#i joke but they told me 5-7 business days and it turned out to be uhhh 12. cuz i am so blind and they were a pain to cut lenses for lol

[melankkholy]

what size does love wear? (part 1)

✎ The lights, the podium, and the spotlight are all yours. As an upstart model, your life went by pleasantly with the girls, but maybe you were too dim to realize that you were living in an illusion. Could Leon, the one and only rockstar of the hearts, be the man you were waiting for in a milieu full of counterfeit people, or are you too much of a hopeless romantic?

cw: NO MINORS AND I MEAN IT WHEN I SAY IT, messy messy messy, drugz, fem! model reader, family drama aka daddy and mommy issues, very uncanny and might be disturbing for some people idek, vom!ting and possibly or (implied eating disorders), p in v, oral (fem! receiving) praises, reader is going thru some shii, MDNI, that's all i can come up with, but please let me know if i missed something very vital, and find the song lyrics:3

It all unfolds that night at a soirée to which you were invited in the most gingerbread-like language.

You don’t have a clue how fat cats hang out at such a lavish icebreaker. That these people took you in very recently, right after your meteoric rise to superstardom, and with a wham bang. You didn’t quite make it onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame with all those big golds and jet-set stars, sure, but your killer legs, waist, and pretty tits promised you a chance to eavesdrop a wee bit on Victoria’s secret. Well, who knows? Maybe one day, even without any formal studies in acting, you could star as an aspiring actor in some movie and kiss the handsome and beefcake famous guys. You could be the next lead in a new goofy movie like Fifty Shades of Grey. Hollywood is full of pretty model casts these days, anyway. 

So many possibilities. 

Mostly with your height, physique, and poise, which would make most men who can’t be more than 5 feet and 7 inches tall (barely) outclass them in every way (never mind the grandfatherly inheritance that your mother inherited from whomever-whatever-who-cares and your surname that unexpectedly gained a notoriety, even your daddy abruptly switched to your mother’s maiden name on paper), you’re the size perfection angel of the runways. Precious, precious you. 

A happy family tableau with your mother, who doesn’t listen to your advice to break up with that man, who happens to be your father, and he has a mania for alcohol and the girls younger than him of late. 

The only vestige of this particular and domestic picture is you here, dressed in the elegance of a collectible piece from a costly collection of so-and-so, to the party you were summoned to. 

“It tastes like shit.” 

Claire’s whining in front of you, idly brandishing a hurricane glass full of bubbly as pale pink and powdery as her rosy cheeks. Thankful for the leverage of your elbows on the bistro table between you, you lift your chin, planted in the inner cushions of your joined palms, and give her a passing glance. Then your starry eyes drift back to the human orgy you’ve been tracking since the moment you stepped in the venue. 

A myriad of eminent names. How exciting to be able to see their imperfect skin up close under the veneer of make-up. Turns out there is a huge Photoshop business going on in this particular circus. 

Still, it’s hard not to get caught up in the allure of their luster. Thinking about how you were unanticipatedly plunged into a world of gold and silver, of all the thesauri that connote the existence of riches, you should absolutely bask in it—if they’ll let you. 

“You’ve had too much to drink.” Jill gives Claire a little mouth joke from beside her, which elicits a muttered snort from Claire. 

“What else was I supposed to do?” 

“Dunno. Maybe snort a line or two. Together.” 

“You could’ve told me from the start, Valentine.” Claire rolls her eyes and surveys you with her big blue lenses. 

“Hey, you.” 

You look up at Claire, a giddy smile lacing your lips. 

“Huh?” 

“Get in the back room. Jill, you and I are getting the motherfucking sniff on some good coke.” 

Coke. Oh, great. 

The hot “sport” of your demographic. Once your wacky mom’s, too. 

The poison you swore you’d never put your mouth (actually your nose) on, or the antidote to survival, as your father would call it. 

A silly little girl’s dumbest and greatest fear. 

But you’re too much of a sucker to risk losing a high-profile group of friends like Jill and Claire, the only two girls you respect in this game of whatever. Just reject them, and in a fraction of a second, you’ll be all alone, and people here would pulverize you raw. 

So without saying a word, you tag along behind them on a whim, as if cocaine is your passion. Since your friends are here, you just came to kick it.

The proverbial back room turns out to be really far back. 

The smell of weed is tangy and mixed with other substances you can’t name the second you walk in. The scent of perfume adds a different festivity. Leaves a seductive melody and holds promises to give you airborne wings. 

This must be the precise definition of getting wasted. 

A few familiar faces greet you, occasionally stopping your group of three to take a quick photo—a social media travesty, for a photo that implies that the girl who wrapped her arms around you in nylon hugs with her platinum blonde and padded lips, whom you haven’t even said a word to yet, is a hoot on your social media account. Is it worth it? 

Hell, maybe. 

Followers are everything, even for you. 

Chris, ass up, nose to nose in the coarse dust strewn on the glass surface table of the Boeing 707, straightens up as three pairs of heels materialize in front of him, oozing through the see-through transparency of the glass table. 

“You’d be a great big brother if you didn’t always finish the best one ahead of us.” 

“I’m always a big and great brother.” Chris Redfield, big and virile, stretches up in front of your eyes and wipes his nose with the back of his sleeve like a credit card sliding horizontally and smoothly through a POS machine. 

Just like a goddamned joke. 

In flesh and blood, Chris Redfield, the lead guitarist—a member of the very band you’ve been a diehard fan of since you were a teenager and whose songs have lulled you into slumber—is in front of you. Yes, you really were sleeping with rock music playing in the background. 

His pupils are vacant. Like his cranium. 

“You all look like those three girls from that cartoon where a professor accidentally creates three special strong girls—ahhh—what was the name again?” 

“Powerpuff Girls?” Jill interjects at Chris’ reference with a wan grin, leaning her leg over the glass tilt table. Claire also crouches in front of her and clasps onto Jill’s knees. Almost as if she’s biding her time to eat her out. She might do that. Later.

“Yeah!” Chris snaps his fingers. 

“Uh, I...” You spring forward to introduce yourself before the conversation drifts. Girls are already nose-dipping in the dusty spill on the table, and you stick your hand out to Chris. 

Surprisingly, he accepts the handshake straight away. In the course of these formal introductions, whenever you were to extend your hand to someone, they’d be looking you over from head to toe like you were a little bit of a poseur. Ironically, Chris welcomes you with a genuine smile. It seems modesty hasn’t kicked the bucket. 

You’re being all polite, handing Chris your name, and then—cue dramatic music—someone crashes through the pivot door like it’s a Hollywood blockbuster. 

Every head turns in the cumulative direction of the sound, all but assured by the door’s dramatic swoosh, all collectively. 

Turns out it’s none other than Leon Kennedy, the finest and equally “big-time rockin’ rock star of the twentieth generation,” as they say. 

“His ass again?” Claire pipes up from where she’s sitting. She’s not a big fan of Leon. She has her reasons. In the interest of brevity, Claire and Leon had, in fact, dated in the interim. Once upon a time, there was a ship named Cleon, a name the adoring admirers nicknamed their own ship name in all corners of the tabloids. 

While you can understand how ticked off she is, you might as well not do it at all. There is, at last, a deck of cards in front of you that you may see for the first and last time in your life. In fact, he is even moving towards you with his own confident steps. 

For you, it’s a moment of blimey, but for him it’s as natural and insignificant as the instinct to pee when he’s drunk too much stuff. 

“Hi there.” 

Now you can understand people amplifying at the mere sound of a certain voice and, if necessary, wetting their pants, pussies, and dicks—Leon isn’t the pickiest about it, really. Now everything makes total sense. He must be getting laid as much as he’s making money with his mouth. 

And he is. Add a pinch of that buzzing singing voice to a muscular body, a tall stature, and money in swollen pockets, and Leon gets what he wants in a jiffy. Kiss his ass if you will. 

“There’s my cutest groupie.” Leon waves at Claire, heading for a fall. 

Claire draws her middle finger at him and bites back a repartee. 

Not a single name he doesn’t speak in the narrow circle of this social outlet. Then he sees you, and the wheel of fortune takes a reversal. 

A newfangled face, delicate facial expressions, and striking beauty. Clearly, you’re the precious neophyte around here. 

The art of the soft soap in the eccentric azure of his eyes is hard to miss. A depth to be dug into with picks and shovels. 

How he greets you with a small mental shake of his head in contrast to his expressive gaze is enough for the conventional first pleasantries. 

It’s hard to calculate how much it’s right to cast pointed glances at your friend’s ex-boyfriend. On a more cursory inspection, you and Claire weren’t that close, at least not close enough to make those ground rules—chicks before dicks ones. (Excuses!) You definitely need proper shrinks. 

“Fucker.” Claire coughs up any remaining resentment in an epithetical whisper under her breath.

The exes find their way out of the scene, separated, and Claire tugs on your arm and flings herself straight into the dance floor. Leave it to Leon to steal a glance at you. He stares long and hard at the beauty next to his ex as you stomp off the scene. To Leon, the past is in the past, and the present is here to be remade. It’s nerve-racking when you leave, but he loves to watch you walking away.

And Jill is too doped up on cocaine to join you all. 

─────────────────

“We never would have come if we knew he’d be here.” You tell Claire as she strums her hips to a peppy groove. You just want to bring your girl back to earth, even if it’s just a pulse.

“What? Jesus! Can’t hear you, gorgeous!” Claire curls her hands at the corners of her mouth as she lets it out. Of course she can’t hear you over this hubbub. You’re such an airhead. 

But point taken. You shrug your shoulders as if to say it’s nothing and dance in unison to the song along with her jigging dance moves.

─────────────────

The DJ gets you moving with the record and the tempo of his tunes, the laser disco lights blinking on and off like thunder, making you dizzy from the jetlagged fatigue of the fateful night. For how many hours have you been standing in these Pigalle Follies and guzzling Silver Oak? God, you’re a mess. A hot one, that is. 

The flashing disco lights alternately brighten and dazzle your eyes. You can’t even take a step, let alone do the dance. Sure, you’re running on fumes, but at least you look cute doing it. 

That’s what happens when you drink on an empty stomach. Stupid bitch, you’re chewing yourself out. 

Lights are moving sideways and up and down. 

The sweat beading on the hair gathered at the nape of your neck is cold. You blink your eyes and cast them around for Claire, dim and desperate. Not a single facsimile of a peer stands.

Okay, but where’s she?

You push your way through the flesh and blood horde and find your way out of the club to the back door. Threshing, you flounder out of a dented metal door. The pit of your stomach is parched, as if tiny worms have colonized your entrails and organs.

Your hand pressed against your midsection is of no help.

Leaning against the wall, you’re propped up; you squint at the figure of a man (?) that now unfolds in front of you with the swoosh of the door. A lighted cigarette in his hand, he makes a knife-edge turn and spots you right off the bat. 

Sewn into his eyes is a tapestry of something akin to concern. They are adumbral but bloodless and ultramarine.

Voices buzzing in your ear burst the bag of intricacies with a sharp pinprick. When you can feel the echoes finally reaching your earbuds, you can vaguely feel the man reaching for your forearm and tracing circles on your skin with soothing strokes.

“What the hell are you so tipsy for?” 

Tipsy? Hell? He’s probing something about you. 

“Leave me alone.” 

“What? Leave you like this in the middle of an alley? What are you? Five?”

Your stomach produces a strange twinge, right there, in that very second. 

You totter, but the man holding you by the arm means what he says.

“Look at you. What a fucking mess, huh, girl?” There he goes, tutting you like it’s his favorite sport.

“Don’t push it, Leon. What’re you, my mother?” 

You just frown and shoot him a syringe of Claire’s inherited hatred but in your style. 

“Go away. I’ll be fine.” 

With all the audacity of a brilliant I-fucking-hate-my-best-friend’s-ex-boyfriend, you pull your arm free of his reach. 

“They’ll eat you alive in here. You know that, right?” His voice is scratchy, preaching to you, but it’s emptier than a banker’s heart. His gaze, as in. 

You don’t know. Makes you edgy, this one fucker. 

“Why do you care?” 

Really. What’s it really to him? Leon, too, in the clash of a second and a spontaneous question, unexpectedly finds himself striving for words. 

When you push off the wall against which you were leaning, balance beats the hell out of you. Standing on the spikes of your heels is like an arsenal of iron nuts. So much so that Leon sucks in his breath in sheer exasperation before gripping you tightly by the forearm and flicking the glowing amber stub to the ground. Savior complex moment perhaps; he’s a martyr to his savior complex, not even understanding why he’s going this far.

“Where’re those girls you’re always stuck with? Claire and Jill?” 

Obviously you don’t have an answer to that. You, for that matter, don’t have an answer to anything in the preamble. You just gawk at him with a vagabond animus.

You brush it off with a dejected shrug, and the withering stare you garner from him is quite enough to put you in your place, and then more. The abject skeleton in the closet that follows is beyond telling. 

The puddle of bile that you can’t hold in any longer gushes out of your mouth. There and then. Luckily, courtesy of your miraculous reflexes, you turn your back on him and excrete the stagnant liquor in your system. 

Leon retaliates by stepping back, as your arm falls out of his hands and you stoop, knees sore. A nervy and explosive burst of emotion is impinging on his face. You can’t see it, but you can more or less picture what kind of acrimony he’s donning.

What a perfect first impression spectacle. 

Your gagging voice dies from throwing up in the empty streets; warm, misty tears well up in your eyes, the usual stuff, but the averse touch of his hand brushing your hair back from your face is a special ooh. 

“You’re so fucked up.” 

He couldn’t be more serious. 

“You’re so pretty.” 

You can’t be serious either! 

But just as you lift your head to give him an answer, your stomach lurches to your feet one more time. So yes, you called your close friend’s singer boyfriend “pretty” in its truest essence, in all its pomp and circumstance. Delirious and graphic, hats off to you. You feel dizzy and more than ever dead. Like dead dead, open mouth, insert foot. The nebulous valance in front of your eyes is as opaque as an unaesthetic Instagram filter. Your balance is in tatters, and you slump, and then a thickset arm supports the back of your head securely. 

─────────────────

How you made it through the dawn is a big red question mark.

The bundle of sunlight struck by the zenith of the alarming number of the morning is bright and citrusy. Almost no trace of its golden amber flavor. That’s because it’s not a morning sun. This is a midday sun. 

You finally open your eyes at two o’clock in the forenoon. The sight that awaits you... what the hell is this? 

This certainly isn’t your house, but whose residence is this? 

And most importantly, where are your clothes? Why are you in your underwear? 

You swallow the venin on the underside of the tongue, finding no strings as you idle around because you don’t even have any clues to connect the pieces together. 

Could you have gotten so hammered yesterday that you fucked someone like those people in the movies? 

At least he’s rich.

The interior is lavishly decked out; your restless eyes drift from the bed to the rows of frames on the wall. Pictures and hyperlinks and whatnot. Why would anyone hang a picture of the fucking Golden Gate Bridge in their bedroom? 

What kind of moron did you fuck last night? 

It’s up to you to figure out the equation. 

You slip on a tacky jacket and spring out of bed. When you pick up your phone and peer at the screen and see that the digital numbers are advancing by leaps and bounds, you dash out of the room. Whatever the fuck you did in this bed yesterday with whomever you did it with has to be consigned to the past. No time for any of that. That’s what one-night stands are all about. 

“Oh, fuck. Claire, I overslept. You gotta help me sway Ada so she doesn’t give me a hard time, babe.” Your fingers are rapidly drumming, and your eyes are on the screen as you thump into someone’s fucking chest. 

It’s like lightning is spinning in your head. The phone falls out of your hand and thuds a heartbeat on the floor. Ouch. No shit. Apple, what a shitty marque of ass. 

“My phone!” 

It seems no matter how much money is just a green piece of paper to you now, or digital numbers with fat zeros in your bank account, there will always be a staunch ghetto in you. Somewhere deep in your very psyche.

“Jeez. Relax.” He crouches down and picks up the very remnant of your hapless phone.

“What happened to ‘hi’ and ‘hello’?” 

No, but wait a second. 

The distinct sound of yesterday’s “tryst.” 

“Leon!” 

Apparently your memory has erased all the barf memories from last night. Give them a little time, and they’ll chip away piece by piece and roast you in vile hell for the rest of the day. 

“Leon!” He’s impersonating your voice, or rather your holler. Pretty much verbatim. It’s disturbingly good. He hands you your phone. The screen is cracked and spiderwebbed, and you take it reluctantly. Cough it up. You have to get a new model. 

“Is this your place?” 

“Eh. Like what you see?” 

He’s acting like it’s all fun and games, and he wouldn’t bat an eyelash if the sky fell. His arrogance is of a priceless candor. 

Just take a deep breath, in and now out. Everything’s all right. Everything is right as rain. 

No way you fucked your best friend’s ex-boyfriend. You refuse to believe that. 

“Why am I here?” 

Leon gets the message.

Nonetheless, he doesn’t want to spoil your good mood by regaling you with your yesterday throw-up story, and he doesn’t want you to start your day like that. Everyone deserves to have a good day, and especially after a night of fuckery like last night, you need a whole Mediterranean circumnavigation. 

“Look, sweetheart,” he begins, “let me buy you a brunch, yeah? There’s this place, okay? Down the block. Oh, they whip up scrambled eggs so fine. I’m talking about finger-licking good.”

He really is treating you over for some “brunch.”. 

But why does everything have to be piled on top of each other? He just leaves you high and dry. 

“Come on. Omelet and coffee. Yummy. Huh, and a special mix for you that’ll sober up a hangover.” Leon reaches out his hand to you as if in a desperate bargain. 

“It’s a special Kennedy remedy.” 

Your eyes fall on his outstretched palm while he’s grinning winningly. 

“Sure. Why not? You do owe me an explanation anyway.” 

There you go. He’s got you under his thumb now—like a walk in the park. 

“Nice bra.” Leon can barely avert his eyes from your cleavage. “But don't forget to change, sunshine. I reckon I can find a spare shirt for ya.” 

What a dipshit. 

Rest is a moot point.

─────────────────

You’re not exactly sitting with the shittiest man in the world and chowing down on a portion of omelette. Really, the place where he brought you for a meal isn’t bad enough to be described as decent. 

“So last night—” 

He derails the conversation. 

“No. We didn’t.” He sips his coffee, which dribbles down his parched throat. He’s been telling you this story for what seems like forever, even though it’s downright laughable—something hard to believe. 

Pleasantly enough, you manage to shake off the blues, but now Leon’s hot under the collar. 

The truth is, these bitter coffees are not his cup of tea, ’cause he loves tea more, but when he saw you getting a heavy Caffè Americano, he ended up ordering one too, just for a little spice. 

Now Leon regrets his decision. Never again. Vanilla all the way, long live crony capitalism. 

“I can’t even bring myself to believe it.” 

“Neither can I. Who knew you had a little Viking god in you?” 

“Viking god?” 

Leon nods in approbation. The musing is rather sweet, but too much sweetness makes your cheeks fat, and that’s the absolute last thing you need. Pounds. Swollen face.

“They drink heavily too, don’t they?” 

