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empressdede · 1 year ago

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Remember the time

This is my first time writing something and publicly publishing it. This is based off the Remember the time by Michael Jackson. Pleaseee show some love lol. I do want to say that the OC is a black character but anyone can read. I was inspired to write this because of @raya-hunter01 & @whatdoeseverybodywant Let me know what you guys think!

Pairing: Kiyah (OC) x Jimmy uso. (Theres not enough Jimmy Uso fics on here. I did it for my man.)

Warnings: cursing, smut, smoking, long read.

Bold italics are thoughts, italics are both dialogue during a smut scene and when anything is referenced. Red bold italics are the song lyrics

Word count: 9,581.

Summary: Jimmy comes back to New York after Money In The Bank and Remembers the time he had with Kiyah.

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An uneasy feeling settled in Jimmy’s stomach ever since he found out that New York was the next arena after Money In The Bank. Being in the city was as the ghost of her was going to trailing over him. It’s been three months since he’s last seen her and he wasn’t healed but it was easier to be away from here. Being here reminded him of everything he used to love to do… with who he loved to do it with.

Do you remember, when we first met girl?

When Covid hit and the whole world was forced to stay quarantined at home, due to being in a really depressive state, Kiyah really isolated herself from everyone. She was in a funk that she desperately wanted to get rid of, and in late 2020 when her favorite cousin Bianca, called her to inform that she was going to be in Tampa, FL for work until further notice, Bianca invited Kiyah to stay with her and Tez. Kiyah packed her bags and caught the first available flight to Florida, leaving her life behind in New York. She attended all the smackdown shows with Bianca, watching how she was really dominating in the women division as a newbie.

Backstage if she wasn’t hanging out with Bianca, she was hanging out with Dawkins and Tez. The wrestlers were actually pretty funny to be around, the girls were nicer than she thought they would be - Well, except for a couple who didn’t really matter - and the guys were funny to be around. She would walk around the halls aimlessly when it became too much to be around and one day, she found herself bumping into Jimmy…. literally.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” Kiyah quickly apologized to the person, her eyes slitting up to fixate her gaze on the man she bumped into. His smile took her breath away, damn who was he?

“You good, it was my fault I wasn’t looking where I was going. You okay?” He asked.

Kiyah nodded her head, not trusting her voice at the moment. She knew she would embarrass herself if she stayed in this man’s presence any longer. Clearing her throat, she tries to excuse herself. “Well, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait…. Are you a new hire? I’ve never seen you before?” Jimmy asked before she could walk away.

“No, I’m Bianca’s cousin. Just here to give my support while I can.” Kiyah replied and Jimmy nodded his head understanding.

“That’s lit. Well, I hope you’re feeling welcomed. I know being around a whole bunch of athletes can be intimidating.”

She let out a small huff of laughter. “Please. You guys eat more junk food than anyone I know. Wings and Pizza every other Wednesday… Really?” She asked teasingly which caused Jimmy to laugh.

“Aye, we work hard. Gotta enjoy ourselves somehow.”

“I bet.”

Jimmy flashed another smile to her, who was this girl? “I never caught your name?” He asked.

“I never gave it. Seeing as you bumped into me, I think it’s only right you introduce yourself first.” Kiyah suggested.

“Could’ve sworn we bumped into each other.”

Kiyah shrugged her shoulders playfully, a small smile eased its way into her face. “I never denied that but enlighten me anyways.”

Jimmy chuckled, raising his hand out to her, “My name is Jimmy, and you are?”

Kiyah reached her hand out to clasp their hands together and shook it. “Kiyah. Kiyah Blair.” She introduced.

Do you remember when we fell in love?

“How long is it going to take you to come over here?” Kiyah asked over the FaceTime call as she continued to clean her room, folding the laundry on her bed. Her best friend Jimmy glanced at the screen to watch her for a quick second before turning his attention back to the road.

“It won’t take me too long, I just gotta make a stop somewhere before I come. Make sure you leave that door unlocked for me; you know I don’t like to wait.” Jimmy instructed.

Kiyah smacked her teeth, dropping the shirt she was folding on the bed and turned to face the screen. “Boy, how you gone tell me what to do with my own shit? Imagine trynna run my house.”

“Imagine playing with my face like you not finna leave the door unlocked for me anyways, know who to play with Kiyah.” Jimmy retorted back to her, not even turning to look at the screen.

And maybe she shouldn’t have thought it but as she continued to stare at her who she considered her best friend drive, she focused on the featured on his face and bit her lip because why did he have to be so damn fine?

After realizing a couple seconds of seconds of silence filled the air, Kiyah smacked her teeth again. “Okay Jimmy whatever. Just hurry up, it’s your turn to cook and I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lemme go make this quick stop and Imma be over there.” He stated before he quickly hung up the phone.

Kiyah let out a small huff and let herself scan the room before her eyes caught the mirror. Should I change? She thought about it but opted against it, he’d already seen her outfit over FaceTime, so there was no point. Deciding to distract herself from overthinking, she picked up the shirt she had dropped and started folding again to clear her bed. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jimmy walked into the house with his hands full of treats, dropping them on the table. Kiyah walked out the kitchen and her eyes immediately met his, locking eyes with him.

“You just gonna stand there or you gone tell me wassup?” He asked, raising his eyebrow at her with a small grin on his face. Kiyah rolled her eyes before walking to him and they took each other into a strong embrace, rocking back and forth.

“Does that mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” She asked teasingly

“You know I can’t stay mad at you Ma.”

Kiyah’s heart seized at his words, pulling back from the hug, the bags on the table catching her attention making a smile etch its way on her face.

“No way you went to India’s Grill halfway across town, aren’t you on a diet right now? Jey’s gonna have that ass if he finds out you cheating again.”

Jimmy let his head fall as a dramatic groan slipped through his lips. “Jey not gonna know shit if you don’t tell ‘em nothing.”

Jimmy walked passed her to make his way to her living room, walking around as if he paid the bills to her home. He sat down on her couch, placing his feet on her coffee table and one hand behind his head. “You gone snitch on me Ma? After everything we been through?”

Kiyah shook her head as if she was disagreeing but in reality, she was trying to get herself together. Here was Jimmy: in an all black hoodie, no shirt underneath, cuban link peeking through the part that was unzipped, black joggers and all white forces. Fuuucckk, who told him to look this good.

“Now you know I don’t be telling nobody yo damn business” she finally replied as she walked to the door to lock it. Jimmy took that time to roam over the outfit Kiyah seemed to have on.

Itty bitty tight ass spaghetti strap crop top with matching booty shorts to go with it.

“You was expecting someone else to come before me?” He asked, catching her gaze.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I know you ain’t wearing that for David lame ass.”

Kiyah rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. Jimmy never liked anyone she called herself entertaining, always calling them lame, but she couldn’t be too mad… she kept that same energy with all his other bitches too.

“Please be so serious right now. I wore this for myself.” Kiyah stated, walking to the couch to take her seat next to him. Jimmy let his feet fall from the coffee table, opting to be in his most comfortable position, man spreading. He cut his eyes at her as he rubbed his beard.

“Hmm, for yourself huh?”

“Yes, for myself.”

Licking his lips, he slowly nodded his head in amusement. He pulls a blunt of his pocket and pats his other side for a lighter. “Can you light me up? I think I forgot my lighter in the car.”

Kiyah reached forward for the ashtray that was right next to him on the couch, grabbing the lighter that was settled there from the last time they smoked together. Jimmy raised his arms, wrapping it tight around her body and moved her so that her legs was over his lap making her straddle him.

From that action alone, she knew he was already high. She watched as he placed the blunt in-between his lips and looked up at her waiting for her to light him up. Kiyah squeezed her legs against his and felt her heart clench at the eye contact. She bit her lip, flickering the lighter and leaning back slightly to avoid the smoke to get in her face when she lit him up.

A small smirk formed on his face when he felt her squeeze him, but he said nothing, taking a hit of his blunt instead. “Whatchu nervous for?” He asked, voice low now, blowing the white cloud of smoke towards her teasingly.

“Jimmy…. please stop playing with me.”

“Who said I was playing?” He asked raising an eyebrow, waiting for her response and when she stayed silent, he just chuckled. “Closed mouths don’t get fed you know?”

Kiyah ignored him, taking the blunt from his mouth and placing it in hers; inhaling the strong substance for the courage that she was going to need for this conversation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jimmy let his hands start to caress her legs, rubbing them up and down. His brown orbs roaming over her outfit once again, his eyes catching her hardening nipple through her thin ass shirt. “Don’t wear this shit for nobody else, you hear me?”

“Jimmy-” She starts to protest but he cut her off.

“You hear me Kiyah? Don’t wear this shit for nobody else. I’m not playing with you.”

You could cut the tension with a knife, but she didn’t understand how they got here so fast. His hands trailed up, gripping on her ass to push her closer to him making her pussy press against his dick. Kiyah takes a small sharp breath in, one of her hands moving to rest on his shoulders as she locked eyes with him.

A small smirk took over her face now, “who said I was playing?” she replied, placing the blunt back in her mouth to take one last pull. When she leaned back to blow the smoke away from him, his right hand swiftly cupped her jaw, bringing her closer to him parting his lips to inhale the smoke she needed to exhale.

Kiyah’s felt her skin heat up as she shotgun her last hit to him. Her heart felt as if it were to beat out of her chest. Jimmy and her played the game of push and pull. They flirted with each other and got super touchy but that was all that ever happened. They’ve kissed once at a Christmas party, a year ago and they were both drunk off their asses. And even then, nothing compared to the feeling that tonight gave them.

“Jimmy.” Kiyah whispered and Jimmy let his gaze flicker from her lips to her eyes.

“Say it.” Jimmy demanded in a low tone. The octave of his voice dropped so low; Kiyah felt goosebumps form on her skin from just his voice alone. Say it. He said as if he knew what was going through her head.

“Say what?”

“Say it Kiyah…. We both grown. Just say it.”

A million things ran through her mind. Surely, he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying. Because they’re just friends; always have been… right?

“Jimmy… I-“ she started but was stuck. She tried to push herself from him, she needed space. She couldn’t think being so close to him. Not with his hands on her, or his smell overwhelming her. But his hands held her in place.

“Jimmy, we’re friends-“ she was cut off.

“We ain’t no fuckin’ friends and we haven’t been just friends for a while now.”

“Jimmy that’s not funny” she whispered shaking her head. This has to be a joke, and I’m not laughing. “Whatever joke you’re playing at- “

“I like you Kiyah. No jokes, no pranks no tests. Sober or high it’s all the same. I like you.” Jimmy stated wrapping both arms around her body to lock her in an embrace, he shifted to get comfortable and that caused him to grind against her making a small whimper leave her mouth.

“Say it.” He whispered this time, but she refused. Instead, she leaned forward pushing their lips together to lock their lips in a kiss.

Do you remember, back in the fall. We’d be together all day long.

The phone buzzing consistently was the only thing Kiyah could hear from her sleep. She lets out an annoyed groan. who the hell is calling at this time? She raised from the bed to grab her phone, and answered it without looking at the caller I.D.

“What.” She answered.

“Damn Ma, that’s how you greet me after 3 days of phone tag?” Jimmy’s voice was heard through the phone. And even though it caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach, she was tired.

“Baby… I’m tired. I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.” Kiyah admitted.

“That’s cause you swear you can’t sleep unless it's on top of me.” He jokingly replies and she lets out a small laugh.

“You’re so warm and cuddly, I feel safe enough with you to go to sleep.” She shyly confesses. “I can’t wait to see you next week.”

“Girl when you see me next week, ain’t finna be no sleeping.”

“Aht Aht, Lemme sleep baby. You know I be sleepy.”

“Well take yo sleepy ass to the door. I had Roman deliver something expensive and I just got the message that it’s outside.”

Kiyah smacked her teeth. “What I tell you about buying me expensive gifts? I just be wanting your love.”

“You my princess, you know I gotta spoil you. Now go open the door and tell Daddy you love him for the gift."

Kiyah slides off the bed to trudge towards the front door. Jimmy has gotten into the habit of buying Kiyah gifts once she starts feeling lonely because he’s unable to be there for work. Last month he had bought her tickets to see her favorite singer, Justin Bieber. She always told him the gifts were unnecessary, but he was stubborn, swore he just wanted to drown her in gifts just to see her smile.

Kiyah slowly opens the door, to be met with Jimmy and his contagious smile which caused her to yell and jump on him. Wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist and she let the tears that she didn’t know were going to fall…fall. Jimmy caught her with one hand around her waist and walked into the house, kicking the door shut with his foot.

“I thought you were coming next week.” She asked tearfully, keeping her face in his neck and tightening her grip on him as if she couldn’t believe he was here.

“I know when you need me. Two nights ago you said you had a horrible night so I came running.”

Kiyah pulled her face back from his neck and placed multiple pecks on his lips. “Thank you, Papa.” She whispered and he chuckled, pecking her lips one more time.

“You know I got you.” He replied, setting down his bag on the floor and walked towards the bedroom. “Now let’s get you some sleep. I know before this you was tossing and turning.” He stated knowingly and Kiyah knew she wasn’t going to fall asleep just yet. Not when her heart was racing with him making his presence known.

“Are you hungry? I made some honey glazed chicken and rice earlier; I can get you some.” She offered, but Jimmy laid her on the mattress, kicking his shoes off and slid in right beside her.

“How bout we just relax. You know you tired, stop fighting yo sleep and lay down.” And it wasn’t a suggestion. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it blindly behind him, grabbing kiyah and pull her on top of him and wrapped one arm around her and his other hand grasping her leg to move it up so it was over his waist. “When we wake up later, it’ll be just us and you can feed me all you want.”

Kiyah presses a kiss to his chest where his heart was located. “I love you.” She whispered before settling herself on him, cheek pressed against his chest as she closed her eyes to try to fall asleep.

“I love you too Mama.” He murmured softly, rubbing the hand that was behind her back to help her fall asleep.

___________________________________________

When Kiyah woke up, it was due to the slight heavy movement on top of her. Her body felt rejuvenated from the almost 10 hours of sleep she had seemed to have gotten. Lifting her hand to rub her eyes to wipe the sleep from her eyes before she slowly opened them, looking down to see that Jimmy flipped their positions, his head positioned on top of her breasts and his arm sprawled across her stomach.

