The slight rap on his door interrupted his thoughts. You poked your head in. “Hey.” You replied softly, as you walked in.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?” Rafael questioned. He approached you and pressed a kiss on your lips. “Is everything okay?”

The sound of the door creaking made Rafael realize you weren’t alone. “Nick.”

Nick approached the room, shutting the door behind him quietly. “Barba.”

Rafael’s eyes darted between you and Nick. “What’s going on?”

“Look, I know you’re busy and stressed. We were hoping maybe, we could help with that?” You replied.

It was then that Rafael realized you were wearing a long trench coat.

“Y/N.” Rafael’s voice was low and warning.

“Oh come on, counselor. You’re all wound up and stressed. We can help.”

Rafael shook his head. “I’m too busy. I can’t be dist…” His voice trailed off as you removed the trench coat, letting it pool to the floor. You were naked save for the thin straps of material that dared present themselves as lingerie.

You whipped around to Nick and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss. Nick’s hands trailed down your sides, to your ass. He grabbed a handful of flesh and pulled you tightly against his body. You gasped at the feeling of his cock, already so hard against your stomach. Nick’s kiss was intense; he swallowed your mouth almost as if he would never get another chance. His mouth moved along your neck and as he sucked a bruise on your neck, he opened his eyes to meet Rafael’s.

Rafael’s bright eyes were blown with lust. He moved to undo the straps of his suspenders, letting them hang off his waist.

Nick banded one arm around your waist and spun you to face Rafael. A large hand trailed down your neck, down your sternum, and down your abdomen to your cunt which was already soaked. Nick’s fingers pushed your panties to the side, the tips of his fingers were coated in your arousal. His fingers stroked the outside lips, teasing.

“She’s already so wet.” Nick panted. “God I missed this sweet little cunt. I told you then, I’ll say it again now… you’re a lucky man, Barba.”

Rafael could barely focus on Nick’s words. His mind was fuzzy as he watched Nick slip a finger inside of you.

“Do you know how jealous I am that you get to fuck Y/N day in and day out? And then I find out you’re too busy to take care of her needs and poor Y/N has been so horny.” Nick continued to goat. He slipped his finger out of you, causing you to whine. He shoved his finger in your mouth and you sucked his finger clean, pretending it was his cock.

“Is that so?” Rafael questioned, his voice rough and gravely. His shirt fell to the floor, followed by the rest of his clothes, leaving him just in his boxers.

You batted your eyes coquettishly. “Oh yes, papi. It’s been so lonely without you home.”

You walked up to Rafael and reached around to unclasp your bra, freeing your tits. Rafael growled and pulled you in for a kiss. His fingers circled your nipples, which were hard as peaks. He pinched them playfully, eliciting a moan from you. Meanwhile, Nick was sitting on the couch, shirtless. His cock was freed and he was unabashedly jerking himself off.

“Eres cochina.” Rafael growled at you. You smiled before dropping to your knees. You ran your hands in front of the tent in his boxers, feeling how hard Rafael was.

“You love it.” You replied huskily, before reaching up to pull the waist band of his boxers down. Before Rafael could reply, you took his cock in your mouth. Rafael hissed and he wrapped his hands in your hair, guiding you as you bobbed along his cock. Feeling particularly lascivious, you relax your throat and suck Rafael all the way down, deep throating him. The sensation alone was enough to make Rafael to near lose his balance but he recovered quickly. His hands gripped the desk from behind tightly as you continued to blow him.

Rafael’s eyes met Nick’s once more. Nick’s stroking was becoming more fervent. Rafael pushed your head off of him. You pouted and he caught your chin. “Nick is going to fuck you while you finish blowing me.” Rafael winked. As you bounded to Nick, Rafael swatted your ass, causing you to giggle.

You joined Nick on the couch. “How do you want me?” You asked Nick.

“Ride me baby.” Nick requested.

Rafael returned with a bottle of lube. Nick eyed Rafael. “Really? Lube here?”

“I told you – Y/N and I have a very healthy sex life.”

“Sometimes I say I need a warrant… sometimes I just need his cock.” You giggled.

Nick took the bottle of lube and poured some on his hand, before moving to stroke his cock. “Saddle up baby girl.”

You saddled Nick’s thighs. One arm braced his shoulder and you used your other free hand to guide Nick inside of you. You both groan as he stretched you from the inside out. You languidly begin to rock against Nick’s cock. Nick leaned up to capture a nipple in his mouth. You gasp briefly as Rafael shoved his cock in your mouth once more. Rafael drove into your mouth with rough strokes, causing you to gag and sputter on his cock.

Nick’s hips rise, fucking into you. You cry out around Rafael’s cock, feeling your orgasm quickly build. “God your pussy is so good.” Nick panted.

“Do you like Nick’s cock in your pussy Y/N?” Rafael asked in between grunts. A broken ‘yes’ bleeds around his cock as he continues to fuck your face. Rafael pulled out from your mouth, and you gasped. “Oh my God, don’t stop Nick! Oh fuck!”

Rafael reached for the lube and gathered some on his hand. He stood behind you, watching as Nick was balls deep inside of you. He looked over past your shoulder to Nick. “Lean her forward.”

Nick reclined more on the couch, pulling you close to him. Your pressed your tits to Nick’s face, allowing him to run his tongue on your skin.

You jump slightly feeling the cold lube drizzle along your ass. Rafael rubbed the lube over your puckered rosebud. Nick’s mouth was on your nipple and you reached down to rub your clit. Rafael pressed the head of his cock inside of you and you moaned loudly in response. Instinctively you rock your hips back, causing Rafael to push further in.

“Oh my God!” You cry out.

Rafael pressed himself so he’s close to lying on you. He moved your way hair out of the way and pressed kisses along your neck. “Cómo te sientes mi amor?”

“Full. Oh Rafael… fuck!” You cried out.

Rafael and Nick fuck you, finding a rhythm quickly. The pressure deep inside of you builds quickly and you come hard, your body spasming in orgasm. Your pussy clenched tightly around Nick’s cock. Nick continued pumping into you and before you knew it, he comes hard and deep inside of you. An animalistic grunt emanates from Rafael and he backs out of you to shoot thick ropes of hot come all over your ass.

Rafael collapsed onto the couch beside you and Nick. “Wow.” He panted. “Fucking wow.”

You hum in content, lazily kissing Nick. You break the kiss, and turn your head to Rafael while you lay against Nick, his cock still inside of you. You could feel some of his come weep out despite being still connected.

“Feeling better?” Rafael asked you. You sit up slightly to look at Nick and then at him.

“Mmmm, most definitely.” You sighed contentedly.

“So this was your idea then?” Rafael asked, reaching over to grab some tissues to clean up.

You bit your lip and nodded. “You’re not mad, are you?” Nick asked as he stroked your back softly.

Rafael smiled. “Not at all. I think I made a mistake saying last time was one time. We were overdue.”

You light up as his response. “Do you have more to do here?”

Rafael arched a brow. “Can’t get enough, hmm? I guess I can come to the office early and finish.”

“What our girl wants, she gets, isn’t that right Barba?” Nick asked, before pressing a kiss to your chin.

Your eyes meet Rafael’s once more.

“That’s right Amaro. Now lets take her home.”

FIN.

Tags: @madpanda75 @tropes-and-tales @delia26 @mgarner1227 @beardedmccoy @youreverycolor @neely1177 @the-baby-bookworm @mrsrafaelbarba @skittle479 @ottosuricato @delia26 @sass-and-suspenders @mommakat32 @dreila03 @beccabarba @garturbo @lovebennycolon @imjustreallynosy @sweetsummertime99 @whyissvuruiningmylovelife @annabelleb49 @scarletsoldierrr @cesarofangirl78 @redlipstickandplaid @redlipstickandblacktea @zoeykaytesmom @differentshadesofgray @misssirenlove @esparza-army @bananas-pajamas @mishaissocoolike @thefanficfaerie @theenchantedgalleryofstories @catnip987 @choppedgalaxynerd @pieceofshittytitty @ktiz90 @evee87 @itsjustmyfantasyroom @blk0912 @detective-giggles @rampantmuses @jazzyjoi @caked-crusader- anyone else, just ask!

[crocodilenialledfics]

You’re all I need (the air I breathe) 

Prologue - in which Niall and Stella meet and she is (for once) grateful to be locked out of her room with nowhere to go. 

join the taglist

The love-at-first-sight, falling-too-fast, uni au that will make your heart ache (in a good way) 

Stella couldn’t have predicted the way she felt standing in Louis’s doorway, her book bag on her back, desperate for a place to stay. Except she was there, eyes meeting blue eyes for the first time since she stepped onto her university campus. 

”I locked myself out of my room,” Stella explained, eyes drifting away from his. It’s possible it was too much to hold his gaze. “And I can’t get ahold of my roommate.” 

“Louis is at Zayn’s,” Niall told her, kicking the door open wider with his socked foot. “But you can hang out if you want.” 

“I don’t want to impose,” Stella refused, shaking her head. 

“It wouldn’t be an imposition,” he insisted, lips curling into a smile. “Honestly. It wouldn’t.” 

Stella allowed herself to step inside of their room. She’d been there a million times but somehow the room was different with the lack of Louis and the abundance of his roommate. 

“I’m Niall, by the way,” he said, closing the door behind her. “And you’re Stella, right?” 

“Yeah,” Stella nodded, dropping her bag on the floor beside the futon. She let her eyes glance up to the tv, the paused game on the screen. 

“Lou talks about you all the time,” Niall told her, sitting down on the futon. 

Stella let her eyes wander, taking in the way he looked in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He had no business being so attractive while doing absolutely nothing. Stella snapped herself out of it, sitting down beside him. “He talks about you all the time too. Was beginning to think I had some competition.” 

Niall chuckled, shaking his head, “no competition here.” 

Stella watched him, trying not to think too much about the way he was watching her. The glint in his eyes like he knew something she didn’t. 

“You play FIFA?” Niall asked after a second. 

“No.” 

“You wanna watch me play FIFA?” 

“Sure,” Stella mumbled, her cheeks flushed. She was suddenly aware of how intently she was watching him. 

Niall’s eyes drifted back to the TV when Stella relaxed against the futon. “So you’re from Doncaster, too? Went to secondary with Louis? And Veda?”

“Yeah,” Stella nodded. “We grew up together.”

“What was that like?” 

“Boring,” Stella chuckled. “Incredibly boring, actually. Louis made it fun, though.” 