“I don’t drink that much,” you rectify him. 

“You do. I know a blackout drunk when I see one.” 

You palm your face in dismay, because how long can you put up with this charade? 

“Why did you drink all that?” 

For what does it matter to him? That you have to implicitly profess to him that you detest him. Can’t be buddy-buddy with someone Claire hates; blood and guts be damned. 

“Nevermind. I mean, you don’t always get some chivalrous knight on a white horse coming to your rescue. Watch yourself. Get your shit together next time.” 

Get your shit together.’

You’re not planning to get your life together, which has never been in order, on his say-so. 

This is no picnic.

─────────────────

That day, after that specific coffee date, not only were you tardy for the last rehearsal, but you were also vituperated by Claire. 

“I don’t trust you.” 

“Claire, I swear to you—” 

“Oh, not this again!” 

Sheva’s writhing between you and Claire, her head is cracking open, so to speak. She keeps one hand on your shoulder and the other on Claire’s forearm, but her arms draw back, both of you rebuffing her every gesture. 

“You showed up in his jacket. For fuck’s sake. You’re looking me in the eye and fucking lying to me.” 

“It’s not what you think.” 

Your words have always been meager in expressing your true self-defense. It’s no better now. 

“So you really are fighting over a guy. This is really happening. Girls, this guy bleaches his hair regularly!” Sheva chimes in and maintains her equanimity. What you are doing is quite puerile in her eyes. 

“I wonder how you’d react if your best friend fucked your ex-boyfriend, Sheva. Would you be so cool and mighty about it?” 

Aww. She still considers you her BFF. 

“Yeah, that’s what it’s called, an ex! Why can’t you just believe her? If you can’t trust your best friend, who else can you trust?” Sheva nudges Claire with a little gust of force, and Claire slumps down on the couch. She’s cross and indignant and doesn’t care that her butt stings when Sheva pushes her. 

Seems calmer, or that’s what you’re praying for. Please let it be so. Please, please, friendship Gods and Goddesses.

“You need to believe me, Claire. I told you.” 

Not a word comes out of her mouth, and she purses her million-dollar lips closely. Looking like she can’t decide on what might fall out of her tongue.

“I didn’t sleep with Leon.” 

You grovel on your knees; just how pathetic you can be when you want to be. 

Another last whine, forlorn (you may have already said the same thing a hundred times since you’ve arrived home). 

“You saw it on my dress. Full of fucking retch, Claire!” 

More details to go, and you wish you could explain to her how utterly incapacitated you were last night. From under her pretty eyelashes, she gives you a downcast appraisal. 

“I went out for some air after dancing with you. I was a mess, Claire. I looked everywhere for you. Then he came, and, you know, silly me, I fucking dozed off.” 

Sheva hugs her arms across her chest, monitoring a hushed and more subdued conversation between the two of you. Probably best not to interrupt. 

“Ugh. He always loved being the big hero.” Claire finally swallows her reticence, endearingly vacillating. Thank God. 

“Don’t fall for him. Don’t be a moron. God, you’re so stupid. You don’t even know it. He’ll set you up in a game, and before you know it, you’ll be stuck in the mud.” 

Well, you weren’t expecting a herd of counselors from your best friend. It leaves a peppery ginger on your tongue. 

“Pfff. Claire, don’t be ridiculous. You really think I’m hung up on Leon? He’s not my type. Piers is my type, duh.” You say it like the kookiest thing you’ve ever heard in your life. 

For all the things you don’t know, you speak with the vanity of a clueless nepo baby, as if you’ve been in this line of endeavor since the day you were born. 

“I saw the way he looked at you. I know that look.” 

Ha. Now she’s channeling the ultimate Daenerys Targaryen speech. 

“Very well, Claire Targaryen.” You smile dotingly at her, thinking it wouldn’t harm sharing a witty little tidbit. 

“Seriously... just go, okay? Leave me alone.” 

That’s where the rubber hits the road. Claire, your dearest friend, wants you out of here. It’s unbelievable. In your head, your memory is bare and there are no words, but your heart is crushed in a tearful pain that you can’t articulate. There are no labels or names for this feeling in your vocabulary. 

You blink at her, twice and your smile frazzle subtly.

She won’t change her mind, that is for sure. She wants you gone. 

You get up and walk out of there while you can. Sheva lingers behind you, but you’re fast and rightfully upset.

─────────────────

Wearing Leon’s Schott jacket and the t-shirt combo he provided is not exactly the kind of fancy getaway you’d want to pull off, but you’re quite adamant.

You go to the only place you can go. 

To home. 

It’s been years; you haven’t seen your parents, and who knows what it’s like now? In the car, your model face, admired by millions, the one you bequeathed from those two people who hated each other like a curse on their souls so passionately, is in a state of shambles. 

Walking into the garden of a vast estate your mom bought for a pittance, you can spot your father’s nifty all-black Stellantis. It sparkles in the glow of the porch light just above the main doorjamb. 

You cringe and then look at the door and the gold-engraved “welcome” inscription on the double sash of the wooden door. Just how “cozy” would it be to step in here again after so many years? 

As you muster up the guts within yourself to ring the doorbell, the door itself flies open. Two pairs of eyes you’ve never seen before, but who instantly identify your face, are staring at one another. 

“Oh my God! It’s you!” The girl is the walking example of the L.A. accent itself.

Since she’s wearing a skintight “daddy’s girl” tank top and a short denim skirt, odds are good that you’re talking to one of your dad’s new dollies. You know, the bimbo and the Barbie ones. 

She envelops you in a bear hug. Sweet, toffee, and mucilaginous undertones of muscat perfume overwhelm all your senses. 

“I’m your biggest fan. Oh, my room and my walls are full of your latest Vogue photoshoots. Versace was such a fantastic choice for your palette. That dress... ah! I-uh. Was. In. Love.” 

There’s a certain luster in the girl’s eyes as she goes on and on. Really, Dad, how old could this poor girl be? You can’t stop thinking about it, but the more you think about it, the more deeply it sickens you. 

“Thanks.” 

As riveted as you were by the prospect, you had gotten far enough in this biz to learn how to keep those around you at bay with fake cheerful smiles. Perhaps you really do have that rampaging Hollywood blood coursing through your veins. 

“I came to see my dad, but—” 

She sweeps her arm down from your shoulder to your waist, and with her free hand, she whips out her flip phone, smiling at the camera. 

“Say cheese!” 

You don’t. 

Your pose with a faded pallor mirrors on her screen, and you catch a dubious glance from her. She’s plainly querying you. 

“A little smile would do you good...”

“Bitch.” She nags the last word in a barely audible coo, clammed up more than any of the preceding chunks of words that came out of her mouth. 

Excellent. 

Like you have no problems, and you have to put up with this horseshit. Why did you even bother coming here? This house isn’t even your home. Not anymore. They’ve carted away everything from your childhood, and a handful of crumbs of fragmentary images of the past are all that’s left of any of it for you. 

No point insisting on three drips of memories in a life that takes many liters to survive. Nostalgia is frivolous. 

Besides, you feel bitchy enough to give this girl her paycheck. 

Except your dearest father does intervene. His noisome mug never dims a morsel, not even when he sees you. 

“What a strange coincidence, sweetheart.” 

“Certainly is.” 

Forget it.

Could a man who never knew how to be a decent father suddenly, by some strange turn of fate, come to discover what it means to be one? You’re a delusional one. This is just one of your little glitches—the very first instinct of a little girl running to her daddy any time she’s hurt. He never knew how to mend and heal those little wounds in the first place. 

“Why did you come here?” Your father’s brows shoot to his hairline. A horrible sight for his hair is receding. Reprehensibly. 

Doesn’t look like he’s going to let you in, though. He appears quite happy with his new girlfriend on his arm, and his common-law wife, your mother, is somewhere who knows where. 

“Well. It’s Mom.” You perjure, drawing a blank verse or two. Moments like these are precisely when the words essentially latch at the base of your throat. 

“She’s not here.” 

“Ha. Yeah. I can see that.” Your facial tissues, your lips, they all start to ache from ersatz smiling arts and language. Poker face can only do what it costs. 

“I think—” 

“You need to—” 

Your words and your father’s words jar with one another. It’s a mess. Even for a glimpse, it baffles you how much emotion there is in the old man’s face. And him too. His girlfriend rolls her eyes, a numbing distaste for the father and daughter in all this kerfuffle. 

“Ugh. This is so boring.” 

She walks inside. 

You nervously fidget with the folds of the jacket Leon gave you as a provisional. 

“I think I’d better go.” 

“You’re right.” The old man clears his throat as if he were about to overcome an obstacle. He’s silently begging you to put an end to his misery here, and you’re doing that just fine; you’re always ready to walk the tracks. 

“Good night, Dad.” 

“Night, kiddo. I’ll call you when your mom gets home.” 

“Sure. I’ll be waiting.” 

You won’t. How would anybody give a fuck? It’s too late. 

It’s nothing but a night alone for a wounded heart and the coveting of a whim that never had a chance to bloom. 

Either your menstrual cycle is nearing or the end itself is near.

The billboards are lit up with crystallized lights. It’s a visual. Makes your eyes glaze over a bit. 

The sign just above it reads “THE END IS NEAR!” in capital lettering. Above that are plaques with the new single releases of Leon and his group. He’s the talk of the city, and the world for that matter, so his face is in the foreground, a cerebral display, and Chris and Carlos’ faces are hot on his shoulders. The chorus of their million-selling track on Spotify is rasping in your frostbitten ears. Leon’s voice is a smooth crossover riff, raspy, and he’s making love with the bass guitar. 

On the terrace where you are sitting, a breeze gently caresses your face, leaving the crisp touch of snow on your cheek. The cold sinks into your veins, blue-tinted blood rushing through your body, no thanks to the booze. You feel queerly toasty. 

Leon’s jacket definitely lasts through the cold winters. It’s like your personal furnace. 

The traffic is hectic past the glass handrail, jostled by the car lights streaming down, and the first baby snowflakes of January are pelting down from the sky. It’s quite late, the rush hour of hungover midnight. 

Even as the elliptical chases the minute hand, you watch the passers-by. The prominent and whitewashed faces are just names. They greet you, acknowledge you with gracious smiles, but that’s it. Never so genuine that they would actually sit down next to you. 

Except for one name.

Except for Leon, who, in what must have been an illusory twist of fate, casually crosses the table with a flute of champagne in his hand. 

He doesn’t recognize you at first when he passes by your booth, but on the second glance, he captures that swan-like grace at once. 

Stepping backwards, as if he’s moonwalking, he skips over to your side to forestall your horrified side-eye.

“I shoulda known you were a vampire. You never sleep.” 

He thinks he’s made a stylish enough debut with these words. Whatever it takes to charm you. 

“No, come on. Are you stalking me?” 

“Nah. I’m too much of a busy man for that kind of thing, sweetheart. Though I’ve heard on some fanfiction sites that there are people out there. They write me off as a complete weirdo.” 

He slides into the chair straight across from you. 

“Check it out when you’re feeling like it.” 

Absently your eyes wander over his shoulder and zero in on the mass of light in the distance. In shimmering floodlights, people are laughing and making TikTok videos, some twerking, others striking jaunty poses for the camera for their thirst trap edits. Bread and butter for the fans. 

“’s rude to overlook someone when they’re talking to you. Didn’t your mother tell you that?” 

In your consciousness, you realize that even Leon’s name is lost in the cacophony of your milieu. You still do have a problem named Leon at this table.

“I don’t have time for this.” 

“Time for what?” 

Thoughts pile up in the back of your foggy brain, but they don’t coalesce into a harmonious, final answer. The blurry words worm their way out of your mouth, and they evaporate in the bitter cold air. 

Should you be kind and remind him that you’re weak? 

“I don’t know.” You bluntly say, but Leon can smell the suspense. 

“Are you drunk again?” 

The arch of your eyebrow furrows instinctively, automatic as the blooming of a flower when you water it—flourishing and blushing. But drown it too much, and it wilts, fades. He just doesn’t grasp it, can’t get it through his thick skull that you don’t want to chit-chat. 

Be that as it may, there’s one fact that’s indisputable: you want to fuck him. You’re simply at odds with yourself. 

The more Leon comes at you, the more you’re falling into error, but beggars can’t be choosers.

It’s unfortunate that you can roll over when you feel a stone. 

That thing you’re ruthlessly searching for could quite possibly be Leon. He’s the one who has reduced you to the devil’s quarry himself. Either that or you’re the one in extremis. 

Right now, however, it’s a bet neither of you care about. Unworthy of further discussion. Mouths are otherwise occupied. 

Your mouth shamelessly hyphenates his name while his mouth ecstasies on the honeydew betwixt your spread legs. Your eyes roll graphically as the tip of his nose, which looks good when he takes a snort from the lining of vanilla icys, bumps against the nacre of your clit a crack or two. It’s like you’re possessed by something, by demons or poltergeists.

The sullen and muffled fumes of profanity are belching out of the bedroom door where he’s propping you up against it. This is the very public domain information; Leon Kennedy is an excellent pussy eater. 

It’s one thing to hear from the women he’s slept with that he’s that swell; it’s quite something else to have the saccharine taste of your cunt melting in his mouth like cotton candy on the tip of his tongue just then.

“Leon... fuck. No. Want it.” Your tongue is all dry. 

You can’t remember the last time you felt the highs of ecstasy from a tongue fuck like this. Hollywood is full of people with small dicks, and the whole insertion and pull-out game sucks here, foreplay is long gone.

Luckily, you can always take a chance on someone (actually your best friend’s ex-boyfriend) who at least knows how to worship what he sees, and you reap the rewards of the risk you take. And he feels generous enough to let you have it all tonight. 

With a touch as sensuous as a butterfly’s wing, his thumb meanders through your aching bundle of nerves, igniting a fire of euphoria through your body. When he lightly palms your opening, when he feels the plushness of your slick walls, a delicate breath escapes your mouth, akin to a prayer of subservience to this very moment of pure pinch and rapture. 

“So sweet when you cum.” 

He blows your mind, the story of how you got here, the blowjob you pulled on him in his car — all that’s in the past. The only thing that matters is that you need to forget everything that happened tonight in the morning and the painstaking labor of that commitment. Pulling his belt on and off takes no extra time flat. His aching erection takes a toll on Leon, both psychologically and physically. 

When he tucks you properly into his bed, he casts a phantom over you like he’s your own exclusive brand of ghost. Kissing on a first date was never his thing, but he can’t let you go when his lips are still tantalized by your moreish taste. 

He’s making a nicer entrance than you’d expect and then some; you’re squeezing him so tightly, and he’s stippling hot kisses across the tender flesh of your throat. 

Breathless and forehead to forehead is too romantic and superfluous for a debut tryst, but that’s what rebound sex is for. 

“Fuck. Oh, fuck.” 

Maybe he’s louder than you are in these seconds— in these very seconds of his whet of thrust followed by the seconds of him pulling out soon to only bully back into your dewy cunt.

Makes your head reeling, and he wallows in the sin of the tightness stretching around the sheer girth of his cock. 

“Pussy’s so fucking good. She’s all swollen from me.” His whisper is fervid and sweeping against your cheek.

Yes. Indeed, his mouth doesn’t seem to be shutting up here either, even when he’s fucking you deep in his own bed. 

The deep azure shade of his eyes is clouded with pearlescent blue; his pupils are pitch-black orbs, and he watches his cock slide in and out of your drenched pussy in chaotic upheaval, the metal of his frenum piercing taunting your swollen clit as you drape his dick in a warm cocoon. 

“Pretty, pretty pussy suckin’ me so nice, yeah?” His voice is a throaty whisper that makes your poor, mushy brain tingle tunefully — an acrid, itchy scab that has just covered the wound. 

“Fuck,” he grunts crassly, “been thinking about this all—ungh!—night—this fucking skirt up and fucking you real loud, baby.”

Seriously, he could just write a song or a lengthy poem for your lovely pussy right here and then. 

A hubristic tinge variegates his pink lips, a wicked one that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He’s enjoying this; hell, he’s fucking loving it. His laugh-like treble is a low rumble as he pounds into you with a little more force, a little more urgency. The bed rocks under you, groaning abjectly. 

“C’mon, baby, cum on my cock. Y’know I got you. I got you so good.”

He knows how to do it.

Once bodies and emotions are merged, they move into a harmonic coherence, and just like that, he makes you cum for the second time tonight. A string of bland events that are frozen in your brain, clinging to your fiber, you feel your own tears trickling down your cheek in an attempt to get rid of them in one fell swoop, barely blinking open your eyes. 

You cradle his cheek closer, pushing away the wisps of hair falling in curtains in front of his blues. You want to kiss away the cruelty that cloaks his lips, but Leon, unable to tear himself away from your pussy that is still squeezing him, is too engrossed for such kisses. 

One blink and you’ll miss that fleeting moment as the seconds tick by, Leon barely pulls out a shred from you and strokes his cock on your belly until he finds comfort in it, painting white ribbons on your dainty skin. 

Seconds afterward are spent on your own, burdened by the cost of your one night’s slip-up, and you two stare at each other wide-eyed.

Two pairs of eyes, parted lips, and a kind of rare prettiness you usually find in men that will haunt you for a while. Ken blonde hair aglow in the light of the dawn and buried layers of emotions locked away in secrets that are too debauched to divulge.

Pearls of promise on the tip of your tongue, but you don’t dare spill them out. Heaven will hate you. Claire will hate you. 

In Leon’s estimation, per contra, you’re a damsel in distress, big eyes, and a girl who has somehow succeeded in wrapping all her depravity in the thin threads of her angelic eyes. Seraphic but dangerous. An inner part of his brain keeps hammering into his thoughts that everything has only just begun. 

[essektheylyss]

Reunited (with my beloved glasses) and it feels so goooood

[ms--lobotomy]

5th fic in 4 (?) days? I'm so normal. I'm so normal. I'm so normal. Aaah [Previous] [Next]

Summary: Your first day of work after you start feeling a funny way about the funny merman.

Word Count: 1257

Content Warnings: car dependent infrastructure, Typhus existing again, cliffhanger

Image Credit: @squishyowl

Your fingers drummed on the steering wheel as your playlist looped back around to that song. You couldn't close your eyes, not now, but your heart beat faster in your chest as you remembered how he held you, the beat of his hearts against your face. It's just fascination, you told yourself. You haven't even known each other for a week.

You pulled into the employees' parking lot before you found a spot, cut Dave Grohl off mid-word, and got out of the car.

"Sorry, Dave," you mumbled as you locked it.

You speedwalked towards the door, going through all the familiar motions of clocking in. You looked at the time. Two minutes late. You sighed as you checked in with the baby turtle. It was a green sea turtle, but the babies were more black or dark brown than anything. You bent down to look at it. The tank was very small, but the little one didn't seem to mind it. After a few moments of swimming, it settled on the bottom. The corners of your lips quirked up before you heard footsteps behind you.

You turned around. It was Typhus.

"Hey," he said casually. "Oh, you found the Nurgling?"

"The what?"