She blinked a few more times to make sure she wasn’t tripping, but sure enough the events of last night flooded her mind and it reminded her that she wasn’t just imagining the scene that took place in front of her. Kiyah absentmindedly raised her hand to rub the arm that was laying across her stomach. Even though he was here just for the night, she can smell already smell his scent overpowering her space. Dark. Earthy. Cedar wood. The heat emanating from him brought comfort to her.

I could wake up like this for the rest of my life. She thought to herself. The light coming from the Windows showed that it wasn’t too early in the morning, if she had to guess it was around 10 in the morning. Shutting her eyes, she took in the moment of him being home. There were days when she would try to self-sabotage her blessings and push Jimmy as far away from her as she could, but he always fought for her. Always. For these past three years it’s been Jimmy and Kiyah, never just Jimmy and never Just Kiyah. It made her very appreciative of him being in her life. She’s never been loved the way Jimmy loved her, and it scared her because she loved just as hard as he did… maybe even more so.

While she continued to trail her hand against his skin, Kiyah was slowly falling back asleep in this solace of her bedroom. She felt Jimmy shift from her chest to nestle his face in her neck to get more comfortable and they both drifted back to sleep.

Another hour went by before a loud ringing blared throughout the room, jolting her awake. Jimmy let out a tired groan, tightening his grip around her.

“Jimmy.” She whispered. He shook his head refusing to wake up, just to answer the phone.

He lazily moved his arm from across her to grab his phone from his back pocket and handed it to her. “Put it on silent mode and go back to sleep.”

Kiyah softly chuckled, taking his phone and placing it on silent mode. “I’m up baby. I know you’re jet lagged so I’m going to let you sleep.” Jimmy let out another groan when Kiyah tried to slide out of the bed.

“C’mon baby. Just stay for a little bit.” He begged.

“I gotta pee. I’ll be back.” She comprises and he smack his lips letting her go.

——————————————————————————

The soft tune of Nothing can come between us by Sade was heard throughout the kitchen and Kiyah bumped her head softly to the beat and sang as softly as she could while whisking the the eggs she was preparing.

“In the middle of the madness, when the time is running out and you’re left alone. All I want is you to know that�� it’s strong still can’t pull us apart. Nothing can come, nothing can come, nothing can come between us.” Kiyah softly sang, moving her hips to the melody of the music.

The knock on her door was loud, making her head snap up to look towards the door. Jimmy quickly came from around the corner where her room was, heading towards it.

“Don’t move, Imma answer it.” He said unlocking and opening the door revealing Bianca. “Wassup B.” He greeted, stepping to the side to let her in.

Bianca was shocked to see Jimmy at her cousin’s house. She took notice that he had not only made himself comfortable enough to answer the door but that he was wearing the same same clothes he left the airport in. So, this was the business he had to take care of in New York? She thought to herself before flashing him a knowing smile. “Hey Jimmy – I see you’re here early.” She teased as she stepped in and walked pass him.

He just chuckled and shook his head, closing the door back and locking it. “Yeah I Had a couple things to take care of.”

Bianca watched Jimmy walk away, eyes following him until he disappeared into the room. With amusement shining in her eyes, her head snapped towards the kitchen and Kiyah was standing there smiling; looking all innocent when she was clearly guilty.

“Hey Bianca, I totally forgot we had plans today. How you doing?”

Bianca raised her eyebrow at her and a smiled etched its way on her face again. “Well good morning to you. It smells so good in this bitch. Anyways – are you gonna spill the tea or what? Cause it looks like Jimmy ‘he’s just my best friend’ Uso spent the night and now you up making him breakfast when we had plans to go to brunch.” She asked, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

Kiyah snorted and turned back around to pour the eggs in the nonstick skillet. “You’re so damn nosey.”

“I’m even nosier when I’m realizing he went to your room instead of the guest room.” Bianca replied.

Kiyah shrugged her shoulders as a response, scrambling the eggs in front of her. She thought about how these past four months has changed the dynamic between her and Jimmy after his confession in her living room. The transition from friend to lover was easier than she thought it would’ve been.

“Baby.” Jimmy called out, walking out the room with a hoodie and some shoes. “I’m finna be back real quick.” He said as he entered the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Kiyah asked, turning her head to look up at him.

“I’m out of gars so I’m finna hit up the closest gas station. Imma call Jey back since he been blowing my shit up. I know you guys haven’t seen each other in a while so I want y’all to catch up.”

“But I’m making breakfast for you.” Kiyah acknowledges, sliding the skillet off the stove top.

Jimmy chuckles, pressing his chest against her back. He places his hands on her waist as he watches over her what she made. French toast on two sets of plates on one side of the stove and the freshly scrambled eggs being served next to it.

“Make B something to eat and I’ll be back so we can eat okay.” He suggests, turning her around to wrap his arms around her waist fully, hand gripping on her ass as he leans down to softly peck her lips twice.

“Alright. Hurry back, okay?” She asks, keeping her voice low, raising her hands to caress his arms. “I don’t want your food to be cold and nasty when you eat it.”

“I’ll be right back I promise.” Jimmy pecks her lip one last time before pulling himself away from her to walk out the kitchen. “See you later B.” He calls out as exits the house.

The entire time, Bianca had sat in her seat shocked to her core. She watched the interaction closely, taking notes left and right and her tea cup was damn near full at this point. She waited for the door to fully shut before scoffing in disbelief. “Bitch since when do y’all kiss now? Since when the hell did y’all start calling each other baby? What in the world have I missed?” She yelled dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air to emphasize her point.

“Giirrrrllllluuuuhhhhh” Kiyah dragged out, chuckling. “Back in October Jimmy admitted his feelings for me.” She finally confessed, the smile on her face widening as she remembered that night.

“OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR!? BITCH ITS MARCH.” Bianca screamed; eyes so wide it would’ve fell out of her socket if it could’ve.

Kiyah shrugged her shoulder “The titles changed but nothing’s really different, that’s why I never cared to say anything. We’re still the same.”

“Yeah, except now you are getting Jimmy schlong every other night.” Bianca exclaimed.

Kiyah rolled her eyes, “Girl please, I wish. But we have kept it private but not a secret ya know? That’s my man for real and I’m so in love with him, it’s kinda sick.”

“I think it’s cute. A couple years ago you were scared to even put your heart on the line and now look at you.” Bianca really felt her heart swell with joy as she watched her cousin obviously head over heels in love with Jimmy Uso. “I’m happy for you- the both of you, truly.”

Kiyah turned the stove off and walked around the kitchen island to pull her cousin into an embrace. “Thank you B. I really appreciate it.” She stated and she meant it. There are few people who actually knew what went down between her and her ex, what she experienced and what made her so closed off after it; Bianca being one of those few people. It meant a lot to see that she was also able to see the growth when it came to her love life.

“And I love you girl, I really do but once Jimmy get back from smoking, I’m finna feed my man and spend my entire day with him. So about brunch…. Imma have to take a rain check.” She smiled at Bianca’s laugh.

“Alright bitch, I can read the room.”

———————————————————————

After Jimmy had returned from his trip, Kiyah had served breakfast. It brought a different kind of feeling watching him eat her food. In the furthest part of her mind, it made the moment more domestic, made her feel like one day -further down the line of course- that she could do this as his wife.

After breakfast, Jimmy insisted that he clean up the kitchen while she shower. What he really needed was the opportunity to distract her. Jimmy turned the volume up on Alexa, letting the sound of Neat by Q Money take over the silence in the house while he made his way to the coat closet where he had hid what he had returned to the house with.

Opening the coat closet, he pulls out a couple bags filled with what he wanted to do for the rest of day. Jimmy really wanted to treat Kiyah to a night out but he didn’t want to be out today, he just wanted to spend his day as lazily as he could where he found comfort the most. Closing the door, he took the bags and walked to the living room to get started on what he had planned; with Kiyah in the shower he knew he had a cool 45 minutes.

He unpacked everything that came in boxes: the air mattress, the LED tea light candles, the fairy lights, the fake rose petals and got to work with setting up the living room.

After setting up as fast as he could, he walked into her room, his eyes scanning the room looking for a suspiciously quiet Kiyah. “Babe.” He called out, walking towards the bathroom. He catches a glimpse of her doing her face routine, one of his old shirts engulfing her body. “Didn’t you say you never seen where this shirt went?” He asked teasingly as he walks up behind her.

“I have no idea what you talking about, this my shirt.” Kiyah replied, her lips twitched as she tried to fight the smile that wanted to imprint its way on her face.

Jimmy playfully rolled his eyes, “yeah whatever. You gone have to run me most of my shit sooner than later, unless you wanna send me back on the road with nothing to wear.”

Kiyah scoffed, keeping her eyes in the mirror when she looked at him. “Keep playing. If you wanna be outside I can be outside too. “

“You can be outside, Ian worried about shit. I can fight.” Jimmy stated, shrugging his shoulders.

“You say that now, but we all know if I’m in another nigga arms you gone be sick.” Kiyah countered back turning to face him with a small smirk, “You know you love you some me.”

Jimmy watched her with amusement in his eyes, watch her stick her tongue out at him as childishly as she could before turning back to finish applying the clay mask that was in her hands. “Girl please, you damn near passed out when you thought I was entertaining Sasha. I ain’t the only one.” He exposed, laughing when Kiyah’s jaw dropped.

He pulled off his shirt, turning to turn the shower on. “Wanna wash my hair after I’m done with my shower?”

“Can I give you a face mask if I do?” She asked with hopeful eyes when she fully turned around to face him again. Jimmy let out a small chuckle, nodding his head, agreeing with whatever made her heart content at the moment.

Kiyah didn’t want to show how much she missed being around him, but she was finding it difficult to stay away from him. And it wasn’t like he made it easier for her. Like when Jimmy started his shower, she opted to leave the bathroom to finish getting dressed but, Jimmy requested her to stay to keep him company. Sitting on the toilet waiting for her mask to dry while he showered and they both conversed brought back that feeling she was feeling earlier. Domestic.

In her mind she knew it was too early to be thinking these kinds of thoughts but, she’s had feelings for him for two years now, and she couldn’t really remember when she last felt like this. Doesn’t remember the last time anyone ever made her feel so secure.

After washing his hair and keeping his hair wrapped in a towel for it to dry, Kiyah prepared everything she needed to get started on his face. “Just sit still because if you laugh it’s gonna crack.” She warned, and Jimmy smacked his lips.

“This like yo third warning.”

“Because you play too much, I couldn’t even get you to cleanse your face without you playing with the water. Now sit.” She demanded, hands pressing against his shoulders to force him to sit on the toilet so she can apply the mask. He moved freely, letting her push him to sit.

Jimmy let himself relax, closing his eyes and let Kiyah go to work. He didn’t really care for the process of what came with what Kiyah swore was the best skin routine for both him and her. He just wanted to be close to her, the last time they seen each other was almost three weeks ago – almost a month – and he just wanted to be away from the white noise and relish in the quiet refuge that was her home.

Kiyah delicately stroked the brush filled with the clay over his skin as they both fell into a comfortable silence. Nobody else but you by Trey Songz softly playing in the background from the Alexa that was outside and Jimmy couldn’t help but find himself agreeing with the song that seemed to set the mood. He really didn’t want nothing but to be here, with her, didn’t want nobody else but Kiyah.

Jimmy pulled Kiyah closer to him, using his legs to part her legs so that both legs her on each side of his. His hand gripped her waist as he pulled her to take a on his lap. There we go, Jimmy thought once she was seated, fully wrapping his arms around her.

Kiyah continued to apply the mask, the smile she fought to keep off her face grew anyway. It was moments like this where she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. She found someone who was on her just as bad as she was on them. Before she met him, she never thought she would ever meet someone like her, someone who wanted to be around her, touch her, almost all the time. And maybe their time apart played a big role in their affection with each other but Kiyah wouldn’t trade this, wouldn’t trade him, for nothing.

Watching him fully relax under his touch made her heart swell with joy, smiling she leaned down to peck his lips which caused him to open his eyes and softly smile at her. “What you up to?” He playfully asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Nothing, I love you.”

“I love you too mama.” He replied without missing a beat, searching her eyes as she stared at him. He leaned up to steal another kiss from her.”How long all this gone take?”

Kiyah placed down everything in her hands on the sink beside her when she finished covering his face with the mask. “We wait 15 minutes for it to dry and then you’re done.”

Jimmy nodded his head, letting his hands start to rub against her legs. “Jey been complaining about how he never see me anymore.” He randomly stated and Kiyah chuckled.

“I don’t blame him, I bet he miss his twin. You guys hung out every time you were off.” Kiyah responded back, letting her hands rub against his chest. “You know you can go to ATL and spend the time with him down there. You know I don’t mind.”

Jimmy let out a small hum, but going to ATL to spend time with his brother wasn’t the problem. It was him wanting to take her with him so that everyone in his life could finally see who’s been taking all of his time. “Would you come with me?” He asked quietly.

“I would go anywhere with you.” She answered and she meant it. Jimmy could ask her to go anywhere and she would go, he was home to her.

Jimmy didn’t signify an answer to her response. He just let his hands trail up from her waist caressing her skin.

“Jimmy.” Her tone came off as her warning him not to start anything.

“Next weekend, He’s throwing a barbecue and our family will be there.” He said, ignoring her warning. “Will you come with me?” He asked.

Kiyah felt her heartbeat pick up. Will you come meet my family? That’s essentially what he is asking her. Yes, she’s already met his brother and yes, she already met Roman – when she spent her time at the Thunderdome arena and they wanted to get to know each other better it required her being around his family. This invite though… it really sounded like will you come meet my parents?

“You want me to meet your mom?” Kiyah asked in a whisper, leaning her body closer to him for a comfort she’s sure they both needed. “You want me to fix your plate in front of everybody to let ‘em know you my man?” She asked playfully.

It eased the nervousness out him, he chuckled and leaned forward to peck her lips. “I wanna show you off to the whole world. I know we ain’t tell nobody yet but I want to. Tell our families anyways.” He answered back to her, shrugging a little.

“I kissed you in front of Bianca on purpose. Wanna show all of ‘em I only want you to fix my plate.” He replied jokingly. His tone softened though as he spoke, his hands trailing up her shirt, rubbing up and down against her back. “I know you ain’t used to the family introductions and all that, but if we’re doing firsts – I wanna experience all of that with you.” He confessed.