“I can only imagine,” Niall smiled. “The trouble he gets into.”

“Oh yeah,” Stella murmured, a warm feeling in her stomach at the memories she had with Louis. She couldn’t have imagined spending all those days with anyone else. 

“I’m from London,” Niall told her. “Well, correction, I’m from mullingar Ireland. I moved to London with my mam when I was thirteen.”

“How posh,” Stella teased. 

“It was a little posh,” Niall chuckled, nodding. “As you can imagine, I was just dying to get out of there.”

“I can only imagine,” Stella murmured. 

“Any siblings?” Niall asked. 

“One,” Stella nodded. “A brother. His name is Ludovic. Ludo for short. He’s much older than me. Like 28 or something I can’t keep track.”

“Nice,” Niall commented. “You guys close?” 

“Kind of,” Stella shrugged. “I mean, he bought me alcohol when I was 16. He didn’t tell my mum when he caught Louis and I smoking in the backyard. If that’s close, then sure.”

Niall chuckled, nodding, “I’d say that’s close.”

“You have siblings?” 

“One,” he nodded. “Greg. He’s 25. We didn’t get along when we were young, don’t really get along now.”

“Sorry,” Stella murmured. 

“It’s whatever,” Niall shrugged, sparing her a glance. He smiled. And Stella was hooked. 

Maybe there was a reason Louis didn’t introduce them sooner, because they were missing pieces of each other. They were everything the other had been looking for. 

That’s what Stella had been thinking about when the door opened. For some reason Stella felt like she was caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. Like staring at the side of Niall’s face was a crime, she’s committed over and over since she walked in. 

“Hey...” Louis trailed off. “Stel, I didn’t know you were here.”

“I locked myself out of my room,” she told him, sitting up. “Have you heard from Veda?” 

“Yeah we just got back from Zayn’s. Her phone died, I think. She should be back to your room by now,” Louis told her, toeing his shoes off. He squeezed himself between Niall and Stella, a video game controller in his hand. “Add me in, Nialler.” 

Stella shifted beside Louis, feeling annoyed at him for bursting in. She rummaged around in her book bag until she pulled her phone out. She had a text from Veda letting her know that her phone died but she was back in the room. 

“I’m gonna go,” Stella murmured, zipping her bag up. 

“You didn’t wanna play?” Louis asked. “You kill at FIFA.” 

Niall met Stella’s eyes and she laughed, shaking her head. “Have you been holding out on me?” Niall asked, almost incredulous. 

“Aw come on, Stella,” Louis laughed, nodding toward her seat. “One game. We have another controller.” 

“I have to go,” Stella shook her head. “I have an exam in the morning. Need to do a bit more studying.”

“Lame,” Louis muttered, shaking his head. “Always studying, this one. Quite boring.”

“Respectable was the word you meant to say,” she corrected him. “I talked to Joanna yesterday and she told me how wonderful I am and how she wished just a little bit of my good behavior would rub off on you.”

“Stop calling my mum,” Louis laughed. 

“I wouldn’t have to if you’d call her yourself,” Stella retorted, standing up. 

“I will,” Louis conceded, nodding. “Good luck on that exam.”

“Thanks,” Stella murmured. “And thanks Niall for letting me hang.”

“Anytime,” he nodded, holding her gaze for much longer than socially appropriate.  

Stella left their room, feeling breathless and flushed to her toes. She shook the feeling as she took the stairs down to her floor. There was absolutely no way, Louis’s roommate should be making her feel that way. 

When Veda got back to her room, Stella was overwhelmed with the feeling of needing to know everything about Niall. At least maybe everything that Veda had to say. 

“You know Niall?” She asked as soon as she stepped in the door. 

“Yeah,” Veda mumbled, sitting up from her spot in bed. “You met him?” 

“I just hung out with him,” Stella clarified, eyebrows furrowed. “How didn’t I know he was that fit?” 

“He is quite fit,” Stella agreed, nodding. “I heard he had like a girlfriend, though. Nadia. In London. That’s what Louis said, anyways.” 

“That’s devastating,” Stella murmured, opening her bag. “I’d really like to kiss him.”

“You’re not a homewrecker, though.” 

“Unfortunately,” Stella sighed, sitting down at her desk with her laptop. “Can you find out for sure if he has a girlfriend? We stared at each other. Like a lot.”

“He’s sweet,” Veda nodded. “We met like last week, I think. At Zayn’s.” 

“Where was I?” Stella asked, affronted. 

“Class,” Veda laughed. “It was Wednesday. Your evening class.”

“Well that’s just unfair,” Stella shook her head. 

“I’ll tell Louis to invite him to game night,” Veda told her, laying back down. “Since you love him already.”

“I don’t love him,” Stella grunted, kicking her shoes off. “What do you know, anyways? New boyfriend every week.”

“Stella now you know I don’t date,” Veda laughed, already scrolling through her phone. “New flavor each week. Keeps things exciting.” 

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen: ‘There is a moment of possibility to build back better’

The actor now uses his Hollywood cash to fund his passion for activism. Sheen reveals why he revels in spending money on the things that matter and why he has hope for the post-Covid future

Michael Sheen, activist and actor. It is in that order these days. And he’s doing rather well in both spheres. He has spent the last few years trying to find a way to balance his twin passions. And, he says, he is slowly getting there.  

“A big part of it was shifting things in my head and knowing what the priorities were,” says the 51-year-old.

“I made the shift psychologically to go, right, the acting work and everything that comes with that is going to support the other stuff I’m doing.  

“So even though to the outside world, maybe it wouldn’t seem like it – because I’ve been doing lots of acting work and things that have kept the profile up and all that –  from my point of view, the priority has been different. Now the acting work fits in around the other stuff.”

That ‘other stuff’ involves supporting the Homeless World Cup and the fight to expand access to affordable credit, campaigning to get the right to a good home enshrined in law in Wales and combating loneliness with the Great Winter Get Together (an idea inspired by the late MP Jo Cox). Then there’s working with Social Enterprise UK, for whom he is a patron alongside The Big Issue’s Lord Bird, helping local journalism and communities get access to trustworthy information, publicising and supporting both foodbanks and theatres and fighting period poverty.  

It’s a heady and righteous cocktail of vital causes. And it takes up a lot of Sheen’s time. With the Covid pandemic of 2020, and Brexit around the corner, he feels his activism is going to be more important than ever in 2021.

“Everything that was happening before Covid came along which has been exacerbated,” says Sheen. “So it’s not like issues I was focused on beforehand – around homelessness and high-cost credit – are going away.

“We’re bracing ourselves for it getting a lot harder and more people being involved. The work that was going on pre–pandemic is going to get even more pressured. Because when you look into anything around poverty and inequality before the pandemic, the fallout from the way Universal Credit was being rolled out was having a massive effect. Well, there’s going to be a lot more people on Universal Credit now.”  

But Sheen also sees this as a moment to seize, a chance to rebuild society anew, a period that is packed with potential.  

“We saw what was possible around homelessness during the pandemic, where people were able to get off the streets and were put into accommodation and given support that wasn’t there before,” he says.  

“That has made a lot of people think. If that’s possible during a pandemic when people are really motivated, then why can’t it happen afterwards as well? Why does it take a pandemic to do it? We have seen that the fact there are still people living on the street is a political choice.

“So while we are bracing ourselves for really challenging times, that’s balanced out by a sense that there’s the chance to build up from the ground again. How do we reimagine who we are and how we live and how we work together? The status quo wasn’t working. So we have to innovate, we have to reimagine, we have to reinvent – there is a moment of possibility to build back better.”

He is on a roll. He sounds like a politician. A good politician. With that rich, sonorous voice rising as he advocates a new way of living, a new vision for society. He compares the imminent, we hope, post-Covid moment to the situation facing the post-war Attlee government. 

“When you go through a big, nation–changing event, which this has been, there’s the opportunity to reimagine a different relationship between the state and society and between us as a community,” he continues. “To see how communities have pulled together gives you a new awareness of who we are and what we can be. We can rebuild our nation in the light of that.  

“There won’t always be that window of opportunity. We’ll go in a new direction and a new status quo will emerge. Let’s hope it can be a fairer one.”

But Sheen is not just about ideas for a brighter future for Wales, the UK, and beyond. He’s also at the top of the acting profession. And we’ve seen a lot of him in 2020.  

There was his brilliant, uncanny, portrayal of Chris Tarrant in Quiz back in March – the memorable pop-cultural drama-doc which drew a massive lockdown audience to its exploration of the infamous, scandalous, did-they-didn’t-they ‘cheat’ storm on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – shedding light on the inventive, pre-internet ways WWTBAM fans across the country hooked up to game their way onto the show.

Sheen was – not for the first time in a career that has seen him portray with such skill a diverse crowd of famous names, including Brian Clough (The Damned United), Kenneth Williams (Fantabulosa), Tony Blair (The Deal, The Queen and The Special Relationship), and David Frost (in Frost/Nixon) – utterly, bewilderingly believable as Tarrant and the three-part series, aired over consecutive nights, was genuine event television.

Then, when it became clear this pandemic and these lockdowns weren’t going anywhere fast, Sheen joined forces with his Good Omens co-star David Tennant to make Staged – the first, and perhaps only show to capture the tedium, the disconnectedness, the discombobulation of lockdown life.  

With the big–name actors playing heightened versions of themselves – Sheen pompous, cultured, guzzling wine, Tennant eager to please, upbeat, hapless – it was a roaring success on iPlayer.

“David is very different to what you see in the series in real life,” says Sheen. “But although I’d like to say I’m different to the version of me in Staged, that’s pretty much what I’m like.”

The surprise second series of Staged catches up with Sheen and Tennant (or should that be Tennant and Sheen?) a few months down the line.  

“We knew the series was very easy to do, filming it at home on a laptop – or that even if we went back to a more normal life again and were working elsewhere, we could film it anywhere,” says Sheen.  

“And by the time we came to the second series, it was different. Even though we were still spending a lot of time at home, the second series was during a period where everybody, including David and I, were trying to go back to do things. Then the rules kept changing.  

“So you never quite knew whether what was going to happen from day to day. The second series reflects that. But obviously, going back to work and trying to go back to normal is very different from me and David than they are for a lot of people – so we were aware that had to be dealt with as well, because never wanted it to be about two poncey actors and their lives. We wanted to find a way to do it so that people could still identify with it.”