Typhus chuckled. He came in close to you, and you backed away slightly. "I call him the Nurgling," he said, looking down at the tiny sea turtle. "I don't know if it's going to be his name, it's a bit of an in-joke I have with someone. Haven't given him a nametag yet, either. First thing I'm going to do today. How's the merman?"

"Oh," you said, slightly taken aback before remembering that he was there too. "He's doing... better than expected. I showed him some of my music, and he seemed to like it. I hope, at least?"

"Alright, okay," said Typhus, nodding slightly. "Didn't know that one of the first things you'd do when you found a merman was to show him dad rock. But to each their own."

"Why, what would you do?"

"I'd show him Slipknot, personally," he shrugged.

You let out a slight laugh, turning to walk away before he continued.

"I think someone should check up on him," he said. He was much taller than average, reaching almost 7 feet standing. "Don't you think?" He moved a little closer to you, and you backed away, but you were getting precariously close to the wall. Shit.

"I mean, I would like to get to know Stella better," you mumbled. You tried to walk away, but he shifted in front of you.

"Aren't they so busy, though?" he asked, turning up his nose a little bit. "I don't have anything going tonight, and I'd hate to get in the way of anyone's activities. Besides," he said, "all of us found the merman. It's all of our duty to look after him, right?" His leg was almost between yours, and you shrunk back even further.

"Excuse me, what the actual fuck are you doing?" asked the girl with the brown ponytail.

"Maya, it's not what it looks like--" said Typhus, backing away.

Maya was around 5 feet tall at most, but she looked at Typhus with nothing less than fury in her hazel eyes. "Back off, Typhus. Now." Her hands were clenched into fists, with only the chipped nail polish on her thumb showing, but her tone was more akin to scolding a disobedient dog.

Typhus looked at her, then at you before backing away slowly. "Guess we should get back to work," he muttered before turning tail and heading towards one of the animals in need of rehabilitation.

"I'll say," said Maya, glaring at him before she turned back to you. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you're going to have to stand up for yourself one of these days," she said, in a tone low enough that Typhus couldn't hear. "I know we're coworkers, but I care about you. And I hate to see this... asshole get in your face when you clearly don't want it."

You paused, shuffling your feet before steeling yourself. "I'll do my best," you mumbled.

"You said that last time," said Maya, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright," you sighed. "Alright, I'll try for real this time."

"Thank you," she replied, moving off to her next post. You stood there for a moment, hands over your stomach. You grabbed your index and middle finger with your dominant hand before heading off to your post and starting the workday for real.

...

The workday ended in due time, slow and steady. Most of it was spent in the breakroom when not checking in on the animals and feeding them. Typhus was gone from the picture for much of it, gods know where. You said your goodbyes to the group before getting back into your car, and your playlist was back where you'd left it. You sighed, putting your head on the steering wheel.

Alright, you reasoned with yourself, you need to go home. You have a merman to attend to.

The song finished, and you showed up at your house soon enough. You didn't even enter through your front door, instead beelining to the back. Mortarion looked up at you, his tail swishing in the water, before he swam to the side of the pool.

"How was... work?" he asked. "Do pardon me, I am still learning your species' nomenclature."

"Work is the right word," you said, kneeling next to him. "I do hope you didn't get too lonely, Mortarion.."

"I endure," he said, looking up at you. You took off your socks and shoes and left them by the side of the pool before you looked down at your pants.

"Is something wrong with your pants?" Mortarion asked.

"I..." you started. "So, humans wear pants underneath their pants. Most of the time, at least? And it's a bit uncouth in our culture to show them. Uh..." you started, blushing. "Man. I'm too tired to go upstairs and change. Is it okay if I show you the... garments under my pants?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it," Mortarion shrugged before you tugged off your pants. You took your phone and keys out of your pocket, and put them on the glass table by your pool before dipping your legs into the pool again. Mortarion looked away, before he looked back up at your face.

"You're beautiful," he said, before tensing up. You heard a car pull into your driveway, and you tensed up too.

"I'm not expecting anyone," you said, getting up quickly. "Please. Hide?" you asked.

"You don't exactly had a huge pool," he grumbled, submerging himself.

You entered through the back door, and looked out front. The car was... familiar, though you couldn't put your finger on where it was from. Hurriedly, you looked for something to put around your waist before you found a blanket on your couch and draped it over you as quick as you could. And then you saw the person coming out of the car.

It was Typhus.

Part of you was relieved that it wasn't a fed or anything, but it was Typhus. You rushed back towards Mortarion, towards your backyard, as he made his way through the gate. He shut the wooden thing with a quiet thud, as his eyes darted to you. You shifted the blanket over your legs, glad that it was covering quite a bit.

"I..." you started, your fists balling up. You looked to your feet. "I didn't invite you here."

Taglist: @bispecsual@justeverythingnothingelse@bleedingichorhearts @nekotaetae@historitor-bookshelf

[adh-james-version]

I Know You’re There, James.

- - -

"So, James hm?" Sirius stated. He and Regulus were sitting out side by the lake, Regulus was reading a book and Sirius was "doing homework" (read: his transfiguration homework was discarded next to him as he stared out into the lake.)

Sirius looked over at Regulus who was still looking at his book but the corners of his mouth were slightly turned up and his neck was turning pink. "What do you mean?" If you weren't looking at him you would think he was frowning. The control Reg had over his emotions actually scared Sirius sometimes. "You seem more fond of him than any of my other friends." "Not true, I like Remus more than any of you, he is the only one I can hold an intellectual conversation with." Said Regulus, who was looking at the same line he was at when the conversation started.

"Cmon Regulus you know what I mean."

"I really don't."

"I see the way you look at him."

"I don't look at him."

"I also notice how you're more willing to help him with potions than anyone else."

"He desperately needs the help."

"The way you stayed away from me and him when he and Lily were dating."

"I was busy dealing with helping Barty with his plan to ask out Evan."

"How come you popped up back in the group the day after they broke up?"

"Coincidence."

"Okay," Sirius said in a baiting type voice, "I guess I won't tell you then."

Regulus finally looked up at Sirius who was already looking at him, "Tell me what?" Sirius' heart melted at the hope in Regulus' eyes. "Nothing, nothing," Sirius said before an idea struck him, "If you name 3 things you like about James then, I'll tell you." A blush rose to Regulus' cheeks, the exact reaction Sirius knew he would get, "Why would I- fine." He relented as Sirius acted as if he was about to get up.

"Uhm, he's good at quidditch, he-"Regulus' eyes glossed "is cute when his hair looks all messed up when he gets off his broom, and he's really nice to me, to a point where it can be suffocating, his smile is really pretty..." By the time Regulus was done he had a soft smile and a blush on his face. Sirius smiled. Regulus snapped out of his James-induced trance and school his features slightly. "Now tell me."

"I was gonna tell you that James told me that he fancied you, like a lot, to the point that he talked about you nonstop for about 7 minutes. And the way you just lost yourself for a second makes me think you could probably do the same." Regulus mentally confirmed that. "At first I was kind of pissed off but then I thought about it and I was chill about it."

Regulus' was on cloud 9 but his brain was now farther into overdrive than it normally was. This was most likely a prank anyways, let's not let this go to his head. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. That's all you have to say?"

"mhm"

"Okay well, I guess I'll let you go through your weird way of processing things. It's about to rain by the way"

Sirius left mumbling something about insanity.

"I know you're there James," Regulus said about 5 minutes not even looking up from his book. "How do you even do that?" James said sliding the invisibility cloak off of himself. "Do you know where I grew up?" "Fair point." "How much of Sirius and I's conversation did you hear."

James blushed, "Most of it..."

"Oh shit," Regulus moved to get up before James grabbed his arm, keeping him on the ground, "You know I fancy you, why are you running?" "Because it's a prank and I don't feel like dealing with it." "Regulus I swear it's not." "Yeah- mm"

Regulus felt James' lips on his and he let himself be washed over by the feeling before pushing James back. "What the fuck. That's not funny." "Regulus. I'm. Not. Joking." By the time Regulus finished rolling his eyes his back hit the tree, his book hit the ground and James' hands were on his waist pinning him to the tree. "Reg please believe me." Regulus closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he felt rain hitting him and James through the leaves of the tree. "I don't have time for this." "What can I do to prove it to you?"

"Get off me my book is getting soaked," Regulus said, opening his eyes and attempting to push James' much stronger arms

"No, it's not."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I know how important your books are to you so when Sirius said it was going to rain I put a water-repelling charm on it."

That did it for Regulus. He believed James. One of the quickest ways to his heart was through his books. He surged forward and connected his lips to James'. Putting his arms around his neck. By this point, both of their clothes were thoroughly soaked, but neither of them cared.

James was taken by surprise but happily complied. They didn't release the kiss for another minute. "Wow," James laughed slightly, "What's so funny?" "The fact that I've literally dreamed about kissing you in the rain and now I'm actually doing it." "You've dreamed about me?" "Have you ever looked in a mirror? Who wouldn't dream about you?" Regulus blushed really hard before leaning forward to kiss James again. When they separated James asked, "Will you go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend and if you don't hate me by the end of it be my boyfriend?"

"Let's skip the first part and go straight to me being your boyfriend."

The smile that spread across James' face, in Regulus' opinion, made the sun look like a block of ice.

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 14

Hello! Sorry this is a couple days late. I was really struggling with Eddie's reveal in the last part of this chapter and I wrote three different versions of it before I liked it well enough to be considered done.

And then WIP Wednesday was a smashing success and it kept me busy almost all night. I had so much fun. You're always welcome to join me and send me asks.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

So without further ado...

***

That night when Steve closed up his shop with Robin, Steve looked down at the necklace that had been around his neck all day.

“Robin?” he whispered.

She froze and turned to him slowly. He never called her that unless it was serious. It was always Robs or Robbie, never Robin. As she face him, she spotted the necklace dangling from his neck as he rubbed his fingers over the warm surface.

She walked over to Steve and carefully took it from his grasp. “Is that a guitar pick?” she asked gently.

Steve nodded. “It’s his lucky guitar pick, it was the first pick his uncle ever bought for him when he was learning how to play.”

Robin looked him in the eyes. “You want to know what it means that he gave it to you, don’t you?”

Steve gulped and looked away. “I thought I was reading too much into his feelings for me when he made the joke about Chrissy, but now I’m not so sure. The only thing he took from what you told him was my coffee order. The flowers, the necklace, the bagels...that was all him.”

Robin let the necklace drop and wrapped her arms around him. “Look, I know it’s tempting to jump feet first into this. But you can’t. Get to know him. Take it slow. You don’t know what kind of hell he’s been through in the intervening years.”

Steve let out shuddering sigh. “It’s so hard. I’m really struggling with this. It’s like I don’t know how to make friends anymore.”

She smacked him upside the head.

“Ow!” he cried. “What the hell was that for?”

“You made friends with Argyle and Chrissy,” Robin reminded him. “Not to mention Miranda and the other band members. You can make friends just fine. You’re sweet and personable. And clearly he at least wants to be friends with you.” She tugged on the necklace.

Steve looked down at the necklace and let out a slow breath. “Yeah.”

She poked his forehead. “You are letting your intrusive thoughts get a better of you. You’re in love with him, that much is clear. But if you love him, you’ll go at his speed. Capeesh?”

Steve lift his head and tried to steady his jaw as it shook, trying to cry.

“I’m so scared,” he whispered.

She kissed his cheek. “I know, Stevie. But you’ll figure it out. You’re smarter then people give you credit for.”

He hugged her tight. She hugged back just a fiercely. “Now, come on,” she said with a hint of a sniffle. “I would love to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

Steve snorted. “I think it’s clear when I’m not tattooing him, I can’t be left alone with him.”

Robin sighed. “Right, next time he comes over I won’t spend the night at Erica’s. If nothing else to make sure you go to bed on time.”

Steve grinned. “You’re my best friend.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

*

Eddie got home to from the shop, glad that Steve had forgiven him. He touched the spot where the necklace used to be. He didn’t regret giving it to Steve. He wanted to add roses to the apology bouquet but he was terrified of sending the wrong message. Pink meant friendship, white purity, red romantic love. And if he was honest Steve was all of those things to him, but hella confusing in a bouquet. So he just didn’t.

Steve was surprised he remembered the everything bagel he would bring to class when they shared English together Eddie’s second go at graduating. But how could Eddie forget? The teacher hated it because it had a strong scent to it. Most of the class didn’t care so the bitter old hag couldn’t call him on it. It was glorious.

Eddie cherished any memory of the teachers having as rough a go at it as he was experiencing. No matter who was causing the grief. So yeah. That might have been the first time he realized he was head over heels with Steve Harrington resident queen bitch.

He loved that Steve had leaned into the whole royalty thing for his tattoo shop. It was funny in a way most shops weren’t.

Before he could get too deep into his thoughts, there was a knock on his door. He got up to answer it and there were Jeff and Mandy.

“Hey, guys,” Eddie greeted. “Come on in. Pizza’s on it’s way.”

“Score!” Mandy crowed. “Let’s see it!”

Eddie turned around for them to look at it through the cellophane wrap. “It’s not ready to come out yet, but I figure it would be ready for the lotion by the time we finish dinner.”

Mandy’s blunt nails dragged along the outside of where Steve had worked on today. “Jesus Christ, Eddie I’d marry him for his art work. That’s so fucking incredible.”

Eddie nodded. “Add to the fact that he’s the right balance of bitchy and sweet, hot as fuck and might totally be into me? Yeah, if I don’t ask him to marry me by this time next year, you have my permission to beat the sense back into me.”

“So the apology went well?” Jeff asked.

He pursed his lips and nodded, rocking back on his heels. “I made a fool of myself in front of the entire shop, too. For extra ‘apology’ points.”

Jeff tapped Eddie’s sternum. “Gave the man your lucky pick? Does he know what that means?”

“Does he know that it’s the most important object I own?” Eddie asked. “Yes. Does he know that it means I’m head over heels in love with him?” He raised his hand and waved it back it forth. “Ehhh...maybe?”

Mandy chuckled. “You are such an idiot, but that’s why we love you.”

The doorbell rang and Jeff went to go get it. He handed the guy a a ten dollar bill as a tip and closed the door.

Eddie pulled out a dinning table chair and flipped it around so that his back wasn’t pressed against anything as he ate.

He picked up a slice of pizza and began telling them about poor Steve’s horrible morning.

“I get that she like, lied,” Mandy said, “but it doesn’t change the fact that he was dating her because he thought she was eighteen.”

Eddie nodded. “Robin said she got a call back from the police, not only is Steve’s mom not paying for his bail or lawyer, but she served him with divorce papers, too.”

Jeff’s eyes went wide. “Dude fucked around and found out, man.”

Eddie smiled. “I never got why men would cheat on beautiful, successful women. Like what are you getting out of the side piece that you couldn’t get from your actual wife?”

“The thrill of cheating on a beautiful woman,” Mandy said. “It’s stupid, but some men just can’t go beyond their lizard brain.”

“I’m just sorry Stevie had to see that,” Eddie murmured. “He didn’t deserve to have his father come to his place of business and make an absolute ass of himself in front of his employees.”

Mandy nodded. “But you got to come to his rescue and trust me that will win you a shit ton of brownie points with the man.”

“And his friends and employees, too,” Jeff added around a bite of pizza. “Robin was already rooting for you two since day one, so use that. Let her help you get your man. Because it sounds like she’s more than willing. Especially after this morning.”

Eddie wavered.

Mandy put her elbows on her knees and leaned forwards. “Eddie, my love. You know I adore you. But you can’t keep expecting the next guy to come along is going to treat you the way Seth did.”

Eddie didn’t have a lot of exes but Seth was the worst and unfortunately the last. He was everything Eddie thought he wanted in a partner. Long blond hair, tattoos, piercings, long legs in tight leather. He was charming and funny. He started off a little clingy, and ended up full on possessive. He became jealous of the band. Of Mandy, even though Seth knew Eddie was gay.

Eddie cleared his throat and rubbed his bottom lip thoughtfully.

“I know.” He grabbed the back of the chair and yanked his arm straight, throwing himself back as far as he could without falling off the damn chair. “The man was a serial monogamist, and from what I remember back in school, all the girls would talk about what a romantic he was, how sweet and gentle he was with them.”

Jeff nodded, picking up the pizza boxes to throw them away. “He was too much of a romantic, the poor bastard,” he told Mandy. “Flowers because he thought his girlfriend would like them. Tell them that an hour was too long between meetings. Kiss them tenderly in the halls.”

“Which is great if you like that sort of thing,” Mandy concluded, “not so much if you don’t.”

Jeff and Eddie nodded.

“So even though it feels like you’re comparing apples to apples,” Jeff said to Eddie, “you’re comparing a rabbit to a hare. They might look the similar on the surface, but they are not even close to being the same.”

Eddie sighed again and tilted his head back. “Is Seth the hare in this scenario?”

Mandy laughed. “Yes, monster hell beast, Seth verses cute little bunny, Steve.”

Eddie huffed out a chuckle. Jeff tried to stifle his laugh, but he caught Eddie’s eye and they both burst out laughing. Soon they were all laughing about the image.

Mandy and Jeff came over and hugged him.

“Talk to Steve,” Jeff suggested. “Tell him what happened and how wounded Seth left you. I’m sure he’d understand.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah. I’m seeing him on Thursday for day three of this bad boy,” he jerked a thumb at his back, “I’ll talk to him about it then.”

“Good,” Mandy said, rubbing her hands together. “Now, let’s make sure Stevie's artwork is protected.”

Eddie laughed and let them help him take care of his latest ink.

***

Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​ @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx

[multifandomfanficss]

Home Is Wherever You Are P4

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

With a very heavy emphasis on platonic!Christopher Smith/Peacemaker

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: It’s your last day alone with Adrian before he starts preschool so you try to make the most of it.

Warnings: mentions of child abuse, panic, meltdown, crying, divorce, mentions of August Smith, cannon typical Peacemaker violence and language, homophobia, internalized homophobia

A/N: Sorry we’re a day late! My schedule was a little busier than usual yesterday. I also posted this on my ao3 adriansglasses. Hope you guys enjoy!

You race towards Adrian in the parking lot of the old video store turned headquarters.

“Where are you going?! Can you please just talk to me for a second?!” You call after him.

“If you’re just gonna call me a stupid, reckless, liability then I don’t wanna hear it.” He says, continuing to walk. He was clearly just spitting out words he’d heard Murn or Harcourt say about him. You grab his hand, halting him from walking any further away from you.

“You could have died!” You tell him.

“So what?! It would have been for the greater good anyway!” He turns to look at you. “Everybody knows I’m the most expendable!” He tells you as if he thinks he’s speaking in cold hard facts.

“No, you’re not! You shouldn’t have pushed me out of the way.” You argue with him.

“You’re more important than me! You can live without me, but I can’t live without you. That’s just a fact, (Y/N). That’s how it is with everyone in my life.”

“You idiot.” You say, as you pull him into your first kiss.

