#i was flabbergasted when i only saw one fic i was like huh??!

[lostaurorax]

we need more travis kelce fanfic on this app… that’s all

[quixotical-lymbo]

Hi! For a request how about a small fic with everyone trying to help Wukong confess his feelings to fem Reader

🍜 - tysm for requesting! hope you enjoy :) Warnings/Tags: MK and co shenanigans, fluff, humor, and kissing.  Word Count: 1800+ words

"So, what's your deal?" 

"Hm?" Wukong sipped on his drink. 

"I mean, when are you gonna tell her that you like her?" 

Cue the monkey king choking on a straw while his successor pats him on the back. 

"Wha…what are you talking about, bud? Tell who?" Wukong wiped his mouth as he turned to look flabbergasted at his apparent heir. 

"Y'know who I'm talkin' abouttttt," MK drawled as he nudged his elbow against Wukong a few times. "It's so painfully obvious that you like her and her buns."

"I really don't know what you're…PF-PAH-ACK!" Wukong slammed his fist against his sternum a few times. "Her what?!"

MK rolled his eyes as he gestured to the rest of his friend group crowding around a festival game stand, you included. 

It was another festival that MK and co decided to spend some quality time together at, but what surprised the gang further was the inclusion of the monkey king. Although some seem less enthusiastic about his presence than others coughpigsycough. 

"You've been staring at her butt for the past…five…fifteen minutes? I didn't notice until you hadn't blinked at all until I spoke to you." 

"I was not! I was…observing the booth." 

"I'm sometimes stupid, but I'm not dumb! I know what I saw and I say nuh-uh!" 

"Yuh-huh!" 

"Nuh-" 

"What the heck are you two arguin' about?" Pigsy's voice boomed. MK and Wukong snapped their heads to look at the rest of the group staring back at them. Wukong's face felt hot underneath your questioning stare, but your smile made him gulp. Of course, MK had to notice this little reaction of his mentor. 

"Nothingggg, right, teach?" MK smugly lounged against the bench and turned to look at his mentor who glared back at him. 

"...right."

"Great! I saw some shooting games up ahead, wanna come with?" Mei butted in and yanked him off of the bench before he could say yes.

As MK was dragged off, he pointed two fingers at his eyes before pointing them back at Wukong. 

Great, they were totally gonna have a talk about this later. 

—🍑—

It hadn't even been a day before MK along with Mei and Tang ambushed Wukong. Apparently, operation 'monkey-see-monkey-do' involved them trying to set him up with you. Currently, the four of them were huddled around a few papers scattered on the floor of Pigsy's shop. 

 "Okay! Phase one of getting our friend to realize that monkey king likes her-" 

 "-Allegedly-" 

 "-and then phase two is to make her like him? What if she secretly hates his guts-?" 

 "-Allegedly-" 

 "-sorry, MK, but phase three isn't making a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things…like what do you mean by getting paint, flowers, and…oil?" 

 "Ugh, you guys! Just trust me okay! I got this-!" 

 "-Allegedly-" 

 "-SHUT UP!" 

—🍑—

As the bright sun shone on Megapolis, you were relaxing at a park sitting at the base of a tree. The cool shade provided by the foliage above along with the current temperature made for a perfect day to spend it outside. You slumped against the tree, your legs stretched in front of you on the blanket you laid out as your arms rested on your stomach. 

Truly, you were at peace. 

SNAP!

Your eyes shot open as your eyes focused on the familiar figure of the monkey king hanging off a tree branch using his tail. Not only that, but a bouquet of flowers were hanging from his closed fist, hanging just a few inches away from your face.

"...monkey king?" You exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" 

"Oh…about that-...I'm…uh," Wukong scratched the back of his head as his eyes flickered wildly in search of an answer. "Sightseeing! Yepp, I was just hanging around, saw you and decided to say hi?" 

"Right…" You chuckled. "It's nice to see you, how have you been?" 

"Good, good," Wukong's strained grin eased into a small curve. "I see you're having fun." 

"I am, ah…are those a souvenir or…?" 

"Hm? Oh, these?" Wukong glanced at the wild flowers in his hands before offering them to you. "Actually, they're for you." 

"Aww, you shouldn't have-" Your gaze softened as you reached for the flowers. Before you could take them, Wukong was tackled out of nowhere and disappeared from sight. You could have sworn you saw a flash of green and yellow go by, but you shrugged before lying back against the tree. 

  Later….

"What the heck was that for?" 

"There was a freakin' hornet in those!" 

"Yeah! If MK hadn't seen 'em you two would've been toast!" 

Phase One: FAILURE. 

—🍑—

You were holding a few bags of groceries as you made your way home. It was a boring week of working, doing mundane chores, and barely having time to hangout with your friends. Perhaps visiting Pigsy's shop was in order for tomorrow. 

A soft grin etched itself on your face as you rounded the corner only to bump into something hard and fuzzy. 

"Ah, sorry-...monkey king?" You glanced up to see the familiar orange simian smiling down at you. Your eyes slowly trailed from his face to the black-and-white suit that donned his figure, your cheeks felt warm as you noticed that the 'wall' you collided with was the unbuttoned part of his suit showing off his chest—and those bulging pecs barely being held back by the buttons-

Calm yourself, jeez. 

"Hey there, whatcha doin' out here all alone?" Wukong purred. You quirked a brow at how...odd the monkey king sounded. It seemed familiar but you couldn't place why the voice sounded like someone else you know.

"Going home after getting some stuff I need, nothing much," You answered after snapping out of your stupor. You coughed into your free fist before clearing your throat. "So, uh, what are you doing here all alone?"

"Oh, you know, stuff," Wukong replied as he suddenly pushed himself off of the building he leaned against and began…flexing? 

"...uh-huh…well, you look nice," You squint your eyes at the display–not that you were complaining that much about seeing his muscle flex under the fancy clothes. 

"Heh, thanks, you're looking mighty fine yourself," Wukong winked before shooting finger guns at you. 

"Thank you," You had the sudden feeling of being watched.

"Y'know what else is looking fine? Those tight pants hugging your-"

Wukong was snatched up by a flurry of greens and oranges before you could blink. 

You stared at the empty space where 'Wukong' once stood, your eyes surveying the nearly desolate streets before shrugging and continuing your walk back home.

The next day when you showed up at the noodle shop, Pigsy claimed that MK had taken a sick day off from work. 

Phase Two: FAILURE…?

—🍑—

"Ok, ok, clearly something isn't working." 

"Duh, Mei, everything was a bust." 

"Perhaps there is something we're missing, maybe if we refer to the books I've acquired-"

"-guys, guys, enough!" Wukong stood up from the huddle circle. "Look, as much as I appreciate your help, I've entertained this long enough and I think it's time for me to take the reins on this one, okay?" 

"But-" MK started but was cut off by Tang's hand on his shoulder. MK glanced between Mei's nod and Tang's smile before nodding at his mentor. "-okay! But you have to share the deets later!"

"Sure, bud," Wukong sighed in relief before heading out to find you. 

Finally, it was time. 

—🍑—

You wiped your hands down the front of your apron, the dust of the flour caused your nose to twitch as you headed toward the sink to wash the rest of it off. The window seated above the sink was left ajar, allowing the chirps of birds and crickets to bring the ambiance of the late afternoon inside of your home.

You were humming a small tune to yourself, eye closed as the pleasant daydream compelled a sigh from you. 

Tap, tap, tap. 

The repetitive raps against glass made you raise your gaze from the sink and laugh as you were met with the sight of Wukong's face squished against the glass of your window.

"Monkey King? What are you-...know what? Come to my balcony," You pointed behind you before flicking the rest of the droplets off and heading over to open the sliding door. Wukong met you there and stepped inside, his eyes wandering the unfamiliar space that was yours. 

"Before you say anything," Wukong pulled something out of nowhere and handed it to you. You peered into his palm and gasped at the bracelet adorned with your favorite colors and gemstones/trinkets. "I thought if I can come willy-nilly into your home, why not let you come over to mine some time? It's basically a free pass to come to my cave anytime you want if that wasn't already clear." 

You glanced up from the piece of jewelry and rose a brow at the king's offer. "This isn't another one of MK's wonderful 'plans' is it? I think I've had enough of you showing me your disappearing act multiple times." 

"..ah, yeah, I-" Wukong paused as he allowed your words to process for a moment. His tail shot up as the hairs on the appendage bristled. "You know about that?!" 

"Phase one, phase two, and-..." You pivoted on your heel, reaching for your phone on the couch before showing Wukong the texts you received from Pigsy. "-phase three? Mhm, I know everything." 

"Even the butt stuff?" 

"The what-" 

"-so you know that I…that we…geez," Wukong cursed Pigsy under his breath as he walked over to the couch to sit. "Look, I don't blame you if you don't want me around after all that, I kinda was a nuisance, huh?" 

You were silent for a few seconds before shaking your head while a smile grew on your lips. You took a seat next to Wukong, the aforementioned monkey jumped when you placed a hand on his thigh and took the bracelet from him to place on your wrist. Wukong watched you place it on, his eyes trailing over your somewhat messy appearance, but it only added more to your charm. 

He liked the sight of you disheveled and filthy. The wonderful, flawed, and beautifully imperfect you. The fact you were comfortable around him like that made his chest squeeze. In a good way of course. 

"Does that answer your question?" You asked as you held your wrist up to inspect the accessory against your skin. 

"Hmm, dunno, maybe something else might help convince me," Wukong finally relaxed and turned his head to the side to gesture to his cheek. 

You rolled your eyes before guiding his face to yours and pressing a quick kiss on his lips. You could feel the mystic monkey's smile against your lips before breaking the kiss. Wukong managed to squeeze another peck in before you completely pulled away, "...guess I'll be staying for dinner?"

You answered with another kiss.  

🍜 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence. sparkle banner(s) by @adornedwithlight !!

[crimsoneater]

~Daddy issues~ II welt yang x fem reader II hsr smut II 18+II ```

______________________________________________________________

For Aeon's sake, how you love imagining unholy things about this man.

Twice your age or even older, the most competent astral express's crew, Mr. Welt yang, or for short; sir welt. Being one of the few adults in the express have been quite a stressful job for him; and it is very obvious, that fatigue constantly washed over him,.

Rummaging through his brown, neat hair, his slender finger intertwine with his soft straight hair. His eyes observing the paperworks on his hands, as the office room- his room, is empty.

In this very 'late' hour, astral express crews are most likely to be asleep, or busy with their night routines. Except, for Mr.Welt, and perhaps, you will be either way.

Putting his paperworks aside, he cleared his throat, as he murmurs some words to himself. His eyes travels up from his desk, to you- your eyes. Meeting awkwardly, as flashes of things you've done while thinking about this very man, come back.

"Y/N," He spoken with the sultry voice of his strict tone,. He takes a deep breath, as he hold a paper of printed papers. But before your mouth could ask another words; you saw your writings. A fanfic you wrote, about HIM. About Mr. Welt.

He must've accidentally spotted one of those spicy fics she had wrote about him. Oh f*ck.

"Yes, Mr. Welt,..?" You could feel the tense on your own voice, as your hand sweated. Uh oh, this isn't really a fitting situation for yourself to handle- especially about those fics.

He cleared his throat for the second time, as it gives you a glimpse of your printed fanfics.

"...Sir, i can explain,-" Her words are caught off, as she feels his gaze observing her eyes whom is trying to avoid his'. His right hands gripping through the black darkness of his glove.

"I Just- i only intended to return this, Miss Y/N,. I suppose it is yours, am i quite correct?" He turned the paper, which the author username is 'Y/N'. This, probably will be the most embarassing doom situation you've ever found yourself in.

"I guess, you do have a creative mind, Miss." He forced a compliment- or atleast you thought so, out of his lips. No matter how embarassing the situation is, his praises always enlighten you the most.

"Is that so, sire?" You stopped at your own words. Oh, your mouth really does not wanted to cooperate tonight, eh? How utterly flabbergasting. Now, holding your own shy-ness.

But, she have made an unintentional move, so it already happened anyway. Why not continue? Besides, she won't die if he rejected her, anyway. Atleast, maybe.

"Getting confidence, Y/N?" He replied, with a soft scowl- no, not the irritated type. But, the soft, amused scowl. Fidgeting with your own finger, you looked directly into his old eyes.

"Miss Y/N, you do know that i am 83 year old, do you?" He can't help, but let a curl of his lip curved up, creating a faint, slight, smile. Yes, you might know yourselves, that he is old enough to be your grandparent. But, there's just something about him- that attracts you.

"I am indeed, have full conscience about this, Mr. Welt.." Your voice faded, as you see a glint of need in his eyes. Could he might be..? But, let's not get too over-hyped.

"Do you have daddy issues, or such kinds?" His questions, left you mouth wide agape, a bit speechless, you are. Daddy issues, Huh? Oh, well. You, yourselves are not very aware nor do you ever have care about your own mentality state.

"I don't know, Sir. But i just.." Your words are left trailing, as you caught his eyes reading your print papers- smirking.

"Even, if i do not acted like this, but you've got some wild needs, going on, do you?" He faintly chuckled, with his deep voice. Oh, how kinky he'd be.

"I- Don't, sir-" She take a deep breath when he recites her worded writes by second, by each detailed words. "Oh yea?" He abruptly laughs.

"I am not comfortable, when someone else satisfy their needs while thinking about me, Y/N." He continues. His words- makes her breath hitches, as her chest running up and down, nervous.

"I'd consider satisfying them by myself," His choice of continuation pick of words, left you flabbergasted. Was he really..

...offering himself?

Aeons, you'd be excruciating out of breath screaming your lungs out right now, if only he was not in front of you. ",..''Xcuse me, Mr. Welt?" You asked him once again-for confirmation.

The stars outside the office's window polarized the room, making your sillhouette looked very close to his, as the purple-blue scheme makes the tension clearer, and every words nor moves, more bolder. You don't mind, however.

"You heard me right, Little lady," He softly let his un-gloved hands, runs through your hair- like he did to his own hair a few moment earlier.

"You asked for it, and i am willingly offerin' myself," The man glare at her, with those hunter, lust-ful eyes. Ready to be preyin' on her, eating her, inside out.

"Oouh, Who am i, to decline such offers..?" She shyly replied back, faster than the astral express traveling itself. She knows, this all is extremely risky, but she knows deep down, it'll be worth it.

"I'll ask you one more time; and i will have no self control, miss." This, is an easy yes for Y/N. Who'd reject such tempting offer?

"I Surrender myself," Those wording flow out as clear as water, in a blitz second of time, as a pink hue slowly spreaded from ear to ear, glint off en-lustment are seen, in her innocent eyes.

"Then allow myself, Dear,." His gentle hands, slowly rummages through your waist, as he gently picked you up by the thigh, placing you on his desk, as he pushes all the paperworks off, with no hesitation.

You slowly slid off your skirt,as a slight scheme of your very cleavage is showing. Skin to skin to him, as his left hand is still below your thigh, stabilizing you, as the other right, cupped your face, before he nibbles on your ear gently, and slowly, making it over-sensitive,.

Stimulating, you trembled at his touch. Your thigh clashing against each ones, as your hands conquer his head, pulling him for an aggressive kiss. As each of thus both' saliva intertwined, translucent effects haunt your body. Tongue is your languange, which you are exchanging with him now, as he lay you down, on his desk.

Unbuttoning your shirt, his hands roams on your free, uncovered skin,as he licked your nec, before marking it, with a horrendouse, prettily red bite mark. "You're mine, for tonight."

The last words he managed to speak out, before your lips crashed against his again. Sloppy wet sounds of kisses you traded with each one another, filled the room.,.

His slender hands, spreaded your smooth porcelain skin, thigh, up. As he smiled, seeing how soaked you are- under him, because of him, of his words, his kisses, his touch. He, himself, and nobody else.

"Fuck,.. it've been a while i haven't been turned on seein' anyone like this." His gaze becomes more...Predatory, than gentle. As his first middle finger slipped through your panties, entering your tight shaft, as the sound of your holded back- groaning is heard.

"Don't be noisy now, Mhm,? You don't want others to see you like this, do you?" His voice is teasing, not like the usual him. You've become more wary- of making more sounds. But, your attempt only made him more turned on, as his second finger, dwelled deep inside the soakey coast tip of your cave.

Feeling his long fingers, makes you accidentally moaned hard- loudly, which was shutted up by his sudden kiss. Lips brushing against yours, as his hands now enters you fully, without warning, making you almost screamed so loud- luckily, his hands covered you mouth, making your scream sounded muffled.

Taking his hands out before you even came, was such a cruel thing that he did. But, there's another reason about why he had done that earlier.

"Now, i'm needy," He unzipped his pants, as he positioned you; facing the opposite direction of him, as his hand hold you for stability, below the stomach. His other hand on your mouth, silencing your not-so silent moans.

The tip of that monstrous size, touched the red entrance of yours; as a dangling scream is heard; oh how hurtful but good it was. Slowly making you get used to his size, he pounded slowly, as by time.

His hands now groping your over-sensitive breast, as his pace and tempo is now quicken. Sloppy sound of wet impaling is heard, as tranquil essence liquids started flowing out of you.

"F-Fuck,..S-Sire..! nghh..." Your groaning stopped him;

"Call me Welt," He whispered on your ear, as he pounded back, sweet white sticky thingys started to wet the desk. Aeons, it hurts but also pleasuring at the same time.

You could feel the extremity of the climax heading to the edge. Fuck- you might will just passed out before he could even finished. As his tempo is extremely quick, you could feel your leg began to numb out, as your self became weak.

"Hold on, Little Lady," He groaned, as he's almost coming too. The final impale, his warm, sticky, liquid filled your inside, as you fall down to his desk- weakly. The fatigue washing your body is taking over you.

His strong hands capture your fragile body, perfectly, before you falls off his desk.

Carrying you by his hand; he placed you to the grey sofa near the desk, as he stares over you naked body. Covering himself first with a towel, he then grab a fur blanket, covering your sleeping self, as his soft lip landed a good-night kiss on your forehead,

"Rest well, Lil Birdie,." He whispers, before the last thing you saw, is him heading to his bathroom, preparing to cleanup.

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

[feferipeixes]

Show Some Respect? I haven’t heard of that one 👀

Hi tooth!! You definitely know this one -- it's the dabbing fic!

For everyone else: this is part of the Marciblane Arc, a collaborative work between me and Tooth that focuses on two Mizars named Marcia and Lane, and an r!Bill named Ben. A number of the other unfinished works in the list are also in this arc! There's an overarching story that involves the country being taken over by a fascist, pro-nat government, and a group of heroes taking them out (Lucy Ann & the Lunch Bunch).

And, well...

===

“It's our pleasure. Sorry that your daughter couldn't come along at the same time as you -- it's going to be a little tricky to break her out of that warded holding cell. We should be able to have her here in a couple of weeks.”

Jarem looked relieved. “Thank you, thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you.”

Then he did something that Lucy Ann was absolutely not expecting. Stone-faced, he raised both of his arms, bending his left at the elbow and holding the other parallel to it, so that they were pointing up at a 45 degree angle. Then, he dropped his head into the crook of his left arm, jerking his other arm slightly as if he’d sneezed. When he lifted his head again, Lucy Ann was staring back at him with a flabbergasted look on her face, trying to regain the ability to speak.

“Did… uh… did you just dab at me?” she stammered. Jarem only mirrored her confused look. Lucy Ann snickered, and elbowed Lane. “You just saw that, right?”

Then she glanced to her right just in time to see Lane dab right back at the guy. Lucy Ann’s jaw dropped so hard it could’ve cracked the concrete she was standing on.

Jarem's mouth curled up into a reverent smile. “There’s still some hope left for this country after all.” Then he gave them a little wave and walked out the door.

“Wha- but… the… wha- huh??” Lucy Ann gibbered.

Lane tilted her head. “There’s a lot of screaming in your brain. Are you also saying words or just screaming?”

“What just happened?” Lucy Ann finally managed to get out.

“Oh. This?” Lane dabbed again, looking far more solemn than someone dabbing had any right to look. If Lucy Ann hadn’t already been dead for thousands of years, she would’ve sworn the end was coming.

“Yes. What the hell is that about?”

“Oh. If you do it, it means you think preters are good and not bad. I saw Uncle Ben doing it -- he said it’s a sign of respect.”

Lucy Ann gaped, reduced again to random noises.

“Do you want me to do it again?”

She shook her head, holding up a hand to indicate that she needed a moment. She stopped babbling, stood up straight, took a deep breath in… and started laughing so hard that she fell to the ground. “Okay, okay, okay,” she gasped between roars of laughter. “Are you ready for some family fun? I think I’ve got some questions for Ben. Shit, Tyrone is gonna love this.”

===

Basically, I had the idea that Dipper taught Marcia how to dab in Songs from the Burning House when they were dancing together, and then it sort of got passed down between historical figures and the meaning behind it was lost, and it began to be seen as a preternatural rights gesture when punk icon Henrietta Rockit started doing it at her shows. The fic goes through several instances of it being used, including this tidbit that makes me laugh every time I think of it:

===

“So come on everybody, let's show some respect for our comrade Henrietta! Do you all know what she said we do to racist pro-nat garbage like Chancellor?”

Express raised his arms, bending his left at the elbow and keeping the other straight but parallel with the left. He pointed then upward at a 45 degree angle, and the entire congregation of protesters followed suit.

“WE DAB ON ‘EM!”

Express dramatically thrust his head into the crook of his left arm, at the same time as everyone else in attendance. A bellowing cheer rose through the crowd.

[leavingsunsets]

Hi hi! If you're still taking requests, then I'd like to request a drabble, fic, or thoughts and whatnot for a Senku x male S/O scenario in which the Science Crew asks if Senku is dating anybody, and while they expect him to say no and that it's "a waste of time", he shares that he actually is in a relationship with someone who's still out there and petrified! Though, while they're all like "who's the unlucky lady?", he explains that S/O is actually a boy! Alternatively, he could not say anything until they all meet S/O and see that they're a boy! Please and thank you!

ur such a politey omg. lovely idea, and this takes place in the ship! RYUSUI'S SHIP OUT AT SEA RAAAAAAAHHHH. ghhhh i RLLY WANT YALL 2 SEE MY ENVISIONMENT OF THIS. THE VEHEMENT CHAOS TO ENSUE

"OᑌT Oᖴ EᐯEᖇYOᑎE?"

[ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴡ'ꜱ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

I feel like it would be during some sort of lax convo maybe in the evening. Like, just letting loose, having fun and talking. People getting to know each other, yada yada yada.

Then, somehow, it turns to the topic of dating.

Everyone's sat around one way or another, Gen by the side, Chrome standing front, Kohaku leaning against the chair Ukyo sits on. Ryusui, of course, in the center of it. Senku's just off to the side picking his ears.

Ryusui kicks it off when Gen recalls about him going on about how he loves all women, bla bla bla.

Gen goes "You must've dated a lot of women to say that then, Ryusui. Though, I'm not surprised..." Like, this guy's an heir to a billion dollar (or yen. or whatvr currency) conglomerate, skilled, and the muscles.

"Even though I hadn't, I'd still say so! Women are beautiful creatures, every one of them. Men, too!" and ugh go bi king go. "Right Ukyo?"

"What's this have to do with me?" Ukyo smiles nervously.

"Awe, cmon, I'm sure you've had at least some experience being as charming as yourself!" ryusui would egg him on, grinning brightly. "You strike me as a popular ladies' guy!"

and i headcanon that ukyo probably did have a lot of admirers back then. oh my gosh like look at him??

Senku yawns. Gen seems to notice him.