This year, Sheen, like most of us, has spent more time at home. He has, he says, enjoyed catching fewer planes, appreciated his friends and extended family more than ever, raced through five series of Line of Duty and been wowed by Normal People, starting his way down Schitt’s Creek but still found little time to read novels (“I’ve asked for a few from Father Christmas”).  

Because if he does find time to read, it is usually research on housing, on fighting poverty, on rebuilding the broken or the out-of-control housing market, alongside the occasional script.

But if 2020 has been about anything for Sheen, is has been about spending time with his baby daughter Lyra.

“When we went into that first lockdown in March, she was only five months old,” he says.  

“So our focus has been her this whole time. Really our experiences wouldn’t have been massively different. The main overwhelming part of our experience of the last year has been having a baby, as opposed to Covid. And I know I’m very fortunate to be able to say that. But anyone who’s had a baby knows that that just takes up all your bandwidth.

“They give you structure, don’t they? A reason to get up in the morning. A lot of people have said it is difficult getting motivated to do stuff – but that’s not an issue when you’ve got a little one, is it? So I have got very used to being in the house. I even got to do two seasons of a TV show from my kitchen, which is pretty nice…”

Michael Sheen on the legacy of the Homeless World Cup in Wales

In the summer of 2019, Cardiff hosted the Homeless World Cup. As the football tournament, featuring players from around the world, all of whom were experiencing homelessness, kicked off, we knew Michael Sheen had played a huge role in bringing the event to Wales.

What didn’t emerge until later was that, when some promised funding failed to emerge, Sheen was faced with a choice between sinking more than £1m of his own money into making it happen or cancelling the event.

He paid. They played.

It was a triumph and will last long in the memory. So how does Sheen feel now about it?

“It is an extraordinary event that happens every year,” he says. “It was going to be in Finland this year, which I was really looking forward to – because Finland has been quite pioneering in the Housing First strategy and I was looking forward to being able to find out more about that. But I still feel the way I did before – and what motivated me to try and make it happen here in Wales is that it is life-changing for people and can be a transformative experience in all kinds of ways.

“For some people who take part in it, it has an immediate effect. And for others, it may be years later that the effects of it manifest in their life. But that was why I was so committed to being a part of making that happen.

“A lot of the motivation for us in Wales was about what it could act as a platform for afterwards. And that has been affected by the Covid crisis, because a lot of the legacy work we were doing was unable to move forward in the way we’d hoped because of all the restrictions. But what I learned and discovered during that period has made a massive difference to me and the work I’m doing around homelessness.

“The relationships we developed through that time with support service organisations, the people I met and the insights I got into what people are struggling with and what would help were invaluable. It’s been a huge thing for me. I’m still paying for it. So that still affects my life as well, obviously, and things that I’m doing.

“But my acting work is there to support the other stuff. I’m putting money into things constantly, even though I still owe money to do with the Homeless World Cup. So until the time comes when I’m not able to earn money in the same way, then I’ll keep on spending it on the things that matter to me.”

[imagining-supernatural]

The Surprise Illness

Part 16 of Seventy Percent

Series Summary: When you left on your trip to Vegas, you’d planned on letting loose for one last weekend before heading back to reality and getting your affairs in order so your best friend wouldn’t be left cleaning up your mess when your cancer finally ended your life. What you hadn’t counted on was waking up married to a celebrity who has a knight-in-shining-armor complex, connections with an oncologist, and amazing insurance…

Chapter Summary: Reporters ambush you outside of the hospital

Word Count: 2,258

The last thing you remembered was Sebastian noting how hot you felt and insisting the two of you call it an early night just a few hours after the almost-kiss in the elevator.

Then you were waking up in the hospital late the next morning.

“What am I doing here?” you rasped out upon spotting Sebastian dozing in a chair next to the hospital bed.

He jerked awake and exclaimed your name. “You’re awake!”

“Yeah, and in the hospital. And that clock and the sun says it’s almost noon? It was just, like, eight o’ clock at night.”

Sebastian scooted his chair closer and grabbed your hand. “You had a fever and would barely wake up around 3 this morning when I tried to get you to take some more medicine. Dr. Chowdhury says it’s most likely a bug.”

“A bug? How’d I get… I’m so careful, how’d I catch a bug?” A muscle in his jaw jumped in anger and you realized, face dropping. “The reporters. They were shoving their microphones in my face.”

“Plus your immune system is super weak because of the treatment; it didn’t take long. And it hit hard.”

“Well, fuck.” You raised your free hand to scrub at your face, surprised at how sluggish your body was. That simple movement required so much concentration. “What does this mean for my treatment? I’m supposed to be getting the shots today.”

There was a knock on the door and Dr. Chowdhury poked his head in. When he saw your open eyes, he strode in. “Good morning, Y/N.”

“Good?”

He offered a smile at your challenge. “How are you feeling today?”

“Tired. My body hurts a bit, like the flu. Um… Surprisingly no headache.”

The scratch of a pen on paper was the only sound for a second while he notated your remarks in your chart. “That’s good about the headache. No pressure in your head either?” You shook your head. “Good, very good. I was worried this virus might have irritated your tumor and caused it to swell. That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“So, what now?” Seb asked. “Will she still get her shots today?”

Dr. Chowdhury nodded. “And I would like to keep you for a few more hours. You are hooked up to an IV that should help speed your recovery from the bug.”

“Okay.” At your quick agreement, Seb squeezed your hand. “Do you think I’ll be able to go home tonight? I’d like to continue my streak of not sleeping in a hospital bed overnight here.”

“Barring any setbacks today, yes. We will do our best to help you continue your streak until surgery.”

“You know,” you mused with humor, “I’m sure the nurses are okay to hand me something themselves.”

Sebastian shook his head as he unscrewed the water bottle cap before handing it to you. Janessa, the nurse in question, grinned and winked at you before leaving the room. “I’m not taking that chance. They’re touching other patients all day.”

“And I think they know how to not pass on germs.”

“Still not taking the chance,” he insisted with no room for argument. Slipping into the bed next to you, he threw his arm over your shoulders. “I’ve been with you all day, so I’ve only been by your germs all day. They’re around everyone’s germs all day.”

You rolled your eyes but gave in, resting your head on his shoulder. “Surprised you let me even hold this water bottle, considering Janessa touched it with her bare hand.”

“Good point.” He moved as if to take it from you. With a loud laugh, you jerked your arm away, keeping it just out of his reach. His lips were pulled into a grin as he pretended to reach further to fight you for the bottle. If he’d been serious, it wouldn’t have been a fight at all. You were still paler than normal and weak as a twig in a hurricane. But you appreciated the lack of effort on his part.

Just before pulling back and settling back into the bed, he kissed the tip of your nose, warming your body in a way the thin hospital blanket couldn’t.

A rerun of How I Met Your Mother was playing on the TV and you turned up the volume. After a few minutes, you started drifting off, completely safe in Sebastian’s arms.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly. Between reruns of sitcoms, being forced to eat cafeteria food, taking catnaps, and threatening Sebastian until he let the nurse take your temperature herself, you barely noticed the passage of time.

It wasn’t until you woke up and saw Sean with your phone camera pointed at the bed that you really noticed what time it was: just after eight o’ clock in the evening.

“What are you doing with my phone?”

“You two just look so cute right now,” he replied with a wink. “Picture perfect moment. Couldn’t pass it up. I didn’t want the stress of having a picture of you two on my phone.”

“I’d trust you with one.” He handed you your phone and you unlocked the phone to get to the gallery. As soon as you pulled up the photo he took of you and Seb asleep together, you were glad that you had your phone set up to allow your camera to be accessed without your security code. It was a damn cute picture. “Psychiatrist, media specialist, and photographer. Shit, Sean you really can do it all, can’t you?”

“Add bodyguard to that list too. Sebastian texted me that you guys were leaving around eight thirty. I got here a little early and decided to come in. There were a few reporters hanging around when I pulled up. Figured I could clear the way if they swarm again and your man there could keep ahold of you.”

“Damn reporters,” you grumbled.

“You can say that again,” Seb’s scratchy voice sounded from beside you. He shifted, stretching a little as he woke up. “Hey, Sean. Time to leave already?”

“Just as soon as I sign your discharge papers,” Dr. Chowdhury announced his presence, walking into the room. Seb slipped off of the bed to allow Dr. Chowdhury to give you a quick once over. Once he determined that your throat, ears, and nose looked good and that your fever was under control, he signed the papers and a nurse came in with a wheelchair. She assured Sebastian no fewer than three times that the wheelchair was sanitized before he let you sit in it.

Sean split off to bring the car around and you ditched the wheelchair in the waiting room. It probably would have been better to let yourself be wheeled out to the car, but your vanity overpowered your decision. You weren’t too fond of the idea that pictures of you in a wheelchair could be splashed across the internet.

Surprisingly enough, you managed to get nearly all of the way to the car before the reporters started circling. Sebastian and Sean had the one-track mind to keep them away from you and get you inside the car as soon as possible. Once you were scooting across the backseat to make room for Seb, he turned his attention to the vultures.

Seeing they were about to get a quote, the crowd quieted.

“You guys attacked my wife yesterday and exposed her to germs that got her sick when she’s already going through the hell that is cancer treatment. When I requested everyone keep their distance, it wasn’t just for privacy. The next time you prioritize your big story over my wife’s life, my lawyers and I won’t be so nice.” With that, he climbed into the car and slammed the door shut on their questions.

Quick, concise, and to the point. You could tell he’d considered his words in advance. Hell, he’d probably been thinking about them all day.

He was still thinking about them five minutes into the drive. You could tell by the tense set of his shoulders. So, you decided to try and lighten the mood.

“You feel like John Mulaney right now?”

“Huh?”

“Get away from my wife!” You did you best to imitate John Mulaney’s voice during that segment. “No one talk to my wife!”

He cracked a smile and you felt victorious. “I didn’t kill my wife!”

“Ooo. Who’s that fella?” You finished off the segment, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a laugh.

“You callin’ me your fella?” He asked, leaning closer.

The sparkle in his eye drew you in. “Maybe I am.”

“Hey, so…” Sebastian wandered into the bedroom the next morning. You’d been under strict doctor’s orders to sleep in and not come to the hospital until the afternoon for your infusion. So that’s exactly what you did.

And while you were sleeping in, Seb had gone to get a workout in, since he’d missed it yesterday.

Which brought you to now: Him walking in, fresh from the shower, and you on the bed with your laptop, catching up on your finances.

“Hey, how was your run and, uh, weights?”

“How are my weights?”

“Yeah. They doing good? Feeling neglected?”

