#i wish we could have a space heater

[cameoutstruggling93]

Back in the cinderblock ice box office today 👉😎👉 can't believe classes start next week!!

[absolutelyzoned]

its me and my inability to compromise against the world

[cthonicascendant]

Hell yeah donuts!! And it really is nice weather :D

.

[moonlight-prose]

If you’re taking those as prompts, ❛ don’t you know what you’re doing to me? ❜ with Din perhaps?

LOVE IS A FIRE THAT BURNS UNSEEN

a/n: so i took forever on this, because i kind of fell out of writing for din for...well....awhile. i can tell you this sat in my wips folder half finished for months. honestly i was wondering if it would even get finished. but i was re-watching mando last night and decided why the fuck not. i can't remember which prompt list this was from because it's been so long, but that's okay. this is not beta read or edited, but we live and die by the pen.

summary: on your list of things that could possibly happen while bounty hunting with din, dying from hypothermia wasn't included. nor was finally admitting the truth to yourself about your feelings.

word count: 3.1k+

pairing: din djarin x f!reader

warnings: EXPLICIT SO MINORS DNI, near death experience, angst, feelings being admitted sort of, p in v sex, a hint of choking, they're so in love it's sickening.

It’s fucking cold in the Razor Crest as you sit in the cockpit waiting for his return. You’re bundled in a jacket that has seen better days, but even with the extra layers you swear you’ll freeze to death before he comes back. Tempted to turn the ship back on in order to get some heat—you do the most to distract yourself from the frost currently eating away at the skin of your face. Din’s instructions were clear. Keep the ship hidden until he comes back with the bounty, which would be simple enough.

That is if the bounty he was currently hunting resided on a planet with a temperature that wouldn’t kill you from exposure. Everything had been fine two hours ago. You were working on repairing an old comlink as he tracked the bounty through space, having caught their signal on the outer edges of the galaxy. Except then…they were attacked. Neither of you could see who caused it or even why, but suddenly a lone ship was heading into the atmosphere on the one planet you always said you’d rather die than visit.

Hoth—a frozen pit that once housed the Rebellion of all places.

So, there you were. Shivering to gain some warmth as you scanned the area for Din’s signal. If the ship was right, he still remained alive. You only wished you could say the same for yourself by the time he came back.

The cold had begun to seep into your layers, hitting your chest directly and causing you to cough harshly. If he didn’t return within the hour he would find you dead due to hypothermia. Except that’s not what scared you. It was the fact that he would be the one to find you—a man who showed absolutely no interest in you whatsoever.

You weren’t sure when the crush started or even why, but you do know the realization hit you harder than a speeder-bike going at full speed one day while you were sitting beside him in the cockpit. He laughed at something you said, the chuckle low and slightly clipped due to his modulator and that’s what did it. What had you sitting there in shock—eyes wide—as it suddenly dawned on you that…you liked him. A lot more than you would have ever thought before.

“Maker fucking above,” you muttered, your teeth chattering with the words. “Hurry up, bucket head.”

Vaguely you recalled some survival tips from your time as a teenager on Bracca working as a scrapper. Never touch live wires, always look out for yourself, and when stuck in freezing temperatures—layers become your best friend. So, you stumbled out of the cockpit chair and towards the ladder that would lead you to the rest of his ship. Slow small steps were all you could manage as your body went into overdrive to try and keep you warm. Except the ship acted as an icebox rather than a heater.

You could lock yourself in his small cot, burrowing under the blankets he’d bought because of you complaining there wasn’t enough on the ship. But you’d first have to get there. It was a struggle to even climb down the ladder—your breath coming in gasps as your lungs fought against the freezing air. How long had you been sitting up there? You held no answer to the question, because the results were clear to you now; you were up there long enough to lead you right to death’s doorstep.

Dragging yourself along the side of the ship wall, you flinched as the cold metal touched your cheek. You should have gone against his orders and simply turned the ship back on. It would keep you from this—currently fighting against hypothermia as Din took his sweet time coming back.

The sound of the airlock on the door releasing when it opened brought a small flicker of hope to life, burning bright in your chest. But it faded just as quickly as it came. You caught sight of him dragging a half dead bounty up the ramp—his helmet turned towards you—before you collapsed to the ground. Your body shivering in a final attempt to generate enough body heat in order to keep you alive.

His voice calling your name echoed in the back of your mind as you drifted off—the concept of sleep far more enticing than it should be.

Steady breaths against your bare back was what you woke up—your mind drifting slowly back to reality. Or at least what you thought to be reality. The last thing you could recall was seeing Din’s helmet as your body did what it could to survive. How you ended up in the darkness of his cot, pressed against someone you assumed to be him…naked, was a mystery to you. Perhaps you were still dreaming. This must be how your mind envisioned some form of peace to ease your soul into an afterlife.

“You’re awake.” His voice caught you off guard—the breath in your throat catching.

“How…”

The shift of his body created a low burn of heat to appear at the bottom of your stomach as his arm tightened around your waist—drawing you closer. “You almost stopped breathing when I got back. Your body went into shock from the cold.”

“I was dying,” you said softly, the realization far less jarring than waking beside him in the nude.

He hummed, the low pitch a vibration you felt along your back. “I had to get you warm.”

“So you took off my clothes?” you asked, the smile prominent in your tone.

“Generating enough body heat only works when—”

“Both of us are naked.”

His fingers gripped onto the soft skin of your belly. “Yes,” he replied—voice slightly strained.

Somehow it never registered that he was actually sans armor and clothing until you felt his hand glide further up. The soft skin of his palm turned the spark into a fully formed flame that traveled its way through your body. He was laying beside you…naked. If you concentrated hard enough, you could feel the rise and fall of his stomach against your lower back—his skin soft there too.

Any other time your brain would have short circuited, but the sluggishness from sleep had yet to wear off. It made you rather docile—something you felt oddly grateful for. You were entirely aware, fully conscious of your words and decisions, but the tranquility in your body seemingly spurred you forward. No other time would you be this centered—this sure of yourself—and maybe that’s where you made the mistake, because this was dangerous. Revealing the feelings you’d harbored for months was like poison to your heart…positively lethal.

“Din,” you murmured, the soft heat coming from his body now spreading into yours.

If you knew you’d end up like this after one visit to Hoth, you would have come here a lot sooner.

“Yes?” Even his breath was warm as it brushed across the bare skin of your shoulder. Maker you were close in his bed that was barely big enough for him, let alone you beside him.

“I—” The words caught in the base of your throat, lodging themselves there like a stone you couldn’t swallow. You wanted to say it. Get everything out into the open and be done with it, but your mind seemed to be slowly coming to its senses.

“What is it?”

Closing your eyes, you let out a shuddered breath in the hopes that it would push down the erratic nerves which jumped under your skin. If you chickened out now, you’d never say the words. They’d be your secret—forever trapped in the cage of your heart until it was far too late to confess them. What’s funny is that they seemed like such easy things to say. How hard was it really to say I love you? How much effort did it take? Only you now realized it took a lot more than you expected.

It was far easier to die than to admit your feelings.

“I have to tell you something and I just—” Inhaling, you curled your hand around the blanket beneath you. “I don’t want you to look at me differently if things don’t turn out the way I hope.”

His thumb rubbed a soothing circle against your hip. “I won’t.”

You scoffed. “You probably will.”

The subtle shift of his body against yours caused flutters to go through your heart—rendering you speechless for a moment. He was so close it was maddening. If you had the courage you’d turn around, press yourself to him, and whisper the words against his lips. But you were practically stone, unable to even turn your head slightly to feel the press of his lips against your neck.

“For a while now I’ve felt…well…my feelings towards you have changed.” You blurted them out, hoping it was like ripping off a bandaid. Except the silence of his response hurt more than you expected.

Until—

“I know,” he said, his hand pressing a bit harder on your hip.

Nothing could have prepared you for the shockwave that went through your body. “You know?” you exclaimed.

“I’ve known since our trip to Coruscant.”

You paused, trying to form something to say, but all you could come up with was: “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Why had he let you think he held no feelings towards you? That you were alone in this. You felt him stiffen behind you, his hand pulling away slightly and your heart sank in your chest. Perhaps you had asked the wrong question. Or even touched on a part of this he didn’t want you to see. But you had to know the truth. You knew why you waited—why you couldn’t get the words out for the life of you—but why had he?

That is until he wrapped his arm around your waist tightly, jolting you back towards his body. A soft yelp left you as you tried to refocus yourself in the pitch black space. Except then you felt it. Pressing hard and insistent against your lower back—a part of Din you had only ever imagined, but never seen.

He grunted, his hand splaying across your stomach as you shifted against him. “Don’t you know what you’re doing to me?”

You gasped. “Din—”

“What you’ve been doing?