Kohaku also like mulls this over. "I also did have a partner once, though it was brief." Chrome gapes. "What?! So even the gorilla was able to date before me?!"

that earns him two hits to the head.

then gen would start teasing chrome like "But hey, atleast youre not the only one in the single for life zone with senku here!"

and senku goes like "huh."

"You're right!" chrome would pose, probably. "Must be because we're scientists! you know how we are, we're too busy being smart to actually-"

"I'm not single."

PAUSE.

almost everyone has like 'HUH' DOUBLE TAKE DOUBLE TAKE REWIND. (kohaku and ukyo probably just goin 'wow. thats actually interesting.')

"WHAT???"

Flabbergasted. ABSOLUTELY. FOR A FEW SECONDS EVERYONE THINKS HES DECIDED TO BE FUNNY. this guy?? THIS GUY?

First to react is ryusui going "AH HA! SO EVEN SENKU CANNOT RESIST THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN!" throwing his arm round his shoulder patting his back like fellow congrats bro

and people start demanding like who is this chick?? WHO SAW HIM AND WENT 'oh yah this is the one. yah.'

and senku raises a brow and goes "its a dude."

"😧😧😧😧😧😧😧"

Ryusui just goes "okay, well who's the lucky gentleman?!"

LIKE EVERYONE HAS A VARIED REACTION FROM UNBOTHERED (kohaku. she probably started picking her ears or something. ukyo takes this time to enjoy the fruitcake and help himself to the food) TO CHROME GOING "🏳️‍🌈😧🏳️‍🌈🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵?????" gen would just go "HOW LONG?? SINCE WHEN???"

Senku just groans and covers his ears are something something goin 'wth whyr u so loud ugh'

"I SAID WHEN????" Gen starts shaking him back and forth. leek hair man goes "uugggggg since middle school? idk i met him after taiju"

"WHAT THE HELL???" cue more shaking that senku feels like his brains vibrating. "YOU BASTARD WHY DIDNT U EVER TELL US THIS?? AND AFTER ALL THAT DRAMA???"

"you didn't ask??? also let go of me!"

head in hands absolutely floored like huh???

even senku goes like 'you couldve actually found that out by just asking taiju himself, or yuzuriha. its not even a secret dude.'

then thus comes the most important question, who is senku's infamous lover??? how is he?? WHERE IS HE?

"im not answering that first question. most likely still petrified. he were out on travel somewhere in the country when it happened."

and they have to go 'oh ok' and simmer in the fact and continue on with their lives as if nothing happened. like a nuke didnt just drop on them.

and senku was damn right because when each of them try to ask taiju on deck the next day he just outright goes "oh yeah senku's got a boyfriend. i'm great buds with him too! how did you know that? :D" cue another round of "HUH" from the other crewmembers on ship

[sparxaf]

Well. That sure was... something.

Huh.

S6 SPOILERS AHEAD

I'm not even mad, I'm just flabbergasted. Fusebox took the best thing they did in the last four seasons (the surprise dumping) and completely squandered it. It's almost impressive in how just how wrong they could get things. The whole lead up should have been the dropped jaws when everyone saw us return. Instead, they were like, yawn, nice to see you or whatever. Saw you in the postcard.

WHO. THE FUCK. MADE THIS CHOICE? What? Why? It's so fundamentally unsatisfying. This is our popularity fantasy. We should have walked in like shock and awe. But we didn't. It just undoes so much. Now, we don't know if R/R/L/J stuck because they were being loyal despite us being gone, or just because they knew we were there? And I'm positive the only reason they did this is so we'll find out later that Ozzy didn't switch because he knew MC was back and wanted to be with her instead. Oh man, the poor Ozzy girlies. I was one, then I went back and did a loyal Lewie route instead, but I feel for you.

Also I want it known that in the villa fic I'm writing, I 100% called that Ozzy and Grace would be getting back together. Because why wouldn't they? Fusebox continues to self-cannibalize S2, copying and pasting most of Hope and Noah's scenes on top of Ozzy and Grace's. Right down to the cake Nope couldn't decorate together and fought over--which was a metaphor for their relationship. Grozzy had pretty much the same scene only it was a dog house they metaphorically couldn't get on the same page with.

I have so many thoughts (and complaints about Amelia), but I think I'll do a separate post for that.

*DRAMATIC SIGH*

[cannedcrow]

Arbitrary Darkness (Hermitcraft Monster Hunter AU) Part VI

A/N: Been a while, but I still harbour a deep love for all my fics and I've been writing again recently! Enjoy this chapter and expect more updates very soon! <3

Part IV - AO3

~ please rb if you enjoy! ….〆(･ω･。) ~

TWs: blood, violence and self injury referenced.

Grian awoke a few times from his unconsciousness. His brain pled at him to stand, get up and hide before he was found, and irony twisted a knife in his heart as he remembered Tango's bitter words: If you think you’re like them, then go - take off your cloak and gloves and wait for their gratitude. He was vaguely aware of the leaden weight of his limbs, new from the exhaustion that already weighed him down - Scar's venom was already trickling through his muscles, and he felt the deadly finality settle upon him with the rain. He didn't know how long it was before he blacked out again.

But he did awake again. He cracked stubborn eyelids and was greeted by a small, dingy apartment, rather like one that might be above a shop. It was, he reflected, rather like Grian's own apartment - rickety tables and shelves crammed to bursting with all manner of teacups, pots, bottles, metal instruments, books, quills and papers, all placed with madman's-deliberation. The bed he reposed in was a simple, relatively comfortable affair, warmed by the nearby hearth. He heard a scrape and looked to see a man with his back to him, working intently at a desk. He appeared to have blended in so well to the disarray that Grian had passed right over him - a hunched figure in stained clothing, dark hair sticking out at all angles. He suddenly moved to the pot on the fireplace to fill a syringe, and Grian saw what he’d been working at - a half-dissected strider egg, matte black and oblong.

But when the firelight caught the strangers face, panic flitted through him, though he didn’t immediately recognize him. The man was rather short and stocky, dressed in a badly stained shirt and trousers. His dark hair was tousled and split by a forelock of green.

Just as the man looked over at him, it clicked - the alchemist who’d made a horrific face at Grian from across the room at The Eighth Circle.

“Morning, sunshine,” he greeted dryly, “you look awful.”

Grian was frozen, trying to assess the situation. He wasn’t a monster, which was good, but on the other hand, he ran in the exact same circles and didn’t appear the most empathetic ally.

The man clearly sensed his wariness.

“Settle down lad, who do you think gave you an antidote? You’d have been found and strung up on a wall by now if it wasn’t for me. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Grian frowned. “Thank you. So how did you find me? Why?”

Joel shrugged. “Pity, I guess. Or curiousity. I tracked you home. Never seen anyone do something so unimaginably, extraordinarily stupid in my life - and I spend my time running around bastions sifting in lava for strider eggs.”

That certainly stung. It was true though, wasn’t it? Grian reflected. “Well, leave it to the only human to show a scrap of emotion,” he muttered.

Joel looked flabbergasted. “God, you’re even more of a moron than I thought. And for the record, I already think you’re the biggest moron I’ve ever met. You waltzed in there ready to have every one of them hanged, were treated with nothing but decency - as one of their own - then called them all monsters. Did you really not learn anything?"

Grian scowled, then faltered. "Guess I was asking for it huh?" he conceded begrudgingly, sitting up stiffly with a wince, "But don't pretend they're perfect, they set me up."

Joel stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes, "That'll do for now I guess. Want summat to eat?"

Grian welcomed the change of topic, assenting eagerly.

Joel's cooking was awful, which evidenced that his talents were better spent on the morbid experiments that took up most of his time, but Grian welcomed it all the same, spooning chunks of mystery meat from a thick stew. Vaguely, he had a nasty suspicion that Joel wasn't particular about which pots he used for experiments versus cooking. Nor his ingredients, for that matter.

"I'll not impose on you any longer," he said decisively when they'd finished, standing and gritting down a wince of pain as he accidentally flexed his injured wing.

Joel eyed him sternly, "I don't think so. I want to keep an eye on you for a bit, and not just because of your injuries."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've not put me in a very good spot to be honest. Or rather, I haven't, by not letting you bleed out in a stairwell. Curse my wonderful heart," he folded his arms. "Anyway, I don't trust you not to fuck up the good situation I have going."

"You're ... holding me hostage," Grian concluded.

Joel looked mildly offended, "Would you call it imprisonment for a doctor to order you bed rest?"

"You're not a doctor," Grian scoffed.

Joel eyed his dressings pointedly, "I'm as good a doctor as a monster like you will ever get."

Grian's feathers prickled in annoyance at the jab, which didn't go unnoticed by Joel, who smirked.

"Never seen anyone get so offended by being called what they are. Doc calls me a crooked alchemist; that's what I am. I call you a birdie, that's what you are, and you can't change it," He paused. "Not even with a knife."

Grian tensed in horror as Joel continued, "Yeah, I saw the scars."

He flushed, furious humiliation building at Joel's transgression into such a private part of his past.

For once though, Joel didn't look teasing, merely sympathetic - which was even more infuriating.

Joel turned away mercifully, "I've got business to attend to. Don't bother trying to leave; you won't be able to."

"Mumbo will come looking for me," he called defiantly after Joel.

"Ok," he heard the casual response from the hall, as though he'd just informed him that a guest was coming to tea.

Grian scowled as the door slammed, rubbing his wing joint without thinking.

Even Mumbo didn't know the steadily stoked, boiling pit of self-hatred that had driven Grian so many times in his youth to rid himself of his monstrous extremities, leaving his wings, tail and claws riddled with jagged scars from desperate attempts to brave the pain and end his distinction once and for all.

He'd failed miserably each time, of course, ending always in a wretched bloody heap of feathers and yet deeper misery. It was a scar that ran deeper than any of his physical ones - everything about his existence was a humiliation in that way. His species, his desperation to be human, his hatred for those like him, and then his career.

He clenched his hand, claws sinking into the mattress savagely.

As if it comes from nowhere, he thought savagely, as though I have no reason to feel the way I do. To hate them.

Grian spent the afternoon examining his surroundings, poking in drawers and noting ways out. Somehow, he didn't think Joel was planning to lead the monsters to him - why would he have saved him if he were only planning to throw him to the wolves? Joel didn't strike him as sadistic, whatever else he may be. He hadn't any real grasp on Joel, similar to Scar - though admittedly, he'd spoken less to Joel (this wasn't saying much, being that Scar had been toying with him). The two were deeply enigmatic - and deep down, he was fascinated by the savage, gregarious being that was Scar - though at least he could understand Joel's motives. He could tolerate and even hold level with Joel, while Scar was a beast through and through whom Grian wouldn't even trust to pass him a plate.

Then again, I felt the same about Tango. If one thing had made itself clear, it was that Grian couldn't longer trust his intuition.

He resolved to remain courteous with Joel, make himself less of a threat, go free, and root up the Eighth Circle from the outside.

A brusque "Oi!" serenaded Grian out of sleep in the early evening, signalling Joel's return. He sat up with a jolt and scowled upon seeing Joel taking off his cloak, humming something discordant as he divested himself of his array of pouches and layers.

"Shirt off, birdie," Joel instructed blithely, retrieving a jangling box from a cabinet.

"I - What?" Grian replied, lost.

"I need to change your dressings."

"Oh, right." Grian pulled his shirt over his head and examined the soaked bandage on his forearm. He hadn't even had a chance to see the injuries properly. He gritted his teeth as Joel slowly peeled the fabric away, revealing a jagged wound lined by neat black stitches.

"You're lucky Etho didn't rip your arm off," Joel commented, wiping antiseptic on the wound.

"He made a valiant effort," Grian hissed in pain, "So did Scar, for that matter."

Joel laughed, as though this were merely a fond anecdote, "I once got drunk with Scar and them and 'e bit me for a laugh," he tied off the bandage and began unwrapping the patch on Grian's shoulder.

"Yikes, yeah, look at that. Burns, huh? It'll hurt more on this one though," Grian looked down at the slightly neater bite wound on his trapezius, coloured like a bruise and leaking a foul purple discharge.

He grimaced in distaste, then yelped as Joel applied his various ointments again.

"Anyway," he continued conversationally, evidently unaware of Grian holding back tears, "Obviously I carry roughly 10 million different antidotes on me at all times so it was easily sorted and he bought me a 'sorry-for-nearly-paralysing-you-for-fun' drink. Great company, he is. You'll come to like him if you stop trying to kill him."

Grian fell into stunned silence. Joel was talking as though Grian was planning to ingratiate himself into the monstrous underbelly of the city the next day. Not to mention ... Like him? Scar? The bastard who'd lured Grian like a lamb to slaughter, baited, humiliated, and finally tried to kill him? Sure, Scar was handsome. So was Lucifer. Joel really must be a bit mad. He bit his tongue regardless as Joel wound bandages around his shoulder.

"So where'd you go?" he asked when Joel had finished tending the bite on his wing and began to work at another odd meal.

"Work, mate. We can't all laze around in bed all day," he teased, "Then I had a well-earned drink with the boys."

"At the Eighth Circle, you mean," Grian replied flatly.

"I have human friends too," Joel said reproachfully, "... But yeah. And no, don't get your feathers in a twist, I haven't sold you out. They reckon you bled out in a gutter. Toasted to it, actually ..." Joel's cheerful air dissipated rather suddenly, replaced by an expression of disgust as he went to search in one of his bags, finishing, "Don't blame them."

Caught off guard by Joel's odd turn, Grian simply asked "What?"

He withdrew a crinkled newspaper and tossed it at Grian, "That'll please you," He said bitterly, turning back to his task.

Grian unfolded the paper, wondering what he'd find. This copy of the New Hermiton Evening Gazette proclaimed proudly:

A BEAST IN SEVILLE SQUARE!

In the late hours of last night, residents of the quiet café district Seville Square were awoken by a commotion when a monster was sighted in the silent street. Mrs. Thatcher (72), the owner of the Flagstone Teahouse, reports she was letting her cat out when she sighted a beast skulking in the square. "It was huge, the size of a carthorse, with the face of a human," She tells reporter Clarence Ripley, "but with horns like a devil. Four legs, a tail and all! Most frightening thing I ever saw. And an evil face. I slammed my door and shouted an alarm. Don't know what happened then."

The Hermiton Police Department were called to the scene, but other residents took up the call in the meantime, cornering the beast with makeshift weapons. We spoke with one Mr. Crawley, one of those who took up the protection of the town. "Woke up as soon as old Mrs. Thatcher cried out, I did," He says, "Saw the monster out the window, grabbed a lantern and me fire poker and ran out sharpish. Few others there with me and we went for it. Thing tried to gore us plenty of times but we tore it up pretty good,"

For all their valiant efforts however, the group did not manage to kill the beast. "Naw, we got it on the ground for a bit and did our best. Then the thing reared up just as me neighbor Jon tried to slash it's neck. Fire in it's eyes, I tell ya, taller n' 3 men. Plunged down on us and drove a horn through a guy's neck - tossed 'im 20 feet. Them hooves hit hard, they do," (He grimly displays a gash on his shoulder.) "E' died. The man, I mean - didn't know 'im, but he bled out right there as we tried to save him. The thing charged off and some of us tried to chase it, but it vanished into the dark in a trail of blood." Hermiton Police arrived on the scene soon after, but rain had washed away the trail ...

Grian tossed the paper aside, feeling ill, and noticed then that Joel had been watching him, looking grim.

"Impulse," He offered flatly, though Grian already knew.

"Let me guess, he was sent to hunt me down?"

Joel flared, "He didn't know anything, idiot. He saw you appear covered in blood and run, and he followed out of worry for you. Guessing he didn't find you," He turned away again, "That bloodthirsty mob did though, and they did their very best to tear him apart."

Guilt was beginning to reach insistent hands around Grian's throat. "I - I'm sure he's killed his fair share of innocent people," he said bluntly, looking away.

Then a sharp blow to the head sent him reeling sideways on the bed. Joel stood over him, fists clenched, "He's a bloody bovaur. A bull-human. Do you know any cows that eat people?" he'd yet to see Joel so furious and cowered, "His job is to chuck out drunks and protect the others. He's probably killed far less innocents than you."

He glared down at Grian in disgust before striding away, rubbing his fist.

"He's ... alive then?" Grian murmured quietly.

"Somehow. Etho tracked him down in an alley bleeding out. They had to wait 'til everything quieted down a bit to get him home. It's a death sentence to be outside for most of them, but they stayed with him. He's a mess."

Silence descended like a funeral shroud as Grian dwelled and Joel continued his preparations.

"I'm sorry," He murmured finally, a nauseous sense of responsibility welling in him, "I really am."

"Yeah, me too."

Joel didn't seem inclined to say more, and their meal was spent in tense silence. He eventually poured them both a healthy measure of a cloudy lilac chorus fruit liquor of his own making before retreating to sit in front of the fire, scribbling distractedly on a ledger.

The next few days passed in relative calm as Grian and Joel fell into a comfortable rhythm. They spoke no more of Impulse, Scar, or the Eighth Circle. Joel was rarely in the house in the day, working in the shop downstairs, trading at the Eighth Circle, or off on his exploits - often returning at odd hours with hoards of peculiar items and new injuries. Clattering piles of ravager tusks, bolts of strider skins, guardian spines, and once, a large dripping bag that ended up being packed with slimy white ghast tentacles (accompanied by a severely burnt Joel, whom Grian had to play medic for under strict instruction).

Grian's wounds were healing relatively well, promising new scars for his array. He fell asleep most nights wrestling with his convictions about the monsters of New Hermiton, though he didn't tell Joel this. That evening, Grian was watching as Joel chopped and stewed one of the ghast tentacles, hoping against hope that this wasn't meant to be supper. The table dripped with the ghast's watery pink blood as Joel began to wipe his hands on a towel, looking satisfied.

"So, when are you gonna get out of my house, birdie?"

Grian continued staring absently at the fleshy lumps of ghast flesh, feeling rather ill. "Eh?"

"You gonna leave or what? Thought you had someone waiting for you," Joel continued casually.

Grian finally tore his gaze away, "What, you're letting me leave?"

"You're not a prisoner mate, I told you I ordered bed rest," Joel sounded rather offended, all things considered.

Grian blinked. "What's the catch?"

"Christ, Tango did a number on you. There's no catch. You seem fine, so off ya pop," Joel paused before saying generously, "If you like, anyway. Otherwise, I could always use a taste tester for my famous ghast sausages."

To Grian, this seemed a worse threat than anything he'd faced thus far. With nothing else to take (Joel, it transpired, had surreptitiously collected his cape and a few of his weapons from the Eighth Circle) Grian went through the usual ritual of snugly hiding his wings and tail, pulling on gloves before opening the door.

Joel followed with all the grace of a host escorting his guest to their departure.

"I - Thanks for everything," Grian said, only slightly grudgingly.

"My pleasure. Don't count on it again," Joel said pleasantly, before grasping Grian's forearm tightly, looking at him sternly.

"Listen and take my advice if you've learnt anything from what happened. Back off. If you want, I think you can even make amends with the Eighth Circle patrons, but if you ever threaten any one of them or me again, I'll watch as Tango and Scar tear you open and eat you alive, literally. They'll make it slow, and I won't intervene," He grinned savagely, "Harpy talons are valuable."

Grian pulled away as a chill twitched his skin and set his feathers prickling uncomfortably. He nodded stiffly, eyes lingering on Joel's before he spun around and strode up the street.

"Oh, Grian?" Joel called.

He turned briefly.

"Ghast tentacles make great jerky, too!"

[thepocket221]

Can you do Lorelai Blyndeff on a date with her s/o?

GASP THATS CUTE ACTUALLY OMG

edit: it kept deleting parts of fic so i’m getting rid of the cut! LONG POST WOOOO

On a Date with Lorelai Blyndeff!

🐰🫧💖💜

For her, the destination for your date was just a hop, skip, and a jump. However, you lived further away, so you had to resort to taking the bus. It didn’t help that it was fairly loud and really, really gross.. and that it was a bit behind schedule. Not only yours, but the entire bus times were 5 minutes behind! It began to eat at you; the thought that your significant other might think you’re standing her up! You quickly pull your phone out to reassure her that you would in fact be there! Despite your frantic frenzy to text your girlfriend, your attention had been brought to the the slowing down of the very long vehicle. Okay, this had to be your stop…

It was.

Your unfinished text was shut off with your phone and shoved into your pocket as you scurried off the bus, thanking the bus driver as you left.

It was a little ways off from where you wanted, but you know, running is and option.

An option you didn’t hesitate in making!

You bolted down the sidewalk to your girlfriend, Lorelai Blyndeff, who was looking at her phone; her mannerisms were rather worried.

“L-LORI!!” You yelled with the small amount of breath you had left. Okay, maybe running wasn’t the best option; could have thought that one out more, huh..

Her melancholy body language immediately changed as she quickly turned around, “UGH!! What took you so long!” She pouted playfully only to stumble backwards when you quite literally jumped into her arms. She gave you a lovingly-aggressive hug back.

“hEY-” she nearly pushed the little wind left whilst picking you up and spinning the two of you on the ball of her foot, “some of us don’t live conveniently around the corner from cute shops, LORI.” you teased back as she let your feet touch the floor again. Was she always that strong?? The thought itched the back of your mind.

“Plus, the bus was running late. I tried to text you but I got here as soon as I was about to send it.” You mentioned.

“OH” her shocked demeanor became more known, “Not gonna lie, when I saw how long you were typing, I thought you were breaking up with me.”

“NO!!!?!?!” you huffed, remembering how out of breath you were, “I was [GASP] running here.”

“I could not tell lol.” She teased.

Upon recollecting yourself and your ability to breathe, you were able to take in her full outfit. ‘Oh, she actually went through with it.’ you thought in a positive connotation. She was cosplaying a rather familiar-looking bunny. The way she perfectly styled her hair to look like bunny ears was adorable; she was so creative!

“God, you’re so pretty!” You gushed at your lovely gal pal.

The lovely little Lori in question put a hand on her cheek, twirled her hair, and averted her eyes from you to in her blushy state, “Pfft, aww thanks!” With the same hand that was on her cheek, she removed from there only to make a playful shooing motion at you.

“Anywho, before my little sister bursts a blood vessel because I’m not at work (when i have the day off by the way) let’s go in! I’ve been dying to go here with you!!” Her annoyed tone at the mention of her sister was whisked away as she took your hand and brought you into the café.

The amount of days Lorelai “had off” were very concerning.. Especially considering her family’s financial situation. But if she wanted to spend them with you? You could let the malpractice slide for now.

As soon as the two of you had entered the shop, the little treats, drinks, and various merchandise that seemingly littered the many shelves in a rather hurried-decorative manner had her mesmerized. You too of course, but you were more focused on her lovely flabbergasted expression. She absolutely loved everything she was taking in, even if it was extremely overpriced!

What mainly caught your attention though, was an adorable bunny backpack. It was small in size but oh-so-very-soft to the touch! It wasn’t really Lori’s favorite color, but there’s nothing dye can’t fix! But if you wanted to get it for her, it wouldn’t be today. You can’t just buy a present for someone when they’re in the same store as you! How do you hide that?

Aside from that matter, there was quite a more pressing one at hand: who’s paying for what?

“So uh,,” you piped up, “sorry to ask again, but were you paying for the drinks or was I? I mean, I don’t mind! I just wasted to make sure-”

“Chill, sweet thing. You can pay for yourself, don’t worry about me!” She pointed her thumb back at herself in her usual, overly-confident manor, “My dad slipped me some extra cash, so I could even pay for you!” she grinned.

You wanted to question how Martin was allowed to have any sort of “extra money”, but hey, if Lori was happy, you could let it slide for now.