He laughed. “God, Y/N. You are so smart about so many things but you have no idea what goes on in a gym, do you?”

“Yeah I do,” you replied defensively. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for you to prove it. “Lots of sweating and, uh, grunting? Guys taking off their shirts to show off. People drinking from water bottles? Probably a lot of regret.”

With an eye roll, he flopped down on the bed next to you. “Once you’re all better, I’m making you come to the gym with me.”

“Does your gym have a spa there? Or a massage room, at least?”

“Yeah. But I’ll only let you use it after you work out.”

You scrunched your nose in distaste. “Pass.”

He closed his eyes, a content smile still on his lips. With a fond shake of your head, you went back to updating your finance plans.

A few minutes later, Sebastian sat up and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. He fiddled with whatever it was for a second before hesitantly saying, “Y/N?”

“One… second…” You finished what you were doing and set aside your laptop. There was a strange tone to his voice. It was serious, but slightly unsure. Whatever he wanted to talk about, you were sure he wanted your full attention. “Okay. What’s up?”

“I was thinking… since your name is out there and we’re not a secret anymore…”

“Seb, it’s me. You don’t have to beat around the bush.”

“I was wondering how you felt about wearing the ring.”

Well. That was not where you’d expected this conversation to go. “The ring.”

He plucked the diamond engagement ring from his hand and held it between his fingers. “The ring. I also, uh, I guess I should have talked to you about this before… but I swung by a jeweler this morning and picked out wedding bands too. For both of us.”

For the longest while, you didn’t know what to say.

It wasn’t like you had to pretend that you’d gotten married for love. He’d told the truth about your wedding on Seth’s show. It was on tape that you’d had a drunken wedding and stayed married for insurance purposes.

So if he had actually purchased wedding bands… a physical tie between you two… that had to mean something, right?

“I-I’m… I’m not against it, I just—why?”

“I don’t really know. Well, I know, but I also don’t, you know?”

“No. Not at all.”

He huffed a sound somewhere between a sigh and a scoff. “I guess I just thought that since I’m flying to Georgia on Sunday to start filming the show and we’ll be apart so often… I don’t know. Maybe it’s stupid.”

“It is stupid,” you assured him with a teasing smile. “It’s stupid of you to think that since we’re not going to see each other every day that we’ll forget each other. I mean, I know you won’t forget me because I’m pretty amazing and all. Thought I guess it isn’t a long shot to think that I’ll forget you. The guy who bought me oreos. The guy who I’ve slept next to for the last week. The guy who yelled at paparazzi for me. The guy who is literally saving my life. The guy wh—”

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

Looking at him, nervously fumbling with the ring in his fingers, you realized this was about something more. This wasn’t just him being a good person. It wasn’t Sebastian helping someone survive cancer.

This was about Sebastian and you. You and Sebastian.

This wasn’t about a drunken Vegas wedding officiated by Elvis. This wasn’t about cheating the system to get insurance.

This was about your relationship with Sebastian.

“I get it too,” you said softly. After a moment and a deep breath, you extended your left hand and stilled his anxious fingers. His eyes darted up to yours where you hoped he saw his same hesitance, fear, and hope reflected there. “I get it, Seb.”

Without any further conversation, he gently slid the diamond ring onto your finger. Out of his pocket, he presented you with an engraved gold band and your heart was beating at a million words per minute as you slid the band onto his left hand as well.

RINGS!?! And, gah! Stupid reporters!!!

Also, I wrote this long before this whole Coronavirus and rereading it now was like GEEZ I was ahead of my time with the whole germaphobe thing...

CHAPTER 18: THE WORK CALL

[humanemotionssuck]

Hello 2021

January 2, 2021

I should’ve put these thoughts into words on the first day of the year but then again, I felt so lazy given this bed weather we are currently having. By far, I think I experienced the coldest temperature here in my hometown (21 degrees baby) and I’m sure not liking it as I prefer warm days.

I actually do not know how to start. I feel it’s necessary to check on how I am doing lately. Write the things I experienced last year and reflect on the lessons it taught me.

I could probably kick things off by remembering how 2020 started for me. I have a bad memory but I’ll try my best to recall them.

January

Broke up with J (yes this is probably one of the major and heartbreaking events happened to me). To sum it up, I realized that the relationship does not have growth anymore, and I am slowly drifting to follow my own path, which is to focus on the plans I want. I haven’t thought deeply the lessons I learned in my past relationship yet but one thing is for sure, I changed and I want to explore more of what I can do or what I’m missing out in life. Which brings me to attend seminars on how to work/study abroad. I attended a couple (e.g Fortrust Makati) and I also realized how costly it will be and I’m probably not yet ready esp. on the financial aspect.

February – March

Highlight on these months was I got back to dating apps again. I know it was a complete dick move. I haven’t moved on yet and here I am in the pool again. I met 2 guys from this app, Coffee Meets Bagel (which btw I uninstalled few months after). The first guy was the introvert but funny type and also VERY sexual. I got along with it, tried to do the deed but failed cause the guy hasn’t moved on from the ex yet. (Sucks right). And so I met this second guy and he is decent but we really had completely different personality. I believe this guy is also rich (he came from a Chinese family and I went to his house and saw the maid and his stuff). Can you also believe he already introduced me to his mom (no dad cause broken family), uncle and grandma. Pressured si ate gurl syempre cause it was really too early to do that step since we’re just dating but March was the most difficult month because…

START OF LOCKDOWN. PH was in state of panic after the government announced a nationwide lockdown due to increased COVID-19 transmission. I immediately went on a bus to the province fearing to get stuck in Manila.

April

Nah this was just a typical month. Summer vibes all over but since we cannot go to the beach we just setup an inflatable pool in the house to get soaked. I finally posted a pic wearing a swimsuit again. My stagnant IG feed came to life lmao

May

Oh boy. This month sucks so much. I got typhoid fever. Which I thought was COVID already cause my fever just won’t stop. My mom didn’t want me to get admitted in the hospital in the fear of being infected so I was hooked in the IV here in the house. I felt I was dying. I was in huge pain both physically and mentally. Which forced me to end any communication means with the second guy. He was not there when I was sick. I didn’t feel his concern even if we’re miles apart and I felt I was begging for his attention. It just won’t work. He blocked me in his socials (which is a first for me, usually I am the one who blocks lol) but given the current state I have now, I learned to accept it and chose to move forward.

June

Explored options on work/study program abroad. We got a new car (Xpander) which my father was able to purchase after borrowing money from us. That money could’ve been used for my Japan trip on December (plot twist it was cancelled due to fucking corona) but it’s okay I guess I’ll save another again.

I also got my student permit (yes I learned how to drive months after hehe)

July

THIS WAS MY BIGGEST DOWNFALL FOR THIS YEAR. There were some modifications in the quarantine and so my employer required and FORCED us to report on site in Makati despite of high number of positive cases. All I can say is SCREW THEM and I hope karma will do its thing on their business. The management.. the bosses.. they are all inconsiderate fucks for not allowing me to work at home instead. The situation forced me to resign but they chose to terminate me instead. The unemployment took its toll on my mental health, it caused me great depression and anxiety which forced me to look for distractions.. anything that will ease my mind.

Oh and btw, I bought my first laptop from hard earned money. Oh boy, it was satisfying to give myself the things my parents couldn’t afford that time I was still in school. It’s a gaming laptop and the one I’m using to type now. I absolutely love it and I used it to find online jobs later on..

I read Looking for Alaska by John Green again after watching the TV series on Hulu. Geez, this has to be my favorite book so far. The seeking of great perhaps.. which was very timely on my mood while having nothing else to do.

Lastly, TAYLOR SWIFT RELEASED A NEW ALBUM CALLED FOLKLORE. In the middle pandemic? Awesome right and this album kept me sane during this crazy and miserable month. Oh and on December, she released folklore’s sister album.. Evermore. Miss Swift saved me again with her music. This will definitely be one of the albums I will play when I’m old and gray knitting sweaters and wearing cardigan.

August

I started and finished my driving lesson in manual. JFC, I realized driving gives me a huge anxiety. One thing is for sure, I will prefer to drive automatic. Not driving that shit again.

I was still hooked with Looking for Alaska. Also purchased Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck on the time I bought LFA.

On the other hand, I was also actively looking for new jobs this time.

September

ON SEPT. 30 I GOT HIRED! I was super happy to start on a new job. It gave me hope once again to continue on this journey called life. After almost 3 months, we are def back to business!

I also got the chance to get this Thyroid issue checked. Unfortunately, there was no major stuff going on with my thyroid. Basically, I’m perfectly healthy. What sucks is that the doctor invalidated my previous condition and said I only have ~anxiety which is the cause of my symptoms (excessive sweating and palpitations). I will seek professional help on this anxiety stuff anytime in the future.

Lastly, I played Grand Chase again and met someone in the game. Well technically we haven’t met yet but since then, I got used to talking with this guy and he is part of my daily routine now. I won’t spoil much details but as soon as this is all over, I can’t wait to meet this person :)

*cue Grand Chase soundtrack*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoK0bAjsHoo

October

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEE! It was a typical birthday. I don’t have much realizations. If I had one, I need to think thoroughly again lol.

Busy with training on the new job and this has been the most challenging training I ever had since I started working.

NOVEMBER

WORK WORK WORK. Super stressed and my anxiety was on the roof. I thought of giving up already but then again it was too early to quit. I haven’t seen my full potential on this job yet and so I chose to keep on fighting.

I also finally got braces. Let’s get these smiles fixed.

December

WORK WORK WORK AGAIN. My work caused me a huge anxiety cause I was given high priority cases -.-But overall, I can say the holidays went great. I finally got to spend time with the family outside. Don’t worry cause we still practiced precautions and I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go out once in a while to have some fresh air. We went to the beach and pretty much that’s the highlight of this month.

Things are getting serious with this guy I’m talking about.. Seriously, he makes me happy every single day.

I also won in Christmas raffle. Oppo phone. (I have the odds in my favor when it comes to raffles lol)

Feels weird to celebrate this holiday too thinking a lot of hardships were experienced in the last few months of quarantine. I was thinking about all the lives lost by covid and hoping they are in the peaceful place now..