Kiyah didn’t reply, she just watched him. Taking in the moment. Here they were, in each others arms, Jimmy’s hair wrapped up in a towel, Clay mask drying on his face while he confessed that he didn’t want to keep their romance a secret from the people who mattered most in their lives.

Could I be any more in love with him? “I’ll meet your parents papa, you can tell the whole world how we locked in, clocked in for the long run.” Despite telling Jimmy not to move his face as much, she couldn’t help but lean in to lock their lips together. Wrapping her arms around his neck as Jimmy deepen the kiss. Kiyah pulled away before they got too carried away.

“Hold on.” She whispered. She reached over on the counter to grab the rag she had placed on the counter. She dipped it in the bowl that had warm water in it now and moved to clean up what she started.

She cleaned his face as gently as she could, throwing the rag in the sink for now and unwrapping the towel from his head. Kiyah was killing two birds with one stone. She took pride in taking care of Jimmy, and this gave her the chance to do so but she was also trying to speed up the process of getting him in her room.

Jimmy let his hands move from her back to her stomach, trailing slowly towards her breasts before he gripped them; fingers tweaking at her nipples.

Kiyah let out a small moan, letting her head fall back from the pleasure. Jimmy leaned up started placing butterfly kisses upon her neck, locating her sweet spot immediately and closing his mouth to suck on it.

“Fucckk.” Kiyah moaned out, bucking her hips against his. Jimmy’s hands, continued to tweak and pull at her nipples before he let one hand slid down to rub against her covered clit.

“This what you was looking for right?” He asked huskily in her ear. Kiyah felt herself shiver at his tone.

Jimmy pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing it through her panties, feeling it get soaked with her essence. His other hand left her breast to wrap around her neck. “Look at me, this what you wanted right?” He repeated.

Kiyah forced herself to lock eyes with Jimmy. “Yes” she breathed out as an answer.

Jimmy pulled her in by her neck to kiss her once again. Locking their lips in a passionate kiss, Kiyah bucked her hips against his hand to cause more friction.

He pushed her panties to the side to push two fingers inside of her, groaning into her mouth at how tight and wet she felt. Kiyah let out a gasp when she felt the sudden intrusion, throwing her head back again. Jimmy’s fingers thrusted in and out of her in a slow place causing her to rock her hips against his hands.

“Look at you.” Jimmy cooed as he picked up the pace of his fingers, curling it to touch her g-spot.

“Fuck Daddy, you finna make me cum.” She cried out, eyes rolled to the back of her head. She kept clenching herself around his fingers but he was relentless… he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her.

“Look at me.” He demanded and Kiyah couldn’t bring herself to it, moans slipping out her mouth uncontrollably as she felt a tightening feeling in her stomach.

Jimmy cupped her jaw, forcing her to lift her head and lock eyes. “I want the last thing you see before you cum is me.” He told her, he wanted to watch her love faces as she reached her climax.

“Jimmy please.” She pleaded.

She watched as his darkened eyes as he felt her clench against his fingers again. “Watch me make you cum.” He whispered, picking up the pace of his fingers. “That’s it baby, cum for daddy.”

Kiyah’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and her mouth dropped open as she let out a drawn moan, body shaking as she let herself go cumming all over his fingers. Whimpering as he slowed down to help her ride out her orgasm.

Once she was able to collect herself, he slowly pulled his fingers out of her, flashing her a smile. “You so sexy.”

She just searched his eyes, did this man really have the audacity to smile innocently at her like he didn’t just snatch her up?

He stared at her while he placed both fingers in his mouth, sucking her juices off his fingers. He pulled his fingers out of his mouth and leaned down to kiss her, sliding his tongue in her mouth so she could taste herself.

When he felt her try to deepen the kiss, Jimmy pulled back. “Come outside, I got something I wanna show you.”

It took some convincing to get Kiyah to move from the bathroom to go outside. Kiyah just wanted to jump his bones but he really wanted to show her what he originally had planned for the both of them for the day. And even though it took some convincing, his efforts were not in vain because once she say the living room set up she felt her eyes water.

“Jimmy” she breathed out, her breath hitching in her throat as she took everything in. Jimmy smiled at her reaction, he knew it wasn’t much but he was glad it made her happy. She wrapped her hands around his neck to hug him. She was grateful. “Let me show you how thankful I am daddy.” She whispered in his ear.

Do you remember, those special times? They’ll just go on and on in the back of my mind

Jimmy knew ever since he arrived to ATL that this was where he was going to be. Kiyah really showed out for him, and he wanted nothing more than to push her dress up and bury his face in her pussy. She’s been giving for these past couple of days, and last night on the way to ATL he fell asleep on the flight and woke up to his dick in her throat an hour into the flight and assured him that he didn’t have to do anything in return. I just wanna please you. She had stated in a sultry whisper.

She took him out on a date this morning, insisting that she gets to spoil him as much as he spoils her. They went to waffle House for breakfast, and then went to the aquarium right after. She’s been showing the fuck out in Jimmy… He was going to show her his gratitude, no matter where they were at. After he seen her interaction with his family, how his mother fell in love with her almost immediately and how she stayed in the kitchen to help prep the food, even if she didn’t know what was being made… yeah. He knew he was going to be here.

In between her legs with his arms locked around her thighs and his tongue buried inside of her. Kiyah kept her back in a deep arch, eyes rolled to the back of her head with her mouth gaped open but no sound came from her. He had her in a guest bathroom in his brothers house, and she really didn’t want to get caught.

“Fuck, Jimmy.” Kiyah hissed, making him groan against her and wiggle his tongue inside of her, sliding it out of her to swirl it around her pussy to lap up all of her juices. He licked all the way to her clit, sucking on while grazing his tongue against it.

“Daddy” She moaned out, looking down to watch him devour her, moving her hips to grind her pussy against his tongue. Jimmy flattened his tongue against her clit when he felt her moving her hips, letting her do some of the work. His eyes moving to stare at her and winked on their eyes locked.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum. Daddy you finna make me cum.” And at that warning, he closed his mouth around her clit again and sucked. He let out a moan, the vibrations sending a euphoric sensation throughout her body. Jimmy tightened his grip on her thighs to keep her in place. Kiyah let out a moan, letting her head fall back as her stomach tightened. “I’m cumming.” She announced as she spilled all into his mouth, panting heavily. Her lower body shook as her orgasm washed through her and Jimmy made sure to catch every drop.

He raised to his feet, hand wrapping around her neck as he drew her in to smash their lips together to lock their lips in a slow sloppy kiss.

“Damn Papa.” She whispered against his lips as she tried to catch her breath and he smirked.

“I’m not done with you yet.” He told her, pulling his pants down so that she could free himself. Kiyah watched Jimmy stroke himself, precum leaking from the tip and she felt herself clench around nothing.

“There’s an entire party going on outside.” Kiyah whispered as if trying to get him to stop but Jimmy wasn’t hearing none of that.

“I don’t give a fuck, I’m boutta fuck you up for real.” He replied pulling her off the sink counter to face the mirror. “And you gone watch me do it.” He whispered huskily in her ear.

Kiyah barely had time to grip onto the sink counter before Jimmy pushed himself into her, curses left both of their mouths as he pushed until their was nothing to push left. Both of them to moan out at the feeling.

“Eyes on the mirror the whole time ma.” He whispered in her ear, causing Kiyah to shiver.

Jimmy stayed still for a second, being raw inside of Kiyah made him want to ruin her life, and if the circumstances were different he totally would’ve.

He placed both hands on her hips and pulling out and thrusting back inside of her, pushing just as deep as he went the first time, every time he slid back in her. Kiyah’s head flew back as moans poured from her mouth.

Jimmy watching her through the mirror, seeing how wreck she looked before he even really got started and an evil smirk spread across his face. One hand moved to grip on her breast, pulling it out of the dress and his other hand found its way to her neck. “What I tell you princess?”

“I-“ Kiyah gasped out, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as he fucked her harder and harder. Her manicured hand moved up to grip onto the wrist of the hand that was wrapped around her neck. It was as if Jimmy was fucking her like he was angry.

“Yesss baby, just like that.” She moaned out.

Watching her love faces always did something to him, he swiftly moved to the left a little to hit her g spot causing Kiyah to let out a loud moan. Jimmy dropped the breast that he was holding and raised his hand to clap it against her mouth. “You know you’re supposed to be quiet, but here you are trynna let the whole world know how much you love this dick.”

His words caused Kiyah to clench around around him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. Jimmy chuckled deeply. “C’mon Mama, let Daddy in so I can fuck you up.”

He continued to poke at her spot over and over again, making Kiyah moan loudly into his hands. He forced her head back up to face the mirror so she could watch. Tears ran down her face at the intense feeling of him fucking the shit out of her. “You look so pretty like this.” He cooed.

He sped up and only stopped a few couple strokes to really press himself against her spot. “Open ya mouth for me Mama.” He demanded.

Kiyah immediately let her mouth drop open, he stuck two fingers in her mouth. “Suck it.”

Kiyah closed her mouth back around his fingers, humming in pleasure when she mimicked her actions from earlier. She sucked his fingers, her tongue twirling against them and sucked hard. Jimmy felt his dick twitch inside of her, he would ruin her right here and be content with that.

“Keep yo eyes on the mirror, and if they move, I’m not gone let you cum.” He warned. Kiyah felt her body shiver, keeping her eyes on his through the mirror.

Jimmy pulled his fingers out of her mouth and placed them on her clit, rubbing them quickly as he started picking his thrust back up.

The motive to be discreet flew out the window, Kiyah moaning loudly, gripping the counter until her knuckled turned white. “You finna make me cum again.” She cried out.

Jimmy let go of her neck to grip on her braids to make sure her heads positioned the way he wanted it to be. He could feel her walls clench and unclench around him. “That’s a good girl, look at you take all of it.”

“Please don’t stop, I’m right there baby. Oh my fuck.” She cried as he fucked her harder. “Don’t stop daddy, please don’t stop, you’re gonna make me cum.” She begged, watching more tears fall her eyes.

Jimmy let out a grunt, “Daddy gone make that pretty pussy cum every single time.” He affirmed, rubbing her clit in circles. “Gimme that shit baby.” And Kiyah’s upper body stilled as her lower body shook, releasing herself all over him squirting a little.

“Yesssss” She hissed out and Jimmy had to pull out as quickly as he could, nutting on ass.

Wrapping his arms around her, Jimmy let himself drop his weight on her a little.

“Fuck.” He groaned out, pressing a kiss against the back of her neck. “You keep spoiling me like that Ma and I swear Imma keep you cummin’ like that every single time.” He promised.

And Girl, No matter what was said

“Kiyah I just didn’t wanna be rude to her. You know that with my status.” Jimmy argued

“And Jimmy, all that shit was cool when we were friends. But to do that shit in front of my face? Are you fucking serious? Then the bitch gone have the audacity to laugh at me like she did something.”

“Kiyah.” He started but she cut him off.

"No. You keep giving these bitches a reason to laugh at me like I’m some goofy bitch all cause you wanna be so damn friendly." Kiyah stressed

"Being friendly comes with the job Kiyah! Damn, every time I come in this bitch, you in my ear stressing me the fuck out don’t nobody wanna hear that. Can you at least appreciate that I even come in? I don’t gotta be here Kiyah.” He snapped and she nodded her head at him.

“You know what Jimmy? Since you don’t gotta be here, just stop showing up. Since I stress you out so fucking much, forget I even said anything. I’m sick of this shit, I’m done. You definitely don’t gotta worry about me no more.” Kiyah retorted back.

It was supposed to be a good night for the two, they were both leaving the arena when they bumped into a couple fans who just wanted some pictures. It was fine until it wasn’t. What he thought was being friendly was borderline flirting to these girls, they’d take whatever he’d give them and run a mile with. It was fine until he thought it was okay to let the fan touch for way longer than what was appropriate.

“You’re too damn insecure Kiyah when the fuck you gone wake up and realize that? That’s the reason why these other dudes treated you like trash, and you got so much damn baggage that nobody wants to deal with!” Jimmy snapped but the second he said it, he regretted it.

Kiyah froze, his words ringing in her head. Baggage. She had too much baggage.

“Kiyah I didn’t mean that.” He whispered but she sent a watery smile in his direction.

“You know what? Don’t worry about it, from now on you won’t have to worry about me or my baggage.”

And she turned around and left. Jimmy felt his heart break as she walked but his stubbornness is what kept her from chasing her. Unbeknownst to him, that would be the last time he seen her.

I will never forget what we had, my baby.

All the memories of his time in New York came back to him as he drove to the garden arena. He remembered when told him her feelings drunk off her ass after the Christmas party.

He remembers, her home made cooking every time he visited or any time she visited him. He remembers taking care of her when she caught covid.

She was a crying mess when her test came back positive. She did what she did best and isolate herself away from people. Pushing Jimmy away and booked her own hotel so that she wouldn’t pass it on to Bianca and Tez. And at first Jimmy thought she only isolated from him, but when Tez came and asked if he’d heard from Kiyah, he realized she was isolating herself from everyone.

He remembers asking Bianca if she knew what hotel Kiyah had checked into and he remembers bribing the concierge to tell him what her room number was. He remembers pushing himself through the hotel door when she tried to shut the door in his face.

“Jimmy I’m sick, I have covid.” She stressed, moving away from him as fast as she could.

“Kiyah” He whispered when he took in the scene in front of him. She was hurting and she didn’t want to tell anybody.

“You have to get out!”

“Kiyah, I haven’t heard from you in damn near three weeks. What’s going on?” He asked, concern laced in his voice

“I’m sick; that’s what’s going on. Now if you could please leave, I don’t want you to get sick.”

"No. Kiyah you need to stop pushing people away because you’re scared to show people the ugly side of you.”

He remembers Kiyah crying in his arms that night because she finally felt like someone cared for her.

He remembers the first time he told her ‘I love you’. She cried, and told him she was scared to say it back because every time she did, it was for nothing. And He never rushed her to say it back.

He remembers her confessing her love back to him not even a week later because she really couldn’t hold it in. She’s been feeling him for a long time and she refused to keep her feelings to herself any longer. Jimmy remembers everything, and boy did it hurt to.

Do you remember (I bet you remember)

Jimmy let out a sigh as he sat in the bloodline locker room. Even though they were split, They requested to still share the same locker room. It’s quiet, he’s not telling any jokes and he’s getting tired of the worried look’s being shared between his brothers.