September 12th, 1994

Today was the last weekday you’d be alone with Adrian before he started preschool, so you wanted it to be special. You held his hand as you walked into Henelotter Video to let him pick out a movie or two. All he wanted to do was have a guys’ night with Gut and Chris. He looked up to them so much. The plan was to get pizza and rent a movie or two. Your mission was to pick an age appropriate movie for Adrian that wouldn’t bore Gut and Chris. Luckily that wasn’t a problem when Adrian picked up the original Star Wars. He was going through a huge hyperfixation with Space lately. You smiled.

“I think that’s a great choice, buddy. Have you ever seen it?” You ask smiling.

“No, Dor has a picture on his wall!” Adrian told you. You thought back and remembered he was right. Gut did have a Star Wars poster on his wall. You also knew Chris was fond of the series in his adulthood and would often crack jokes about it, despite saying he’s not a nerd.

“Star Wars it is then.” You smiled.

“Rey, can we play on the games?” Adrian asked, pointing towards two arcade games by the checkout.

“You wanna play on the games?! You wanna on the games?!” You say as you lift him up, shaking him, pretending to drop him and holding him upside down as he giggled. He loved it when you did this. You’d found that out the first night you were here. You start to tickle him before setting him down on the stool in front of the arcade game. You placed a coin in the machine and let him play.

While he played, you wrote as many notes as you could. His future self had to find one of them in their future headquarters. Before you left you stuck them under floorboards, behind toilets, in ceiling beams, next to light fixtures, anything you thought might be permanent and you’d put two on the couple rare pieces of furniture you knew were still in the building, just some shelves and chairs. You wrote not to open them until the date you left your own timeline on the envelope and then you brought younger Adrian home.

On your way home you had an idea to keep him busy for the day, so you stopped at your local comic book store. You walked him all the way to the back where you were happy to see the Dungeons and Dragons section was still where it is in the future. It was smaller, but still there. They even had a children’s beginner’s guide that was simplified for younger players. Everything was perfect. You collected the cheapest option of all the materials you’d need and even had a little of your allowance leftover to let Adrian pick out a miniature. Before you’d left your own timeline, your Adrian had been trying to teach you how to play. Maybe if you taught his younger self how, you’d be better at it when you got back to your Adrian. You looked down and Adrian was missing. You panicked for a second before turning to see Adrian staring at the comic books with his chosen miniature in hand. He looked in awe at the heroes on all the covers.

“They’re really cool, aren’t they?” You smile.

“Yeah.” He whispers in awe, deep in thought.

“Well you are just as smart and just as cool and just as brave and just as strong as them.” You smile, pulling him into your arms and heading to check out. “And you can fly too!” You say as you move his body through the air to checkout. He giggles until you place him on the ground to pay for your stuff. Then you head home for real this time.

You taught Adrian how to play DND long into the afternoon. He seemed to be really interested in it, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. This is Adrian after all. Even after Gut and Chris came home, you kept playing. They were busy in Gut’s room listening to music anyway. You could hear Kiss coming from under the door. You didn’t get up from your game of DND until you heard the doorbell ring. You opened the door to meet the pizza man. You gladly paid him and got your pizza.

“Gut, Chris! Pizza’s here!” You yelled upstairs. “Ready for the movie, kid?” You asked Adrian. He smiled, giving you a nod. “You go grab the VHS tape from my bag and I’ll go get the boys, okay?”

“Okay!” Adrian yelled, running towards the front door where your bag was hanging.

You made your way upstairs to find Gut alone in his room. “Where’s Chris?” You ask.

“He’s in the bathroom.” He barley looks up from his gameboy.

“It’s time for dinner. Can you go help you brother? I’m pretty sure I can hear him digging in the cupboard, trying to reach for the paper plates, but we both know how clumsy he is.” You give him a sympathetic look, silently pleading. He sighed putting down his game of Zelda.

“Fine.” He said getting up and heading downstairs.

“Thank you!” You thank Gut before walking towards the bathroom.

You were just going to knock on the door, but you didn’t realize it was already cracked. When you accidentally pushed it open you came face to face with Chris. He was covered in Diane’s makeup. You both froze.

“This isn’t what it looks like!” Chris started.

“Really? Because it looks to me like you’re wearing eyeliner and you’re about to put on lipstick…” You try to hold back a smile. You knew he talked a big game, but at heart was just a kid.

“I was just trying to make my face look like Kiss! Please don’t tell my dad! He’ll think I’m gay!” He begs, mortified.

“Putting on makeup doesn’t make you gay…and even if you were gay…” You sigh. “The world won’t always be this fucked up. I promise. We’ve made tons of progress…even if it doesn’t feel like it in Evergreen, Washington.”

“I’m not gay!” He stands his ground, still scared.

“I’m not saying you’re gay.” You say calmly, giving him the patients he’s never really been given before.

“I like girls!” He says adamantly.

“I know… I’m just saying… IF you liked girls AND guys…no matter who you like… it’s okay.” You smile at him. Thirteen is a confusing age on its own. When you’re Christopher Smith, only living son of the White Dragon…it’s a lot worse. You watched him avoid your gaze, staring at himself in the mirror. “Dinner’s here. Meet me downstairs soon or else Gut and Adrian will eat it all.” You smile.

“Save me some and I’ll be down in a minute?” He asks, his voice trembling.

“Of course.” You smile, closing the door and heading down the stairs. You pause on the stairs to take a deep breath. You have no idea if what you’re doing is for better or worse anymore. On one hand you could be helping Chris, but on the other you could just be putting him in more danger with his dad. When you get to the bottom of the stairs you sit down, trying to compose yourself. With your eyes closed, you can hear two little feet running towards you.

“Hey, bro!” Adrian yells, crashing into you, climbing you like a tree to get into your lap.

“Hey to you too, bro.” You try to give him a smile.

“Bro, hurry up! I wanna start the movie!” Gut walks over and calls up the stairs. You don’t even have to ask where Adrian learned that.

“Can you help me with pizzuh?” Adrian asks.

“Yes, I can help you with your pizza.” You smile. “Gut, let’s just go eat. Chris is gonna be a minute.”

“He’s taking forever.” Gut whines.

“I know, but just give him a minute. He’s had a long day.”

“He was ranting about his dad again. He’s a fucking dick. Sometimes I wanna kill him.” Gut says quietly.

“Yeah! Kill him!” Adrian repeats in agreement. If only anyone was there to understand how funny a 3 year old Adrian Chase advocating to kill August Smith was. You just laughed. Usually you would tell Gut to not use such harsh language around Adrian, but he had already said fuck so many times. You couldn’t undo what happened before you got there, not that you could change anything anyway, and you couldn’t be mad at Gut for feeling this way either.

“I know you’re upset because Chris is your friend and you care about him, but sometimes you just have to let him deal with things in his own way, so he can grow.”

“We’re more of a family to him than that asshole.” Gut says, dropping a piece of pizza on his plate.

“I know and I promise one day he’ll come to terms with that. Right now he’s just not ready.” You give Gut a sympathetic look. You ached for these boys. Gut and Adrian’s dad left and Chris’… well it was no secret nobody wanted him in the picture.

After dinner you settled in the living room to watch Star Wars. Adrian was very adamant on the seat chart. He pulled you all to the seats he decided he wanted you to sit in. When Gut tried to move he objected.

“No! Rey has to sit between you and Chris!” He objected.

“Where are you gonna sit, Adrian?” You asked.

“Oh your lap!” He said this like it was obvious. This was all just his elaborate plan to be able to sit next to all three of you. Chris hadn’t said much since you caught him. You weren’t sure if he was sad or just embarrassed, but you didn’t press further. Gut was probably too tired to argue with his 3 year old brother, not happy about having to return to school tomorrow, and you just wanted the option that made the most people happy so you settled in, letting Adrian cuddle into your arms. You smiled as the movie started, hugging Adrian closer. You were never a huge Star Wars fan before you dated your boyfriend. You hadn’t even actually seen the first movie. You had never watched it without him. Even now he was still there, even if he wasn’t in the form you wanted him to be. You were a little sad, but you knew you’d see your Adrian again someday.

After the movie you tucked little Adrian into bed. You sat on the bed, missing your Adrian deeply. You played his voicemail. You had borrowed an old Walkman from Diane so you didn’t have to keep asking for Chris’ tape recorder.

“Hey babe, it’s me. I’m just calling because I know you had a bad day today and I was thinking maybe I could bring takeout home from the restaurant and we could just have a movie night? I just wanted to know if you were feeling chicken parm or meatballs or if you wanted to just scratch dinners and have me bring home a pizza. Just call me back when you get this. I’m really proud of you- uh…not that I’m not always proud of you. I’m like totally proud of you all the time and I’m rambling again and this voicemail is about to be like 10 years long, so uh bye I love you.”

“We did have our movie night… just not how either of us expected…” You whisper, as a tear falls.

You restarted the voicemail again.

“Hey babe, it’s me. I’m just calling because I know you had a bad day today and I was thinking maybe I could bring-“ You take off the headphones when you hear a small fist pounding on your door. 3 year old Adrian probably had a nightmare again. You open the door and he rushes into your room.

“Monstor in my cwoset!” He cries.

“There’s no monster in your closet.” You smile, getting at knee level and giving him a hug.

“Monstor!” He insists, tears streaming down his cheeks. He looks really scared. The least you can do is show him nothing’s there and if that doesn’t work, let him sleep in your room. Normally he would sleep with Diane, but she had to go back to the law office after shift at fennel fields to fill out some extra paperwork. It was stupid they were keeping their secretary so late, but she insisted it was a big case.

“Buddy, I promise there’s nothing there, but I’ll go check.” You hold Adrian’s hand, guiding him back to his room. “You sit on the bed and I’ll go check okay?” He let out a whine, sitting on his bed.

“Rey, I’m scawerd.” He cried. He was 3. All 3 year olds are scared of the monster in their closet.

“Adrian, look there’s nothing in-“ You open the closet, stepping backwards letting out a scream. Then Adrian screamed. Then Adrian screamed. You hear footsteps running towards Adrian’s room. You quickly closed the closet door. Adrian was shaking in his bed.

“What the fuck?! Are you okay?!” Gut busted into the room.

“Is somebody in the house?! I’ll fucking kill them!” Judging by what you knew about Chris’ past, he was probably serious. His dad had made him kill for a lot less and the Chase’s felt more like his real family anyway. He’d kill anyone for peace. What about someone trying to hurt his family?

“Everything’s fine!” You assure all three boys.

“Then what are you screaming about?!” Gut asks. You think for a second.

“Uh… I was just really excited! I just remembered the Backstreet Boys are coming out with a new album tomorrow! Can’t wait!” You say the first lie you could think of.

“Who‘s the Backstreet Boys?” Chris and Gut almost ask in unison.

Fuck. That was 96’ not 94’.

“Uh… I can’t believe you don’t know the Backstreet Boys!” Gaslight them. Gaslight the fuck outta these little kids.

“There’s a monstor in my cwoset!” Adrian starts again.

“Sorry. We’re playing a game. Speaking of games you should go finish that video game before your mom gets home and tells you it’s past your bedtime. Remember I’m the cool one, not her.”

“Bro, I can’t believe you still have a bedtime.” Chris laughs as you push the two out of the room. You run back over to the closet.

“You don’t think my mom’s cool?” Adrian asks, his body barley fitting into the closet with his sword on his back. You crush him in a hug and start crying immediately.

“Please tell me this is real. Please tell me this isn’t some fucked up dream.” You cry in his arms.

“It’s not a dream. I’m here. I found you.” He smiles, holding you tightly. You kiss him. His 3 year old self screams.

“Why am I screaming?” Adult Adrian asks.

“I just kissed the monster in the closet.” You laugh.

[sweetflanfiction]

Second Chances - Part 9

Universe: Read Dead Redemption 2

Pairing: Arthur x reader

Disclaimers and Warnings: If you want me to tag you on the chapters let me know! Also leave a comment with your thoughts :D Not finished, not proofread. English isn't my 1st language. All I know about 1899 is from google, so inacuracies will be plenty. The reader is on the older side, and identifies as a female. We're gonna meet a lot of people in this chapter, if you find something that can be done in a better way let me know!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

• ··········· • ············ •

They planned to get the cattle and go to the owner's farm. It was a simple four-day plan, but Arthur was jumpy. He knew how easily a simple plan could derail, specially with the help of some ill-intentioned fellers, that he knew lurked around the transport routes.

They left early one morning. Albert walking into his daughter's room, whispering something to her before leaving. Arthur heard you quietly mumbling something in your sleep. After grabbing the horses, they met with the others at, what he assumed was, the end of Captain's Corner. 

Four people sat on horses, talking friendly. Arthur's mind reminisced back to a time where he was part of something like that. As they approached the people on the horses came into better view and Albert shouted at them. The older man was greeted with a slap on the arm and wide smiles.

Doc Brant sat on top of a white horse, which Arthur found ironic. His pale skin was a little red from the already warm temperature. He was sitting straight in his hat, small round glasses on his face and a tanned hat decorated with dry wheat. Arthur hid a smile when he saw the small bee embroidered on his vest. He remembered when you told him Mrs. Brant wanted to start a honey or beekeeping business of sorts.

The two Everstons seemed to be copies of each other. The only difference was the fine lines on Bernard's sepia brown face. His son, Jeremiah, and him sat on top of two tanned horses, both bidding Arthur hello with a smile and tipping their hats.

Another man sat there, listening with a shadow of a smile in his face, which turned blank when Arthur approached. His hair was silky black, long, woven back into a braid. It had a bead string intertwined with it and a single feather at the end of the braid. He nodded at Arthur but distrust was evident. Arthur understood the wariness and didn't mention it. His horse was gray and spotted and he introduced himself as Blue Hawk.

Albert was riding Bread, a horse that was the color of bread, only becoming black at the bottom of his legs.

And Arthur was riding Gray, the horse he had taken to find Houdini. Although the stallion was getting less agitated and hadn't run away yet, he still needed to keep it slow and steady.

With introductions out of the way, the men rode to begin their mission

• ··········· • ············ •

On the way to the stock train Blue Hawk was quiet, listening to the rest of the group's conversation, much like Arthur had been. However, as time passed the rest of the men started to push them into the jokes and conversations they started. Both relaxed a bit and became more cordial towards each other. Every time any of them complained about something, Blue Hawk and Arthur would joke about living on the road and how the other were living priviledge lifes at their farms. Throughout the whole ordeal Arthur kept a watchful eye on their route, his colorful background becoming a helpful resource when spotting places that bandits could corner them. He was thankful for the quietness that followed the group.

At night he would ask to be the first to keep watch. He'd make wide circles around the small camp the men set up, eyes and ears open to any suspicious movement.

He did notice that the men weren't exactly nonchalant about their surroundings or the dangers of their trek. Both Albert and Brant had a rifle each on their saddle and would always be at the front or back of the convoy. The Everstons herded the cattle to stop them from wandering too much. Arthur was impressed by how easy they made it look. It was an art form, how they zigzagged around the big animals shouting at them and reminding them to stay within the imaginary boundaries.

That left Arthur and Blue Hawk to guard the side lines. They would ride together for a while, chatting about the land and the cattle. Whenever Jeremiah or Bernard needed space, they would break apart.

After four days of riding, camping and camaraderie Arthur felt more like himself. These people were pleasantly pleasant. They would bicker back and forth, and disagree on some subjects, and obviously everyone had their flaws. However, in general, Arthur realized, these people, they were good through and through.

All those times people kept telling him 'you are a good man Arthur.' , it only felt like a surface level praise. He knew he wasn't good, he had killed more people than he had saved and some of them, he would do it again. Good people, if they kill, they regretted it. So he concluded that he was fine. He was nice at the best. 

But now, seeing the way these 5 people worked, hell, seeing the way everyone he had met after his resurrection, as you like to put it, worked and dealt with each other, he felt like he needed to step up.

His past is in the past and maybe all of this was a second chance.

• ··········· • ············ •

The group ended their journey riding through Captain's Corner's southern gate. The moon was already high in the sky. As Blue Hawk and Jeremiah cracked jokes about Albert's back pain, something was heard. Right at the end of Miss Renoir's land. A child's squeal and then, silence. Arthur squared his shoulders and looked alert for 10 seconds until Bernard laugh.

"Seems like your place is the place to be Albert." He joked and Albert chuckled.

"Seems so." He looked at Arthur, who now had a confused look on his face. "All the roads lead to my house whenever we leave for more than one evening." He gave out an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, at least there will be dinner on the fire." Brant added and Arthur noticed the smell of roasted meat.

"Father probably gifted them a boar." Blue Hawk nodded smiling. "When I left they were preparing to go hunting. There were some boars in the forest trying to get at our crops." 

"We can try and get some chicken wire around the crops. I saw Mr. Thompson do it the other day." Jeremiah pipped in, receiving nods all around.

"I think that'd be a good idea." Albert replied in a rough voice. “If there is one thing that man knows, it's how to protect what’s his.”

The group kept their horses walking forward at a leisurely pace, until they got to the open gate of Graham's ranch. The closer they were, the more distinct the voices and noises were. And it was a strange, unfamiliar cacophony of laughter, squeals and a mooing cow?

When the front of the house came into view, he could see two small campfires nestled between the house, the stables and the barn. He could also see a couple of shadowy figures moving.

“Papa!” A squeaky scream came from the fire and he saw a small child, about the same age as Jack was, running towards the horses.

Everston senior jumped off his horse and knelt on the ground, waiting for the kid to come to him. She jumped into his arms and he faked a gasp.

“And pray tell, why is a fine young lady like yourself staying up at this time of the night?” He grabbed her small waist and placed her on top of his horse.

“Momma said I could. Just today, she said.” She answered matter of factly and Everston nodded.

"Right, of course. I take it your other brothers and sisters are up as well."

"Well, Georgie is sleeping but Grace is up." She grabbed the reins.

"If Georgie wasn't sleeping we would hear him right about now." Jeremiah joked and the little girl looked at him, her face scrunched with annoyance.

"He's a baby! Momma said it's the only way he knows how to talk!" 

Arthur chuckled at the girl, dressed in a striped yellow dress and brown boots, hands on the reins, shaking her head at her brother's comment.

They came closer and Arthur observed the event in front of him.

One of the campfires, the bigger one, was almost extinct. The roasted boar secured to a branch, already cooked. The other fire was more vibrant, the flames having been fed recently. That one was surrounded by an assortment of chairs, some of which he recognized from the kitchen. He also recognized the guitar from the office, plates, glasses, some books, and some children's toys.

Two women were sitting next to the more vibrant campfire, with the two family dogs at their feet. Both had buns on their heads, but one was curvier and smaller than the other. That was Mrs Brant. He could see the small glasses she wore reflecting the orange glow when they turned to look at them. The other seemed the same age as Albert, and Arthur assumed it was Mrs. Renoir.

A young woman walked towards them waving her hand. She was dressed in loose pants and a simple shirt. However, instead of suspenders she had a baby cradled in a bright green fabric sling that wrapped around her torso. He deduced that this was Mrs. Everston.

Something stirred in him when he saw the delicate head of jet black curly hair neatly tucked into the sling. It’s been a while since he actually saw a baby, and even longer since he witnessed a baby sleeping so peacefully as that little one was.