JANUARY (NOW)

After everything that happened, oddly the start of the year gives me a sense of hope. Sure I am still carrying the trauma 2020 gave me but I am slowly leaving all of them behind. I want a fresh start and I want to let go of the things that gave me pain. I don’t have solid resolutions just like in my teenage years. Guess I’m too old for that. Not saying it’s okay to not have plans for the future and just go with the flow but I promise to not be too hard on myself and to not pressure myself on the goals I haven’t achieved yet. It’s really a struggle to plan things ahead given the situation but as always, I will do my best. I will stop comparing my progress to somebody else’s cause everyone has their own timeline.

I will listen to my heart and my mind to determine the things I really want. I promise to reevaluate the decisions I am making each day. I will not be afraid of making mistakes because that’s how I learn.

I am embracing my anxiety of uncertainty. It’s okay to feel afraid because I am always trying on how to overcome my fear. I strive each day because I am more than just a ball of anxiety. The palpitations.. the sweating.. they don’t define me. I have the power to control them and they won’t stop me from being the better version of myself.

[gamutgaming577]

To my gaming friend who saved my life

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[sml8180]

Stage Flair

@egossideblog gave me a prompt yesterday asking for Bim teaching Eric TV/stage tricks and trying to boost Eric’s confidence. This is the result, with bonus Marvin!

Stage Flair

Eric had a day off from work, and he originally planned on simply relaxing, maybe playing Minecraft on his laptop. That was how he had planned to spend the day. But instead, he found himself at Marvin’s theater with Bim. The older ego had claimed that he wanted Eric to see what he and the magician had been working on, and thus dragged him along.

Eric never expected Bim to actually try to get him involved while he was there.

“Come on, Eric, you’ve got this!” Bim exclaimed, trying to cheer on the younger ego he’d taken on as his son. “You said you were looking to add more flair to tours you’ve been giving at work, this is supposed to help.”

“I-I-I don’t know, Bim… This feels like a little much,” Eric replied, wringing his hands.

“Of course it feels like that, this sort of thing is all about being extra,” Bim reasoned. “Besides, you’re a quiet kid who isn’t used to it, it’ll feel like a lot at first.”

“I don’t know if I can do this…”

Bim tapped his chin a bit, before snapping his fingers. “We’ll cut it back a bit, then. One little thing at a time. How does that sound?”

“Sounds better,” Eric confirmed with a little smile. He adjusted his glasses, shifting from foot to foot.

“Great!” the older ego exclaimed, clapping once. “First off, when it comes to confidence in the spotlight, you’ve gotta look the part. Shoulders back, stand up straight,” he instructed, coming to Eric’s side. A gentle hand guided Eric’s shoulders back, getting him to stand a bit straighter.

“He’s a little stiff, Mercury,” Marvin cut in, approaching from where he’d been idly practicing part of a trick for an upcoming show. “Try teachin’ him the string method. Works for me, and I’m willing to bet you use it, too.”

“String method?” Eric questioned, looking between the magician and the game show host.

“Basically, imagine you’ve got a string tied to the top of your head, and it’s hooked to the ceiling. It’s pulled just taught enough to support you, and keep you standing tall,” Bim explained. As he spoke, Marvin made a small motion with his hand, and a glittering green and blue line appeared above Eric’s head, leading up to the ceiling.

Eric looked up, and stood a bit straighter when he spotted the line above him. His shoulders naturally came back, making him look just a little bigger and more in control of himself.

“There you go! Just like that!” Bim praised. “How does it feel?”

“Feels good, actually,” Eric mused, smiling a bit.

“Widen your stance a little. You want your feet roughly shoulder’s width apart, it’ll make you seem like you’re planted firmly on the ground, like you can’t be pushed over.”

Eric did as Bim instructed, parting his feet a bit farther, finding that it did feel more stable. “Like this?”

“Exactly!” Bim gave a bright smile, bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet, causing the glitter in his hair to shine under the overhead lights. “Next up; the way you speak makes a big difference. You want to be loud, but not yelling, and be clear.”

“Okay…” Eric pushed his glasses up his nose, not really seeing where this might be going.

“I use tongue twisters to make sure people understand me,” Marvin chimed in. “My accent was pretty thick when I first started out, so people didn’t always get what I was saying. The key is slowing down, and paying attention to what you’re saying. Eventually, it becomes pretty natural.”

“I think I get it,” Eric stated, giving a bit of a nod.

“It can be harder than it sounds. Repeat after me,” the magician prompted. “Red leather, yellow leather.”

“U-um, red leather, yellow leather,” Eric repeated. His voice wavered a bit, and his delivery was a bit choppy.

“A little choppy. Let it flow, kid; the worst thing that can happen is you get mixed up, nothing bad’ll happen,” Bim encouraged.

“Red leather, yellow leather,” Marvin said again.

“Red leather, yellow leather,” Eric echoed, the words coming a bit smoother, as he spoke slowly and softly.

“Speak up, Eric,” Marvin instructed. “Red leather, yellow leather.”

“Red leather, yellow leather,” Eric repeated, speaking a bit louder this time.

“Just a little louder, kid,” Bim prompted.

“Red leather, yellow leather,” Eric’s voice was again louder, and much easier to hear than it usually was.

“There you go! Keep it up,” Marvin encouraged. “Pick up the pace a little,” he suggested.

“Red leather, yellow leather. Red leather, yellow leather. Red leather, yellow leather,” the youngest of the three egos continued, slowly picking up the pace as he spoke, being careful to keep his words clear.

“Perfect! Eric, you’ve got it!” Marvin smiled, praising the younger ego.

Eric smiled brightly, seeming to feel a bit more confident. “I think I get how this helps you guys.”

“We’re not done just yet,” Bim told him.

The afternoon went by with Bim and Marvin giving Eric little tips on how to be more confident while he was talking to people. By the end, he was walking and speaking with confidence, using his hands to signal important things he was saying, and even adding a bit of extra flair and energy to his words and tone, which would no doubt have his tour groups interested.

“That’s about it, I think. At least for now,” Bim mused, practically beaming as Eric finished giving them part of the spiel he would usually give his tour groups.

“How do you feel?” Marvin asked, wearing a bright smile, himself.

“It feels really good, actually,” Eric told him. “I think this’ll really help. Thank you.”

“Just doing our thing, Eric,” Marvin replied, patting his shoulder.

Bim nodded, throwing an arm around Eric’s shoulders. “Yeah! What’s a stage show without a little flair, right?”

[halfgclden]

Sharkboy, Lavagirl, Yeast-Man, and Bacteria Boy | Jack&Parker

Summary: Jack and Parker watch a movie together, Parker is excessively awkward, don’t talk about it.

Walking down the tree-lined promenade, Jack felt very out of place. This was a nice neighborhood built for nice people, which he certainly was not. Trying not to feel too out of his depth, Jack had put on a fairly nice shirt and combed his hair. What did somebody wear to a social event based on Sharkboy and Lavagirl? "You can't grow if you don't let yourself blow," Jack whispered to himself before buzzing apartment 6C.

Did Parker wear a long sleeved shirt because Jack was coming over and he didn’t know how much one would want to lean on the other? Possibly, but he’d just say that he looked good in underarmor. He hooked his computer up to the television, which took a while since he didn’t fully understand how an HDMI cable worked. He jumped when he heard the buzzer and ran over to press his palm against the button to open the door.

Halfway up the elevator ride, Jack wished he had taken the stairs instead of sharing this small car with a stranger who was very clearly avoiding any sort of eye contact or human-to-human acknowledgment with the burn victim standing two feet away. Of course, they were both heading to the 6th floor. Sighing in relief once he stepped off the elevator, Jack waited a full 30 seconds before walking down the hall to Parker's room. Jack took a deep breath to collect himself mentally then knocked three times on the door.

Should he have done something else with his hair? Parker ran his hands through it a few times. He kind of felt like an idiot worrying about how he looked before watching Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Could he have latched onto a different thing that Jack talked about and asked him to watch that? Probably, but instead he’d chosen to watch a movie that he was pretty sure was not going to be everything he remembered it being while he was drunk from white wine. He pulled the door open and flashed a smile at Jack. “Hey!” He stood to the side so Jack could enter. “What’s up?”

Jack grinned at Parker's greeting. He stepped inside, instinctively making sure not to accidentally brush against Parker. "Uh, not much. This," Jack chuckled. The apartment was gorgeous—well kept and well decorated. Jack was used to cleanliness by way of owning few possessions. It was refreshing to a see a room that had artifacts of life and love. "Oh, this is for you." Jack pulled a pair of old Spy Kids 3D glasses from his shirt pocket and held them out toward Parker.

Parker closed the door behind Jack and smiled at him as he admired the apartment. It would be a lie for him to say that he didn’t take pride in how nice his apartment looked. He almost laughed as he took the fragile glasses and unfolded them. He felt like he could rip them in half. “Wow. I’m amazed you still have these.”

"I have a folder where I keep all my nostalgic paper stuff, like drawings or whatever. It was in there." Jack gestured toward the TV. "I like your set up. I should have brought snacks or something. Like... Shark gummies or... Lava cakes?"

“That’s so cute.” Parker exhaled a laugh. He pushed himself away from the door so he could actually move toward the couch rather than standing awkwardly in his doorway. He laughed again and shook his head. “I don’t have either of those, but if you want snacks I can grab some?”

"Uh, that's okay. I'm not really hungry, I'm just trying to be cute and thematic," he confessed. Jack took Parker's lead and sat down on the couch. "Here, let me text you the link for the movie and you can pull it up on your laptop." Jack pulled out his phone to send the text.

Parker smiled. “You’re doing a good job of it.” He raised his eyebrows a bit and nodded quickly as he moved forward to the computer. He pulled out his phone so he could tediously type in the exact link into his computer. “Funny that they have a 3D version of this movie to pirate. They assume you have the glasses?”

"It's one of those DVD rips, so I guess? Honestly I've never seen it not in 3D." Jack pulled his feet up onto the couch, sliding his feet out of his old Converse. He looked around the room again, trying to deduce which parts were Parker and which were Kieran. "You guys have a lot of DVDs."

“Uh, yeah.” Parker bobbed his head as he typed in the link and searched it. “I guess I’m just behind then? I just watched regular old disney channel.” He glanced at their collection and exhaled a laugh. “Uh, yeah, they’re all my brother’s. I bought him a few? If that counts.”

"I'm guessing none of the ones you bought were in 3D?" Jack grinned. "I didn't always have TV, so I kinda just watched whatever DVDs I could get my hands on." Jack tried intently not to stare at Parker's back muscles through the fabric of his shirt. He tugged on the sleeves of his button down, suddenly feeling awkward for picking such a formal outfit. Trying to be discreet, Jack pushed up his shirt sleeves and mussed his hair.