“Not to mention my 20% discount on food and drink!” Her thumbs quickly turned to a finger gun which she pointed at you! And she winked! Ooh, sassy!

You let out a giggle, “Hehe, alrighty.”

——

The drinks you two had ordered were absolutely scrummy! Just cram-jam full of flavor! Not to mention the chips she had bought were to die for! This place was definitely worth the wait.

“This was a lot of fun!” you began, giving a little kiss to your girlfriend, “Even if it were for a short time, I’m glad i got to spend it with you, Lori.”

The sincerity of your words cut through her heart as she looked at you with dumb tears appearing in the corner of her eye, “Aww, really?” Did she not hear that enough??

“Yeah of course!” You hugged her.

The hug lasted a bit longer than you expected. You didn’t mind of course, you loved your girlfriend and wanted her to feel loved too.

When the two of yo let go of each other, a rather suspicious noise came from behind your back.

‘Shit.’ You thought, ‘Maybe she didn’t hear tha-

“Oh? Did you buy something else?” She gave you a skeptical glance, trying to see what was behind you.

“O-OH- No..! Just the,” what could you possibly make up on the fly that she would totally believe, “The fake plant….?” Nailed it.

“Babe.” Her skepticism turned to a harsh-looking dead pan stare, “Babe, now you have to show me. That was so bad.!” She laughed.

Dammit.

“Okay yeah, that’s fair.” You easily gave up. I mean, you were going to give this to her anyways—just not in its current condition— so it’s not like this is really spoiling any big surprise.

When Lorelai had mentioned they would be going back outside due to the crowd forming, you saw your opportunity! You stated you were going to look around a bit more and that you would meet her on the bench with all of the fake, decorative plants on it. She slipped you a kiss and agreed. Once she had left, you rushed to the bunny plush-shaped backpack and almost slammed it on the counter, “How much for this?” You quickly questioned the cashier. They said 45$, you said sure, and now here you are, the surprise spoiled for you significant other. Darn packaging!!

Nonetheless, youu obliged with her request and brought forth the very crinkly bag, “You can go ahead and open it. I was gonna keep it a surprise until Valentine’s Day, but since I kinda ruined it..” You shrugged with a slightly embarrassed giggled while handing Lorelai the bag.

She took it and immediately looked inside. Her gasp made her sound like the was having a heart attack, and it didn’t help that she dropped the bag. Her agape mouth trembled with glee as her hands began to shake, “OMG BABE YOU DIDN’T!!!?!??!” She quickly picked the bag back up to only pull out another bag! But this was not just any bag! It was the cute little bunny backpack!

“I LITERALLY- OMG I-“ HER EXCITEMENT CANNOT BE CONTAINED!! She hastily grabbed you by your shirt’s collar and pulled you in for a quick yet genuine kiss on the lips. It only lasted a second, but holy balls did it feel like an eternity went by when she did, “I LOVE IT!!!!” She squeezed it.

“Really? I thought-”

“WHATEVER YOU THOUGHT IS COOL AND ALL BUT I WILL LOVE AND CHERISH THIS FOREVER OMG I LOVE YOU!!!” Man she really did like bunnies, huh.

You giggled as you managed to find one of her hands and slipped it into your own, “I’m glad, Lori.” You kissed her hand.

Today was a good day.

[chuuyrr]

Hi i was wondering if I could request a gojo/reader fic.

Request: Dazai and gojou at the beach and dazai getting jealous of ranpo and gojou playing.

Thank you and take care

jealousy, jealousy

bungou stray dogs x gojo! reader

masterlist of infinity

╰➤ CW(s): possible spoilers for jujutsu kaisen and bungou stray dogs, major themes of fluff, jealous & clingy! dazai, very very slightly suggestive but rest assured everything is SFW

╰➤ PAIRING(s): dazai x reader (mainly), ranpo x reader

hello anon dear, thanks for requesting and for being patient! have fun reading this jealous! dazai content ♡

check out the main masterlist and scroll down to see the playlist, i updated the songs for this oneshot series!! ;)

the armed detective agency had been working extremely hard for the past few days, so their dearest president, fukuzawa, decided to give his detectives a small reward for their efforts by bringing them to the beach.

of course, everyone was ecstatic.

what's more, fukuzawa had extended the invitation to you as well because of your tireless assistance to their organization. even if heiwa refused to have you assist them, you'd still go out of your way and face them head on, using your influence and connections just for them to let you.

it was supposed to be a delightful and enjoyable day, given that there is no work to be done but rather to swim, eat, and relax. however, one person seemed dissatisfied, at least from what atsushi could see and feel. atsushi paled at the sight of dazai, who sipped on some alcoholic beverage with a very profound expression.

this was clearly not something they saw every day, given that the armed detective agency's beloved dazai osamu was usually energetic and comedic in nature, not quiet.

"kunikida-san! look at dazai-san!" atsushi rushed up to kunikida, who was grilling some barbecues and seafood alongside yosano, naomi, kyouka, kirako, and fukuzawa himself.

"huh? what do you mean?" kunikida raised his brow at the boy, quickly putting his fan away and folding his arms across his chest before looking at dazai to see what atsushi was talking about and having a nerve form on his temple, "what the—dazai! oi, what's wrong with you?"

"nothing's wrong!" dazai yelled back in response, his tone suddenly becoming frustrated.

kunikida was flabbergasted. he had never seen dazai so frustrated. while it was kind of childish, it was just not like him to be this way.

"i believe the reason is right over there," yosano said abruptly, drawing the attention of atsushi, kunikida, and junichiro, among others.

they followed yosano's finger as it pointed to two figures near the shore—it was you and ranpo laughing and playing around with a sea cucumber that you were holding because sea cucumbers are poisonous despite looking funny, and on another note, you have your infinity to keep you from getting poisoned.

oh. that explains everything.

"dazai-san is.." atsushi pointed out as his sweat dropped, "jealous of ranpo-san.. of course.."

"well, it's not everyday you see ranpo-san and gojo-san so close together.." junichiro blinked, scratching his chin, "considering how dazai-san is always with gojo-san."

dazai's jealousy and possessiveness were two of the few things he doesn't express verbally, but they were very visible in his eyes and actions whenever he did feel them.

he knew you were always playful and bubbly around other people, and he even thinks you two are so similar, but the thought was getting the best of him. sure, most of the time you bicker and exchange playful, even flirtatious banter with dazai, but he despises the way your heavenly eyes seem to light up and smile when you're with someone else, especially ranpo.

he's usually unconcerned about it because he trusts you, but why now?

dazai was so conflicted and perplexed that all he could do was sulk quietly to himself and mentally glare at the detective you were spending time with. it just doesn't feel right for him to intervene, given that you're only hanging out with his colleague and you're not doing anything wrong.

his thoughts were scattered, and every one of them screamed, 'that should be me playing with [name] right now!'

when yosano saw him, she tried to calm him down by saying, "you know, glaring like that for too long will give you wrinkles."

"what? no, i'm not," dazai scoffed, folding his arms across his chest, a funny yet pouty expression on his face as he narrowed his eyes at yosano, "i'm not even jealous or anything, yosano-sensei."

"i didn't say you were, you said that yourself," yosano giggled softly, causing dazai's eyes to widen in surprise—a rare occurrence given how he's always on top of things and can't be surprised.

who knew he could be so open about his feelings for you?

"i'll call them over so you can have gojo back since we're about to eat anyways," yosano said to dazai as placed a hand on her hip and smiled.

yosano approached you and ranpo, who were now splashing each other with water after you had discarded the sea cucumber you were holding earlier, and yelled, "ranpo-san, gojo-san! time to eat!"

"comin—oi!" you came to a halt to respond to yosano and wave at her, only to softly gasp as a large splash of water came towards you from ranpo, dampening your black round sunglasses to the point where you had to remove them from your eyes, "you little shithead."

"last one's a rotten egg, gojo, and no teleporting!" ranpo joked as he began to make his way back, leaving you in the water.

you grumbled and attempted to splash water on ranpo as you darted to catch up to him while gripping your sunglasses, "no teleporting my ass.."

when you and ranpo started running towards them while laughing and shoving each other, dazai couldn't help but feel his jealousy grow. so, as soon as the two of you arrived, with you winning for being first and ranpo arguing with you, dazai wrapped his arms around your waist and hugged you, unable to let you spend another second with ranpo.

"congratulations for winning first place, my pretty, pretty belladonna!~" dazai exclaimed cheerfully before nuzzling his face into yours, which caught you off guard for a split second before you relaxed into his touch.

"you heard that, ranpo-kun?~" you exclaimed, fist pumping the air and wrapping your free arm around dazai's neck, "i win!"

"i'm telling you guys! i got here first before she coul—" ranpo was about to argue when he noticed dazai's small glare from over your shoulder as he tightened his hug on you, and that was all it took for ranpo to open his green eyes in surprise before a smirk crossed his face upon realizing he had irritated dazai osamu himself, "huh.."

for a split second, dazai pursed his lips into a thin line before sticking out his tongue at him. dazai then returned his attention to you, an arm still wrapped around your waist, as he led you to the food that kunikida, fukuzawa, and the other detectives had cooked on the grill.

"come on, [name]-chan, let's go eat crab and kebabs together!" dazai said as he kissed your cheek.

you blinked for a few seconds but eventually didn't paid mind to dazai's sudden intimate actions because, well, he's dazai. your boyfriend is always touching you, trying to kiss you whenever he gets the chance, that's how clingy he is to you, his darling belladonna.

but ranpo, along with the other detectives such as kunikida, yosano, atsushi, and junichiro, knew exactly what his affections meant, and it didn't take long for you to figure out that something was up because of how dazai was acting.

dazai was literally doing everything for you.

"ranpo-kun, can you hand me another stick of—you weren't even finished asking yet, but your boyfriend is already getting you what you want, "here, more kebab for my sweet bella~"

he, too, was refusing to let you go.

"dazai! let me go!" you squirmed in dazai's octopus-like grip on your body. you just wanted to return to the ocean to go play with ranpo, but with dazai making physical contact with you, he was nullifying your ability, making it impossible for you to teleport away from him off the bat.

"oi, dazai! gojo and i are going to play!" ranpo yelled, smirking at dazai, who narrowed his eyes into another glare in response to him.

"no, she's staying here with me!" dazai said to ranpo in a gruff voice to before burying his face into your neck and hugging you tightly from behind, "you're staying with me, bella."

"ranpo-kun, save me!" you pouted and flailed your arms in an attempt to reach out to ranpo.

you? asking ranpo for help? not on his watch.

you then felt something sharp graze and pierce the skin of your neck, causing your face to heat up and ranpo to look surprised before bursting out laughing.

"DID YOU GET JUST BITE MY NECK?!"

[puppywritesthings]

Chained to the Rhythm (Camsco)

Summary: Bosco has the bright idea to choreograph a piece with both dancers handcuffed together. She even provides the cuffs for the occasion (because of course she has handcuffs on her). Camden thinks this is an absolutely terrible idea, trying to figure out the logistics of this until they get handcuffed together.

And Bosco can't seem to remember where they put the key.

ao3 link

A/N: WOOO!!! I got this done, finally.

once again, shout out to @ladystanden for suggesting the title and low-key inspiring the fic in the first place. camsco’s good shit, and good enough to have a little over 5k words..

fair warning: there is some smut.

“Oh, so you weren’t joking…” 

Camden couldn’t help but stare at a pair of handcuffs rhythmically twirling around Bosco’s slender fingers. Her mind tried to focus on literally anything else in the room, but anywhere she looked only drew attention to the shiny metal (or at least metal painted) restraints: one of the many times she hated the large mirror on the wall. There had certainly been odder things that she saw in the studio – all in the name of performance art– but this had to be one of the strangest.

The other girl only laughed as she draped it over one rung of the ballet barre. “See something you like, Cammy?” Part of them knew the effect that her newest accessory would have on the other girl. She came off as such a prude that they didn’t know how she’d handle being in the dressing rooms. “No comment, huh.”

“Of course you’d have those on you…” 

“Funny story, I thought I was going to be the next Houdini in high school. Turns out I like staying in the handcuffs more than I liked getting out, if you get my drift.” They winked, even though Camden knew exactly what she meant.

“It’s still a stupid idea…” The redhead blurted out as kept staring at the newest accessory. “And please don’t call me that,” She requested, knowing that it would most likely be ignored, much like most of her ideas around Bosco.  “Why’d you – Oh, never mind.” She crossed her arms, turning away from the other dancer. Asking why she even had those in the first place would be a dumb idea, almost as dumb as having two dancers’ arms cuffed together. 

Bosco already gave enough reasoning in class that day, and it made complete sense in their head. The cuffs would give the dancers a challenge: the close proximity and limited mobility making them share a center of gravity. They would have to rely on their partner, trust that the next step was going to keep them upright. 

To Camden, however, it just sounded like nonsense, like they just threw around technical terms to make themself sound smarter.

“Never mind what?” They smirked, “Come on, Cam Cam. What were you gonna ask?”

“It really isn’t any of your business now.” She huffed. “I don’t think I even want to tell you now that you mentioned it.” She knew it was a childish response, but what was the point in arguing with someone who always had the upper hand, and the height advantage.

“You know, I personally enjoyed it when you just stood there, flabbergasted, so how about we get back to choreographing this, m’kay?.”

The redhead nodded her head, letting out a beleaguered sigh. “One more question and I promise I won’t bother you for the rest of the rehearsal. Are we practicing with the cuffs or adding them in later?”

Bosco looked at her like she asked the dumbest question in the world, cocking one eyebrow as she untied her flannel from her waist and laid it on another part of the barre. “Well, I brought them for a reason, didn’t I? So could you be a dear and hand them over, Toyota Camry?”

Rolling her eyes, Camden leaned in to grab the cuffs, scooting them closer to her dance partner. Sooner than later, the worst-case scenario happened.

Click!

The cuffs sprung alive, ensnaring the two girls like a bear trap. Camden yanked on the chain. She tried to find a gap, thinking her hands were small enough to slip the cuff, but it was a feeble attempt to get free. Any more pulls and tugs only served as a reminder for her current predicament. She was stuck. “I didn’t mean to do this on –“

“Shit…” Bosco cursed under her breath, pulling against the chain and accidentally forcing Camden to get closer. Using her free hand, she rifled through her drawstring dance bag and scattered the contents onto the floor: her leotard, another change of clothes, a few packs of gum, and a Demon Slayer keychain. “Shit shit shit shit shit.” 

The redhead gritted her teeth as she was wooshed to her rival’s side. “What is it?”

“No, that’s not it… I remember holding it at some point.” They ignored Camden as she scrolled through every key on the chain like a rolodex. “That’s not it, not that’s not it! Oh, no no no no no no.”

“What. is it?”

“I can’t find the key.” Bosco admitted, still frantically messing with the keys on the ring. “I thought these were the quick release ones, but I might have grabbed the wrong one and–”

“You have more than one pair of handcuffs?” Camden exclaimed, her tone being a mix of genuine excitement and judgmental shock.

“Yeah. I do. I thought we already established that I’m a fucking freak, but that’s not important right now because at the end of the day, I might end up taking you home with me and I don’t want to explain all this to my roommate.” They pulled Camden along to another corner of the room as she pulled out her phone from her small yoga pant pocket.

“How am I supposed to text Daya with only one hand?!” Bosco asked, not in the mood for any responses.

“You can always ask Siri to – oh wait…”

They took a deep breath, letting that light abrasion take hold. Normally, she didn’t mind the jokes about her phone; hell, she’d even make them herself, but now wasn’t the time for that. “That’s… a very low blow. How dare you.”

Camden decided to ignore that comment; Bosco was one to talk when it came to low blows.  “What do you have anyway?” She asked without any of her previous malice. “Cortana? Alexa?”

“Just Google Assistant.” They huffed, finishing the text and messily tossing everything back into their bag. “I know that’s not fancy enough for your high, British, trust fund standards–”

“Knock it off.” Although the anger from that statement got her heated like a kettle on a stovetop, she just gritted her teeth and took a few deep breaths from her partially open mouth. “We’re getting way too off topic. Can we get back to choreographing? I don’t want to be here all day.”

“Anything you say.” Bosco reluctantly moved back to their position, bringing Camden with her in a feeble attempt to get back on track. “Well, I guess that makes things easier since you just have to follow my lead now… Not like you have a choice.” They laughed at their own joke as they tried to release some of the tension.

“So, if we lean a bit away from each other, that could be a part of it? You mentioned something about a shared center of gravity.”

Oh, she remembered. “I guess so. Do you wanna start out that way? Or do you want to do something else?”

“If we circle around each other like this, one… two… three… four.” The redhead took her free hand behind her back and demonstrated. The two of them continued to walk around each other, their steps slowly yet surely becoming synchronized; the tension between them could be cut like a hot knife through butter. The only sounds she could hear were the increasing speed of the footsteps and the sound of her heartbeat pulsing between her ears.

“That was unwarranted, you know.”

“What was?”

“That… comment about the trust fund.”

“What about it? Did it hit too close to home?” Bosco maliciously teased.

Camden scoffed, almost too stunned to speak at the moment. “How selfish do you have to be to think you’re the only person who had to work hard to get here?!” Could someone really be that dense? 

The accusation made Bosco stop, causing Camden to bump into them. She was ambitious, yes, and she would easily admit they had an ego. But selfish? Far from it. They needed to have this near delusional confidence; that way she stood out. That way people wouldn’t just see them as this girl from podunk Great Falls, Montana. She was someone with worth and substance who had as much right to be here as any other person with a BFA from a conservatory their parents probably paid tuition for.

“I understand that other people have to work hard, but some people need to work harder.” Without getting a response, she continued the walk-around.

As much as Camden hated to admit it, they had a point. 

Her parents were financially stable, — her father running part of the nightclub scene back in Camden Town — but they only paid for the plane ticket over. Everything else had to come out of her pockets. Objectively, it was an easier start than having to pay everything out of pocket…

She thought about all the hours she worked overtime and all the tables that didn’t tip. The times she tripped over herself with someone’s order like she came out of a cartoon. Even with all of that, it never felt like there was enough to keep her financially stable. She’d been warned to expect being poor by going into the arts, so why should the two of them even have been arguing about this?

“Like you would know anything about working harder.” Camden near regretted saying that, but quickly amended her trajectory. She took back control of the walk around.  “This dance piece is the only thing you seem to be passionate about, and look where that ended up.”

“I like to think of it as having a one-tracked mind. And look at us! We’re making progress. Oops. I mean look at me, since I’m so selfish and all…”

“I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking straight when I said that, okay?”

“I know what you meant.” Bosco prodded like the gadfly she was. “You’re no different than the guys I see with those fucking… Coach duffel bags talking about their season tickets to Pantages like they have all the gas money to go to SoCal and back.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Camden said through seethed teeth, her anger being moved to the back burner of her mind.

“The best thing about this whole experience so far has been learning that you actually have a personality aside from being British.”

The redhead regained her composure as the wheels turned to think of a clever retort, but her dance partner just kept going, comparing her to a wind-up doll at one point programmed to dance and make everyone else feel bad about themselves. Either way, it was a double-edged sword. Try to stand up for yourself again, and Bosco would just use that against you.

They were far wittier than Camden, so she had to end up being direct. That was the only way.

“I think you’re jealous of me!” She accused, making direct eye contact with Bosco as her eureka moment outweighed any other needs.

Bosco stopped and tilted their head, looking at her condescendingly and patting her on the head. “I love your enthusiasm, but why would I be jealous of you?”

“…I have to use the bathroom.” An odd change of topic, but Camden bounced on one leg as she slowly and subtly inched the two of them closer to the door.

Before Bosco could say anything else, they wiped their hand on the side of her pants and just looked at Camden. Any witty remarks flew out of the window. “Why didn’t you go before we started rehearsal?”

“I thought I was going to make it through rehearsal, but I wasn’t expecting us to get cuffed together and for there not to be a key. And now I really need to go! My bladder is about to burst. Granted, it’s still my fault because I shouldn’t have chugged my water bottle on the car ride here --”

“As if this day couldn’t get any worse…” Bosco started to mumble under their breath, praying for something else to delay the inevitable and hoping Camden could hold it a little longer. Maybe Daya would have responded and said she’d be driving over with the key as soon as she could.  “It’s not like I have a choice, so go ahead, Carrot Top. Lead the way.”

And she did.

Camden led an unwilling yet cooperative Bosco out of the rehearsal room and into the hall. “I hope no one sees this.” They complained, making as little eye contact with as many people as possible. Don’t mind me. Just two girls handcuffed together. Typical Wednesday afternoon.

“What? Does the great Bosco have a sense of shame now?”

“No!” They denied as she did everything she could to keep her face from flushing. “It’s just that the public can’t consent to these things. Have you seen that one picture of the guy in a pup mask while his girlfriend’s got him leashed on all fours?”

Before they could get an answer, they were pulled into a single-stall bathroom while Camden locked the door behind the two of them. “So, are you gonna go, or were you bluffing?”

“About what?”

“With having to pee, silly.”

“I will.” The redhead pulled Bosco closer to the toilet, annoyed at the fact she’d lie about using the bathroom. “It’s just, I haven’t had anyone… with me… in here… before. I’m not making sense; I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re fine. I won’t look, I promise.” They quickly turned away from Camden and tried to focus on anything other than the other girl undressing. How could she not realize how heated this was? This whole situation read like some doujin she’d get for ten dollars at a convention, from the setup to where it was now.  Two girls handcuffed to each other, and –who would have thought– they’re stuck in a room after exchanging copious amounts of sexually-charged banter. Or at least she thought it was sexually charged. For all she knew, Camden remained oblivious to how this was affecting them. 

When the redhead sat down, Bosco did so as well, leaning against the bowl. “I didn’t want your arm to get tired… holding it up like that.” She wasn’t wrong, but it still felt like a flimsy excuse, making the tension between them more palpable. It’s not like I like you or anything, b-baka!

As much as she hated to admit it, she quite enjoyed this position. Leading Bosco around like a lost puppy and then literally seeing them in a position beneath her felt invigorating. A sick part of her waited for something like this to come where Bosco would finally admit defeat, making Camden the better dancer between the two of them.

The silence between them was awkward. Well, it would have been silent if it wasn’t for the sound of Camden relieving herself. Bosco tapped their foot against the cold tiles and leaned their head back to the stall, occasionally looking into Camden’s eyes and cursing this current predicament. “Look, Camden, I’m sorry.”

Camden was taken aback, stopping as her pants were midway up her legs and feeling through her pockets. “What was that? I couldn’t quite get that.”

“I said I was sorry. I’m sorry for underestimating you and thinking you were this overly perfectionist, rich goody-goody who can do no wrong. I’ve been a bitch since day one of knowing you, and that was just – I don’t know – unnecessary. Camden, if you don’t accept this right away, that’s completely understandable.”

She considered accepting their apology, but a small, fiendish smirk crept across her face. “Can you apologize one more time? I really need to take this moment in.”

“You don’t have to rub it in! Jesus…” Bosco stood up, letting their hormones nearly lead the way to her intended destination: on her knees in front of Camden. “I actually admitted I was wrong for once. Big whoop-de-do, do you want it on video?”

“Well… I’m sorry as well. I might have overreacted when we were doing that turn.”

“Overreacted? You called me selfish!”

“And I’m sorry for that. Genuinely… And I’d like to apologize for technically getting us into this mess. I touched them last… and then all this happened.”

“They were going to be on us eventually. Besides, they were my cuffs in the first place; and I lost the key in the first place; I should take full responsibility.” They paused for a second, looking Camden back in the eyes. “You’re too hard on yourself. You know that, right, Camden?”