His eyes shifted to the horse pen where Miss Graham was slowly spinning around in circles in it, holding Dusk by the reins. On top of the horse were two other kids, and he remembered Albert saying that the Everstons had a few kids. Both of them were awake, although one of them, the younger, seemed to sway more than the other. 

He looked at you and saw your head turn to the horses that had just arrived. You smiled and helped the children from the top of the big horse with the help of the fence around them. The younger kid clung to you as you tried to put him down and you held him as you walked towards the horses.

Before Arthur could dismount Albert called him closer to him. The younger man tilted the horse in his direction. Albert grabbed something from inside his jacket and gave it to him. It was a thin wad of money.

“It ain’t much, but we divided it in equal parts and that’s yours.” He nodded and Arthur just looked at the money.

“I don’t feel comfortable accepting it.” He said honestly. “You’ve given me enough as it is.”

“Nonsense. You did your job, you deserve to be paid. Take it. Go buy yourself a new pair of pants. Maybe a couple of shirts.” Albert chuckled at him. “Lord knows my daughter is talented at a lot of things, but sewing ain’t one of them.”

Arthur reluctantly put the money in his jacket's inner pocket.

The duo trotted their horses to the stable, taking Dusk with them, while the others gathered around the campfire. Once the horses were safely in their boxes, they joined them.

• ··········· • ············ •

@photo1030 :: @sylum :: @marislittlereadingcorner :: @rratman :: @clevergirl74 :: @aureolinb

[takeit222thegrave]

Could you please write trans ftm reader x Patrick Bateman? Please and Thank You :)!

of course :3 i hope you like it ^_^ !!

It was 5:30 in the afternoon. You had just got off work, and to say it was a bad day was an understatement. It was truly one of the worst days you’ve had in a while. You were getting in your car to drive home, and as you shut the door, your phone began to ring. You couldn’t figure out which pocket it was in, so you just pulled everything out of all your pockets and laid it out on your lap. Pack of cigarettes, lighter, blue ink pen, and finally your phone. You opened it and hit answer without skipping a beat, not noticing the contact “Patty <3”. The sleek flip phone was cold in your hand. With a sigh, you let out a tired “Hello.”

“Hello there handsome” the man on the line responded, “why aren’t you home yet?” Your heart skipped a beat when you recognized your boyfriend’s voice coming from the phone.

“I had to work overtime today, I’m sorry I didn’t call and tell you earlier. We were very busy.” you replied. 

“Well don’t worry about it, just get home safe for me alright?” You could practically hear him smiling. You could tell something was up, but you were too exhausted from your 12-hour shift that you just wanted to get home and curl up in bed.

Starting the car, you glanced at the radio. You switched it on and turned it to FM. You tuned the radio to your favorite station, 92.9 New Hits. An easily mistaken name, you admitted, as it never played anything current, but it played your favorite New Wave tunes from the late 80’s. Patrick didn’t like New Wave that much when you first met him, but he slowly grew a liking for it. Thinking about this made you smile and flush a bit. You couldn’t wait to get home to him, you knew he’d make you feel better after such a shit day. 

Before putting the car in gear, you lit a cigarette and put everything in your lap in the passenger seat. You shifted the gearshift into reverse and backed out of your parking spot. Turning the wheel left and putting the car into drive, you began your journey home. All you could think about was laying in bed with your boyfriend and sleeping the day off. 

You pulled into the driveway and parked next to Patrick’s white Rolls Royce, a forever reminder of your first date. You flushed, remembering how nervous you were. You rolled your eyes at yourself and got out of your car after grabbing your things off the passenger seat. Walking to the front door, you took your shoes off before going inside. You and Patrick adored having a clean house, and you planned on hopping in bed soon anyway. Before you could even grasp the door handle, Patrick greeted you with a big smile plastered across his face. 

“Come here handsome, I’ve got a surprise for you.” He chimed. He then bent down and scooped you right up, making you giggle as he locked the door behind him. He carried you bridal-style to the kitchen and sat you down in your chair at the dinner table, pushing you in. He put on a white apron and some oven mitts and walked towards the oven. As he pulled the handle to open it, you were hit with a mouth-watering smell. He had made you dinner, and it was ready, right when you got home? You were seriously considering marrying this man. 

“What’d you make love? It smells fantastic” you said, trying not to drool all over yourself and the table”

“I tried making your favorite, honey-garlic salmon. With the lemon garnish, like you told me about when we went out to dinner with your parents.” 

You grinned at him, throwing your arms out for a hug. He set the hot pan down on top of the stove, took his mitts off, and gave you a tight squeeze and a kiss on your forehead. 

The two of you chatted about how both of your days went, cracking jokes about your respective coworkers. The time was about 7 pm. You finished up your plate and stacked it on top of Patrick’s. He stood up and brought them to the sink, then turned around to scoop you up again. He bridal carried you to your shared room and sat you down on the bed. He picked out some comfortable pajamas for you to wear, and began to gently undress you. He didn’t want you doing any of it yourself, as he knew how much you wanted to rest after having a hard day. He made sure you were comfortable with what he had picked for you, one of his t-shirts. It was a bit big on you, but you liked it. He picked you out some plaid pj pants, but you were too warm to sleep in them, so you stayed in your boxers. Despite it being much earlier than he usually went to bed, Patrick picked out some pajamas for himself and crawled into bed right next to you. He flicked the light switch off and made sure the two of you were covered with all the blankets on the bed. He wrapped his arms around you, and you laid your head on his chest. He gently rubbed your arm with his thumb as you started to drift off to sleep. He kissed your forehead once more before he fell asleep, resting his head on yours. 

He was so in love with you.

[emma-cantmakeuphermind]

Just A Project | VIII

Nathan Prescott x Reader

Masterlist

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Warnings: swearing duhhh, maybe ooc nate idk, abrupt end, mental health issues, trauma, etc.

Words: 1.6k

After a silent walk to my dorm we walk through the threshold enjoying the cool air. Although we were both joking earlier, we weren’t exactly lying when we said it was hot. Unusual for late October day. I move to sit on the edge of my bed as Nathan sits at my desk that’s to the right of my bed. He looks around for a moment, much like how I did in his dorm. He hums, “Not a bad setup you got.” I look at him dumbly, my room isn’t anything special. I have some photos on the walls, some string lights, and my half assed attempt at an ‘aesthetic’. “I guess so, it’s nothing special really.”

He shrugs, “It suits you is all I’m saying.” I guess he’s right, ‘a mess’, but I smile at him regardless. “So, you gonna let me see those photos you were clambering all over me for, or what?” There’s a small smile tugging at his lips, but he doesn’t let it show. I forgot I was still holding his camera, so I handed it over to him bashfully, hoping he wouldn't judge my photos too hard. He takes it, immediately going through the photos, and after a moment he looks up. “These-” He sighs, “They aren’t half bad. You’ve got talent.” I smile to myself, taking the praise as it comes, who knows how long until Nathan switches his mood up. “Thanks, Nathan.”

He places the camera on my desk and spins around in my desk chair. “You got anything to do around here?” I look around for a moment knowing damn well that I in fact have nothing to do here. But my thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door. We both rise to our feet, I’m sure for different reasons. Mine for opening the door, Nathan’s for probably getting ready to bolt in fear of being seen in my dorm.

I walk over to the door, and open it. On the other side stood the one and only Warren Graham. Suddenly I remember the flashdrive he told me about yesterday. “Oh, hey Warren!” I smile kindly at the boy. “Hey, Y/N/N! Was just dro-” His words cut off as his eyes drift to behind me. I turn slightly, to look. Nathan. Both the boys tense up, making me uneasy. I turn back around to Warren. “The flashdrive right?” I ask, trying to gain his attention. He looks back to me and leans in to speak quietly.

“You okay? He bothering you?” Oh, Warren. He’s sweet, but I don’t like that he immediately thought that I was in trouble just because Nathan is in my room. I go to brush off Warren’s concern but Nathan beats me to it, stepping forward a bit. “Oh, fuck you Graham! Do what you came to do and get the fuck out of our business!” I’m startled by his sudden outburst, unsure on what to do.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure she's okay.” Wow, Warren actually sounds pissed, never heard him like that before. Warren speaks again, “You know, since seeing an asshole like you in her room isn’t exactly a green flag.” He also steps forward, gently moving me out of his way. “What purpose are you serving right now? Everything was perfectly fine until your scrawny ass butted its way in.” Damn, Nathan. I have to stop this pissing fest before it goes too far.

I step in between them, pushing Warren back to the door. “Please, stop. You’re both acting like children.” Warren’s focus is now back on me, a look of concern taking over his face. “Sorry, Y/N/N. I just wanted to help.” I sigh, I’m not mad, but I can tell my face probably looks like it. “Thank you, Warren. But if I needed help I would’ve asked for it.” I smile a bit trying to convince him everything is okay. “Yeah!” Nathan shouts over my shoulder. I throw him a glare before turning back to Warren.

“Flashdrive right?” I remind him. “Uhm, yeah. Here you are.” He hands me the drive and I take it, shoving it in my pocket. “Great, thanks.” I smile now awkward at the tension. Warren backs up, “I’ll see you later?” I nod my head, “Definitely! Later!” I give a small wave and shut the door, pressing my back against it, letting out a big sigh. My gaze drifts up to Nathan, still glaring, but I ease up. I honestly feel bad for the Prescott.

“Sorry.” We both say simultaneously. We share a smile, and I walk back over to my bed and sit back down. I pat beside me, offering him a seat. He doesn’t decline the offer and takes a seat. “What are you sorry for, nerd?” He says looking down at his lap. I think for a moment. “I guess I’m just sorry about everything.” His head slightly turns, not completely facing me yet. Though I continue, “You know, for Warren’s behavior, for not stepping in sooner, for everyone’s misconceptions about you, for-” My words are cut short by Nathan’s head shooting up, an expression I can’t specifically describe painted on his face.

“What?” He says flatly. I take a deep breath, knowing that my next words may be too soon for him. “It’s just- I don’t know. It’s just, before yesterday, I thought about you the way everyone else thinks about you.” He flinches, clearly hiding the way my words stung. But I continue speaking. “But now? Being able to have an actual conversation with you, I’m realizing that most of those misconceptions aren’t true at all.” Now I’m the one looking down at my lap. There’s a beat of silence and I think I’ve fucked everything up before Nathan speaks up.

“Not many people do.” I blink, thinking he should be shouting. Thrashing around, storming out the door but not without a threat. But nope. Those are those damn misconceptions again. I don’t say anything, wanting to give him a chance to speak more. “Everyone thinks that I’m some kind of monster. Like I’m this walking tornado, and if you even breathe in my direction, I go off the rails.” He rubs his palms over his face, trying to stay calm. “No one ever cares how I feel, they only care about my last name.” I listen to his words, sadness bubbling in my chest. “I mean, I know I’m not normal. I’m fucked in the head. I know that. I have issues.” He’s holding back a sob, I can hear it in his voice.

“But my dad-” He sharply exhales. “I need therapy. Doctor said I have anger issues and a mild case of schizophrenia. They put me on a shitload of pills. They don’t do shit by the way.” My heart pangs at his words. Just wanting to help. “But my dad being my dad. He took me out of therapy. Said it was useless and that I was fine. He just wants me to be someone I’m not. But no matter what, around here, at Blackwell, whenever someone hears me express any of my issues, their reaction is always,’Ooo, boo hoo, poor little rich kid.’” He laughs bitterly, looking up, wiping his face of all emotion.

The air is still. “I just wish I could be normal.” He finishes. I finally look back up at him. He looks at me, and shakes his head. “Don’t give me that look.” He facepalms and grumbles a ‘fuck’ into his hands. “I’ve never told anyone that.” He breathes for a few seconds. “Fuck, man, I don’t even know you. This is crazy.” I rush to calm him. “Hey, it’s okay. I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.” He scoffs, “No, that’s not- It’s just I’ve never opened up to anyone. So why now open up to you? Some random ass girl I met yesterday.” He shakes his head in disbelief.

I chuckle. “Yeah, sometimes you find yourself doing things you can’t understand.” I look at him with a smile. “Like how I’m giving you a chance after 90% of what I hear about you tells me to do the complete opposite.” He looks at me, a smile cracking on his own lips. “I guess we’re both pretty stupid, huh?” My smile widens, “Yeah, I guess so.”

—————————————————————

After Nathan opened up we both got a lot more comfortable. Especially Nathan. He asked what I was going to do after Blackwell, and I didn’t really have an answer. Turns out he doesn’t either really. We had a good laugh at that. I think I can see Nathan being a good friend, if he’ll allow it.

We spend hours talking about everything and nothing all at once. He allows me to open up, like he did previously. He’s a good listener. I see him laugh. Like genuinely laugh. He has a nice laugh. I find myself observing him just like I did the day before. He’s laying sideways on my bed, limbs sprawled out, hair a mess. Cheeks dusted with pink. Blue eyes shining with joy. It's a nice look for him. Being happy. It makes my heart thump out of order thinking that it’s me who’s caused this.

Although I never want this evening to end, it must. Nathan heads back to his room, and I’m left to my thoughts again. We’re planning to meet for the project tomorrow as well at his place. I find myself in that terrible predicament where I can’t stop thinking about him. Call me crazy, but I think I may have developed a small crush on Nathan Prescott.

[ninjigma]

QuinFox Week Part 5/7 - First / Previous / Next

Day 5: Healing + Battle Couple Track: 'Deep Water - Acoustic' - American Authors (Spotify / YouTube)

He woke up to the sound of a ship.

A low hum told him they were in hyperspace, that somehow he had gotten back. All he had were fleeting moments of clarity, starting with the jab of something sharp into his arm and the distinct voice of a clone swearing. 

Fox. 

He groaned trying to remember more, blinking blurry eyes and trying to sit up.  He stopped startled when a hand on his shoulder stilled him.

“Don’t, Quinlan, just- just rest okay?”

Quinlan breathed deeply, trying to relax at the knowledge that he was with Fox and Fox wasn’t panicking, so surely they must be safe wherever they were. 

“Fox?”

Vision clearing further he picked out that familiar profile, lined with worry and beautiful gray hair spreading from his temples. 

“Yes, I’m still here Quinlan.”

“Where’s here?”

“Back on the ship, en route to Coruscant using the pre-made flight path you set.” Fox was speaking like he had already said the answer before, eyes locked on the data pad in his hand. “I’ve already forwarded the information we received and updated the Council on your condition. You don’t need to contact them again until you reach the temple in a few days.”

Quinlan slowly lolled his head to the side, carefully taking in Fox’s tense posture as he sat at the edge of the bunk by Quinlan's hip. He was only in his undersuit, the special regulating fabric hugging his lean and lethal form. Quinlan had always found that interesting about Fox, how he seemed almost sleeker than other clones. Minor differences that just spoke of how he had tapered himself to what he was skilled in, and, combined with how he swore Fox could be a Jedi shadow in a different life, really just fit that namesake so well. 

Before he could say anything in response though, Fox had continued on, answering unasked questions. “Yes, it’s our ship, I wasn’t leaving my helmet behind. Yes, I have your lightsaber. And yes, I brought you back. I carried you, you aren’t misremembering. Yes, I know you think my hands are pretty, and finally, yes, I am very much okay. Only minor injuries.”

Quinlan felt a blush rise to his cheeks just as much as the smile that began to lift his cheeks. “I guess I was saying those things out loud then huh?”

Fox’s head snapped up, eyes turning to the Jedi. Finding whatever he required to recognize Quinlan truly had awoken, his brilliant first statement was “Quinlan?”

“Did I add the part about wanting to kiss your scar then?”

Fox’s nose crinkled, stubborn, and as adorable as usual, in Quinlan’s opinion, especially when he caught how there was now the smallest hint of a blush on those cheeks. 

“Yes, yes you did. You weren’t exactly of a sound mind though, so I won’t hold it against you if-!”

At this, he tossed the data pad on the counter across from them, then turned fully to Quinlan with one accusing finger wagging at the bedridden man. 

“If you never, ever, do that to me again, got it? I don’t care that it wasn’t GAR business, that was too close, and I refuse to have you collapse like that again.”

“I did it because it's you.”

Fox blinked, stilling. 

Quinlan took it as his chance to continue, head still a bit unfocused and heart somehow untethered. “Yes, your hands are pretty. Yes, I would kiss the scar. No, I’m not joking. Yes, I’m coherent, I have done this enough times to know. So yes, it's because it is you, and you are brilliant, can even handle my lightsaber better than most Jedi I have seen, so I trust you. And as for GAR business, I understand, because it wasn’t GAR business, but… well…”

At this he smiled, eyes a tad heavy again and knuckles weakly brushing out against Fox’s leg. “It’s me, and it’s you. And though it wasn’t GAR business, I have definitely made myself your business, just like you’re mine.”

Fox’s hand fell slowly, landing on the bed just shy of Quinlan's forearm. He looked like he was debating something, and Quinlan figured it was a moment of truth. If Fox would deem him unwell and they would drop whatever was happening, or if he would give in and push forward. 

Fox’s own worn knuckles gave the softest brush to Quinlan’s arm. 

“Yes, yes you are my business. You… you are my friend. So you should very well know by now I’d fight every droid the separatists have to get your ass out of trouble, you jerk. That I wasn’t going to let you make me go back to the Council alone. General Kenobi would be all sad too and Cody would be a blasted pain about it. So don’t ever go doing risky things without me. I’m not falling for the Jedi business line anymore, got it?”

Dark eyes locked on his, and despite his weariness, Quinlan was able to pick up the pain there and tried to prompt Fox further. “Don’t like me leaving you out of all the fun?”

“I don’t like hearing you say goodbye over a comm, Quinlan, damn it-“

Fox heaved a heavy breath, and for once Quinlan stayed silent. He let Fox work through what he needed and gave him the mercy of silence to make his decision on his next words. 

“Who else is gonna actually challenge me in sabacc? Poke and prod at me every chance they get? Or even drag me out to do insane things, drink and bitch with me? Smuggle me in different and new foods, even if it’s late at night, just cause you're so excited for me to try it that even your tattoos look like they are smiling? Well, I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t matter who else, because none of them would be you.”

This time the back of Fox’s hand pressed against his forearm was clearly intentional, Fox’s gaze turning fully to Quinlan, who was feeling a dozen different things from within himself and in the Force surrounding Fox. 

“They wouldn’t be you, and so it wouldn’t be the same. Because it’s you, Quinlan Vos. It’s all you, and I refuse to go on in this galaxy without… that, if I can help it.”

“And what is… that?”

Fox’s hand was flippant, gesturing in Quinlan’s general direction with a huff, and the blush was now very clearly there for a reason that Quinlan suspected he could finally piece together. 

Softly, with a hint of their usual banter but enough heart to be clearly different, Quinlan spoke. “I think you’re gesturing to all of me.”

Eyes flickering up quickly, then away as Fox turned to try and hide the smile Quinlan could practically feel. “Yeah, all of… that.”

Quinlan snickered, quiet and childish. “Well, I think we make a great couple then.”