His hips canted downwards, grinding against you and sending heat sparking up your spine. Enough to combat the cold that still remained in you, but you wanted more. You craved it. Moaning softly, you pushed back against him, pressing your thighs together to hopefully appease the growing ache that formed. Except he was one step ahead of you. Shoving his bare thigh between your legs, he pressed it upwards, grinning at the way your head fell back against his chest—a guttural moan leaving your lips.

“Every day is fucking torture,” he rasped, his hand sliding even lower until his fingers were hovering right above where you needed him most. “Because I can’t touch you.” His lips pressed against the curve of your jaw. “Because I can’t kiss you…”

“Maker,” you gasped, reaching down to wrap your hand around his wrist. “I-I want you to touch me. Want you to kiss me.”

His fingers dipped down even lower, finally parting your folds. A ragged groan was pressed to your jaw, his teeth scraping down against the skin when he found you wet and dripping for him. You could feel his heartbeat against your back. How it was erratic and almost as quick as yours. He was just as nervous as you were—if not more so, because of his creed.

He wanted you to be his, to love him as he was with his creed, but he was scared that this wasn’t permanent. You wanted to show him the inner workings of your mind, the makeup of your heart—how he was seared into it. He was ingrained so deep into your soul that you couldn’t even fathom the thought of being parted from him.

“Are you always this wet for me?” he asked, disbelief clear in his tone.

Nodding, you felt another moan begin to form, only for it to die as he pulled his fingers away. “No—”

“Shh,” he breathed, cupping your jaw as he moved even closer. “I’ll take care of you.”

Heat flooded your stomach, a whine forming in your throat as he pulled you back, the head of his cock now nudging against your entrance. You dug your nails into his forearm, your lips parting to form around his name. A ragged moan echoing in his small quarters, and he began to push forward. Sliding into you slowly as you fought to keep yourself quiet.

“So fucking tight,” he hissed, wrapping his arm around your torso and thrusting into you completely, his hips pressing against your ass. “Won’t last—”

You keened when his hand fell to your clit, circling it with enough pressure to send jolts up your spine. For a moment he simply held himself there. Encompassed in your heat as he worked you over, building your release steadily until you were pressing into him. Your hips rolling against his fingers—fucking yourself on his cock. Soft moans were pressed to your skin, the stubble on his jaw scratching along your shoulder, and that only heightened everything.

For the first time…he was entirely yours. Bare and open as he indulged in something both of you had held back from doing for so long.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you turned your head and caught the corner of his lips in a kiss. Something so tender yet so powerful. It nearly sent you over the edge and you felt Din’s surprise at the action. How his body jolted, his hips nudging forward and fingers stuttering in their motions. Even though he had proudly claimed he wanted to kiss you, to finally feel your lips against his. He had never expected it to come true.

“Cyar'ika,” he breathed.

“I want…” You gasped, hips rolling against his fingers in quick movements as that blinding feeling continued to overtake you. “Kiss me Din. Please, please—”

His mouth found yours in the darkness of his cabin, and you felt your heart scream out. Felt your entire body give into him, his name, his signet forever carved into your heart. He was your future and he knew it. Which is why he kissed you with a fervor that you believed only existed in your dreams—a passion that you felt right down to your toes. His tongue slid along yours, tasting the shitty caf you had earlier—the desperation on your tastebuds.

“Ah…” You tried to form the words on your tongue. The feelings that were trapped in your heart, but they refused to be let loose.

“I know you want to cum,” he breathed, fingers speeding up as your walls began to flutter around his cock. His other hand shifted, wrapping gently around your throat to keep your face close to his. Pressing down lightly as you gasped. “Let me feel it.”

A keening broken moan of his name ripped from you, hands scrabbling to grasp for something, settling for his arm that kept you pressed against him. White flashed behind your closed eyes, his lips swallowing every sound you made as you writhed against him. Gushing around his cock.

You didn’t hear the hoarse shout that he pressed into your mouth, his hips thrusting into you quickly as he followed you off the edge. Filling you with a warmth that you swore you felt  in your chest. Biting down on his bottom lip you sucked into your mouth, moaning when he canted his hips forward, prolonging the sparks that ran up your spine. He was a panting mess and you tried to picture what he looked like.

Was his hair a mess? Were his cheeks stained red? Were his lips swollen?

The urge to simply open your eyes nearly overtook you, but you understood what came with that action. What would have to happen afterwards. Din had explained enough for you to grasp the basic details of what being a Mandalorian meant. So you kept them closed and opted to simply feel. You memorized how his lips against yours felt, what being full of him felt like.

You kept what you could nestled against your heart, remaining here for as long as possible. Din’s cock softened in you, twitching every now and then when your walls fluttered. But you solely had him to blame. Because he was running his hand along your body, grazing your nipples lightly before pulling away—the familiar feelings in your stomach stirring once more. If he wasn’t careful neither of you would be leaving this bed for quite some time.

Which didn’t bode well for you seeing as how you hated the planet you currently resided on.

“Din,” you breathed, pulling away to catch your breath before he dived down again—ready for round two of the hottest makeout session you’d partaken in.

“You want to leave,” he panted. There was something scary about how he could see your thoughts so clearly. You’d have to ask him about it later.

“No…” Your head fell back against his shoulder. “I want to stay here, but Hoth.”

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. “We can stay here for as long as you want.”

Half expecting him to pull out and place his helmet back in its rightful place, you were a bit surprised when he remained put. Curling himself around you closer until his body perfectly molded yours. The cold still remained in the ship—the heaters unable to counteract the snowy planet—yet you found that you were perfectly content to remain right where you were. Wrapped in his arms—the certainty of your future now nestled in his heart. Mimicking yours in every way.

“Din,” you breathed in the darkness, feeling him trace something along your waist.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to say…” You took in a breath, trying to calm the racing of your heart. “I feel like you should hear me say it.”

He pressed a kiss to your temple, his fingers pressing down. “I know cyar'ika. I feel the same way.”

“You do?” you asked softly.

“I do.”

You settled into the bed, allowing your muscles to relax and your body to once more give into the temptation of sleep. With Din right there, you felt as if you were able to finally relax. To give in and allow yourself to float.

“You know…” You yawned, feeling his chin settle against your shoulder. “Maybe Hoth isn’t so bad.”

He smiled, his lips brushing along your skin as you drifted off, mind succumbing to the sweet snare of unconsciousness. “No,” he breathed, continuing to trace the shape of his signet on your skin, because whether you wore it or not…you were a part of his clan. His life. “It’s not.”

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 43

Part 1 Part 42

Will’s loitering around the school, Dustin, Will, and Lucas plastered to his sides like burrs as he waits for Jonathan to get out of school and pick him up. The hallways are almost empty – everyone else allowed to take buses, and ride bike, and walk home; Will left the odd one out.

Even his friends who are dawdling by his side as they walk the empty parking lot have bikes chained up at the front of the school. They’re only still here because Will’s not allowed to be left alone. By anyone. 

The air is crisp, biting into his cheeks, but it’s too crisp to be the other side. Snow is on the horizon, not ash. He can smell it.

Mike’s talking about El in a hushed voice, moaning about Hopper blocking all access like the protective Father he isn’t. Will wishes his problems felt as small as Mike’s are,, and promptly feels bad about the thought.

It’s just, winter is in the air, and the sky is getting darker earlier each day. In a few more weeks, Will’s not sure he’ll even be able to get home after school without the specter of the Demogorgon hunting him from the shadows between each tree.

He wishes he didn’t live so close to the woods.

He wishes he could live in Steve and Eddie’s pockets like they live in each other’s. He only feels covered when he’s looking at Steve Harrington’s broad back.

Jonathan’s car pulls into the empty parking lot, and Dustin, Lucas, and Mike run off with shouts of goodbye. Only Dustin looks back, waits for Will to shuffle into the passenger seat before waving and peddling quickly to catch up.

Jonathan’s heat is up high enough to hurt. Will sinks into it, puts his frozen hands up to the vents to dethaw. 

“How was school?” Jonathan asks, The Doors playing near silently from his crackly radio.

“It was okay,” Will says, thinking of Zombie Boy shouted out at him like a slur in the hallways. Thinking about how sometimes he’ll walk up to his friend’s and be greeted by abrupt, strained silences, like a few days in the Upside-Down has made him a freaks among the freaks.

Jonathan hums, but doesn’t press. WIll loves him for it. As they drive toward home, the long-familiar fishhook feelings hooks and yanks his stomach. In a moving car, it’s almost a queasy thing, like he always imagined being on a sailboat would feel. He’s being pulled in two directions and his organs are sloshing around with it.

“Can we go see Steve and Eddie?” Will asks quietly.