She hated when they were right, but not as much as she used to. “Is it too much to say that I really kiss you right now?” Bosco blurted, covering their mouth with their free hand. “Who said that? The acoustics in this place are shit…”

Camden blinked for a minute, then lifted an eyebrow confused at the sudden confession. “What? Don’t do that. I know you said something.”

“I said the acoustics were shit. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“That’s a lie. Tell me what you said.” She ordered as if she didn’t hear them the first time.

“Alright. You got me.” They admitted, playfully defeated. “I guess all that arguing did something to me... or maybe it’s the hormones. Maybe both. Seeing you snap back and being dragged around made me think about things I haven’t thought about. Like... kissing you and – why am I getting nervous about all of this? I should be standing up soon.”

“No. Down there’s good.”

Bosco nodded her head and continued her confession, a feeling she hadn’t been familiar with in a while. They could just imagine themself in the booth, an awkward child talking about innocuous sins. They had no problem talking about their desires since smashing the shell of their Catholic upbringing, but talking about this to Camden – even if it came off as surprisingly chaste for her – was even more humiliating than a teenager buying condoms for the first time at the gas station, trying to hide them among the Twinkies and the local newspaper they weren’t going to read.

“As I was saying, I’ve been thinking about being on the receiving end of things… from you… I know this doesn’t make sense, considering… you know. I know that’s vague – receiving end of things. I’m so articulate – but this is sudden, and you probably hate me. For good reason.” They paused, realizing the weight of their words and overall redundancy. “I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I want you.”

“I wasn’t being a bitch when I was glad to see you had a real personality.” Camden gave Bosco a stern, doubtful look. “Alright, I was, but there was some truth to that statement.  I’m glad I get to see all of you, and I sort of want to see all of those hidden sides come out more often.”

“Wait -- was that why you proposed the cuff dance in the first place? To enact one of your wet dreams?” Camden partially joked. “Speaking of those…”

“Don’t tell me you wanna talk about your wet dreams… unless you want to.”

She shook her head.

“Then the answer is no.” ” A half-truth. “Just YouTube deep dives plus my own… acquired tastes lead to all of this. I’d be happy to indulge you in more of them when there’s a better time.”

Camden looked at the blonde in front of her, then at the cuffs keeping the two of them tethered together. “Now that you mention it, this is kind of hot… and it felt good seeing you on your knees.”

“And I thought I was the kinky one…” They quipped, turning away from Camden once again before being pulled back to face her. While they wanted to focus on her baby blues, their focus was diverted to jingling noises around her hand.

Camden waggled a bent bobby pin in between her fingers. “Just remembered I had this, and I’m surprised it worked.” She laughed through her nose.

“Why would you need a bobby pin for your hair, Little Orph—Camden?” Bosco quickly corrected; the nickname was childish enough anyway. “Thanks for getting us out.” They flexed the wrist that had been the cuffs around, hearing the rolling of their joints as she smiled back at her partner. “Is there anything I can do to repay you?

Camden smirked. The position of power she was given was just too much, and she planned on abusing that for as long as she could. “Of course, but you have to beg for it first.”

“Ah. Of course.” Bosco was tempted to sink back down to her knees, but she decided against that, wanting to have a little bit of control in the situation.  However, that was quickly refuted.

“I quite liked seeing you on your knees. Can you do that? For me?”

Who were they to refuse? She sunk back to her knees – the coolness and hardness of the tiles becoming a more familiar feeling -- while looking at Camden. They quickly took the well-worn hair tie out of their shaggy ponytail and placed it on their wrist, giving her full access to her curls.

“Please… let me repay you for this. Don’t let me wait! God, Camden… I want to repay you so bad, treat you the way you deserve. I’m sorry for everything. I wanna repent for every single shitty comment I’ve made about you today, or any day when I’ve gone home to complain about you. I want to kiss the ground you walk upon! I… please, let me make it up to you.”

She pretended to consider her constant apologies, knowing that she would indulge in their request anyway. Upon remembering she could use both of her hands, Camden threaded her fingers through Bosco’s hair and gave it a ruffle like she’d give to a dog passing by. Then she gave a small tug, yanking their head to made even more intense eye contact.

Upon leading the other girl to a standing position, she pulled Bosco into a kiss. It started sweet: soft lips touching ones still chapped and occasionally gasps for air as they’d pepper kisses onto each other’s necks. Sooner than later, the tension exploded as those kisses turned into tiny nibbles on the collarbone and Bosco letting everything happen all at once to them as Camden claimed their mouth with every inch of their tongue.

She then ran her hands down Bosco’s body, taking note of every curve and how those curves would feel even better if they were naked, laying down on either of their beds with skin touching skin. How Bosco flinched and whined when they touched certain places, knowing when to retreat and what made them tick. Recently, she learned one of them was pinned against the wall by someone a head shorter than them; another was how her fingers rolled their nipples after she yanked their crop top up.

She admired how someone who was so confident and bratty became so malleable, like putty in her hands. She only wanted to test that further. Camden added more marks around the breasts before latching her mouth onto one of them, sucking and licking the hard, sensitive nipple.

That seemed to be the trick. Bosco scrunched their face and tried to hold back a moan, forgetting that they were still on public property. “Put me in my fucking place, Camden.” They begged through several pants of breath once again looking away from Camden and waiting on further instructions.

“Oh, I will.” She smirked and gently pushed Bosco back to their knees; she then stepped back, pulling down her pants slow enough to tease. Bosco put their hands in their lap, fidgeting with the hair tie, half-tempted to bind her hands with it.

“Please?”

“In due time.”

“Well, it’d better be quick; we’ve been in here a while.” Bosco reminded as they waited for Camden to get it over with, rubbing their own thighs together in the process. “People might get suspicious…” It was a good thing the redhead locked the door earlier, or that they didn’t use the stalls in the locker rooms. They didn’t want anyone to walk in on them, then have to think of an excuse for something that obviously looked like oral sex.

When her pants finally reached her ankles, she strutted over to Bosco and said with a small smirk, “You know what to do, darling.”

The pet name taunted them as they ghosted two fingers along Camden’s slit while her other hand grabbed her thigh to keep balance.

“No hands,” Camden quickly amended, seeing Bosco’s desperation and devotion to the task.

“But—”

“You spent an entire afternoon cuffed to me; I bet you can function without your hands a little longer.” She patted their head again while her free hand brushed Bosco’s off her thigh. “Besides, you haven’t earned that right yet.”

Oh, so I have hand privileges now… It was a good thing Bosco had that hair tie. They deftly put their hands behind their back, making a set of restraints from the tie, and nodded her head.  She inched closer to Camden, taking a whiff of her damp snatch.  “And you brought a second set of cuffs with you too? You minx.”

“Like I said—” Bosco tried to explain before she was cut off with permission.

“Less talking, more licking.”

The blonde smirked before slowly licking a stripe up her slit, her tongue collecting any wetness from her folds and lapping it up like a horse to water. She then thrusted inside of her, her tongue pumping in and out of her cunt. Bosco moaned, momentarily forgetting that they were on public property and that anyone could pass by. The redhead pulled them closer to her crotch while blushing beet red: a practical way to shut her up and give her more of what they wanted.

“God… fuck yeah… More,” she said as she was getting what was probably the best head in her life. Then again, her last partner hadn’t considered going down there at all and not with such dexterity as Bosco had. There wasn’t any denial that they had experience when it came to these things. “You think you’re all that and a bag of chips, but would someone this high and mighty be down on their knees like this?”

Before Bosco could respond -- asking if she meant all that and a bag of crisps --their head was shoved back into her cunt, reminding them of their current objective. They then put their attention on her twitching, pulsing clit, startling Camden in the process as she let out a high-pitched moan. “Right there… that’s it, you fucking whore. Such a good whore for me. You’re so eager.”

Camden never considered herself to be a sexual person -- at least not an overtly sexual one --, but even she was surprised at how well she was doing. If she knew rehearsal was going to delve into something like this, she could have been a lot more prepared. She could have brought some dental dams or at least put more thought into what she was wearing underneath her outfit. The things she wanted to do to Bosco, and vice versa, were near limitless as some sort of sexy revenge for all the times they’d annoy and vex her.

“Bosco, I’m…” She breathed out, “I’m gonna… you’d better clean me up well or you won’t hear the half of it.” She warned as she steadied herself on the kneeling girl’s shoulders. Before she could compliment their technique and urge her to keep going, she let go. The pleasure rushed through her and onto Bosco’s face like ecstasy.

Camden untied Bosco and helped them stand, gazing upon her masterpiece of hickeys, smeared makeup, and lipstick marks. “Hm… Bosco Constantino humbled. I could get used to that.”

The other dancer pulled their shirt back down and hobbled towards the bathroom mirror, licking whatever Camden was still on her lips and admiring the image they were seeing. “And Camden Wheeler taking action… I’d definitely get used to that.”

“My lipstick looks good on you; don’t you think?” She finished pulling up her pants and hugged Bosco from behind, enjoying the way her arm wrapped around the small of her back.

“Yeah. Can’t wait to see how mine looks on you.”

The two of them left the bathroom as fast as they could and returned to the studio. Neither of them could remember where they left off, so they decided to call it there. “I guess I’ll see you in class?” Bosco finished packing the rest of their dance bag as they were just about to leave the room, but was quickly stopped by a tug on the drawstrings.

“I think I could use a bit more rehearsals before then. Maybe at your place if you have room over there?” The redhead asked. “We can also have sex too, if you think that’s what I’m implying.”

“Sounds great.”

“You horndog!” She scolded, “Someone ought to have you neutered!”

“Spayed, actually.” Bosco took no time to correct her as she put her hair back up in a ponytail. “And bold of you to assume I’ll stop getting horny once I can afford bottom surgery.”

“I know. How bold of me to assume that,” Camden joked, now used to Bosco’s level of sarcasm enough to match it. “You simply know no bounds.”

“How dare you!” They joked back, swinging the cuffs around their finger like they had done earlier. “Saying I know no bounds when I literally brought handcuffs. For shame.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t forget these. It would be a shame if you left them and someone had to find these. I bet you’d have a field day wanting to explain this…”

“How could I forget?” Bosco tried not to think too much about the humiliation that would come from elaborating on this. “I need these for tonight. Today’s given me a lot more material to work with…” They winked, “If you get my drift.”

“I do. So, same time Thursday?”

“Tomorrow? Someone’s eager.”

Camden smirked, “Oh you have no idea.”

[artificialqueens]

Chained to the Rhythm (Camsco) - Puppy

Summary: Bosco has the bright idea to choreograph a piece with both dancers handcuffed together. She even provides the cuffs for the occasion (because of course she has handcuffs on her). Camden thinks this is an absolutely terrible idea, trying to figure out the logistics of this until they get handcuffed together.

And Bosco can’t seem to remember where they put the key.

ao3 link

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A/N: WOOO!!! I got this done, finally.

once again, shout out to @ladystanden for suggesting the title and low-key inspiring the fic in the first place. camsco’s good shit, and good enough to have a little over 5k words..

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“Oh, so you weren’t joking…” 

Camden couldn’t help but stare at a pair of handcuffs rhythmically twirling around Bosco’s slender fingers. Her mind tried to focus on literally anything else in the room, but anywhere she looked only drew attention to the shiny metal (or at least metal painted) restraints: one of the many times she hated the large mirror on the wall. There had certainly been odder things that she saw in the studio – all in the name of performance art– but this had to be one of the strangest.

The other girl only laughed as she draped it over one rung of the ballet barre. “See something you like, Cammy?” Part of them knew the effect that her newest accessory would have on the other girl. She came off as such a prude that they didn’t know how she’d handle being in the dressing rooms. “No comment, huh.”

“Of course you’d have those on you…” 

“Funny story, I thought I was going to be the next Houdini in high school. Turns out I like staying in the handcuffs more than I liked getting out, if you get my drift.” They winked, even though Camden knew exactly what she meant.

“It’s still a stupid idea…” The redhead blurted out as kept staring at the newest accessory. “And please don’t call me that,” She requested, knowing that it would most likely be ignored, much like most of her ideas around Bosco.  “Why’d you – Oh, never mind.” She crossed her arms, turning away from the other dancer. Asking why she even had those in the first place would be a dumb idea, almost as dumb as having two dancers’ arms cuffed together. 

Bosco already gave enough reasoning in class that day, and it made complete sense in their head. The cuffs would give the dancers a challenge: the close proximity and limited mobility making them share a center of gravity. They would have to rely on their partner, trust that the next step was going to keep them upright. 

To Camden, however, it just sounded like nonsense, like they just threw around technical terms to make themself sound smarter.

“Never mind what?” They smirked, “Come on, Cam Cam. What were you gonna ask?”

“It really isn’t any of your business now.” She huffed. “I don’t think I even want to tell you now that you mentioned it.” She knew it was a childish response, but what was the point in arguing with someone who always had the upper hand, and the height advantage.

“You know, I personally enjoyed it when you just stood there, flabbergasted, so how about we get back to choreographing this, m’kay?.”

The redhead nodded her head, letting out a beleaguered sigh. “One more question and I promise I won’t bother you for the rest of the rehearsal. Are we practicing with the cuffs or adding them in later?”

Bosco looked at her like she asked the dumbest question in the world, cocking one eyebrow as she untied her flannel from her waist and laid it on another part of the barre. “Well, I brought them for a reason, didn’t I? So could you be a dear and hand them over, Toyota Camry?”

Rolling her eyes, Camden leaned in to grab the cuffs, scooting them closer to her dance partner. Sooner than later, the worst-case scenario happened.

Click!

The cuffs sprung alive, ensnaring the two girls like a bear trap. Camden yanked on the chain. She tried to find a gap, thinking her hands were small enough to slip the cuff, but it was a feeble attempt to get free. Any more pulls and tugs only served as a reminder for her current predicament. She was stuck. “I didn’t mean to do this on –“

“Shit…” Bosco cursed under her breath, pulling against the chain and accidentally forcing Camden to get closer. Using her free hand, she rifled through her drawstring dance bag and scattered the contents onto the floor: her leotard, another change of clothes, a few packs of gum, and a Demon Slayer keychain. “Shit shit shit shit shit.” 

The redhead gritted her teeth as she was wooshed to her rival’s side. “What is it?”

“No, that’s not it… I remember holding it at some point.” They ignored Camden as she scrolled through every key on the chain like a rolodex. “That’s not it, not that’s not it! Oh, no no no no no no.”

“What. is it?”

“I can’t find the key.” Bosco admitted, still frantically messing with the keys on the ring. “I thought these were the quick release ones, but I might have grabbed the wrong one and–”

“You have more than one pair of handcuffs?” Camden exclaimed, her tone being a mix of genuine excitement and judgmental shock.

“Yeah. I do. I thought we already established that I’m a fucking freak, but that’s not important right now because at the end of the day, I might end up taking you home with me and I don’t want to explain all this to my roommate.” They pulled Camden along to another corner of the room as she pulled out her phone from her small yoga pant pocket.

“How am I supposed to text Daya with only one hand?!” Bosco asked, not in the mood for any responses.

“You can always ask Siri to – oh wait…”

They took a deep breath, letting that light abrasion take hold. Normally, she didn’t mind the jokes about her phone; hell, she’d even make them herself, but now wasn’t the time for that. “That’s… a very low blow. How dare you.”

Camden decided to ignore that comment; Bosco was one to talk when it came to low blows.  “What do you have anyway?” She asked without any of her previous malice. “Cortana? Alexa?”

“Just Google Assistant.” They huffed, finishing the text and messily tossing everything back into their bag. “I know that’s not fancy enough for your high, British, trust fund standards–”

“Knock it off.” Although the anger from that statement got her heated like a kettle on a stovetop, she just gritted her teeth and took a few deep breaths from her partially open mouth. “We’re getting way too off topic. Can we get back to choreographing? I don’t want to be here all day.”

“Anything you say.” Bosco reluctantly moved back to their position, bringing Camden with her in a feeble attempt to get back on track. “Well, I guess that makes things easier since you just have to follow my lead now… Not like you have a choice.” They laughed at their own joke as they tried to release some of the tension.

“So, if we lean a bit away from each other, that could be a part of it? You mentioned something about a shared center of gravity.”

Oh, she remembered. “I guess so. Do you wanna start out that way? Or do you want to do something else?”

“If we circle around each other like this, one… two… three… four.” The redhead took her free hand behind her back and demonstrated. The two of them continued to walk around each other, their steps slowly yet surely becoming synchronized; the tension between them could be cut like a hot knife through butter. The only sounds she could hear were the increasing speed of the footsteps and the sound of her heartbeat pulsing between her ears.

“That was unwarranted, you know.”

“What was?”

“That… comment about the trust fund.”

“What about it? Did it hit too close to home?” Bosco maliciously teased.

Camden scoffed, almost too stunned to speak at the moment. “How selfish do you have to be to think you’re the only person who had to work hard to get here?!” Could someone really be that dense? 

The accusation made Bosco stop, causing Camden to bump into them. She was ambitious, yes, and she would easily admit they had an ego. But selfish? Far from it. They needed to have this near delusional confidence; that way she stood out. That way people wouldn’t just see them as this girl from podunk Great Falls, Montana. She was someone with worth and substance who had as much right to be here as any other person with a BFA from a conservatory their parents probably paid tuition for.

“I understand that other people have to work hard, but some people need to work harder.” Without getting a response, she continued the walk-around.

As much as Camden hated to admit it, they had a point. 

Her parents were financially stable, — her father running part of the nightclub scene back in Camden Town — but they only paid for the plane ticket over. Everything else had to come out of her pockets. Objectively, it was an easier start than having to pay everything out of pocket…

She thought about all the hours she worked overtime and all the tables that didn’t tip. The times she tripped over herself with someone’s order like she came out of a cartoon. Even with all of that, it never felt like there was enough to keep her financially stable. She’d been warned to expect being poor by going into the arts, so why should the two of them even have been arguing about this?

“Like you would know anything about working harder.” Camden near regretted saying that, but quickly amended her trajectory. She took back control of the walk around.  “This dance piece is the only thing you seem to be passionate about, and look where that ended up.”

“I like to think of it as having a one-tracked mind. And look at us! We’re making progress. Oops. I mean look at me, since I’m so selfish and all…”

“I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking straight when I said that, okay?”

“I know what you meant.” Bosco prodded like the gadfly she was. “You’re no different than the guys I see with those fucking… Coach duffel bags talking about their season tickets to Pantages like they have all the gas money to go to SoCal and back.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Camden said through seethed teeth, her anger being moved to the back burner of her mind.

“The best thing about this whole experience so far has been learning that you actually have a personality aside from being British.”

The redhead regained her composure as the wheels turned to think of a clever retort, but her dance partner just kept going, comparing her to a wind-up doll at one point programmed to dance and make everyone else feel bad about themselves. Either way, it was a double-edged sword. Try to stand up for yourself again, and Bosco would just use that against you.

They were far wittier than Camden, so she had to end up being direct. That was the only way.

“I think you’re jealous of me!” She accused, making direct eye contact with Bosco as her eureka moment outweighed any other needs.

Bosco stopped and tilted their head, looking at her condescendingly and patting her on the head. “I love your enthusiasm, but why would I be jealous of you?”

“…I have to use the bathroom.” An odd change of topic, but Camden bounced on one leg as she slowly and subtly inched the two of them closer to the door.

Before Bosco could say anything else, they wiped their hand on the side of her pants and just looked at Camden. Any witty remarks flew out of the window. “Why didn’t you go before we started rehearsal?”

“I thought I was going to make it through rehearsal, but I wasn’t expecting us to get cuffed together and for there not to be a key. And now I really need to go! My bladder is about to burst. Granted, it’s still my fault because I shouldn’t have chugged my water bottle on the car ride here –”

“As if this day couldn’t get any worse…” Bosco started to mumble under their breath, praying for something else to delay the inevitable and hoping Camden could hold it a little longer. Maybe Daya would have responded and said she’d be driving over with the key as soon as she could.  “It’s not like I have a choice, so go ahead, Carrot Top. Lead the way.”

And she did.

Camden led an unwilling yet cooperative Bosco out of the rehearsal room and into the hall. “I hope no one sees this.” They complained, making as little eye contact with as many people as possible. Don’t mind me. Just two girls handcuffed together. Typical Wednesday afternoon.

“What? Does the great Bosco have a sense of shame now?”

“No!” They denied as she did everything she could to keep her face from flushing. “It’s just that the public can’t consent to these things. Have you seen that one picture of the guy in a pup mask while his girlfriend’s got him leashed on all fours?”

Before they could get an answer, they were pulled into a single-stall bathroom while Camden locked the door behind the two of them. “So, are you gonna go, or were you bluffing?”

“About what?”

“With having to pee, silly.”

“I will.” The redhead pulled Bosco closer to the toilet, annoyed at the fact she’d lie about using the bathroom. “It’s just, I haven’t had anyone… with me… in here… before. I’m not making sense; I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re fine. I won’t look, I promise.” They quickly turned away from Camden and tried to focus on anything other than the other girl undressing. How could she not realize how heated this was? This whole situation read like some doujin she’d get for ten dollars at a convention, from the setup to where it was now.  Two girls handcuffed to each other, and –who would have thought– they’re stuck in a room after exchanging copious amounts of sexually-charged banter. Or at least she thought it was sexually charged. For all she knew, Camden remained oblivious to how this was affecting them. 

When the redhead sat down, Bosco did so as well, leaning against the bowl. “I didn’t want your arm to get tired… holding it up like that.” She wasn’t wrong, but it still felt like a flimsy excuse, making the tension between them more palpable. It’s not like I like you or anything, b-baka!

As much as she hated to admit it, she quite enjoyed this position. Leading Bosco around like a lost puppy and then literally seeing them in a position beneath her felt invigorating. A sick part of her waited for something like this to come where Bosco would finally admit defeat, making Camden the better dancer between the two of them.

The silence between them was awkward. Well, it would have been silent if it wasn’t for the sound of Camden relieving herself. Bosco tapped their foot against the cold tiles and leaned their head back to the stall, occasionally looking into Camden’s eyes and cursing this current predicament. “Look, Camden, I’m sorry.”

Camden was taken aback, stopping as her pants were midway up her legs and feeling through her pockets. “What was that? I couldn’t quite get that.”

“I said I was sorry. I’m sorry for underestimating you and thinking you were this overly perfectionist, rich goody-goody who can do no wrong. I’ve been a bitch since day one of knowing you, and that was just – I don’t know – unnecessary. Camden, if you don’t accept this right away, that’s completely understandable.”

She considered accepting their apology, but a small, fiendish smirk crept across her face. “Can you apologize one more time? I really need to take this moment in.”

“You don’t have to rub it in! Jesus…” Bosco stood up, letting their hormones nearly lead the way to her intended destination: on her knees in front of Camden. “I actually admitted I was wrong for once. Big whoop-de-do, do you want it on video?”

“Well… I’m sorry as well. I might have overreacted when we were doing that turn.”

“Overreacted? You called me selfish!”

“And I’m sorry for that. Genuinely… And I’d like to apologize for technically getting us into this mess. I touched them last… and then all this happened.”

“They were going to be on us eventually. Besides, they were my cuffs in the first place; and I lost the key in the first place; I should take full responsibility.” They paused for a second, looking Camden back in the eyes. “You’re too hard on yourself. You know that, right, Camden?”

She hated when they were right, but not as much as she used to. “Is it too much to say that I really kiss you right now?” Bosco blurted, covering their mouth with their free hand. “Who said that? The acoustics in this place are shit…”

Camden blinked for a minute, then lifted an eyebrow confused at the sudden confession. “What? Don’t do that. I know you said something.”

