#i will try to not take a whole week to finish the last piece(s)

[hinamie]

trick or treat!

[spotsspeciall]

Factory meetings - LN4

vol. 2

Lando Norris x fem!reader

summary: Lando makes a move to Red Bull for 2024 and you work in the Red Bull factory. You meet him, and he’s a dick. But something inside you, needs him. 

Notes: Shoutout to @f1goat and the “His teammate” series, for the inspiration!!  Fair warning, I'm talking alittle shit about McLaren, but I am a McLaren girly and It’s all lies, I mean nothing by it! I also made up some gibberish about the car, since I don’t know how everything really works haha. This was also longer than I expected, but I can honestly say I'm pretty proud of it.

warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI. smut, unprotected (wrap it before you tap it folks!) p in v, pet names, language.

word count: 7.3k

masterlist

You had been working at the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes for 2 years. After getting your degree in mechanical engineering, you grabbed the first opening in Red Bull. And now you had built your way up to your current position. 

You were sitting on the chair, staring at the little metal pieces in front of you. Trying to figure out the best way to puzzle them together, and make the most out of the car.

Your job was to plan, and build components in the car. And when you gained your current position at the factory, you helped with the success of the RB19. 

Working in the factory, you rarely met the drivers. They were here a lot for the simulator and meetings, but your paths rarely crossed. You didn’t need to have contact with the drivers, so you didn’t. Only seeing them from afar, when the whole factory came together for a meeting.

Monday morning, just over a week since the last race in Abu-dhabi, the RB19 had been a huge success. And you were working hard to finish the last details on the RB20 before the new season, working even harder than you did on the RB19. Trying to make the RB20 even better, as impossible as that sounds. 

You had a goodbye party for Checo on Friday, as he was retiring. And Christian Horner had announced that Lando Norris was taking his seat.

You had never met Lando, only seen him when you watched the races. And from what you had heard about him, he was kind of a dick. 

You and the other women working for Red Bull had formed a strong bond, you and the Red Bull media girl, Sophie, were basically best friends. And since she was on the track every race weekend, she had some encounters with Lando. 

She said he was constantly grumpy. He only cared about racing, and the fact that he hadn’t had a win yet, already being in McLaren for 5 years, it started taking a toll on him. 

He used to be a kind and sweet person. Loving to chat to people, and loving the interaction with his fans. He was just an all around loving guy. But when his fist win never came, and 

The McLaren car never got faster. He turned mean and angry, and stopped caring about anything other than racing. And when Christian gave him a nice offer to fill Checo’s seat, he jumped on it, no hesitation. 

You picked up your tools and started assembling the pieces again, to see if your mind had any ideas. 

You had your normal shitty Monday morning, and you didn’t have time to properly get ready. So you were sitting here in the Red Bull work clothes, your hair was up, but it had fallen out of your bun and was falling in your face, and you kept trying to pull it behind your ears. You didn’t have time for either makeup or to put your contacts in, so it was glasses today. But it wasn’t that bad, everyone saw you like this every Monday (and most other days too)

But what you didn’t know was that Lando was visiting the Factory today. To have a tour of the factory, and meet everyone working there. You didn’t hear the door open as you were staring a whole into the piece you just assembled. But you did hear your name being called. 

You turned around and met the eyes of Christian, but your eyes quickly looked over at the man standing beside him. You hurried to stand up and rip the gloves off your hands. Stretching out your hand to shake his. It seemed like he hesitated for a bit before shaking it, staring into your eyes the whole time. 

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you”

“Lando”

Yeah, he seemed pretty grumpy. 

As you pulled your hand away, Christian started explaining who you were, and what your job was. You didn’t know if Lando was even listening because he was still just staring at you. 

Christian then turned to you and asked you how the work was going. 

“Oh yeah!” You were blocking their view of the piece, so you turned to walk around the table to show them. 

You started explaining what the piece was and what your goal for it was, as you put on a new pair of gloves to show them the piece. 

Putting it back down, Lando looked back at you. A small smile had made its way to his lips. 

“Is that going in my car?”

“Well yeah, it’s going in both cars”

“But, I’ll only drive the car if you’re the one working on it” He was now smirking at you and turned to Christian. “I’m serious” His smirk was gone.

“Don’t worry Lando, I’ll make sure of it” He said with a smile as he patted his shoulder. “We should move on to look at the paint booths” 

As they headed towards the door, Lando turned around before he left. His face was unreadable, and he had a look in his eyes you had never seen. You had never been more confused, and it took you a while to get back into the right headspace for you to finally crack the code.

There were only a few days left before Christmas break, and you hadn’t seen Lando since that first time. 

Today had been a stressful day as you tried to do as much as you could in the little time you had left. You were standing in front of the computer, looking at the readings from a recent test, and there were a few numbers off. The frustration got to you, and you pulled off your glasses, rubbing the bride of your nose. Before you shoved the keyboard away and buried your face in your arms on the desk as you groaned in frustration. 

Lando had one last visit to the simulator before break. And before he left for the day, he decided to see if you were there. He was mesmerized by you when he first saw you. Your hair was falling in your face, and the glasses framed your face perfectly. He noticed that you had no makeup on, but you were absolutely breathtaking. And when you started talking about your work, he saw the passion in your eyes. He felt a small pull in his chest, and felt like his old happy self for just a moment when he looked at you. 

But it quickly disappeared, and he realized his new mission. He needed to have you. 

When he opened the door, he heard a groan as he saw your face land in your arms on the desk. The desk was quite high, and as you were bent over it, your ass was on display for him. 

He had to fight himself to not go right over and touch you. But he still walked over and leaned on the desk beside you.

“Something wrong baby?”

You quickly looked up, shocked that someone was in the room with you, and why were they calling you “baby”?

When you met Lando’s eyes, you rolled your own. You had already made up your mind about him, and you were not surprised he was acting like this. 

You heard a low chuckle coming from him as he saw you rolling your eyes. 

You leaned closer to him, really close. He could feel your breath.

“Don’t call me baby”

You could see he was a little shocked at the closeness, so you smirked to yourself and stretched your hand out to grab your glasses that had landed beside him. 

Leaning back, you put your glasses on. “And if you must know, I didn’t get the result I wanted” 

You pointed to the numbers on the screen. His mouth was slightly open as he still looked a little shocked, but he turned his head to look at the numbers. 

“I don’t know what any of the numbers mean” He turned to look at you.

You laughed before replying “Yeah, I know” 

After closing your front door and throwing yourself on the couch. You pulled up your phone and sent a text to your best friend Sophie. 

“Lando came by the Factory today and called me baby…”

She answered right away.

"BRO!"

“No way!”

“He’s probably trying to get in your pants”

“WHAT?”

“NO HE IS NOT”

“He’s probably just trying to get a reaction out of me”

“Why would he want to get in my pants when he has models drooling over him?”

“Stop it Y/N”

“You are literally drop dead gorgeous.”

“Lando wishes he could get you! But don’t let him use you like that!”

“hahahaha”

“You’re the best Sophie”

“But yeah, he will not be getting anywhere near these sexy pants!”

“YEAHHHH GIRL”

“go piss girl”

“hahaha”

Closing your phone, you laughed to yourself. And when you laid down in bed, and closed your eyes. You couldn’t help when your sleepy brain started thinking about him. 

You looked down. Seeing your naked body, tits jumping at the movement you were making. You saw your hands spread out on the lower abdomen of the man under you. You saw his hands groping your thighs, hips, tits. And when one of his hands traveled up to grab your jaw, you met his eyes. Lando. 

Waking up, you sat up in bed, hand flying to your jaw.

As your breathing calmed down, you realized the dream. Running the images through your head over and over again. And that's when you noticed just how turned on you were. Your panties totally soaked, and you felt hot.

Landing back in bed you groaned.

“Fuck you brain. That was so fucked up”

You rubbed your hands over your face before getting out of bed. Just a few more days of work before break. 

Your brain had sneaked in thoughts about Lando all through the break, much to your dismay. And he always showed up when you were close to an orgasm by your own hand. And one time, his name slipped out in a whisper. But you would try to deny yourself that it ever happened. 

And when it was time to go back to work, you felt like it had been long enough for you to forget everything, just praying you didn’t have to see him for a while.

And you were lucky for once. The end of January was nearing, and you had yet to see him. But you knew it was not long before you would.

The start of February was when the car was launching. And you had worked your ass off to finish the last bits, and the tests and readings were good, great even. 

There would be a reveal of the finished car in the factory, for all employees, before it was going to be a public launch. And you knew reveal day meant Lando. But you would be fine, all of the employees would be there, no way you would have any contact with him. 

And when the day finally arrived you were excited. The RB20 was going to be revealed, a car you helped make, and that was all you could focus on. 

You and Sophie were standing together up at the front of the crowd, looking at the car covered in a protective sheet. Christian got up beside the car and started his speech, and then he reached the moment where he introduced the two drivers for the team. Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, and the new Lando Norris.

As he walked up beside the car, he was dressed in the Red Bull racing suit, and you couldn’t help but admire him in it. It wasn’t wrong to think the man looked good, incredibly good. You knew he was still an asshole, but you did have eyes. 

Max had his speech, and then it was Lando’s turn. It was a good speech, talking about how he was ready for something new, a more competitive car. He then started thanking the people working on the car, and he locked eyes with you, and held it until he was finished speaking. 

Lando and Max then lifted the sheet off the car to reveal it. And the crowd started clapping. You marveled at the car for a minute, feeling proud. But you felt his eyes on you. So you looked back at him, and you saw that stupid smirk on his face, he then had the audacity to give you a wink. You rolled your eyes at him, and when you looked back at him, he had a genuine smile on his face, and a glint in his eyes. And for just a moment, butterflies fluttered in your stomach, before you were interrupted with Christian speaking again.

You were standing in front of the car, looking down at it in admiration. The “party” had been moved to a different room, where food and drinks were served. And when you found a quiet moment, you slipped away to go look at the car. 

You were all alone as you squatted down to get a better look at the car, and the details of it. You couldn’t believe you had a hand in building it. This was Max’s car, with the big, red number 1 on it.

Standing back up, you felt a hand slide its way to your lower back. Shocked, you turned to look at the person beside you. Of course. Lando. 

He had that typical smirk on his face as he spoke to you in a low tone. 

“Hope you did a lot of work on my car too” “I was serious when I said I will only drive it if you have”

You rolled your eyes again, it was something he really brought out of you. 

“I have!” You put on some fake excitement in your tone. “I even put a little extra work into your car” You gave him a suggestive wink.

“Oh, so my car might be a little faster?” He said in a hushed tone, like you were sharing a secret. 

“Yeah” You nodded at him, and pointed to the car in front of you. “This is your car right?”

He narrowed his eyes at you. “No, this is Max’s”

“Oh shit, guess I put it in the wrong car then” You shrugged your shoulders as you couldn’t hold your laughter anymore. 

You turned to walk away, leaving the hold he still had on your lower back. The place where his hand had been was burning hot. And when he saw you taking quick steps to get away, he hurried to follow after you. 

“Baby, that was not nice” He said with a small pout as he finally caught up with you. 

You stopped in your tracks. “I told you to stop calling me that” 

“Oh you look cute when you’re angry” His amusement was clear on his face. 

If you weren’t angry before, you sure were now. You groaned as you started walking away from him again. And before you entered the door to the party, he shouted to you.

“Can’t wait to see you again soon baby!” You could hear the grin on his face. But you just opened the door and walked inside, hoping to not see him for the rest of the night.

Just a week after, you were back at work, looking over some data on the computer, when you heard a knock at the door, and then it opened and closed. 

Turning around, you were met with Christian. “Oh hey Christian!” “Wasn't expecting you to be here!”

He smiled at you, “I am here to ask if you’re free to have a meeting in my office?”

“Right now?”

He looked down at the expensive watch around his wrist. “Yes”

“Um, yeah sure!” “I’m just going to-” You trailed off as you pressed a few buttons on the computer, before turning it off and walking towards Christian. “Shall we?”

Sitting down in the chair opposite his desk, it all started to become a little intimidating. You waited for him to speak as he looked at a few papers, before lifting his head and meeting your eyes. 

“Y/N” “First, I want to formally thank you for your work on the RB19. You made the car what it was. Great work” “And I also want to thank you for the work you’ve put into the RB20. I know it will be even better than the 19” He smiled at you, and you smiled back as you nodded, silently thanking him for his words. 

He continued, “I have been talking with Lando Norris, and after he had a test in the car, and felt how it worked. And after he also saw how you worked on it, he has asked for you to be his no.1 mechanic.” He paused, waiting for your response.

“No.1 mechanic? as in, at every race, in the garage, being the head mechanic on his car?” You were shocked, confused.

“Yes.” He gave you a warm smile. “When he suggested it, I totally agreed.” “It would be a perfect job for you, and with all the work you have put in, the least I can do for you is to give you a chance to be with the car at every race.” “So, do you want the job?”

You didn’t even think about the fact that Lando was the one to suggest the job for you. You just focused on the fact that you could be the no.1 mechanic. 

“Yes” “Yes I do.” A big smile grew on your face.

“Perfect!” Christian clapped his hands together, and picked up the papers he previously looked at. “Take the time you need to read through them before signing” 

Taking the papers in your hands, you read through it. And everything looked perfect. So you signed where you needed to. And handed the papers back to Christian. 

“Thank you so much for this opportunity!” “I can’t wait to get started” You couldn’t stop smiling.

“Good!” “Can’t wait to see you on the track”

He then told you the plan heading forwards. You had plenty of meetings coming up. You needed to know what to expect in the garage. And you had a few meetings with the people working in the garage. And after all of that was finished, you were headed to the pre-season testing in Bahrain. 

Arriving in Bahrain, you felt prepared. And you were even more happy to finally join Sophie at work, as you walked into the garage together. 

Testing had been going pretty great so far, you only needed to do a few tweaks on the car to see if the performance was different. 

On the other end, Lando had been tolerable. He had his usual flirty, teasing persona around you. But now that you worked together in a small garage, he had toned it down a bit, much to your pleasure. 

But when you got a moment alone, he always sneaked up on you and rested his hand on your lower back, called you baby, and did everything to annoy you. Much to your frustration.

You had been single for a few years. And you hadn’t slept with too many people after. But now it had been a really long time since last. Too busy at work to even care, but you were growing more and more pent up and frustrated. And this asshole resting his hand on your lower back was not helping. It was also not helping that he looked drool worthy all the time.

What was helping, was the fact that he was just that, an asshole. But you had no excuse for yourself when you were alone at night, and you just stopped caring. It made you cum fast, and you were happy with that. So you kept thinking about him every time, while whispering his name under your breath. 

It was the fourth race of the season, and you were in Japan. The previous races were good to Lando, who had gotten a podium on each one, but no win yet. But he was good in Japan, he knew this could be the one.

It was early on Thursday, and when Lando walked into the garage, he found you working on the car, alone. 

You were so focused as you lay bent over the nose of the car, trying to screw something that was in a tricky position. When Lando saw the sight of you like that, bent over, legs spread, he felt his dick twitch. 

He quickly turned his head to look around for the sign of any people, seeing no one, he walked up to you, close enough so your feet were almost touching. Looking down at you, he noticed you still didn’t know he was there, so he cleared his throat to get your attention. 

When you heard the sound, it spooked you, and you went to stand up from the compromising position you were in. But you didn’t know someone was standing right behind you. So when you lifted yourself off the car, your ass hit something, someone. You felt a pair of strong hands grab onto your hips to stabilize the both of you, as your back was now flush against his chest. When you looked down at his hands, you saw his watch and bracelets and immediately knew who it was. 

You heard a low groan coming from him, right by your ear. And you felt a bulge grow right where your ass was resting against his crotch. You panicked, and shoved yourself back to knock his balance off so he would get off you. When he did, you turned around to look at him with anger in your eyes.

“What the fuck was that Norris!?”

You didn’t even let him answer before you turned to storm out. Two reasons why. First, you were flustered and could feel your face heat up, and you did not want him to see that. Second, feeling his hands hold your waist, and the bulge grow in his pants, you were already soaked and horny beyond belief, and you did not want to be around him in a state like that. 

Lando stood there, a little shocked, and flustered. He pulled his hoodie down to try and cover up the bulge in his pants, as he headed towards his driver room.

It was time for a car check. And you were picking up the steering wheel to put it in the car. When you turned back around to go over to the car, you saw him.

Lando was standing in his seat, and you watched him lower himself into the seat, holding onto the halo with a tight grip.

You almost dropped the steering wheel in your hand, as your eyes focused on his hands. You had to literally shake your head to get back to the right headspace.

You walked over to the car, and looked down at Lando looking around the cockpit, trying to get in a comfortable position. After he found it, he looked up and his eyes met yours.

His eyes were shining from the lighting on the ceiling. And the feeling that arose was butterflies hidden by anger. Why the fuck was he so breathtaking, but also such a dick. Fuck him. 

You clenched your jaw as you kept eye contact with him. 

“You gonna hand me the steering wheel love?” There was that stupid smirk again.

You narrowed your eyes at him in anger, and handed him the wheel. He clicked it in place, and looked back up at you and told you something he wanted changed on the car. 

Luckily for you, when he started talking about the car, you went straight into work mode. Not a single thought about Lando in your brain. (Only far in the back)

He pointed to show you something that was underneath the steering wheel, right over where his legs rested. And you couldn’t see it. So you stepped farther towards the back of the car, to see it more from his angle. You grabbed a stepping stool that was standing close by, and leaned over the halo. You face resting just beside his. 

“What was it again?” You asked him, surprisingly calm, but the working Y/N was in control right now.

He pointed again, and started explaining it. And you stretched a hand out to point to it as well, making sure you understood each other. 

Lando didn’t expect you to get that close. And when you stretched your hand out and got even closer, he turned to look at you.

You felt his hot breath on the side of your face, and you could tell in your peripheral that he was looking at you. So you turned to look at him. Your faces so close that your noses almost touched. 

But somehow, you kept your cool. “I can fix that for you Lando, you just need to get out of the car.” You smiled innocently at him as you leaned back and stepped away. 

When he stepped out, you got your tools ready and lowered yourself into the seat, needing to sit there to get the best access.

As you worked away, Lando stood by the side of the car, arms folded against his chest. There was something going on in his body that he couldn’t recognise. He was still feeling the effects of what happened with the two of you earlier. But there was something different there as well.

On Sunday, you found yourself standing in front of the mirror in the public bathroom. It was not long before race start. And you were staring at yourself in the mirror.

You were angry, frustrated and way too fucking horny. Last night, you caved, again. Imagining your fingers were his. You used it as a way of getting the anger out, and it worked. 

But your brain was on overdrive and everything was threatening to boil over. Looking at yourself, you took a deep breath and nodded to yourself, heading back out, ready for work, trying to ignore everything and hoping it would be fine. 

You were sitting on the pit wall, as you watched them line back up on the grid after the formation lap. And Lando lined his car up on P1. Max lined up in P4, unlucky in Q3.

The race start was good, the top 5 drivers staying as is. Lando keeping the lead until halfway in the race, Lando boxed to get new tires. And when he moved his way back up the grid again, you heard his voice coming on the radio.

“Something is wrong.”

“The gears are not working properly”

You turned to Lando’s race engineer sitting to your right. You nodded at him, and he nodded back, a silent exchange you both understood. 

He contacted Lando to tell him he was looking into it, and would update him as fast as possible. 

You looked at as much of the data as you could, as fast as you could. And there you found it. Between all the numbers and graphs, there was one thing off. 

You contacted the race engineer on the radio, and pointed to the mark on the screen. He saw it, and you both knew the solution. Luckily an easy one, as he only needed to press a few buttons on the steering wheel to change modes. 

The race engineer nodded at you again, but this time, in a way that signaled you to tell Lando. So you did.

“Lando, mode 6, and give it 3.8”

“Understood”

“Thanks Y/N”

You felt like you could hear a smile on his face, but probably not. Right?

When you looked back at the data, you saw everything was fine. And not long after, Lando radioed back to say it was good, and he was ready to get back to the chase.

And he did just that, climbing his way back up. Lucky for him, Max had pitted not long after Lando, making Lando ahead of Max in the race. 

You were anxious for the last few laps. He had gotten back into P1, and had made a reasonable gap back to the driver behind him. 

The screams you heard on the radio as he crossed the line first, almost made you deaf for a minute. And you had a big smile on your face as you celebrated with the crew on the pit wall, proud of the car you helped in making. 

You had gotten the car back to the garage after watching the podium. You, and two other mechanics were pulling the protective sheet over the car. You tried to keep your mind focused on the task at hand, but the image of Lando getting champagne poured on him was seared into your brain. But when you were done with everything, thanking the mechanics before you stepped back. You heard someone entering the garage. 