Jonathan’s hands clench hard, shitty steering wheel vinyl creaking. He sighs, like a dog when you won’t share a piece of your dinner no matter how hard it begs. He takes a u-turn without a word, heading toward Forest Hills, knowing just like Will does that if they’re not already there, that’s where Steve and Eddie will end up soon.

Will knows they’re not there yet before Jonathan parks in the vacant spot where Eddie’s van usually presides. He puts it in park, doesn’t take the key out of the ignition, turns the heater down just a hair.

“I just don’t get it,” Jonathan says, looking at the Munson’s closed front door, not looking Will’s way at all.

“Get what?” Will asks, even though he knows. 

Jonathan sighs that same sigh. “Just–” he runs a hand through his discheveled hair until it partially covers his eyes, “you spend a few days with them and now it’s like they’re all you think about.”

Will looks down at his lap, can’t meet Jonathan’s eyes even when he feels his brother turn to look at him. Left unsaid in the space between them is that Jonathan doesn’t get them, doesn’t get him anymore, when they’re all each other has had for years.

“You weren’t there,” Will says. He knows it’ll hurt even before Jonathan breaths in like he’s been shot.

The heater and radio static break up the silence. Will can still feel it. 

“Can you–” Jonathan srarts. Will sees, out of the corner of his eyes as Jonathan reaches out toward him before dropping it. “Can you try to explain?” Will looks down at his dirty sneakers, thinking. He doesn’t have the words. But hten Jonathan says, “please?” all quiet and desperate and Will turns.

He pulls his feet up onto the seat, arms wrapped around his knees,  turning his body to face Jonathan as Jonathan does the same. Jonathan’s knee bangs on the bottom of the steering wheel, but he gets it all the way up to mirror Will’s posture, both their shoulders hunched, both of their arms around their knees.

“I was really scared,” WIll says, for the first time admitting something that was obvious. “And then they saved me.”

Jonathan nods, meeting his eyes. “And that’s it?”

Will shakes his head, looks down at the stick shift separating them. “No,” he says, fidgeting his fingers anxiously. “I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Jonathan reaches across the car, covering Will’s knee with his big palm and squeezing. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” He doesn’t understand, Will can tell.

“No,” he says, shaking his head, eyes prickling. The fishline is slackening now. He can feel it. They’re on their way. “This isn’t like that.”

“Like?”

“Like, a stupid teenager thing,” Will says. How does he say this isn’t about puberty, or growing up, or a fight with his friends, or even the isolation of the school halls where everyone treats him like he’s oil and everyone else is water. 

“Okay,” Jonathan says in that calm, quiet way that always calms WIll down. “What is it then?”

Will looks back down at the stick shift, Jonathan’s foot now propped up against it after he’d stretched it out. His sneakers are too small – Will can see his pinky toe pushing up against the side. 

“Like, there’s something in me,” Will says. “And it’s in them too.” Jonathan doesn’t say anything, but Will can feel his eyes on him. “I can feel them, right now.” He whispers it out, a secret in this car confessional of two.

“Feel them, how?”

“It’s, itchy? When they’re too far.” WIll says, struggling to find words he’s not sure exist. “And I can tell they’re turning into the trailer park right now.” He touches the hollow just below his ribs, looks up into Jonathan’s eyes. “Right here.”

Jonathan’s brows are furrowed, eyes intense, just as Eddie’s van comes peeling into view, parking haphazardly in front of Eddie’s trailer. Jonathan’s eyes go wide. He hadn’t gotten it until this moment. Will can see it hit him in the dilation of his pupils. “Like El?” he asks, quiet as Eddie tumbles out of the driver’s seat and rushes over to open the passenger side door for Steve like a goofy knight.

“I don’t know.”

Jonathan glances over just in time to watch a wan-faced Steve take Eddie’s hand to hoist himself out of the van. “Do they?”

Part 44

Taglist: @deany-baby @estrellami-1 @altocumulustranslucidus @evillittleguy @carlprocastinator1000 @1-8oo-wtfbro @hallucinatedjosten @goodolefashionedloverboi @newtstabber @lunabyrd @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @manda-panda-monium @disrespectedgoatman @finntheehumaneater @ive-been-bamboozled @harringrieve @grimmfitzz @is-emily-real @dontstealmycake @angeldreamsoffanfic @a-couchpotato @5ammi90 @mac-attack19 @genderless-spoon @kas-eddie-munson @louismeds @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @pansexuality-activated @ellietheasexylibrarian @nebulainajar @mightbeasleep @neonfruitbowl @beth--b

[dulcibella-dreams]

Tempest.

ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ⛆ ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ⛈ Makoto Yuki/Minato Arisato X GN reader

Synopsis: The weather is absolutely dismal, and you missed the train.

You could barely see.

The rain peltered the floor, creating a suffocating veil of gloomy mist. All you could do was speed walk through the monochromatic canvas. Soaked to the bone, your hair clung like wet silk to your skin, and you were pretty sure you accidentally ate some of your own rain-soaked strands. The day had started relatively sunnily, so you had no good reason to bring an umbrella. Oh, how you wished you had.

Holding the straps of your schoolbag like a lifeline, you rushed to the monorail's stop. Under the awning, you took a moment of respite to breathe. Your bag hit the ground, and you wrung out your dripping curtain of hair. Realising the weather had made you late, you checked the arrival and departure times. You almost fell to the floor and threw a tantrum when you saw the next train wouldn’t arrive for another hour. You hugged your own body, vehemently plunking down onto the bench. As your teeth chattered and water filtered out of the sides of your shoes, you envied the people who had arrived on time—probably at home with heaters and dry clothes right about now.

Your dreary thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. Someone quickly stepped into the stop, sheltering something in their jacket. Makoto! You definitely hadn’t expected him. He hadn’t realised you were the shivering person just yet, finger combing his drenched hair. You watched as he pulled out his MP3 player from underneath his jacket, while the book that couldn't fit in his bag lay drenched under his arm. Priorities, you supposed. As he turned, his eyes met yours, and they lit up in recognition. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t see you,” he said. You waved it off as he sat down next to you. Moving in closer, you took the ink-stained workbook out of his hands, cringing at the ink blots on the pages. You closed it and put it in your own bag, having enough space. He gave you a silent look of gratitude.

“I didn’t see you when I left school, so I assumed you’d already gone,” you said sheepishly. You glanced at Makoto, who was adjusting his drenched hair. “If I’d known, I would’ve wanted to walk with you.” He turned toward you, a small smile playing on his lips. “We ended up together anyway, though. I suppose it worked out?”

Makoto carefully placed his MP3 player in his schoolbag. “When does the train come, anyways?” he asked. You almost groaned again. “in an hour...” you replied. He fiddled with his bangs, a soft sigh escaping him. He looked tired, but then again, he always did.

“If the rain settles down, we may as well walk…” he mused, though there seemed to be no sign of the weather calming. The sound of rain hitting the stop was almost deafening. “Unless we want to catch the meanest cold ever, I’d advise against it.” You’d rather sit here for hours than feel the rain seep into your scalp again. Makoto’s hair was even longer when wet. He was currently picking at the corner of his mouth, removing the hair that had found its way through his lips without invitation.

“Not like Mitsuru would let us skip school if we had a cold, anyways.” He mumbled.

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t she deem it ‘a danger to the student body’?” This made him laugh softly. It was a very gratifying sound, coming from a boy who usually remained expressionless. Though it warmed you up, it didn’t quite fix your waterlogged clothes. As the wind picked up, you heard the rumble of thunder. You were increasingly uneasy, watching the thin trees sway. You didn’t like storms. Suddenly, you felt the intense need to be indoors. You succeeded in suppressing your rising panic, though it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You alright?” Makoto tilted his head slightly, gauging you. You were going to shake your head and say ‘it’s fine,’ but something about his nature made it easy to open up. “I just…I really don’t like weather like this. It puts me on edge.”

Makoto looked at you for a quiet moment before reaching into his bag. Pulling out his music player, he offered his headphones to you. “…Do you want to listen with me?”

You sensed Makoto’s intention—to provide you with a distraction. It was…sweet. Absurdly so. It had been a while since someone had done something so considerate for you. Your cheeks felt warm. “Yeah, sure!” As the music played, you tried to lose yourself in its melody, separating each instrument from the beat. You started to feel less troubled.

But when your anxious mind coerced you to fix your gaze at the weather, his fingers found your face. Gently, he turned your gaze downward, and you watched as he took your hand in his. His touch radiated warmth, a stark contrast to your frozen skin. You reveled in his velvety hands, well-kept with strong, healthy nails. Makoto wasn’t accustomed to intimacy; his parents' passing had denied him such simple comforts. This had inevitably rendered him touch-starved. He understood that you sought solace in this connection— he enjoyed it just as much as you did, if not more.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the train finally arrived. As you both stood—muttering words like 'finally' and 'about time—he never released your hand. Looking into his eyes, that warm, fond feeling overtook you again.