“I said the acoustics were shit. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“That’s a lie. Tell me what you said.” She ordered as if she didn’t hear them the first time.

“Alright. You got me.” They admitted, playfully defeated. “I guess all that arguing did something to me… or maybe it’s the hormones. Maybe both. Seeing you snap back and being dragged around made me think about things I haven’t thought about. Like… kissing you and – why am I getting nervous about all of this? I should be standing up soon.”

“No. Down there’s good.”

Bosco nodded her head and continued her confession, a feeling she hadn’t been familiar with in a while. They could just imagine themself in the booth, an awkward child talking about innocuous sins. They had no problem talking about their desires since smashing the shell of their Catholic upbringing, but talking about this to Camden – even if it came off as surprisingly chaste for her – was even more humiliating than a teenager buying condoms for the first time at the gas station, trying to hide them among the Twinkies the local newspaper they weren’t going to read.

“As I was saying, I’ve been thinking about being on the receiving end of things… from you… I know this doesn’t make sense, considering… you know. I know that’s vague – receiving end of things. I’m so articulate – but this is sudden, and you probably hate me. For good reason.” They paused, realizing the weight of their words and overall redundancy. “I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I want you.”

“I wasn’t being a bitch when I was glad to see you had a real personality.” Camden gave Bosco a stern, doubtful look. “Alright, I was, but there was some truth to that statement.  I’m glad I get to see all of you, and I sort of want to see all of those hidden sides come out more often.”

“Wait – was that why you proposed the cuff dance in the first place? To enact one of your wet dreams?” Camden partially joked. “Speaking of those…”

“Don’t tell me you wanna talk about your wet dreams… unless you want to.”

She shook her head.

“Then the answer is no.” ” A half-truth. “Just YouTube deep dives plus my own… acquired tastes lead to all of this. I’d be happy to indulge you in more of them when there’s a better time.”

Camden looked at the blonde in front of her, then at the cuffs keeping the two of them tethered together. “Now that you mention it, this is kind of hot… and it felt good seeing you on your knees.”

“And I thought I was the kinky one…” They quipped, turning away from Camden once again before being pulled back to face her. While they wanted to focus on her baby blues, their focus was diverted to jingling noises around her hand.

Camden waggled a bent bobby pin in between her fingers. “Just remembered I had this, and I’m surprised it worked.” She laughed through her nose.

“Why would you need a bobby pin for your hair, Little Orph—Camden?” Bosco quickly corrected; the nickname was childish enough anyway. “Thanks for getting us out.” They flexed the wrist that had been the cuffs around, hearing the rolling of their joints as she smiled back at her partner. “Is there anything I can do to repay you?

Camden smirked. The position of power she was given was just too much, and she planned on abusing that for as long as she could. “Of course, but you have to beg for it first.”

“Ah. Of course.” Bosco was tempted to sink back down to her knees, but she decided against that, wanting to have a little bit of control in the situation.  However, that was quickly refuted.

“I quite liked seeing you on your knees. Can you do that? For me?”

Who were they to refuse? She sunk back to her knees – the coolness and hardness of the tiles becoming a more familiar feeling – while looking at Camden. They quickly took the well-worn hair tie out of their shaggy ponytail and placed it on their wrist, giving her full access to her curls.

“Please… let me repay you for this. Don’t let me wait! God, Camden… I want to repay you so bad, treat you the way you deserve. I’m sorry for everything. I wanna repent for every single shitty comment I’ve made about you today, or any day when I’ve gone home to complain about you. I want to kiss the ground you walk upon! I… please, let me make it up to you.”

She pretended to consider her constant apologies, knowing that she would indulge in their request anyway. Upon remembering she could use both of her hands, Camden threaded her fingers through Bosco’s hair and gave it a ruffle like she’d give to a dog passing by. Then she gave a small tug, yanking their head to made even more intense eye contact.

Upon leading the other girl to a standing position, she pulled Bosco into a kiss. It started sweet: soft lips touching ones still chapped and occasionally gasps for air as they’d pepper kisses onto each other’s necks. Sooner than later, the tension exploded as those kisses turned into tiny nibbles on the collarbone and Bosco letting everything happen all at once to them as Camden claimed their mouth with every inch of their tongue.

She then ran her hands down Bosco’s body, taking note of every curve and how those curves would feel even better if they were naked, laying down on either of their beds with skin touching skin. How Bosco flinched and whined when they touched certain places, knowing when to retreat and what made them tick. Recently, she learned one of them was pinned against the wall by someone a head shorter than them; another was how her fingers rolled their nipples after she yanked their crop top up.

She admired how someone who was so confident and bratty became so malleable, like putty in her hands. She only wanted to test that further. Camden added more marks around the breasts before latching her mouth onto one of them, sucking and licking the hard, sensitive nipple.

That seemed to be the trick. Bosco scrunched their face and tried to hold back a moan, forgetting that they were still on public property. “Put me in my fucking place, Camden.” They begged through several pants of breath once again looking away from Camden and waiting on further instructions.

“Oh, I will.” She smirked and gently pushed Bosco back to their knees; she then stepped back, pulling down her pants slow enough to tease. Bosco put their hands in their lap, fidgeting with the hair tie, half-tempted to bind her hands with it.

“Please?”

“In due time.”

“Well, it’d better be quick; we’ve been in here a while.” Bosco reminded as they waited for Camden to get it over with, rubbing their own thighs together in the process. “People might get suspicious…” It was a good thing the redhead locked the door earlier, or that they didn’t use the stalls in the locker rooms. They didn’t want anyone to walk in on them, then have to think of an excuse for something that obviously looked like oral sex.

When her pants finally reached her ankles, she strutted over to Bosco and said with a small smirk, “You know what to do, darling.”

The pet name taunted them as they ghosted two fingers along Camden’s slit while her other hand grabbed her thigh to keep balance.

“No hands,” Camden quickly amended, seeing Bosco’s desperation and devotion to the task.

“But—”

“You spent an entire afternoon cuffed to me; I bet you can function without your hands a little longer.” She patted their head again while her free hand brushed Bosco’s off her thigh. “Besides, you haven’t earned that right yet.”

Oh, so I have hand privileges now… It was a good thing Bosco had that hair tie. They deftly put their hands behind their back, making a set of restraints from the tie, and nodded her head.  She inched closer to Camden, taking a whiff of her damp snatch.  “And you brought a second set of cuffs with you too? You minx.”

“Like I said—” Bosco tried to explain before she was cut off with permission.

“Less talking, more licking.”

The blonde smirked before slowly licking a stripe up her slit, her tongue collecting any wetness from her folds and lapping it up like a horse to water. She then thrusted inside of her, her tongue pumping in and out of her cunt. Bosco moaned, momentarily forgetting that they were on public property and that anyone could pass by. The redhead pulled them closer to her crotch while blushing beet red: a practical way to shut her up and give her more of what they wanted.

“God… fuck yeah… More,” she said as she was getting what was probably the best head in her life. Then again, her last partner hadn’t considered going down there at all and not with such dexterity as Bosco had. There wasn’t any denial that they had experience when it came to these things. “You think you’re all that and a bag of chips, but would someone this high and mighty be down on their knees like this?”

Before Bosco could respond – asking if she meant all that and a bag of crisps –their head was shoved back into her cunt, reminding them of their current objective. They then put their attention on her twitching, pulsing clit, startling Camden in the process as she let out a high-pitched moan. “Right there… that’s it, you fucking whore. Such a good whore for me. You’re so eager.”

Camden never considered herself to be a sexual person – at least not an overtly sexual one –, but even she was surprised at how well she was doing. If she knew rehearsal was going to delve into something like this, she could have been a lot more prepared. She could have brought some dental dams or at least put more thought into what she was wearing underneath her outfit. The things she wanted to do to Bosco, and vice versa, were near limitless as some sort of sexy revenge for all the times they’d annoy and vex her.

“Bosco, I’m…” She breathed out, “I’m gonna… you’d better clean me up well or you won’t hear the half of it.” She warned as she steadied herself on the kneeling girl’s shoulders. Before she could compliment their technique and urge her to keep going, she let go. The pleasure rushed through her and onto Bosco’s face like ecstasy.

Camden untied Bosco and helped them stand, gazing upon her masterpiece of hickeys, smeared makeup, and lipstick marks. “Hm… Bosco Constantino humbled. I could get used to that.”

The other dancer pulled their shirt back down and hobbled towards the bathroom mirror, licking whatever Camden was still on her lips and admiring the image they were seeing. “And Camden Wheeler taking action… I’d definitely get used to that.”

“My lipstick looks good on you; don’t you think?” She finished pulling up her pants and hugged Bosco from behind, enjoying the way her arm wrapped around the small of her back.

“Yeah. Can’t wait to see how mine looks on you.”

The two of them left the bathroom as fast as they could and returned to the studio. Neither of them could remember where they left off, so they decided to call it there. “I guess I’ll see you in class?” Bosco finished packing the rest of their dance bag as they were just about to leave the room, but was quickly stopped by a tug on the drawstrings.

“I think I could use a bit more rehearsals before then. Maybe at your place if you have room over there?” The redhead asked. “We can also have sex too, if you think that’s what I’m implying.”

“Sounds great.”

“You horndog!” She scolded, “Someone ought to have you neutered!”

“Spayed, actually.” Bosco took no time to correct her as she put her hair back up in a ponytail. “And bold of you to assume I’ll stop getting horny once I can afford bottom surgery.”

“I know. How bold of me to assume that,” Camden joked, now used to Bosco’s level of sarcasm enough to match it. “You simply know no bounds.”

“How dare you!” They joked back, swinging the cuffs around their finger like they had done earlier. “Saying I know no bounds when I literally brought handcuffs. For shame.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t forget these. It would be a shame if you left them and someone had to find these. I bed you’d have a field day wanting to explain this…”

“How could I forget?” Bosco tried not to think too much about the humiliation that would come from elaborating on this “I need these for tonight. Today’s given me a lot more material to work with…” They winked, “If you get my drift.”

“I do. So, same time Thursday?”

“Tomorrow? Someone’s eager.”

Camden smirked, “Oh you have no idea.”

[thran-duils]

Lost in Zero Gravity (P.16)

Title: Lost In Zero Gravity (Part Sixteen) Summary:  Fem!Reader x Mob Boss!Tony Stark x Mob Boss!Steve Rogers.  Reader is a call girl who runs high end parties. She catches the attention of Tony Stark who invites her back to his room with his friend. She might have performed too well because she becomes their new favorite play toy and they don’t like to share. Words: 4,759 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, prostitution, infidelity, angst, domestic violence, stalking, possessive behavior, drug use Author’s Note: Shit is popping off, bye. Also, drug use in this chapter from Steve again. Just a bit harder than weed this time.

Part Fifteen || Part Seventeen || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

The trip back from your grandparent’s was depressing. But again, rules and following them, to buy you some freedom in the future. You were playing the long game even if it meant some short-term uncomfortableness.

You had not opened your gifts before you left and you did not dare bring any of them with you, not knowing what they were. You would have been mortified to open a sex toy or something in front of your family from Tony or Steve. When you got home, you threw your suitcase down, changed into comfortable pajamas, and set to work opening them. It was the 26th but you were still alone, Tony and Steve keeping the weekend at home since Christmas had landed on Saturday.

Some of the gifts seemed more for them than you. Dresses and lingerie you were sure you would be asked to wear. Not to be ungrateful, the dresses were not cheap in the slightest, and they were pretty. You collected the gift cards happily.

There were thoughtful ones though. Steve had gotten you some new wireless headphones better equipped for movement. So, he had been listening when you complained that you wanted ones that stayed in your ears better when you were working out. Tony had bought your favorite Dior perfume, no doubt noticing you were getting low.

You sent them a text thanking them before popping some popcorn and getting onto the couch to snuggle with Luna. You had been able to go home and see your family and come back to your warm apartment. Christmas had actually gone better than you had expected.

<><><>

Steve stepped in Tony’s office on Tuesday, and said, “I didn’t feel like sending someone for food. I want to go out. Wanna join me?”

Tony looked up from the hologram he was working with and shrugged. “I’ll come with, but I brought lunch, so I won’t be eating with you,” Tony said, pointing down at the glass Tupperware.

Steve asked slowly, “You ‘brought’ lunch?” Tony nodded, taking a bite. “Since when do you bring lunch?”

“Y/N made it. She always makes herself food and sometimes I want it and today happened to be one of those days, so I took some,” Tony explained, his attention fixated back on the hologram.

Steve hovered in the doorway for a moment before sighing, “Well, I don’t want to be the only one eating at the table, so maybe I should just go by myself. You look busy anyway.” Tony nodding in half acknowledgment, engrossed in the problem in front of him. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

<><><>

You saw Steve had texted you as you got ready to go out the door to go to the building’s gym.

Don’t eat and if you have, then get ready anyway. I wanna go out to lunch.

I haven’t eaten. What time?

I’m heading over now.

Well, that ruined going to the gym. You tossed your headphones back on the kitchen table as you walked by. He had texted again.

Wear that cocktail dress I got you for Christmas.

Steve was waiting for you downstairs in his BMW forty minutes later. He had taken longer than you expected him too and you would not have rushed with your hair and makeup otherwise. When you opened the door, you found a bouquet of roses on the seat. You picked them up and got in, closing the door.

“For me?” you asked, surprised, smiling at him.

“Course,” Steve answered, shooting you a smile in return.

“What’s the occasion?”

Steve shrugged, “We’re going out to lunch. Why not treat it like a date and give you a gift? You deserve it.”

Taking a deep inhale, you savored the sweet scent of them.

“Seatbelt, dove,” he reminded.

“Right,” you laughed, putting the flowers down in your lap and grabbing your seatbelt and putting it on.

“That dress looks fantastic, by the way. Hugs you in all the right places. You’re gonna be the hottest woman in the restaurant,” Steve told you before pulling away from the curb.

<><><>

“Well, that’s very New Years of you,” Tony said, as you turned the camera to show him in the mirror. You had called him at the party, wanting to get his approval before you left the apartment with Terrence. “Completely sparkling.”

“Thought it was appropriate,” you told him.

“You were right,” Tony replied. “You look lovely.”

“I am all ready. I can come now.” Tony was quiet and you asked after a few moments, “Tony?”

It was still a few more seconds before he said, “Alright, well, you are a bit early, but you can mingle around here at the party, can’t you? Without getting yourself into trouble with any sordid men?”

You asked, “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t think you would, I was just teasing.”

“No, I mean, why do I have to mingle alone?”

Tony cleared his throat on the other end of the FaceTime call. “That’s the plan. You come to the hotel, we’ve got the room ready, and then we will meet you in the room.” You said nothing, staring at him expectantly. He sighed now seeing you were not going to relent on the issue, “Wives are here.”

You scoffed quietly, “They’re going to be there? You didn’t tell me that!”

“Well, I didn’t think there was going to be a need to because you were supposed to come close to midnight and just go up to the room. Not 10:00 and want to come to the party.”

“What is the point of a New Year’s party at a hotel if I’m not at the party?” You saw Tony was going to say something and cut in before he could roughly, “She’s gonna see me!”

Tony knew exactly who she was.

“She might,” Tony admitted, sounding uncomfortable.

You shook your head, “I’m not comfortable with that. I don’t want to be there. You can’t ask me to be there.”

“Y/N—”

“Please don’t make me,” you pleaded. “Can’t you guys just come back here? I don’t want to run into her anywhere in the hotel. The hall, the lobby, the party. Can’t you understand that?” Tony ground his teeth and you pressed, “Please. Just come back here. I’ll be ready for you whenever you come home.”

You saw the look in his eyes at the term ‘home’. You closed your mouth, thinking you had pressed your luck by insinuating that this was home for him. It was a buzzed slip up. Shit.

Finally, Tony broke the tension and said, “Yeah, I’ll tell Steve we will just go back to the apartment. It’s not a big deal.”

Relief flooded through you that you had not insulted him.

“Okay, I’ll be here. Promise.”

“I know you will be.” He hung up.

<><><>

Alessia and Cecile excused themselves to go to the restroom, leaving Tony and Steve standing in the ballroom. Steve pointed his attention at Tony, “Saw Y/N called. What did she want?”

“She got ready early and wanted to come early,” Tony said, swirling his whiskey around in his glass.

“Early? Is she here already then? Are Terrence and Daryl with her? Oscar and William were supposed to take over for them so they could go celebrate,” Steve asked.

“No,” Tony told him, shaking his head. “She’s not coming at all.”

Steve faced Tony fully now, agitated, and demanded, “What? We had a room set up here.”

“She didn’t want to come.”

Steve stared at him flabbergasted and sputtered, “And?”

“She said she wasn’t comfortable. And you know, I could see why,” Tony said shrugging, taking a drink. “She didn’t want Alessia to see her. Didn’t want to risk running into her. Still bad blood there, understandably.”

“Tony—” Steve started impatiently.

“We can just go back to the apartment afterward, Steve. It’s not a big deal. What is she going to do there other than hang out and drink?”

“Tony, we agreed she was coming here.”

“Like I said, I made an executive decision and I’m sorry I didn’t consult you first. But I honestly didn’t feel like arguing with her about it.”

“Right. You didn’t feel like arguing. You just didn’t want to upset her,” Steve said annoyed. Tony looked indignant by his response, but Steve pressed on, leaning in, “I have Cecile here and I was gonna sneak out of the room to go to another room here. What am I gonna do if she texts me asking where I’m at? I know you don’t have to worry about that because Alessia is just going to go home without you but fuck, think about what I need to do, huh?”

“She’ll know what happened. Do you think she’s stupid? And Y/N is 15 minutes away in good traffic.”

“Well, the traffic is not good is it, Tony?” Steve retorted sourly. “It’s New Years!”

“Steve, it’ll be fine. Here, they’re coming back,” Tony said the last part out of the corner of his mouth spotting Cecile and Alessia returning from the bathroom.

Steve snapped, “I’m gonna go enjoy some more of that blow I just indulged in and I’ll just… deal.”

He walked off before the women got back and Cecile asked, “Where’s he off to?”

“Grabbing some finger food or something, I don’t know,” Tony said, his arm coming around Alessia’s waist. She did not react, letting him rest his hand at her hip. He held his bourbon out to her and asked, “Fancy a drink?”

“It is New Years,” Alessia said, taking it from him and taking a drink.

<><><>

Terrence’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out looking at it. “Oh, they’re here. Downstairs. Wondering where we all are.”

“I’m still enjoying the night air,” you said, reclined on one of the chairs on the rooftop terrace.

You had your legs crossed, a drink in hand. You were not toasted but you were feeling good. The three of you had gone to the roof to watch the fireworks around the city. There was a good enough view in all directions, and it had not been disappointing.

Daryl took another drag on his joint and held it out to Terrence who took it gratefully. “We should go back inside.”

“Or they could come up here and join us,” you told them.

“We aren’t even supposed to be up here.”

“Who is going to stop us?” you muttered, your eyes drawn to the fireworks again. Someone must have paid a lot of money for this show. It had been going on since midnight off and on.

Terrence snorted and said, “Well, I for one would like to go to bed. Not to sleep though. And the clubs are still open, so I can go find someone to take home.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Daryl agreed, pointing at him.

Rolling your eyes, you brought your glass up to your lips and finished it off. “God, fine. I won’t get in the way of you getting laid any longer.”

You stood up, snatching the bottle of rum off the table and began walking towards the door. Daryl and Terrence followed you back inside, closing the rooftop door behind the group of you.

Walking into the apartment, you found Steve and Tony sitting on the couches, Steve hunched over the table, doing a line. You rose your brows, never having seen him snort coke before, only smoke weed. You turned away from the scene and walked over to the kitchen to grab yourself some more mixer.

“We are heading out. Going to the clubs,” Terrence told Tony and Steve. “There’s gotta be someone desperate enough to go home with Daryl.”

“Fuck off,” Daryl said in response, while Tony snorted at the comment.

The pair of them made their leave as you made yourself another drink. “Tony, I know it’s not your thing, but do you want rum?”

“I am more than okay,” Tony responded from the couch. “Thank you though.”

You heard footsteps and Steve’s voice sounded, “Where are your shoes?”

“In my closet. I didn’t want to wear them,” you told him, turning around. “I didn’t leave them on the roof if that’s what you were worried about.”

Steve smirked at that, his pupils blown wide. He looked ravenously at you and you took a long drink, knowing you were probably in for a good fuck. It had been months since you found yourself in between them and now that they were both here, it was inevitable.

He reached out, touching at the fabric of your dress. “This is nice. Too bad I’m only seeing it for such a short while before we take it off you.”

“Do you want a picture?”

Steve chuckled at that, but his eyes flashed. He did not like the attitude. His hand came up to wrap around your neck. “I think you know what I want.”

Tony had stood up from the couch, stretching. He tossed his suit jacket on the back of the couch and your eyes slid back to Steve whose fingers flexed in, letting you know it was going to be a good fuck but at a price. He was definitely not going to be gentle; that was not the Steve you were getting tonight. A small part of you felt relief knowing Tony was here hopefully to keep him more in check. You finished your drink completely before turning around.

“Can you help me unzip?” you asked him.

Steve’s hands came to your zipper, pulling it down. Feeling the dress fall loose, you began walking towards the hall to go down to the bedroom. You let it fall as you walked, kicking it off to the side of the hall before you shoved your underwear down, letting them fall as well and leaving them outside the bedroom.

“It’s like a sexy Hansel and Gretel bread trail,” Steve joked, coming into the bedroom, Tony following.

You smiled sensually over your shoulder at him before crawling onto the bed and lying back on the center of the bed, legs tucked up.

Steve was busy undressing, as Tony advanced to the bed, unbuttoning his shirt. He tossed it aside as he came up to the edge of your bed. He reached out, grasping your ankles, and yanked you across the bed towards him.

“First thing I’m gonna eat in the New Year,” he winked. You giggled at that and he crawled onto the bed, pulling you even closer.

He spread your legs apart and wasted no time burying his face. You bucked against his tongue slightly, his beard tickling you. Tony’s fingers dug into the front of your thighs, his tongue slipping in and out of your channel before flicking up and sucking. A high-pitched whine left you, which only encouraged him further.

The bed dipped with Steve’s weight as he crawled up next to you. He was on his side, his dick jutting towards you. He grasped the back of your neck, pulling you closer. His cock pressed passed your lips into your warm mouth. He exhaled shakily feeling your tongue swirl around him. You were holding yourself as steady as you could with Tony was lapping, sucking at your bud. You groaned, adding to the sensation for Steve. His fingers flexed tighter on your throat and he gave a particularly rough thrust. You choked and tried to pull away, but he held tight, giving another rough thrust, his cock brushing the back of your throat. Your hands came up to push at his stomach, but he slapped at them, pressing back further now, holding himself there. You gagged before he pulled away.

He resumed a steady pace, but his hand was tight around your throat, holding you in place. You breathed through your nose, trying to not choke again and keep your lungs filled. It was proving more and more difficult the more Tony worked you up. It was coming on quick, and you were rolling your hips towards him. He increased his speed and a strangled moan fell from you. Shaking, you came, Tony eagerly tasting and not wasting a drop. You relaxed despite the burning in your chest against the bed as Steve slowed, noticing you had orgasmed.

“Got you good and ready,” Tony growled, wiping at his mouth as he pulled away.

“Oh, let me,” Steve husked, pulling away from you.

Steve winked at you as he moved down the bed as you breathed raggedly, trying to fill your lungs again.