In walked Lando, soaked in champagne and still dressed in his racing suit that was hanging around his hips. When he saw you, he actually smiled. And seeing him like that, you couldn’t help the heat settling in your core.

He almost ran over to you and wrapped his arms around your hips. He lifted you with him in a tight hug, your feet far above the ground, you had to grab onto his shoulders for support. 

“There’s my no.1 mechanic!” 

His voice was muffled as his face was resting directly against your boobs. 

And when you squeezed his shoulders in reaction, he looked up at you as he still held you tight. You couldn’t get any words out. But as he looked up at you, he smiled. A genuine, lovely smile. But something else was shining in his eyes, and his pupils dilated. 

He felt you started to slip out of his arms, so he readjusted his grip. He got a firm hold on your ass, and when you felt it, everything boiled over.

“Let. Me. The Fuck. Down.” “Now.”

The mechanics stood there in confusion until they heard that. They shared a look, and hurried to leave the garage. Avoiding you screaming at Lando.

Lando heard the threatening tone in your voice, and he immediately lowered you to the ground. 

When he stood back to look at you, he opened his mouth to say something. But you were quicker.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME NORRIS? YOU CAN’T JUST LIFT ME UP LIKE THAT! AND NOT TO MENTION WHAT HAPPENED THURSDAY MORNING! YOU’RE MAKING ME GO CRAZY!” You basically screamed at him, with your finger pointing at him in anger. But you weren’t finished. 

“You’re the one who wanted me to have this job, and you’re usually rude and mean, but then you’re teasing me and acting all flirty?!” “You’re so fucking confusing!” 

Your brain had exploded at his point. Every feeling that had been pent up for so long, finally boiled over. And since everything hit you, you felt yourself grow wetter and wetter by the second. You let out a heavy breath and lifted your hands to hold onto your head in frustration. 

Lando had just taken it all, with his eyebrows lifted in shock. He was making you go crazy? His mind was running, what did you mean? He didn’t know what to do, what to say. But then he saw the small movement you made, and the look on your face. A smirk making its way to his face as his eyes got even darker. 

While in your frustration, your body just acted for you. And as you were standing there, looking anywhere but at him, your face red and hot, your whole body on fire. Your thighs squeezed together for some desperate neediness for something, anything. 

And when that caught Landos eyes, he took two long steps towards you. His arms wrapping around you, the palms of his hands resting on the top of your ass. 

When he was suddenly in front of you, so close. You dropped your hands in shock, and just stared into his eyes, then his lips. They were slightly parted, and you saw the quick moment his tongue darted out to lick his lips. Before you quickly looked back into his eyes, cursing yourself for the moment of weakness. 

When you locked eyes again, his eyes were dark, looking down at you. Lando had no patience left. He shoved your body hard, into himself. You chests touching, and the grip he had on your ass, where he was holding you tight against him, you felt almost every detail of his already growing bulge through his pants. If you weren’t soaked already, you sure were now. 

You had no control when you let out a small moan at the contact, and that was all Lando wanted, and needed to hear, as he leaned down to capture your lips in an aggressive kiss.

It was like he was hungry, starving for you. And Lando had wanted you since he first saw you, and with the months that had passed, it all came crashing down at the same time.

The kiss was messy, teeth clashing and rough. But you loved it, feeling another moan slip out of your throat.

As you moaned, Lando took the chance and slipped his tongue inside your mouth, your own immediately tangling with his. It was harsh, but so full of passion. His hands were guiding your hips in a way that gave him some much needed friction. And when your hands slid up to grab onto the hair at the back of his neck, he let out a low groan. 

You couldn’t take it anymore, and you pulled on his hair, so you disconnected. Your breathing was heavy as you looked up at him. He was breathing heavy too, and his lips were wet, and slightly red. His pupils blown wide. God, he looked so fucking good, you almost wanted to go back to being angry at him. just because of how hot he was. But you didn’t, he spoke before you could do anything.

“Shit, I need you.” His eyes darted all across your face, looking for any type of reaction. “Please”

He looked so desperate, and he sounded even more desperate. He was begging you. 

Fuck it, you needed this too. “Your driver room” “Now”

He was quick to grab your hand and pull you after him.

When you finally entered his driver room behind him, he turned around and closed the door behind you. And when he turned back around, he took long steps towards you, until your lips met again. 

Neither of you could control the sounds coming from the both of you. His hands were everywhere, grabbing onto what he could. You hands found his hair again, grabbing it, earning a sweet sound from him. 

He walked the both of you backwards until the backs of your legs hit the small couch. He spun the both of you around, he sat down and pulled you to sit on top of him. 

When you sat down, Lando looked down to where your hips met as his grip on your ass moved your hips, grinding yourself onto him. You lifted both of your hands to hold onto the sides of his face, and made him look at you.

When Lando looked at you, you almost took his breath away. Your cheeks were tinted pink, and your lips were open, breathing heavily. Some of your hair had fallen in your face and your eyes were shining as you looked at him, he swore, you were a goddess. His hands slid up to hold on to your waist, and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth in a way to try and control himself. But he lost it the second you whispered.

“Just fuck me already”

His hands immediately found the hem of your Red Bull shirt and pulled it over your head. You understood the signal and stood up from his lap and went to pull your pants off, as he pulled the fireproof shirt over his head. 

You were standing in front of him in only your underwear as you looked at him hurrying to pull his race suit and the fireproofs of his legs. When he finally did, he looked up at you, and you swore you could see his dick twitch in his gray boxers. 

Your confidence grew in you, so you went to take your bra off. When it hit the floor, you could hear him muttering under his heavy breath “Fuck”. Next, you hooked your thumbs in the waistband of your panties and slowly pulled them down. 

It had been awhile since the last time someone saw you naked, but with the reaction Lando was giving you, his eyes looking at you like you were a goddess. It made you feel beautiful, and so powerful. So you stepped forward until you were right in front of him. His eyes kept shifting from your face to your tits. 

You sat down in his lap again, your knees resting beside his hips, and your core just barely touching the outline of his dick in his boxers. When you leaned down to capture his lips again, you lowered your hips until you felt his covered dick resting between your folds. And because of the much needed friction you got. You moaned into his mouth. 

The kiss was much slower and careful than before, frustration replaced by the need to really taste each other. His hands had found a tight hold on your hips, as he tried to guide them to move. 

“Baby, you’re soaked” He said as he looked down at where you were resting above him.

Lifting your hips, you saw that his boxers were absolutely soaked because of you. And you felt your face heat up even more. 

“Fuck, I can’t wait anymore” “You reckon you’re ready to take me?”

He looked up at you, and you felt stunned. Just nodding wildly at him, his smirk grew. He looked down again, and pulled his boxers down enough to free his dick. Springing free, it hit his abdomen. You stared down, bewildered. How was he supposed to fit?

His hands found your hips again, and he guided them to rest right above him. One of his hands wrapped around his dick, and he moved his hands up and down a few times, as he looked up at you. You were staring down at his hand wrapped around himself, and you felt your pussy clench, waiting to finally have him inside of you. 

He moved his dick so the tip was resting against your hole. Looking up at him, he still had that smirk on his face. 

“Think you can handle it?” 

You didn’t reply before you dropped your hips down until he bottomed out inside of you. His pelvis hitting your clit. You both moaned simultaneously. The stretch was a lot, he was big, and you hadn’t had a dick in you for ages. But God it felt so good. 

Lando swore no one had been able to fit around him so perfectly, and when you took all of him, he felt you clench around him, almost holding him in. He felt another moan slip out of him. His mouth was hanging open in awe as he looked at you. Your head was tipped back, eyes squeezed shut in pleasure.

“Shit, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted you” He almost whispered.

He slid a hand up to hold on to the side of your face, tipping it down to make you look at him. And his other hand gave your hip a squeeze. 

“Please move”

You didn’t have to make him beg for you, he just did on his own. Was he really this weak for you?

A smirk grew on your face as you wanted to know just how weak he was. You just grinded your hips slowly, and you watched his face as his eyebrows furrowed in pleasure. You kept your small movements up, but he tried to lift your hips up and down on him. But you were stubborn, and you didn’t budge. 

Your hands grabbed onto his shoulders, as the movement was so good for you. Your clit getting friction everytime you moved back and forth. Your breath coming out in whimpers. 

You closed your eyes again, but opened them when you felt his hand on your face again. The look on his face was pleading. 

“Please baby.” “I need more” His voice was so soft and sweet, and you couldn’t help the smile on your lips. 

“Say it again.”

“Please please please please baby”

His hands were running up and down your torso as his eyes were locked on yours.

You gave in and moved your hips up to slam them back down. And the groan that made its way out of lando could’ve made you cum already.

You couldn’t hold back anymore, as you kept up the rhythm, riding him with your hands gripping his shoulders. His hands slid around to your ass and grabbed a hold as he helped you move up and down on his dick, and his hips moved up to meet yours. 

You knew the door to the driver room was pretty thin, so you bit your bottom lip to try and hold back some of the sounds threatening to escape. Lando noticed, and snaked a hand around to circle his thumb around your clit. He saw it on your face, the effect it had on you. But he also felt it, as you got even tighter around him. You didn’t moan from it, but he sure did. 

You were so focused as you tried to keep quiet, but with the added pleasure it was so difficult, also because of the sounds he was making.

“Come on baby, let me hear you” He said in a low tone, as he was looking up at you.

That broke you. And he got the sounds from you that he desperately needed to hear. 

As you looked down at him, you saw his eyebrows scrunched together as he was staring at himself disappearing inside you, and his mouth was hanging open. You lifted one of your hands and ran it through the wet curls on the top of his head, still soaked in champagne and sweat. 

You grabbed a hold of them and pulled his head back to make him look at you. All of the feelings you had for him came rising to the surface, just as you felt your climax closing in. The feelings of anger and frustration. So with gritted teeth, you spoke.

“Fuck you.”

He enjoyed that.

“You already are sweetheart.”

You gave in and sped up your rhythm. And his thumb moved faster and his grip on your ass tightened. Your hand slid down to cradle his jaw. You ran your thumb across the facial hair growing on his chin, before you pulled him in for a searing kiss before your climax hit like a brick wall. 

You disconnected from the kiss and tipped your head back, eyes screwed shut, as your vision was going white, and you whispered a quiet “Fuck, Lando” as you came. 

Lando felt you tighten around him as you came, and he looked up at you, mesmerized, as he saw your face contourting as you came around him. And he followed right after, coming inside you. 

You felt him filling you up, and his thumb had slowed down, but was still rubbing soft circles helping you come down from your orgasm. After a few seconds of catching your breath, as he did the same, you opened your eyes to look at him again, and he was already looking at you. The ghost of a gorgeous smile on his face. 

His hands rested on your thighs, and his thumb rubbing soft circles again. Neither of you said anything, you just looked at each other.

“You’re going to be the death of me” 

He was whipped.

Notes: I realized this could be made into a series or something. So let me know if you want more!! Thank you for reading<3

[fetusgooseandjuice]

Approval

Pairing(s): Kate Bishop x Fem!Reader

Summary: When the time comes for Kate to finally meet your dad, she is a nervous wreck.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: None? Just a whole lot of fluff! Not proofread.

Authors Note: The beginning of this had been sitting in my drafts collecting dust so I finally decided to make something out of it. I don’t think it’s my best work but I hope you guys like it!

After finishing the last few touch ups to your makeup you made your way out of the bathroom, happy and content with how your outfit looked.

The scent of your body wash still lingered on your skin as you were freshly showered, your hair was styled to perfection, and you were clad in one of your favorite dresses that you know your girlfriend loves just as much.

Tonight was a very special night for you and Kate. The two of you were attending an event, but not just any event.

Kate would finally be meeting your dad for the first time.

She’s met your mom and brother as well as a few cousins on occasion since the two of you have been dating for almost half a year. However, she’s never had the chance to be introduced to your dad.

Between Kate’s avenger duties and your dad’s job, schedules haven’t always lined up.

Your dad had always been a very busy person since you were young with him being the CEO of a well-known company. Him having to leave for a week or two sometimes for business trips wasn’t unusual as his job keeps him on his toes.

So unfortunately he’s not always home, but when given the opportunity to take time off to be with his family, he does.

Like tonight.

Your family was having their annual holiday party and your dad was coming home to attend, so it’s safe to say Kate would be taking this very seriously.

Hence, why when you walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, you were met with a very frustrated looking Kate standing in front of the mirror hanging on the closet door.

She had a frown on her face as she held a tie in each hand, alternating holding one tie up to her collar, then the other.

You watched her from the doorway for a few moments. During that time, she switched back and forth between ties probably about eight times before you noticed her growing more upset, so you decided to step in.

Walking behind her, you placed your hands on her shoulders and gave them a comforting squeeze. She didn’t seem phased by your presence, seemingly still stuck in her head with her current predicament.

“What’s got you looking so upset, hm?” you asked as you gazed at her face through the reflection in the mirror. “You’ve been standing here with a frown on your face since I came out of the bathroom, and who knows how long you’ve been here before that.”

Kate let out a big sigh and met your eyes in the mirror as she gestured to one of the ties, “This one seems like it would be too much,” she held up the other option, “And this one is just plain and simple, but it might be the safer option.”

She stared into the mirror once more, “I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying too hard, but I also don’t want to seem boring.” she said.

Your expression softened as you turned your head to look at her side profile, “Which one do you like with this suit more?”

Kate tilted her head as she contemplated one last time before holding up her final choice, “This one.”

Taking the chosen piece of fabric from her hand, you spun her around to face you and draped the tie around her neck as you began to tie it.

“You don’t think I should go with the other one? What if I just go without it? Or would that make me look too informal?” she rambled, hesitancy evident in her voice.

You looked up to meet her eyes with a comforting smile, “I think you should wear whatever you want to wear.” you said, focusing back on the task at hand. “I also don’t think he’s going to judge you based off of the pattern on your tie, or if you choose not to wear one at all.”

Kate looked at you with masked surprise, but you’ve been with her long enough to be able to see right through her and read her like a book.

“I know you’ve been acting as if meeting him isn’t making you anxious, but I know you.” you said. “If I didn’t know before, I definitely know now since I just witnessed you almost pop a forehead vein over a tie.” you giggled and you heard your girlfriend chuckle too.

“You can relax, Kate, you’re gonna be okay. He’s not a monster.”

Your girlfriend sighed and lightly laughed, “It’s just—”, she started but stopped herself. You gave her a moment to collect her thoughts.

“Getting his approval is really important to me because he’s your dad, you know? He’s really important to you.” she explained and you nodded, letting her know that you were listening.

“So I wanna show him that I’m fit to be dating his daughter and if my outfit will help me make a good first impression, I want to wear a nice one.”

Your heart nearly bursted at her confession and your eyes lifted to meet hers in a loving gaze.

“Oh, Katie,” The pure sincerity on her face was overwhelming enough to make you fall for the tall brunette standing in front of you all over again.

“I love you, so he automatically has no choice but to like you because we both know you don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”

You tightened the accessory around her neck and smoothed down her suit jacket. Your hand came up to caress the side of her face with your thumb, “I’ll be there the whole time. It’ll be okay.”

Kate reached to hold your hand on her cheek in hers and turned to kiss your palm. “Why do you always make everything so much easier?”

“It’s what I do.” you giggled, and she smiled before leaning in to press her lips to yours in a tender kiss.

Neither of you wanted to pull away until you had to, so you finally separated once air became a necessity instead of a suggestion.

Kate rested her forehead against yours and gazed into your eyes, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You smiled softly in return, “Ready to go now?”

She took a deep breath before nodding her head confidently, “Let’s go,”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When you arrived the party was in full swing. It was loud with chattering people and an occasional laugh while they sipped on drinks.

You’d already run into your brother and a few other family members who stopped to give you a hug and say hi, greeting Kate in the process too.

It wasn’t very long before you saw your mom making her way over to you with a contagious smile plastered on her face that you easily returned.

“Y/n, you finally made it!” once she was within arms reach she pulled you into a tight hug. “You look so beautiful, honey.” she said as she kissed the crown of your head.

Hugging her back, you giggled, “Thanks, mom. You look amazing too, and the place looks great.”

“Well thank you, darling. And I see you brought Kate!”

She pulled back to address your girlfriend who held out her hand with a kind smile at the mention of her name.

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Y/l/n.” Kate said.

Your mom glanced down at her outstretched hand and playfully rolled her eyes, “Oh please, Kate, none of that formal stuff you know that come here.”

Kate was pulled into the same tight embrace you’d been pulled into just moments prior, and she happily reciprocated.

You smiled as you watched two of the most important people in your life easily fall into conversation.

But as you scanned the vicinity of the venue you realized there was one person you had yet to see since you got here.

“Hey, mom? Is dad here?” you wondered.

Hearing the question she went to look around for him as well, but there was no need to when you saw the man in question appear behind your mom with a glass in hand.

“Did someone ask for me?” he said with a grin on his face.

Kate broke into a small smile seeing your face light up. The view calming the nerves she was suddenly feeling just a little bit.

“Dad, hey!” you greeted cheerfully.

He held his arms open in invitation and you gladly moved into them to give him a hug. “Hey, sweetheart. How have you been?”

You stepped back to return to your girlfriend’s side. You’d noticed how nervous she became at the presence of your father.

“I’ve missed you, but I’ve been okay and I have someone I’d like you to meet.” you answered and watched his eyes flicker over to the girl beside you. “Dad, this is my girlfriend Kate, and Kate, this is my dad.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mr. Y/l/n. Y/n’s told me so much about you it feels like I already know you.” Kate chuckled and held out her hand for him to shake, but she almost took it back now noticing how clammy it was.

She didn’t want your dad to have to shake her sweaty hand.

You watched as his lips pulled into a tight smile, “Likewise”, he glanced down at her hand, but never made a move to take it. “I’ve heard a lot about you too. ” he said.

Kate was clearly very nervous at this point, judging by the way she dropped her hand and you watched her shakily wipe them on her pants. But she kept a smile on face and tried to keep the conversation flowing.

“I-I hope she’s told you all good things?”

Your dad gave a nod of his head as he eyed her down, “The best.”

Silence fell and as you looked between the two it was almost painful how awkward the atmosphere seemed to be now.

Your dad reached out to brush off the shoulder of her jacket, and deciding to help girlfriend you took her hand and squeezed it, “How about we all—”

“Let me talk to you for a second, Kate.” your dad interrupted you to speak to her.

“Dad—”

“It’s okay, Y/n.” Kate looked at you with a reassuring eyes.

You searched them for hesitancy, but she was determined to get him to like her. Yes, your dad did look a little intimidating, but she wasn’t going to be scared away so easily. You nodded and let go of her hand to watch her follow your dad out of sight.

“I’m sure he just wants to get to know her. You know how parents are, honey.” your mom reassured and you nodded.

She was probably right.

Kate followed your dad through the crowd and shoved her hands in her pockets when she was led outside onto the balcony, sheltering them from the chilly air.

“Listen, Mr. Y/l/n, I know it’s late that I’m just now meeting you after being with Y/n for half a year, but I can assure you I would never hurt her. She means too much to me for me to do that.”

Your dad just blinked at her for a moment before speaking, “Kate, do you know that Y/n’s my only daughter?”

The archer nodded her head and he took that as the go-ahead to continue.

“Her entire life her protection has been mine and my wife’s responsibility, and our responsibility only.

Kate didn’t exactly know where this was going, so she just opted to listen.

“And for the first time in her life we have to hand that responsibility over to someone else.” he said before taking a couple steps closer to the tall brunette.

“I know what kind of work you do and I know what all can happen, so I need to know that I’m able trust you, Kate.”

She should’ve known that this would come up. Her job isn’t usual by any means and she knows there are risks. Of course your dad would be skeptical about you dating someone like her.

“I understand your concerns, Mr. Y/l/n. I can promise you that what happens out in the field stays there, we take precautions to make that happen. And you should know that I’d never let anything happen to your daughter. I just want to make her happy because she makes me so happy that it’s the least I could do for her. I love Y/n, so I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep her safe.”

This was the first time she had seen your dad look at her with any expression that wasn’t a glare since meeting him, and it lifted all the weights off of her shoulders.

He held out his hand with a soft smile, “Welcome to the family, Kate. I look forward to seeing you more often. Love the tie by the way.”

You were standing at the bar, waiting on a drink when Kate finally spotted you again. She made her way over to you and placed her hand on the small of your back gently to not startle you.

Recognizing the touch instantly you turned to face her, “Hey, I got you your favorite.” you said just as the bartender placed the drinks down in front of you.

“Oh thank you, my love.” she looked at you gratefully and took a sip of her drink. It was much needed after the stress of tonight.

“How did it go? Is everything okay? He didn’t threaten you did he?”