Parker shook his head. “I just watched whatever was on cable.” He shrugged. Did that sound pretentious? He didn’t think it did, but after Jack saying that he didn’t have TV, it seemed so. He watched as the link loaded and he had to click out of a number of unsavory ads. He didn’t normally pirate movies. He was more the type to watch whatever he could find on whatever he could legally find. He clicked the movie, then clicked it again, and then again until ads stopped popping up and he could pause it. “Um, should I let it load?”

"Uh, sure." Aw fuck. Jack hadn't prepared any topics of conversation and could feel his nerves jamming up the part of his brain that controlled his speech. "So, uh, if you could be an animal-based superhero, what would the animal be?"

Parker turned slightly, still squatting so he would be ready to play the video, though the longer he sat the longer he found it strange. “Uh...” Parker had to think about this one. “Based on personality or based on what I’d want?” Were the answers different, or was Parker trying to buy himself time?

"Uh," Jack hadn't thought it through. He didn't think that such a dumb question needed any explanation, but he was glad that Parker seemed to be taking his idea and running with it. "I guess like a combination of personality, vibe, and what you feel in your heart?"

“Um...” Parker had no idea, if he was honest. He didn’t want to seem lame, but also, he didn’t know what exactly what compromised a ‘vibe’. “Maybe, like, yeast-man? Because then I can bake bread super easily. Does that count?” He laughed. “I don’t know, I’m never good at stuff like that. What are you?”

Jack cackled. "Ew, what? Yeast Man?" Jack applauded Parker's answer. "Wait, how would that work? Would you be like, part-yeast or would you shoot yeast beams out of your body?"

Parker dropped his face into his hands, as though he only realized how dumb his answer was when Jack repeated it back to him. “Ugh, no, nevermind. Please forget I said that. Let me be bear-man or something.”

"What? No! No take-backs!" Jack was curled up in a fit of laughter. "Yeast Man is incredible! You have to own it!"

Parker felt his face grow hot under his hands and he groaned quietly. He lifted his face and peaked at Jack from between cracks in his fingers. “I just mean because I work in a bakery!”

Jack shook his head. "You don't have to explain yourself, I'm all for it. Yeast Man, protector of gluten, dual wielder of baguettes." Jack laughed at his own joke.

Parker sighed and moved to take a seat next to Jack again. “You didn’t say what you’d be.”

"Um..." Jack tapped his chin. "If we're going with this theme, I could be like, Bacteria Boy. We could form the Scoby Squad."

Parker couldn’t exactly tell why he was absolutely charmed by everything Jack said, but he pushed the feeling aside as he smiled as he ran a hand through his hair. “It’d be like Osmosis Jones.”

"Uh..." Jack wasn't sure what Osmosis Jones was but nodded anyway. "Yeah, sure," he laughed. "Oh, we could do the power rangers morphsuits and then when we tap rings we just turn into bacteria and yeast. And then that's it."

Parker groaned again and shook his head. “Please never bring up the power rangers morphsuits again, thanks.” He briefly wondered why he sounded like an idiot every time he opened his mouth.

Jack laughed. "Okay." Jack rested his chin on his knees, his arms hugging his legs. "Is it loaded?"

“Ah, yeah.” He had almost forgotten that’s why he’d paused the movie. He stood to press play before settling back down on the couch. He slid on the paper glasses and he rested his hands in his lap.

Jack smiled wide when Parker put on the glasses, but refrained from making any comment just in case Parker might get self-conscious and take them off. "I'm really hoping this movie is as good as I remembered it to be."

Parker pulled one leg up onto the couch and wrapped his arms around it. He smirked and looked at Jack. “I doubt it, but here’s hoping.”

As the opening scene came on the TV, Jack sprung up off the couch. "Uh, let me get the light." Jack circled the room flicking a few switches on and off until the room lights flickered off, leaving them lit up only by the blue light of the TV. Jack returned to the couch, sitting a little closer to the middle now, casually and discreetly.

Parker turned to watch Jack and scooted an inch closer to where he was sitting while his back was turned. He rested his right ankle over his left knee. “It’s... Woah, it’s really 3D.”

Jack chuckled. "I mean... Yeah. Did you not watch any 3D movies growing up?"

Parker shook his head. “Not at home. Just in theatres.” He pushed his glasses down his nose and came to a realization. He looked at Jack. “Is... Is this giving you a headache? We can watch a non-3D version.”

"No, that's okay!" Jack didn't want to admit how much enjoyment he was getting out of seeing Parker with the 3D glasses on. "I can like, do one of these." Jack circled his thumb and pointer fingers around his eyes like glasses.

Parker exhaled a laugh and pushed the glasses back on. He smiled and shook his head. “Okay, but tell me if you do get a headache, I don’t mind missing out on the 3D.”

"I'll let you know." Jack turned to watch the movie. It was not, in fact, as good as he remembered it to be, but Jack still found himself smiling at some jokes. Every now and then, Jack turned to watch Parker, to see his reactions, to smirk at the way he looked in the glasses. At some point Jack pulled his legs up into a criss-cross applesauce, maybe not-so-accidentally letting his knee cross over into Parker's space.

The movie was... It was something. Parker couldn’t say that he wasn’t enjoying it, but the effects and jokes were... Not great. Much less high brow than the jokes in the movies he and Kieran would watch, but that did make them easier to laugh harder at, even if it was just at how ridiculously they were delivered. He pulled his sleeve down with his thumb so it was covering half his hand, somewhat unconsciously, as he stretched his arms out behind him on the couch. He was nowhere near actually touching Jack’s shoulders, but he had a moment of faint panic as he tried to focus on a young Taylor Lautner performing his song and dance scene.

"Dream, dream, dream, dream," Jack muttered along with Sharkboy. Jack turned to look at Parker. "Is it weird to say that Sharkboy was like... My gay awakening?"

Parker choked out a laugh and covered his mouth. He looked at Jack. “I hope you mean, like, as a kid.”

“Ew, duh, of course I mean as a kid.” Jack laughed. “Unless you think I’m only just now realizing I’m a homo.”

Parker smiled and moved his hand from behind Jack to rest on the back of his own neck. “Um,” he exhaled a laugh. “It was a joke. I’m still not great at them.”

In the corner of his eye, Jack noticed Parker's hand move away from the back of the couch. For a moment, his heartbeat stumbled. "You're better than you think." Jack nestled his face in his palms and turned back toward the screen to hide the red rising in his cheeks.

Parker leaned his upper arm against the back of the couch and rested his head against his hand. He glanced at Jack and smiled at him, seemingly engrossed by the film. He turned back to the movie. “Who was your favorite character?”

Jack leaned back into the seat of the couch. "Do you mean like, in this movie? Or just in general? Because definitely Sharkboy if we're talking Sharkboy and Lavagirl."

“Because he was your gay awakening?” Parker laughed. “Do you have one in general?”

"Yes! Exactly. How could he not be my favorite?" Jack laughed. "In general though, if we're talking childhood, I'd probably have to say... Miranda Priestly?" Jack laughed again, not sure if the reference would even land with Parker. "How about you?"

Parker rested his hand on his cheek. He didn’t know who that was, so he just nodded and hoped Jack wouldn’t want to talk about it too much. “Cool. Uh, I don’t know if I have one. I probably do, but not off of the top of my head.”

Jack tapped on the couch between them, watching his fingers. "You'll have to figure it out. And then we can watch your movie next." Jack slid his hand back onto his lap. "So we're even."

Parker watched Jack’s hand for a moment before looking back at him. He felt his ears grow hot as he grinned, so he turned back to the movie. “Yeah, cool.” He couldn’t stop smiling. He moved his arm back to the back of the couch. “I can look through the movies I have here. Unless we want it to be another childhood movie.”

"Whatever you want!" Jack answered a little too quickly. He didn't want to seem too eager to spend time with Parker. Or did he? He felt his face go red again. "I just want to know what you like."

Parker continued to smile and only glanced at Jack, afraid that he might be watching him instead of the movie too much. “Um, I like watching films with my brother, but I really like funny, shitty movies like this. I mean, not that this is shitty, it’s great. It’s just... I’m enjoying it.”

Jack turned to look at Parker. "You can say the movie's shitty, Parker. I know it's shitty," he laughed. "I hope you don't, like... Think that I think this is a masterpiece."

Parker laughed and pressed his cheek into his shoulder, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t, it’s just, I don’t want you to think that I’m not enjoying it, because I am. And sometimes I’m kinda rude with what I say, I’ve been told.”

Jack grinned and shrugged. "Eh. Words are just words. Sticks and stones may break my bones but just don't burn my eye out."

“Um,” He exhaled an almost-laugh at that, feeling bad for doing so, but feeling worse if he didn’t. “Yeah.”

Jack snorted. That was the first time he had ever made a joke about the incident out loud to another person. Despite Parker's reaction, Jack still felt a little rush come on, as if he had finally released a weight he didn't know he was carrying. He pushed his fingers into his cheeks, trying to get himself to stop smiling so hard. "Sorry. Just kidding." But not really.

“Oh, yeah, I mean.” Parker shrugged. He wondered how Blue would feel about Jack sitting on his couch right now. He swallowed. “Um, I’m gonna grab water. Did you want anything?”

"Uh, water sounds great." Jack pressed his face between his hands. Oh gods, was the joke too dark? Jack exhaled, not too loudly, trying not to psych himself out. He let his feet fall back on the floor to give himself some better circulation. Jack wasn't used to feeling this many emotions at once and he needed to remind himself not to cease all autonomous bodily functions.

Parker stood and ran to grab two cups of water. He closed his eyes for a moment as he stood at the counter and sucked in a long breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled. He felt like he was doing well, but he could feel himself crashing. He swallowed and moved back to the couch. He took a seat noticeably closer to Jack this time, but still kept about half a foot between them. He held the cup out to him. “Sorry I didn’t offer this when you got here. Bad hosting on my part.”

"That's okay. Sorry about that joke, I wasn't trying to make things awkward, or like... Uh." Jack took a big sip of water and set the glass down on the floor in front of them. He shook his head. "We're both pretty shitty at words, I guess," Jack offered meekly.

Parker sipped his water and shook his head. “No, no, it’s fine, just, unexpected, I guess.” He shrugged and put his water down as well. “God, yeah. I called myself yeast-man earlier. I thought that was an appropriate thing to say.”

"I still do. I don't know why you wouldn't think that's an appropriate thing to say." Jack smiled at Parker. "Since you're a baker and all."