Tony moved away to give Steve the floor at your pussy and Steve took his place. Steve filled you all too easily with how wet you were from Tony’s skill and your orgasm. His thrusts were rough, your breasts bouncing with the movements. Steve leaned forward, hiking your hips up to hit at a new angle as he kissed and sucked at your breasts, nipping up to your neck. He pressed his forehead to yours and pulled you closer for a kiss. He was savage, sucking in your bottom lip and biting. You whimpered and he did it again.

“Good girl,” he praised as you gasped, your pussy clenching against him hitting your core. “Gonna fuck you so goddamn good.”

You nodded, trying to be the good girl he wanted, and he kissed you again, dominating, before pulling away and resuming his brutal pace. You were focused on him, not wanting to look away. He was getting close, not a surprise considering how he had used your mouth.

Steve’s groan of release was dripping with arousal as you felt warmth spurting; he was buried deep. Leaning forward again, he gave you another kiss, pressing in roughly.

Pulling away, he let you drop. Tony who had been walking around the room, keeping himself ready at the sight of Steve fucking you replaced him. Tony entered; his weight pressed down on you. You keened, feeling full of him as he settled, holding you in place. His kisses were deep, his tongue slipping into your mouth as he cradled you close.

Coming up for air, you turned your head to let Tony kiss at your neck and shoulder as he started a steady thrusting up into you. Your fingers dug into his upper back, your legs flexing in and out on his thighs with his movements, watching his face as he relished in you. He was all passion, intimate, cradling you.

<><><>

The table was long, and Tony and Steve found chairs next to each other, their two guys standing behind them. They both hated these quarterly meetings with other business and mob bosses close on the east coast. Sometimes international bosses joined if they were in town and they knew damn well who they were going to see, which only made them even more on edge about being in the room. Tony was prepared with his nano tech in case things went sideways as always; a shield really to prevent anyone from starting anything.

Tony and Steve refrained from looking at each other, instead keeping their faces void of any emotion seeing Laurie sit down across from them, choosing that seat on purpose.

Laurie was snide when he asked, “Fancy seeing the two of you here.”

“Yeah, what a fucking surprise,” Tony retorted. “A planned meeting we were all expected to come to and we see each other.”

“How I miss your humor, Stark.”

“Glad to hear you like at least one thing about me.”

Laurie chuckled and then asked, “How is your prostitute?”

Tony’s jaw ticked at the word, but he managed to respond curtly, “Fine. Thank you for asking.”

The corner of Laurie’s lips up ticked. “But she was out with Rogers. I was asking him.”

Coolly, Steve responded, “I think Tony answered well enough for me.”

Laurie looked between the two of them as people kept filing into the room and finding their own seats. An amused smile came across his lips. “That must be a thing to share. But less messy, yes? I understand that.”

He must have assumed that Steve had taken Y/N out without telling Tony and he had been hoping to stir something up between them. A reason he had asked in English so Steve would hear rather than in French to just address Tony.

“It would be more comfortable for me if you weren’t so obsessed with my sex life,” Steve drawled, meeting his eyes.

Laurie snorted, “It is not your sex life I am ‘obsessed’ with, Rogers. I am obsessed with you messing with my market.”

“Don’t take that up with me. Take that up with your customers.”

“You are causing my customers to turn away! You need to keep your fucking bullshit here. Do not get involved in my country! You think you can run everything just because you are American!”

“Maybe you should do your job better,” Steve retorted coldly.

Face hardening, Laurie started to lean across the table, but Tony stood up, interrupting. “Alright. Everyone’s here.”

Laurie reluctantly settled back in his seat, his eyes boring into Steve across the table, who only returned a fiery look.

<><><>

“Christ, I need some relief,” Steve muttered, rubbing at his eyes as they walked out of the building after the meeting. The two of them had waited until everyone else was gone before leaving the room.

Their car was waiting in the alley for them, and they walked towards it.

Tony was busy on his phone and said, “Well, if you mean Y/N, that’s going to take a while.”

“Why?”

“They’re out doing errands. Picking up prescriptions and grocery shopping.”

Steve’s demeanor changed at the mention of that, and he snapped, “I’ll pick up her prescription. Tell them not to worry about that.”

Tony’s face screwed up in confusion, “Why?”

“Because Tony, I can do it. Just tell her to let me do it,” Steve said tightly as they reached the car.

“Well, she already did it, Steve. They’ve left the pharmacy. They’re grocery shopping now.”

Steve rested his hand on the side of the car, taking a deep breath. Exhaling sharply, he sighed annoyed. “Fuck… fine.” He muttered, “Fucking all I needed.”

He opened the door to get in aggressively, and Tony stopped him with, “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, stilling, shooting Tony a hard look over the roof of the car.

“You seem very stressed about that.”

“I’m stressed about this goddamn meeting and Laurie trying to start shit.”

“Yeah, but you almost lost your shit when I mentioned this.” Steve said nothing, his hand still on the door. Tony cocked his head and said, “I can read you like a book.”

Their guys had not gotten into the car yet, ready to defend the two bosses if need be from outside threats.

Tony was staring at him still and Steve said, “I just… I can handle the prescriptions.”

“Why? What are you keeping from me?”

Steve’s tongue ran along the bottom of his mouth, staring at Tony. “It doesn’t matter.”

“No. It matters if you are keeping something from me. Remember how pissed you were about me not telling you about Laurie?”

Losing it at him not dropping it, Steve exclaimed, “Fine, Tony! I’m giving her placebos!”

Tony stepped back from the car, closing the door. Steve hung his head, exhaling deeply at the admission. Tony demanded, “Placebos for what? Her birth control?”

Not looking up, Steve answered tightly, “Yes.”

“Are you kidding me, Steve?” Tony exclaimed, flabbergasted.

“Stop it, Tony,” Steve said weakly, shaking his head.

Tony scoffed loudly, “No. Tell me. Are you fucking kidding me, Steve?”

Their guys were waiting there uncomfortably, watching Tony walked around the back of the car to come to Steve’s side to be close. Steve straightened up, slamming his door closed too when Tony got close.

“What the fuck?” Tony shouted, throwing his hands out. His veins in his temple were pulsing. “For how fucking long?” Steve said nothing and Tony demanded again, “How long, Steve?”

“Not long, chill out. It’s been a month.”

Tony balked at that, “A month? Steve, do you realize how much we have been fucking her unprotected?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point of the placebos, Tony. To get her pregnant.”

“What… why…” Tony sputtered before shouting again, “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“What the fuck are you thinking?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m not the one falling in love with her! That’s you!” Steve shouted at him, getting in his face now. Tony said nothing, staring at him, fury etched in his features. “She’s a whore, Tony. A toy for us. Something to spoil so she spreads her legs for us. That’s all. I mean, at least isn’t that what you told me to think of her as when I was getting too close? Seems like you’re not following your own advice! ‘Don’t let your marriage shit leak into this’. You’re failing miserably. I’ll be surprised if you last the year without completely moving in with her and taking her up as your new wife.”

“Watch it, Steve,” Tony returned dangerously.

“Oh, I have been watching! You give her too much power! And you know how that’s gonna end up? Just like how Alessia is! Just like how Cecile is to me! You have to keep a firm grip on their will. We both fucked that up with our wives. Especially me! And look where I am! Not knowing if my inheritance is going towards my own damn kid or some fucking second rate fuckhead. And I will not be making that mistake again. No, Y/N stays right beneath my thumb! I would advise you to take a step back and evaluate and make sure you do the fucking same so you don’t end up having yet another bitch tugging on your strings and holding you hostage! So what if I’m using her for this? It’s not like she’s not going to be taken care of!”

Tony looked murderous and he spat, “Steve, for all you fucking know, I could have gotten her pregnant! And you didn’t even tell me! Jesus CHRIST!”

Steve threw his hand up and gave a scornful laugh, “Yeah, sure, it might be yours. But I would much rather give my inheritance to your kid than some fucking low life masseuses kid!”

Tony’s hand came to his face, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to control his anger. It took him a few minutes, turning around and taking a couple steps away from Steve.

When he turned back, his voice was eerily calm as he said, “Don’t come to the apartment.”

“Excuse me?” Steve asked, his pupils pinned, anger etched in his features, taking a step towards Tony.

“You heard me,” Tony growled.

“You think you can stop me?”

“I don’t want to have to stop you, Steve,” Tony grated. “I want you to do the right thing.”

“’The right thing’?” Steve said and then laughed.

“You’re not dealing with this right. Whatever emotional turmoil you’re going through with Cecile,” Tony said. “Don’t come to the apartment for a while. You—”

“No, you’re becoming possessive!” Steve shouted, closing the space, and getting in Tony’s face. Tony did not flinch much to their guys shock who had taken a half step forward to intervene. “I insulted your little, darling slut. And you’re upset about it!”

“Shut your mouth,” Tony said in warning.

“What? You don’t like hearing that? Hearing how you’ve become pussy-whipped? You got yourself wrapped up tight in that cunt! She bats her perfect, little doe eyes, pouts, and you do whatever she asks. And she’s had a lot of time to weave herself into you since you’re fucking living there already basically!”

Tony shook his head, turning around.

“Oh, right, just walk off instead of talking about it! And I know where you’re going! You’re gonna go to her and act wounded, and she’ll lick your wounds.”

Steve stopped hearing whirring and it took him a split second to realize Tony had tapped his reactor and the suit was building itself.

“I’m not going to tell you a third time, Steve,” Tony said from inside the suit. “Take the car and go home.” Steve laughed, malice in it. But Tony pressed on firmly, ignoring him, “You are gonna get your head on straight. If you have any respect for me at all. Or for her, for that matter.”

Without another word, he shot up into the air, leaving Steve on the ground in the alley.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @icant-hangout-imdrumming @oceaniamaddness @multifandom-superlover @imsonick @holl2712 @here4thefanfics @agustdowney @fanofalltheficsx @buttercandy16

[mightbewriting]

So I came to W&H and B&E in an odd way. I'm a long time Dramione fic reader who like many of us doubled down on in 2020 to find comfort in a bananas year. I kept seeing W&H on everyone's rec list, but for whatever reason kept putting it off. Then I heard about the prequel and decided to wait for that to be finished, read it, then do W&H. But once it was finished, I saw you recommended W&H first so I was like okay I'll do that. I struggle with impulse control but am trying to do better so when I saw the audiobook for W&H I was like perfect, I'll listen rather than read that way I won't gobble it up in a day. Ha well that did not work, I listened to the first 3 chapters (at that time those were the only chapters they had recorded) then instantly ran not walked to A03, reread said chapters, then continued on. At Chapter 4 of W&H, I thought hmm maybe I'll read them simultaneously. I continued that way maybe through Chapter 13 of B&E and Chapter 7ish then fully committed to W&H first. I cannot imagine reading these fics in real time because reading them in full, back to back was the most intense glutenous binge and it's taken over my life in the best way. I have been living in your fictional universe for the past two weeks. I started a list of all the parallels and callbacks and eventually had to call it because they are innumerable. I'm awed. In literal awe. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Your writing - the individual words of your vast vocabulary, the way you string said words together into hilarious, heart breaking, heart stopping, beautiful, and visceral feelings is astounding. It's hard to explain but even good writers (and/or an intriguing plot) sometimes do not create an overall immersive feeling. But the feelings your words evoke are all encompassing and truly universe building. Like it's not just the wording or the plot or the charters but all of it together come to make something even greater than the sum of their parts. Your writing, your universe of W&H, S&S, and B&E live in my mind and heart and in an embarrassing amount of screenshots of passages on my phone and in voice memos to myself as I don't have anyone irl to fan girl with. When I think of your words and the world you built, I'm reminded of a Taylor Swift lyric: "it cut deep to know you, right to the bone". That is how I'd describe your writing's effect on me, but in the best way.

Your brain's capacity to plot, plan, and flawlessly deliver W&H THEN B&E? Idk how you kept all the threads and plot points and moments and timelines in check. My head aches just thinking about how you wrote these stand-alone but also inextricable works of art. Like how does one's brain function in such a level? And it's especially telling in B&E because we knew where we were going but I still gasped, screamed, squealed, giggled, had to put my phone down, clutched it to my heart, fist pumped, stopped half way through just for a minute to breath and take it all in, and overall looked and acted as an utter idiot during each and every chapter because while I knew where we were going I also had no idea! I'm just floored you managed to keep us at the edge of our seats with a prequel? Who does that? You do!

The texts in the final chapter of W&H devastated me, literal chills. I think about that daily. It's exactly what H and we needed. Just like a reminder of what they went through. It reminded me of Chapter 41 of B&E. Like a summary of where they had been and where they are now.

The other thing that rattled in my brain is the motifs of choice and time, life kind of boils down to those two things huh? But choice especially. It's funny because choice is so prominent but at the same time how W&H and B&E give off soulmate vibes even though this is not a soulmate fic (also are the rumors true...?!) because despite time turners, breakups, and lost memories, they always come back together. But more on choice: it's just as Draco says - in a million scenarios he'll always choose her and he feels lucky she chose him just once. But of course with W&H, she does it twice. And she does it in both timelines of B&E, and of course that's the problem when Draco realizes he has not done the same hence heartbreak 1.0. And just god - he wants her to have a choice with the potion, a choice with her memories, and stops the timey wimey madness by realizing he's taking her choice (and in a way H started it by taking away his choice and leaving the first time). And then those parts about how he chose her, she chose him, but they could not chose each other. This motif, these callbacks. I'm flabbergasted. It's just hitting me now that you extend the choice to us as readers - we get to choose whether H get her memories back or not.

Theo in all your Wait and Hope universe, but especially S&S broke me. Blaise asking who is taking care of Theo when he's taking care of everyone else? Theo's literal and figurative demons? Yikes. Those were unpleasant looks in the mirror for me. I'm glad Theo has his Blaise. Where's mine haha? Also just shout to your underrated Blaise. The fact that he might be my favorite of the Slytherians in your stories says a lot since he doesn't say a lot haha. But he packs such a punch in all your works.

Okay, after singing your well deserved praises and fan girling and marveling at your works (god this is so long, I'm so sorry!), at long last my ask. I still cannot get this out of my head: what did Theo mean in Chapter 1 of B&E when he suggests to Draco “I know that. Maybe you could—tell her some of—” some of what? I zeroed in on this as soon as I read it and it's been rattling in my brain ever since.

um. hi? holy shit. i dont know how to process this. i am resisting the impulse to cringe away from the level of praise happening here because i really need to learn how to take a compliment but oh my god? i am not...this is just...wowzers. you are very literally too kind to me. i have melted into a puddle of feelings in my reading chair here. 

so, first things first: thank you. these are some of the nicest things i’ve ever heard about my writing and i can guarantee i will come back to this ask when I'm feeling like i suck and need a motivation boost. i can’t deny...it feels really nice to know that at least one person out there caught and appreciated some of the insane attention to detail i forced upon myself lol. so thank you. truly, thank you so much for saying such amazingly kind things that have short circuited my brain!

and im sure my friends at @etl-echo-audiobooks will be over the moon to know that their recording work was such a hit! your trajectory reading these stories is so fun and hilarious and probably the most unique reading experience i’ve heard so far xD

also, please be advised that your analysis on choice in these stories is probably going to live in my head rent free for the rest of my life. i feel seen, you know? you just...picked up what i was putting down and it feels really nice to know that it worked for you! 

and ok. your question. that little dash of ambiguity i was planning on leaving open ended. but let it be known i can be plied with compliments. i can’t just *not* give you something in return for such a lovely and kind and thoughtful dose of joy you had absolutely no obligation to give me today. 

so, in my mind, after draco’s house arrest ended and before he went abroad for his mastery, he and theo had an extensive (most likely drunken. also blaise was probably there too) night of reflection where they kind of just looked back at their childhoods and the war and the history of blood purity and just sort of went: “what the fuck?” i imagine draco probably confided in theo that when he went abroad, he planned to just try and pretend like none of it mattered, to see if that was really true. and draco probably kept him updated via owl (even though draco did not write enough and theo had feelings about that) so that by the time draco returned and we have theo asking that sort of trailing question, the implication at the end is “what if you told granger some of your realizations about it all?” so...not all that exciting? but there you have it!

in conclusion: thank you! you are too kind! i appreciate your thoughtful commentary SO much! i’m so happy you enjoyed these stories. and i hope the explanation of what theo was going to say wasn’t too underwhelming.

[letters-from-eros]

Hiiii! I love your page and uh, is wondering if you can make either a Bakugou or Shouto (whoever you're more comfortable writing) fic where their girlfriend is amazing at singing/dancing and is super sweet and nice but then one day they were given a task to teach other students and it's just [+100 strictness] [+100 anger] [+100 seriousness] like 'oh you didn't put your arm 90° up to the air? Do it again.' 'Oh you practiced 5 hours yesterday? Cool, next time practice up to 8 hours bcuz you still suck.'

Hope you doin well!❤ And tysm if you ever do my request!

A/N: Hello!! Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean so much to me! I can relate to this request because I can get angrily passionate about the things I really like and my patience has to potential to get cut in half! I went with Todo for this one since I have written anything for him in a while!

Pairing: Shouto Todoroki x Reader

Form: Oneshot.

Genre: Fluff.

Warnings: There's like.. One curse word.

Snap, Snap, People!

All aspiring heroes have that one thing.. That one thing that sets them off into a passionate frenzy. Whether it be hero work like Deku and Katsuki or a certain aspect of their quirk and past, like Todoroki.

For you? It was dance. Dancing was something you primarily kept to yourself, but it was far from a secret. It was something that ran through your veins whether you liked it or not. It flowed all the way to the battlefield where your movements would be precise and graceful, looking as though it was choreographed amongst the many crazy and sporadic fighters 1A accommodated.

Shouto knew of such fact, of course. He took pleasure in knowing all the small details on you. He never saw you actually dance, though, it was a topic you would bashfully deny with an embarrassed smile, something he found absolutely adorable. That being said, he never pushed you to show him but the fact that you were still a dancer never went forgotten.

Up until the school festival, no one knew that Y/n L/n, the sweetest girl that always had a smile gracing her face, a nice tone hanging from her words.. The same person who has gotten to class late on so many occassions because she was trying to get a cat out of a tree could turn into a raging dancing beast with patience as thin as hair and a tongue that dripped venom.

"Who are you and what did you do to our Y/n?" Was a question everyone wanted to ask when they first were getting instructed under your strict ruling but they all were too scared to.

Even Bakugo was intimidated. To a (hidden) degree, of course.

In contrast, Shouto was more neutral, as always, if not a little curious. This was the first time he's seen this side of you. It was new, sure, but Todoroki was nothing if he is not resilient. It was far from his first time dealing with tough, overbearing teachers. Compared to his past experiences, this was nothing but a pinch on the cheek.

"The hell is wrong with you all?! You can fight villains but you can't hit a single beat?!" Your yelling was loud and jarring, Shouto was dazed.

"Speak for yourself, you extra!" Katsuki clapped back, the only one who could find courage to speak, which didn't shock anyone. Katsuki had slightly stumbled over his words, anyone who knew his speech patterns knows he doesn't call anyone in his class an "extra." The insult was forced, as a way to protect any pride that could be left.

"Go shove an explosion up your ass, you anger fueled, arrhythmic bastard. If you want to stomp about this stage blindly, do it when I'm not looking."

Has...

Has anyone ever spoken to him like that?

Everyone's expressions were priceless, including Katsuki's (who was speechless for the first time in his life.)

Silence overtook the gym you all were practicing in, a dazed shock

It was an understatement to say that a lot of thoughts were running through Todoroki's head. Things were going on so quickly, and he was usually one who could cope with that perfectly but when things were being set in motion by his usual calm girlfriend, nothing seemed to add up. No matter how hard he tried.

"I'm getting water, practice the steps I showed you all," Your voice was slightly hoarse from yelling as you spoke and turned to go get something to soothe your throat.

You had cooked everyone alive with harsh words, it didn't seem like you. But no one could say that the harsh words didn't summon some form of improvement albeit after Deku stopped crying from being overwhelmed and insulted.

Jarring, the only word that would possibly define such a flabbergasting situation.

"M-Maybe y-you should talk to her, Todoroki," Deku stuttered out, it was no surprised he was shaken up, he was only used to Katsuki's verbal abuse. Yours was on a different level... They were insults that sounded professional and true.

Shouto slightly nodded and thought about the last what? 3 straight hours of practicing a fraction of the set? His– and probably everyone else's bodies ached. No one, except for you was used to such strict practice routines.

He was the only one who hadn't recieved your wrath, and it was obvious there was some form of bias there. He wasn't partial to all your reprimanding, though, having been called out on most of his short comings albeit a little.. softer. More of your usual self slipping through. It was comforting for that to be the case, it showed that your niceness wasn't some facade that hid this beast of a dance instructor.

Todoroki blinked before looking your way, seeing you take a long sip out of your water bottle. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Uraraka giving a highly pleading look. "Please calm her down" was the only thing that could be read from the begging look. It was something that snatched him from overanalyzing the situation. Todoroki knew you best, everyone, including himself knew that. The probability of him not being able to say the right thing to calm you down was extremely low.

"Y/n," He called for your attention and your gaze was directed to him. Your eyes had the usual soft look full of love. Had you managed to calm yourself down?

"You are going really hard on everyone, and I think its about time we finished today's practice. We still have a few weeks before our concert," He explained, monotone and to the point, how he usually was.

"But the way everyone is now, there's no fixing it within a few weeks. Long practices help. We should just fix bad habits today, and then we can progress," So that was your mindset, huh? It wasn't completely rooted in the blind anger you showed your classmates.

"I don't think that's a good idea, love," He started slipping in one of his pet names. It was a pretty cheap trick to have you listen to him. "Not everyone is used to this work. You can't differentiate what's a 'bad habit' or something from the exhaustion."

The thing that ran through Shouto's veins was levelheaded thoughts and decisions. (although his spite against his father can blind that, sometimes.) Todoroki was perfect for letting you see things clearly from a good perspective. It made him a good confidant and a good, supportive partner.

"Ah.. You're right. Sorry for going so hard on you and everyone else! I guess my old dance teacher possessed me there for a sec!" A bashful smile and a small, cute chuckle complimented the apology that escaped your lips.

Shouto gave you a warm and soft pat on the head, smoothing out some stray hairs that escaped the uniform shape of your hair, a fond smile plastered on his face. This tooth achingly sweet personality, the occasional bashful moments was what he was completely whipped for. He knew he would grow to become whipped for your demanding and strict teaching methods, too. He couldn't see himself not loving every last piece of you and he'd be lying if he wasn't excited to see the slightly hidden new dimensions of yourself.

He loved you, that's all there was to it. Things that could be seen as "negatives" shone to highlight your indisputable positives. Even the things he has yet to learn about you, he can confidently say he loves. Your passion for dance? It could be said that its one of his favorite things about you, no matter how you might show your love for it.

[mythologyfolklore]

Trouble Earth-Born

(A/N: This fic is about the birth of Erikhthonios, one of the legendary kings of Athens. Contains mention of past attempted rape and attempt of indirect murder and insanity)

.

Athena wasn't quite sure of what to think, as out of nowhere a Protogenos manifested in front of her as a middle-aged woman holding a baby in her arms.

“Venerated Foremother”, she greeted the person in front of her.

“Daughter of Zeus and Metis”, the other returned.

To a mortal she would have seemed like your average chubby matron. But she radiated such raw and incomprehensible power, such cosmic and primeval might, that to a goddess like Athena there was no doubt, who she was.

Gaia, the Earth Mother.

The generous and the terrible.

The nurturing and the destructive.

The mother of the sky, the sea, the mountains, islands and the fair spirits of nature, also of the Titanes, the Hekatonkheires, the Elder Kyklopes … and the monstrous Typhon.

“What gives me the honour?”, Athena questioned the Protogenos.