"What would I do without you, Makoto?"

[megamindsecretlair]

It's a Little Cold

Pairing: Bucky x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. Cursing. Sad Bucky. Fluff. Smut. Mild age gap. Reader is late 20s and Bucky is mid 30s. Dirty talk, PIV, and unprotected sex. Oral (fem receiving) Sentences are intentional AAVE.

Summary: You and Bucky had been dating for a few months now and were lucky to spend your first Christmas together exchanging presents.

Word Count: 3,432k

A/N: I had been thinking about these two for some time, so naturally we needed a little follow up. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and a Happy Monday to those who don't. If you need a little break from festivities, here ya go! Likes are always awesome, please consider commenting and reblogging to help support writers! I block ageless blogs.

This is a follow up to It's a Little Warm. If you want to see how these crazy kids got together, start here! Read Part 1

Tagging the folks who liked the previous series: @softimgyu @blackreaderatrisk @braverthanthenewworld @multiversefanfics @monaeesstuff @blackpinup22 @chaos-4baby @sevikasblackgf @namsey1987 @browngirldominion

Fuck, you were frightfully cold. The downside to having low iron was that you were always fucking cold. You pulled the blanket over yourself and snuggled down into the bed but it was no use. You flipped over, your hand searching for your space heater, but the bed was empty. You popped your head up and looked at the empty spot.

“Bucky?” You called out. 

There was no reply. You kicked the covers off of yourself and got out of bed. You wiped sleep from your eyes as you walked towards the living room. The space was still dark, the open windows letting the morning light filter in. 

You were about to grab your phone and call Bucky, but a sigh caught your attention. At the window, Bucky stood leaning against the windowsill. You stopped and watched him. He looked melancholy as he stared out of the window. 

The pale morning light slanted over his exposed skin. He only wore black sweatpants. His dog tags hung from his neck. His metal arm was off for once. The scars around his arm always made you so fucking angry, you could resurrect the scientists who experimented on him and kill them all over again.

“Bucky?” You called out and approached him. You didn’t want to spook the poor man. 

Bucky turned towards you and gave you a small smile. “Mornin’, doll,” he said. You smiled back and snuggled into his side, wrapping your arms around his waist. 

“Mornin’ handsome. What ya doing up so early?” You asked. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen snow on Christmas.” 

You looked out of the window with him. You had been dating for a few months now and there were times when Bucky seemed to shut down and shut you out. You tried not to take it personally. There were so many things that he had been through, so many things that he’d seen, you weren’t sure you could begin to understand. You weren’t entitled to his every deepest thought. But you wish you knew how to help him. 

“I’m glad I get to be here when you do,” you said and nudged his shoulder. He smiled at you and kissed your temple. 

“Since we’re up...presents?” You asked excitedly. You waggled your eyebrows and Bucky laughed.

“Can’t help yourself, can you?” He asked. 

“Hell no! Are you kidding?” You slapped his rock hard stomach and crossed the room to the tiny Christmas tree on an end table by the other window. You knelt down and grabbed his presents. There was no way you were going to allow Bucky to drag a real Christmas tree into your place. You had an adorable argument about it.

You ended up winning by pointing out that the bad guys didn’t take breaks for the holidays. You hadn’t been sure that you would get to spend Christmas with Bucky. You agreed on a smaller, artificial tree this year. It was green, small and so cute. You two had sipped on drinks while you decorated. It took no more than an hour, mostly because you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other.

You held out the presents to him. Bucky grabbed his metal arm from the top of the couch and attached it. It never ceased to amaze you when he did that. You wanted to visit Wakanda so badly, it physically hurt. He flexed his fingers with a small grimace and then joined you in front of the table.

“Why don’t you open yours first?” He asked.

“No way! I want to see your face. If you hate it, I kept the receipts and we can return it for something else.” Nerves bubbled in your gut. You had wracked your brain for the past few months trying to think of what to get the man. 

He had precious little in his apartment. He was always on the go somewhere, ready to leave at the drop of a hat. From day to day, he didn’t know where he would be. You thought it would wreck you that he wasn’t here every day. You missed him like crazy when he wasn’t around, but when he came back, it was simply magical. 

“I’ll love it,” he said.

“You don’t even know what it is yet,” you said. 

Bucky smiled. “I will love anything you get me. I thought we agreed on one present?” 

He shook his box but what you got him wouldn’t rattle. He grinned and then nodded to two more presents under the small tree. “So we’re both full of shit?” 

You chuckled as you grabbed your presents from him. The wrapping paper was silver with tiny penguins on them. The penguins had scarves on and you giggled about how cute they looked. 

“Same time?” You asked. Maybe it would be better that you didn’t see his face when he opened his presents. You were suddenly nervous about what you got him. It was likely stupid and he wouldn’t use it. 

He nodded. You both tore into your presents, wrapping paper flying all over the place. There was a green gift box underneath so you opened it. Inside, there was a giant, plush blanket hoodie in your favorite color. 

“Bucky!” You squealed.

“Your anemic ass is always cold and I’m not always here to warm you up,” Bucky explained. 

“I love it!” You hugged him, wrapping your hands around his neck and squeezing him tight. He chuckled at your enthusiasm and kissed your cheek.

“Merry Christmas, doll,” he said. “There’s more.”

Underneath the blanket hoodie, there were matching socks and a huge black shirt. You lifted it and a waft of Bucky’s scent washed over you. “Your shirt?” You asked.

“You like stealing them all the time. Figured it was time to relinquish one willingly.” He said. 

“You know me so well already,” you grinned and leaned up to press your lips against his. His stubble tickled your jaw as you kept going, loving his lips on yours. He groaned low in his throat and began to kiss along your jaw. 

You were starting to warm up as you flushed with need. You would never get sick of him. Of his hands on you. “Open the rest of your presents,” Bucky said and kissed your cheek.

“You’re no fun.” You playfully pouted as you unwrapped your other present. Inside, there was a vanilla bean candle, bath soap, and lotion. You looked at him and Bucky had his lips pressed together in a thin line.

“I know you like to pamper yourself. So…” He was nervous. 

“Aww,” you cooed. You dropped your head to his shoulder. He was so damn sweet sometimes. He paid special attention to things you told him in passing. He knew your favorite coffee order and your favorite foods by now. He remembered so much with ease, it made you sick. 

“This is the best Christmas ever,” you said. 

Bucky grinned. “Even with a dinosaur like me?” He asked.

“Especially with a dinosaur like you. Older is sexy now,” you said.

He mockingly groaned and pushed you off of him. You pushed him back with a giggle. “Wait till you get some gray in your beard. You won’t be able to get rid of me then,” you dropped your voice. 

“Oh really? Some gray in my beard? That’s all it takes?” He asked, matching your low tone. His eyes lowered to your lips and you licked them slowly on purpose. 

“You’re killing me here,” he said.

You laughed and nodded towards his presents. Time to rip the bandaid off. Bucky continued to unwrap his presents, having stopped to watch your reaction to his presents. He opened the small one first, removing a leather and pen set.

“You-you didn’t have to do this,” he said. 

“You go off to these amazing places and I know you can’t exactly stop and smell the roses. But I thought maybe you’d like to write them down sometime. You’ve been through so much, sometimes writing it out helps. You said once that you couldn’t always trust what’s in your head. You can trust your words though,” you said.

Bucky stared at the journal for a long time and you wondered if you said something wrong. Or if he heard you at all. 

“This…this is really sweet,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. You slipped your hand in his and he squeezed it gently. 

Bucky cleared his throat and moved on to his other present. This one was in a gift bag so he took out the tissue paper and revealed a brand new duffle bag.

“I know it’s not really all that Christmassy and you already have one. But this one is made to be a lot sturdier. And there’s more pockets!” 

Bucky stopped you with a kiss. “I love it,” he whispered against your lips. 

“You’re not just saying that?” 

“This means more to me than you’ll ever know. I wish I had the words,” he said. 

He kissed you again, robbing you of all breath and reason. You sighed as he kissed you, his expert tongue swooping in to tangle with yours. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders pulling him in closer. 

His hands drifted down your sides, grabbing your ass and squeezing it tightly. You moaned as his fingers dug into sensitive spots under your ass. Spots you didn’t even know were sore. 

Bucky lifted you from the ground effortlessly and placed you on the couch. He continued to kiss you and explore your body with his hands. Forget being cold, you were on fire now. Bucky kissed his way down your body, lifting your tank top to kiss your tummy. 

His teeth teased your overly sensitive flesh before grabbing hold of your shorts and peeling them off of you. His hands followed after to remove your panties. You lifted off of the couch to help slip them off your ass. 