“Uce, I’m fine. It’s just one night. It won’t kill me.” Jimmy huffed out and Jey shrugged.

“I wanna believe you Uce, but you been walking around like a sad puppy ever since we landed. Why don’t you just call her?” Jey suggested and Solo nodded, agreeing with his older brother.

“She told me I wouldn’t hear from her again and she meant that shit.” Jimmy sighed. “I can’t just pop up ya know? I wanna respect her and her space.”

Before Jey could reply, a knock was heard on the door. The silence after the knock is what had them confused. Solo moved to answer the door but Jimmy raised his hand to stop him. They didn’t know who that was. The knocking happened again.

“Who is it?” Jey called out and the voice that answered back made Jimmy’s blood run cold.

“It’s me.” Kiyah’s voice was heard through the door.

Jimmy stood up slowly and walked towards the door and he held his breath as he opened the door. “Kiyah.” He breathed out and she flashed a small smile towards him.

“Hi.”

#jimmy uso #jimmy uso x reader #wwe #black reader #the bloodline #solo sikoa #jey uso

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comikbook · 27 days ago

Note

do you have any character design tips? all your characters look so cool and i struggle so hard with designing characters lol

hi yes !!!! okay okay so first off all of my characters are dnd characters, so i will start with going thru the list of races available and pick one that i think is cool or interesting.

the next thing i do is i come up with a theme. is this character based off of an animal ? does this character have a trope i want to explore ? is there a specific setting i want to make this character fit into ? these are all questions im asking myself

for example, this is my character mercy !!

i knew when i was making her my first idea was “i want a cowboy oc” !! I also knew i wanted a vampire character, i mashed the ideas together !

I thought to myself about cowboy media I had seen and enjoyed, and decided she would be based on one of my favorite movies, true grit (the 2010 version)

you may see the resemblance to the two main characters !! i picked different things from each character that i liked, most of her being based on the character on the left, with some elements of the one on the right. this gave me my “base” to work with !

I then started to think about outfits, my favorite part !!

I will always always always reccomend searching thru pinterest when designing a character. look at runway/ high fashion pics to get an idea for interesting sillhouettes. what is your characters ethnicity or time period ? look at historical clothing associated with either. look at pieces made by fashion students, find different elements that you think look interesting and make a list of what it is you particularly are drawn to. heres some images i gathered when i was designing mercy.

while not exact the vision was starting to come together !! this is the point where i start sketching, trying out different outfit combos and cycling thru the elements i listed before. Once i have a very basic sillhouette/idea of the outfit, this is when i start embellishing !!!!

for example, i liked the tassles on the hat, okay done, where else can i include tassles ? i considered the vest, but ultimately decided on the cuffs of the sleeves. the cool thing about that is the tassles from the hat coming down to the cuffs creates a triangle shape in the figure. This enforces a sillhouette and creates a balence to the design !!

I also liked the idea of an embroidered vest, and embroidery in general that is seen in a lot of cowboy outfits, i embraced that and brought in more embroidered details in the bag and the gun holster.

At this point I had my outfit sketched out ! then I went onto coloring !!! picking colors for a design is typically the hardest and most time consuming part for me, however with mercy i had a clear idea. I wanted to create a sepia color scheme, very neutral, to emulate old western photographs !! so thats what i went with ! lots of browns, brassy metal, black, and cream. I also knew she was a vampire, and knew I wanted to draw a lot of pieces with blood and thought the red would stand out white nicely from the neutral tones of her pallet :) (another cool thing to consider which i did not do for mercy is color langage and using certain colors with certain meanings to emphasize the theme)

With all of this done now, i had my design !!! after this point is where I make a series of sketches of the character to really get the hang of drawing them, different poses to figure out personality, things like that !! Things evolve over time of course, but usually my characters i am able to do a one and done type approach and rarely have to entirely scrap and redesign them. its all about having fun and learning what it is you want to see in the design of characters in media !!!

I hope this helped some !! im not the best with my words but this is a pretty good run thru of what i do for each character !!

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trevorsturnioloappreciator · 23 days ago

Text

Crush

Matt Sturniolo x Fem!reader

— Reader tries harder than most to keep herself from falling behind in college, when another student makes her more aware than she already is of it, her boyfriend unexpectedly shows up to take care of her.

cw: hurt and comfort, pure unadulterated fluff, pet names, reader basically gets called stupid, feelings of inadequacy, Matt makes it better

a/n: this was requested and i thought it was so sweet i had to do it. there’s an oc in this, she’s readers friend who is kind of a bitch to her, really no warnings needed this is a very sweet one and it’s definitely shorter than the rest of my works but idk if i’d call it a blurb

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Lately school has been crushing you, between your professors having no regard for your work schedule, sending you about four emails a day concerning your absences despite you completing the work and turning it in (with time to spare) and your parents constant checking in with their probing questions, always requesting more detail than your tired brain can produce.

You know they mean well, just excited for you, and they make it abundantly clear every time they call. Being the first in your family to attend college should’ve been something you take pride in, but for some reason it just makes you feel… disheartened. Everything was piling up faster than you could grasp it, deadlines flying by as you bury yourself in work and school, the only thing keeping you sane is your families consistent support and your boyfriend’s unending encouragement.

Matt had been your boyfriend since your sophomore year of highschool, you met in gym class when you tripped over your feet running the mile and the teacher sent Matt to walk you to the nurses office while you nursed your bloody nose with a tissue. It was definitely pretty embarrassing at the time, he’d been your “hallway crush” for a while, you totally thought he wouldn’t look twice at you, that is until he started checking up on you after the trip to the nurse.

That’s just the kind of guy you learned he was; always attentive and respectful, so sweet you’d think he was trying to get something from you, but he never was. Which is why you’re so giddy now that its finally Friday, all you had today was one lecture at 8 AM, leaving you totally free til Monday. Since it’s the first time in what feels like forever that you actually have a weekend off, Matt has taken it upon himself to drive up to your school and spend some time with you.

The promise of having two days open for Matt is keeping you motivated as you send out your last two essays you’d been simultaneously working on, checking the time to see it’s almost five o’clock. Your suite-mate, Tamara, had been asking you to help tutor her in organic chem, knowing she’d gotten out of her last class an hour ago, you shoot her a text to meet you at the library.

Slipping on some baggy jeans, your favorite wool sweater and a thick scarf, you grab your backpack and head off to the campus library. Tamara ends up meeting you just outside the door, seemingly in a hurry to get your study session over with. She’s very…in a word: intense, in a way she might not even be aware of, if the way her brothers and dad acted on move-in day was anything to go off of, you would have to guess they were the “trophies on the mantle, framed accolades and immense academic pressure” kind of family.

The way all your stress about being the best student came from within you, Tamara was surrounded by it, grew up in it; it was her baseline. She could be a bit abrasive but she was a good friend, never left you alone at the frats she dragged you out to the couple times you begrudgingly agreed to go with her, always knocked softly on your door with a hot chamomile (two honeys, one lemon slice) when you had a hangover after, so the small slights and jabs at your effort to keep your head above water could be easily overlooked.

That is until you’re back in your bed alone, internalizing it all. The both of you settle into a table tucked away in the corner as you pull out your notes and she plops her humongous textbook in between you two. All was going smoothly until you started to notice small cues that your student was getting frustrated, you slowed down your lesson and tried to really make it make sense for her but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

“Okay I understand I asked you for help but you’re really not good at this, I mean how are you passing this class and I’m not?”, this is just how Tamara is, it doesn’t bother you much. “Well, it is confusing, I stay up all night to get these notes to stick. Let’s try the diagrams-“, you’re quickly cut off by her sharp voice, “Alright stop with the condescension. It’s really pissing me off, honestly, I wanted to give you a chance to help me out, thought it’d help your confidence or something.”

She stands up swiftly, almost knocking her chair over as she shoves her things in her tote bag. “Clearly that was a mistake and a massive waste of my time; I should’ve just asked my actually smart friends in one of my upper-division courses. And please, don’t compare yourself to me.” Before you can even respond she’s out the door in a swirl of anger.

“Wh-“, you’re so dumbfounded, still seated, mouth dropped open like a cartoon. The sting of embarrassment hits you like a chunk of snow to your face, you need to get out of here before you really embarrass yourself. Haphazardly you pack up your back, pulling your headphones out of the mess of crumpled notes and blasting your playlist as you almost run out of the building.

As always, you’re loyal to a fault, already rationalizing Tamara’s outburst, she was just frustrated, I mean it has to be hard when you’re told your whole life you must be the best and then not being able to grasp what you see as a “simple” concept. It’s colder out now that it’s nearing dusk, trying to breathe normally becomes more difficult as her words twist and turn uglier in your head.

You just need to get back to your dorm, you will Not be seen crying in public.

Lungs burning as you pick up your pace, cheeks still burning in shame, nose tingling with the familiar feeling of tears building up behind your eyes. Finally you’re outside your door and there is nothing you can do to stop the fat, hot tears rolling down your cheeks, vision blurring as you fumble trying to fit your key in the lock, the second your door opens you let out a shuttering sob, but on top of your pitiful sound, there’s another noise…

“Surprise, baby…”, the voice goes from celebratory to a faltering confusion, trailing off softly. It’s Matt. He’s standing up from your bed and stepping closer to you, “Are you cryin’?”, he whispers out, nearly a foot away from you. Now you’re really sobbing, shrugging off your book bag and throwing yourself into Matt’s welcoming arms, “Matt…”, tucking your face tightly into his neck as your hands clasp desperately at the back of his crew neck.

Your boyfriend wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow morning and you absentmindedly remember giving him a key to your dorm at his request— “Just in case anything happens and I need to come get you.” —his scent, a mix of clean laundry and spiced cologne, his big hands rubbing your back, the warm hug; it’s all too much for you right now.

“Hey… what’s wrong, honey?”, Matt coos out, wrapping you tighter in his arms as he hears your breathing tighten as you work yourself up. “Baby.”, grabbing you around the shoulders, he pulls you away from him by a couple inches, tilting your chin up so you’ll look at him, “Need you to breathe so you can let me know what’s wrong…”

The guiding words are enough to help you breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth, tears are still running down your face but you are definitely feeling yourself calm down. Matt then drapes an arm around your waist, his opposite hand coming around your front to wipe at your cheeks and smooth down your hair. “Let’s sit ya down ‘n get you into some comfy clothes, hm?”

Still working on grounding yourself, you nod along to his words, it’s a good idea now that you’re thinking about it, your sweater feeling scratchy, pants too tight and the thick knotted scarf is starting to feel suffocating. Matt starts by unwinding it from your neck, tossing it over the back of your desk chair as you settle at the foot of your bed.

He then kneels before you, untying and popping off your shoes, leaving his hands to lightly massage up your feet to your ankles, standing up and giving you a soft peck before moving to your small wardrobe. “No…”, you call out softly, “Wan’ your clothes, please?” Turning to you, your boyfriend gives a warm smile at your meek voice and pouty face. “Awe~ of course, doll, what was I thinkin’”, he says teasingly, walking back over to your desk where his bag was, rifling through and pulling out a faded tee and some large, thick sweatpants.

You’re still feeling upset, heart squeezing, replaying the harsh words and the way your friend left you alone in that library, the humiliating walk home. The only thing keeping you present is the way Matt dotes on you, totally unperturbed by your big emotions, immediately slipping into the caregiver role he plays so well.

Coming to stand in front of you again, he bends to give you a kiss on the forehead, pulling away and letting your hair down from the clip it was held back with. Running his hand through your hair, gently massaging your scalp. The way he looks down at you has you blushing, so full of adoration and affection, it pulls you that much more from your dark thoughts.

“Let’s get this sweater off, arms up, sweetie.”, following his orders as he grabs at the hem of the top, pulling it up over your head, leaving you in just a loose tank top. After removing your undershirt, he replaces it with the soft cotton of his own shirt, reaching out for your hands to stand you up and repeat the process for your pants.

Once you’re all cozy in Matt’s clothes he maneuvers you to sit in his lap as he settles to lean into your abundance of pillows. “You feel better now, sweetheart?”, his hands are holding you by your lower back, fingers rubbing against the dimples there as his thumbs press softly into the crease of your hips.

“Mhm…”, you nod lethargically against his chest, “Wanna tell me what happened?”, he speaks against your hair before placing a kiss to the top of your head. “M-my friend, she asked for help with her class, ‘n I w-was trying my best… thought I was doin’ a good job teaching her…”, your voice cracks as the tears begin rolling again, Matt’s hands on your waist pull you closer to him, locking his arms tightly around your back while he listens intently.

“She basically called me stupid, said she should’ve asked one of her “actually smart friends”, ‘n then she left me- at the library, was humiliating, Matt… I know she was f-frustrated but it- she really hurt my feelings…”, you’re now completely sobbing again, breath picking up as you crush your face into Matt’s chest. “My poor girl. ‘M so sorry, sweetie, you’re the smartest person I know, y’work so hard to stay on top of work and school, making your parents so proud, d’you know how much they talk about you? Anywhere they go, anytime I talk to them, they always brag about you and they remember everything you tell ‘em about your classes ‘n projects.”

This shocks you a bit, of course you knew they were happy for you, but to think about everyone from your hometown getting updated on your scholastic endeavors brings a warmth to your heart. “R-really?”, you sniffle as you extricate yourself from where you were hiding in Matt’s sweatshirt, tilting back to look up at him. “Yeah, baby, everyone knows how much you care about school ‘n your high marks, don’t listen to that girl, she’s not your friend if she’s willing to take out her frustrations on you, ‘s not your fault she couldn’t understand. Remember when you taught me an entire section of calculus in two days and helped me pass the class? You’re not a bad teacher and you are absolutely not stupid. I mean it.”

He’s wiping at your face with the sleeve of his sweater, looking at you like you’re the only other person in the world and it brings a watery smile to your face, now the slow tears rolling down your face aren’t from sadness, but a contented gratefulness for your boyfriend. “T-thank you… Don’t know where I’d be without you, Matthew… I love you more than you could know.”, Matt kisses the tears from your cheek, lacing a hand through your hair to pull you back into his embrace and resting his cheek over the crown of your head.

“I think you’d be just fine, sweet girl, you’re a tough cookie.”, you could hear the smile in his voice and it brings a glowing blush to your face, “I love you. Always, my girl.”

#matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #nick sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo fluff #sturniolo fanfic #christopher sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #trevorsturnioloappreciator

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citruslullabies · 10 months ago

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DAMN ur writing is amazing man, keep it up, ur doing great !!<3

also hope u dont mind me asking but do u think u can do a dogday x reader where he's in love with her, but she has to refuse him everytime since Poppy playtime co. wont let relationships happen between coworkers. ps. this happends before any of the disasters happends (dogday is still a human worker,,,ig Rich, since that is a really big theory rn) also its angst, HEAVY angst. they dont deserve happyness (its half of my oc lore,,i need to make her feel pain) ((ALSO as a payback for this, if u'd like, i can do a fanart for u ! ^_^))

No YOU'RE amazing!<333

Trigger warnings: none

Requested by: clownsgirlghost

Romantic/platonic?: romantic-ish?

Category: angst

Ship (romantic or platonic): Dogday x reader

Word count: 496

Professionalism

The building was buzzing with children's laughter and the chattering of critters and employees alike, the colorful place being a place of happiness with an underlying tone of secrets far too dark for the public.

“Rich, for the last time, no.” you said with a sigh, not even looking at him as you continued with your work. The canine mascot frowned snd groaned, holding a bundle of flowers in hand that he heard from co-workers were your favorite. He leaned in a bit but kept his distance respectfully. “Please? I promise, we can go out to dinner and I'll pay, everything. You can even choose the restaurant!”

You sighed as you paused your work momentarily, just long enough to look back at the Dogday mascot. You shook your head with a frown growing ever deeper as this interaction continued. “You know the rules.” You stated, which was a sad and harsh reality of it all. They had to stay strictly professional. It's not that you didn't like Rich, it's just that you'd like to keep your job.

The man was upset, but respected your wishes and went back to work. He asked at least twice a week and the answer was always the same, he just wished that you'd give him a chance. He's willing to go to the end of the earth and back just to go out to dinner with you but he respects your wishes of not doing so. As the days went on, there seemed to be an overgrowing tension in Playco.

You started to avoid Rich, not wanting to hurt his feelings any further as you kept yours chained down like some feral dog with rabies. You kept to your work and made it clear what your boundaries were, one day he went back up to you with no flowers or anything in hand. Just himself.

“Hey.. I was thinking-” before he could even finish, you responded with annoyance at his persistence despite you making a clear boundary with him. You pinched the bridge of your nose as you took a deep breath.

“Rich. You're a cool dude, but get it through your thick skull that I am not going out with you. I'd rather keep my job then get a write up or worse, fired because I decided to go out on a date with you.” You said, keeping your composure as well as you could. You shut your eyes as your stomach felt tight and heavy with bubbling feelings of too many things at once. “Just leave me alone and do your work, so that I can do mine.” You stated bluntly before turning away from him and continuing your work.

Poor Rich walked away, hurt. All he wanted was to ask you if you'd like to go out to lunch with him as friends. He just wanted to stay as friends if he couldn't be with you romantically.

Shame that he won't get that chance again after tomorrow.

Thank you for requesting! And art would be AMAZING!

#smiling critters #dogday x y/n #dogday #dogday x reader #dogday poppy playtime #poppy playtime x reader #poppy playtime #citrus fic

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mechanicalriddle · 3 months ago

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HAPPY OCTOBER! (prompts by @bweirdart) (x)

Today(yesterday)(thedaybeforeyesterday)'s theme is favorite oc. I think it is probably obvious who is getting featured here if you have been following me for the *checks calendar* past two years

Character intro/diary/colossal infodump under the cut because I have to explain Exalted to you first before anything else makes sense in context, i'll rehash some of this in further detail for entries later in the month

WHO IS SHE?

My tabletop character.

What system is she from?

Extremely complicated question. For the completely uninitiated she is from a system called Exalted (3rd Edition), which is about spirits, gods, and the deeply fallible humans that the gods uplift to become humanity's ultimate champions. (surely they would never be crushed under the weight of their own hubris! update: oops!)

The original Exalted is a sort of post-post-post apocalypse bronze age deal. everything is sort of made of and governed by magic and elemental principles, various gods, etc etc. In the original Exalted, the titans who created the world are overthrown by their 'offspring', gods known as the Incarnae, after the incarnae choose to vest their power into their human Champions (the Exalted).

Now, for the vaguely initiated...

There is a published setting for an AU version of Exalted spoken about in quiet whispers...

Basically the main differences are:

-The Titans won, and humanity fled aboard the vast mechanical world-body of the Titan's only defector, Autochthon. then they lobotomized him and turned him into a gigantic warship

-all of this is in space. Normal exalted takes place on a large flat disc of reality adrift in a sea of infinite probability. This version is kind of like that except its three dimensional and instead of a flat disc it is a sphere that you can leave. so like the real world pretty much

-Takes place at the height of magitech rather than when Exalted normally does which is 2000 years after all that shit fell apart

The setting is called GUNSTAR AUTOCHTHONIA. If you see me make any references to this understand that this is what it is. We do also just call the campaign itself Gunstar also though, since it's the only one in this modified setting any of us have played.

OK now in context. Who is she

There is an organization made up primarily of the demigods uplifted by the god Sol Invictus; this organization is known as the Solar Deliberative, and it is a senate of god-kings of various levels of experience and corruption who rule over the Gunstar and command its forces against the Titanics. (In the original setting, the Deliberative is the ancient empire on which the world is built. In Gunstar, it remains alive and 'well'.) The god Luna also has their own Chosen, the Lunars, who are also part of the Deliberative. Lunars generally operate as the strike force of and seconds-in-command to the Solars.

Solars and Lunars are elected... Basically by lottery, from exceptional mortals who the Gods take a shine to, usually via some act of act of incredible heroism or just sheer brazen-ness. Two and two together, she won the big stupid lottery, despite not being terribly kind or clever or good natured or generous or. Well. The most important part, ambitious.

(pictured: Luna taking pity on some idiot after an Osmosis Jones suicide mission deep into Autochthon's corpus)

But Luna likes a fixer upper. Siithi is quickly coming to realize that worthiness means very little in this business, and any moron with a mote pool can save the universe, granted they're being at least halfway sensible with it. You'd think that'd be a low bar and yet she knows at least a few people personally who regularly fail to clear it.

What's she like...

She's loud, and crass, and trashy, and a bit mean. Maybe a little stupid. But she's been around the block at least two or three times. She considers herself a simple sort (except when she's contorting herself into 4th-dimensional interpersonal complexes.) She likes to drink and toke and watch wresting and hang out and take a nap. Now a bunch of jerks want her to be the savior of the people of the Gunstar or some other dumb horseshit. Fine, she said. I guess if you want me to do that I guess I can do it. Maybe I'll even be good at it. But that's not going to stop me from complaining about it the entire time. If only she didn't have this big, dumb, stupid, perpetually bleeding heart.

She has powers? Tell me about the powers.

She is stronger and faster and generally cooler than most mortals... Though that's fairly standard among the Exalted. Because she's Luna's chosen she can, of course, shapeshift. Mostly she acquires alter egos via people gambling them away to her so she can stay on the down low (deliberative members are extremely public figures so a lot of people know her true face...) She can also shapeshift into a variety of garbage animals, including her true "spirit shape" form which happens to be a fat bloodsucking worm

Most of her charms (lunar magic) are devoted to stamina charms (letting her do things like breathe poison, slow her own heartrate to become imperceptible, etc.), dexterity combat charms (useful but boring), mysticism (communing with spirits, presumably so she can rip them off somehow) but she has some fun utility charms like the one she used to pocket the craft-forward Dawn's makeshift bomb into an extradimensional space and refuse to give it back.

(It's still in there.)

Oh, yeah, also she can raise the dead. Which is not that weird in the regular Exalted setting but isn't really in vogue in Gunstar. By which I mean even foremost occult experts like Deliberative Twilights have never heard of necromancy before. She tries to be chill about this but that can sometimes be difficult, because firstly, most people think it's pretty creepy, and secondly, in a wartime economy a lot of factions would take some pretty drastic action to have that power for their own.

Now if only she could harness it to its true potential.

Give me some numbers.

She is 5'6", and 32 years old. She's about to hit Essence (level) 3, and has been exalted for probably about 6 months by this point.

Her gender seems pretty swanky.

Thank you!

She is intersex (17 BHSD deficiency) and personally doesn't identify with being transgender, but would be very hard pressed to call herself cis either.

I have received mixed messages about whether or not I'm actually allowed to say the word she most closely identifies with so I'll say it starts with a D.

Why do you have some pictures of her all scrawny and sad lookin

That is either because the drawing is well over a year old and her design has since changed, or because I'm drawing what she looked like before she exalted. At the time she was slowly dying of an occupationally-acquired disease. So you can guess why she has a weird relationship with the whole 'death magic' thing. Now she is post-miraculous recovery and much fatter and happier for it.

(happiness relatively speaking...)

Who is the dinosaur?

The dinosaur you have seen her drawn with from time to time is my friend @heedra's PC. Their name is Meteor-Dream, or Meat for short, and they are a half-creature half-spirit sort of thing known as a Dragon King. Dragon Kings are sapient dinosaurs with humanoid intelligence who retain their memories & reincarnate into new bodies every time they die, so Meat is actually rather fucking old.

Meat and Siithi are bestfriends!!! Or at least they were. They were bickering for a while. Meat has been busy slowly merging themselves, mind-body-and-soul, with the maligned violence spirit known as the Viator of Nullspace in a bid to kill their errant & traitorous god (Sol Invictus, who we've mentioned before, is actually kind of a dick who eventually switched sides, but the power of his Chosen remains vested in the Deliberative).

The pair had sort of come to an agreement about the situation, but also Meat is just getting kind of weird and hard to talk to lately & also huge and glowing nuclear furnace chest cavity and covered in darksteel plates with scary eyes and Siithi is simply not sure what she thinks about that. (Truthfully she knows what she thinks about it, but speaking it out loud would only cause more trouble...)

Is this some kind of friend-to-enemies-to-lovers thing?

Siithi is very aromantic and Meat thinks humans are disgusting little pink flesh homunculi, so... Nope!

Not to say that Siithi does not actively want or seek tail. Just not this tail specifically... that would be weird!!!

Alright. So why is she your favorite? What is the source of your obsession??

I don't know!!! She's simply funny.

I think it has to be partially an investment thing, because I have spent an egregious amount of time on her characterization, backstory etc. So I feel like I know her very well compared to some of my other OCs. I also am a huge sucker for tropey loser scumbags with secret inner worlds where they actually care way too fucking much, & then are subjected to The Horrors. Its sooooo awesome when you subject them to the horrors.

I also always get a lot of positive feedback on her! Presumably because other people think shes very funny as well. I hope you do too! But probably, if you've made it this far!

Thank you for supporting my work, even if you are on the barest periphery of what actually happens with it. I will continue posting more about her this month, because God Won't Let Me Stop !!!

✌️

#oc: siithi tag #bweirdOCtober

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betterthanburrow · 1 year ago

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Mr. Quarterback and Ms. Songbird - Instagram AU

(LSU Quarterback! Joe Burrow x Songwriter! OC)

liked by joeyb_9, and 1,075,250 more users

yourinstagram: i know i released my debut album a few months ago, but i’ll always be writing new song ☁️

tell me what your top 3 songs are from the album!

view all 590,721 comments

yourmom: Track 1, Track 5, and Track 11.

↳ yourinstagram: good choices mom!

username1: Track 3, Track 4 and Track 7!

yoursister: Track 10, Track 11, and Track 12

↳ yourinstagram: do you only like the songs on the album that you are featured on/are about you?!

↳ yoursister: yes!

username2: i need you to release this song now… and my top 3 songs are Track 1, Track 9, and Track 13!

joeyb_9: Track 2, Track 6, and Track 8 (and this new song is so beautiful Ms. SongBird)

↳ yourinstagram: that’s a good top 3 list (and thank you for the compliment on the song Mr. Quarterback)

liked by yourinstagram and 569,001 more users

JBURROW_DAILY: LSU Quarterback Joseph Burrow revealed during his interview with Sports Center that the album he has on repeat right now to help him prepare for the National Championship Football Game against Clemson is Y/FN Y/LN’s debut album.

view all 202,895 comments

username1: i don’t know who this man is because i don’t keep updated with football stuff… but he sounded so cute and shy when he started talking bout Y/FN’s debut album, his favorite songs of hers, and how he needs more new music from her soon.

username2: i think the cutest part was when the interviewer asked if he would be attending Y/N’s sold out concert in Baton Rouge (which is happening only a few days before the football game) and all Joe could do was blush and smile 🥹

username3: i wonder if Y/N and Joe know each other because Y/N has been living in Louisiana these past few years… and obviously Joe goes to school at LSU.

↳ username4: i just checked… and they do follow each other on instagram, so maybe they’re friends and he’s just supporting her album by giving it promotion?!

liked by joeyb_9, yourmom and 955,240 more users

yoursister: good things come in threes!

view all 557,290 comments

yourmom: my beautiful daughters 🖤

username1: i can’t believe i got to see Y/N and her little sister perform their collaboration song LIVE!

↳ username2: i need Y/N’s sister to release her own album soon and not just song covers!

↳ yoursister: one day it will happen!

yourinstagram: 🤍🤍🤍

liked by 585,107 users

Y/FN_WORLD: THIS WAS POSTED AND IMMEDIATELY DELETED BY Y/N’S LITTLE SISTER?!

view all 337,980 comments

username1: WAIT… IS THIS REAL OR A PRANK?!

↳ username2: IT’S REAL… THIS IS MY SCREENSHOT!

username3: EVERYONE ON TWITTER IS SAYING ITS JOE BUTROW AND I THINK THEY’RE RIGHT!

username4: DID Y’ALL SEE THE THREAD ON TWITTER THAT GOING VIRAL OF THE “PROOF” OF Y/FN AND JOE DATING?!

↳ username5: WAIT I DON’T HAVE TWITTER… WHATS THE “PROOF”?!