Kate chuckled at the ramble of questions before shaking her head, “No, he didn’t threaten me. And it went amazing. Everything is perfectly fine.”

Her words made you smile happily and you leaned in to give her a quick loving kiss, pulling away with a giggle and teasing look when she went to lean in for another.

“Told you it would be.”

~ end ~

[cloudyeventss]

I thought I try my hand at writing a little story about being 141's assistant. I'm not sure where I'm taking this or even if I should continue. Let me knoww but be sweet. This is literally my first attempt at writing anything

Warnings~ cussing, slightly anxious ? Idk

Y/n pov

He's staring right at me. Slouching slightly to his left, strands of blue dyed hair peeking out underneath his hat. He clearly hasn't been sleeping, I can see the dark circles under his eyes. I don't think I’ve seen him blink once. This is too much. Too fucking much I'm starting to fidget with the belt of my purse, shifting back n forth trying to ease my nerves. I'm overwhelmed and overestimated. This bus smells worse than a gas station bathroom, it doesn't help it’s hotter than the damn desert in here, my sweater is starting to itch and the constant sound of the buses bell going off is enough to make my head explode. GOD why did my car have to break down today? sweat is beading my forehead I feel nauseous. GOD DOES THIS MAN EVER BLINK?!? *ding* fuck finally my stop. I've never been more relieved in my life to leave somewhere... stepping outside I feel like I can breathe again not by much though, last night, laying in bed i got a call from my father's friend Laswell telling me to meet her at a Cafe not too far from my home. Usually, I wouldn't be so nervous to see her, being Laswell and my father worked together for the past 10 years. She’s been around quite a few times but this time She spoke about a potential job opportunity as an assistant overseas. I'm not even sure I heard her right, i was a bottle deep into Apothic red wine. Nothing special but drink enough it’ll knock you on your ass. I've been anxious ever since. After finishing my associates degree in mind and body psychology, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue with school. Maybe I just need a break, but I also need a job. I take one final deep breath to attempt to calm my nerves as I wipe my sweaty palms down my jeans. Okay now’s the time to be confident y/n don't freak out .....

There she is sitting with her back against the wall right in between both exits like always. I'd say she's paranoid but with the work she does it's more justifiable. Laswell stands to greet me "Y/n , it's great to see you!" She moves to sit, and I follow. " it's good to see you too Kate, it's been awhile" . Lunch goes by smoothly; it always was easy falling into conversation with her. A red headed waitress with long legs and black trim glasses drops us our check before walking off to tend to her other tables. My eyes follow her as she passes, she's one of those girls who are effortlessly beautiful. Laswell gains my attention again " so your father tells me you are looking for work"

" I am"

"I could use someone I trust"

"Tell me more"

.....

It'd been two weeks since I met with Laswell, and I accepted the job offer. She explained it mainly consist of filing paperwork and doing whatever task ask of me, running errands, and so on. Kate didn't really give me any details of who I'd work for, just that it was four men she trusted with her life and assured me I'd be in good hands. Today's the day I get on a plane and uproot my whole life. I spent every bit of yesterday taking care of last-minute arrangements. I sold my piece of shit Honda to some high school kid . I almost felt bad for taking his money, but I told him of its issues. In a way I'ma miss Johnny. I named my car after a porn star, Johnny Sins. Ha. It still makes me chuckle . My honda wasn't much, but it always got me where I needed to be hints the name. After taking care of my car I went to see my father. He graciously agreed to look after my apartment for me while I was gone. We spent the rest of the evening watching old westerns on TV and saying our goodbyes.

.....

It's only four hours into the flight, and I'm already regretting my decision. I've spent most of the time in the bathroom emptying my stomach while avoiding angry knocks on the door. The taste of bile in my mouth makes me a little less caring about the people outside. Deciding I can't spend the rest of the flight in the bathroom, I pick myself off the floor and do my best to rinse my mouth. Flying has never sat right with me. I like my feet on the ground instead of tempting God. Regardless, I have to tough it out, its not like I can get them to land now. I walk out the restroom, mumbling hushed, apologizes, and take my seat. Just six more hours.. you got this y/n.

[thesightstoshowyou]

🩸BLOODFEST🩸

Week 1

Prompts: Fire. Wound(s). Suburbs. Bondage

Keywords: Acrid. Malignant

Au Courant

(Part 1)

Asa Emory x AFAB Reader

Summary: Meeting your soulmate doesn’t quite go as you’d hoped.

Warnings: Soulmate AU, angst

~ Aeons ago, I answered this ask and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. So, here’s a fic ~

~~

Ding.

The automatic bell above the door chimes as you enter. The grocery store bustles with activity, people fresh from work hurrying to finish their shopping before returning to their sleepy suburbs. It’s barely-controlled chaos.

Retrieving a basket, you check the post-it note list in your pocket. Just a few things.

Aisle 3 first.

You’re slower than the rest as you scan the shelves, eyes unfocusing at random, the different brands of aluminum foil failing to hold your attention. Your mind is elsewhere.

Shelly found her soulmate today.

You knew the moment she walked into the office this morning. The sparkling eyes, the lovesick grin, they way she seemed to float with each step; it’s a look you’ve seen on others before. So, so many others.

Try as you might, you had not been able to avoid her for long. Pairs, as they’re called, could never keep it to themselves for long, seemingly intent on torturing you with their newfound wholeness.

They’d met on the train. She’d been running late and had to take a later line than usual. It was fate, she said. They never would have met otherwise.

Blah, blah, blah. You wanted to puke.

Everyone in your office had found their soulmate, one way or another. Everyone but you. Shelly was the last, the only coworker to whom you could relate. Now, you’re alone in more ways than one.

It would happen, they all told you. One day, your eyes would meet theirs and you would feel it: That spark, that final puzzle piece snapping into place, that pure feeling of absolute plenitude. It’s not something you could comprehend until you felt it, they said.

They’d meant to help, to give you hope, but their words only served to deepen the wounds of isolation. The malignant ache of loneliness festers a little more every year you go without meeting your other half. You’ve almost resigned yourself to a life of solitude.

It has been known to happen. Some unfortunate people go their whole lives without meeting their soulmate. It’s heart wrenching to see them out and about, a single, lonely figure in a sea of Pairs.

Would you be one of them?

Hastily, you shake your head, coming back to yourself and swallowing the acrid tang of self pity creeping up your throat. You slink to the next aisle over. A quick glance at your sticky note prompts you to retrieve a jar of pasta sauce. Bread is next.

You round the corner, eyes on your list. Bread, waffles, maybe you should get some ice cream—

You run headfirst into a solid chest, the impact so jarring you drop your basket. The glass jar of pasta sauce shatters, marinara splattering all over your shoes and the other’s scuffed boots. Strong hands seize your upper arms to keep you from toppling backward.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry—

The words die on your tongue when you meet the dark eyes of the man with whom you collided. His expression is one of cold fury. It chills you to the bone, freezes your soul, invokes a terror so deep in your mind you cannot draw breath. Then….

Click.

Your eyes widen. Fear dissipates instantly, replaced with unequivocal certainty. A spark ignites within you, warms your heart, sends a thrill racing up your spine.

It’s like that final puzzle piece snapping into place. No terror, only perfect completion.

Wholeness.

Now, you understand. Now, you see.

You stare in stunned silence at one another, his now shocked expression mirroring yours. A tremulous exhale spills from your lips. The grip on your arms tightens.

You take him in, as much as you can while keeping your gaze locked with his. He’s tall and broad-shouldered. “Powerful” is the first word that comes to mind. His strong jaw is peppered with stubble, the barest hints of gray flecking it and his brown hair. With your eyes, you trace the thin, white scars littering his face: One through his eyebrow, one through his lips, more slashed across his cheek and the bridge of his nose. His eyes…. His eyes are so dark—black?—and they glitter like beetle’s wings.

You inhale, part your lips to say something, to break the tense silence, but then his expression changes. His brows furrow, his lips press into a thin line. The cold scowl returns.

He releases your arms like you’ve burned him. Stepping away from you, he spins on his heel and quickly strides away. Incredulous, you watch the back of his jean jacket as he retreats, acutely aware of the knowing looks your exchange has garnered.

“Hey! Hey, wait!” you call, slipping a little in pasta sauce as you hurry after him. You pass a disgruntled employee and murmur an apology, you’ll help clean it up, you promise, you just need one moment….

The door chimes again as the man—your soulmate—all but flees to the parking lot. You pursue, half-jogging to catch up

“Stop! Please, why are you—

He turns to face you so fast you barely register what’s happening. A palm returns to your upper arm, another wrapping around your throat as he seizes you, spins, and shoves you up against the nearest vehicle. The noisy thud as your back collides with steel disturbs the muted hustle of post-work suburbia.

You gasp, equal parts shocked and impressed by the show of speed. You’re bewildered by your feelings, heart thudding in your chest, face hot. He just slammed you into a car and you’re blushing for chirst’s sake.

His own expression is pinched, strained. His voice, so pleasantly deep and rough, is terse as he speaks through his teeth, “You do not want to go down this road with me.”

You blink, your frenzied mind racing to process his words. “I…yes, I do. You’re—

“Forget this happened. Forget. It.” You flinch like he cut you, his words stinging like alcohol in a wound. You shake your head.

“…How?” you whisper. Your eyes burn. There’s no way you could ever, ever forget him now, not in any sense of the word. You’re connected on the deepest level, your very souls entwined. How could he say something like this? How could he want this? Does he not feel this bond like you do?

His jaw clenches. He pushes you away, not hard enough to make you fall, but firmly enough to make a point. Keys jingle as he retrieves them from his pocket. They rattle against the truck door—the one he’d pushed you against—until the lock clicks. He doesn’t look back as he slides into the driver’s seat, slams the door. The engine roars to life.

You watch, frozen to the spot, adrenaline and distress thrumming under your skin as the vehicle pulls away. It ambles through the parking lot, makes a left turn onto the street, disappears into traffic.

Your eyes burn.

Slowly, like your arm weighs a ton, you reach up to touch your cheek. It’s wet. You’re crying, you realize.

A new wound opens up, settles into your chest next to the loneliness:

Heartbreak.

[eekshade]

Death

Bucky Barnes x m!reader

Word Count: 3338

Warnings/Info: (Heavy) internalized homophobia, tried to make it sad, sexual comments in reader’s head, I don’t know much about the military much less the military in the 40s, I tried to make it as accurate as possible without putting too much time into it, first part of 3?, discontinued

Part Two

Y/n and Bucky are preparing dinner while in an overall sad attempt to catch up; something the two men haven’t really been able to do in a long time, though there’s not much to talk about other than the war. Bucky is leaning against a nearby wall as y/n chops vegetables into small pieces, preparing them for a shepherd’s pie.

“I should find out where I get stationed in around a week or so, as long as nothing happens of course.” Bucky shares with a sigh, he looks rather strange, he looked sad but it was mixed with something else, something y/n couldn’t put his finger on.

Y/n hums in response before slowly adding, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“What do you mean?” Bucky wears an all too bright smile, anyone older than a day can tell he knows exactly what y/n meant, but he decides to let it go.

“Y’know, like, are you okay?” Y/n momentarily pauses the chopping, and instead turns his whole body toward Bucky.

“Oh,” he looks disappointed that y/n didn’t just wave him off, with a simple never mind. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.” He mumbles a quick but insincere thank you.

Y/n nods softly, and turns back to what he was doing prior, as clear as it is that something is eating him up, y/n knows Bucky. He knows that Bucky (even if he wants to) won’t talk about his emotions in full depth, the only time he could see Bucky talking like that is if he’s moments away from death's door, but maybe even then he still would probably keep some things to himself.

“I just…” He quietly starts, dragging y/n out of his thoughts. He looks over to Bucky confused, Bucky already staring at y/n’s face as the two make eye contact, tears brim Bucky’s eyes, “I just don’t want to think about it right now, if that’s alright.” As quickly as he started, he stopped.

“Of course that’s fine.” Y/n tries to hide the disappointment in his voice, he honoring Bucky’s wish then waves him over and assigns him a few little tasks to try and keep him busy.

The two finish dinner in a comfortable, blue tinted silence. Y/n is setting up the small table in the corner of the kitchen and with one last glass set upon the table he gracefully (and dramatically) bows to show Bucky that he has finished his own tasks. Y/n’s head rises with a bright smile, the smile quickly disappears like a person in a chaotic crowd at the sight of Bucky, he is watching y/n, tears once again present in his eyes.

Y/n doesn’t know what to do, he knows that Bucky would want him to ignore it and move on like nothing happened, but he can’t in good conscience do that. So he slowly moves closer to Bucky, standing in front of him, he takes Bucky’s left hand into his own. Neither of them say or do anything for a few brief seconds, y/n watches as Bucky blinks causing the first tear to roll down his already red cheek, a few more follow suit and Bucky then, without meaning to, let out a pathetic whine. The sound causes y/n to move closer to Bucky, using their connected hands to pull him into a hug; this action is the breaking point for Bucky as he completely breaks down into y/n’s arms, Bucky’s head rests in the crook of y/n’s neck, tears wetting y/n’s skin and shirt.

The hug gets tighter as Bucky’s legs slightly give out, y/n holds him up as a few tears fall down his own face. Y/n can’t help but think about his own pain, his own stupid pain that finds its way to consume him whenever he’s just a little too close to Bucky. He tries to not think about it, as he finds that the more he thinks about it, the more comfortable he gets with the idea. The idea of loving Bucky, caring for him, cherishing him, holding him, kissing him, fucking him. God, he’s so fucked up, his best friend is about to be shipped off to who knows were and all he can think about his is own sick and selfish desires, he should be locked up where no one could find him. The worst part about it all is that he loves to think about it, he loves to daydream about it as he gets ready in the morning, when walks to work in the morning, when he’s working, when he walks home from work, when he eats, when he sleeps. He tries not to, he really does, it's just so hard when God’s most precious creation is always right there with him.

Y/n’s guilt forces him to at least acknowledge the sobbing Bucky in his arms, he runs his fingers through Bucky’s hair muttering soft words of comfort into Bucky’s ear. Bucky’s sobs slow to a stop after a few minutes of this, and he pulls away from y/n, only slightly so the two aren’t hugging anymore, but they’re still close enough for y/n to hear Bucky’s soft pants as he tries to stabilize his breathing.

Bucky has a look of regret when he locks eyes with y/n, this makes y/n feel as though he was being stabbed with a dull blade, but it got caught on something so it couldn’t go all the way through, now it just sits inside him.

“I’m sorry.” Bucky whispered as he looked to his feet and then back up at y/n, “I shouldn’t have dumped that all on you.” Bucky laughed to try and make it sound like a joke but he couldn’t bring himself to add any warmth to it.

“It’s fine Buck.” Y/n offered him a smile, it was more than fine he thought, but decided against actually saying it.

“No, I’m over here crying like a baby, when I should be, god, I don’t know, doing anything else.” He attempts to smile but it doesn’t quite make it all the way there, so it ends up looking more like a wince.

“Buck seriously it’s okay, it’s good to get it out every once in a while.” Y/n unconsciously takes a small step forward. Bucky hums, but y/n can tell he still doesn’t agree.

“So, you still don’t wanna talk about it?” Y/n asks but before Bucky can say anything adds, “I know it’s not really your style, and I respect that, but I think it’ll help.”

Bucky seems to think about it for a second before responding, “I can, if it’ll make you feel better.” Y/n knows he's just trying to deflect, but why not let him have it?

“Yeah, it would make me feel so much better.” Y/n laughs quietly.

Bucky takes a few steps back and leans against a wall, he starts to think for a moment on what to say, and his eyes gloss over once again, this makes him feel vulnerable and weak, he has to keep reminding himself that it’s just y/n but that only seems to make it worse. He crosses his arms as a way to close himself off from y/n, as a way to protect himself against the very possible ridicule that comes with what he's about to say. “I don’t wanna die.” His voice is quiet and trembling, half way through the sentence his voice broke. Y/n moves to take him back into his arms but he rejects the offer, hugging himself tighter.

“I don’t wanna die,” he repeats, slightly more confident than before, but still weak.

“I know Buck, but it’ll be okay. Everything will be f-,” Y/n attempts to comfort him but he cuts him off firmly, “Y/n.”

“Yeah Buck?” The way y/n’s eyes looked so concerned, so glossy, so perfect, it gave Bucky the extra push.

“I don’t want to die, because then I won't be able to come home to you, I won’t be able to cook with you, or rather you cook and I pretend to be helpful,” he laughs, a real heartfelt laugh, “I won’t be able to go on stupid little adventures to nowhere, I won't be able to, hell, cry into your neck like I’ve never had anything bad happen to me before.”

“I won’t have you, and that’s not okay.” He finishes his short, bittersweet rant.

Y/n’s eyes widen and his heart rate speeds up to a concerning amount, it takes him a little bit to process and once he does he’s smiling ear to ear. The smile falters slightly at the sight of Bucky looking at anything but him, tears running down his face.

“Buck…” Y/n softly calls out to him. Seeing how y/n hasn’t hit him or ran out the door yet, he against his better judgment, looks up at y/n.

“Bucky, I’ll be here. You just have to come back.” Y/n whispers.

“I know that y/n,” Bucky looks at him worried, “I don’t think you’re understanding me.”

“Then help me understand James.” Y/n responds exasperated, tears threatening to fall, Bucky flinched slightly at the use of his first name. “I need you to say it.” Y/n’s heart felt like it was going to give out.

“I love you y/n.” Bucky cried out softly, “God, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I love you too.” Bucky doesn’t believe what he's heard, did he really mean it or was he just saying that?

Y/n closes in on him, arms open, this time Bucky accepts the offer. The hug was brief as y/n pulled away to look at Bucky’s face, “Stop apologizing for having emotions, okay?” Bucky nods slightly in return, but the expression on his face seems to be elsewhere, y/n compulsively brings his hands up to Bucky’s face, using his thumbs to wipe away the wet drops still present. Bucky gently grabs y/n’s wrists, which now rest on his jaw, and he uses them to lull y/n in closer to him.

The kiss takes y/n by surprise, he knows he shouldn’t, he knows it’s wrong, but hell it feels too good to stop. It started out slow and sweet, a way to test the waters, but the ever present dread that Bucky will be gone soon makes it hard to keep it that way. Y/n’s hands found their way into Bucky’s hair, teeth clashing together as the salty taste from the dried tears from the pair's lips filled their mouths. Both men seemed to forget their problems as they somehow drew closer together, Bucky’s hands ended up on y/n’s waist under his shirt trailing up and down the soft skin.

The blissful warmth lasted for a few minutes at the very least, before they heard the noise of what seemed to be very drunk men loudly laughing and yelling at each other on the street below. Y/n pulled away from Bucky at the sound looking quite fearful, he calmed fast when he realized that they couldn’t be seen from the windows, Bucky realizing the same thing, walked over to each of the windows in the kitchen and closed the curtains.

Y/n watched as Bucky did so, his mind filling with thoughts of regret and disgust. He felt like he needed to take a shower, like he needed to shred his skin off, like he needed to be thrown into a dumpster. His thoughts were bad enough all on their own, now he had to deal with his actions. He wanted to run away but he had enough sense to not do that to Bucky, it's not his fault, he was just corrupted. On the other hand he told Bucky to not apologize for his emotions, so why should he? He's been dealing with this long enough to know that it's not going to go away, and if Bucky’s fine with it, why not just give in?

Y/n’s internal fight could go on for days, but was cut short when Bucky turned back toward him, Bucky was smiling nervously. “The food is probably cold now.” Bucky laughed as he motioned for y/n to come sit with him. The two stayed together for the rest of the night, letting the thoughts of the outside world completely drift away.

…

Over the next week they found out that Bucky was being stationed with the 107th regiment, on Bucky’s last day the little group, composed of Bucky, Steve, and y/n all went to the World Exposition of Tomorrow (Bucky’s choice). The night was over faster than anyone would have liked, and with that Bucky was gone. It didn’t really help y/n that Steve, otherwise known as y/n’s only current support, somehow found a way to weasel his way into enlistment and was now also going off to fight. Of course y/n also had his responsibilities, he enlisted for the coast guard, he mostly worked in the security operations center, so he never really got deployed.

…

It has been around two maybe two and a half years since Bucky and Steve went off, y/n has sent them both letters every once in a while and vise versa, but not as much as they probably should have. Y/n was able to keep up with them in a way, with Steve’s whole new Captain America thing. Y/n was at work, filling out a file on a recent operation when a young, brunette woman appeared at the side of his desk. It had been a long time since he’d seen her last, and the times he had interacted with her were usually less than a minute or two, so it had taken him a second to figure out who it was.

“Becca?” He asked with a head tilt, “Is everything okay?” Y/n didn’t have to ask, he knew there was only one reason why she’d be here, and based on her sorrowful demeanor, he knew he was right.