Bucky then lifted your shirt off, revealing your breasts. He moaned as he gripped them, running his thumbs over your nipples. You moaned at the coldness of his metal arm. It wasn’t enough to dampen the heat coming off of him in waves, warming you up from the inside out. 

“I may not have the words, but I can show my appreciation in other ways,” Bucky said. He kissed your thighs. 

“You always show your appreciation in the best of ways,” you said. Your voice was breathy, needy. 

Bucky chuckled as he began to pluck on your nipples while nudging your legs apart. You draped your legs over his shoulders and he wasted no time suckling on your clit. “Ooof,” you moaned. Your thighs tightened around his head and your hands sunk into his short hair. He was starting to grow it out a bit more but you could still dig your fingers into his soft brown hair. 

Your pussy throbbed with every pass and swipe of his tongue. His fingers continued to deftly tug on your nipples, ensuring increased pleasure. Bucky’s messy eating turned you on even more, to the point that you were cumming in no time. 

“Bucky,” you moaned his name as you came. Your body was wracked with delicious shivers and contortions, your back bowing off of the couch. 

“Music to my ears,” Bucky said against your clit. You moaned, too sensitive now. Bucky bit your thigh, leaving a wet spot right there. He stood up and dropped his sweatpants, revealing that beautiful dick of his. 

He kneeled onto the couch, pulling you by your legs until you were positioned where he wanted you. Your ass hung off of the couch, onto his thighs. He licked his lips, licked your essence from his lips, as he rubbed his dick in between your soaked folds. 

You bit your lip as you watched the devilish smirk on his face. He teased your entrance with his dick, causing you to moan and shiver violently. “Please, please, please,” you begged. Your skin felt electric, poised on the precipice of what you know would feel so good. 

“Please what, doll? Use your words,” Bucky said.

“Dammit Bucky,” you whined. You needed relief. You needed that sweet fuckin’ relief that only he could provide. You twisted and writhed beneath him but he only continued to tease you mercilessly. 

“I’m waiting,” he said. 

“Please! I need you,” you moaned.

“Need me to do what?” He asked. He swirled the tip of his dick at your entrance. He slapped your clit a few times with his dick. The wet slaps were loud in the quiet room. It was filthy and lewd and you whined some more. 

“I need your dick inside me!” 

Bucky cooed. “Aw, was that so hard?” He asked.

“I’m gonna smack you when we're done,” you said.

“Oh? Maybe I should get up then,” he said.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare!” You chuckled but you were too wound tight. Your chuckles came out as little huffs, too out of breath to truly laugh. 

Bucky slapped your clit again and you ached. You felt so empty that you turned pleading, puppy dog eyes towards him. “Please, Bucky,” you begged, your bottom lip quivering.

Bucky grinned and tilted his head as he finally slid inside of you. You mutually groaned, the sound echoing each other. You let out a deep sigh as he finally slid further in with ease. 

“Never get over this,” Bucky said. 

“Never,” you agreed.

Bucky took hold of your fleshy thighs and began to snap his hips with a brutal, near punishing pace. He stretched you out marvelously, feeling every last inch of him. You felt full in the best way as if he were stroking straight into the deepest part of you.

He pushed your thighs apart a bit more and sank in deeper, finding your G-spot. “Oue, oue! Don’t stop! Right there!” 

“Right there?”

“Right there! Right there!” You gripped onto his forearms and held on as he kept that same spot, thrusting into you exactly how you liked. You watched his face. Watched how he seemed to lose himself inside of you.

You liked this view most of all. Not only that you two were joined and meshed together so perfectly. You liked how unrestrained he looked. How his jaw was slack, eyes nearly closed, and that tongue of his poking out the corner of his mouth. 

He took your breath away when he was focused on your pleasure like this. When he seemed to chase some unnameable ghost in his eyes. 

“Fuck, doll, you feel so good,” he moaned.

You matched his strokes, bouncing on his dick with him and he groaned even more. His eyes looked further down and you wondered if he was looking at your bouncing breasts or the way he disappeared inside of you. 

His strokes caused a delicious pressure to build low in your belly. “Oh fuck, oh fuck,” you moaned.

“Come on, doll. Let it go for me, baby,” he cooed. 

You finally tensed up and dug your nails into his skin as you came, flooding his dick with your arousal. He groaned and snapped his hips a final time before unloading inside of you. “Fuuuuck me,” he moaned. 

Bucky continued to pound into you, thrust into you. “Fuck, I love you,” you moaned. 

Bucky stilled and you closed your eyes. Fuck. You hadn’t meant to say that. “Look at me,” Bucky commanded.

You shook your head. Your pussy clenched around his dick, fresh with slick from the both of you. Shit. You groaned and dug the heels of your hands into your eyes.

“Look at me, doll,” Bucky said.

You shook your head again. “Being stubborn doesn’t work on me.” 

You groaned. You could not face him. You were mortified. It had only been a few months since you started dating. It was entirely too soon to confess love, right? 

How could you not love him? He was sweet to the point of giving you a toothache. He was considerate and old-fashioned in a lot of ways that you strangely craved. He opened doors for you, pulled out your chair for you. If you sneezed, he would take off his jacket and hand it over with a second thought. 

His cooking needed work, but he was right there in the kitchen helping you. You thought it would suck having someone in your space all the time. You very much enjoyed your independence. You knew that if you did have someone in your space, every little thing would annoy you.

If they left the toilet seat up, it was time for them to go. If they had the audacity to change your channel, you were kicking them out without a second glance. Being around Bucky, however, you just wanted more of him. Beyond the sex, you wanted him. 

You liked snuggling up with him. You liked staying up way past your bedtime talking and laughing with him. You liked hearing about the books he’s read and some of the sillier missions he’d been on. Things that didn’t involve killing and maiming and being a general menace to society. He told you stories about Wakanda and you loved the way his soft voice told you stories.

He was your personal melatonin. You fell asleep often listening to the cadence and rhythm of his voice. You were in it deep. Impossibly deep. Deeper than his dick still buried inside of you. 

Bucky pulled your hands away from your face. “Come on, open those pretty eyes for me,” he said. 

You were not that brave. You wanted to crawl into a hole and never leave. You opened your eyes anyway, prepared to see Bucky look at you like you were crazy. A few months of dating and you were talking about love? 

Blehh. It was a wonder he wasn’t getting dressed and getting the hell out of dodge. Bucky smiled and leaned forward until you were pressed chest to chest. His nose nuzzled yours.

“What did you say? Say it again,” he said. 

“I can’t,” you said. 

“Why not?” 

“It’s embarrassing,” you said and gave him a lopsided grin. Bucky kissed the tip of your nose.

“I’d like to hear it again,” he said.

“Are you sure? I can totally take it back,” you said.

Bucky shook his head and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips. “Say it again,” he whispered.

“I love you,” you said.

His dick twitched inside of you and you whimpered. How was it that he was still hard? 

“I love you, too,” he said.

“You know you don’t have to say it just because–” He sealed off your protests with a kiss. A gentle, deep, wet kiss that left you curling your toes and butterflies flapping like crazy in your stomach. 

“I love you. I have loved you for a long while now. Probably from the first moment I met you,” he said.

You wanted to tell him that he was full of shit. But Bucky never said anything he didn’t mean. A by-product from the time he was born. He was raised to be fair, honest, and kind. You thanked your lucky stars that your paths crossed. You hated that his life was taken away from him but you loved that it put him in your life. 

“Dammit, Bucky, I love you,” you said.

Bucky smiled against your lips and began to move. “Ouue,” you moaned as he began to glide and slide within you. Bucky kissed you as he did so, pouring all of his emotions into the movement of his body against yours. 

You made love now. Slow and gentle. His thrusts were a magic all its own, making you feel even closer to him than what you were. You stared into each other’s eyes as he pulled sweet moans from your lips. He kissed down every whine and whimper you uttered. 

Tears sprang to your eyes as your orgasm neared. “Bucky,” you sighed as it washed over you. Pleasure dripped down your spine, slow as molasses and just as sweet. 

Bucky called your name softly as he released his own slow climax, spilling inside of you and marking you in such a primal, base way. 

“I love you so much,” Bucky said. He kissed you again. 

“I love you,” you told him. 

“Come on. Think it’s time we try out your present,” he said. He slipped out of you with a groan. He helped you stand. He grabbed your candle, soap, and lotion and chased you into the bathroom where you continued to spend a very lazy, very naughty Christmas.