Parker dropped his head as he laughed quietly. He folded his hands in his lap. There were moments when he was overwhelmed by how much he liked Jack, and in this particular one, he felt almost guilty about it, like it was a mistake having him here. He forced the thought away and sat back. “I guess you’re right, bacteria boy.”

Jack chuckled, exhaling a sigh of relief. The conversation was back on track. He folded his arms across his chest and sat back, leaning ever so slightly in Parker's direction. Jack had forgotten entirely about the movie but he forced himself to look at the screen to avoid the risk of making any more awkward jokes.

Parker moved his legs up to criss-cross on the couch, his knee inches away from Jack’s leg. He rested his hand in his lap and didn’t look at his leg. “Um, do you watch a lot of movies?”

"Uh, yeah." Jack answered the question absentmindedly, not sure if he was telling the truth or not. His eyes had fallen to the small distance between his leg and Parker's, and his mind was singularly focused on deciding whether to close the gap. "I've been watching a lot of shitty 80's horror movies lately. Like, summer camp slashers and that kind of thing. How about you?"

Parker pushed the glasses to sit more securely on his nose. “I’m not really a horror guy? But it might be because I don’t watch any. I watch, like, early French cinema. Like, pre-Nouvelle Vague and it’s all in black and white. I watch some Spanish movies too. My brother’s really into film.”

"Oh my gods, you're, like, sophisticated." Jack laughed. "Do you speak French and Spanish? Because that's... Kinda hot."

Parker laughed. “I’m not, it’s all Kieran’s influence. I never really watch movies on my own. Don’t know why.” He bit his lip and smiled. “Ha, yeah. You know, romance languages. Pretty neat trick, I guess.”

"Wow. Really neat." Jack let his hand slide to the side of his knee, occupying the small space between them. "Can you, like... Tell me something in French?"

Parker glanced down at Jack’s hand and turned to look at him. “Do you speak French?” He tilted his head.

"Not even a little bit." Jack smiled.

Parker smiled back. “Je te trouve très mignon, Jacques.”

Jack bit his lip, grinning from ear to ear. "Um... Something, something, steak, Jacques?"

Parker smiled and rested his hand on the back of the couch again. “You got the jist of it.” He pressed his cheek to his shoulder again.

Jack gave a small chuckle and looked back at the screen. Lips pressed together, Jack held his breath and reached his pinky out to touch Parker's knee.

Parker watched Jack’s hand when he felt him poke his knee. He didn’t move his head, hoping that the glasses would somewhat cover his eyes. “Do you speak anything but English?”

"Uh, I don't." Jack retreated his pinky to his own leg. "Just 100% English and bullshit for me."

Parker let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when Jack pulled his pinky away. “Ah, I can always help you if you wanted to learn French or Spanish. I think when I speak French, you can tell I knew Spanish first.” He pulled a face.

"Sure, yeah. I don't think I'll be any good, I've never really learned any sort of language before, but I'm down to try." I'll take any excuse to hang out again. "If it makes you feel better, I definitely couldn't tell."

Parker grinned. He’d successfully managed to get Jack to agree to hanging out after this. “That’s good, it means my accent’s getting better.” He looked at the hand behind Jack and played with the hem of his sleeve. “I’m not the best teacher, so we’ll see if I’m any better than Duolingo.”

"Well, I'd rather learn from you than an owl." Jack pulled his feet back up onto the sofa, hugging his knees and curling up again.

“I can French better than an owl.” Parker smirked at his stupid joke and looked back at the screen.

Jack propped his chin up on his knees and did his best to focus on watching the rest of the movie. Whenever the 3D became tiring to look at, Jack would drop his eyes to the floor or steal small glances at Parker.

Parker stayed somewhat amused by the effects and storyline. He looked at Jack again as Max and Linus fought with brains. “Do you think this is what it’s like when the Morpheus cabin gets upset with each other?”

Jack laughed. “Like a pillow fight but with brains?” He looked over at Parker with a smirk. “You should give them the idea for the next time they fight with the emo guy.”

Parker laughed. “I hear they’re apparently fine with just punching him?” He shrugged. “I really like Lavagirl. I think she was my favorite when I was younger too.”

"Wait," Jack turned to Parker. "You've seen this movie before?"

“Yeah.” Parker nodded. “I watched it a bunch, just never in 3D.”

"And you watched the whole thing again right now?" Jack laughed, clapping a hand over his face. "Oh my gods, I thought this whole time you hadn't seen this movie before. I wouldn't have tortured you with it if I had known!"

Parker shook his head. “No, no, I thought I told you!” He shrugged, smiling. “This isn’t torture. I’m having a great time.”

"Ugh. Good." Jack's cheeks flushed red, but he was smiling ear to ear. "I'm... Also having a great time."

Parker ran a hand through his hair and shifted slightly closer to him. “Good. I’m glad you’re not regretting letting me watch something in 3D while you... Don’t.”

Jack laughed. "I mean, I can't watch 3D anyway." He gestured vaguely at his face. "It would just be all red."

Parker nodded. “Ah, yeah, I figured. Thanks for... Letting me experience it? Sorry you got shafted though.” He pointed at his own right eye. “Is this one red?”

Jack smiled. "Um, yeah. You can't see it?" Jack reached out and held his hand in front of Parker's left eye, careful not to touch Parker's face. "See?"

Parker held his breath as Jack reached toward his face. He shook his head ever so slightly. “I’m, uh, colorblind.”(edited)

Jack clapped his hands over his mouth. "Oh my gods, please don't tell me I just made you watch a movie you couldn't see."

Parker laughed and shook his head. “No, I’ve been able to see fine. I just don’t know what color everything is. Like, I kinda do? Just, not fully.”

"Okay, thank gods," Jack laughed. "Um... Do you have a favorite color then?"

Parker shrugged. “Probably red? I don’t know.” He laughed. “Do you?”

"Wait, I'm confused." Jack paused. "So you can see red?"

Parker shook his head. “Well, a little? I can tell what it is sometimes? Against other colors, most of the time? But people say I look good in red, so I like red.”

"Huh." Jack sat back and looked at Parker for a moment. "Yeah, I can see that." I mean, you'd look good in every color, he thought. "I think my favorite color would probably be like... Black. At least if we're going with the clothes."

Parker laughed. “That’s a goth answer, but it fits, I also like blue.”

"Ugh, black looks good on everybody, okay?" Jack laughed. "Blue is such a straight boy color. Very American."

Parker laughed. “Okay, so I like blue and I’m straight but you get to like black even though it looks good on everyone?”

Jack laughed. "Uh, duh. Black is inclusive. You mix all the crayons together and you get black. Blue is like, the color that Danny Rinaldi hoarded in 1st grade because blue was for boys only."

Parker didn’t understand half of the references that Jack made, but figured he should probably find them funny. “Shut up.” He grinned. “It doesn’t matter, I can’t see it right anyway.”

"Sorry," Jack held up a hand in surrender. "You're right, I shouldn't mock the color blind."

Parker shook his head. “It’s fine, I don’t mind when you make fun of me.” He paused. He couldn’t tell if that was a lie. “That much.”

"Um," Jack wore a look of amused skepticism. "I don't think I believe that Mr. Parker Porsche Valentine."

“Shut up.” Parker repeated and ran a hand over his face. “Okay, forget I said anything.”

Jack laughed. "Sorry." He bit his lip and looked back at the screen. "I just, like, talk a lot of shit. I'm not—you're not actually... You know." Jack decided to stop talking before he accidentally shaded Parker again.

Parker laughed and shook his head. "Ugh, no, I was kidding." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't mind, I don't. I'm just sensitive. I think the Porsche thing is funny, I swear."

Jack snorted. "Ugh, these mixed signals. I can't."

Parker dipped his head and laughed. "I just think you're funny, that's it."

"Good. I am." Jack was beaming, his entire face bright red. He wondered if Parker would be able to tell through the 3D glasses.

Parker exhaled a laugh. "You are," he agreed. He looked at Jack and smiled at him before looking back at the movie. "I can't believe you thought I never saw this movie. It's like you thought I never had a childhood."

"I don't know! Some people are just, like, sheltered. I never saw Toy Story until like..." Jack scrolled back through his memories. "I... Don't think I've seen Toy Story."

Parker shrugged. “I don’t think the movies are that good?” He sighed. “Please don’t tell anyone that, though. They’ll probably yell at me about their childhood or something.”

"People are too sensitive about childhood stuff. It's like—I was just a snotty kid with two thumbs, I would've taken anything my mom put in front of me."

Parker smiled. “Same. I think it’s only when you start, like, actively choosing things for yourself that it matters.”

"Yeah," Jack smiled at Parker, his eyes lingering on Parker a little too long before flickering back to the screen. "And we chose Sharkboy and Lavagirl anyway."

“Yeah.” Parker smiled at Jack even when he looked away from him. He looked back at the screen after a moment. “The best movie.”

Jack's cheeks were aching from how much he had been smiling. As the final battle began wrapping up, Jack suddenly realized the window of time for an super casual movie cuddle was quickly closing. The butterflies in Jack's ribcage had evolved into bottle rockets. As subtly as he could, Jack leaned slightly more in Parker's direction, trying to minimize the space between them without making any obvious moves.

Parker couldn’t tell if Jack was actually moving closer to him or if he was just sinking into the couch. He wrapped his hand around his sleeve, what he’d kind of been preparing for. His heart skipped a beat in his chest. He felt like he was in middle school. He kept his arm on the back of the couch, but moved it slightly closer to Jack’s shoulders.

Jack felt Parker move slightly on the couch beside him and his heart lurched. With a little more confidence and intentionality now, Jack scooted an inch in Parker's direction until he felt his shoulder brush against Parker's body. Jack's breath was completely still.

Parker stopped as soon as Jack was barely touching him. He didn’t know how close he’d have to get to make Jack pull away. He didn’t put his arm around Jack, but turned his arm so his elbow was slightly against his back. A bit awkward, but enough contact to send shocks up Parker’s arm. He felt like an idiot. He kept his eyes glued to the screen.

Jack didn't quite settle into the position, but stayed frozen there. What the fuck is this right now? He was afraid of being too forward but too far in to turn around now. As the final scene flickered onscreen, Jack remained half-touching, half-not, his heart thunderously pounding in his chest all the while.

Parker closed the space between them, pressing his side into Jack’s. He clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on the screen.