“How about we talk in a more private area.” She offered, a sad smile wavered across her lips.

“Yeah, I got somewhere we could go.” Y/n stood and led her towards a storage closet, before they went in he could hear a few of his colleagues whistle behind him, this made Becca look uncomfortable and he wanted to shield her in some way.

He opened the closet door, “After you.” The smile was supposed to be playful but the dread of knowing what comes next stopped it from doing so.

“I’m sorry y/n.” Becca sniffled once the door was closed behind them, “James told me about the two of you before he left, so I thought I should at the very least tell you in person.” Her voice was quiet as she spoke.

“He told you?” Y/n asked, trying to keep the conversation from going away from the point, he isn’t ready.

“Yeah, came to me ‘round three or so days before he left. He didn’t say it was you but a girl has eyes.” She panicked slightly, “Not to say you’re being obvious or anything, I just know my brother.” She sniffles again.

“There’s no easy way to tell you-,”

“Then don’t.” His tone was standoffish and almost cruel, y/n knew this but the tears that were now forming in his eyes seemed to soften it a little.

She sighed, “I get it. I mean I know it’s different but I get it.” Y/n wanted to thank her but he didn’t think he could say anything without whimpering, so he opted for a weak smile.

After a few moments of trying to breathe he finally choked out, “How? Do you know?”

“No, do you want to know what they told us?” She questioned, looking rather angry now, “Killed in combat, like that helps us at all.” She laughed bitterly.

“It just hurts so much. My brother died and they can’t even tell me how or why.”

Y/n opens his arms to her and they both embrace, crying together.

…

It had only been a few days since Becca had come to visit, y/n was sitting at his desk, reading a file for his next assignment when the phone started to loudly ring, already cursed with a headache from how frequently he’d be crying, he groans, his clear disinterest made one of his colleagues to look up and softly laugh at the man’s pain. Y/n gathers up all of his courage before picking up the phone and placing it on his ear.

“Hello, l/n speaking.” He slowly slid down the back of his chair, staring at the ceiling.

“Hi y/n, long time.” The person on the other end stated in a neutral tone.

Y/n’s posture straightened out immediately, “Steve?” He asked excitedly.

“No, this is Constance Bennett.” Steve joked.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry Connie I wasn’t expecting you to call ‘till later.” Y/n was trying to hide the smile that was now eating up his entire face, his coworker was now looking at him rather funny.

“Seriously though man, it’s good to hear from you.” Y/n added on.

“Yeah I know, I’m sorry for not writing more often. Just have had a lot goin’ on.”

“Yeah I’m sure,” y/n laughs, “so…do you always wear the suit or is it a camera only thing?”

“That’s confidential.” Steve says in a deadpan tone, before they both start laughing. It takes them around a minute to calm down, once they do neither talk for a while, stuck in a very uncomfortable silence.

“…”

“…”

Deciding that someone has to take the initiative Steve starts to talk, ”Y/n, do you…know?” It’s sad and it hurts Steve to ask, but he needs it to get out of the way.

“Yeah I do, well I don’t know the details of it, but Becca swung by a few days ago to tell me.” He says slowly, trying to keep his voice leveled.

“That’s good, that’s good you know.” Steve would never say it, but he’s relieved that he didn’t have to be the one to tell him.

“So is that why you called? To tell me?”

“No, well yes, but no.” Steve stuttered out, “God just give me a second.” He was breathing softly into the phone for a few moments, deciding how he should word this.

“I need your help y/n.” He finally stated.

“Alright with what?”

“This is going to be a lot to ask, so I understand if you can’t or don’t want to.” Steve says trying everything he can to make this sound reasonable.

“Okay? Just tell me, I won’t hang up, I swear it.” Y/n softly pries.

“Come with me.”

“What?”

“Put in for a transfer. It’ll go through, I’ll make sure it does. I’m almost done with my current mission, but with Buck,” he stops for a moment, “with Buck gone, I don’t think I can do this.” Even though y/n couldn’t see him, he knew Steve was crying.

“I’m sorry for springing this on you out of nowhere, I just didn’t know where else to go. You’re all I have.” Steve’s voice cracks slightly.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Y/n responds with a concerning lack of hesitation.

“Really?”

“Of course Steve, I got you, you know that right?”

“Thank you.” His voice is soft, but y/n can feel the warmth off of it, even an ocean away.

“Anytime.”

The smile that crosses y/n’s face is bittersweet, he knows why he really agreed. While yes, a part of it was for his close friend, in all reality he truly was just ready to see Bucky again.

| MARVEL MASTERLIST |

[bvannn]

Weekly Update March 21, 2025

I feel like sludge. I think my medicine hasn’t kicked in yet. I’m doing what I can.

Music: I’ve been on a small music kick the past couple days. I started and finished 2 small pieces that I’ll release at some point. And I’m taking another stab at an old draft from like, early 2023? To be the last in my batch of instrumentals without another place. I went through my folder of finished/unreleased music, I have a lot more than I thought. I’ll try to get that big batch out in the coming week, no promises. I also have a sizable backlog of vocaloid stuff too. OEB is done save for art and licensing, S’s lullaby is done tuning save for pitchbends and dynamics, and I need to record the guitar for that. BGCS is done except for recording some acoustic guitar as well, I’ll try to do that tomorrow if my mood improves. Which it should, I’m hoping my medicine will have kicked in by then. I have plans for how to do a nice little video for BGCS, S’s lullaby will probably be a simple loop like I was doing before Scribble Brain, I don’t know what I’m gonna do for OEB. I’d like to throw together a smaller animation loop just to get the damn song out and then maybe revisit that scrapped video later if I’m confident.

Comic: I didn’t do a whole lot this week, sketched out about half of page 22. Once I get some of that music out I’ll feel a whole lot better I bet, and I’ll probably celebrate by getting a bunch of comic stuff done too.

Animation: oh that’s right, I technically did animation stuff this week. At the very start of the week I storyboarded out about half of a TRG animated. Once my mood improves I’ll try to finish up the other half and take a stab at lipsynch. I’m trying a lot harder with the storyboards, like they aren’t on model or whatever but they actually have more timing stuff outlined, so the movements should be less jarring than they were in the scrapped one.

Epithet: got distracted with other stuff again. Sorry guys!

Next week: I wanna just spit out all the music I’ve been holding on to so bad, I’m gonna crunch myself tomorrow to finish sketching page 22 of the comic and finish up that last song. It’s like 2/3 done already. If I have time tomorrow I’ll also try to record the last stuff I need for S’s lullaby and BGCS. If I’m ambitious I might also try to throw together a simple video for BGCS, too, probably just a couple loops. Whatever else happens next week is a bonus.

[lavender-long-stories]

Writers ask, Pic a fic

1,6, 18,26

Wow, these questions are really thought-provoking. Thank you for the ask.

I tend to write all of my work in the same way, so I am going to answer these generally.

1. Start to finish, how long did it take to plan and write? Did you take breaks during the process?

This answer would have been different a few years ago (Lavender Clouds took 4 years to write and had several large gaps in uploads), but now I'm pretty consistent.

I do not plan a whole story before I start posting with it, but I do write a few chapters to make sure that it feels like it can continue to carry itself. For some stories, I vaguely know where I want them to go and how they will end, but for most, I am going on vibes alone.

It's hard to tell how long it would take me to write one story from start to finish because I am never working on just one story. But, I think, looking at my history over the last two years, I would say you could assume that it took more or less as many weeks to write in full as the story has chapters because the multi-stories set up paces me.

I like to take my breaks by working on other stories. I tend to average about 8-12 chapters a week but that is usually spread across 5-7 stories.

I have a habit of writing 10 chapters for one story and then not touching it for 2 months. Which is why I only release one chapter a week even when I am way way ahead of that.

6. How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use?

For all my stories, I write 3rd person, past tense. I do that because my brain does not understand any other.

For POV, I tend to switch freely between the main couple and whoever else is relevant to the story to give you a piece of information that the main couple may not know. I usually use the POV of whoever has the most incite to the situation or who will be more impacted by it.

For example, if you have a breakup scene, depending on the context, the person being broken up being blindsided is the focus, or the person breaking up with them and the reason would be the focus. Depends on which you are trying to highlight.

For most scenes, either POV would do. One might just have a cuter thought process about the situation that I would enjoy writing more.

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

My whole writing process for every story is: - Write whole chapter - Do one read through edit - Put in to posting pile - After the story has been completely posted for like 6 months, go back and do more thorough editing

I do not like sitting in the same scenes for too long. I want to move on.

Occasionally, because I write a few chapters ahead of my posting schedule, I will notice something that I want to change about the story and will go back and move some details around, but that is rare. Only happens every few stories.

26. Share your favorite detail

I love details that are just kind of 'useless fluff.' I like to add little things like a seemingly unnecessary to plot conversation or an outing to the serves nothing more than just to be cute.

Domestic things like being upset about laundry, sweet moments, and being comfortable in bed.

Not everything is relevant. Not every scene is important to the plot.

I think it makes my world feel more lived in, but I know it can drive some people mad.

Chekhov would shoot me.

This is for this fic writer ask

✿ 𝙰����𝟹 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚔 ✿

[eemamminy-art]

for the artist ask game:

3. your favorite piece(s)? 13. talk about a wip you like!

3. your favorite piece(s)?

This is tough, because I find that my favorites change all the time because I'm constantly improving! I think the ones I really like best currently are:

This all saint's day-themed estimeric piece, which was inspired by a really intimate and personal experience I had. Fandom has made it harder to enjoy this ship more recently but they are so special to me, I wanted to project a special moment from my life onto them. I also posted it on a really meaningful date for me, so it's like.. extra personal and special in that way 💕

This fordolyse beach artwork, because I feel like it's held up to my own personal scrutiny very well even though I drew it last August, and I just really love looking at it. I love the beach, and I find joy in drawing a simple beach and sky from my head. I love their body types. I think the composition works well even though it's super simple!

The little autumn-themed sketch page I did of my stardew guys, because it felt like such a labor of love to be working on it genuinely for two whole months and to not give up on it until it was perfect. I redrew some parts of it over and over and over, I wasn't sure I'd ever finish it. It was a real exercise in my ongoing attempts to stylize my art in a satisfying way while still keeping it feeling solid and proportionate yet interesting.

13. talk about a wip you like!

Well, this one I'd say I half like it, and I need to figure out what I'm doing with it… but I'm doing some like then vs now pieces with my stardew guys and while the lines are "done" on the past portion, I far and away prefer how sketchy the future part looks.

When I compare the finished lines to the sketch on the first half, I feel like it lost so much personality and I'm trying desperately to find a happy balance between cleaning up my sketches in a concise and balanced way while still keeping the energy and feeling of the sketch. I hate to feel like I wasted my time but I might end up just redrawing it, it feels so stiff to me 😭 I know this is a lot of complaining when it's supposed to be something I like, but!! I'm finding myself putting a lot more thought and going much more slowly with my personal art (working on it a little at a time over weeks instead of doing one or two several hour long sittings so as to not spend too much time on something "just" for me) which I think is helping me be more mindful of where I want to take my art, and also making the finished work more satisfying (since it's ultimately stuff I'm making for me anyway) :3

I think this wip probably has a long way to go and it might look totally different when it's done, but I find myself thinking about it and coming back to it the most! Like sometimes I just open it up on my second screen while I'm gaming and I just glance at it and try to figure out what's missing, or what can be changed. Or I just go ehehe at the smiles in the future portion of the set 🥰

[maybeimamuppet]

picking teams- chapter 14: cady

hello everyone!! boo surprise sunday post!! because!! TODAY IS MY THIRD WRITING BIRTHDAY WOOOOOO!

today three years ago i posted my first ever oneshot (i think technically it was on the 4 bc it was late at night but the intention was to be today so i’m sticking with the 3). i can honestly say i was expecting NOBODY to read anything of mine and that this would be something i did for maybe a few months and then dropped like all my other hobbies.

and here we are three years later! so i’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s supported me through this little journey over the last three years. i feel like i really have a community and a little family here. i appreciate every single pair of eyeballs that has ever laid eyes on a fic of mine, whether you comment and i get to know who you are or you’re just a lurker. whether you’re new or you’ve been here the whole time. thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here for and with me <3

anyhoo! mushy stuff over for now lol please enjoy this chapter :)

tw for

broken bones

and as always if i missed something please let me know so i can add it in!

——————

Cady goes back to school that Wednesday.

Her parents let her have one more day off to recover and finish the homework she had been putting off. Cady's still not feeling 100% after her episode, as Janis put it, but she can't afford to miss any more school. Or cheer practice. She's gotten more than a few threatening texts from Regina.

She runs into Janis briefly going into homeroom, since it's in the same classroom as Janis' first period. She smiles, mostly at the ground, and Janis surreptitiously brushes her hand against Cady's and gently links their fingers together before walking off like nothing happened.

Cady blushes furiously and heads to her seat. She hunches in on herself to scribble something on a piece of notebook paper she rips off and folds up. She's so focused on making sure nobody sees what she's writing that she almost misses Ms. Norbury trying to take attendance.

"Cady. Caaaady. Heron. Hello."

"Wh- oh, uh, here," she stutters. Ms. Norbury arches an eyebrow and ticks her off on her computer. Cady trills her lips and tucks the paper into her pocket.

"Glad to have you back, Cady," she says once the bell rings.

"Thanks! Uh, see you this afternoon!" Cady says, rushing out the door. They already don't have much time to get from class to class, and she has a stop to make this time.

She tries to act like she's just leaning casually against the wall and she doesn't have to be across the building in two minutes. Once she looks around to double check nobody is watching, she carefully slips the note between the slats in Janis' locker and rushes off to her class.

Hopefully she gets it.

—-

Cady looks up from her phone in fright when she hears a murmured, "Hey, sweet thing."

Janis is peeking around the corner of the bleachers, lunch in hand and a confused look on her face. Cady spotted this during a rainy-day indoor practice last week. The bleachers are completely solid, so nobody can see in. "Did anyone follow you? See you?"

"Nobody important," Janis shrugs as she puts her food down. "Whatcha doing?"

Cady sighs in relief upon hearing confirmation that nobody will see them together. She leans in for a kiss and gets a sweet little peck. "I want to have lunch with you! It's like our own little place!"

"That it is," Janis agrees with a chuckle. "How's your day been?"

"Good! I got a hundred on my math test," Cady says happily.

"Of course you did," Janis laughs. "What'd you tell Regina?"

"About what?"

"Where you are," Janis says as she takes a bite of her... probably turkey sandwich. Cady's eyes widen. Shit.

"I... didn't tell her anything," she says quietly.

Janis quirks an eyebrow. "Better come up with something quick."

"Why?"

"She's gonna grill you like a war interrogator," Janis snorts.

Shit. She's right. "Uh... um..."

"Just tell her you skipped lunch," Janis shrugs.

"Skipped it?" Cady asks.

Janis shrugs again. "I dunno. That'd probably work."

"I'll think of something," Cady hums, pursing her lips and taking an exasperated bite out of her celery stick. Janis smiles at her like she's some cute little animal.

"So... any particular reason you're slipping notes into my locker and sneaking around with me behind the bleachers?" Janis says with a smirk as she scoots a little closer to Cady.

Cady groans as she's suddenly reminded why she had done this. "I have to go to Regina's after school. We're having a costume fitting for the holiday parade."

Janis looks at her oddly. "You're in the parade?"

Cady nods eagerly. "Mmhmm! I get to be an acro elf!"

"A what?" Janis giggles.

"I get to dress as an elf and do tumbling and acrobatic stuff next to Santa's float!"

"Oh," Janis says. "Stevie loves that one. I didn't know it was us."

"They choose the best cheer team in the region to do it. Apparently this is the first time in, like, ten years that it's been North Shore," Cady explains.

Janis snorts. "That makes more sense."

"I'm really excited. But I have to spend a lot of time with the Plastics, I won't have as much time free after school," Cady says apologetically.

Janis shrugs. "It's just a parade. Once it's done your schedule will calm down a bit and we can spend more time together again. Not like we're breaking up."

Cady giggles. "I still have my knight in shining armor to come save me from the Plastics if I beckon her."

"Damn right you do," Janis smirks, leaning in for a kiss.

Cady happily leans in too, smiling to herself as their lips touch. She's suddenly very glad she totally ate it at their last practice and spied this hideout behind the bleachers from the ground.

"Might need to save you already," Janis hums as they pull apart, looking Cady up and down with a small grimace.

Cady sheepishly looks down at her bright pink crop top she'd decided to wear today. She tugs at her collar, suddenly self-conscious. "You don't like it?"

"No, no, you look cute," Janis says. Something in her tone tells Cady it's a half-truth at best. Oh well.

“Thanks," she says. Janis takes another bite of her sandwich and sprawls on the hard floor of the gym with her head on Cady's lap.

"Oh, get this- my math class this morning," she says. Cady tunes out almost immediately, stroking some stray hairs away from Janis' forehead and just watching her mouth move. It's probably nothing important. God, she's gorgeous.

What is she going to tell Regina?

I got sick- ew, no.

I had to talk to a teacher- too easy to mess up if she comes from the wrong direction. They'd get suspicious too easily.

I- oh, fuck it, I'll think of something.

She continues munching on her lunch and half-listening to Janis speak. Janis doesn't seem to notice or care one way or the other. Cady smiles and pulls out her phone to check her messages. She thinks of something then.

"And then-"

"Have you... told anyone about us?"

Janis pauses mid-sentence. "No."

"Not even Damian?" Cady asks shyly.

Janis shakes her head. "I kinda still don't believe it myself. I wanted to keep it to myself for a while."

"You don't wanna tell people?" Cady asks with a frown.

"No! No, I do. Some people," Janis says. "I just wanted it to stay between us for a little bit. And I figured I should check with you before I told anyone. But I'd be fine telling a few people now."

"Oh," Cady says.

"Do you want to?" Janis asks, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face. Cady thinks for a moment before she nods.

"We should probably tell Damian, at least. He'll find out sooner or later anyway."

Janis sighs. "True."

"You don't want to?"

"No, I'm just preparing myself," Janis says, looking at Cady out of the corner of her eye with a small grin. "Might as well get it over with, I guess. C'mere."

Cady frowns in confusion and scoots closer. Janis pulls out her phone, opens the camera, and leans in. Cady catches on and gently rests a hand on Janis' cheek, smiling into a sweet kiss. She can feel Janis smiling too as she hears the camera shutter snap and they break apart. Janis sneaks a quick peck to Cady's nose, making her blink in shock and giggle quietly.

Janis opens her text conversation with Damian and types out a message. Cady hugs her arm and leans in over her shoulder to read it.

snarkisian: hey babe

cupboard: whaaaaaat do you want

snarkisian: Sent a photo: things have developed

Janis' phone starts ringing almost immediately. Janis frowns at it as Damian's contact photo fills the screen and it buzzes in her hand, but she hits the green button and the speaker so they can both hear.

As soon as she does, a piercing shriek rings out from the speakers. It's loud enough that Cady practically feels her brain dislodge and start rattling around in her head. She thinks she might've heard him all the way from the cafeteria, too.

As soon as that happens, he hangs up. Janis and Cady both blink at the screen for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"I don't know what I was expecting," Janis sighs affectionately as she slips her phone back into her pocket. Cady feels her own buzz against her leg and pulls it out to see several incoming texts from Damian that mainly consist of ABSKEOWIWHWJWJABDHWOWOA.

She clocks the time, then, and jumps. "Oh, shit!"

Janis startles. "What?"

"I have to go, lunch is almost over," Cady says, frantically packing up her things. "Bye babe. See you later."

Janis blinks in surprise, but returns the quick kiss Cady gives her before Cady goes rushing off. She has to find Regina before the bell rings. Not that Regina has ever felt much urge to listen to the bell.

She tries to think of an excuse as she hurries through the halls towards the cafeteria. Nothing really comes to her. She skids to a halt next to some sort of booth when she sees Regina and Aaron standing close to it.

"Hey!" she greets brightly after smoothing down her hair and adjusting her shirt. They both look at her. Aaron quirks his head when he sees what she's wearing, but he gets a faint smile.

Regina checks her nails and says, "Hey. Where have you been?"

"Oh, um..." Cady says. Shit. She wracks her brain trying to think of something. What did Janis say? "I skipped lunch."

Regina cocks an eyebrow. "Why?"

Cady smiles as she puts the pieces together. "I'm... trying to lose weight. So I look more like you guys. I just had one of these diet bars."

"Diet bars?" Regina questions. "Let me see."

Cady happily hands over the whole box of Kälteens. Regina holds it between her hands to try to read. Aaron peeks over her shoulder to try to see too.

"It's all in Norwegian or something," Regina says, looking at Cady in confusion.