This is a follow up to It's a Little Warm. If you want to know how these two got together, start here! Read Part 1

There's also more Bucky to love! The Secret Bucky Files

[atropxs]

Spill your Guts; Eddie Munson

summary: eddie gets you high for the first time.

warnings: drugs (weed), vomiting but not described in detail, innocent!cheerleader!fem!reader, mutual pining, nonsexual nudity, no y/n.

word count: 5.2k

----

Ten minutes had passed since the fifth period bell rang and you were starting to think Eddie Munson had stood you up. Maybe he just decided that the straight-laced cheerleader wasn't worth his weed or his time. Hell, if you were in his position you might have just done the same. He was probably hiding out somewhere, just to see how long you'd stand alone in the dank basement hallway waiting for him.

Just as you were about to tuck your tail and head into fourth period English, mind racing to come up with various excuses to explain your whereabouts, Eddie's tall frame turned the corner. He smiled as he saw you waiting then wordlessly called you over, nodding his head to a door at the end of the hall.

"You're late." You huffed under your breath as you walked his way.

He held up his lunch box, dangling it in front of you; taunting you with it. "Actually, I'm right on time."

"Hold still," He ordered as you stopped beside of him. You barely had time to process what he was asking before he was plucking the hair pin out of your ponytail.

"Hey," You reached your hand up to stop him but he swatted you away. You jutted your bottom lip out in frustration, the act of which caught Eddie's attention in his peripheral vision.

He looked down at you, tilting his head in a doglike manner as he tried to level with you. "The door's locked, do you have any better ideas?"

You shook your head, causing a stray piece of hair—the same one you were holding in place with the bobby pin—to fall onto your forehead.

"That's what I thought. Now, put the pout away." The words were almost rendered unintelligible thanks to the bobby pin being bent between his teeth.

"But my hair—"

"Looks fine. Always does." He paused between sentences, as if he were unsure if he should add the last part or not, but then decided to go for it anyway.

"You really think so?" You asked, looking up at him with wide eyes. He smiled at you cheekily, the bobby pin still dangling from between his front teeth.

If you weren't mistaken you saw a faint blush coat Eddie's cheeks before his got on his knees to pick the lock. You flinched at the clinging sound his rings made as they came into contact with the door knob, already he was being too heedless for your liking. However, much to your dismay, the noise was quickly dwarfed by Eddie's metal lunchbox hitting the ground and echoing down the hallway.

"Eddie," you hissed a warning, looking up and down the hallway for any signs of life, despite the hall going unused for nearly a decade. "You're being too loud, someone is going to hear you."

"They're going to hear us. We're in this together now, princess."

Before you could make any rebuttal Eddie had the door opened and was up from his knees with his hand on the small of your back, ushering you inside. You blew the stray piece of hair out of your face—and really wished you had your now mangled bobby pin back—before you walked in, Eddie on your heels.

The room was bigger than you thought it would be, however most of the space was taken up by what looked to be an old water heater. The robust smell of mildew and mothballs tickled your nose. Mops, brooms, buckets, and various cleaners were scattered on shelves. As Eddie closed the door behind you everything around you went dark, all for the sliver of florescent light under the door cast from the hall. You felt around for the cord hanging from the light on the ceiling.

Eddie put his hand on yours, halting your actions. "It doesn't work. Hasn't since the sixties." He said it like it was obvious information.

"Eddie," you almost whimpered, uneasy from the dark. "How are we supposed to see?"

"Aww, is the little cheerleader scared of the dark?" Eddie playfully nudged you in the ribs. "Or maybe she's scared of the things that could be hiding in the dark." He walked his fingers up your spine in a spiderlike manner.

"I am not." You scowled as squirmed away from his touch.

"Liar." You heard him chuckle, followed by the sound of his backpack unzipping. You watched his figure in the dark as he pulled a flashlight from his bag and set it in the middle of the floor. The light cast strange shadows around the walls of the room.

"I need your jacket," He spoke, taking off his own jean jacket and stuffing it in the crack between the door and the floor.

"But it's cold in here," You complained.

"We have to seal the door so the smoke doesn't get out, otherwise we're sure to get caught. So, unless you have any other clothes you want to take off, I need your jacket."

"Why don't you take your clothes off?" You retaliated before you could think through what you were saying. You could feel your cheeks turning a bright crimson as the gravity of your words set in. Suddenly, you were less afraid of the darkness and infinitely more thankful for it. Eddie opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly cocky, but you held your hand up and cut him off.

"Never mind, just take it." You slid the kelly green letterman jacket from your shoulders and threw it to him. You purposely made a show of wrapping your arms around yourself as you watched the last of the hall light be snuffed out.

"Come over here," Eddie paid no attention to your dramatics as he led you the corner farthest from the door. He plopped himself next to the water heater and patted the spot next to him. There was just enough room for the both of you, had either of you been any bigger neither of you would've fit.

Your right side pressed harshly against Eddie's left. You could feel his bicep flush against your arm. The room was suddenly a whole lot warmer—from the water heater or from your collective body heat, you didn't know. You let out a small awkward giggle as your elbows knocked together while you soothed down the skirt of your cheer uniform.

"You don't have to do this, y'know. I won't say anything if you back out." You were sure Eddie meant the words to be comforting, but to you they just confirmed that Eddie thought the same thing everyone else did about you: you were too much of a good girl to actually go through with something like skipping class and doing drugs.

"If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't've came." The words came out a bit harsher than you had intended them to. You felt Eddie's arms shift against yours as he put his hands up in mock surrender. He said nothing but his breathing picked up a little, you only noticed it because it was now the same labored intensity as your own.

His chest brushed your legs as he reached for the lunchbox and handed you the flashlight. You shined the light on the rust red pail as he clicked it open. Your eyes rested on the contraband sitting in front of you; various amounts of cannabis sat precariously organized in tiny plastic Ziplocks. Eddie began to dig through them before plucking out a small cigarette-like roll. He held it up for you to see.

"This is a joint," He explained, going slow so that he could be sure you were comprehending.

"Obviously," you rolled your eyes at him, you may not have smoked one but you had at least seen a joint before.

"Okay, miss know-it-all," he laughed away your attitude as he reached between you and grabbed your hand, you tensed as his skin made contact with your own to gently place the joint in your palm. You held it between your pointer and middle finger, the same way you'd seen people hold cigarettes in the movies. Eddie really laughed this time as he plucked the roll from your fingers and replaced it between your thumb and forefinger then molded your hand so that you were holding onto it tightly with your remanding three fingers in the air. "I guess just knowing what a joint is is the extent of your knowledge?"

"Fuck off," You mumbled cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"You don't have to know everything all of the time. I don't expect you to know anything about this." He pilfered through his lunchbox, presumably looking for a lighter.

"Why?" You hoped you didn't sound too much like you were interrogating him.

"Oh, c'mon. You're such a good girl." Those words from his mouth had more of an affect on you that you would have liked to admit. You clenched your thighs together and scooted closer to the wall, hoping to God Eddie didn't notice.

"I am not," You huffed hoping that the darkness concealed your smile. "If I was a good girl I wouldn't have even considered coming here."

"Why did you then?"

"Because you invited me." Playing dumb when the conversation turned to something you didn't like was a skill you'd mastered all too well. Besides, you were not about to spill your guts to Eddie Munson.

"But why did you come?" You were convinced Eddie could see right through you.

Because you invited me.

"Because I wanted to. Now, please hand me the lighter so we can get on with it."

Eddie dropped a silver Zippo lighter into your palm, the words Edward Munson engraved just below the lid.

"Thank you, Edward." You tried not to smile as you placed the joint between glossed lips and flipped the top of the lighter. With a manicured thumb you struck the wheel and waited for a spark but it remained unlit. You struck it again to no avail before shaking it closed.

"Munson," You said with the joint still between your lips. "Your lighter is dead."

Eddie took it from you and in one fluid motion he popped the lid open and produced a flame.

"Looks to me like she's still kickin'," He watched as you scrunched your brows in the dark, noting duly the way the flashlight tucked between your knees cast shadows in the contours of your face. With gentle hands he plucked the roll from your mouth and placed it in his own. "I want you to watch me first," Eddie spoke through pursed lips as he lit up the drug.

"Suck...Inhale...Hold...Release..." He narrated each step as he went, a small cloud of smoke escaped his lips each time he spoke. "Sound easy enough?"

You nodded as Eddie brought the joint to your lips, his hand millimetres away from your face. You sucked in the scent of him in along with the smoke, giving your first taste of the drug a peculiar Eddie-like quality. You were halfway convinced that you could feel the heat where his lips had been on the joint a moment before. You blew the smoke out quickly.

"If you want to get high you actually have to inhale," Eddie teased as he passed the joint to you. "Ah, ah, ah," he tsked, "Hold it how I taught you to." You readjusted your grip around the tight bundle, being careful to keep your fingers away from the burning end.

"Good girl," He praised then waited for you to refute him again. You didn't this time, instead you looked up at him and shyly fluttered your lashes.