Jack could have squealed. In fact, he had to bring a hand up to cover his mouth to stop the intense urge to giggle. Jack silently cursed his instinct to laugh in times of nervousness and intimacy. He tried his best to breathe deep and enjoy the sensation, but very quickly, the movie ended and the credits already began rolling onscreen. Oh, fuck you Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Jack sat still, waiting to see what Parker would do.

Parker pressed his lips together and closed his eyes, chest tight for a moment. He tilted his head back and laughed before turning to look at Jack fully, his face hot. "Apparently this movie has me acting like I'm in middle school. Is it cool if I have my arm around you?"

Jack laughed in return. “So cool.” Fully beaming, Jack nestled a little closer into Parker.

Parker draped his arm around Jack much less awkwardly, happy that he'd worn the long sleeved shirt to make that possible. He felt a bit awkward just staring at the credits roll across the scene, and finally took his glasses off. He folded them and held them back out to Jack. "Oh, here. I almost forgot I had these on. Next time we can watch something that you can actually see."

Jack laughed, taking the glasses. "Thanks." He let them fall onto his lap for the time being, not wanting to adjust just to slide them into his shirt pocket. "I guess they didn't make old French movies in 3D?"

"You know, surprisingly, they don't. I think me and my siblings should wear the glasses next movie night, though. Great accessories."

Jack gasped and nudged Parker’s leg with his own. “Parker Valentine, trendsetter. I’d die.”

Parker pressed his lips together to keep himself from smiling too much at Jack’s leg against his own. He wasn’t sure if he was more or less satisfied now that Jack was pressed against his side. “My family already makes fun of me for how I dress, couldn’t get much worse.”

"They're just jealous." Jack folded his arms across his chest and let his head fall back onto Parker's arm. He closed his eyes, wishing he could screenshot the way he felt in this moment.

Fuck. Parker almost felt like yelling. Jack was so cute and so close and yet... He scanned his eyes over Jack's features. He turned his head to press a quick kiss to his own shoulder and then leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Yeah, probably." he sighed.

For a second, Jack thought he heard... “Did you just...” He hadn’t felt anything, so he second guessed himself and decided not to finish asking the question.

Parker shook his head, doing an awful job at pretending he didn't know what Jack was talking about. "I didn't do anything." He squeezed his eyes shut and wished for a moment he could act like a normal person.

Jack chuckled. His heart was pounding out of his chest and not even Parker’s awkward quirks could stifle the amount of joy he was feeling in the moment. Jack shut his eyes once more, smiling ear to ear.

[strawori]

Rumours - Chapter 1 | Elu (1/3)

Summary: He was just a drummer in a boyband, he wasn't part of the royalty.

Or, the one where Lucas is the drummer in a boyband and he very candidly admits to having a crush on Prince Eliott.

Words: 1.8k

A request by: @iamshannonmcfarland

Can also be read on my ao3 @/invisible_slytherin

Lucas wasn't sure what had gotten into him in the interview and really, it's not like he had said or done something terrible and this was the end of the world. But he still worried because that's what he does best. Worry.

 He could have answered anything when the interviewer had asked him who his 'celebrity crush' was. It was such a standard question that he even had some answers at the ready that would surely get laughs out of the audience; he and the boys had come up with them after the fifth time being asked the same thing. However, this time Lucas hadn't been able to think up one of them and had just ended up blurting out the actual truth. 

 "My celebrity crush?" He had chuckled, knowing that was the reaction the fans would want to see. "I don't know," he had pondered on the situation as if it was the most important question he had ever been asked. "Maybe Prince Eliott, he is pretty cute."

 The moment the words were out of his mouth, he had noticed his mistake, but there was nothing he could have done to go back in time and say something else. So, he had just ignored the sideways amused glances his bandmates had thrown his way and had pretended like everything was alright and he wasn't freaking out inside. If he acted normal, no one would think he had actually meant what he had said.

 It's not like Prince Eliott would ever know that he had said that. He was a busy person, he didn't have time to like boybands and watch their interviews. 

 Lucas really didn't need to worry so much.

 ***

 Lucas didn't know how it had happened. Maybe it was the universe playing a game with him and making him deal with this situation like a test, an obstacle he had to go through to step into the next level. Maybe it was the higher entity that controlled the world that was messing with him and laughing at his misery. Or maybe it was just really, really bad luck. 

 It was probably the latter.

 Prince Eliott had for some reason unknown to Lucas seen the interview where he, so calmly and truthfully, had admitted to having a crush on him. Lucas suspected that some of his fans had probably tagged Eliott on posts about the interview and had sent him messages about it, it was the most plausible idea he had.

 Point is, Prince Eliott had seen it. He had actually watched it and now he knew. And, although it wasn't the end of the world and Lucas wasn't the first one to say he had a crush on the prince, Lucas couldn't help but scream silently into his pillow and curse whoever had messaged Prince Eliott that had made him watch the interview.

 Now, if the prince had just watched the interview and had said nothing about the matter, Lucas would remain blissfully ignorant about it and would go on to live a peaceful life, only remembering his truthful embarrassment a couple of times a day. But, no, that didn't happen. Lucas knew that Prince Eliott had watched the interview because the prince had made sure he knew.

 Prince Eliott had oh-so-kindly commented about it on twitter and because apparently, he wasn't as scared about all things rumours as Lucas was, had even tagged him on the post.

 @eliottdemaury: You're pretty cute too @lucallemant ❤

 He had even added the heart emoji as if the written words weren't enough on their own.

 Needless to say, Lucas' notifications had exploded in a matter of seconds, and everyone seemed to be talking about Lucas' interview and Prince Eliott's tweet. 

 Lucas was flattered. Of course, he was. The tweet was sweet and Prince Eliott had called him cute. Lucas' heart was beating fast and he almost said fuck it all and stopped worrying. But that would have been too good.

 Instead, and after seeing all the comments and mentions and even the fanart some artists had done extremely quickly, Lucas could only worry. 

 His interview and the moment in it that he had wanted to forget were spreading like wildfire and he could do nothing about it - it would be quite an impossible feat to forget about it now. And, with the interview and now the tweet, so were the rumours. 

 Lucas and Prince Eliott had never been seen together, purely because they had never met. But some people didn't seem to know that and there were now some theories circulating around about secret relationships, hook-ups and feelings and Lucas didn't know how to deal with the situation.

 It wasn't like he wasn't used to rumours. There had been thousands of rumours on his life before, some that were pretty accurate, others that were completely out there, but this time it was different. Because it was with someone he had never met and because it was so sudden that he hadn't been prepared for it. If Prince Eliott hadn't tweeted him, Lucas was sure that the rumours wouldn't have reached the level they were in. 

 And, apparently, the prince was aware of it too. So aware in fact, that he had reached out to Lucas through a private message and had apologized for his tweet. Well, he apologized for the tweet and used the opportunity to compliment Lucas once again. 

 @eliottdemaury: Hello. I wanted to apologize for the tweet I made. Not that I regret having written it or that I didn't mean it. However, I did not think it through before sending it, my parents always told me I could be quite impulsive and use my heart instead of my head and I guess this just proves them right. I realize now, and after our counsellors brought it to light, that what I said caused an uproar of rumours and speculations that I'm sure you didn't want to be involved in. That is the reason I am now apologizing, I'm sorry that I caused this situation, I merely wanted to compliment you and did not think it through. I hope there is no bad blood between us and that none of this caused you too much trouble. Again, I apologize.

 Lucas had had to read the message at least five times to understand exactly what the prince was saying and everything that was slightly between the lights. Prince Eliott had thoroughly apologized for the rumours he had unwittingly created and, in the middle of it, he had said that he had meant it when he had called Lucas cute. 

 Lucas wasn't exactly sure how to cope with all of it. It seemed like a lot in such a small amount of time and Lucas was... overwhelmed. 

 He also didn't know how to answer. The prince had been so painfully formal that Lucas didn't stand any chance of getting to that level of text. He was just a drummer in a boyband, he wasn't part of the royalty. And he worried that whatever he chose to answer wouldn't be the appropriate thing to say or the appropriate way to go about all of this. 

 And, again, maybe he was worrying for no reason. After all, Prince Eliott had never seemed like he cared much for formality unless he was in one of his fancy gatherings that sometimes were shown on tv.

 With a groan, Lucas got up from the bed and headed to where he had left his laptop on top of his suitcase next to the hotel room door. He had to answer Prince Eliott, he couldn't just ghost him as if he was mad at him and have that misunderstanding hanging over them. He also couldn't lose the opportunity to speak to the person he had a celebrity crush on. As much as it made him feel like he was fifteen years old again.

 He turned on his laptop and nervously waited as it loaded, biting his nails. If Arthur was in the room with him, he would surely be slapping his hand away and giving him a lesson on why he shouldn't bite his nails. Lucas couldn't really help it though, it was a nervous habit he had been trying to let go off since he was younger and had never quite managed.

 When he had everything ready on the computer, since it seemed more appropriate to write a formal text there than on the more informal phone, Lucas opened the until-then empty chat with Prince Eliott.

 @lucallemant: Hello, Prince.

 Lucas looked at what he had just written in disgust and promptly deleted it again.

 @lucallemant: Hey there.

 Too informal.

 @lucallemant: Hey, thanks for the message.

 No. Lucas had appreciated the message and had added it to the list of things that made Prince Eliott one of the best people in the world. But that didn't mean that the prince had needed to apologize in the first place. It wasn't his fault that people started rumours over anything. Maybe that was exactly what Lucas should write. Maybe he didn't need to overthink this even more than he already had.

 @lucallemant: Hello. I really appreciate your apology and I think it's really nice of you to address it. But the thing is, I don't really think you need to apologize for anything. Yes, maybe your comment sparkled some minds to create rumours, but that's not your fault. And, anyway, my interview didn't make things much better. So, there is no need to apologize. But, for the record, you are more than forgiven for the thing you don't need to apologize for. And, since I'm here, I'll just go ahead and tackle the most important part of all this. Thank you for the compliments, I really appreciated them and, not going to lie, they did make me feel better about the whole situation. As far as I'm concerned, there is absolutely no bad blood between us. 

 Was that considered flirting? Lucas wasn't sure, but he thought that at this point he didn't have anything to lose. Eliott already knew that he had a crush on him. He already knew that Lucas thought he was cute. And he had told Lucas he was cute in return, complimented him more than once. What was there to lose? 

 Nothing. And, if things got awkward, the conversation would just end and they would go back to their lives of never seeing each other or interacting.

 He hit send before he could overthink any of it even more.

Chapter 2