↳ username4: someone made a thread explaining how Joe and Y/N have been interacting publicly on social media lately + how they have nicknames for each other (Mr. Quarterback and Ms. Songbird) and how Joe acted in the Sports Center interview when talking about Y/N, her music, and when talking about going to the concert (a lot of people on Twitter that attended the concert are saying that he was at the concert but there aren’t any pictures or videos of him yet.)

username3: i wonder if Y/N and Joe were planning on making their relationship public soon since they had started interacting with each other on social media?!

username6: i know that everyone is surprised but since Y/N’s little sister deleted the story i think it’s clear that understand that it was possibly for Y/N little sister’s close insta-story and not for the public to see… we know that Y/N’s little sister would never purposely expose Y/N’s privacy so i hope she’s doing alright and doesn’t blame herself for this mistake.

username7: if it really is an honest mistake that Y/N’s little sister made… let’s hope Y/N isn’t mad at her because the last time someone close to Y/N exposed information about Y/N’s quiet life, she was very mad.

liked by joeyb_9, and 1,785,009 more users

yourinstagram: after-concert vibes 🦋🎤

view all 495,242 comments

yourmom: you’re a gorgeous angel!

username1: if the rumors are true… Joe is a lucky man.

yoursister: tonight was a fun night! (i’m also letting you know now that i will be borrowing the dress)

↳ yourinstagram: last time you borrowed one of my dresses… i never saw the dress again so no!

username2: so… we’re not going address the elephant in the room 👀

joeyb_9: it was a fun concert Ms. Songbird!

↳ yourinstagram: i’m glad you enjoyed it Mr. Quarterback

liked by yourinstagram and 609,745 more users

joeyb_9: Lots of setbacks, disappointments, and failures along my journey. Injuries, position battles, transfer, through all of it I just kept my head down, worked, and tried to get better every day. Now.... I am a Champion.

view all 130,769 comments

lahjay10_: 🔥🔥🔥

LSU: #9 on the football field, #1 in our hearts 💜

mamaburrow: i’m so proud of you and the team!

yourinstagram: congratulations on the victory, you deserve all the success in the world Mr. Quarterback!

↳ joeyb_9: thank you for the kind words Ms. Songbird.

liked by yoursister and 2,001,909 more users

yourinstagram: Mr. Quarterback and Ms. SongBird.

view all 899,245 comments

joeyb_9: i love you Ms. Songbird 🤍

↳ yourinstagram: i love you too Mr. Quarterback 🤍

Author’s Note:

this is the first official “LSU! Joe Burrow” Instagram AU! i’ve had this Instagram AU in the queue for so many months and im glad that the IG AU finally being published!

if you want to request an Instagram AU, send the IG AU request to my Inbox and i will try to get the Instagram AU request published as soon as i can.

thank you all for the love and support! 🤍

#Joe Burrow #NFL #CFB #LSU Tigers #Cincinnati Bengals #Joe Burrow Fanfiction #Joe Burrow Fanfic #Joe Burrow Fic #Joe Burrow x Reader #Joe Burrow x OC #Joe Burrow x Y/N #Joe Burrow Instagram #Joe Burrow Instagram AU #Instagram #Instagram AU

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hobiebrownismygod · 1 year ago

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Interview with the Spider-Band + My OC!

Interviewer: So, what would you say is your favorite Earth besides your own?

Miles: I'd say my favorite's probably Earth-56, Gwen's universe, cuz the colors are really cool and I like how I can see Gwen's emotions so I always know when she's mad or sad or if somethings up with her. The random shapes are kinda distracting though

Gwen: My favorite's definitely Earth-1610, Miles' universe, because he's there I like how everything looks like a sketchbook and how lively everything is. It can be a little suffocating at times but its nice seeing him everyone being so loud and excited

Pavitr: I like everyone's Earths, they're all so cool! Noir's universe is very fun to be in though, because there're no colors and its a bit unsettling but also a fun new environment! I like mine the most though.

Hobie: Pav's universe for me cuz there's none of those pollution clouds and the sky's all clear. Don't have to worry about nun' when I'm on his Earth cuz everyone's all friendly and they like me. The colors are a plus too and the sunsets are beau'iful. I also like Miggy's universe cuz everything's clean and well-kept, but don't like being there when he's 'round.

Margo: I like Miguel's universe cuz its futuristic like mine but not to the point where everyone's virtual yet, which is kind of refreshing compared to mine.

Miles-42: My universe is the best. (He likes Pav's universe cuz everyone's friendly and nobody thinks he's a villain)

Peter B. Parker: Miguel's universe is the safest, so it's where I keep Mayday most of the time when she's bored of our house. There's no villains because of how many Spider-men are stationed there, and it's clean and futuristic.

Spider-Noir: Pavitr's universe is interesting. The vibrant colors make me feel like I'm approaching blindness but I still enjoy it very much. Gwendolyn's universe is also nice, but distracting. I can't keep up with it.

Peni Parker: Miguel's universe because its calming not having any responsibilities in the time you're there. No worries about being attacked.

Spider-ham: All the universes are weird. People instead of animals? Its creepy. But Miles' universe is okay because I've been in it before.

MY OC: Sona-Sheet

Maitreyi Jokhar: I like Hobie's universe.

Interviewer: ...do you have a reason?

Maitreyi: He doesn't mind when I practice on people (cops/fascists) there.

Interviewer: Practice what?

Maitreyi: My skills with a knife.

Interviewer: ok.

Hobie!!

Tags:

@hows-my-handwriting - here's the interview you asked for <3

@s6onder

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cacodaemonia · 22 days ago

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20 Questions for Writers

Thanks so much for the tag, @lilolilyr! It seems that I did this in April, so I'm going to copy/paste any of the answers that haven't changed 😂

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 272 works total, but 110 of those are tagged with 'fanart' and have fewer than 100 words, so I have about 162 fics.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,357,669

3. What fandoms do you write for? TCW and a tiny bit for the Murderbot Diaries, though I've done a handful of images for other fandoms like Arcane, Dune, Trigun, The Expanse, House of the Dragon, Malevolent...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? A bunch of my works with the most kudos are images, but if we're talking fics, then I think it's just some of my oldest ones...

That’s Not How It Happened (This Is How It Happened) - Fives arc fix-it and my first fic.

Orbital Decay - Codywan that I haven't edited since I posted it, so I can't vouch for the quality.

Modulation - Another one I haven't touched since I posted it, but it's an 'Echo gets rescued much earlier than in canon and he and Fives reunite' fix-it of sorts.

Will You Walk With Me? - Waxer's pov from the start of the war to the (fix-it) end, and it mostly focuses on his and Boil's friendship (Waxer & Boil or Waxer/Boil pre-relationship - take your pick). Even though this certainly isn't the best thing I've written, it's my baby. 🧡

Interference - Umbara fix-it featuring minor canon characters and some necessary OCs in the first chapter, then more major canon characters later.

More stuff below the cut, since this is a long list...

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably You're Just Harder to See Than Most, which ends very sadly on its own, but it's part of a larger fix-it including Modulation above, so Fives and Echo get reunited.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Pfff like basically all of them, idk.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No, just on one sketch dump, where someone went through 6 chapters of spicy cloneshippy images and then decided they needed to complain about it being gross and immoral. I had a good laugh.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Absolutely. I'm not really sure how to interpret 'what kind,' but I generally stick to 'porn with feelings' plus some relatively 'tame' kinks.

10. Do you write crossovers? Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! :D

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Hm, I suppose if we're defining that as like, "what ship have you intensely shipped for the longest amount of time," it would be Destiel? I was veeeeeery into that ship for many years (though at this point, Waxer/Boil is inching closer).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Maybe the one I'm working on now?

16. What are your writing strengths? Starting something and working on it until it's finished.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I have a lot of trouble generating ideas on my own.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I think it's fine as long as it's either A. very short and clear from context or B. for some reason, the writer is intending to confuse the reader and obfuscate what was said. I know I've said it before, but I'm not gonna scroll to the bottom of a fic every few paragraphs to find the translations for whole phrases or sentences. If the amount of 'other language' starts making the dialogue difficult to follow, I'm just gonna nope out.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Technically, I wrote one thing for Gundam Wing back in like 2000, but I can't even remember what I did with it or what it was about, exactly. Other than that, TCW.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? flsdlfg that's really difficult... idk man, if it's quality we're talking about rather than sentimentality, I'd say it's a toss-up between these three 😅:

My Heart's Red Muscle - Canon-divergent AU where Waxer is a cyborg.

Kinktober 2022 - Character studies/development through smut, where Waxer and Boil find a list of sexy things to try out, so it's kind of meta. It's from my main Open Skies AU, and I'm weirdly proud of this one XD;

We Could Breathe Underwater - Force-sensitive Waxer and Boil AU

Thanks again for the tag, and I'm going to no-pressure tag anyone who sees this and wants to have a go. :)

Template:

20 Questions for Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

#20 questions #q&a #questions for writers #tag game #writing

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ghulehthezombiequeen · 3 months ago

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Die With A Smile - Copia x male ghost oc

had a headcanon a while back that really stuck and i got the first chapter done! im hoping to write longer chapters and post them all within the month of october, we'll see!

warnings/things to note: this fic series is Copia x MY OC, not reader. he's a ghost, so mentions of death, abandonment, heartbreak, angst all around really

word count: 1754

Chapter 1 - Greetings

It was late at night. Too late at night for Copia’s mind to be racing. There was so much work to do in such little time. He sighed, rubbing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, the hinges creaking from overuse. Maybe he needed to take a walk to clear his mind. Yeah, that sounded like a healthy alternative to overwhelming stimulation. He shrugged off his gloves as he wouldn’t need them to walk. Besides, it was good to get his hands dirty every once in a while.

It was about two in the morning, the last time he checked his watch. He yawned and stretched his muscles before setting out to walk into the eerie graveyard. It was always his favorite spot, especially at this time of year. Fog was beginning to roll in, the temperature was cooler, and it felt more… spooky. At home, for Copia at least.

He wandered in, the old iron gate groaning from lack of movement. Copia’s mind cleared more and more the further he walked in. His hand lightly trailed across the tops of the headstones, silently repeating a prayer of respect to the souls buried here. He’d already done half a lap when he heard rustling by the old mausoleum, which was securely locked with an old-fashioned padlock and key. He shook his head in disappointment. Probably some ghouls again, he thought to himself. He made his way to the old mausoleum, his steps clicking against the stone at a medium pace, and found the padlock untouched, with the key hanging in its rightful place.

He took a step back, puzzled. "What even?" he found himself thinking out loud.

The door rattled again, causing Copia to flinch. "He- hello? Is someone in there?"

"Help," a small voice replied, along with the door rattling once more.

Instantly, Copia reached for the key, putting it into the slot and turning it, unlocking the padlock. He grunted as he pulled the door open, revealing…

An empty room.

What?

A cold brush of wind went through his bones, causing him to turn on his heel.

His eyes widened in shock as he took in the sight before him.

A ghost. A real ghost.

"Caro Sathanas…" he whispered. "Hello," he greets, his mind scrambling to find his manners and look presentable to the spirit in front of him. "I- uh… what were you doing in there?"

Instead, the ghost let out a small squeak and hid behind one of the headstones, not expecting to see him either, he supposed. A light chuckle left Copia’s lips and he shook his head.

"It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you. Come on out," he gently coaxes, staying rooted in his spot so as not to spook the ghost. A bit ironic, he thought to himself.

The ghost peeked his head up for a moment, revealing his silvery-brown translucent hair and white-clear skin. His eyes were pure white, though one could still know where they were looking.

Copia was somewhat taken aback by his eyes, though he did an impressive job at hiding it.

"There you are," Copia says, his heart strangely hammering against his ribs. Perhaps it was because it was the dead of the night or perhaps because he can now properly register the fact that he was talking to an actual ghost. "You don't have to keep your distance. Come here."

The ghost hesitantly let go of the headstone he was hiding behind, drifting closer to the man in front of him.

"Y-You saved me.." he whispered.

Copia smiles at his words. "Of course, I saved you. What else was I supposed to do?" He asks jokingly with a feigned air of arrogance, though it was clear to see that he was being gentle with the other. He studies his face for a moment, almost as if he was taking in and mentally noting the ghost’s every feature.

"Don't stare, please... it makes me nervous..." he murmured, his voice sounding as if it were coming from another room. He looked down, and if he still had blood in his veins, his cheeks would be a bright pink from embarrassment.

Copia blinks in surprise, taken by the slight pleading in his voice. His gaze immediately falls from the ghost’s face.

"Oh, my apologies," he muttered, scratching his head. "I didn't mean to stare like that. I.. I was just admiring how precious you are. Forgive me, I'll keep my eyes to the floor, if that helps."

"Oh..." the ghost floated back just a few inches, holding his hand to his heart as if it ached.

"I just... don't like humans in general..."

Copia's shoulders drooped and his brows furrowed, sadness flashing in his eyes.

"Oh," he murmurs and steps back a bit, giving you more space. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I wasn't trying to scare you... I just thought you were beautiful. I-" Copia huffs out a sigh and pushes a hand through his dark hair. "I didn't expect you to like humans, but I thought if I was at least nice, you'd tolerate me."

He rubs the back of his neck and averts his eyes, letting out a short quiet laugh; one that seemed bitter and pained.

"That's stupid of me, isn't it? I was stupid to think that.... a ghost would even... tolerate... a stupid human."

"N-No, that's not..." he started, hesitantly reaching out then retracting his arm, his shoulders tensing. "I-I don't know... it's been so long since I've.."

He trailed off as the moonlight peeked through the overcast clouds, illuminating his essence and catching his eye. He drifted away from Copia, his eyes wide as he took in the beauty of the moon.

"I forgot... how beautiful the moon was..."

"You really think so?" Copia asks quietly, watching as he drifts away and basks in the moonlight.

"Maledizione, you're even more beautiful in the light," he murmurs, his heart clenching in his chest as he takes in the sight of the other bathed in the silver glow of the celestial object.

He's drawn to the other like a moth to a flame and he slowly reaches out, as if wanting to touch him.

"I never thought I'd be this close to a ghost," Copias breath hitches, "especially to a ghost so beautiful... bellissimo..."

The ghost gasped as he felt Copia's hand go right through his back, an uncomfortable tingle spreading throughout his body before he yanked himself away from the human's touch.

"Don't... you can't touch me... I-I'll go right through you..."

Copia immediately regrets reaching out, flinching as the other pulled away. He frowns, looking down at his hand with a sad look. "That... didn't feel very pleasant," Copia says, "I can imagine just how unpleasant it is for you. I'm sorry, I should have thought better."