Before Fox’s mouth could finish whipping back around Quinlan cut in again. “Because I don’t want to face the galaxy without all of… that, either. Dream team, best battle couple, taking on the galaxy and all the idiots in it together.”

His eyes were slipping closed, but not fast enough to miss the rare soft gaze Fox gifted him and the gentlest murmur of “Yeah, a… great couple…” from those beautiful lips. 

Quinlan fell back into the dark without a single ounce of fear.

[m-jelly]

Learning to blossom - Chapter 9

Stunning banner created by the wonderful @ladycheesington 💕

Pairing: Levi x Fem!Reader

Genre and tags: Romance, fluff, modern AU, Uni AU, confessions, tattooed Levi, drama, flustered Levi, smut, oral, multiple positions and orgasms, loving, dom Levi, spanking, bites, love.

Concept: Hwan reveals his true intentions to you shocking you and others. Levi takes you home and shows you body-shaking love. Levi gets his famous undercut haircut which you fawn over. You both become playful and snuggle together in bed.

AO3 link

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Levi held your hips as he pressed you against the wall in the hall. He tugged on your bottom lip with his teeth before pushing his tongue into your mouth. He hummed in delight as he kissed you with all the love and passion in his heart. He ignored people walking past and just focused on you. You’d both reaffirmed your love for each other. You’d comforted Levi as he confessed the troubles in his heart and mind.

He pulled back and lightly kissed your lips. “Enjoy your lecture, okay?”

You cupped his face. “I will and remember, you are loved by me, I am going to marry you and you are perfect.”

He nodded. “I’ll remember.”

You lifted his left hand and kissed his ring. “Mine.”

He blushed. “Yours.”

“Have a lovely lecture and please tell me all about it after. I want to know how your business plans are going.”

He hummed a laugh as he thought about the future you had planned together. He smiled fondly. “I’ll tell you all about it.” He kissed your hands. “Off you go beautiful.”

You giggled. “You’ll need to let go of my hands.”

He blushed hard. “I’m working on it.”

You pulled your hands out of his grip finally. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay…”

You giggled. “Levi.”

He groaned. “I’m going.”

You waved to him as he walked away. You released a long sigh before turning and slipping into your lecture hall and finding your seat. You got everything out and stretched a little as you thought about Levi and going home. You couldn’t wait to just go home and wrap your arms around your man. You were in desperate need of a nap and love.

“Sup.”

You turned your head and smiled at Hwan. “Hey.”

He looked down at your work. “Still not using a laptop.”

“I like writing things down.”

He eyed your phone to see Athena’s nap pop up. “How are things?”

You texted Athena back. “Pretty good. How are things for you?”

“Not bad.” He hummed. “So, about the BBQ and beer, I suggested the other day…”

You looked over at Hwan. “Oh yeah, sorry we didn’t do it but I had a dinner date with Levi.”

“It’s okay, so I was thinking we do it today or this weekend. You could invite Athena.”

You frowned a little. “Do you know her?”

Hwan nodded. “She does odd jobs for people with their computers. She fixed my laptop for me.”

You smiled a little. “I could as her if she wanted to come along.”

“Great. It’s so your fiancé is okay and doesn’t get upset.”

You hummed a laugh. “Sure thing.”

You both looked ahead at your professor and listened to her talk. You made notes and joked a little with Hwan and talked with him. You enjoyed the lesson and texted Athena and Levi now and then. You noticed that Hwan kept looking over at you and staring at you. Whenever you looked over he’d look away from you. You would frown a little and carry on doing what you were doing.

You gathered up your things at the end of the lesson and walked with Hwan out of the lecture. ���So, what are your plans for winter break?”

Hwan stopped in the hall and gazed down at you. “Hang out with you.”

You laughed. “Funny.”

He placed his hand on the wall by your head and leaned closer. “I’m not joking.”

You gulped hard. “Hwan, that’s not funny at all.”

“I told you. I’m. Not. Joking.”

You whined a little. “I’m with Levi.”

He frowned a moment. “Wait, did you think I’m into you?”

You looked behind Hwan to see Athena. “W-Well…”

He laughed at you. “Wow, that’s funny.” He shook his head and sighed. “I would never want you. Have you seen you? I don’t even understand why Levi does. Seriously, he deserves better.”

You welled up. “What?”

He grabbed your neck and gripped it. “You’re an ugly stupid bitch. I’m only talking to you to get to Athena and you keep dragging your fucking heels. You’re just her ugly fat friend, that’s all you are. You’re pathetic. How self-centred can you be to think someone as good-looking as me would want something disgusting like you?”

You winced a little. “You’re hurting me.”

He released you making you cough and touch your neck. “God, you annoy me. You’re so pathetic. I hated having to be friends with you. I’m done. I’m just going to go straight to Athena. Maybe I should spread rumours about you so Levi gets some sense and leaves you. He really should leave you.”

Athena stormed over after the shock disappeared. “I’ve heard enough, you piece of shit!”

Hwan jumped at Athena’s tone. He turned to her and gave her a strained smile as he held his hands up. “Athena! Let me explain.”

Athena punched Hwan hard in the face before pulling you into her arms and holding you. “You’re a piece of shit. How can you not see how beautiful she is? Plus, using her to get to me? You’re fucking disgusting.” She looked down at you and smiled. “This little cupcake is the sweetest and yummiest piece of ass there is!”

You pulled Athena’s arms from you. “It’s fine, Athena. I don’t care how he sees me. I only want Levi to find me attractive. I don’t like that he tried using me to get to you. Insult me all you like Hwan, but I won’t let you strangle me and try to fuck my friend.” You slapped Hwan hard. “You’re an asshole.”

Hwan touched his cheek. “Cheap whores.”

Athena flipped him off as he walked away. “Dickhead! Go take your tiny infected dick elsewhere!” She sighed and pushed you along. “What an asswipe. I’m sorry.”

You lightly touched your neck. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not though.”

You smiled a little at her. “It could have been worse.”

She moved your hand and inspected your neck. “You have a mark. Levi will ask about this. We’ve got to tell him what happened.”

You nibbled your lip and whined. “Could you tell him?”

“Sure.” She put her arm around you and squeezed you. “I’m sorry this happened.”

You leaned against her. “I just want to forget about this all.”

“I understand.” She looked ahead to see Erwin and Levi walking over as they chatted. “I’ll go chat with Levi, you hang out with Erwin.”

“Okay.”

Athena ran over to Levi and grabbed his arm. “Need you!”

You waved to Levi as he was dragged off. You looked up at Erwin and smiled. “Hey.”

Erwin ruffled your hair. “You all right?”

You hummed in response. “Kind of.”

“What happened?”

You sighed as you walked with Erwin. “Found out Hwan was just using me to get to Athena. He called me a lot of names and gripped my neck a bit. Athena heard him and we both ripped into him.”

Erwin shook his head. “What a piece of shit.”

You hummed a laugh. “Sorry, I’m not used to you swearing.”

Erwin smiled a little. “My girlfriend will tell you otherwise.”

You smirked. “I’m sure.”

He blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “So, what are you going to do with this lecture? He’s going to be in it probably.”

“Sit away from him. I’m just going to stay away from him.”

“Seems the best.” He looked over at Levi. “Looks like he wants a word.”

You smiled at Levi. “Hey.” You squealed as he tackled you into a hug. “Levi.”

He lifted you and held you as if you were precious and could break. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. I should have been here. How dare he say all those horrible things! You’re stunning, cute and sweet. I love you more than anything in this world. You are perfect and I don’t deserve you. I want to marry you.”

You blushed at his words. “Levi, I know you love me. I have no doubts about us. I’m just in shock that I was used and didn’t even know it. I feel stupid.”

Levi covered your face in kisses. “You’re not stupid! You’re wonderful.” He stopped kissing your face and noticed the marks on your neck. “Tch, I’ll kill him.”

“He’s not worth it. He’s really not worth it.”

He let out a long sigh. “You’re right.” He turned and carried you out of the building with his friends leading the way. “Let’s go home.”

You blushed a little as he carried you. “You don’t need to carry me.”

“I want to.” He squeezed you. “I want to hit him so badly. Hwan is a piece of shit.” He shoved his way through the front door and stormed upstairs as his friends went to their rooms. Levi sat you on the bed and kissed you. “Let me look at your neck, okay?”

You pulled your winter things off and held your head high. “I don’t think it’s that bad.”

Levi lightly touched your neck and whined. “He marked you.” He growled a little. “Only I can mark you.”

You giggled as Levi kissed and nipped your neck. “I love you, Levi. Thank you for making me smile again.”

He pulled back and slowly pushed you down on the bed. “Can I make love to you?”

You blushed bright red. “R-Really?”

He whined a little. “I just…I want to show you love. I want to remind you I adore you.”

You slowly pulled down the zip on Levi’s hoodie. “Lock the door.”

Levi ran over to the bedroom door and locked it. He yanked his jacket off and tossed it onto the office chair. He slowly dragged his shirt off and smiled at you as you blushed. “You are so incredibly beautiful.”

You smiled and pulled your jumper off making your skin prickle at the cold air. “You’re so handsome.”

Levi crawled up the bed towards you. “Are you cold, my bunny?”

You nodded as you linked your arms around his neck. “I am. So, why don’t you come closer and warm me up?”

Levi smiled as he tilted his head. “Happily.” He pressed his lips against yours and sighed through his nose. “Mm, you’re delicious. I’m so lucky to have you in my life. I’m being spoiled to get you as my wife.”

You giggled as he growled and nibbled at your jawline. “I’m the spoiled one.” You released a sighing moan as he licked your neck. “Levi.”

He kissed down your body and paused at your jeans. He undid them and slowly dragged them down your legs along with your underwear. He tossed it all to the floor and purred at you. “So soft, so delicious, so perfect.”

You squeaked as Levi’s grabbed the underside of your thighs and pushed your legs against your chest. “Le-Levi.”

He licked his lips as he stared at your pussy and clit. “What a delectable soaked in such perfect honey. I must eat you like this and then push my cock slowly into you.” He flicked his gaze to your blushing face. “You love being fucked like this, don’t you?”

You whined. “Y-Yes.”

He dragged his tongue up your slit so slowly it made you whimper and pout. He smirked at you and knew he was teasing. He leaned closer again and started softly kissing your clit over and over. He smiled as he felt you wiggle under him desperate for more. He wanted to tease you as much as he could because he knew that if he did, your orgasm would be incredible.

He flicked your clit with his tongue a few times making you buck a little. He traced your bundle of nerves with his tongue making you shiver in delight. He took your clit into his mouth and sucked hard. He gripped your thighs as he moved his tongue against your plump bud and sucked with all the passion in his heart. He massaged your skin as you panted and moaned below him.

You reached down and pushed your fingers into Levi’s hair. You tugged a little making Levi growl against you. You clenched your legs a little as you whined at the vibrations that went through you. Your heart skipped a beat as you cast your gaze down at Levi as he passionately devoured your clit. You mewled at Levi causing him to pay attention to you. You blushed as he looked up at you and smiled a little.

You leaned your head back as you felt a full-body blush at the way Levi looked at you. You nibbled your lip as you felt your coil tighten. You clenched your toes tightly and whimpered as you felt your orgasm rushing closer. Your voice cracked as you moaned in delight. You shivered as you felt the heat of your bliss rush through every inch of your body.

Levi leaned up with his tongue sticking out a little making him look adorable to you. He licked his lips and smiled softly. “Good? Did I do good?”

You nodded and hummed in happiness. “Amazing.”

He nuzzled against your face and smiled. “I’m glad.”

You giggled at how sweet he was. “You always make me feel good.” You cupped his face. “How about you put your cock in me now.”

Levi released your legs. “Don’t move your legs, okay?”

You hugged your legs to your chest as you grinned. “Yes.”

Levi pulled his trousers and boxers off. He held his thick and hard erection in his hand and began running his plump sensitive tip up and down your wet lips. He moved against your clit making you whine at him. “So sensitive.”

You whimpered. “Levi, don’t tease. You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

He hummed a laugh. “No more teasing.” He pushed his tip into your pulsing pussy opening and slowly pressed himself in. He held your thighs and gave them a playful squeeze. “You’re so hot and wet.”

You shivered as you felt Levi’s thick cock slowly stretch you and slide deep into you. You looked down to see your pussy wrapped around Levi’s cock. You felt yourself drooling at the sight of him slowly disappearing into you. You moaned in delight when all of him was deep inside you and his pelvis was pressed against your lips. You reached down and parted yourself to enjoy the view more.

Levi growled at the view. “Delicious, right?”

You nodded and mewled in response. “You look so good inside me.”

“I do and it feels so good to be inside you.” He leaned down and kissed you. “You take me so well each time. My cock was made for you.”

You cupped his face. “Yes. We were made for each other.”

Levi shifted his legs and began pumping his cock in and out of you. He gripped your thighs hard and shivered in delight at how your pussy walls dragged him back in. He smiled at you as he moved nice and slow for you so you could both enjoy how he moved in and out of you. He felt a tingle of pleasure burn through his spine. He was in pure ecstasy as your silken walls massaged his thick cock. He adored you and loved you more than words could describe.

You felt so delicate and loved as Levi dragged himself in and out of you. You moved your hand from parting yourself and began touching your clit. You clenched up instantly making Levi grunt above you. You blushed a little and gave him your love-filled doe eyes asking for forgiveness. Levi instantly melted above you. You giggled as he leaned down and crashed his lips against yours. You hummed in delight as Levi kissed you with all the love and passion in his heart.

Levi’s teeth tugged on your bottom lip. He smiled before pushing his tongue into your mouth he pressed your legs against your chest. He pulled back a little to speak against your lips. “I love you.”

You whimpered. “I love you too.”

“I love you so much.” He turned his head and bit your leg. “Good girl. You’re taking me perfectly.”

You whimpered. “Levi, your cock is so good.”

He panted and smiled at your declaration. “Is my cock going to make you cum?”

You nodded and mewled at him. “Y-Yes.”

“Cum for me. I want to feel the moment you break.”

You threw your head back and cried out as your wall broke. Your legs shook between you and Levi as your orgasm rushed through you. You felt like you were drooling as you were consumed with spine-tingling pleasure. “Levi.” You panted as he slowed down. “I love you.”

He shifted and released your legs so they could flop down. “I love you so much, my sweet bunny.”

You ran your hand down Levi’s chest and purred at him. “You’re so handsome.”

Levi tangled his fingers in your hair as he slowly rocked his hips against you. “Thank you. Now, how to pleasure you next.” He covered your face in kisses. “On your stomach, little bunny.”

You shivered as Levi dragged his cock out of you. You shifted and rolled onto your stomach and giggled. “You going prone?”

“Later I am, but first…”

You squeaked as Levi yanked you onto your knees and pressed his hand on your shoulder. “Levi.”

He slammed his cock into you making you both moan. “But first, my little bunny, I’m going to ravage you.” He spanked you hard and smirked at your cry of pleasure. “Good girl. Want me to fuck you and spank you?”

You nodded against the bed. “P-Please.”

Your eyes rolled back in your head as Levi bucked hard and fast against you. The room filled with the sound of Levi’s pelvis slapping hard against your buttocks. Lewd noises of your wet pussy taking his thick throbbing cock rang out. Levi’s elegant hand collided with a sharp slap against your buttocks. Levi’s hand gripped your shoulder tightly as he showed you the power and dominance that you craved from him. He was dominating you but you felt in control. One word from you and he’d stop.

Levi leaned over you as he opened his mouth a little he snarled a moment before biting the back of your neck. He smirked as you squealed out in pleasure as he rutted his cock into you. He grunted and whined against you as you clenched his cock so tightly with your pussy. You gripped the bedsheet hard below you as you drooled and moaned in pure ecstasy at how Levi was ravaging you. Your legs were shaking from you kneeling for so long and from the pleasure pulsing through you.

Your pussy was dripping and coating your thighs and the bed. You were drowning in your own pleasure and Levi was too. He was gripping you hard as he tried to control himself. Levi wanted to last, he wanted to make you cum a few more times before he filled you to the brim with his hot sticky cum. He released the back of your neck and knelt up. He gripped your hips and began pounding his cock into you as fast and as hard as he could.

Levi grunted. “Fuck, you’re so tight bunny.” He moaned. “You take me so well. Good girl.”

You whimpered. “Le-Levi.”

He panted and smiled. “Tell me whom your pussy belongs to!”

“Y-You!”

He gripped you. “Tell me who fucks you good!”

Your eyes rolled back. “You!”

He smiled as he felt your wall quiver around him. “Tell me who can only fuck you and make you cum.”

“You!”

“Good girl. Now cum.”

You screamed in pleasure as tears ran down your cheeks at the body-shaking euphoria that ripped through your body. You collapsed against the bed as you twitched and bucked as your nerve endings went into overdrive. You shivered and whimpered against the bed as you rode out your incredible high. “Mm.”

Levi kissed his way up your back and nuzzled against your cheek and the crook of your neck. “Want to stop?”

You shook your head. “N-no. I want to feel you cum inside me.”

Levi blushed hard. “Do…do you like that?”

You smiled at him. “I love it when you fill me with cum.” You whined. “I need it.” You rolled your hips as best as you could. “Please, Levi, give me all your cum.”

Levi lay his body against yours and hid his face against the crook of your neck as he started grinding deep into you. “I’ll give you everything I have, bunny.”

You entwined your fingers with Levi’s and moved a little with him as he humped your sensitive pussy. You turned your head and captured Levi’s lips in a passionate kiss. Your tongue moved with his as you both wanted badly to cum together. You knew it wouldn’t take long for you both. You were tired and your coils were wound tightly. You wanted to melt together in a puddle of pleasure. You moved together as if your bodies were one being instead of two. You were joined together in pure love.

Levi pushed both his hands under your squished body. One hand gripped your breast as the other lightly moved against your clit. He massaged your breast in his hand as he kissed and nibbled your back. He smiled as you panted and sighed against the bed as you felt like Levi was showering you in love. His dominating persona was gone and now he was just showing you just how much he loved and adored you. He was holding you so tightly in his arms and giving you everything he could.

You both whimpered together indicating that you were close to cumming. You both gasped in delight as Levi’s cock rubbed your g-spot a lot. He was rubbing you so much that it was close to overstimulation. You arched your back against Levi a little and mewled as you felt you’d body give in to pleasure. You gasped as your walls collapsed and your orgasm burned through every inch of your body. You wiggled under Levi and mewled in delight as you felt yourself burning.

Levi gripped you tightly as he lost his rhythm fully. He snapped his hips against you a few tips before slamming his cock deep into you. His cock twitched inside your pussy as he poured his cum deep into you. His moan was high in pitch, almost needy. He nuzzled the crook of your neck and whimpered as he bucked again so he could get all his cum deep inside you. His hot pants heated your neck as he twitched above you.  

You smiled a little and reached up to pet Levi’s head. You ruffled his hair and hummed a laugh. “You okay?”

Levi nodded and nipped your shoulder. “Mm.”

“Do you need a moment?”

“Mm.”

You hummed a laugh. “Can I just say, that moan you let out when you came inside of me was the single most attractive sound in the entire world.”