The dubious honour. That she didn't say.

Gaia held out the baby she had been holding. “This is yours now.”

Athena's bright blue eyes grew to the size of saucers. “I beg your pardon?!”

“Do you remember that little non-consensual almost-tryst you had with the blacksmith god?”

Athena frowned. “As if a woman could forget something like that.”

“And do you remember, how you threw the cloth, which was soiled with his seed, onto the ground?”

“Oh … oh, holy shit, did I accidentally knock you up?! I'm so sorry!”

“I'm Mother Earth”, Gaia pointed out. “Do you have the faintest idea just how many children I have? I mothered half of the Kosmos, Ouranos included! That fucking arsehole”, she added, muttering. “Either way, this happens all the time. I'm used to it and I can't even say, that I mind. However, this baby here has a little of your essence within him. So congratulations, Pallas Athena, head-born daughter of Zeus – you are now a virgin mother.”

And before the goddess could protest, the Protogenos pressed the child into her arms.

Then Gaia sank into the ground and once more became one with … well, herself. Leaving a very flabbergasted Athena holding a godsdamn baby.

“Sooo …”, Athena sighed and regarded the child. It was a boy and he had jet black hair and big brown eyes, just like his father – but despite him being a baby, she could tell he had her aristocratic nose and her high cheekbones. “I guess you are my son now, huh?”

Whelp.

She might have been the goddess of knowledge and good counsel, but she was also a virgin goddess; she had no idea how to do this kind of stuff! This was something for … pretty much any other of the Olympians.

Oh well … she would just have to take responsibility and try to raise this child. After all, it wasn't his fault, that he had been conceived like that and there was no way she would approach the god, who had tried to rape her in his drunk delirium.

Somehow this troubling memory gave her the idea for a suitable name for the earth-born baby.

The baby cooed and stretched out his chubby little arms. Okay, that was cute.

Athena smiled: “Well, I suppose I will have to raise you in secret, so no one can find and tell the world about a virgin goddess having a child.”

And with the child in her arms, she flew away and off to her new city, the one that now bore her name: Athens.

.

“You want us to take care of this chest, Potnia¹?”, Pandrosos asked.

Athena, who was holding a small chest in her arms, confirmed: “That's right. I want you to take this wooden chest here to the chamber behind my altar and watch over it, until I come back in a few days. You don't have to do much, but always remember this: Do. Not. Open. This. Chest. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Glaukopis²”, the three daughters of Kekrops, king of Athens, replied in unison.

The bright-eyed goddess nodded: “Good. Now I need to tend to my other duties. See you in a few days. And I warn you, if I find out that you disobeyed my order to not look inside this chest, you will suffer a fate worse than death. Keep that in mind. Toodles!”

Then she returned to Olympos, before anyone there would question her absence.

.

A few days later, Athena was carrying a whole-ass mountain across Attica (how? Goddess strength, that's how!) for the Akropolis, when a crow joined her in flight.

“Oh, hello, Koronis!”, the goddess greeted the bird.

“Hello!”, the crow replied. “I'm sad to say, that I come with bad news.”

Athena stopped short. “What happened?”

“Well, you asked me to keep an eye on the Kekropides, if they would do as you told them, right? They didn't.”

Promptly the goddess dropped the mountain.

“They opened the chest”, she said blankly.

“Yes, but only Aglauros and Herse. Pandrosos doesn't know. I'm so sorry!”, the crow cried, “I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't listen!”

“It's not your fault, Koronis!”, Athena hissed, suddenly seized by wrath. “Oh, when I get my hands on those little bitches, they're going to get it! As for you, don't tell anyone of what you have seen, do you hear me?”

“My lips- I mean, my beak is sealed.”

“Good.”³

The wrathful goddess teleported herself to her temple in Athens, where she found Herse and Aglauros screaming hysterically on the floor.

With measured steps, Athena approached the chest. In it lay a baby, obviously none other than her earth baby, who was crying softly. A snake was coiled around him protectively and hissing aggressively, though it calmed down as soon as it saw Athena. The baby's upper body was normal, but from the hip downwards, his body was that of a serpent. As soon as he saw his adoptive mother, he stopped crying, bubbled happily and lifted his tiny arms.

“Hello, sweetie”, Athena cooed, completely ignoring the hysterical screaming behind herself. “Sorry for being away so long. But now I'm back.”

She picked him up and cradled him in her arms and he fell asleep in no time, while she was crying on the inside and desperately prayed to Khaos, Ananke and the Moirai, that she would be spared the shame of having to explain, why she was raising a child.

With blazing eyes and fury in her heart the war goddess turned to the mortal women, who were still having a mental breakdown on the floor.

And with a mighty, divine voice, she bellowed: “Go to the cliff behind my temple … and jump!”

The women, completely out of their minds, scrambled to blindly follow the goddess's order.

Athena followed them. She craved the satisfaction of seeing the ones who had dared to cross her fall to their deaths.

Imagine her surprise, when they jumped and she saw two flashes (one bronze, the other crimson) descend from the sky – and a second later, the two madwomen were caught in their fall.

“Hermes! Ares!”, Athena exclaimed.

“Hi, Athena!”, Hermes chirped, while struggling with a raving Herse in his arms.

“What's the meanin' of this?”, Ares demanded to know, as he was holding Aglauros in a vice-like grip (for a second Athena marvelled at his impressive pair of crimson wings, which he was beating to keep his stability against the wind and his struggling, screaming captive). “Why'd ya drive these two insane and make 'em jump off the Akropolis?”

Hermes nodded. “Yeah, we'd like an explanation. For that and for why you're holding a baby in your arms.”

Oh shit. She was still holding the little one in her arms and now her two half-brothers had seen him! Ares hated her and would be all too happy to rat her out, while Hermes was a notorious chatter box.

By Ananke, this really wasn't her day.

Athena forced herself to calm down and step back, so the two could land.

“Come inside my temple”, she sighed. “And I'll explain everything. And while we're at it, you could tell me, what you're doing here and why their worthless lives matter to you enough to save them.”

With a scowl she pointed at Aglauros and Herse, who were still winding themselves in the gods' arms.

“It's a deal”, Hermes accommodated her and he and Ares landed carefully.

“But first we gotta restrain these two”, Ares stated. “They're gonna hurt themselves otherwise.”

.

“So, lemme get that straight”, Ares said, as he nibbled at his ambrosia. “My brother Heph tried to assault ya, while he was drunk. You kicked his arse, because obviously. Then some of his cum got on your thigh, you wiped it off and threw it away, also because obviously. And then Gaia thought it would be hilarious to turn this soiled cloth into a baby and push it onto you, even though she knows, that you have sworn to remain virginal and childless forever.”

Athena nodded.

The older god scowled: “Yeah, that sounds like something that fucking arsehole Protogenos would do.”

The wisdom goddess almost chortled at that.

“And then”, Hermes jumped back to the original topic, “you put him in a box, asked the daughters of Kekrops to take care of the box and not open it. But they opened it anyway and went cuckoo. And you were mad at their disobedience, so you told them to jump off the Akropolis.”

“Correct”, Athena confirmed. Then her face darkened again. “And now it's your turn. How are you related to those two? Don't tell me you've slept with my servants!”

It was Ares, who answered: “Slept with them – no. Courted them – yeah.”

“Good”, Athena nodded. “Only virgins like myself are allowed to serve me.”

“Speaking of the two”, Hermes piped up, “can you please give them their sanity back?”

The warrior goddess's eyes narrowed. “Why? They had it coming! That's what you get for snooping and disobeying my orders.”

“Pleeeease”, Hermes begged. “We'll carry them far away from Athens and you'll never have to deal with them again! How are we supposed to get lucky with them, if they're insane?”

“Get yourself mistresses that aren't deal-breaking bitches?”, Athena deadpanned.

In that moment the baby kicked in his wrappings and began to whine. She sighed and picked him up.

“I was going to give him nectar and ambrosia, once he became immortal, because that's what I was planning to do. But now that he's mortal like any other human, I don't know what to do!”, the goddess lamented. “I'm the goddess of wisdom, but I'm also a virgin and I can't handle babies for crap!”

Ares frowned: “Yeah, that much is clear. Well, Daddy's Owl, how 'bout ya take some advice from an actual parent, who's got experience in bringin' up kids. First off: you're holdin' him all wrong. Do ya think the baby can hold its big head up by itself?”

Athena cringed and hurried to rearrange her hold.

But the war god just shook his head, came over and guided her arms to show her how to do it right, until she managed to do it to his satisfaction.

“Better. Secondly: he's hungry. He needs mother's milk. I suggest ya find him a nurse, 'cuz the way I see it, you're not the kinda woman to breastfeed a baby.”

“Right!”, Athena huffed. “You two don't happen to know someone, who won't go insane at the sight of him and his snake guardian and who can keep her mouth shut?”

“I could ask my mother”, Hermes proposed, albeit reluctantly. “She is silent, a recluse and has adamantine nerves. And once the nursing period is over, she'll just give him back to you.”

Athena thought for a moment, ere she consented.

“Alright, thank you. Now that this is settled, there is one more thing I have to ask of you, before I cure these two women of their insanity and let you take them away.”

“Whatever ya want”, Ares promised. “If it's in our power, we'll do it.”

Hermes nodded affirmatively.

Athena's face became stern. “I demand the most sacred oath. Ares. Hermes. Swear to me by Gaia, Ouranos and the freezing water that drips from Styx, that you will never tell anyone about this child. And Hermes, I want you to let Maia know, that I expect the same from her.”

The two gods didn't hesitate to swear this solemn oath.

The goddess of wisdom sighed: “I still don't understand what you see in those two. But whatever. A promise is a promise.”

She snapped her finger and the two mortal girls passed out. Really, the things she did for her family!

“There. When they wake up, they'll be sane again. I suppose this is your lucky day, because these two are so fired from my service! So, if they consent to it, couple with them as much as you want. I literally don't care what you do to them, as long as it isn't rape.”

“Of course not. Thank you, Athena”, Hermes smiled politely.

“One more thing!”, Ares requested. “Before we proceed any further, can I hold my nephew?”

Athena tilted her head. “Huh? Uhm, sure.”

With great care the god of terrible war took the baby from his half-sister's arms.

The infant didn't seem frightened of Ares at all, quite the contrary: it giggled and coiled its serpentine lower body around his wrist, when he made silly faces.

“Awww, you're such a big softie! I wish I had a camera!”, Hermes teased.

Athena smirked: “Yes, I never thought I would see that day! Look at that, the little one really likes you!”

“Don't make me stuff you two into the next best volute krater⁴”, Ares warned without turning his gaze from the little one. “I'm sure, I can find one big enough for you both.”

The other two chuckled, but ceased their teasing; they couldn't fight with a baby in the room.

Hermes addressed Athena: “By the way, what's the little one's name? You gave him one, right?”

“But of course”, she confirmed. “His name is Erikhthonios.”

.

---

.

1) Potnia - "Lady/Queen/Mistress" 2) Glaukopis - "Bright-eyed/Owl-eyed", an epithet of Athena referring to her bright eyes (which depending on the translation are either grey or blue). 3) In some accounts Athena punishes the crow - which up to that point is her familiar - for either telling the girls what was in the chest or for being an overzealous tell-tale, by turning its feathers black, giving it a croaking voice and banishing it from her company. That doesn't really make sense to me, so I didn't include that version. 4) Volute krater - a big ancient Greek jar, used for wine.

[athingthatwantsvirginia]

The Infamous Jethro Tull Incident

PART THIRTY-THREE OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: discussions of anxiety/panic attacks please read with caution, plentiful pop culture references, allergies

Word Count: 6.9K

Summary: Visiting Stars Hollow once again, Ella and Jess help Luke with his custody battle and see the Spring Fling.

A/N: The descriptions of panic attacks in this chapter and in this fic are based on research and my own experiences. Everyone is different. If you need to talk, I am always here. I just felt Gilmore Girls always kind of ignored Jess’s trauma, and the after-effects it would have had on him. 

Though Chris and Matthew had invited them out, neither Jess nor Ella had any desire to eat at some fancy restaurant on a Sunday night. It was under the guise of a celebration over the monthly Zine including an interview with someone who had once interned for Dave Eggers. Not that it was a small feat, but both Ella and Jess knew it was simply just an excuse for Chris and Matthew to go on an expensive double date. Often, the two called them frugal. And they called the two of them unnecessarily hedonistic. Whatever the case, Ella was glad to have the apartment for the night. Two days into spring break, and she was still only just bouncing back from the mid-semester exhaustion.

She sat cross-legged in her pajamas on the couch, sketching, as the water on the stove began to boil. Once again, she was attempting dinner. Spaghetti, something simple, she’d told Jess earlier in the evening. She could totally manage it. She still couldn’t understand why her baking skills were never able to travel over into cooking territory. Just as she finished the lines around the eyes, the phone on the counter began ringing. Putting her sketchbook to the side, she rushed up to the counter and saw it was Jess’s cellphone alight with a number.

“Jess Mariano’s phone,” she said as she opened the phone, hoping to answer in time.

“Ella?” the voice came through the receiver.

“Luke?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

A smile came to her lips. “Hey, boss! How are you?”

Luke cleared his throat, hesitating a minute. “Oh, well I…”

“Jess is in the shower, but I can get him if you really need to talk,” she cut in, growing worried. Not only because she noticed the water on the stove was boiling over and hissing on the oven. She dashed over to the stove.

“No, that’s okay. I have no desire to speak to him while he’s any degree of naked,” Luke said gruffly.

Ella uttered a chuckle and she stirred the pot to lessen the overflow. “Well, that makes one of us.”

Only a heavy sigh came from the other side of the phone.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said. As she broke the spaghetti in half, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder, several noodles flew across the kitchen. A few landed on the burner and started to smoke instantly. “Fuck!”

“What?” Luke asked, suddenly alarmed.

Growling under her breath in frustration, she sweeped the noodles from the burner with a damp kitchen towel. “Nothing, sorry. The spaghetti caught on fire but it’s fine now.”

“Why are you trying to make spaghetti? You can hardly make toast,” Luke groaned knowingly.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m broadening my horizons, alright? But that doesn’t matter. What’s going on?”

“Well, uh...you know April?”

“The name rings a bell, yes.”

“Well, Anna wants to move her to New Mexico,” Luke said, voice emotionless. “And I’m trying to get joint custody. The lawyer uh...he said Jess, or you, might be a good character reference. The trial, or whatever we should call it, is on Tuesday. If you can’t get here, that’s fine. They’re speeding up the process because they’re moving away so soon. You could just put it in writing, but I don’t know if it would get here in the mail. So, if you can’t, I completely-”

“Luke,” she interjected.

“Yeah?”

“We’ll be there,” Ella said with finality. “What time is the hearing?”

“Eight,” he answered.

Nodding, she stirred the spaghetti. Furrowing her brows, she considered the time. “Could we maybe stay over tomorrow night? Then, we can all go to the courthouse.”

“Really? Is Jess okay with that?” he asked.

“Jess won’t hear of anything else, I promise. The Zine just came out. The other guys will understand. We’ll call it a family emergency. And I’m on my spring break. It’s fine, boss,” Ella reassured him, face flushed over the steaming pot.

“Are you sure? I mean, only if you’re sure-”

She sighed again, a long exhale through her nose. “Luke, I’m sure. Just hang in there. We’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll bring you some of this spaghetti, if you want.”

“I think I’ll pass,” he said flatly.

“Noted.”

There was a long pause. “Ella?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

A sad smile ghosted over her face. “Don’t mention it.”

“Hey, it’s the Spring Fling, too. In case you guys need something to do tomorrow night,” Luke added, shifting the conversation away from emotions.

A pang of nostalgia hit her, and she could smell the greasy food. “Oh, well, I was on the fence about coming up there before. But the Spring Fling? There’s the thing to seal the deal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Luke grumbled, unamused by her sarcasm.

“Alright. Well, I gotta focus on this spaghetti, for the sake of public safety. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” she said, brows furrowed in concern.

“Yeah. Okay, Ella. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Luke.”

“Bye.”

Hanging up the phone, Ella flipped it closed and set it back on the counter. Waiting for the spaghetti to finish boiling, she tried to hum but couldn’t bring herself to. A knot sat in her stomach. She knew how much Luke loved April; she had seen it even through the few months she’d witnessed them together. And she knew how much April loved Luke. She wondered over how the girl would feel, if she were not allowed to see Luke ever again. Not exactly like her own mother’s death, but Ella could certainly sympathize.

She was too deep in thought to hear Jess emerge from the bathroom, hair damp and still dripping slightly.

“Is something burning?” he asked, coming up next to her.

She jumped slightly and then huffed out a breath when he smirked at her surprise. “For just a second, it was. But, now, everything is under control.”

“Whatever you say, Stevens,” he teased, brown eyes twinkling.

Pursing her lips, she finally took her eyes away from the water. “We have to go to Stars Hollow tomorrow.”

“What? Why?” he asked, his brow crinkling.

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Luke is trying to get joint custody of April. The hearing is on Tuesday morning and he wants us to testify as references.”

“Huh,” Jess deadpanned, nodding slightly.

“If we get there tomorrow, we can make sure he doesn’t completely melt down during the dinner shift and then ride with him to the courthouse. Is that alright with you? If you can’t come, I could just-”

“Woah, Stevens. I’ll go. Obviously, I’ll go. Not like Matthew can’t babysit Chris all on his own for a couple days. He’s been doing it pretty much his whole life,” Jess said, pressing a kiss of reassurance to her cheek.

“Good. Just...making sure.” She bit at her thumbnail for a moment, nodding. “What if...what if he loses her?”

“I don’t know,” Jess said, shaking his head. “But, at least we can try to help. Here’s hoping it’s not too A Few Good Men.”

“There’s the bright side, Mr. Sunshine,” she said, smiling weakly.

Jess smirked a tiny smirk, then grabbed the wooden spoon as the pot began boiling over, spaghetti spilling onto the glass top, once again.

.   .   .

Misty March air seeped in through the cracked Station Wagon windows, the afternoon sun warming up the early spring day. Pollen and dust were stagnant in the air, flowers beginning to bloom in the Connecticut countryside. Television, “Marquee Moon,” played on the radio, Jess’s arm draped over Ella’s headrest. Hydrangeas were blooming, blue and purple and pink, on the sides of the road as they crossed over the edge of town into Stars Hollow.

As soon as they passed over the border, Ella’s eyes began to itch, and she started sneezing into the crook of her elbow.

“Jeez, Stevens. Bless you,” Jess said, eyebrows raised. “Are you getting a cold?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed, sniffling and blinking the irritated shine from her eyes. “Maybe it’ll make me more sympathetic to the judge.”

“There’s one way to win a case,” he chuckled.

“Hey, who am I to look down on a shortcut?” she said, shrugging lightly as she took the turn down Main Street.

As they reached town center, their eyes widened. Parking was one of the chief worries to pop into Ella’s mind, but not the only one. Hay was stacked up every which way, forming a maze. Stray straws littered the empty spaces, bales piled ten feet high and taking up space on every single street. Hitting the brakes, Ella came to a stop on the edge of the strip, next to the bookstore.

“What the hell is this?” Jess asked, flabbergasted.

Shaking her head, Ella was at a loss for words. Then, it dawned on her, and she groaned in frustration. “I forgot to tell you. Luke said it’s the Spring Fling this week. I guess now that means a hay bale maze?”

“Ugh,” Jess grunted, rolling his eyes. “The last time I was at this thing, Taylor almost called the cops on me because of my Jethro Tull t-shirt.”

She chuckled as she turned around, headed for the small parking lot with the dumpsters behind Luke’s. “Well, only time will tell what this year will bring.” Sneezing again, she sighed.

“Besides hay fever, that is,” Jess added, teasing, tucking a strand of hair which had fallen loose behind her ear again.

“We’re doing this for Luke, we’re doing this for Luke,” she muttered under her breath, feeling a headache already forming behind her eyes.

.   .   .

She felt transported to the past as they entered Luke’s through the back door, leading into the stock room. It still smelled of tomatoes, dirt, pine; an odd mixture but not unwelcome. The room dark and dank, Ella took Jess’s hand and led him carefully through the random crates and boxes. In his other hand, he held their old duffel, containing both of their only business-appropriate clothes. Apparently, she would be wearing the pencil skirt again much sooner than she had hoped. Jess could already hear Luke ranting before they got to the main room, flashbacks to the consequences of stealing gnomes and baseballs and dry erasers.

Lane passed by the stock room door and caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye. A panic filled her eyes and, immediately, she approached them, a dirty dish bin held in just one hand.

“He’s on the warpath, guys,” she began, retreating into the dim room and glancing over her shoulder anxiously.

“Well, hello to you too, Lane,” Ella smirked.

Lane’s face morphed into a delicate, rushed smile. “Right, sorry, sorry. How’s one of America’s most historical cities?”

Jess shrugged. “Historic.”

“Wow, your vocabulary had really grown since I last saw you,” Lane said, feigning amazement.

A crash sounded, followed by a yell, from out in the main room. The door slammed and Ella couldn’t mistake the sound of a fearful yelp from some customer.

“I think we can continue this love fest later,” Ella suggested, gesturing to the main room.

“Agreed,” Lane said, turning on her heel.

Jess and Ella followed her out of the stock room, finding the counter almost completely empty of customers. The tables were dotted with just a few customers, staring down silently at their plates, faces drawn in fear. Boots trodding heavily on the tiled floor, Luke was making his way back from the door to the kitchen. Caesar was nowhere in sight, and a thin cloud of smoke was billowing through the kitchen window. The front windows were a view of nothing but giant walls of hay. Nothing boded well. Ella glanced at Jess doubtfully, and he only gave a slight shake of his head in response.

“Can I get you guys something?” Lane asked, returning to the space behind the counter.

“No, I think I’d rather not risk it,” Jess said, taking a stool, placing the duffel on the floor next to him.

Ella hopped onto the seat next to him. “Says Mr. I-Live-On-The-Edge.”

“Even I have my limits,” he replied.

“I’m fine, too. Thanks Lane,” Ella told her friend.

A couple steaming plates appeared from the kitchen window, burgers blackened and fries soggy. Lane looked at them suspiciously, but placed them in front of Kirk, who sat on Jess’s other side. Kirk grinned and nodded emphatically.

“The gourmet experiments keep on coming,” he exclaimed, digging in with a fork and knife instead of his hands.

Ella’s brow crinkled. “Kirk, that’s-”

“Don’t,” Lane warned. “It’s...not worth it.”

Perking his head up from his food, Kirk craned his neck to see the two of them. “Oh. You’re back. I’ve missed your pies, Ella. I hope Luke has rhubarb.”

“Kirk, we’re not...moving back here. We’re only gonna be here until tomorrow,” she said, head tilted in confusion.

He narrowed his eyes, then turned to stare closely at Jess, who leaned back against Ella slightly. “You just had to take her to Philadelphia with you.”

Jess was about to respond, before Ella jumped in again, tone vehement.

“Excuse me, Kirk, but I moved to Philadelphia on my own to go to grad school. Jess just happened to be there.”

“The hand of fate, huh?” Kirk asked, unphased. “What a beautiful thing.”

Jess snickered, eyeing Ella to gauge a response. Instead of retaliating, her jaw tensed and she turned her head to the kitchen window.

“Luke, we’re here!”

Raising his eyebrows, Luke reappeared from the kitchen. His sleeves were rolled up messily, his shirt splashed with grease. He didn’t look as though he’d been careful in the kitchen. A black baseball cap sat backwards on his head, the one he’d been wearing since he and Lorelai broke off their engagement. But Ella had heard, through her weekly phone calls with Lane, Lorelai and Christopher had divorced, breaking up once again. The constant romantic whiplash was beginning to make Ella dizzy.