He lets his hand drop to his side slowly, though he can no longer take his eyes off the ghost. "How long have you been alone here, I wonder," he whispered and took another small step towards him, though careful to not get any closer.

He wanted nothing more than to touch him again, to touch his hair, his pale skin. He wanted to hold his delicate hands. He wanted to hug him.

"A long time. Very long time," the ghost whispered in return, his expression turning melancholic as he looked back up at the moon in awe.

"I've... not seen another human in... I don't even know how long... the last time I saw a human, I was trapped in there."

"In... you were trapped there?" Copia tilts his head in confusion, though realization soon dawns on him and his eyes widen. "Oh, cazzo, you're stuck in that… that old mausoleum?"

He points behind his shoulder, to the mausoleum that is nearby. He had almost forgotten that the damn thing was even there.

He nodded, a clear streak of what could have been a tear running down his pale cheek. "It was.. awful. No one could hear me... I couldn't go through the doors because they were locked…”

Copia winces, as if in pain, at the ghost's last sentence. It hurt him badly imagining him alone in that cold, dark room. It must have been torture.

"I can't imagine what that was like for you," he says quietly, "having to scream and no one would listen... no one would hear you..."

"I don't want to talk anymore," the ghost whispered abruptly, his already distant voice seeming quieter than usual as he began to drift away from Copia.

"Hey, hey, wait a second," Copia suddenly pleads and reaches his hand out to him, even though he knew there was no way he could touch him or stop him from floating away.

"Please... can't you at least tell me your name? That's all I want to know, please," he says, and there was clear desperation in his voice.

He turned back, his brows furrowing upwards as he contemplated trusting Copia with his name. Would he begin to trust humans as a whole again? This one was certainly much kinder than the last one he'd met.

"Ren."

Copia's heart beat loudly in his chest as he was finally given a name. "Ren," he murmured, letting the word sit on his tongue like honey. The ghost's name perfectly complimented his beautiful features, and the human realized that he wanted to say his name more often.

"Ren, what a pretty name," he says quietly, though he wanted to shout it out like a prayer. He wanted to shout it for the whole world to hear.

His hand was still reaching out for Ren as if he could grab him by the arm and stop him from floating away.

"Ren, bellissimo, please don't go," he pleaded, and he took another step forward. He was so desperate to have him near, even if he knew Ren’d slip through his fingers like smoke.

"It is getting late," Ren murmured, unable to keep his eyes on Copia. "Go back to the castle. 'S not like I can really leave..."

Copia's expression softens as you tell him to go back to the castle. You were right, he should probably leave soon...

Yet, he did not want to.

He wanted to stay here in the graveyard, with Ren, and talk to him in the dead of the night for as long as he could.

"You're right, it is late... I..." he sighs softly, reluctantly taking a step away from the ghost. "I should go back."

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slasher-smasher · 8 months ago

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Teleporting Keys (Homelander x OC)

This is for my very first submission to @cozycornerevents, prompt: "Where are my keys?" Masterlist

No warning besides not beta read, just HL having terrible hiding spots for things, OC is Cassidy Bishop.

Cassidy wasn't the most meticulous person but she did like to have her everyday items to have a specific place for easy locating. With her hectic schedule, she needed to be able to be out of the door when she got paged from the hospital.

Her phone –depending on its battery charge– gets set down on the counter in the kitchen so she will be able to hear its ringing when she has her nose shoved into a book on the couch or if she was in a baking mood and was mixing batter while listening to her gramophone.

Her wallet on her dresser, next to the phone charger she uses when she goes to bed.

The sketchbook and pencils had their home on the bookshelf in the living room. Normally she kept them under her bed so she would be able to reach under when inspiration struck but her nosey boyfriend liked to snoop and pull it out to flick through her sketches making her face flush when he gives her a cheeky grin as he sees a new picture of him. His favorites are the ones where he looked heroic mid-flight.

Her keys hanging from their hook by the door. The little Lego versions of Ryan and Homelander that former made her for her birthday swung by their keychain.

Usually, Homelander comes by to pick her up to spend the night at the tower –which she insisted that she could drive herself there but he just sneers at the idea of her getting in the death box on wheels more than she has to– and takes her home so she can drive to work.

After a serious sit down, she made it clear to Homeander how important her job is to her and that she was a professional so being late is unacceptable. Though that did little to deter the clingy superhero from dragging her back to the warm bed for early morning cuddles. He still made sure she had time to get ready at home. This week was odd though.

One day, after coming home from a long night of celebration of his newly appointed Homelander Day –much to Cassidy’s exasperation about his need to be the center of attention– Cassidy was just about to reach for her keys before stopping short when she saw an empty space.

“Uh. That's strange,” she mumbled as she turned back to the kitchen to see if she left them on the counter. Homelander practically snatched her up and flew out of the window right as she walked through the front door so she couldn't remember where she set them.

After checking other places when she couldn't locate them in the kitchen, she glanced at her watch and started to worry as her time to start her shift crept closer. Biting her lip she pulled out her phone and dialed her lover.

The deep teasing voice that greeted her ears as he answered almost made her immediately hang up and surrender to public transportation and take the lateness, “Changed your mind already? I was just thinking that sunlight would look amazing on you when you're pressed against the glass overlooking the city as I fuck you.”

Over a hundred years old and she still felt flustered at his vulgarity.

“Hush you pervert. I need a favor. I cannot find my keys and I am going to be late. Do you think you can fly here and take me to work?” she knew he would be more insufferable since he has been whining about how dangerous vehicles are and she had a safer way of transportation. His godly self. He would think this as going out of his way to her rescue.

She heard Homelander let out a dramatic sigh, clearly relishing the opportunity to be her knight in shining armor. “I suppose I can make an exception this time, kitten. But you owe me a special treat for this favor,” he purred into the phone, his tone full of smug satisfaction.

Bastard acting like it would inconvenience him. That brat.

She rolled her eyes at his predictable request, Cassidy simply replied, “Fine, fine. Just hurry up before I'm late for work. And no flying too fast this time, you know how much it messes up my hair. I look like fucking Doc Brown before I can fix it.”

With a chuckle, Homelander assured her he would be there shortly and hung up the call. Cassidy couldn't help but smile despite her annoyance at his arrogance. As she waited by the door for him to arrive, she wondered where the keys could be.

She ended up finding them in her bag that she keeps all her art supplies in on the floor by the bookshelf. She forgot that she put them in there when she parked.

That’s when things got weird. Every other day her keys would go missing. She was incredibly confused because she swore that she would put them on their hook when she gets home but it’s not totally strange how often Homelander would sweep in and steal her attention. Plus he was more than eager to take her to work. What made her suspicious was the odd locations she found her keys later in the week.

Once, she found them in the refrigerator, chilling next to a carton of milk. Another time, they were nestled on the cushion of her favorite armchair, as if they were taking a nap. The most perplexing discovery was when Cassidy stumbled upon her keys hanging from a tree branch in her backyard, glinting in the sunlight.

She wasn’t oblivious. She could correlate the teleporting keys and Homelanders earnest want to have her fly with him. Cassidy couldn't help but feel a mix of exasperation and amusement at Homelander's need to have her to himself just a little longer and knew his distrust of cars was legitimate so his fear for her safety was very sweet. Even if she could heal if anything happened.

She decided to confront him about it one evening as they lounged on the couch, his arm wrapped around her shoulders possessively. "John, where are my keys?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Homelander feigned innocence, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Keys? What keys, babe? I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied smoothly, though a flicker of a smirk danced on his lips.

“Uh huh,” Cassidy wasn’t buying it as she craned her neck back to glance at the once again empty key hook.

He chuckled softly and pulled her closer. “Hey now, you’re the one that keeps having old lady moments and puts them in weird places. Not my fault.”

The jab about her real age and him turning this around on her made her eye twitch but she just sighed and snuggled more into his side. “You know, if you wanna go flying, you can just ask. No need to be sneaky. Nice attempt though.”

Homelander's smirk widened as he leaned down to press a kiss to Cassidy's temple. "Who said I was being sneaky? Just trying to keep you on your toes," he replied playfully, running a hand through her hair.

Cassidy couldn't help but laugh at his antics as she shook her head in fond exasperation. "Well, consider me on my toes then. But seriously, what were you thinking with the fridge and the tree in the backyard?" she teased, poking him in the side.

Homelander let out a dramatic scoff, pretending to be offended. "The tree was genius, you just got lucky missy. For the fridge, I actually didn’t mean to leave the keys in there. I might have gotten distracted," he said with an impish grin, knowing his slip-up had been caught. Cassidy couldn't help but chuckle at his admission, shaking her head in amusement.

"Well, I’ll need to remember milk is a good Homelander diversion," she teased, giving him a playful nudge. Homelander chuckled and pulled her into a tight embrace, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

After a moment Homelander asked in that unsure quiet voice, “So you do want to go flying with me?”

Cassidy looked up at Homelander with a soft smile, her eyes filled with affection. "Of course I do, John. I always enjoy flying with you," she replied, running a hand through his hair “Besides that one time.” They both remembered how their reunion went about. Homelander's face lit up with a bright smile as he lifted her effortlessly into his arms, preparing to take off into the night sky.

#my writing #homelander fanfiction #homelander x oc #the boys amazon #homelander #cozy corner domaystic #the boys #cassidy bishop

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seenoversundown · 6 months ago

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Amongst The Stars: Chapter Three

Josh x Quinn (Nonbinary OC)

Warnings: Misgendering of a nonbinary character, Men (that’s it. That’s the warning), Wallet chains, Jake being Sweet. Word Count: 4.1k Summary: Josh has always loved love, and he's finally found it. Buuuut, he can't exactly tell anyone. Join him as he navigates the ins and outs of his sweet, secret romance. Author's Note: We are officially on our regularly scheduled programming. Every monday, babies. I hope you all enjoy this one and the little dual POV action. I just had to get quinn back in there for a little bit at the end :)

Can't Take My Eyes off You - Frankie Valli “Pardon the way that I stare There's nothin' else to compare The sight of you leaves me weak There are no words left to speak”

I can’t stop thinking about Quinn after they leave. Every little thing I do draws my mind back to them. I know it’s wrong, and I shouldn’t be, but I am jealous of their partner. God, Josh, you sound insane. Pining for a person you’ve met one time, being jealous of their partner. Their partner doesn’t respect them, so their partner doesn’t factor in. Sometimes, I wish brains functioned like an etch-a-sketch because I try shaking my head to clear those thoughts, but it doesn’t quite work, and I end up with a minor headache. Oh well. I walk back up to the front of the store, disinterested in actually working now that my day has been positively derailed by a lovely and mysterious person in a pair of beat-up Doc Martens.

I stand by the front registers, waiting to greet customers as they walk in. Hobby Lobby has never been my favorite place to work, but it really isn't so bad when you're a manager and can choose to fuck off on the clock if you want to.Which I do. I want to fuck off on the clock badly. I look down at my watch, noting that I only have 20 minutes until I can clock out for the day. There's no sense in starting a new task, I smile to myself. I'm pleased I've managed to time my “greeting responsibilities” so well with the end of my shift. I stand around for a minute, bouncing back and forth on the balls of my feet, and I let my mind drift back to Quinn. Their lips looked so plush and biteable. It should be illegal that they nibbled their lips in front of me while I didn't have the option to offer my assistance.

I ponder their lips for another moment before my mind slips back to their concerning comment. “He’d done a lot worse for less…” My eyebrows furrow as I try to imagine a situation in which I would be anything short of sweet and kind to Quinn.

I meander out of the first set of sliding doors and step into the area where only the ugliest furniture goes to die. Goin’ to the Hobby Lobby lobby, I sing to myself as I take stock of the atrocious seasonal items that no customer would ever think to purchase. That's a lie; old women exist. I walk the area and make a mental note to bring the feather duster out tomorrow to tackle the growing piles of dust that inhabit the, reasonably, rejected items. I run my finger along the gilded frame of one of the paintings that’s propped up atop one of the fucking ugliest baby pink chalk-painted tables I've ever seen. Of course, it's chalk paint, I shudder. My thoughts return to the painting; it’s massive, at least two and a half feet long—a highland cow with fluffy hair covering its eyes and an inexplicable crown of leaves resting upon its stupid little horns.

“Oh, Bessie,” I whisper, pulling my finger back from the frame and examining the dust that came with it. “They could never make me hate you. I may hate everything in this sad room, but never you.” I decide to check the markdown schedule tomorrow because, as much as I love this goofy little cow, I will never take her home at full price. I do have some standards.

As I'm about to turn around and head back into the store proper, I hear the entrance door slide open as a man about my age, give or take, walks through.

“Oh! Hey, man. Welcome to Hobby Lobby,” I greet him. “Lookin' for a dude named Josh.” Me? I take a second to look him over. Curly, blonde hair that sits a bit too close to his eyes. Nondescript black tee with baggy jeans. A wallet chain attached to his belt loop. A fucking wallet chain. What year is this? Well-worn Adidas sneakers. He seems safe enough. A bit worse for wear, but he doesn't seem scary.

“Ah, yep,” I stick my hand out, offering it in greeting, “that’d be me!” He looks at my outstretched hand and scoffs. Okayyyyyyy, maybe I misjudged. “I just wanted to talk with you, man to man.” “About…” “About you flirting with my girlfriend,” he cocks an eyebrow. “Not sure what you mean, champ,” I let out an awkward chuckle.“Don’t pull that shit with me, man.” “I’m afraid I really don't know what you're talking about. I haven't said more than ‘hi, welcome to Hobby Lobby’ to a girl in weeks.” “So, you're gonna act like you have no idea who Quinn is?” I narrow my eyes, putting two and two together. This is Quinn’s shithead partner. “I don't think they’d appreciate you calling them your girlf—” “I don't exactly care what she’d appreciate right now,” he cuts me off, “I'm here to talk to you.”

Oh, so he reallyyyyyyyy doesn't respect them. Noted.

“Yeah, so,” I roll my eyes, “you can talk at me, but you're not talking to me until you show some respect.” I watch his face contort in confusion, quickly morphing into anger. “Why should I respect you?” He spits out quickly. “Are you delusional? Just stupid?” I can't help but laugh at the look on his face “I’m not asking you to respect me,” I continue, “I'm asking you to respect your partner. It’s ridiculous that you're in here, trying to talk to me ‘man to man’ while you're misgendering them.” I watch as realization dawns on his face. “Come on, you know I didn't mean that.” “I’m assuming you’ve been with them long enough to know better,” I watch his eyes slowly shift away from mine, “not that length of time has anything to do with respect.”