He nuzzled the crook of your neck and kissed. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.” You sighed as you felt relaxed and at peace. “Could you roll over so I can face you? I want to snuggle.”

Levi pulled his cock from you and lay on his side. “Okay.”

You shuffled onto your side and opened your arms. “Come here. Snuggle against me. I’ll be the big spoon.”

Levi pressed his face against your breasts. “Mm.”

You gently played with his hair as you hummed a song to him. “My sweet bear.”

“How are you feeling? Are you better than earlier?”

“I am.” You kissed the top of his head. “Thank you.”

He squeezed you and nuzzled. “I just love you so much.”

“I love you too. You’re my everything.”

Levi lifted his head from you and gaze at you with his big doe eyes. “You’re my world.”

Levi pulled his beanie down and hurried through the streets as he slowly made his way home to you. It was winter break and you both decided to spend it together as a couple. Kuchel was with Kenny, your parents went on holiday but missed you terribly. You called both Kuchel and your parents as often as possible, but most of the time you and Levi were left alone so you could be a sweet couple.

Levi jogged across the road in the snow and huffed. He smiled at his hot breath curling in the cold air. He shivered a little and looked at the house getting closer. Erwin and his girlfriend were staying for winter as well, so there were just four of you in the house. You were so wrapped up in your partners that you didn’t hang out much over the winter holidays compared to any other time. You all wanted to be with the person you loved.

He unlocked the front door and kicked off the snow on his shoes. He pulled his winter things off and slipped his shoes off. He walked by the living room and waved at Erwin and his girlfriend cuddling on the sofa. He waved at the two of them and said his hellos before running up the stairs and to the front big bedroom. He paused when he heard the soft sounds of you playing a game.

He pushed the bedroom door open and smiled at you snuggled up on the seat with a blanket as you played your game. “Tch, cute.”

You looked over at Levi and smiled. “Hey, bear! You okay?”

He nodded and walked over to you. He slumped into the chair next to you with pink cheeks. “Mm.”

You paused your game and gazed at your fiancé. “Show me.”

He reached up and gripped his beanie. “I uh…”

You placed your hand on his thigh and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Come on, show me.”

He pouted a little. “But…you really love my fluffy hair.”

You moved closer. “Levi, I will love you no matter what. I am sure you look incredible. So, show me your new hair!”

He whined a bit. “Okay.” He slowly dragged his beanie off to reveal his new haircut. He ruffled his hair and sighed. “Here is the undercut.”

You gazed at Levi with a sparkle in your eyes. “Levi…”

“You hate it, don’t you? I shouldn’t have gotten it done. I know I mentioned it before, but I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I just wanted to look handsome for you and more grown up.”

You launched at Levi and grabbed the beanie from him. “Don’t put that back on!”

He blushed at your tone. “Wh-why not?”

You purred at him. “Because you look so good!”

His eyes widened. “Really? I do?”

You walked over to Levi and straddled him on his chair. “So good.”

He smiled a little as he touched his hair. “I’m glad you like it.”

You reached closer and whined. “I want to run my fingers through your hair!”

“G-Go head.”

You shoved your fingers through Levi’s hair and shivered as you felt the shaven part. You scratched the shaven part and moaned in delight at how it felt under your fingers. “So good…”

Levi shivered in delight. “Mm…” He closed his eyes as he relaxed. “Nice.”

You leaned closer and kissed up his cheek to his ear. “You’re so soft. I love this look on you!” You pushed his hair back from his face and blushed hard. “You’re so cute and handsome!”

Levi chuckled. “So, the new haircut was a good thing?”

“Very!”

“I’m glad.” You sighed in delight. “Can I keep doing this all day?”

He laughed a little. “You’re like a cat wanting to knead.”

You blushed a bit. “I’m not.”

He cupped your face. “Maybe I should start calling you kitten instead of bunny?”

You wrapped your arms around him and hid your face. “Mm.”

He rubbed your back as he laughed. “Did I fluster you?”

You squeezed him. “N-No.”

He ran his hands down your body. “Don’t worry, my love” he gripped your ass and yanked you close to him causing you to gasp. He looked up at you and smiled. “I’ll call you anything you want me to as long as you scream my name all night long.”

You covered your face with your hands. “Le-Levi!”

He tilted his head and licked your neck. “Or do you prefer good girl?”

You pulled your shirt up and hid your face. “N-No fair. My heart can’t handle this!”

He bounced you on his lap a little and purred at you. “Such a cute thing.” He smirked as you climbed off his lap and got under the covers. “You hiding?”

“Yes!”

He growled at you and stalked closer. “I like it when we play this game.”

You squeaked and shuffled under the cover. “Evil kinky man.”

He dove under the covers. “Come here little bunny.”

“No one is home!”

He chuckled and grabbed your ankle and yanked you down the bed until you were under him. “Hi.”

You whimpered. “B-Bear.”

He growled at you. “I’m a hungry bear.”

You giggled nervously. “How hungry?”

“Starved.”

You squealed as he tickled you and nibbled your neck. “Mercy, please!”

He hummed a laugh and looked down at you with the soft winter sun lighting him up a little. “You are so adorable.”

You smiled and cupped Levi’s face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He closed his eyes and hummed. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“And you to me.”

He lay on his side and wrapped you up in his arms and hummed in happiness. “Can we just spoon here all day?”

You closed your eyes. “Yes.”

Levi petted your head and hummed. “Your game is paused.”

You sat up quickly. “I have to save!”

Levi watched you leap out of bed and return to your game. “Bunny?”

You played a bit of your game. “Give me a moment.”

He pouted as he watched you. “Bunnyyyyy.”

You glanced over at Levi. “I’m just gonna play it to the next checkpoint!”

He got out of bed and walked over to you. He leaned over the back of the chair and grabbed your controller. “Bunny.”

You gasped and reached for the controller. “Just one more minute.”

He saved the game for you before turning on a show you both liked. “Come to bed.”

Your cheeks burned at his words. “Y-Yes.”

He lifted you out of your seat and carried you to bed. He wrapped you up in his arms and the blanket. He nuzzled the back of your neck as you both watched your shows. “Good girl.”

“What do you want to do for your birthday?”

He hummed in thought as he lightly traced the underside of your breasts. “I just want to do this.”

You frowned and rolled onto your back so you could look up at Levi. “You want to just lie in bed all day?”

“Yes.”

You lightly scratched his undercut. “You sure you don’t want anything else or something special?”

He smiled at you. “I just want a lazy day with you, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?”

He smiled at you. “Very.” He leaned down and kissed you. “I love you and I just want you.”

You pouted a little. “You are too cute for your own good.”

“That’s my line.”

You giggled as he tickled you. “I adore you.”

He wrapped you up in his arms and hummed. “Mine.”

You squeaked as he bit you. “You’re like a cat.”

“That good?”

You nodded and played with his hair. “Yes. You’re perfect, Levi. I love you for everything you are and more.”

He smiled softly. “Good. I always thought I was like a dog because I follow you around and get sad when you go, as well as get excited when you return.”

You kissed him and sighed. “You’re right, you’re a dog too. You’re just wonderful.”

“You too, my darling love.”

[dutchforstrangers]

Suit and tieTai - Taiora one-shot

For @taioraweek 2023 Day 4

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

A/N: Another WIP that finally sees the light of day. Because I will never get tired of making these two oblivious dorks kiss for the first time in every universe possible.

Summary: It was one simple kiss that turned their ignorance into awareness of what had already been there the entire time...

Day 4: First kiss | Characters: Taichi Yagami (POV) x Sora Takenouchi | Genre: Subconscious blooming romance | Rating: K+ | Wordcount: 1.344

7:47am. When he woke up this morning, he had told himself he would start early, so he was sure to leave Hikari and Sora’s apartment on time for a change. But it had already been eight whole minutes since he had started fighting the tie around his neck in front of the mirror.  

Frustrated with himself and that stupid string of fabric around his neck, Taichi growled. “I have this very important meeting at work I cannot mess up,” he said to no one in particular.

“You good?”

The female voice came from the kitchen and belonged to Sora, since Hikari had already left the house for her internship at the kindergarten. From the corner of his eyes, Taichi could see her peeking.

“Yes.” Taichi said, but didn’t sound to convincing. He decided to switch his answer. “No. This tie, I swear, these should be forbidden!”

Sora grinned, with her elbows she nonchalantly leant on the kitchen counter. “You’d think as someone working in suit and tie every day, you’re good at tying it by now.” She teased him.

“Except I’m not.” He was fully aware of his tone sounding annoyed. And he was, because somewhere deep down in him, he knew he would always struggle with it. “And never will be. Sor, can you help me one more time, please?”

He definitely needed her help. Like he had needed it all the other times he had stayed over these past couple of weeks.

Sora chuckled as she made her way over to him. “Come here.”

“Good thing I’m staying over.”

“You’re practically living here by now,” Sora joked while her hands prepared the two sides of the tie around his neck for the actual tying. Her eyes fixated on the accessory.

Sora’s joke was one with truth though. The girls’ apartment was closer to Taichi’s work than the loft where he lived with the three boys, plus, it had a more cozy atmosphere compared to the messy boys’ energy. He had lived with Yamato, Koushiro and Jyou during his entire time at university, but now that Taichi had started working, he was ready to go a different direction regarding his living space.

“I don’t want to be near Yamato and my cousin getting it on constantly.” Which was another big reason why he wasn’t at home right. He watched a blush forming on Sora’s cheeks, her hands still working on his tie, softly and with care.

“Too much information,” she said. “How about Koushiro-kun and Jyou-senpai?”

“Ugh, Jyou’s never at home, either in the hospital or with his girlfriend, and Koushiro is busy most of the time, hidden behind his desk and wall of computers. Different from me, the boy is resistant to Yamato and all of his bedroom shenanigans.”

Sora laughed. She spent a lot of time with Koushiro, her being one of those rare friends who could talk to him without any form of technology between them, and she was very much aware of Koushiro’s ability of radiating the ‘I’m not giving a shit’ energy.

“Jealous?”

“Please,” was Taichi’s answer.

He wasn’t jealous, it was just him being ready for a change of pace. And so he found himself crashing on the girls’ couch quite a few days per week. He had to admit though, it also came in very handy that Hikari or Sora –but mostly Sora—were always available to help him out with his daily outfit struggles. 

Maybe he was in need of a life partner to settle down with, who could match his changed needs and wants, Taichi thought to himself, knowing he couldn’t keep crashing the girls’ couch forever.

“I much rather stay here with my lovely little sister and incredible friend who is—”

Sora patted his chest lightly and Taichi shifted his attention towards her hands after returning from his thoughts.

“… great at tying your ties.” Sora finished for him. Her feminine fingers worked their magic once more and a perfectly knotted tie hung loosely around his neck. She carefully adjusted his collar and the tie itself, making it look sharp. “There, you’re all set.”

The softness and collected happiness in her voice made Taichi smile. He showed her his signature grin before turning himself to the mirror to look at himself. Behind him he saw Sora look at him too and his own heart weirdly skipped a beat.

“Thanks,” he quickly said to cover himself, still genuinely happy with Sora’s fashion knowledge and friendly help. He walked past her to get to his jacket and coat.

“Oh! There’s this dinner thing at my place tonight, will you be there too?” Taichi remembered as he put the jacket and coat on.

“Sure will be,” Sora answered while on her way back to the kitchen. Again, he felt a bolt of luck going through his body and warming his chest.

“Great! Looking forward to it.” He hastily slid into his shoes, his eyes checking out the time on the watch around his wrist. “Shit! Okay, gotta rush, see you toni—”

“Wait! Not yet.” Sora shouted from the kitchen. Taichi already had the door opened, doorknob in his hand, as he turned his head around to see Sora crossing the small living room towards in a rushed pace. In her hand she held his lunchbox and he instantly remembered it was what he not only forgot to grab, but forgot to prep and pack as well…

“You left this,” she said it as if he hadn’t seen what she was bringing him. He took the box from her, immediately feeling it wasn’t empty, meaning she had not only noticed he forgot, but had actually prepped and packed it for him. The heat from his chest slowly rose to his cheeks. “Have a good day at work.”

She smiled at him with her kindest and most genuine smile. It made him smile in return and for just the briefest of moments, time stood still.

“Thank you, you too,” he said, suddenly realizing he was in a hurry. With the lack of air between the two of them, he swiftly close the gap and planted a quick kiss on her lip—

Wait.

He did what? When— how?

Time seemed to stand still once more.

“Erm… sorry,” Sora spoke first, face completely red, chest high from all the gathered air inside of it. “That wasn’t supposed to happen…”

Taichi shook his head, with that trying to get him out of his daze. “Right… So much for all the accusations of us looking like a married couple huh?” He joked, automatically resolving to comedy to cover up his own redness.  

“Y-yeah, hehe…” Sora nodded as one hand moved itself nervously to her lips, her fingers touching the spot where he had pecked her like a husband kissing his spouse goodbye for the day.

Even though he had been unaware of his own feelings at first, apparently, his body had known what to do. The kiss blissfully happened by itself, showcasing both him and her what sparks had been exchanged. Not only during the time spent in this apartment together, but during their entire life by now.

It occurred to him that, rather than searching for someone to settle down with, perhaps he had already found that someone. Sleeping underneath the same roof, she tying his ties, bickering like only lovers could.

That it was just one simple kiss turning the ignorance into awareness.

The smile on his face grew bigger. As much as Taichi wanted to stay, especially now –to reflect a bit longer, to talk about his newfound excitement— he had to run.

“See you tonight, Sora.” Taichi said emphasizing her name as he took off.

He looked over his shoulder one more time, just to be met with the view of Sora waving him goodbye like they had indeed been married forever. To that, Taichi snickered to himself, in his securing Sora would be the one to untie his tie at the end of at least today.

Perhaps he could even steal another kiss from her…

[shapeshiftinterest]

Flirting With Authority: sun x moon x monty

chica dares monty to get a date with the next person to walk by, thinking it’ll be a security staffbot.

it is not a security staffbot.

some dialogue based pics 2 and 3 from THIS post by @jellazticious

the glamrocks are animatronics, sun and moon are human

i had a hard time trying to decide if i wanted them all robots or some of them human or some of them as hybrids

glittergolf valentines event

prompt mix:

day 1: dares

day 5: flirting

day 7: pick up lines

story under the read more

Flirting With Authority (also on ao3)

“Ok, ok,” Chica laughed, shoving the other animatronic’s shoulder.

It was her turn to help patrol the plex, and she’d asked Monty to join so she wouldn’t get bored. The two were taking a breather near Kid’s Cove and had decided on giving each other silly dares.

“I dare you toooooo,” Chica stuck her tongue out and thought for a bit.

“OH!” She did a giddy little dance. “I dare you to flirt with the next person who walks by!”

“Awe, what,” Monty grinned, bumping her with his arm. “You tryin’ ta set me up with a staffbot, miss missy?”

She giggled, covering her beak with her hand. “Maaaaybe. So do you accept the dare or not, gator boy?”

“Fine, fine. I accept.”

The two leaned against a wall and waited.

Soft footfalls pinged their sensors and the Glamrocks looked up...

...to see one of the newly assigned Daycare Attendants dressed in a security guard uniform.

Fuck.

“All cle-HOLY FUCK!” Moon fumbled, almost dropping his flashlight when he saw the light reflecting off Monty’s shades.

Monty looked around and growled when he saw Chica hiding behind a pillar, giving him a thumbs up. Traitor!

“‘Moony? Moony! What’s wrong, do you need back up?!?” Sun’s voice crackled from Moon’s walkie talkie.

“I- Everything’s fine, Sunny. Just didn’t see one of the Glams in the dark,” Moon responded, eyeing the gator a few feet away.

“You’re with a Glam?!? Is it Roxy? Oh oh, or maybe it’s-”

“It’s Monty, Sun.”

Sun started spewing out questions so fast Moon had to mute him before turning back to the gator. “Please excuse my partner, he’s a big fan of the Glamrocks.”

Monty shrugged. “No biggie.”

“Anyways, isn’t it Chica’s turn for patrol? I think you might be lost,” the human joked, grinning.

Remembering the dare, Monty flipped his sunglasses up to smirk at the other. “Damn right, I’m totally lost in your eyes, cher.”

Moon froze. “...Wut.”

Monty tucked a claw under their chin and tilted Moon’s face upwards. His sensors told him the other’s pulse had jumped, and sure it could’ve been from being wary of his claws but Monty chose to believe it was from his good looks.

“If y’got a map to yer heart I’d be mighty grateful.”

Finally gathering his wits, the Daycare Attendant turned part time security guard put a hand on Monty’s wrist and smirked at him as he lightly pushed it away.

“Y’know, when I said Sun was my partner, I didn’t mean just as a job partner or roommate.”

Monty’s eyes widened, and if robots could flush he’d be doing it right about now. The human might not be able to, but Monty could hear his feathered friend snort from behind her pillar and try to stifle her giggles. Oh she was gonna get it later.

“I- uh, fuck. S-sorry, I didn’t mean ta, ya know-.” Ah yes, truly the gator was the epitome of a smooth talker.

Moon snickered and tapped his flashlight against the metal chest plate. “It’s fine,” he said. “It was a good try, call us sometime when it’s your turn to patrol.”

"Us?”

“Sunny’s not the only one who’s a fan of the Glams,” Moon winked, already walking away with a wave. “We’re a package deal. And I see you, Chica!”

Said chicken squawked, hurrying over to the gator and laughing. “I think that worked out pretty well, right Monty?”

He rolled his eyes and smooshed her face away. “Don’t get cheeky with me, lil lady. This’s yer fault.”

“My fault that you have 2 dates and both their numbers?”

“Huh?” Monty looked at the arm Moon had grabbed and saw a business card, the bottom stuck to the metal with double sided tape. “How??”

Chica yoinked the card and sprinted down the hall, laughing all the way.

“CHICA!!” Monty yelled, stomping after her.

[skzhocomments]

THE WHITE LILY (Mafia Book #1 - Bang Chan) - Chapter 6 - Nightmareless

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

General masterlist

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

Let me know if you'd like to be on the taglist for this story or on the general taglist!

---

Chapter 6 - Nightmareless

chapter word count: 2.2k words

~1 year and 4 months before Present Day~

~Chan's POV~

~Flashback, 10 years ago~

"Channie, my boy... you're so young and yet-" The old man's speech was interrupted by a rough cough. "Yet there's no other choice for you out there. I wish- I wish I could've given you... more."

"Dad, I- no, you gave me so much, but..."

"I took over father's business when I was 32... much, much older than you are now. Double your age. Double your experience... Now you have to take over mine..."

"Dad, I don't know what you're saying-" I responded desperate, tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

"Son, listen to me!" he shouted, spiralling into another coughing fit. "you can't show any weakness. EVER. If you do, they will take you down with no hesitation. You have to be strong if you're going to own this wicked business of ours."

"I don't- I can't do it, dad. You have so much more left, I-"

"No, son, I'm almost..."

"Dad, stay with me! You will survive this! You have to!"