“Oh. Hey, guys. How was the drive?” Luke asked.

“Well, I don’t know about Eleanor, but that huge ball of twine gets more interesting every time I pass it,” Jess deadpanned, arms crossed over his t-shirt, elbows on the counter.

Ella smiled thinly. “Jess is thrilled about the Spring Fling, if you couldn’t tell.”

“Yeah, I might’ve guessed. I mean, who could forget that Jethro Tull incident?” Luke replied.

She was about to respond, but instead Ella buried her nose in her sleeve again and sneezed.

“Bless you,” Jess said.

She sneezed again.

“Bless you,” he repeated, smirking.

A moment more, and she sneezed a third time.

“And one more for good measure,” Jess continued, increasingly smug. “Bless you.”

Luke furrowed his brows at Ella. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“The hay doesn’t agree with Rudolph,” Jess chimed in, smoothing a hand over Ella’s back.

Blinking the wateriness from her eyes again, she shot Jess a look. “Bite me.”

“Just like old times,” Luke grumbled, going over to the register when two meek customers came up to pay.

Catching her breath, Ella got down from the stool again. “I’m gonna go to Doose’s. Try to get something to handle this new reindeer look I’ve got going for me.”

“You want me to go with you?” Jess asked, almost hopefully.

“As much as I would love that, cutie, I think your existence would probably be a catalyst for Taylor’s flashbacks. I’ll be back in like ten minutes. I think you’ll survive.”

“That’s debatable,” he said.

She turned away and sneezed into her elbow yet again, growling under her breath in annoyance.

“Debatable for me and you both,” he added, smirking once more.

Flipping him off, she made her way to the front door, preparing to brave the wall of hay which was about to meet her eye-to-eye.

.   .   .

“Don’t touch!” Ella exclaimed, exchanging a flathead screwdriver for a phillip’s head on the counter next to her.

“Do you see me touching anything?” Jess shot back, rounding the counter to make his way to the dish pit.

She snorted a bitter laugh. “You were getting too close. I think you just coming in this register’s dance space would be enough to break it more.”

“If you make one more Dirty Dancing reference-”

“Need I remind you of the shower head?” she continued, ignoring his complaints.

He sighed heavily.

“Oh, please, remind him of the shower head,” Luke piped up from where he was wiping off the red tables.

“In January, the shower was leaking,” Ella began, straightening up from her spot tinkering with the cash register drawer.

“C’mon, Elle,” Jess moaned from the dish pit.

“Jess, both Luke and I are privy to the swan attack. This is far less humiliating, I promise.”

“Fine,” he said, turning the boiling hot tap back on. Only a few more mugs and he would finally be finished. He was careful to avoid any stray kitchen knives.

“The shower was leaking. I had class, but I said I would fix it when I got home. Because, somehow, Chris, Matthew, and Jess are all completely devoid of home improvement skills,” Ella said. “Jess tried, which was so sweet of him. But then the entire shower head and the faucet ended up coming off the wall. It took me four hours to get them back on.”

“Hence the register dance space,” Luke replied, biting back laughter.

“Exactly.”

“Hey, I fixed that toaster out there!” Jess shouted over the sound of the water.

“And it only took you six years to admit it,” Ella said.

“Shut up,” Jess retorted.

“There’s the charm,” she mocked. She pushed the small gold button, and the register drawer popped out silently. A bright smile crossed her face. “This might be the first time this hasn’t sounded like Janet Leigh since I started working here.”

She wondered in the back of her mind why Luke hadn’t fixed the cash register sooner. It was antique; maybe he thought a screeching drawer just came with the territory. Or, maybe it was because nearly every single repair he had done in the past few years was on either the Gilmore house or the Dragonfly Inn.

“I told you guys you didn’t have to work,” Luke said, rolling his eyes guiltily. He began flipping the chairs up onto the tables, stuffing his damp rag into his apron.

“For the last time, we wanted to!” Jess called from the back, wiping his hands on a stained dish towel as he finished up with the mugs.

“Well, you’ve done enough. I can finish closing. Go see the Spring Fling.” Luke came over and took the screwdrivers from Ella’s hand, putting them back in his toolbox and shutting it with a snap! before she could protest.

“Oh, yes, it’s bound to get wild out there in the hay bale maze,” Ella quipped, going to grab her coat from the rack with Jess following behind.

“You’re tellin’ me. Just go see it. Taylor certainly spent enough on it.” Luke went back to the tables, upturning the chairs rhythmically, as he had for so many nights and so many years, wearing the same thing.

“We’ll be back before midnight,” Ella said, shrugging on her leather jacket and tugging her long hair, half-up, half-down, out from beneath the collar.

“And, now that we’re grown up, we can go get involved with as many ritual cults as we want while we’re out,” Jess added, grabbing Ella’s hand.

“Don’t mention that in the deposition tomorrow,” Luke warned.

“It’s good you said something. Otherwise, I definitely would have mentioned it,” Jess shot back smugly.

As they emerged into the evening, the stars were just beginning to appear, Luke having closed up early at around eight o’clock. Ella looked around, trying to see any other way into the maze besides the opening just in front of Luke’s. She’d thought about popping into her old house, surprising Fiona and Adam after school. But, she’d gotten busy with the dinner shift and could see no physical way to get there in the dim light of the twinkly strings somewhere beyond the maze.

“How the hell do they pay for stuff like this?” Jess asked as they began strolling through the maze.

“Beats me,” Ella replied, shaking her head. “This place makes no economic sense. I stopped guessing a long time ago, my friend.”

He hummed, eyes roaming over the seemingly endless yellow straw. “Tax fraud, you think?”

“I wouldn’t put it past Taylor,” Ella said, smirking.

“Oh, now how could you accuse a sweet old man like that of such a crime?” he asked, feigning shock.

She shrugged, grinning. “Since he conveniently ‘lost’ the money for the bridge renovations and we had to start the whole fundraiser over again.”

“Y’know I was the one who took that money, right?” Jess asked, thinking back to his first two weeks in Stars Hollow.

“No, I meant the first time. I was like eleven,” she explained, feeling a pleasant night time breeze ghost through her hair.

“What?” Jess chirped. “It happened before?”

“Yeah, and Taylor kept saying someone stole it. But I had a sneaking suspicion it was an inside job.”

Breathing deeply, she could smell nothing but the hay. It seemed odd, considering the Spring Fling usually had booths with caramel apples and popcorn and all other sorts of junk. But, she was also just glad she could breathe through her nose again with the help of the allergy medicine she’d picked up at Doose’s, though her eyes were still a bit itchy.

“How very Watergate.”

“I’m telling you,” Ella insisted, only half-joking, “Taylor could be an evil genius for all we know.”

“It would explain a lot,” Jess agreed, nodding. They’d taken many turns, and he figured they must be nearing the end. The carnival in town square was what he remembered as the main event.

“Yes, all the sweater vests would be perfect for establishing a mild-mannered cover,” she continued, speaking with her free hand.

“Well, with that logic, Chris is also an evil mastermind,” Jess pointed out.

Ella pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “I think Chris is probably more of a Jekyll and Hyde situation.”

“I just love how much faith you have in humanity,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to her hair.

She laughed, and was about to retort, when they turned a corner and she almost ran straight into Lorelai. Her stomach did a quick flip, and her hand tightened slightly on Jess’s. But then, her old instincts kicked in, and she plastered a small, polite smile on her lips. On Lorelai’s right side, Rory stood hand-in-hand with some blonde guy.

“Oh, hey!” Lorelai greeted them brightly, looking between them. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Only for today and tomorrow. Just taking care of some stuff, y’know?” Ella said, unsure of whether Lorelai would be aware of the custody battle. Then, she turned to Rory. “What about you guys?”

“Visiting. We just had to come down for the Spring Fling,” Rory explained. She turned to the man at her side, gesturing between him and the two of them. “This is my boyfriend, Logan.”

“Oh, hi,” Ella said, shaking Logan’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure,” he grinned slyly, one dimple on his left cheek. “Strong handshake.”

“That’s what I’m famous for,” she replied. “I’m Ella.” Tilting her head to Jess, she broke hands with Logan. “And that’s Jess.”

“Hey,” Jess said shortly, also shaking Logan’s hand.

Logan’s smile didn’t even falter in the wake of Jess’s tight demeanor. “Nice to meet you, Jess.”

“So, how about this hay bale maze? Gives you Labyrinth vibes, doesn’t it?” Lorelai asked, smiling warmly.

“Yeah. All that’s missing is Bowie,” Ella agreed, nodding.

Intertwining their fingers again, Jess leaned into Ella’s side slightly against the chilly spring breeze.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing him in that costume,” Lorelai continued.

“Agreed,” Rory chimed in.

It occurred to Ella how long it had been since they had seen each other. Rory’s hair was longer and straighter, with side bangs and a redder tone. And her clothes seemed different, as well. Kate Spade and Coach and other brands Ella couldn’t have named. As far as first impressions went, she couldn’t quite figure out Logan. His smirk seemed constant, but not genuine like Jess’s. It wasn’t endearing, as though he were about to laugh at a private joke. Instead, it was almost smarmy. She wondered in the back of her mind what he was trying to sell her. Seeing Lorelai, though, was welcome. Images of movie nights and sleepovers and quiet afternoons reading flashed across her memory. Ella could recognize Lorelai just fine in the memories; Rory was not as easy.

“Not sure it’s worth it for how long we’ve been wandering around, though,” Lorelai added. Ella could see new, blonde-ish highlights in her hair. A pang of guilt hit her; with as much Lorelai had done for her, she should’ve checked in more. Even if she and Luke were still, inexplicably, on the outs.

Jess furrowed his brows. “What? I thought we were near the end.”

“Far from it,” Rory said.

“What about the caramel apple stand and stuff?” Ella asked.

“The budget wouldn’t allow it. Not after Taylor bought all the hay in Connecticut,” Lorelai said, gesturing to the maze around them. “This is it.”

Ella scoffed, shaking her head. “I’ll say it again. Evil mastermind.”

“What?” Logan asked, laughing.

Before she could answer, Ella’s nose began to tickle and she caught another sneeze in the crook of her elbow.

“Gesundheit!” Lorelai exclaimed.

“Well,” Jess began, looking between Ella and the other three, “we should probably start making our way to the other side. Seems like sneezy’s allergy medicine is wearing off.”

“Anyone who starts naming the other six dwarves will be in grave danger,” Ella warned, sniffling and blinking harshly.

They bid each other goodbye and were about to part ways when Rory suddenly spun around and called Ella’s name.

“Yeah?” Ella asked.

“Do you wanna maybe...go to lunch at Weston’s tomorrow? If you’re still gonna be in town,” Rory offered, her voice soft and hopeful. Her blue eyes were large in the moonlight.

Ella blew out a breath, considering it for only a moment. “Sure. Meet you at noon, alright?”

Rory nodded, and was soon whisked away again by Lorelai and Logan. They turned a corner and were masked by the hay.

.   .   .

She had never been to the Hartford courthouse, and it shocked her how much the place smelled like a dentist’s office. Chilly and plasticy and devoid of all human feeling. Painted in white with mahogany accents and bright lights, the building had supposedly been standing since before the Salem witch trials. Or so the plaque on the front of the red brick structure read. The minute hand on her watch ticked on silently, as nine o’clock rolled around. Ella had tried sketching, but couldn’t keep her focus on the portrait of her grandmother surrounded by sunflowers. Jess was halfway through a worn Bukowski volume, scribbling penciled notes in the margins, despite the faded writing already there. Ella’s head rested gently on his shoulder, dozing. Neither of them had slept especially well, nervous over the deposition. And neither of them were willing to take Luke’s bed again, and had squeezed onto the old brown couch. They considered the old twin bed, but decided falling off wasn’t worth it.

Ella was nearly asleep, her sketchbook shut and stuffed into her purse next to her, when she felt Jess shifting beneath her. His form tightened, and his breathing had become labored. Immediately, Ella’s eyes shot open, as she recognized the noise. She turned to find the novel shaking in his hands, his eyes wide and watery as his breathing began to pick up.

“Whoa, Jess, hey,” she began calmly, taking the book from his hands and placing it absently on the bench behind her. She faced him fully and reached out, but then hesitated. “Can I touch you?”

He swallowed dryly, trying to fight the tears blurring his vision. One second, he had been underlining a sentence; the next, his entire being became rigid and his heart was pounding. Not long after, he felt his throat tightening. Harsh shivers rolled through his body. He simply couldn’t control his erratic breathing.

Then, his eyes flitted to her face, the crease between her brows, and he nodded slightly.

“Okay,” she replied. Grabbing his wrist with a gentle hand, she brought his palm to her chest, the fabric of her blouse soft beneath his fingers. “Just breathe with me, cutie. Everything will be fine.”

“Pretty optimistic, Stevens,” he grumbled breathlessly, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

“Desperate times, Mariano. C’mon, just breathe with me,” she said softly, breathing in a long breath through her nose, exhaling out her mouth.

Beneath his hand, he could feel the rise and fall of her chest. Though he felt a little silly, he focused on the earnestness in her face. A few pedestrians passed by them, tossing uncertain glances their way, but Ella paid them absolutely no mind. She only focused on Jess. His cheeks were flushed as he ran his free hand over his mouth, nodding at her again as he finally began to mimic her breaths. Air hitching in his throat, he had to try more than a few times to steady himself.

“Good job, James Dean,” she smiled, watching him eventually begin to relax. His cheeks were glistening in the fluorescent light, and she wiped them dry with her thumb. “You okay? I can find you some water.”

“I’m pretty sure all they have here is burnt coffee,” he said, voice still uneven. The stench of stale coffee permeating the air in the whole building only added to the dentist office vibe.

She gave a breathy chuckle. “Hey, anything’s possible. My powers of persuasion are pretty strong.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, averting his eyes from her. His cheeks burned hotly.

“Hey,” she said, tone serious once again, as she placed a hand on the back of his neck, “are you sure? If you can’t do the deposition, you can just write something down. I’m sure I could just go in.”

“No, I’m fine,” he said, eyes widening emphatically. “Don’t worry, Daria.”

“Impossible,” Ella said, dropping her hand from his neck and intertwining their fingers instead.

Jess cleared his throat. She saw his eyes flicker nervously over to the door of the room Luke had disappeared into over an hour earlier. Jess almost raised a hand to run through his hair, but then stopped as he remembered they were supposed to look professional in front of the lawyers. He felt fidgety and anxious.

“You’ll do fine, cutie,” she told him.

He faced her again, trying to force a confident smirk on his face. But he couldn’t bring himself to. “I know, just...like you said. What if he loses her? Or if-”

“‘You’ll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that,’” she interjected.

He stared at her curiously for a moment before he ventured a guess. “Chuck Palahniuk?”

“Roald Dahl,” she answered.

“Huh,” he chirped indifferently.

Her eyes lingered on his distracted expression, watching his gaze be drawn again to the door to the deposition. He pursed his lips, a wistful, guarded look.

“Jess,” she started warily, her voice a sigh, “did you ever think about seeing someone? I mean, is this only the second time-”

“Can we please not talk about this, Doctor Laura?” he snapped quietly. Not unkindly, simply impatient. Ella hadn’t previously realized just how nervous he was for the deposition, considering how neutrally he’d reacted when she’d first told him about it.

She sighed again through her nose, jaw tensing. But she reminded herself where they were, and who they were. She told herself not to push too hard, not to worry about him getting scared and running off again. But still, a familiar fear threatened to rise in her throat. She swallowed thickly, then gave a slow nod. She pressed a quick kiss to the back of his hand and disentangled their fingers.

“Okay, James Dean,” she said flatly, handing him back his book. “To be continued.”

“Thank you,” he replied, flashing her a weak, half-hearted smile.

She tried to quiet the uneasiness whispering in her mind.

.   .   .

Weston’s looked much the same. The outdoor tables were adorned with vases of gerber daisies, fluttering in the light breeze. Bright sunlight warmed up the afternoon. Rory came back to the table with a tall coffee in one hand and a tea in the other. A tin of pound cake sat in between them on the frilly lace tablecloth, two forks beside it. Back in her plain purple dress and leather jacket, Ella felt more comfortable. And the judge had, thankfully, ruled in favor of Luke. Ella’s heart was alight with joy at just the thought of the verdict.

But an odd sense of deja-vu filled her. After Saturdays swimming in the Stars Hollow Community Pool, she and her father would come to the bakery, sunburnt and exhausted. She would get an apple tart and he would get a slice of chocolate satin pie. Just the two of them while her mother and brothers were at home playing board games. It had been their place, a father and a daughter, before everything fell apart. Her mind wandered to Jake for only a moment, wondering where he was and what he was doing. She wondered if he ever remembered their post-pool bakery visits, sitting outside with towels wrapped around them, damp bathing suits sticking to their bodies.

But then Taylor rode by, in the front seat on a bus of tourists, blasting his words through a megaphone. She snapped out of it. Offering a grateful smile to Rory, she took a sip of her tea. “Really, Rory, you didn’t have to get my tea.”

Rory waved a dismissive hand as she sat down. “It’s fine, Ella. Consider it making up for those last few birthdays when I wasn’t there to force presents on you.”

Ella smirked through a chuckle. “Okay. Thank you.”

“So,” Rory began, leaning in, conspiratory. “Tell me everything.”

“Well,” Ella said, shrugging and glancing over to her left. She forgot that her vision of the lush green square would be obscured by the wall of dry yellow hay. Having dosed up again on allergy medicine, she was glad to soon be leaving. She snickered under her breath, then turned back to Rory. She had a small smile on her pink lips. For a moment, Ella saw her as she had when they were teenagers. Bookish and shy, similar to Jess in a lot of ways. “I’m pretty busy with grad school. My students are all so fucking smart though, so it’s honestly not all that hard getting things to stick with them.”

“Yeah, Lane told me you graduated early,” Rory nodded along, almost jealous.

“Just took a bunch of summer classes and stuff. Luke gave me so much time to study. I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise,” Ella shrugged, spinning the tea mug around as she spoke.

“And how’s living with Jess? Above the publishing company, right? Is it Truncheon? I can’t remember. It seems like so long since Luke told me about it,” Rory said, giggling through her words.

Ella’s smile widened. “Yeah, Truncheon. They sell books and local art. Even some of mine, actually. But we live with Chris and Matthew, Jess’s partners, above the store. They’re...interesting. Matthew can do these crazy, Good Will Hunting math problems in his head. And Chris has, like, forty Red Bulls worth of energy everyday, but he hardly ever drinks caffeine. He just has a natural, endless supply. Kinda reminds me of your mom.”

“Sounds eventful,” Rory chimed in.

“That it is. But...it’s really fun. The city...it’s so lively. Everyday I walk outside and it’s a whole new place,” Ella said, blushing slightly at the sentimental words as she spoke them. But it was true. Returning to Stars Hollow always reminded her how much she enjoyed Philly. “But, what about you? Let’s hear about this Logan character.”

“Oh,” Rory began, looking down at her drink. “He’s good. We’re good. He’s really smart and we have a lot in common. And he’s really well-traveled. We’re great. He’s great.”

Eyes widening marginally, suspiciously, Ella nodded at Rory’s babbling. “So, you’re great, I hear. Alright. He makes you happy?”

“He does,” Rory answered, taking a sip of her coffee. Then, after a moment of pause: “It’s just…”

“What’s up, Ror?” Ella asked softly, furrowing her brows. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Rory finally met her eyes again. “It’s just...I got offered this job at a newspaper in Rhode Island. And it’s solid and steady. My mom thinks I should take it.”

“That’s awesome, Rory! You’re gonna be at the Washington Post before we know it!” Ella exclaimed.

Rory offered her a weak smile. “Yeah, but, I also applied for this big scholarship. Only like five people get it every year. But it could be huge, and Logan thinks I could go for it. But, he also just lost about a million dollars and quit his job at his father’s company.”

“Hm,” Ella hummed, trying to keep her face expressionless as Rory continued. They were nowhere near close enough anymore for Ella to criticize her boyfriend.

“And then, the other day, I found this ring...”

“Oh, fuck,” Ella said, leaning back in her chair.

“Yeah,” Rory sighed. “And I have no idea what to do. I don’t know when he’s gonna ask me, if he’s gonna ask me, if he’s gonna want to follow me to Rhode Island, and...I mean, do you wanna spend the rest of your life with Jess?”

Taken aback by the question, Ella bit the inside of her cheek and paused. “Um...I...I hardly believed in love before I met Jess. Sometimes change doesn’t happen all at once. But...I mean...I would always rather be with him than not with him. If that means I want to spend the rest of my life with him…then, yeah. I do.”

Rory tucked her hair behind both her ears, shrugging. “I guess it’s not the same type of thing. I mean, you’ve been the Catherine to his Heathcliff forever.”

“Nothing’s perfect, though, Ror,” Ella said. She thought back to a few hours earlier in the courthouse, Jess’s stony expression. She could practically see the scowl he was sporting back the diner, where she’d find him after Weston’s to drive back home. “I mean, marrying someone doesn’t solve everything. Living together doesn’t solve everything. Jess and I argue. We fight.”

“Yeah, I think we all remember what it was like when you two worked at the diner together,” Rory scoffed nostalgically.

Ella snorted a laugh. “Believe me, I know. Jess and I don’t love each other because it’s easy. We don’t communicate the best sometimes. He’s not the chattiest, if you remember. And I’m not the most flexible. He turns the heat up in the apartment way too high. And, sometimes, I swear he’s got the worst taste. But we promised each other a long time ago we would always try for each other. That’s all it is. We try for each other.”

“You sound like a Nicholas Sparks novel,” Rory said, giggling once more.

“I do not!” Ella exclaimed, a blush creeping further up her skin.

“Oh, really?” Rory asked doubtfully. “Tell me what you love about him, then. Tell me the little details about the man who melted the icy Ella Stevens.”

Ella snorted again, shaking her head. “It wasn’t some sexist Taming of the Shrew situation. He’s just...he’s my best friend. That’s it.”

“Come on, you have to get back to Philly soon, don’t you? Humor me for the sake of this advice session,” Rory continued.

Rolling her eyes and groaning dramatically, Ella shifted in her seat and sighed. “Fine. For old time’s sake, Rory. He...he’s such a good writer. He writes like nothing I’ve ever read before. It’s thoughtful and deep and...I don’t know. He does that thing where he bites his lip when he’s nervous. And he’s probably the biggest romantic I’ve ever met. I used to think it was absurd, but now it’s just cute. He rubs circles on my back sometimes, for no reason. He just…always likes to be touching. And, as much as that man loves words, it’s the actions. He doesn’t need to say something for me to know...I guess. He’ll show me instead. Does that make sense?”

After a moment of gaping, Rory burst out in laughter. “I knew it was serious. I didn’t know it was a Tennyson poem.”

“Alright, alright, enough,” Ella grumbled in embarrassment. “The point is: do you want to be with Logan for the rest of your life?”

Rory’s face fell slightly, and she could only manage a non-committal shrug.

As the breeze blew past them again, and Ella watched Rory’s expression falter, she felt her stomach fill with nerves. She hadn’t realized it before, quite how committed she was. When she imagined her life, Jess was always there. It wasn’t even a question. She didn’t know exactly when she’d decided he would be a permanent fixture, if he wanted. But apparently she had. And no matter how frustrated she was with his refusal to talk about his panic attacks, or the anxiety which had been following him for, perhaps, years, it didn’t matter. It had been a tough trip for him. She just wanted to get back to him, to make sure he was alright. To see if he was feeling better.