His eyes fall to the floor, properly chastised.

“I—” “For what it’s worth,” I cut him off, “from the few minutes that I talked to Quinn today, in a purely professional capacity, I think they deserve better than whatever it is you have to offer.” “Hey—” “AND, don't forget that they’ll realize that one day. And when they do, someone will be waiting to treat them better.”

I check my watch. Time to gooooooo!

“Anyway,” I pause, narrowing my eyes at him in a silent gesture to get his name. “Craig.” “Anyway, Greg, my shift is over. I don't intend to mention this to Quinn the next time I see them, and I’d suggest you don't either.”

I turn on my heel and book it to the break room, practically sprinting by the time I make it to the double doors. I push through, throw my smock on one of the hooks above the time clock, and punch out. Finally, finally, I sit on the worn-out leather couch across from the lockers and let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

“What the FUUUUUUUUUUCK,” I lean my head back and groan.

I didn't have “getting accosted by a fucking freak” on today’s bingo card, but I suppose I'll have to tick it off regardless. Who does he think he is? Who do I think I am? I don't talk to people like that. I pull out my phone and send a text to Jake, chuckling at his nickname in my phone. I'm five minutes older, and I will never let him live it down.

Me: I think I messed up Kiddo: Elaborate on that? Me: No

I slide my phone into my pocket and stand up from the couch, shaking some of the nervous energy from my limbs. I’ll explain everything to Jake when I get home; I just need him to know I may be in a mood.

I let out a long sigh and slowly made my way out to the front of the store, praying to whatever gods existed that Craig would be gone by the time I got there. I thank all my lucky stars as I walk out of the first set of sliding doors and find myself alone. I glance once more at my girl Bessie, then head out to the parking lot. I glance in every which direction, ensuring that Craig isn’t hiding anywhere, waiting to pop out and murder me. Perhaps I am being dramatic, but my gut tells me you cannot trust someone who wears a wallet chain unironically. And I always follow my gut.

I make it to my Jeep truck and sigh as I plant myself in the driver's seat, connecting my phone to Bluetooth and clicking into my Apple Music Discover Station. Occasionally, I find something new that I enjoy. The opening notes of a pop song filter over the speakers as I back out of my parking spot and pull through the parking lot. Sam would hate this; I’ll have to add it to the bar playlist.

I bob my head to the music, driving down the road back to my apartment “I’m your dream come true when it's on a platter for you…” For some reason that brings Quinn to the forefront of my mind, I can’t help but think about what a piece of shit Craig was to me today. I hope he’s better to them, but something tells me he isn’t. The things they said about him today…My stomach clenches thinking about it. Someone like Quinn deserves the world, and Craig is obviously not giving it to them. I could. Okay, no, that’s crazy.

I sigh, pulling up to the stop sign next to the bar that Jake owns. We’ve lived in the apartment above it for years, but the prior owner finally decided to sell it, and Jake took him up on the offer. Jake got a job down at the docks when we were freshly graduated from high school; he decided he didn’t care about college and just wanted to set himself up with a good job that would pay him enough to put money back in savings and have a little spending money on top, and in Portland… That’s the docks. Not that he ever needed spending money; he didn’t (and still doesn’t) ever do anything for himself. He’s always been too busy taking care of everyone else. I can’t even remember the last time he took a nice girl out for dinner.

I pull into the back side of the parking lot and slam my car into park, practically jerking my key out of the ignition and running through the backdoor of the bar, ready to see my twin after the horrendously long day I’ve had.

“Uh, hey, bub,” Jake greets me from behind the bar with a confused wave. “Hey, kiddo,” I sigh, sitting at the bar top, “can I get a salty dog?”“Sure thing, gin or vodka?” I raise an eyebrow at him, signaling he doesn't need to be in customer mode with me. “Surprise me.”

I watch as he takes a bottle of Tanqueray gin from the top shelf, pours a measure of it into his cocktail shaker, and then adds grapefruit juice, lime juice, and ice. He shakes it, then strains it into a highball glass rimmed with salt and slides it over to me.

I take a sip, and, of course, it's delicious. Jake indeed found his calling here — no one on this earth can make a cocktail like he can.

“Perfect as always, Jake.” “I don't make them any other way,” he starts, “now, wanna tell me about how you ‘think you messed up?’” I slam back the rest of my drink and shake my glass, asking for another. “Slow down, you're gonna drink me out of house and home,” Jake scolds, but prepares another one, nonetheless. “I need a little help loosening my lips.” “Get real, you've never had an issue talking in your life. If anything, you're too good at it.” I roll my eyes but secretly know he’s correct. I'm a known yapper. “I resent that, you know.” “And I don't care, stop changing the subject.” “Fine,” I huff, “I got into a fight with a customer today.” “Physical or…” “Verbal, obviously. Do I look like a scrapper?” He chuckles, wiping non-existent dust off of the spotless bar top.

“Anyway, some crazy dude wearing a wallet chain, of all things, came in and yelled at me for hitting on his partner.” “What?” “Yes, Jake. A wallet chain. In 2024. I was baffled, too.” “No! Not that, you weirdo. He yelled at you for what?!” “Oh, he thought I was hitting on his partner.” “Well, were you?” I sit and think for a moment. I wasn't not flirting with them, but it wasn't my initial intent. “Maybe a little,” I sigh, “I didn't realize they were in a relationship. And I do have eyes. They were too cute. I had to try and shoot my shot or whatever the kids say.” “You’d ‘shoot your shot’ with a wall. I’m honestly shocked this is the first time this has happened.” “I resent that, too.” “Add it to the list.” “Anyway, I think the guy was just insecure. But I may have been rude to him.” Jake slowly blinks at me. “You were rude?” “I know,” I laugh, “he just brought it out in me.” “How rude were you?” “Well, I jumped his ass for misgendering his partner.” “That's not exactly rude,” Jake jumps in, “it’s quite the opposite, I'd say.” “I’m sure he didn't feel that way.” “Why do you care? You did what was right; plus, it’s not like you'll ever see this dude again. Hell, you probably won't even see his partner again. No harm, no foul.” My stomach flips at the thought of not seeing Quinn again. We don't have time to unpack that.

“Yeah, you're probably right. I’ll never see either of them again and, as of right now, he hasn't reported me to corporate. So, no need to stress.” “Exactly right, bub.”

I finish up my drink and set the glass down.

“Thank you, Jake.” “You don't have to thank me, I’ll always be on your side.”

I reach out and pat his arm.

“Also,” Jake starts, “I don't know the situation, but it’s pretty serious if you actually act rude to someone else. So, don't discount those feelings.” What is he saying? I fix him with a confused look. “I don't understand.” “Look, Josh,” he sighs like he’s preparing to explain physics to a five-year-old, “I’m not telling you to get in the way of their relationship. But, if the opportunity to explore this arises, don't let that opportunity go to waste. It’s no small thing that you felt connected enough to this person to do what you did today.”

“You know, I did tell the guy today that if he doesn't treat them right, someone else will be there waiting. Maybe I’m that someone.” “You could be, if that's what you wanted.”

I simply hum a response. Jake has given me too much to think about.

“I appreciate you lending me an ear, brother,” I shove my stool back from the bar and stand, “but I have chores to take care of upstairs. Text me if you need a hand down here.” “Will do.”

I open the door to the apartment that Jake and I share above the bar. Home sweet home, finally. I kick my shoes off and walk into the living room, planting myself on the couch, thinking about Quinn the whole time. Something about them piqued my interest. I can't help but feel that if we’d met at a different point in time, we’d be together right now. That's ridiculous. You've spoken to them for a total of 3 minutes.

It is true that I've only spoken to them for a few moments, but I noticed them the first time they ever came in while I was working. I've watched them from afar, hoping to find a way to actually converse with them. I was shocked when they found a way to converse with me first. Jake may joke about how I’d hit on anyone, but that's not true. I’m nice to everyone, and I'm flirty with a lot of them. But Quinn is different. And it's unbelievable that I feel that way. I don't wink at every single person I see, nor do I tell them how important their work is. I certainly don't get into verbal altercations defending other people. Verbal altercations are reserved for when someone is talking shit about my family. So, what makes Quinn different? I keep replaying our interaction in my mind. I got butterflies when they complimented my tattoo. I was practically shaking when they pulled me in for a hug. I was angry on their behalf when they insinuated that they don't have people who support them.

What. Makes. Quinn. Different.

I never act this way about strangers, but it's as if their soul called out to mine, and mine answered. It's the only way I can explain the way I handled Craig. I called him GREG just to piss him off. I never do shit like that. But he was an absolute chode. He kind of deserved it. I can internally debate whether he sucks or not all night, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t speak like that to people, and if Quinn, sweet, curious Quinn, weren’t involved, I likely wouldn’t have spoken to him that way either. Regardless, I really need to find a way to get closer to Quinn. Good job; that sounds so creepy. What I mean is that I feel a soul-deep need to know this person. I don’t know in what capacity because it seems as though I’m entering their life a little late for it to be romantic. Which is what I want. But I could be just in time for friendship. I’ll take it if they truly want to extend the offer, but only time will tell.

When Craig makes it back home, shopping bags in tow, Willa and I are roughly two and a half sheets to the wind.

“Well, well, well,” Willa points an accusatory finger at him as he walks through the door, “The prodigal Greg returns.” I can’t help but snicker, knowing how much it pisses him off when: 1) Willa is here without warning 2) Someone calls him by the wrong name.

“Hey, Willa,” He plastered on a pained smile. Willa turns to look at me, shock written on her face. That may be the nicest he’s been to Willa in months. Craig walks into the kitchen and places his bags on the counter.

“Didn’t realize you were going to be here,” He half shouts from the other room, “But you’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want.” “Does he even know how to cook?!” She whispers. “He knows how to heat food up,” I shrug. “I’m making Eggplant Parm.” My eyes light up. It’s my favorite meal. “Maybe this is his way of apologizing,” I whisper to Willa. She rolls her eyes but cuts me a devious look. “That sounds great, Craig. I’d love to stay if you’ll have me.”

“You girls just stay in there, and I’ll have it out in a jiffy.” “Jiffy?” Willa mouths, fighting back a laugh. “Girls?” I mouth back, shaking my head, and Willa’s face instantly sours. She knows that Craig has a hard time with my pronouns and prefers to ignore my identity. This is a regular point of contention in my relationship with Craig and, by extension, my relationship with Willa. I don’t understand why he does it, and she doesn’t understand why I let him get away with it. I don’t understand why I let him get away with it. He is quite literally just a man.

Willa and I fall into silence for a moment before she grabs my hand and stage whispers just loud enough that Craig may hear. “I bet Stock Boy wouldn’t misgender you.” I hear a small crash from the kitchen, and I clap one of my hands over her mouth. “Stop!!”

I feel her tongue dart out and lick between my fingers, and I let out a squeal. I pull my hand back from her mouth and wipe it on her shirt. “You are an absolute monster. I’m not sure why I allow you to call yourself my friend.” “Oh, Quincy,” she lets out a cackle, “You wouldn’t know what to do without me.”

I roll my eyes, but it’s true. She is the only thing that has kept me sane since we moved to Maine. She’s my rock. Kind of sad that your own partner isn’t your rock, Quinn. Willa picks up our empty wine glasses from the coffee table and shoots me a wink before heading into the kitchen. Surely, this will be fine. Willa trapping Craig in a room could not possibly cause anything terrible to occur.

I can hear their muffled voices just enough to make out their conversation. ‘So, Craig. What did you get up to after Gamestop?’ I wince, waiting for his response to that emphasis. Willa has always been phenomenal at telling him that she knows precisely when he’s messed something up. ‘Oh, uh. I just stopped by the grocery. Wanted to make it up to Quinn.’ Interesting. ‘You were gone an awful long time to have just stopped at the grocery.’ ‘Mmm, yeah, well. I had to figure out what to make and how to make it. I’m not exactly a chef over here.’ ‘That’s an understatement,’ I wince again. What is she playing at? This situation is already precarious. ‘But, I suppose you get half of a point for trying. We’ll see.’

Willa walks back into the living room with two more glasses of wine for us.

“He’s–” She starts at full volume before I shush her, connecting my phone to the Bluetooth speaker in the corner. Once the music starts playing at an acceptable volume to cover our conversation, I motion for her to continue. “He’s lying. I can smell it on him. He didn’t just nip over to Hannaford and come home.” “I mean, obviously. He was gone for like three hours.” “You don’t care that he’s literally lying to your face.” “Technically,” I poke her side, “he lied to your face. And no, not really. If he came home and decided to be sweet for once, I’m not gonna question what it took to get him there.” “Quinn,” She says softly, reaching a hand out to pat my leg. “I know, Wills. But, just let me have this for the moment.”

She hums a non-response and drops the conversation.

I should have questions. I should care. But, if he’s going to be sweet, I’ll take it where I can get it because these moments are becoming fewer and further between.

“Dinner’s done,” Craig pops his head into the living room, “Y’all’s plates are already on the table.” Willa and I scramble to the kitchen table. “Thanks, babe.” I kiss Craig's cheek before sitting down. “It looks great.” “Anything for you, babe,” He beams.

I see Willa’s lips quirk up in a slight grin and brace myself for whatever she’s about to do.

“So, Quincy. I’ve got a photography project I’m working on, but I need some supplies. Wanna come to Hobby Lobby with me tomorrow?” I let out a massive sigh as the color drains from Craig’s face, and I begin mentally preparing myself to do damage control, but Craig impresses me. “That would be nice, Quinn. Y’all can get out of the house for a little bit. I’ll stay behind to clean up around here.”

Willa sits in shock, clearly not expecting that response.

“Oh, and Willa,” Craig smiles at her, “If you want to stay over tonight, I’ll take the couch. Don’t want you to drive home after you’ve had all that wine.”

Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf.

Even if Craig has decided to be a bit nicer after his moment earlier; I still can’t help the little shock of excitement that rushes through me at the thought of being able to see Josh again so soon. I’m not sure what it is about him, but I want to learn more about him. He’s the most compelling person I’ve met in a long time, and perhaps he feels the same about me.

I’m excited to see if our friendship may blossom.

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