"My time is up... just remember what I told you... These emotions of yours, they are beautiful, son, but you can't let them see it. You have to stay composed, to be cold. So cold, one would be afraid to speak in front of you. No matter how hurt you are, don't let it show. Can you promise this to me?"

"I- I'll try... Fuck." I could barely see through my tears.

"But there's one thing you have to remember..."

"DAD! NO! PLEASE!"

"It's (...)"

~End of flashback~

"NO!" I woke up, screaming. My whole body drenched in sweat and hurting.

Another nightmare...

This cursed Mafia left in my care by my father was a big weight on my shoulders. I was damn good at leading it, but sometimes I would get stuck in an impasse, not knowing what decision is best. In those times, I would reflect back on my father's words, to the numerous days he spent training me... but as the years passed, his voice became a distant thing of the past. I was not even able to recall his whole dying speech.

Way to be a good son, Chris.

Occasional flashbacks would intrude my mind during night-time, rendering me unable to sleep. But never the whole picture... What else was he trying to say?

With a head heavy as lead, I got off the bed and glanced at the time: 3:52 AM.

Well, the early bird catches the worm, right?

I quietly opened the door to my bedroom and moved towards the stairs. Looking back through the dark hallway, I saw a dark silhouette heading towards me.

"Chan?" a shy voice asked, unsure.

"Emilia?"

"I heard the door opening and... What's wrong? You can't sleep?" she whispered.

"Should ask the same. Let's go downstairs, we don't want to wake up everyone else, do we?" I extended my hand towards her, which she quickly took.

We headed down to the living room and I turned on the electric fireplace, the only source of light in the room appropriate for such an unorthodox hour.

Fierce tones of orange and yellow warmed the room, giving it a cosy feel.

"Kinda rustic, don't you think?" Emilia joked. "Should I also brew some tea?"

"Wouldn't hurt to have a warm drink."

She returned 5 minutes later with two mugs. The smell of green tea soothed me, the hot liquid warming my insides.

"Didn't even realise I was so cold." Emilia broke the silence.

"Mhm. Me too."

Inspecting her face, I noticed dark bags under her eyes and a frown on her otherwise cheerful expression.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I asked.

"It's... ugh" she shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Come on, don't be like that." I replied, getting closer to her on the couch and placing my hand on her thigh.

"... don't laugh at me, okay?" she replied quietly and turned her head towards me, scanning my eyes.

"Of course not."

"I just... I had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep..."

"You too?" I smiled and caressed the back of her head.

My reply seemed to take her by surprise, as her eyes grew bigger.

"Care to share?" she asked me.

"Only if you do the same."

She nodded and urged me to start my story.

"You know, Emi... I don't know how much you've heard about us before we became Stray Kids."

"Hm... not much, honestly. I just know you were called something else and that your older ruler was sort of... cruel."

"Mhm. That would be my father."

Although she seemed surprised, she didn't say anything else, waiting for me to continue.

"My father was a stern man. You could say he was rigid, even cruel at times, as you heard. But he was the best leader. We were called North Side, because he managed to take control of the whole north of the country. He would control authorities, which supplies got in and out, all trades, the politics. Everything. He was a scary man, to be honest." I chuckled, to which Emilia smiled. 

"He would take good care of us... my mother and my siblings. But no matter how much power he had, he also had lots of enemies. It only took one person to betray him... poisoned him, like he was some rat. Got rid of my siblings like it was nothing."

Emilia felt the anger in my voice and grabbed my hand, squeezing it.

"He was my dad's closest ally. His right hand man. So, naturally, when I found out... I cut off his head, displayed it on a spike outside of the mansion as a warning to the others."

"Drew inspiration from Medieval England?" Emilia chuckled.

"Exactly." I chuckled, too. "That was the first time I killed someone. I was 15."

She caressed my hand and smiled bitterly.

"I had to take over the Mafia, but... how could I continue his "Empire"? I didn't know how anything worked. Don't get me wrong – he did train me for this, but theory and practice are so different. He would always make me promise that I would be cold, that I wouldn't get attached. Those worked wonders. But... he also said something else. I just can't seem to remember... I feel like it was important..."

"And that's why you're having nightmares."

"Exactly."

"So... how did you become SKZ?"

"Right. So, after investigating, I found out that a lot of father's old acquaintances planned this revolt against him. I killed them all and figured I would just disband North Side as a whole. There was barely anyone left, anyway. But it's not like I could just give up on the Mafia mindset. I trained my whole life up to that point. I was good at it. So... one thing led to another, and I was back in business with supervising trades and making sure things went by smoothly. I lost some of the territory of the Empire my father built, but I got control back of more than half of it in barely a year or two. Not alone, though. I met some other people along the way... first it was Seungmin, then Minho... Han and Felix shortly followed... and soon enough all of us bonded over this whole affair and decided we would become official. That's how Stray Kids was born."

"Wow. Well, I must say, your father taught you well, since you've been able to manage this Mafia so flawlessly."

"You think?" I chuckled. "I feel like I might screw up. That what my father told me was the most important thing in the world... and I can't remember it. I'm pissed off."

"I'm sure you'll remember it eventually. The right moment just hasn't come yet, that's all."

"Thanks, Emi."

We both looked at the fake flames of the fireplace, but soon enough I resumed looking at Emilia.

"I told you the root of my nightmares. What's yours?"

"Hmmm... you already know my whole life story though, don't you?"

"Pretty much, yea." I chuckled.

"Then you must also know about San."

"Your partner, right?"

"Mhm. Do you also know why he got killed?"

I shook my head.

"I didn't either. Until I came here, that is. He planned on leaving, too... He would always joke around that he would run away with me and show me the world outside of our little bubble. I just put the puzzle pieces together. Our Boss got rid of him, just like he wanted to do with me."

Her eyes darkened.

"The Mission he gives whoever wants to leave... It's always something impossible, you know? He probably planned to finish us off either way as soon as we said we wanted to go." she laughed bitterly. "If we wouldn't finish the mission, we would die trying... and if we did complete it, he would've killed us.  We never had a choice."

I stayed silent, contemplating on her words for a bit, for they carried a lot of weight.

"So... the thing is, I'm scared... I can't sleep. I wake up shaking. Every time I close my eyes... I remember what happened to me. I'm scared of being betrayed again." She put both her hands on her face, covering her eyes. 

I took her into a strong embrace, and started to tell her how different Stray Kids were. We wanted to be human beings above all, and we loved each other more than anything in the world. She was part of our team now.

"I can promise you that it won't happen. You are safe here. I give you my word."

She was shaking badly, but after a short while, her breathing regulated and she straightened her back.

"I'm sorry... it's just... I never told anyone about that, y'know?" she glanced at me, her beautiful eyes staring directly into mine.

Her wounds from our latest mission seemed to be all healed by now, just a small mark remaining on her lips.

Her lips... so plum and beautiful in the soft light. I couldn't help it. I bent towards her and placed mine on top of hers, cupping her face with my right hand.

She responded with a soft peck on my lips, while her hands found their way to my nape.

The kiss grew more passionate in the fire's glimmer, our shadows becoming one as she rested in my lap.

What's with this girl that makes me so crazy? I wondered, slipping my hands underneath her blouse. Her skin was as soft as the first time I touched her. I wished that bruises from our last rendezvous would still be visible on her neck and chest, but it felt like ages since I last met her like this.

I started kissing my way down her jaw and slowly sucked on her exposed collarbone, making her let out a soft moan.

Hearing her quiet whimpers was like music to my ears. I was completely addicted to the moans erupting from her lips, and I wanted to hear them more and more.

With her still on top of me, my next move was easy. I picked her up and got up from the couch, slowly making my way towards my room upstairs. Her weight in my arms felt just right.

We continued sharing kisses as I opened the door to the bedroom and laid her down slowly on my bed.

My hands found hers and, in contrast to the first night I tied her with my belt, I took both of her hands and put them above her head gently. 

I didn't want to leave any part of her body unmarked, so I carefully lifted off her blouse and went down, planting small kisses on her abdomen. Her pants were the next ones to go, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that she wore nothing underneath.

I couldn't help it but let a chuckle escape.

"What's so funny?" she smiled.

"No panties?" I kissed her inner thigh as she parted her lips and let out another moan.

"Why would I wear any to bed?"

I trailed kissed on her thigh and reached upwards, parting her legs and planting a kiss on her core. Slowly, my tongue found her clit and drew circles around it, her whimpers getting more intense.

"Fuck, you're so good at this." She praised me.

After feeling that she was prepared to take me, I raised above her and kissed her deeply. My member quickly disappeared between her legs, our bodies moving in unison.

"You're so gentle tonight." She complimented me again, my lips in the crook of her neck kissing it ever so slowly while I was pumping in and out of her.

It only took another couple of deep thrust to get Emilia to come, and I followed soon after. She just felt so good. So right for me.

~

The next morning, I woke up, surprised to notice that I fell asleep in the first place. 

Even more, I was perplex that it the first time in God knows how long I've slept without having nightmares. 

I woke up rested, her still asleep in my bed, and had the chance to admire how beautiful she looked sleeping so soundly. I gathered from her relaxed face that she also had a nightmare-less deep sleep.

From then on, I would visit her every night and invite her to my room. We didn't always have sex; just sleeping next to her brought me a sense of peace I haven't felt once ever since becoming the leader of SKZ.

This became our routine, until...

---

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

[chaotic-goodsir]

Tried to make a playlist of songs I think January 1998 AU Owen would actually know and like, and yeah, I overthought this one far too much 😅 Song list, lyrics and some headcanons below the cut.

I'm working on one of these for Curt too which I'll post soon!

If driving fast cars you like, if low bars you like

*

1. Anything Goes - Cole Porter

If old hymns you like, if bare limbs you like

If Mae West you like or me undressed you like 

Why, nobody will oppose

One of the first musical songs Owen remembers hearing. Also a song about breaking taboos and changing times which gained more meaning as he got older.

2. There's No Business Like Show Business - Annie Get Your Gun

Yesterday they told you you would not go far

That night you open and there you are

Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star

Let's go on with the show

The first time Owen set foot in a theatre, aged about 10, he decided he wanted to become a actor, but expectations got in the way. After he started working for MI6 this song became a sort of private joke to him, since some of the lyrics could also apply to spying and later working for Chimera.)

3. You Call Everybody Darling - Andrews Sisters

You call everybody darling

And everybody calls you darling too

You don't mean what you're saying

It's just a game you're playing

But you'll find someone else can play the game as well as you

Curt once joked that this song reminds him of Owen, and now Owen is sentimental about it.

4. I Get a Kick Out of You - Frank Sinatra

Practically everything leaves me totally cold

The only exception I know is the case

When I'm out on a quiet spree 

Fighting vainly the old ennui 

And I suddenly turn and see your fabulous face 

Song for Curt, which Curt also likes.

5. Black Coffee - Sarah Vaughan

I'm feelin' mighty lonesome

Haven't slept a wink

I walk the floor and watch the door 

And in between I drink

Song for playing while smoking alone and miserable in a hotel room at 3am before/after a mission, even if the lyrics are technically about being a housewife.

6. Love You Didn't Do Right By Me - Rosemary Clooney

Love, you didn't do right by me

You planned a romance that just hadn't a chance 

And I'm through

Song for playing while smoking alone and miserable after the only person you've ever let yourself fall in love with abandons you.

6. I Could Have Danced All Night - Ella Fitzgerald

I'll never know what made it so exciting 

Why all at once my heart took flight 

I only know when he began to dance with me 

I could have danced, danced, danced all night

From the first musical Owen managed to see on Broadway and the first one he saw with Curt, some time in the 50s. This version of the song is from album they bought in 1963 for Ms Mega.

7. My Funny Valentine - Sarah Vaughan

Is your figure less than Greek?

Is your mouth a little weak?

When you open it to speak, are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me

Not if you care for me

Song for Curt, which Curt does not like.

8. America - Simon & Garfunkel

She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy

I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"

"We smoked the last one an hour ago"

Song for Curt and being able to travel again (Owen spent a large part of the 60s in either the safehouse or a high security A.S.S facility) and being an expat in the US.

9. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles 

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name

Nobody came

Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave 

No one was saved

Curt insists that Owen should like the Beatles because he's British. Owen does not like the Beatles. With the exception of this song, which he has complicated feelings about - he's always been curious about people and their lives, and it's one of the things that drew him to spying. And acting. And Chimera.

10. Cabaret - Cabaret

Life is a Cabaret, old chum

It's only a Cabaret, old chum 

And I love a Cabaret.

One of Owen's favourite broadway songs.

10. Waterloo - ABBA

Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war

Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore

Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to

Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you

Owen will not admit to anyone that he likes this song, but Curt knows he loves it.

11. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush

How could you leave me 

When I needed to possess you? 

I hated you, I loved you, too 

Curt makes fun of Owen for liking this song because it's dramatic and angsty and 'classic books are boring.' Owen thinks that Curt just doesn't appreciate intellectual art, or pay attention to lyrics.

12. This Charming Man - The Smiths

Why pamper life's complexity 

When the leather runs smooth 

On the passenger seat? 

I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear 

This man said, "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care" 

Song for Curt, first overheard playing in the cafe Curt and Owen like to visit.

13. Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega

Oh, this rain it will continue 

Through the morning as I'm listening 

I am thinking of your voice

And of the midnight picnic once upon a time 

Before the rain began 

I finish up my coffee and it's time to catch the train

1980-90s song that reminds 1980s-90s Owen of being 1950s Owen.

14. Non, je ne regrette rien - Edith Piaf

Non, je ne regrette rien

Car ma vie 

Car mes joies 

Aujourd'hui 

Ça commence avec toi

Owen once asked Curt to make sure this is played at his funeral. Curt laughed at him for being cliché and pretentious, but he's written it down somewhere to make sure he doesn't forget.

[cellobotomy]

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A comic by T Kingfisher, referred to from here out as TK. Each panel's background is a different color of alcohol-ink pattern.

Panel 1. The Saga of Bob: How I Got Boob Cancer And All I Got Was This Lousy Tumor

TK Speech Bubble: Must we?

Text Box: So I had a breast lump. But I have tons of lumps. This one felt like all the others, except it was sore.

TK: Dammit, I bet I’m gonna have to get that drained.

Text Box: I ignored it for a month but it didn’t go away.

Big Text Interject: SHOCKING!

TK: Don’t you start.

Panel 2. Text Box: Finally I had some spare executive function and made an appointment to see my doctor. She was impressed by its size.

GP: Holy Crap!

TK: I know, right?

GP: Two and a half centimeters. Let’s get you a mammogram.

TK: You can’t just pop it now?

GP: No, you need a specialist for that.

TK: (emphasis) Nuts.

Big Text: Three Weeks Later…

Panel 3. Background sounds: Whirrrr, Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk.

Tech: Now take a deep breath… and hold it…

TK: Hhhnngh!

Tech: …And breathe.

TK: Hey what are these wormy-lookin’ things?

Tech: Those are lymph nodes.

TK: Do they all look like worms?

Tech: I can discuss anatomy, but that’s all.

TK: So I should Google “Do lymph nodes look like worms?”

Tech: Thaaaat might send you down some rabbit holes…

Panel 4. Big Text: Then it was Ultrasound Time.

TK: But there’s lots of things that are dense with blood vessels, right?

Tech: Oh, sure.

TK: I’m not worried. If it was a tumor that size, it’d be, like, doing something by now.

Tech: …Mmm.

Big Text: “We Need A Biopsy.”

Panel 5. Background sounds: Ka-chunk! Ka-chunk! (repeats)

Text Box: For the biopsy, they numbed up my boob, then used what sounded like a staple gun on it. (emphasis) Fifteen times.

MD: Looks like three centimeters.

TK: I’m not worried.

MD: Mmmm.

Big Text: “Someone will call you back in two business days.”

TK: It’s fine. (emphasis) I’m not worried. Also my boob bruised like cheap tie-dye.

Panel 6. Big Text: Two Business Days Later…

Text Box: I drove to the lake so that I could pretend I wasn’t watching my phone more effectively.

TK: Man, I’m gonna feel so silly for worrying when it turns out to be nothing. Just SO silly.

Sound effect: Ring-ring

TK: Hello! Hi! Yes! Speaking! Uh-huh. (pause) …Oh.

Panel 7. Text Boxes: The nice woman on the phone assured me that breast cancer was extremely treatable and that most people got a “Happy Ending.” I did not make the joke that I desperately wanted to make, but it was a near thing. 

We made an appointment to meet the cancer surgeon five days later. She told me not to google “Triple Negative” breast cancer because I’d only scare myself. I promised I wouldn’t.

I lied, obviously.

First, though, I just sat in my truck by the lake and (big text) Had Cancer.

Apparently I’d had it all along.

TK: Well, Fuck.

Panel 8. Text Box: I went home and cried on my husband.

Mr. TK: Oh Shit. Oh Shit-

Background sounds: <Gross Sobbing Sounds>

Mr. TK: We’ll get through this. I promise.

TK: *sniff* I know we will, but I’m too busy to have cancer!

Big Text: I had deadlines, dammit! Seriously, if the tumor had just scheduled ahead, I could maybe have worked it in sometime in 2025.

Panel 9. Big Text: Why me?

Big Text: …No. I had health insurance and savings and people who loved me. Better me than someone who didn’t have that. 

Big Text: Besides, I was happy and successful, and I’d always known sooner or later the universe would notice.

Panel 10. Big Text: It was a long five days.

Text Box: I Googled too many things. I told people. I cancelled travel. I cried occasionally.

Big Text: Also I named my tumor Bob.

TK: Fuck you, Bob.

Text Box: The weirdest thing was that I would go about my life and get groceries and watch movies and in the back of my head, all the time, a little voice kept saying “You have cancer. You have cancer.” It was like having a song stuck in your head, except, y’know, with (emphasis) Crushing Existential Dread.

TK: Die in a fire, Bob.

Mr. TK: Also not a fan, Bob.

END IMAGE DESCRIPTION]

Warning: Long post about something very near my heart.

About three inches from it, give or take.

Tumblr, meet Cancer-Bob. (Bob, this is Tumblr. They’re lovely, but they’re gonna hate you.)

I got diagnosed with Bob about six weeks ago. (It’s fine, I’m not gonna die, I’m just gonna have a really shitty few months.) As is the way of my people, I started doing a comic about it. Except it’s not really a comic, because there’s only one picture in it, but it’s more a comic than it is anything else. A comic made entirely of words, I guess?

It’s mostly me screwing around with Typorama and word balloons and the alcohol ink tools in Procreate. I knew that if I had to draw hamsters or wombats, I’d never keep up. My energy levels are, uh, variable. But it’ll tell you the saga, or at least some of it, and I got really into making it, and I commit some spectacular atrocities with fonts.

(It’s ok to laugh, by the way. Some of it’s hilarious.)

(Also I’m very sorry, I can’t do alt text for all these. If someone wants to type them out, I will embrace you as a savior, but it’s just…a lot.)

This is only part one of rather a lot, but Tumblr has a 10 image limit from the app. I’ll put up more tomorrow. And I only just started chemo in real life, so there’ll be more. And then, if fate is kind, someday there won’t have to be.

I love you all, you know that?