Eddie smiled down at you and for the first time you allowed your gaze to linger on his face, mapping out the crinkles that surrounded the exterior of his dark eyes and the dimple sunk into his cheek.

The pounding in your chest increased as you placed the now lit bundle back between your lips. Suck. You did as Eddie had said said drawing in the smoke and letting it sit in your mouth.

"Inhale, now." Eddie reminded you. You did your best to try to swallow the smoke down but instead you put yourself into a coughing fit.

"Easy does it," Eddie gently pushed your head into his chest to muffle the sound. He rubbed your back consolingly as he shushed you, reminding you that you had to stay quiet before giving you the instruction to try again.

You repeated the first two steps again, this time succeeding in engulfing the smoke into your lungs. You held it there for a beat, noticing that Eddie had yet to take his hand off of you and that he was still rubbing small circles on your shoulder blade with his thumb. For a moment the sensation was all you could think about but Eddie's voice broke through the brain fog and reminded you to breathe. He took the joint from your hand as you exhaled.

"How long does it take?" You asked nervously, your knee bouncing in waiting.

"How long does it take to do what?" He was smiling like he knew exactly what, but still wanted to hear you say it.

"To kick in," You had to focus to keep your eyes on him especially when his hand was snaking down your side. You didn't even think that he realized that he was doing it. If he did, you hoped he didn't realize the affect it was having on you.

"Relax, hot stuff." He brought his hand over your thigh and rested it on your knee, applying the slightest bit of pressure to keep you from shaking, the cool metal of his rings caused you to shiver anyway. "Don't focus on what is going to happen, focus on letting it happen."

"Eddie," you tried not to whine, now was not the time to beat around the bush. "Please, just tell me."

"You'll feel it soon enough, doll. Until then you're just going to have to wait it out." He passed the joint back to you and watched in awe as you took another hit, when you tried to pass it back to him he held up his hand motioning for you to hit it again.

"Hitting it only once before passing is like wearing a neon sign saying you've never smoked before—"

"Well I haven't smoked before."

"—Hitting it twice is optimal, it's just enough to get a buzz without causing the person with you to loose theirs. Three times is babysitting, and you don't want to do that." Eddie explained as you exhaled for the second time.

Eddie could taste the remnants of sweet artificial strawberry lip gloss around the edge of the joint as he took his turn to hit. You watched him, trying to make note of everything that he did. His Adam's apple dipped down as he inhaled the smoke, stayed stagnant as he held it for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, seconds, then bobbed back up as he exhaled through puckered lips. You wondered if you looked as nice as he did when you smoked.

"How will I know when it kicks in?" You asked in between your first and second hit.

"You'll know." His forefinger began to tap rhythmically on your knee, you were not in band but you could recognize 4/8 time.

"But how?" You passed it back to him barely able to focus on counting your hits because of the drumming of his guitar calloused fingers.

"You just will." He took the joint away from you. "Maybe you should wait a few minutes before you smoke anymore of this, we don't know how high your tolerance is."

"Eddieeee," You whined, making grabby-hands and causing him to hold it farther out of your reach.

"Just wait five minutes, then you can have it back." He said like it pained him to tell you no.

"But you're not taking a break."

"Because I know how much I can take, you on the other hand, princess, might over exert yourself." Eddie took a fourth hit and then a fifth, you watched him as you waited in anticipation for the drugs effects to kick in, jealous that you couldn't keep up with him.

"Babysitter," you mumbled, a tad bit more out loud than you'd meant to.

Eddie choked on the smoke as he playfully slapped your knee and broke out in laughter, you did too. You couldn't help yourself, the sound of his jubilation was just that contagious.

"I am not," Eddie laughed as he released a puff of smoke.

"You are so," You almost couldn't choke the words out for the way you were giggling, it seemed as though everything was way funnier now that the drug was in your system. "You're like the President of the Babysitters Club."

"I'm already the President of the Hellfire Club, and I can't be the President of two clubs, no one has time for that."

"Oh, how could I forget about the cult of virgins," you rolled your eyes as you released a guttural laugh.

Eddie slapped your arm playfully as he tried to force himself to stop laughing and feign sincerity. "We are not virgins."

You gave him a you-have-to-be-shitting-me look and he spoke again. "Fine, I'm not a virgin, the rest of the club's virginity is... undisclosed." You were both laughing so hard now either of you could barely speak.

"The leader of the cult of virgins isn't even a virgin. My life is a lie."

As Eddie took another hit you could tell just by looking at him he had some sort of burning question, but when he handed the joint back to you, you were so grateful to have the drug back in your possession that any thought of prying whatever he had to say out of him completely slipped your mind.

This time you didn't even have to think of each step that Eddie had told you as you smoked, you preformed the actions almost instinctively.

"How old were you when you first started smoking?" you asked innocently.

"Around fourteen if we're talking weed. Twelve if we're talking cigarettes. What about you?"

"This is my first time smoking anything."

"Not even cigs?" Eddie looked astounded.

"Not even cigs. My parents would flip their shit if they caught me smoking.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Eddie was chewing on his bottom lip. You couldn't stop staring, and you were beginning to think he was starting to notice. You handed the joint back to him.

"yea, because having strict parents is everyone's dream."

"I think it'd be nice to have someone care for you so much that they want to protect you like that. My parents didn't give a shit, and my uncle gave a few shits but maybe if he'd given a few more I wouldn't be here right now."

"My parents give entirely too many shits, and I'm here too."

"Because of me."

"Because I want to be."

Eddie took a deeper inhale this time, holding the smoke in his lungs for a longer time than you'd seen him yet. When he spoke his tone was different. Huskier. "You're a little spitfire, you know that?"

You gazed at him through the smokescreen, watching to see if he expected a response. "Only sometimes." You said finally.

"Do you think i'm a bad influence on you?"

"Yes." You said simply. Eddie smirked at you, bringing the joint up to your lips himself. "I have too many good influences, I'm in need of a bad one." You said softly as you exhaled.

The room was slowly beginning to spin. Maybe it was spinning this entire time and you just noticed it. You couldn't tell. The shadows on the wall became animated; the noises outside amplified. You were cold and too hot all at once. The lines separating Eddie's figure from the wall began to blur and you had the sudden thought that Eddie was going to fall through the wall at any moment. You grabbed hold his shirt collar and pulled him toward you.

"I'm having so much fun." He was so close now that you had no choice but to look into his eyes. Then you had another thought, "I want to kiss you."

You hadn't meant to say that aloud.

"I think you've smoked too much."

"I think so too." You laughed hard and loud. Eddie could get used to hearing that sound. "I still want to kiss you though."

"Shh," Eddie's hand clasped over your mouth suddenly, cutting off your laughter. The metal of his rings sinking into the plush flesh of your lips. You fell silent at once, as you did you could hear the faint sound of jingling keys crossing the door.

"I thought you said no one used this hallway." Fear was evident in your voice.

"They don't...usually." Eddie smiled at you cheekily as he pressed his hand further into your lips, as if that would stop you from asking anymore questions.

"What if someone comes in here?" You whispered through Eddie's hand.

"They won't," Eddie answered, somehow deciphering your mumbles.

"But what if they do?"

"Then you'll let me do the talking."

"But—"

"Shh, you're making yourself paranoid, dear. I've brought people in here loads of times and we haven't been caught yet."

"Oh." The admission hurt worse than you thought it should've. Your stomach turned and suddenly you weren't worried about whoever was outside anymore, instead your mind reeled with the images of him knocking knees in the janitors closet with another girl.

Eddie must have realized his mistake as he quickly blurted, "No, no, not like that—I mean..." But you didn't hear the rest of his explanation because you felt something lurch in your throat, and knew with a sudden sureness that you were about to spill your guts. This time, you meant it literally.

"Eddie..." You pushed his hand away from your mouth and tried to warn him of what was to come, but he just kept talking. You leaned over his lanky legs and felt around in the dark, just having time to grip onto what you hoped was a mop bucket and retched right in front of him

"Oh shit. Are you okay?" As soon as Eddie realized what was happening he gently grabbed the end of your ponytail, keeping it out of your face. Your answer came in the form of another wave of nausea.

"I'm sorry." Tears of discomfiture rolled down your face and you didn't know how to stop them. You tasted the drug in your mouth and throat and your stomach churned once more, this time it was out of substance to surge up.

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Eddie helped you sit up against the wall and handed you a bottle of water from his bag.

The water mingled with the tears that trickled down your chin as you drank. Your mind, still gone from the marijuana, barely registered Eddie softly grabbing your jaw and wiping your mouth with his thumb before disposing of the sick residue on a set of green and white microfiber towels you thought you recognized from the annual cheerleader car wash fundraiser. "It's my fault. I knew I should've made you stop earlier, you just looked so... Never mind."