"Swedish," Cady corrects before she can stop herself. "There's... um... this ingredient in them that you can't get here yet. My mom used to use them to lose weight in Kenya."

"Hm," Regina nods. "Can I keep these?"

"Sure!" Cady says brightly. She has a feeling Regina would've kept them even if she said no. Works for me.

"Now, are you getting me my candy cane?" Regina hums. Cady frowns in confusion before she realizes she's talking to Aaron.

"What happened to losing weight, those things are pure sugar," Aaron chuckles. Regina brushes his hair off his forehead and runs her fingers through it so it stays out of his face.

"But it's such a nice thing to do for your girlfriend," she pouts. "And stop pulling your hair down, you look so hot with it pushed back. Don't you think so, Cady?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, way hotter," Cady says. Two months ago that would've made Cady want to go for the jugular. Now? She couldn't care less.

Aaron sighs and begrudgingly leaves his hair the way Regina sort of styled it. "Alright, move over, since you so desperately need this candy cane."

He leans over the booth selling them to fill out one of the paper slips that'll eventually get tied to a candy cane and passed out in class. Cady giggles into her hand when she realizes Damian is the one in the budget Santa Claus costume behind the booth.

"Cady, remember, student parking lot after school," Regina says as she laces her pink-taloned fingers through Aaron's and leads him off to... wherever they're going. Most definitely not class.

"Got it! Bye," she says. She can feel her face relax as soon as they're turned around and can't see her anymore. Cady goes to the booth and leans across it. "Hi Dame."

"Ho ho ho, happy holidays! Would you like a candy cane?" 'Santa' replies. Cady laughs again.

"Hey, does Regina ever send any of these things?" she asks.

"Nah, she only gets them," Damian replies in his normal voice. "You want any?"

"One please," Cady replies, taking a pen with a smirk on her face.

—————

Cady sighs a little to herself as she follows Regina and the others into her house. Gretchen and Karen chat with Regina's mom. Regina huffs and rolls her eyes, straight off to her bedroom. Cady says a quick and polite hello and takes a handful of the offered snacks. She nibbles on the sunflower seeds while she mulls over what to do next.

Regina took the bars. As long as nobody recognizes them, she should be in the clear there. How can she make them work faster? Kälteens do work quickly, but Cady wants results as soon as possible. For Janis.

What makes you gain weight quickly? Cholesterol, but Cady doesn't want to do anything permanent. This is just to teach Regina a lesson, then she can lose the weight again. Sugar? Yeah. Carbs.

Cady smiles to herself as she puts a plan in place.

"Alright, you girls go find Regina. You'll do great," Mrs. George says after however long. Cady jumps when she remembers where she is.

"Thank you, Mrs. George," she calls as she goes running after Gretchen and Karen up to Regina's room.

"You're welcome!" the woman calls after them.

Regina tosses a hanger at her as soon as Cady walks into the room. "Here. I know, the costumes are fugly."

"I think they're kinda cute," Cady says, holding the outfit out so she can see it all.

"The hat has fucking jingle bells on the top, Cady," Regina huffs, handing Cady hers. She shakes it a little bit, and sure enough, there's a quiet jingling. "Go make sure it fits, but we really just need to work on making sure the hat doesn't hit the ground or fall off while you tumble."

"Okay," Cady says. Gretchen and Karen just changed in front of each other, but Cady sneaks off to the en-suite and locks the door behind her. She looks at herself in the mirror and takes a deep breath.

Janis was right, I do look Plastic, she thinks. Cute, though. Her loss.

She carefully takes off her clothes and tugs on the red-and-white striped tights. She has to jump to get the super stretchy material all the way up, but she manages with only one faceplant. Then comes the green dress, with gold buttons down the bodice, short sleeves with puffed shoulders, a belt at her waist, and red and gold trim around the hem with a collar to match.

It's not a great fit. Hesitantly, she unlocks the door and steps back into Regina's room with an, "Um."

Regina looks at her and laughs. "I kinda thought that would happen, these costumes are all huge. I swear they think we're all fat cows or something. My mom will tailor it for you."

Cady looks down at the very strangely fitting dress. There's a lot of space in between her belly and the dress, and not a lot in between it and her boobs. The skirt hits about mid-thigh, which is entirely too long, if Gretchen and Karen's are anything to go by. The sleeves are both uncomfortably tight in her armpits and loose everywhere else.

Other than that, it's great. At least the tights fit.

"Go change again, she'll get your measurements before you leave."

Cady nods and slips gratefully back into the restroom. She snaps a quick picture before she changes and sends it to Janis.

She's stuck with the dress over her head when she hears her phone go off, presumably with Janis' answer. She wriggles more in a ditch attempt to free herself, which gets her nowhere even faster.

Eventually, she escapes, heaving for breath and her hair all frizzy. She peels off the tights and puts on her non-elf clothes. Regina takes the hanger as she passes her on her way into her bathroom while Cady is occupied checking her phone.

jayjay: cutie

cadygirl: You like it?

jayjay: ofc i do

jayjay: my dorky little elf

cadygirl: Hey!

jayjay: do u get ears and shit

cadygirl: Yeah

cadygirl: Regina's really mad about it

jayjay: holy shit that's amazing

jayjay: reginald in elf ears

cadygirl: I don't get it I think they're cute

jayjay: i think ur cute

"Who are you texting?" Karen asks. Cady leaps a solid foot in the air as she materializes over her shoulder. "Not enough emojis."

"Um..." Cady stutters. Her immediate instinct was to blush and press her phone to her chest so they can't see. Now Gretchen and Karen are both looking at her suspiciously. "Uh... my... g- boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!" Gretchen squeals sharply. "You can't get a boyfriend without telling us!"

"I can't?"

"Not without your best friends' approval! You wouldn't buy a skirt without asking your friends if it looks good on you," Gretchen hums.

"I wouldn't?" Cady replies in confusion.

"Exactly!"

Cady just blinks.

"So who is it?" Karen asks eagerly.

"Oh, you don't know him," Cady says immediately. Because it's not a him. It's not technically a lie. Right?

"He's not, like, thirty, right?" Gretchen asks in concern, the furrow in her brow deepening the longer Cady goes without answering.

"No! No, ew," Cady replies with a grimace. "Uh... he... goes to another school."

"Which one?"

"Um... do you remember that school we played right before Thanksgiving break? The away game when we stayed at the hotel?"

"Roosevelt?" Gretchen asks. Sure.

"Yeah. He goes there," Cady replies. "His name is... Jasin. With... an I."

"Ooh, unique!" Gretchen coos. "Is he cute? You have to introduce us soon!"

"Well, I don't think he's... everyone's type, but I think he's cute," Cady replies sheepishly.

"Aww, you're blushing!" Karen says. Cady blushes harder.

"Shut up," she scoffs. Karen's face falls. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that-"

"It's okay," Karen says quietly.

"I'm really sorry, Kare," Cady says. Karen gives her a look Cady can't read. Not that Karen is ever easy to read.

"Don't worry about it."

Cady gently squeezes her arm. Karen smiles faintly at her.

"Do you have pictures of him?" Gretchen asks eagerly.

"No," Cady says immediately. "Uh... he's really shy, we don't, like, send pictures of ourselves much. We just like to see each other in person and text and stuff."

"Aww," they both coo. Gretchen continues, "Well, get one soon! We gotta make sure he's hot enough for you."

"I'll try," Cady giggles. "Oh, could we like... not tell Regina right away? It's all new, still, I don't want her to freak out about our image if we break up or whatever. We've only been together for, like, two weeks."

"Our lips are sealed," Gretchen replies immediately.

"But I'm not using SuperGlue as Chapstick again," Karen adds.

"No, that's okay, K, don't do that," Cady says immediately. "Thanks guys."

"Alright sluts, put on these... eugh. I can't even call them hats," Regina says as she parades back into the room. She chucks one at each of them rather aggressively. Cady's ends up hitting her full force in the face when she's too slow to react.

Regina watches as the three of them carefully push all her very expensive furniture out of the way so they have enough room to flip without fear of crashing into anything. Cady asks why they're not just practicing outside, and Regina goes on a solid ten minute rant about being seen in those costumes more than they have to. Cady doesn't speak for the rest of the evening.

—————

"Did Regina's boobs get bigger?" Cady hears the boy behind her in chemistry class ask about two weeks later, apparently as a conversation opener with his equally-jock-douchebag lab partner.

"Dude, totally," jock-douchebag replies. "Aaron's a lucky guy."

"Isn't she still dogging Shane?" bro number one asks. Cady tries to hide a shudder at the mention of his name.

Bro the second shrugs. "Probably."

Dammit, we made her hotter, Cady huffs to herself as she slides her goggles down over her eyes and turns on the bunsen burner. She looks over and sees Janis with a similarly disgruntled look on her face.

She gestures subtly for Cady to focus. Cady snaps back into the real world, this time before she can set herself on fire. She risks one glance back and sees Janis chuckle to herself, biting her lips to stop before anyone can see and ask what she's laughing about. Cady smiles to herself and buckles down to set some Doritos on fire. Not myself, thank you very much.

—————

Cady is laser focused in calculus another two weeks later. Not on calculus, but... she's there, it's fine.

She jumps and bangs her knee against her desk when Santa Claus slams the door open with a bellowed, "HHHHHOOOOO!"

"Jesus Christ," Ms. Norbury sighs, picking up her shattered chalk bits after she dropped it in shock. "Make it quick."

"One candy cane gram for Shane Oman," Damian says, adjusting his very poor quality fake beard as he hands Shane his candy cane.

He holds it between his first and index fingers like a pair of dirty underpants and leaves Shane to snatch it. Damian wipes his hand on his red velvet Santa coat like Shane has some sort of hetero cooties he might catch.

"Four for Glenn Coco!" Damian continues. "Hohoho, you go, Glenn Coco. Two for Caddy Heron!"

Cady frowns in confusion. Two? She only bought one. She takes them with a smile as Damian wiggles his way between the rows to deliver them. "Thanks, D."

Damian winks at her and moves on to deliver the next few candy canes to the lucky recipients.

Cady checks the tags on hers. There's the fake one, the one she wrote herself. She smiles to herself as she reads the little red slip of paper on the second one.

Merry Christmas my little elf

<3, J

ps ur short lolololol

She rolls her eyes as she reads the very loving message from her girlfriend and unwraps the end of the candy cane. She sucks on it as she continues pretending to pay attention when Damian leaves and Ms. Norbury can resume her lesson.

——

"Sorry I'm late!" she pretend-puffs as she stumbles her way into the gym. Regina just glares at her from across the room, but Gretchen comes scrambling over to join her as she plops her still-open bag on the ground. "God, I was in the middle of a problem when the bell rang, I didn't even have time to get packed up-"

"You got a candy cane?" Gretchen asks softly. She picks it up and unfolds the tag to read.

"Oh, yeah, Regina sent me one! Isn't she just the best friend?"

"R-Regina?" Gretchen squeaks. "Thanks for being such a great best friend. ...Cute."

"She didn't give you one?" Cady asks with faux-sympathy. She's heard it from the mouth of the lioness herself. There's no way Gretchen got any.

Gretchen shakes her head frantically. "She never sends them."

"Oh. Weird," Cady replies. "Well, you can have that one if you want. I had another one."

"I have to go," Gretchen chokes around floods of tears. Shit. Maybe Gretchen is a little more fragile than she thought.

"Gretchen," she says pleadingly, running after her friend to the bathroom.

"Well, i-if you and Regina are best friends now... then you can be in charge of keeping all her secrets," Gretchen says as soon as the door closes behind Cady.

Cady just nods. She can tell Gretchen is about to ramble, she doesn't dare interrupt her.

"Like, for example, she bought you those shoes just to make fun of you! Be-because she knew you wouldn't be able to walk in them. And she's not really blonde!"

Cady's eyes widen. She's not? Her eyes flick to the door as she hears a shocked gasp come from the other side. Was that... Damian?

"Her natural color is dark blonde. Also she totally cheats on Aaron!"

Cady almost chokes.

"Every Thursday she says she has a cheer intensive but she totally just stays behind to hook up with Shane Oman in the lion costume!"

"She makes him wear the costume?" Cady asks in disgusted horror.

"No! They're both in the costume!" Gretchen bellows, snapping the candy cane in half and dropping the pieces to the floor. Cady's jaw drops.

"Oh my god."

"And I never told anyone because I am such a good friend! I-I'm gonna go fill up my water bottle. Cover for me?" Gretchen sniffles. Cady nods.

Gretchen ducks out of the room. Damian enters before the door even closes, and Janis slams her way out of the stall. Damian hysterically whimpers, "I wear that costume!"

"Cads, that was amazing! What did you do?!" Janis says with an adorably delighted smile on her face. She rushes up and grabs Cady by the arms, spinning her around before she leans in for a kiss.

"Just a little Christmas magic," Cady responds with a grin of her own as soon as they break apart. "I sent myself a candy cane but I signed it as being from Regina."

"Clever girl," Janis coos in a horrible accent. Cady giggles.

"Okay, I gotta go! Love you guys." Janis gets another kiss and Damian gets a quick hug before Cady runs back to the gym to start their last parade practice.

————-

Cady grumbles as she wakes up the next morning. It's barely morning, the sun hasn't even risen yet. She has to be in the city, an hour away, two hours before the parade starts at 8:00. And she has to be there with her hair and makeup already done.

She does consider herself a morning person, but four in the morning is a bit much for anyone.

She grumbles as she hauls herself out of bed and stumbles to the restroom. She turns on the light and resists the urge to wince and close her eyes. How am I meant to be a jolly elf on five hours of sleep?

Cady opens her eyes extra wide, looking a little past unhinged when she sees herself in the mirror, to let the light in and hopefully wake her up.

By the time she's done brushing her teeth, she doesn't squint in the light anymore. She still grumbles sleepily as she washes her face, though.

She brings up the photo Regina sent (accompanied by many profanities) of what her makeup should look like so she can copy it. It's honestly not very different from her usual cheer makeup. Foundation, lots of gold eyeshadow, black mascara, red lipstick. Pretty much the only difference is the bright pink blush that she leaves in neat little circles on the apples of her cheeks instead of blending it up her cheekbones to look more natural. It's a little more rag doll than elf, but maybe it'll work better with the costume on.

She does her hair in two french braids, parted as close to even as she can get down the middle of her head and twisted intricately so they won't fall out after a morning of being mostly upside-down. She gives up on each braid a bit before the end, and ties the bands around halfway down instead of at the ends. Kind of a cute look, she thinks, as she fluffs out her curls at the end of each braid.

"You ready, binti? Have a Kälteen bar," her mother says when she trudges her way downstairs. Cady grabs the bar and takes a disgruntled bite out of it. She nods.

"You're sure this Regina friend can bring you home? We have to leave right from-"

"Right from the parade, I know, Dad," Cady says. "I quadruple checked, I'll make it home fine. Have fun at the vet conference."

"Oh, we will," her mother promises. "There's a keynote speaker on upgrades in euthanasia technology."

"...Cool," Cady replies.

"Right?! Alright, go get in the car. You sure you have everything?"

"Yeah. Regina has my outfit, I'll get changed there," Cady says. She looks down and brushes some wrinkles out of her Christmas jammies that Janis bought her. She smiles at the memory. My little dork.

"Time to hit the road, then!" her dad says. Cady shrieks as he hoists her off the ground and marches out towards the car.

"Dad!"

Her dad just starts bellowing the chorus to I Love a Parade, probably really irritating their poor neighbors. Cady gets affectionately tossed in the backseat, and her dad continues singing as her parents get into their spots up front and start the drive to Chicago.

————-

"Binti, we're here," her mother says. Cady jumps and snorts, bashing her head against the window she had fallen asleep against. "Ooh, be careful."

"Shit," Cady hisses under her breath, rubbing her new sore spot.

"Language," her dad chides, only half-serious.

"Sorry daddy. Have fun in Peoria. I love you," Cady says, bending at a weird angle to hug her parents goodbye. They can only stay long enough to see the beginning of the parade, so she has to get her goodbyes in now.

"We will. Be safe, have fun. No boys," her mother says, gently patting her back.

"I know, I know. You don't have to worry about that," Cady chuckles. Really. You have no idea.

"Atta girl. Go get em, tiger," her dad says, opening the door for her and sending her out. "Love you!"

"Yeah, love you too," Cady says, briefly walking backwards to talk to them. She gives them a final wave before she turns around and starts running to her team's meeting spot. "Yeesh. I'm sixteen."

Regina, once again, chucks her costume at her as soon as she's within sight. Cady manages to catch it this time, and looks around for somewhere private to change. The only place is behind some trees, so she heads that way.

Regina's mom is a talented seamstress and tailored Cady's costume to fit her perfectly. Almost too perfectly. It's so tight against her chest and her belly that she can barely breathe, and the skirt juuuuust barely passes her bum. The candy cane-esque tights are all she has left to protect her modesty.

The shoes with pointy toes and jingle bells are a recent addition, and she jangles her way back over to her friends. "Hey."

"Hey!" Karen greets, too brightly for six in the morning.

"Are your costumes, like, really tight?" Regina huffs, shifting her arms around to try to stretch the fabric a little. "They were huge, my mom can't have fucked up the tailoring this bad."

"Mine's okay," Cady shrugs. Her hat jingles for emphasis.

"Ugh, I'm gonna go see if she has any safety pins," Regina grumbles. Cady's phone pings as she stomps off through the frost-covered grass.

jayjay: good mornin buttercup

cadygirl: >:|

jayjay: what ?

jayjay: not a good morning??

cadygirl: Sent a picture: It's 6 in the morning and I look like this

cadygirl: And I'm cold >:|

jayjay: aww

jayjay: someone's grumpy

cadygirl: Yeah >:||||

jayjay: steve and i will be there to see you

cadygirl: Yaaaaay 🥰🥰

jayjay: that easy to cheer you up huh

cadygirl: It'd be even easier if you bring me food

jayjay: little conwoman

cadygirl: Whaaaat nooooo

jayjay: i'll take you to breakfast after

jayjay: hobbit

cadygirl: Hey!!

jayjay: not because you're short

jayjay: this time

jayjay: bc they're hungry all the time

cadygirl: Oh

cadygirl: Still v rude of you

jayjay: if i take you to get a happy meal will that make up for it

cadygirl: Yes <333

jayjay: done

jayjay: see you soon peanut

cadygirl: See you soon gorgeous 😘

Cady suddenly feels much warmer as she puts her phone back into her bag. She and Gretchen glue each other's ears on and the whole team does a warmup and stretch routine together. Cady rolls out her wrists and finally smiles as she gets into her spot.

——

The parade is more fun than she was expecting. It's less intense than what she has to do at games, more walkovers and limbers than tucks and punches. She gets a little dizzy, and it's hard not to get run over by the float on the rare occasions she fumbles a landing, but it's still fun. For once, the smile on her face is genuine the whole time.

She waves dorkily when she passes her parents. They both have their phones held up to film and proud smiles beaming across their faces. They wave back just as dorkily before they duck out and are off to their seminar.

Cady doesn't get to do much in the way of the more limber skills anymore. It's fun. She kind of misses doing skills just for fun, for herself. As long as she stays in her spot she can do whatever she wants to. She does all sorts of front walkovers, back walkovers, aerials, the occasional handspring. It's refreshing.

Whenever they come to a stop is when things get interesting. Nobody wants to see a parade stuck in place, so they practiced lots of choreography for that. One of the floats ahead of them gets stuck on a corner, and Cady does a vaulted flip off of Regina's crouched form like a really, really elaborate game of leapfrog. Regina acts like she's dancing with her and whirls her back around so they're in their right spots before they get going again.

Towards the end of the parade, Cady hears a, "Hi Cady!"

She's not supposed to, but she looks over. Stevie is waving eagerly to her, her arm linked with one of her friends. Janis is behind her with a cute grin on her face as she sees Cady in all her elvish glory. Cady wiggles her fingers back in greeting, and kisses the tips of her fingers twice before blowing the kisses in their direction. Janis smiles wider and sneakily blows one back. Stevie just squeals and dances around with her friend. Cady adds a little more flair to her skills than she needs to just for them.

Things stop and start a lot more as the first floats get to the end of the parade route and have to navigate pulling off to the sides of the road or getting where they need to be. Cady and Regina do their series of tricks at least six times. They start adding little bits of flourish to it when it begins to feel boring and repetitive.

Apparently a little too much flourish. Regina does a dramatic turn before she crouches to be Cady's vault.

Cady's already running.

She has no time to stop as Regina's safety pin breaks.

And her costume comes off.

Regina screams and bends down to try to grab it. Cady slips on the fabric and goes head over heels the wrong way. Cameras are already out, pictures and videos being recorded. Apparently more people from North Shore make the trip out to see the parade than they thought.

But Cady can't hear the shutters clicking or the agitated murmuring over the pop her ankle makes as she lands, and the roaring of blood in her ears as a horrific pain radiates up her leg. No, no, no no no nononono.

One of the coaches was walking alongside the float in between them and the crowd to make sure it all went smoothly. She rushes up and helps Regina get herself situated. "You alright, Heron?"

Cady can only sob. My ankle is broken. My ankle is broken and it really hurts. My ankle is broken and I may never be able to tumble again. My ankle-

"Whoa, kid, hey," her coach says. "Can ya walk? Right flank, fall in! You're down a man!"

Cady hops and hobbles her way to the end of the route and sits down on the curb, cradling her ankle and sobbing.

"Are your folks around?"

Cady shakes her head. "Re-Regina's take-taking me home."

Her coach hums and nods. "She ran off. Hope she's okay, too. Dang, kid, that looks gnarly."

That only makes Cady cry harder. What if I just did my last flip?

"I'll uh... go keep an eye out for George," her coach says. She does have the decency to bring Cady her bag. Cady debates texting her parents to let them know, but they're probably already halfway to Peoria. And they were so excited about the keynote, she can't drag them away from that. She'll just have to suck it up.

The pain is... almost bearable. It's not, but she doesn't exactly have much choice. Her sobs slow, and before too long she's just sniffling on the side of the road and holding her sore leg.

She about jumps out of her skin when she hears a, "Caddy!"

"Jesus Christ, Janis! There's people around here!" Cady hisses. Janis' face falls a little.

"Sorry."

"What are you doing here?" Cady asks more gently.

"There's already like, seventy different people sharing videos of you and Regina falling, what the hell happened?"

"I think the Kälteen bars backfired," Cady sniffs, shutting one eye as a wave of pain radiates from her ankle.

Janis frowns. "What do you mean?"

"She's gained so much weight her costume didn't fit," Cady explains through half-grit teeth.

Janis snorts. Cady glares at her. "Sorry."

"She safety pinned it on and it broke and I slipped on the costume," Cady continues. "And I fucked up my landing and I think my ankle is broken."

"Yikes," Janis says in concern.

"She was supposed to take me home," Cady says, trying to stretch out her leg and wincing in pain. Janis winces too.

"Damian and I will take you to the hospital, don't worry about it," Janis says immediately.

"Don't- ow- don't you have Stevie with you?" Cady asks in concern.

"Nah, she wanted to go to her friend's house, I'm free of the child until tonight," Janis replies. "Can I see?"

Cady looks at her hesitantly. Janis looks back. She doesn't push. There are a lot of people around. But Cady needs the comfort of her girlfriend right now. She nods.

Janis carefully eases her stupid jingly boot off her foot, pausing whenever Cady makes a pained noise. By the end Cady has her bottom lip so firmly between her teeth she can taste blood and her eyes screwed shut. It's still not enough to stop a few pained tears slipping out and down her face.

It becomes quickly apparent that Janis has absolutely no idea what she's doing. She gives Cady's foot a gentle, inquisitive poke and pulls back like she's been burned when Cady squeaks in pain. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Cady says, looking at her through squinted eyes and trying to remember how to breathe.

"It's pretty swollen," Janis says in concern. "And bruising already."

Cady sniffs again, looking down at her stupid candy-cane patterned lap. Janis gently tips her chin up.

"It'll be okay, Cads," she murmurs.

"But what if it's not?" Cady hiccups. "What if I never walk on it again? What if I can never do another flip?"

"And what if it's totally fine? What if it turns out to just be a bad sprain and you're back on your feet in a week?" Janis retaliates.

Cady feels her lip tremble. Janis might be right.

But they both know she's not.

"They're coming, hide," Cady says when she hears the cheers coming down the road. Thank god Damian's almost here.

Janis looks at her oddly, sadly, but she obediently ducks behind the tree line to wait for the crowd of people they actually know to clear out.

"Cads! Hey, coach told me you fell, what the hell, babe?!" Damian says as soon as he sees her, sprinting full tilt over to her. "Oh, yikes."

"Is it bad?" Cady asks, feeling tears brimming behind her eyes yet again.

"It's not... great," Damian replies hesitantly. "Can you move it?"

Cady sniffles. "I don't know, I haven't tried."

"Can I?"

Cady nods. Damian carefully braces her ankle with his large, warm hand and gives her foot a gentle wiggle. Several people look in their direction at the noise Cady makes in response.

"Alright, well," Damian says in a voice a solid three octaves higher than normal.

"I'm sorry," Cady sobs.

"Babe, shh," Damian soothes. "I will donate you one of my feet if I have to. We'll go get you patched up and all that, don't worry about it."

"But how will you be a big Broadway star someday if you only have one foot?" Cady giggles wetly.

"I'll manage. Is that Janis peeping at me through the bushes over there?"

"Probably," Cady replies with another giggle. She turns around and sees a familiar pair of blue eyes poked out from behind a gnarled old tree trunk. Janis ducks back behind it when she sees she's been spotted, and Cady smiles. "Yeah. Dork."

Damian smiles too. "She really loves you. Let me text her so she doesn't get picked up for stalking or some shit."

"She does?" Cady sniffles.

"Girl, are you kidding? We haven't had a conversation where you haven't come up at least once since September," Damian says absently as he taps out a message to Janis.

Janis is close enough that they hear her phone ping and her muffled, "Shit!" Cady can't help but laugh.

"Alright, she'll meet us at the car and we'll take you to the hospital."

"Thanks, papa elf," Cady grins. Damian laughs and tosses Cady onto his back to carry her the half-mile back to the parking lot. "These bells are infuriating."

"I think they're fun," Damian replies, a hand over his heart. He wiggles his head to make his hat jingle for emphasis. Cady giggles.

"Thanks for taking me home. I dunno what happened to Regina," Cady says quietly.

"Nobody does, she disappeared after the... incident," Damian replies. Cady frowns.

"Weird."

"I took over on your side so it was still balanced, but apparently she just ran off naked through the woods. Guess you can cross that off your list," Damian says. Cady laughs.

"You make a great elf," she replies. "Your ear keeps poking me, though."

"Sorry," Damian chuckles. "Alright, madam, we have arrived at your chariot."

"'Sup nerds," Janis greets, pushing herself off Damian's mom's car with a small salute.

"Caddy gets front seat privileges, she's broken."

"Ugh!" Janis groans sarcastically. Cady giggles.

"Um, actually... can I sit in the back with you?" she mumbles shyly.

Janis smirks. "We gonna make out?"

Cady rolls her eyes. "Corndog."

"What?!" Damian giggles.

"Is that not right?" Cady replies shyly.

"Did you just call me a corndog?!" Janis cackles.

"Someone tell me what I meant to say!" Cady insists.

Damian barely manages to put her down safely before he almost collapses to the ground in laughter. "Did-did you mean horndog?"

"Yes!" Cady says. "Stop laughing, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Janis chokes through her laughter.

"People are staring, shut up!" Cady hisses. "Stop laughing!"

"Okay, okay," Damian says, wiping tears from his eyes. "Get in, sluts and slurs."

As soon as the doors close, Janis and Damian burst into laughter again. Damian can barely turn the key to start the car, he's laughing so hard. "I didn't mean to say corndog, stop laughing."

"You're so cute," Janis hums, still giggling to herself. "How's the ankle doing?"

"Hurts," Cady sighs.

Janis pouts and pulls Cady into a cuddle. Cady leans into her shoulder with a wince as another burst of pain radiates up her leg. "Poor baby."

—-

After an interesting drive to the nearest urgent care, Janis scoops Cady out and carries her baby-style into the waiting room. The pain is starting to get to Cady again, and she winces and cries quietly as Janis cradles her in her lap.

Luckily, people are so focused on their own injuries or other ailments that two Christmas elves and their art freak barely catch their eye. There's a mother there with a clearly sick little boy snuffling into her shoulder, a duo of frat bros who are clearly drunk and each cradling one arm close to their chest, and an old man in the corner filling out a crossword puzzle from 2011.

"How did your hat survive that whole thing?" Janis asks as Damian plops into the seat next to them with Cady's paperwork.

"I glued it to my head," Cady sniffs. Damian drops his pen in shock.

"You what?!"

"Only in the front, I used clips in the back," Cady replies. Damian sighs and rests his hand on his chest.

"Do not scare me like that," he replies. "Cads, when's your birthday?"

"July thirtieth," Cady says softly.

"Hey, my birthday's in July too!" Damian says. "Twinsies."

Cady can't help but giggle at his desperate attempt to cheer her up. "When's yours?"

"The thirteenth," Damian says.

"Man, I'm still the baby!" Cady huffs. "Miss January over here."

"Not my fault my parents know how to celebrate Easter," Janis shrugs. Cady gasps.

"Janis Sarkisian, we are in public!"

"Whatcha gonna do about it, tiny?" Janis retaliates. "Since we are in public."

"Hmph," Cady grumbles. She cuddles closer into her girlfriend's warm neck.

"You okay?" Janis whispers against her forehead.

"Hurts," Cady whispers back. "Are they gonna see us soon?"

"Probably not," Janis sighs.

Damian goes to hand in her paperwork at the front desk. Beyond that, all they can do is wait.

-

And wait they do. But, eventually, a nurse calls Cady's name and Janis stands to carry her back. Damian follows quickly, running after them through the winding halls.

"Alright, what seems to be the problem?" the nurse says. She does a double take when she sees the elf with one shoe on sitting on the exam table. She snorts a quick laugh but bites her lip to stop herself.

"I think I broke my ankle," Cady says softly. The doctor looks down at her one exposed foot and winces.

"It looks like that might be the case, hon. What happened?" the nurse asks, taking Cady's vitals. "Cross your arm over your chest."

Cady does when she fastens a blood pressure cuff around her wrist. "Um, I was in the parade this morning and I slipped on... something. I fumbled a flip and landed on it weird."

"Did you hear a pop when you landed or was it just a feeling?"

"I heard something pop, and I can't put any weight on it," Cady says anxiously. "And it's a little numb, and kinda... tingly, I guess."

"Mm," the nurse hums. "I'm gonna try and move it a bit, you let me know if anything hurts, alright?" Cady nods and braces as the mere brush of her fingertips against her ankle sends more waves of pain flooding up her whole leg and out her toes. "That hurt?"

"Mmhmm," Cady squeaks.

"Hm," the nurse hums again. "I'm gonna get the doctor to get you an x-ray, alright?

"Thank you," Cady says. She looks down at her lap with a quiet sniffle. She shakes her other foot and humphs at the jingle she gets in response.

"You okay, Peanut?" Janis asks quietly.

"What if it is actually broken?" Cady asks desperately. "I'm the head flyer, broken bones take so long to heal! It'll be weeks before I'm back in, what are they gonna-"

"We have protocols for this kinda thing, Cads, it'll be okay," Damian says. "We get injured all the time. I broke my wrist cheering in middle school and everything was fine. You just gotta take your time to heal."

"But-"

"If it is broken and you try to do anything you could hurt yourself permanently," Janis says. "Repetitive fractures? You have to rest. And we don't know for sure that it's broken yet, it might just be a bad sprain."

Cady sighs and nods. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Anytime, babe," Damian says, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders and resting his head against hers. Cady blinks as his elf ear almost pokes her in the eye. Janis joins in too, and gets a jingle bell up the nose.

Her little crew gets left behind as Cady hops after the doctor towards the x-ray room. She holds as still as she can on the uncomfortable table and listens to the deafening clunks of the machine as it whirls around her foot. It's so loud she's a little worried it'll explode, but the doctor eventually returns from behind the lead partition and leads her back to her room to wait for the results.

It's a very quick wait.

"Your ankle is broken," the doctor says as soon as she walks into the room.

Cady feels her face crumple, and Janis wraps her in a tight hug as Cady lets out a quiet sob. "It's okay, Peanut, shh."

"It'll heal fine, no surgery needed. We call it a nondisplaced fracture, so none of your bones have actually moved out of where they're meant to be. You just need a cast for a little bit and you should be back to normal."

"So-so I'll still-still be able to-to cheer?"

"Not for six to eight weeks, but yes," the doctor replies with a smile. Janis squeezes her tighter as Cady releases a sob of relief.

"I told you," she murmurs, kissing Cady's cheek. Cady sniffles and leans into her shoulder. She needs Janis right now.

"Technically you broke your leg, the bottom part of your fibula here, and there's a hairline fracture in part of your tibia. But they're not displaced enough for you to need surgery, just a cast and no weight bearing for a good while."

"O-okay," Cady sniffs.

"You might wanna... de-elf yourself before we get the cast on, though. Unless you want to keep those tights for a few weeks."

Cady takes the wheel of possible cast colors and the pajamas Damian hands her from her bag. "These are cute! Where'd they come from?"

"Janis got them for me," Cady says with a sniffle as the doctor leaves and Janis and Damian both turn around to give her some privacy to change.

"Oh, did she now? How very soft of her," Damian hums. Janis shoves him. Damian sticks his tongue out in her general direction, unable to tell quite where she is with his hands firmly over his eyes.

"Shut up," Janis responds.

"Stop fighting, you can turn around now," Cady says once she's back in her comfy pajamas. "Which color cast should I get?"

"What's your favorite color?" Damian asks.

"Yellow," Cady replies.

"The purple is cool too," Janis says, tapping the little swatch of it. Cady nods.

Damian leans in close to see all the options. "I like the green."

"I like green," Cady acknowledges. "The Plastics will kill me if I get anything except pink, though."

"Pfft, who cares about them? Regina did this to you," Janis scoffs.

"Because we made her gain weight," Cady retaliates. "This light pink is cute."

"Do whatever you want, Cupcake."

"Cupcake?" Damian responds immediately, accompanied with a gag.

"Look at this little faaaaace," Janis coos, leaning harder into it and squishing Cady's cheeks rather than trying to fend off her friend. Cady goes along with it too, batting her eyelashes coquettishly at him. "Isn't she just the cutest widdle thing?"

"You two are gonna ruin my life together, aren't you?"

“Mm-hmm!" Cady hums happily, her cheeks still smushed in her girlfriend's hand. Damian rolls his eyes. Janis gives Cady's squished-out lips a kiss before she lets her go and smirks at her friend.

"You're the one who was literally speechless for four hours after we told you we were dating," she responds.

"I was in shock, shut up."

"Because your matchmaking never works?"

Damian huffs. "Whatever, it does."

"Name one time."

"This!" Damian insists, gesturing frantically between the two of them. Janis rolls her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Princess," she replies. Damian smiles.

"Thank you."

The doctor returns towards the tail end of that argument and shoots Cady a confused look. Cady just shrugs a little. She hands back all the cast swatches and goes with the light pink she had liked. She does really like it, and the Plastics won't crucify her for it. Well, they might anyway for what happened at the parade, and for needing a clunky, bulky cast in the first place. But at least this'll show she has decent taste and the ability to match.

Janis and Damian each take and squeeze one of her hands as her bones are painfully squished back where they need to be and wrapped in layers upon layers of fabric. The pink shell finishes the job, and Janis asks the doctor for a Sharpie so she and Damian can be the first to sign it.

"Do it small," Cady insists. Damian shoots her a strange look, but they both sign their names in the smallest letters they can right by her toes. Janis adds a little heart by hers for good measure. "Thanks, guys."

Cady gets fit for a set of crutches. It takes a while and she ends up with kids size ones, but eventually she's clicking slowly across the parking lot and finally on her way home.

"Jan, you wanna come over?" Damian asks. Cady pouts a little. She knows he and Janis are best friends, and that they definitely hang out without her sometimes, but it's not like Damian to ask with Cady right there.

"Nah, I gotta go get Stevie," Janis replies. Damian nods. Cady is confused when they pull into Janis' driveway. She should've been dropped off first. Her house is much further out of the way. "Bye Peanut."

Cady returns the kiss she gives. "Bye, baby."

Damian gags in the front seat. "Bye, dumbass."

"Bye, slut," Janis replies, blowing him a kiss as she climbs out of the car in the most complicated way she can and runs into her house.

Damian puts the car back in gear and keeps driving. Cady is more confused when they pull into his driveway. He turns the car off and gets out, leaving Cady alone in the backseat.

"You coming?" he asks, knocking on her window upon noticing she hasn't moved. Cady jumps.

“You're not taking me home?"

"I am not leaving you alone to navigate that house with one foot. But I'll take you home if you'd rather be there," Damian responds.

Cady shakes her head. "No. No, uh... thanks."

"Of course," Damian replies. "Now come on, cripple, my mom'll make us milkshakes."

"Your mom?" Cady asks with a smile.

"Oh, shit, you haven't met her yet! Uh, be ready for like, a lot of hugs. And she might cry. She's a big empath."

"Okay," Cady giggles. "She sounds great."

"She is," Damian says with a small smile. He unlocks the door and drops their stuff in the small area for shoes and coats and bags. "Ma, I'm home! And I brought Cady!"

Stanley comes running down the hall as soon as she hears the door. Damian protectively stands in front of Cady so the excited pup doesn't knock her over, but Cady smiles and rests her crutches against the wall so she can give the sweet little thing some scritches. "Hi, Stanley! How are you, baby girl?! Oh, yes, hi! I missed you too!"

"Stanley, gentle, Caddy's broken," Damian says. Stanley actually does calm a little bit, sniffing curiously at Cady and wagging her entire rear end instead of jumping on her like she did last time.

"Hey, baby girl!" Damian's mother greets, coming down the hallway in such a blaze of glory that it's immediately apparent where Damian gets his showmanship from. Cady looks up and smiles as she wraps him in a hug.

"Hi Ma," Damian responds, hugging his mom back and handing Cady her crutches again.

"How was the parade?" his mom asks, leading the two of them down the hall. She clocks Cady hobbling after them, then. "Ah."

"Yeah, she broke her ankle," Damian responds.

"At the parade?! Oh, honey!" his mom says immediately, wrapping Cady in such a tight hug she thinks she hears a few of her ribs pop. "You poor thing! Oh, come in, come in, sit down. Damian, help her to the living room, come on now."

"Can we go to my room instead?" Damian asks. His mom rolls her eyes.

"Yes, go ahead. It's on this floor, Cady, don't worry baby."

"Thanks, Ms. Hubbard," Cady replies with a smile. She gets another tight hug and actually has to cough a little when she's released to get her breathing back in a normal rhythm.

"Of course, baby! What kind of milkshakes do y'all want?"

"Oreo?" Damian suggests. Ms. Hubbard looks to Cady, and she nods eagerly. "Please."

"Coming right up."

"Thank you," Cady says as she's off back to the kitchen.

"Don't mention it, baby!" she calls back.

"Your mom is great," Cady says. Damian nods. Cady squeaks in surprise as he hauls her onto his back and starts carrying her down the hall towards his bedroom next to the garage.

"She is."

"She's very comforting," Cady continues. Damian nods again. "I see where you get it from."

"D'aww, thanks," Damian coos. He's actually blushing a little bit, and Cady smiles as he rests her down on his cushy bed. He fusses over her like a worried mother, helping her take her makeup and ears off as Cady looks around his bedroom for the first time. She's been here before for movie nights, but only ever in the basement.

None of the actual drywall is visible; completely plastered over with posters of drag queens and black-and-white photos of old Broadway stars. Cady can barely breathe for Judy Garland and Cher and RuPaul. There's fairy lights of all colors hanging from the crown molding, illuminating and twinkling over a full wall of Playbills in protective clear plastic sleeves. The furniture is a bit plain by comparison, but it all just feels like Damian's spirit has exploded into the room. It's amazing.

"Your room is so cool," Cady says.

"Thanks!"

"You have a lot of Playbills," Cady continues. "Have you actually seen that many shows?"

"God, no," Damian chuckles. "The top row there are the only ones I've seen in person, the rest are from eBay."

"Cool," Cady replies.

"Has Janis taught you about musicals yet?"

Cady shakes her head with a smile. "She said she wouldn't be able to do it justice."

Damian snorts. "Yeah, right. She just doesn't want to sit through them."

"She doesn't like them?"

"She only watches them once a year on my birthday and if I sing a lyric that could even approach being from a musical she'll punch me in the jugular."

"Really?"

Damian nods, fiddling with the mouse to wake up the computer and typing in his pin. "You've brought a lot of her walls down. So... thanks for that."

"I'm glad," Cady replies softly. "She deserves it."

"She does," Damian agrees. He shrugs suddenly. "Anyway, what do you want to watch?"

"You pick. I don't know anything," Cady giggles. Damian nods and opens a folder full of bootlegs. He murmurs the titles under his breath until he lands on a good first musical for her.

"Ooh! Okay, here, you'll love this one. The movie is good too, but the stage production is amazing."

Cady cuddles into his arm and peeks at the file name. She squeals, "Lions?!"

"Lions is an understatement for The Lion King," Damian says. Cady wiggles excitedly as he opens it and makes it full screen. "Can you see?"

"Mmhmm. Thanks, D."

"Anytime, Little Slice."

His mom pops in with their milkshakes a few minutes in and seems completely unphased seeing her son cuddled up with a girl she's known for fifteen minutes. Apparently this is normal for him. "Thank you, Ms. Hubbard."

"You're welcome, sweet girl. Y'all just holler if you need anything, alright? Ooh, Lion King. That's a good one," she replies as she leaves again.

"Cady's from Kenya," Damian explains.

"No shit?" his mom replies, making Cady choke on her milkshake in shock.

"Um, yeah, I just moved here this summer," she says.

"Ain't that something. Alright, have fun, you two."

"Thanks, Ma," Damian says as she shuts the door behind her.

They sip at their tasty milkshakes while they watch. Cady might be in love. She's immediately bopping along to all the musical numbers and oohing and aahing over the special effects.

Damian looks at her expectantly when the curtain call is over.

"That was so cool!" she squeals. "Can we watch it again?"

Damian laughs. "I'm glad you liked it. You like musicals now?"

Cady nods eagerly. "Yeah."

"Good," Damian says with a victorious smirk. He takes a picture of them cuddled up together and sends it to Janis with a caption reading, I win Caddy likes musicals. He gets an eye roll emoji in response and clicks off his phone with a smug grin. "Let's try something else, but we'll come back if you want to after."

"Okaaaaay," Cady huffs jokingly.

They watch about four more, occasionally shifting positions to keep comfy on Damian's plush bed. The milkshakes are long gone, but neither of them care.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Cady murmurs after the last one. Damian gently bumps into her.

"Anytime. Sorry Janis was busy, I know she wanted to be the one to kidnap you."

"No, it's okay," Cady says immediately. "I love her, but she'd be so worried she'd barely let me move. Not that that's bad, she's just... a lot, sometimes."

"You love her, eh?" Damian teases. Cady blushes. "Oh, shit, do you?"

"I mean... we've only been dating for a month," Cady begins hesitantly. "But... I might... already love her, like, a lot."

"D'aaawww, my little gaybies," Damian squeals.

"Shut up," Cady scoffs.

"She loves you too," Damian says matter-of-factly.

Cady looks at him. "She does?"

"I told you earlier. This bitch will not shut up about you. I've never seen her like this. It's kind of freaky," Damian chuckles. "Always, have you seen Caddy's eyes up close? They're such a pretty green. And she's sooooo tiiiiny, she just fits in my arms like a puzzle."

"She did not say that."

"On RuPaul she did."

Cady blinks. "Did I break her?"

"Honestly? Maybe. But I like it. She's annoying sometimes, but this Janis seems... healthier."

"Good," Cady replies.

"You, on the other hand," Damian replies, looking pointedly at her left foot. Cady giggles.

"It's fixed, I'll be okay," she replies.

"You got lucky there, kid. I really thought you were gonna need surgery," Damian says.

"I did too, honestly," Cady admits.

"...And now I think about it, Regina is a little chubbier."

"Right? It totally worked!" Cady squeals. Damian laughs. "Now we just have to get people to stop treating her like the queen bee and get Aaron out of her clutches."

"Godspeed, soldier. Doing the lord's work," Damian says with a salute. Cady giggles. "Do you, like, wanna go home?"

Cady sighs. "I should."

"Bitch, is that what I asked? Do you want to or not?" Damian insists.

"I mean... it's always weird there without my parents," Cady mumbles, fidgeting with her fingers. "But I don't wanna impose."

"Hold on," Damian says. Cady jumps when he turns his head to the side and hollers, "Ma!"

"What?!" his mother yells back.

"Can Cady sleep over?!"

"Her folks okay with it?!"

"Your folks okay with it?" Damian asks Cady in a much, much softer tone. Cady nods in confusion. Damian yells back, "Yeah!"

"Then she's always welcome! Dinner's in half an hour!" his mom replies.

"Thank you!" Cady yells.

"You're welcome, baby!"

"See? Problem solved," Damian says. Cady giggles.

"You're the best, D."

"And don't you forget it."

————-

thank you for reading!!

i have a oneshot coming for y'all on wednesday that i'm very (cautiously) excited about and am working myself to the bone trying to get the next chapter of this and another oneshot done per my usual "schedule" if you can call it that lol.

i apologize for not being more prepared but i spent most of february auditioning for the tour!! so that took a lot of my focus but it's done now and i am back in as full of a swing as i can get lol.

so fingers crossed! and if i don't get it done in time you'll just get three of each with my next round of fics :)

thank you all so much again for being here. i love every little one of you muppets so dearly.

lots of love,

ezzy

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1123 review

The idea of arcs and sagas as a two-tier approach to story structure exists mostly in fan wikis rather than officially released material, but it was an effective way to show how a lot of the overarching pre-timeskip stories came together over multiple islands. Post-timeskip, that model became largely irrelevant as everything started to point towards Wano as one massive saga made up of old-saga-length arcs. But here we are again, at what can only be described as the start of a new saga, for the first time in a dozen years.

Yes, Egghead has a self-contained story locked to its local setting, as all arcs in all sagas have, but as the crew sails away from its ending, we realise how much is left up in the air. Bonney and Kuma got symbolic blows in on the architect of their suffering and are out of immediate danger, but they don't yet have a place to settle. I was a little surprised that this final act of Egghead didn't address more directly how much of Kuma's mind can still be salvaged. This chapter raises questions about what death means for a consciousness as fragmented as Vegapunk's, and what the implications are of a satellite surviving instead of the stella. The Seraphim remain a threat, beaten only offscreen using easy-win technology the crew won't have access to again. Overarching villains have been teased, but circumstances aligned to prevent a direct confrontation. It's like being at the end of, say, Whiskey Peak again. Act one of something much, much bigger.

The cover story's quick resolution to the kids' assault on Yamato rings true to the way Oda has tackled themes of prejudice in the past. Think of Hody, who harboured all this hatred based only on the stories told to him by the adults in his life. He was too far gone, but these kids are young enough to have their horizons broadened if other influences are offered. Putting hate to rest by getting to know each other over food and drink feels like a very One Piece thing to do.

But does Oda intend to test this idea by giving Yamato an enemy who won't be so easily brought to the table?

The opening scenes ease in slowly, (enough so that I wonder if this could be the start of volume 111 instead of the last chapter) and let the fallout of the last chapter's ending simmer, but S-Snake's consciousness is a detail worth noting. Are the Seraphim that strong, or are they instead that inhuman?

And in a key example of why I didn't try to fit an Egghead reread and full arc review in last week, Vegpaunk's flashback comes right in on the home stretch to fill in gaps and provide the bigger picture. Weekly reading can be tough. You just don't have the full story until you have the full story.

But the timing's good for this actually. My copy of volume 106 came in last week and obviously got a read when it did, and a lot of the stuff here builds on things in that volume.

Vegapunk's personality comes through hard here, and it's been consistent from the start. He's a genius when it comes to tech, but he has massive blind spots when it comes to people and politics, as well as simply not knowing what genre of story he's in. His choices were probably not the optimal way to handle the situation, but they were undeniably the Vegapunk way to do it. Look back to the start of the arc and Vegapunk's passion for the ideas of infinite energy and widespread access to information. Of course he's not going to dismantle the Mother Flame before the Government can take it, he wants to perfect it so the whole world can use it. Is that playing with fire, risking handing an authoritarian empire a power source for their ultimate weapon? Werner von Punk hasn't concerned himself with the negative potential of his ideas before. Watch him dismiss Jinbe's concerns about the Punk Records database being poisoned by ideologically-driven misinformation. That stuff is not his department, he just wants to finish building things. Vegapunk sold out on his revolutionary sympathies to get Government funding; we see him debate Dragon over this choice. All of these factors run consistently into a personality that would milk the status quo for as long as possible, and try to finish as much work as possible, with his last act of rebellion set to go off only in the event of his death.

His perspective on the decision not to run makes sense as well. The World Government seems so large and so inevitable to a person who has to live with it. Even in lawless lands, the idea of being iced quietly by a Cipher Pol operative would scan as a real threat. Even Wano wasn't safe from that kind of thing. I can see how running seemed pointless in his circumstances. At least staying on Egghead, the assassins ring the front doorbell and give you a moment to make peace. And, of course, the chance for a death that's bombastic and impossible to come up. What would have happened to his countermeasure if the Government had launched a smear campaign to discredit him and reattribute his accomplishments to others the moment he fled? This way, Vegapunk's narrative gets out first.

Now, this is a Shonen manga where a big million to one play of determination and defiance would have been rewarded, like the Strawhats declaring war on the whole Government for Robin, but we can't expect Vegapunk to know he's in that kind of story.

A very interesting point of emphasis in this section of the story is the Cloud Plant. The Buster Call sure as hell didn't care to spare it, but it's the place Edison was last seen before his signal went dead. If he came to the same conclusion about its importance as Vegapunk-stella does here while hearing the broadcast, he might have gone offline deliberately and made off with a vital component needed to recreate the technology on the run. My stance was 'died from his injuries until Oda gives a reason to think otherwise,' and this feels just vague enough to make a reason. The next cover story could be his and Stussy's great escape from the burning island, slipping onto a ship or through the blockade while everyone else is knocked out by Emet's Haki bomb. Let's stick a pin in that one.

And we also get the question of what it means for Vegapunk to die, with his brain separate from his body, and his mind duplicated across half a dozen androids. The lines are blurry; the clones can seemingly share the stella's memories from before they were created - seen through Shaka being the one to trigger the brief flashback to the aftermath of Ohara. But there's also a heirarchy. We're told its the satellites' duty to die to protect the stella, as if there's something special or extra about him that the others lack. But the lack of significant mourning or atmosphere of loss over the stella may be because Oda intends us to think Vegapunk lives on through Lilith. Again, things still to explore.

Now the memory erasure. To be honest, this one does feel a little like it was done for the drama. They've managed to not let anything slip and keep the information from syncing with Punk Records for two weeks as they set up and execute their contingency, but now it's a threat that something could come out? Okay, but then he leaves a note revealing everything short of the traitor's identity anyway. Surely the a scientist's curious need to investigate the claims on the note would cause more disruption than just holding onto the lie. No, this one was done mainly to keep Vegapunk from giving the whole game away to the Strawhats as soon as they arrive.

On the flip side, the conversation with Sanji fills in a gap I remember talking about as it happened. Why did Vegapunk disappear from Sanji's side and wander back into the fire off screen when he was poised to escape? I'd said there felt like there was a beat missing there, and here it is. Good work closing that hole, Oda.

This is running long already, so I won't go too deep into Elbaf expectations from the last page. There'll be plenty of time for that in the months to come, but I'm pleased to see it looking like something Oda's excited to draw, with that same passionate energy as the introduction of Wano. He's been waiting for this, and so have we. Looking forward to watching this final saga continue to develop next week!

(Read on my Wordpress)

[omgkalyppso]

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Thank you for the ask! (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

I do like that post that's going around that says Do It Bored. Because creativity can feel illusive, but forward motion is forward motion. And wrt writer's block, having other projects to explore can only take you so far until you're overladen with WIPs in my experience. One of the better pieces of writer's block advice for me is that your problem is 10 lines ago, or w/e. I'm more accustomed to cutting out whole sections and paragraphs, and my god it hurts to write 300 words and instantly be like Wait No but it happens. Put the words in another notes document, you might need them again, and move on.

Work that I feel doesn't have to be to my own standards, and can just exist, is easier to finish. Because it doesn't need to be the most beautiful, poetic, insightful, or even the most grammatically correct piece of writing on the pile. Sometimes you just have to write a guy standing still, or lying on his back, in the case of my recent Shahid fic.

Trying to convince myself the same for my next bg3 wip I've gone back to. That it doesn't have to be to my own standards, it just has to be done so I can enjoy writing the next thing, which I want to do.

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 

#1 below the cut: Okay so the actual last thing in my notes app is that someone in a discord server asked what your oc's tinder profile would be, and this is as far as I got (some not oc's). Because this is so humiliating, I'm sharing more.

The second last thing is blocked dialogue that turned into the Shahid fic.

#2 below the cut: The third last is blocked dialogue that will either never see the light of day or need to be completely rewritten between Étoile and Halsin. I'll share Halsin's first line / maybe the only one worth keeping.

The fourth last is blocked dialogue that is becoming my swtor fic.

#3 below the cut: The fifth last is blocked dialogue that may or may not become a fic between my oc Determination and bg3's rolan.

#1

Étoile: Looking for long term casual flings or partners. Faedolyn: Opinionated Av Claude: Lorenz: I am looking to fall in love. Must be willing to have a first date within 4 days of initial message to keep from wasting each other's time. 6'2 Hilda: Sylvain: Attention Deserves Healthy Distribution, and I will shower you in mine. Spontaneity. Seduction. Silliness? Let's share a drink and a laugh, and maybe something more.

#2

Part of me feared that you would return to Astarion and either of you would decide I was … too much. Regardless of whether you would continue to have a more … open relationship. I am presently relieved that is not the case. Although I admit my anxieties yet linger. It is no thoughtless habit that I have chosen to call you my heart, Étoile.

#3

Determination: I've come to say goodb— Rolan: Please stay. Determination: Rolan. Rolan: There have been several occasions where we were parted, where if it had been the last time, it would have been fine. We were strangers, or you thought I was an ass or I thought— Far less of you than I should have. Determination: Rolan— Rolan: Please. These past few weeks have meant the world to me. If you go back to Reithwin you will be taking my heart with you, I know it, and what good will I be here, with no passion to apply to magic, to life— Determination: You exaggerate— Rolan: Minna, please. I … I won't be able to rest, worrying you're unsafe. I won't be able to concentrate, imagining — Mystra preserve me — imagining another taking you to dinner, holding your hand, stroking your hair. Determination: I greatly enjoy your company Rolan, but for now, my passions lead me away. I can serve my God and her daughter. I can help a village in her name. I would not ask you go leave the Tower. Rolan: That's not fair. Determination: If the temple in Baldur's Gate has need of me, then I will return. Rolan: I— Determination: Don't. Rolan: I'm happy for you. Determination: I wish you meant that. Rolan: I am! I do. It's just that I've come to be so fond of you that I am losing myself. But I'll find the pieces. I will … be fine. Determination: You will. Rolan: Minna— Determination: Goodbye, Rolan.

[evanyaglad]

The Compromise (JaTD/Janther fanfic)

I don't claim to know much about medieval history. Although accuracy within canon and time-periods have always been things important to me in fandoms. So I will tentatively be dancing around the character's ages in this fic. I want people to be able to interpret the ages with how they feel comfortable. Meanwhile, I will be attempting to keep things historically accurate with whatever Google tells me is correct. I found this article that seems to cover all topics in a straight forward manner, so it's my main point of reference as of the writing of this chapter. https://www.medievaltimes.com/education/medieval-era/marriage I don't plan to upload all the chapters to Tumblr, so please follow it on FF or Ao3 if you want updates. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14279425/1/The-Compromise https://archiveofourown.org/works/50150686/chapters/126652345

It had been a whole year since the last ball. The ball that Jane stubbornly didn't go to despite the princess' pleas. With the event coming up again in a month, Jane knew her mother would be hounding her soon about the "dress" subject. She was trying to keep herself so busy with knightly chores that her mother wouldn't have the chance to talk to her. Unfortunately, today was particularly slow. Mainly because she had been completing all the chores in record time and there was now none left until the day after tomorrow. All this work left her tired and sore but she tried to act as if everything was normal. The last thing she needed was anyone asking questions about the embarrassing subject.

Today, Jane found herself sparring with Gunther in the training yard while Dragon was sitting on his favorite spot on the wall taking a nap. They had been at it for about a half and hour now, neither willing to yield first. Although her muscles desperately craved for it to end, her pride wouldn't allow it. Within the year, Jane's relationship with Gunther had changed from when she started her knight training. The journey for sky-leaf on the far side of the mountain gave them a basic level of respect for each other. From there, an odd form of friendship started, although they still teased each other relentlessly and their rivalry was as strong as ever. Not to mention, she did not want Gunther to see her in a dress. This thought clung in her mind as she saw her mother approaching out of the corner of her eye. This laps in focus is all Gunther needed to get the upper hand in their battle, smacking her wooden sword aside and holding his staff to her neck. His face was as smug as ever and Jane knew things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Jane raised her sore arms dejectedly, "yield"

"I guess extra credit doesn't make you a better knight, hm?" Gunther sneered, obviously upset by all the praise she'd earned from Sir Theodore these past couple of days.

Before she could defend herself, her mother's shrill voice pieced the air as she drew closer, "Jaaaane, dear, you've been avoiding me all week. I really need you to try on the gown I got you for the ball, so I can have the seamstress make adjustments." Her stare was threatening. Jane could tell she was attempting to keep her cool, even though she hadn't even acknowledged Gunther's presence yet. Who had taken a few awkward steps back from the two.

Jane spared a glance towards him and saw realization flicker through his eyes before they hardened into something troublesome. She knew she had to say something before he had the chance, "Mother, I told you before, I will not be wearing a gown to the ball." Her teeth were clenched as she tried and was failing to act normal.

"I'm sorry Jane but this year the King has insisted you come on account of the Princess," Jane's mother replied almost before Jane could finish.

"Then I shall wear my knight tunic," Jane attempted to sound firm in front of Gunther, although she was afraid of angering her mother and escalating the situation.

"Unfortunately for you I have already spoken to your father and he supports me on this decision," Adeline said as she turned to leave, "Come along now."

Jane was stunned by that revelation. Her father supported her last year, so she wondered what made him change his mind this time. She awkwardly locked eyes with Gunther again as she debated on what to do.

"Go on now, fair lady. I'm sure that dress will match your 'rough and tough' image perfectly," Gunther teased as he walked off laughing that infuriating laugh that made Jane want to slap him.

Dragon at some point had woken up during the conversation, "I could force him to wear a dress to the ball," he said in a mock threat.

Jane giggled despite the circumstances and turned her attention to her lizard friend, "Although that offer is tempting, i fear I'll have to figure something else out." She placed her practice staff back on the rack where it belonged and reluctantly followed where her mother had gone. "If I can just speak with Father, I know I can get him to change his mind."

Although her mother didn't wait up for her, Jane knew she (and the gown) was probably in her family's courters in the castle. Leaving Dragon to continue his nap, Jane passed by the kitchen, waving to Rake as she went by. "Is anything the matter, Jane?" Rake must have seen her mother's scornful face and feared the worse.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Rake. Thank you," Jane replied as he nodded and returned to his work fertilizing his garden. Jane shuddered with the knowledge it was Dragon dung and rushed along up the steps to the main garden.

As she walked, she glanced at the roses in the garden and wondered what she should say to her parents once in the castle. The gown debacle had been an issue since Jane was little and expressed a desire for knighthood. She remembered when she always used to wear a dress as she followed her mother around learning how to be a lady in waiting. She knew deep-down, that she was a disappointment to her mother. The lady-in-waiting to the Queen and Princess was a high honor. She had been blessed to be born into nobility so closely associated with royalty. She used this leverage to her own advantage to become a knight, but, as an only daughter, she knew it wasn't what her mother wanted. With her mind muddled, Jane found she had wandered to the garden fountain. Letting out a loud sigh, she sat on the rim.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of jingle bells, "A clown is just what you need to turn that frown up-side-down," he said as he took a seat beside her.

"I doubt so. It has to do with the ball, or more importantly, my mother," She said, refusing to meet his eyes as her fingers danced along the water's surface.

"Ah, 'down with the gown," he mumbled.

"How did you know?" she asked, finally meeting his eyes.

"Jane, how could your best friend forget about the events of last year?" He smiled.

"Second best friend!," Dragon's yell rang from across the castle grounds. This caused the two of them to burst out laughing.

After an embarrassing snort, Jane finally answered Jester's question, "Well, as my 'second best friend' do you have any advice for me?"

"In my expert dress-wearing opinion, I think it doesn't matter what you wear. Whether tunic or gown, you are still Jane," he said in that low and loving voice she knew he used when he was serious.

Jane appreciated the sentiment but couldn't help but add, "No one will ever take me seriously again as a knight. Especially Gunther," she groaned.

"Who cares about Gunther, anyway?" There was an edge to his tone, "He'd be left too stunned by your beauty to even think of insulting you!"

Jane knew Jester meant that as a compliment towards her instead of a real example of how Gunther would act. However, her stomach turned at the thought. Jane never saw herself as beautiful. Her lanky legs, freckled face, and wild hair was not the traditional definition of beauty. Not to mention the bruises and smell of sweat her knight training left her in. She wasn't sure what Jester saw in her, for she knew about his not-so-well-hidden crush. Nevertheless, she appreciated the gestor, "Thank you Jester, I'll keep that in mind."

As she stood up from the fountain she felt slightly better, "Well, time to face my demons," She waved goodbye to her friend before making the daunting journey into the castle. Inside, the castle the hustle and bustle was almost overwhelming. There were servants everywhere, hanging decorations, setting up tables, cleaning surfaces, and anything else one could think of preparing for the biggest party of the year. Jane's heart began to race with excitement. The Grand Ball was her favorite event the castle hosted and she was still disappointed in herself for missing it last year. Although she tried to convince herself she wouldn't have done anything differently. This thought brought her back to reality as she remembered the reason she was even in here. She dodged and weaved her way through the crowd, trying not to get in anyone's way. The movements soon became like a dance to her, delicately maneuvering the area with ease. Oh how she loved this. She loved parties, people, and dancing. The sound of people talking and laughing rang as a joy filled heart-beat in her ears. A natural chorus, the music of life.

The fun ended once Jane slipped into the hallway that led up to her parent's courters. The number of servants in this area was not as abundant, so she was able to walk through without hassle. It was funny to think she grew up in these very halls. She used to follow her mother around everywhere and she even remembered the duties they preformed. After a few flights of stairs, Jane neared the door to her childhood home. The hallway felt like it was getting longer and a pit begun to grow in her stomach. Taking one last deep breath, Jane opened the door without thinking to knock. Inside, her mother was with a woman Jane didn't know but assumed was the seamstress.

"Oh my goodness and there she is!" Adeline seemed breathless, as if she didn't expect her daughter to show up. Which, admittedly, was a high probability. She quickly rushed over to her, flailing her hands around until they grabbed onto Jane's wrists, pulling her deeper into the room. All three of them turned to an alcove with a large mirror. Nearby was a beautiful long emerald colored gown with gold trimming. jane cringed knowing her parents probably spent a fortune on it. It also set her suspicions high, wondering what the special reason behind such a gorgeous dress was.

Jane was ushered up onto a stool in front of the mirror and was then stripped down and helped into the dress in question. With her mother tying up the corset in the front, Jane glanced at herself in the mirror. The dress truly was beautiful. The green shimmered as she turned to face the mirror after her mother finished. The collar was square and the sleeves bellowed at the elbow. The dress hugged her in a way that made her feel feminine. There was a silence that fell upon the women. The seamstress standing apart, waiting for instructions. While her mother stood with her hands clasped together at her face. She looked close to tears and had a wide smile. She was obviously happy with what she saw. Meanwhile, Jane felt the person she saw in the mirror was foreign. The dress didn't match the girl at all. It was soft, shiny, and perfect in every way. Jane was rough, covered in dirt, and ugly. At least, that's how she felt.

With the silence stretching out, Jane eventually realized everyone was waiting for a response from her. "I can't wear this," She blurted.

Her mother groaned dejectedly, "Jane don't be ridiculous! You are a lady of the court and this is what ladies wear!"

"I don't want to wear this!" Jane practically shouted as she turned to face her mother.

"What's wrong with it?" Adeline screeched back. The poor seamstress looked as if she wanted to become part of the wall but Jane didn't care. This had gone on too long!

"I am a knight, and knights don't wear gowns!" she begun to undo the ribbon on the front. Her face was hot but she refused to cry.

"Knights are also not women, and yet here you are!" What her mother meant by that statement, Jane wasn't sure.

There was another silence as neither women broke eye contact. Jane continued to fiddle with the corset until her mother grabbed her hands. "You have to wear it! Things have already been set in place and we can not back out of them."

That revelation ceased Jane's struggle against her mother's hands. "What things? What are you talking about?"

Adeline released her hands and turned away, as if ashamed. Her hand coming up to her mouth as she thought of what to say. Finally, she turned back to her daughter, "Jane, as you know, you are of marrying age-"

"No! You didn't!" Jane's gasp turned into a shout.

"There are many powerful men that will be attending the Ball this year, and your father and I agree this would be the prefect time for you to find a husband."

"I won't do it! You can't force me!"

"Just consider yourself lucky I'm giving you a chance to meet a man you like while at the Ball! Something could have been arranged without your involvement." The way her mother punctuated informed Jane the conversation was over.

Jane bit her tongue. If she had to guess, it wasn't just her parents that felt like marrying off a noble knight to someone of importance at the Ball would be a good political move. Her mother had told her the King insisted she come on account of the Princess, but Jane wondered just how important the guest list was this year. Either way, Jane knew she should have thought better as to think her mother wouldn't marry her off as soon as she came to age. That had always been the plan even back when she was still training to be a lady-in-waiting. Girls were nothing but property to be bought and sold for personal gain. Her mother gasped as her daughter begun ripping the dress clean off before grabbing her training gear and putting it back on.

"If you do this, mother," she turned to see her mother cradling the discarded gown, "I'll never speak to you again." With that, she left, slamming the door behind her.

[danafinwefeaelenionfeanorian]

Feanorian Week Day Two: Kanafinwe

272 of the Fourth Age

"So I've been thinking about music,"

"What of it?" Kana side-eyes me as if noticing music is an odd occurrence.

He knows I like music, in fact, I love it, but not when it's the same refrain over and over and over again for hours. Kana found that out once or twice when I had to kick him out of my study. He only took the hint when I threw a copy of Layers of Life at his head.

"I'd like something special played on my children's name day,"

"Are you asking me to compose something for the day?" Kana perks up, sitting up and leaning across the couch to stare at me wide eyed.

"I am, unless you have something better to do,"

"I might," Kana states as a matter of fact rather than persuasion as he settles into the couch.

Oh, I'm sure he has a grand ball to plan, a hiking trip, a smithy to clean out, a book to bind and a whole day of baking sweets in front of him. I'm certain he has even less time than me.

"Oh in that case I'll go hunt down Daeron, I heard he got released from Mandos last month,"

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" Kana shouts, just about leaping over the couch to get at me on the couch opposite him in the sun room.

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't," I smile sweetly at my younger brother.

"You would let that sindar sing at your children's name day?" Kana all but yells.

"I spent thirty years listening to him sing; it was grand listening to someone other than you," I state, layering it on thick.

I will admit I was enjoyable for the first decade, but after that, Daeron started to grate on my nerves.

"If you were so enthralled with him, you can hunt him down and have him sing at your children's name day," Kana states, turning his body so his back is to me.

"Fine by me."

The minutes pass as Kana and I sit in this stalemate. It's only when the sun starts to go down that I worry that he means it. I'd hate to have to find the damned male. I remember he wasn't enthralled with me, but not many in Doriath liked me. So it wasn't new.

"ARGH," Kana growls, shifting into a sitting position and facing me again. "No, Daeron will not sing at your children's name day. I'll do it."

"Thank you,"

Kana rolls his eyes and stands. He tells me to follow him. So I get up and leave my book open on the side table.

We walk to the opposite side of the manor, to Kana's studio. Inside Kana's studio, curled up in the corner, is Aravel. He looks content sitting and looking out the window at the front lawn. Now I wish I'd brought my sketch pad.

"Hello darling,"

"Hello Dana, Uncle," Aravel acknowledges us, not taking his eyes off what he's been looking at.

"Do you want to help pick music?" I ask as Kana moves over to his desk and pulls out a stack of sheet music. He spreads them out for us to look over.

I do wonder what I've gotten myself into. Kana does know dinner is in a few hours? We don't have all day.

"For my name day?"

"Yes,"

"Sure," Aravel smiles, moves to Kana's desk, and picks up a sheet. He reads it over, trying to decide if he likes it or not. He ultimately decides no.

We go over several more sheets, with me picking one that sounds interesting and handing it to Aravel, who has the last say. Then Kana picks up his work in progress sat by his large harp.

"I was saving this, but I think this might fit what you are looking for," Kana hands Aravel the piece.

My son looks over the sheet music and thinks for a moment before a grin breaks out on his face. Aravel tells his uncle that he'd love to hear the piece.

Kana, the ever-willing to play, agrees to play the piece on his harp. He sets up and begins. A soft melody flows from his fingers; the highs are rich and emotion-filled, and the lows are deep and rumbly but catchy.

When he finishes, Aravel's mouth hangs from the captivating piece. Kana has outdone himself. The piece is stunning.

"It's beautiful,"

"I agree. Would you play it on our name day, Uncle Kanafinwe?" Tauriel asks.

I turn to the doorway, and Tauriel is leaning on the frame. She smiles sweetly at her uncle.

Aravel quickly agrees that Kana should play that piece on their name day. Together, they pester their Uncle more than I would have to get him to agree.

They don't know, but I already bartered that option into fruition.

A slow "Fine" Is all my children get before they erupt into happy dances and fist-pumping.

"If I'm to play, then you must help me pick pieces for the night," Kana argues.

For the next while, we go over every piece. Sometimes, Kana will be handed a piece, and he'll play. It doesn't always go well. Other times, Aravel and Tauriel argue over whether they like the piece or not.

"Dana,"

"Yes?"

"Dinner is in an hour and a half," Mother says, leaning her head in. She then reminds me that Nanwe's parents, along with his brothers and sister, are coming tonight.

Ah, yes, the infamous brother. Even after all these years, he hasn't gotten along with Nanwe. I suppose it's a rite of passage in this family.

[ladyazulina]

Azu is Talking - There's Something Every Week

The first week I was not ready. (Are we ever?)

The second week I was not only overwhelmed by changes, but I was also suffering from a dental procedure. (I still have to schedule a piece extraction… Funny.)

The third week I was heavily hit by a wave of depression. (Not free of it yet. Does it ever go away?)

And last week I was hormonal. (Pre, during, post. We are always hormonal, there’s no rest of it.)

This week I’m sick.

My mom got sick last weekend and it didn’t surprise me that I was already showing signs a day after. I have low defenses as they are. But there’s always something going on in my life. I should not have laughed at my friend saying that my life was way more exciting than hers, but it was really hard to believe then. I mean, I would like it not to be, but there has always been something every week. Maybe I just didn’t want to accept it. I still don’t. It doesn’t make it any less true though.

It’s as true as I lost Creative Monday. Again. I wasn’t in the best of shapes, but my body (or my mind? Both? Why not both?) demanded rest and I had to comply. There were no suggestions or questions or even options for a decision. The only thing I could do was comply. And I’m slightly wary trying to remember it because… there’s not much coming to my mind, if nothing is something I could count on and rely on.

But on Review Tuesday, I got to share, as of late, this week’s Linney’s campaign post. It was, in hindsight, all I did. And it was hard to do after two days of lying sick in bed and having to get back in full into house chores. Anyone could say it doesn’t sound like a lot, but in a four-person house, when you cease your tasks and no one fills in for you, it can get messy really fast. Don’t even let me get started on it.

Iron Valley, Linney's Campaign, is being live every Tuesday.

The only reason I’m not also delayed on Linney’s campaign is because those posts are scheduled three weeks in advance. It would have been four if I would have got to schedule this week’s one.

When I got ready to start (late, but I’m my own boss, so) with the review, there was a power outage. I assumed it was like the ones we usually have and would be back in five minutes or an hour, but it lasted seven hours. From 5pm to midnight. So I was unable to do anything else. And I got the hell frustrated about it.

The nice thing I can take about that day, though, is that before the power went out my partner let me ramble about my writing projects and stuff and I got excited again about writing and progressing on those. I have A Plan™ that consists of me finishing my TTRPG game this year so I can start with one novel next year, as The Year’s Project™. The next year’s project is not the one I’m excited about, but whatever gets me back in the game works… right? I guess.

Working Wednesday had a late start, but I did get into it. I underestimated the translating work, but I spent the whole day translating into English the first workshop I was working on. Next week will be the second one, and since that’s shorter, I believe it’s safe to assume that I will be able to upload them on Patreon? Maybe? August it is, I hope.

By then I had already received my boss’ feedback, about the [REDACTED] adventure, and apart from a few not-that-minor organization requests, he took it? My first-ever adventure? I have to edit it, maybe two rounds of editions, but… nothing major? Just… put it nicely? I still have to sit on it, but if the point is that I’m amazing... Baby, I’m amazing 💅🏼

Hahahah, okay, I have to uplift myself, alright? So, give me a minute.

A hot minute.

I also started reading an ARC, the one of the author that always asks. I tried reading the first that I received this week, but it was from an author I tried to read a previous trilogy and couldn’t progress in the first book, so… I should have seen it coming. This one, though, I’m already having fun. It has around forty chapters and I’m reading only one per day so far. I know I can pick up a better pace, but I better leave it happen on its own than force it.

Backstage Tuesday was A Day™. I did some editions for this awesome project with the cool boss and they’re so great I do enjoy working with them! I did the backstage task even though I was getting sleepy, but the promise of a coffee break with my partner made me work it without complaints. I also worked on a sample of the [REDACTED] adventure, because I was slightly confused about some things, on how to apply the editions, so I talked with my boss (I… I have two more bosses than I feel comfortable having) and we reached an agreement for the sample, and I… worked on it the rest of the day like an obsessive. Four hours and something. With a Killer Headache™. It was a weird day for me, I woke up feeling weird, not being able to place what was wrong, everything bothering me, and not wanting to engage with anything, so I’m glad I got stuff done. Very well done, on top.

I don’t remember it being that bad, though. Lots of nice memories. It’s good to know the pain isn’t taking hold of my life anymore. Some days it can be overseen.

It feels nice.

On Secret Friday, I felt productive. I sent my [REDACTED] adventure’s boss the sample and they gave me the green light to continue following that hunch because I was right. I slightly organized a collection of mine I would like to publish before the end of the year if possible. I continued editing the project (attempting to do at least a small edition per day to advance it as quickly as possible, managing it well to this day). Spent needed time with loved friends I adore and miss on a daily basis. And engaged in the Secret Thing I’m doing for my not-that-secret partner. I felt nice, working-wise, but I got free earlier than expected and though I’m usually out of commission to start new stuff after 6pm (my head starts getting fuzzy and light), I felt like I was missing something. There was something I should do, or be doing, that I did not remember. Something I should check on. Something to work with. That was not in my to-do list.

It’s hard to go over that thought when you have no hint whatsoever of what that could be. So I decided to chill out. I have been doing a good job so far, I can start resting earlier some days.

Playful Saturday was playful, heheheh I spent the whole day rereading all my playthrough in the TTRPG solo campaign before finishing it. I edited a few ways, adding some things and taking out others, but so far I’m satisfied with it. With most of it. I hate the ending with a passion, but it was the ending the game needed, so I’m not complaining… That much.

I also had a small unplanned break accompanying my mom for a walk to the supermarket. We’re trying to get everything ready so I can take a trip at the end of the year to stay with my partner for a bit and meet his family, so she also took the opportunity to ask some questions that were bothering her. I’m trying to do my best, but I hate adulthood, it stresses me way too much and a lot of things don’t make sense, it’s needed to be done anyway.

Every step makes me feel nervous and accomplished, very much overwhelmed while seeing it as a whole, so I’m focusing on just the one I have to take next. There is a need to be so patient that it makes me mad.

Anyway, I will be reaching out to the creator of the game this next week, to give them my thoughts and fangirl about how the first campaign went for me. I will be making a public post about it as well and letting you all know when the time comes. The story I ended with will start being uploaded on Patreon, with teasers going everywhere after my two campaigns of Iron Valley are taken care of. So stay tuned.

I mean, I want to start teasing you now, but it’s not that long. I swear it will be worth it.

I expect to request my passport this week, so that’s an adulting process to go through I’m hoping not to dread (completely). It’s also my last free week before classes in college start, even though I will be taking only two subjects. And I’m so waiting for next Sunday, when I will be meeting with my lovely friends; I’ve been wanting to do this for m o n t h s.

More on all of this next week, hopefully.

Just as a heads-up, I have started a list of posts I would like to share outside of my weekly stuff, but we will see how long they take me and where and when they will go live. Just in case one or two of those start appearing before me saying something about it.

[the-firebird69]

There's a lot of senile people here I mean they seem to be really out to lunch all the time is mom and dad walked around a little like that but they're getting harassed these people are just out they're out to lunch and have stupid comments and they think like little kids I got to go up and say something dumb you know I remember you for being a piece of s*** and it's really not what people usually try and do.

So tell me f is pretty much finished he shot at our son three times and nobody ever shot at him in history his whole life he's he's doomed and Trump is too for any weapon at him just like his brother left his brother was out of here that's why I actually he did it at Otis and disappeared very soon after and when I actually tolerating it Tommy has been killed many times and so is Trump and idiots bring them back and it's the empire and they're going to lose and he should be gone and you're suffering because they're not and usually you guys vote to get rid of people who do that I guess he didn't really get into it with the weapon

-there are a few things other than this happening they're invasion is postponed they're stinking up Georgia and they're stinking up Alabama with a whole bunch of s*** and it's coming out the rivers and it's flowing into the Gulf and it is going to actually grow algae hey back in the day it used to heavy cities on the shore and it would stink like hell for a few days then it would grow algae and tons of it and it would beat up the poop real quick it was cyclical and the spring will take a little bit and then it would start up now it's spring and it is cooler and elsewhere and it's going to start growing and it'll be oxygen everywhere and there will be more here as a result right now it's starting to crank on the coast up to North Carolina there are huge plumes of algae a gigantic and they're getting bigger. That's one thing the other is all that stuff is blowing out it's high tide it's blowing out the sea rapidly and it is massive literally a huge huge plumes of the muck I'm blowing out there right now and the surface is going at 30% she can't tell and pretty soon it's going to be clear and clear of the month and it will be much nicer here smell better he said he smelled salt Air and it was very very low tide last night about six or seven feet down and the saltwater came in cleaned everything up and it's going to keep happening and there's seaweed and algae on the shore finally it's a good sign it's still about 2 ft of it only about 50 feet out and it's about 2 ft to 6 foot up for a while about 80 ft and then it goes down to about one foot and and there's 120 ft wide good at 80 ft wide it's clear so that's going to be gone in just a few days it's going to blow out and the rest of the world start blowing out there barrier and things are better and they figured out who if these clones and they're going to take a beating very soon Tommy f is going to be out his ship will be out and people are tired of him doing illegal surgeries and kidnapping people constantly and blaming everybody Trump too he's doing that and he's going to be killed Monaco went very well it's 9:00 p.m. there now and it's Saturday it still goes on but it's not as big as Friday 9:00 p.m. there's small parties and supposedly the pseudo empire

-there's a lot of trouble happening fairly soon we think that they're going to have the invasion possibly tonight but late if they do it tonight and then if they don't it will be maybe even Sunday afternoon like Washington and if it's not Sunday afternoon probably early this week coming A lot of people are waiting for it and think that it will happen for sure even that time frame but they can't stay there for long Georgia and Alabama and there are other waves growing that's the thing too and there's actually way too many troops building up to just attack Florida and the empire has figured it out and they're amassing at the border as well. I have quite a facility up there in Clinton army part of the Blue hills is mind out up north and their building the water goes underneath it and it will reduce the amount of water coming here it'll be more normal towards June july. It's an attack it's going up to like 6.5% right now the evacuation of the morlock is right now the population is at 19% 4% are prepping and 2% are planning on leaving I will leave only 14% more lock here including sudo empire but they are going to their posts but the morlock are leaving to come back it's similar but not the same but we don't count them as citizens if they're going to the rings and bases and yeah they're an American basis in the South and California in other parts of the West Coast our son says they look the same and sound the same like Tim Doyle. Duhhhhh and they both sound like it. They really do and I heard it a lot while I was there and I thought what are we going to talk about and my husband says duh and if you translate it from Thanos original language it means you feeling the lines in the planks and we'll talk about it from what we remember you said about it. So I'm laughing Hera says because that's exactly what he's saying sort of sometimes. Sometimes it's a bit more clever wants to try and get information.

-in further news on the battles in the Massachusetts are increasing and they're trying to get to the bank seven professional scans on that particular Bank of Rockland in westborough and Lyman and they found that there was anomalies and oddness below and it's tough to stand from an oblique angle some have real powerful scanners and got them close enough and yeah they can see something it's about 80 miles down there's tunnels there and it is what appears to be a key so people are going nuts and they want to get up there and use the money as an excuse

-there's a few other things happening we are approaching March and our son might start to growing and we don't have the money from Bank of Boston which is Bank of Rockland they say that's the first installment from social security that he saved and put it in the bank and he didn't really use it so that's the kind of money it is he really didn't use the money that he got only a teeny bit of it and came back but not much so it's a new code so we're going to publish

Thor Freya

Olympus

Hahaha are you making me stupid by being next door he's saying to Dave and I hear him saying yes I know I didn't use the money I put it in the bank I guess people didn't get it and some people didn't have a hard time and he found out and it was David did the work

Trump