You were too woozy to pry, but when you looked up at him with woozy eyes—You couldn't tell if your vision was blurry from tears or from the drug—He seemed sincere.

"It's not your fault," You murmured, embarrassment heating your cheeks as you became hyperaware of Eddie's hand still holding your chin and the way he seemed to be studying you with red-rimmed eyes. Your eyes darted to his lips, then to his lunchbox where the mostly smoked joint lay snuffed out on the lid. when had he done that? When you turned you attention back to him, his eyes were on your chest. Instinctively, your hand shot up covering your breast.

"I-I wasn't...It's just..You've, uh, got a little something," Eddie pointed to your chest, and as you dropped your hand you saw where a spot of sick stained your uniform.

"Shit," You huffed, holding back another wave of tears, "Great, now I've got to go around for three more periods with vomit on my top."

"I have an extra shirt in my bag if you want to borrow it." Eddie offered, already hopping up to dig around in his backpack for it. When his hand emerged he was holding a crumpled baseball tee, the picture of a smiling demon printed onto the fabric. "It's, um...," He smelled it and tried to hold back his reaction. "At least it doesn't have puke on it." He offered you his hand to help you up off the floor.

"Thanks." You smiled as he pulled you up, you couldn't help but to notice the way the veins in his arm tensed as he took on your weight. "Thanks for this too," You took the shirt from him eagerly, though it really did reek.

"It's no problem, really." Eddie's words were followed by an awkward silence, neither of you sure how to best approach the situation next.

"Are you going to just stand there and watch me change?" You asked him playfully, hoping the sarcasm masked the giddy nerves at the thought of him seeing your indecent exposure.

"Did you want me to?" Eddie responded with just as much sarcasm. He put his hands in his pockets and lightly whistled as he turned to face the opposite wall.

"Perv, you won't even kiss me and you think I'm going to let you see me naked."

"I don't fancy kissing the same lips I watched your lunch spill from five minutes ago." You could hear the smile in his voice. "What was it that they were serving today? Cheeseburgers?"

"Sloppy joe, actually." You retorted.

"Even worse."

"Whatever happened to 'In sickness and in health?'"

"I didn't know we we married."

"As if I would marry you."

"You'd kiss me though?"

"On second thought, you said you'd had countless girls in here, get one of them to kiss you."

"I said I had brought countless people here. Not girls."

"Touche." In the dark you fumbled around to find the zipper of your uniform, patting around with blind eyes attempting to yank it down. After three failed attempts you sighed, "Eddie, can you help me?" You heard him hum in the dark. "I think my zipper is stuck."

You heard his boots— Doc martens, he must have had to save up for a while to afford those—squeak on the floor as he turned to face you again. Wordlessly you held your hair away from your neck and lowered your head, giving him permission to partially unclothe you.

His left hand sat on your waist, the other at the base of your neck, slowly slipping the zipper down. You heard his breath hitch as the garment fell from your shoulders, the back of your torso now completely visible to him. He watched with eager eyes the movement of your shoulder blades in the dark as you let the top fall from your arms before throwing it on top of your backpack. The outline of your breasts cast in shadow from the flashlight which lay abandon on the floor. "I need you to help me put my—your—shirt on."

"Why can't you do it?" He asked, but he didn't sound like he minded fulfilling the request one bit.

"Because m'too dizzy."

As Eddie took a slow step toward you, you allowed yourself to fall into him, cheek pressed against his shoulder, bare breasts against his chest. If you listened closely you could swear you could hear the heavy beating of his heart. "M'tired and you're warm."

"You're a hot wreck," He shook his head full of frizzy hair. Slowly, he held your loose limbs skyward, slipping the shirt on over your head.

"Don't mess up my hair," you warned, not sounding nearly as tough as you meant to.

"Impossible." Eddie smoothed his shirt over your green skirt, the fabric loose and long on your frame, a stark change from your tight cheerleading uniform. He pretended to adjust the shirt in the back, but it was just an excuse to have his arms around you.

"I like this. I like you." The words came tumbling out, the drug alleviating all apprehension.

"You're high. You don't mean that." Eddie looked like those words hurt him to say. "Tell it to me when you're sober."

"I will."

With slow blinks you came to the realization that Eddie was waiting on you to move away first. with unsure movements you stretched your shoulders, reminding him of a baby bird just coming to the shocking realization that it has wings.

"Does it look okay?" you stepped back from him, motioning to your outfit.

Eddie's reply came out in a thousand stumbles and stutters, in awe at the sight of you, but eventually he managed to choke out a yes.

The taller man stepped toward you once more, putting a delicate hand on your cheek and shifting your gaze to him as he pulled a small bottle out of his pocket. He dropped the liquid into his own eyes first, and then angled the bottle over yours. "Don't blink."

"What do we need that for?" You squinted as the droplets made contact with your lenses.

"Takes away the red." Eddie replied simply before giving himself a few more drops. You gave him a look of confusion. "Weed widens the blood vessels in your eyes."

"Will they ever go back to normal?" Your voice was full of concern.

"Of course, honey. Y'know, I think this might be the only subject that I know more than you in," Eddie laughed as he knelt down and began to pack his things back into his backpack.

"I could tutor you sometime, y'know, in exchange for this," You leaned against the wall to keep yourself from falling.

"You want to hang out with me?" He acted more shocked at this admission than the one before it.

"Hey, I said tutor not hangout." You laughed, "But, you're not too bad, so I guess if you wanted to hang out, I'll allow it. plus, I get this cool t-shirt, which so totally doesn't smell like weed and the bottom of a gym bag."

Eddie threw his head back, laughing like a loon. "Hey, that's my signature scent. And, only members of the Hellfire Club get those. So, that means you're in."

"I want to hang out with you, not every nerd in Hawkins High."

"They're my friends."

"Well, your friends are nerds."

"Listen here, hot stuff, you've got my shirt, you're in my club."

"Ed's," you groaned, taking time to roll the nickname around on your tongue. It sounded good. Eddie thought so too.

[coffeeghoulie]

soft sleepy mountrain ahead:

Mountain wakes before the sun, as he always does. He smiles, not quite awake yet, as he feels the familiar weight of Rain sprawled over him. Rain's normally cool skin is warm with their shared body heat, covered comfortably in their blankets, their legs and tails tangled together.

Even though he knows he has duties to attend to (the greenhouse won't take care of itself, as much as he wishes it could sometimes), Mountain can't help himself but hold Rain closer, careful not to disturb his mate. It's just so warm, here in the safety of their nest.

He stares, eyes tracking over each silver freckle spattered over the water ghoul's powder blue skin, the way his long, dark eyelashes rest over his cheek. Rain's nose twitches, nuzzling closer into Mountain's warmth. Winter's coming, and it takes its toll on the two of them, the cold bringing out their aches and pains.

Mountain reaches for his phone with the arm not holding Rain to his chest, checks the time. He has half an hour before his alarm goes off and he has to get up, and he's going to treasure every second until he has to disturb Rain's peaceful sleep. Besides, their bed is soft and warm, and Mountain knows that the moment he steps out of bed, the cold air will sink into his bones.

He watches, eyes heavy with sleep, as the trails of sunlight pouring through the crack in their curtains cast Rain in golden light, freckles shimmering like scales. Rain's gills flutter, soft exhales of breath tickling against Mountain's skin, timed with the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

"How did I get so lucky, tadpole?" Mountain whispers, pushing a strand of blue black hair off of Rain's forehead with the blunt edge of his claw, tucking it behind his finned ear. Rain's ear twitches, and Mountain freezes as Rain stirs, grumbling before burying his freezing nose in the crook of his neck, searching for warmth.

Mountain, to his credit, barely winces as Rain shoves his cold nose into his neck. Instead, he brings a giant hand up to cup the back of Rain's skull, carding into the sleep-mussed waves. He hums softly, rubbing his cheek against one of Rain's seaglass horns, glinting in the ribbons of sunlight.

"Mount," Rain mumbles, nuzzling into Mountain's throat. Even half-asleep, he's careful to keep the sharp point of his horns from his skin. "S'early."

"I know, tadpole," Mountain says, kissing the crown of his head, inhaling his seasalt and lavender scent. "I don't have to head out quite yet, wanted to stay and look at you."

He can feel more than see Rain's blush as his cheeks heat. He has the exact shade of lilac memorized, and privately, thinks it's the prettiest color Top Side.

"You're a sap, Mount," Rain says, muffled into Mountain's skin. He purrs, turning to rub his cheek against Mountain's stubble.

"And yet you're still in my bed, Rainy," Mountain says, purring happily, a deep rumble like a rockslide.

"S'my favorite place when it's cold," Rain says, eyes stubbornly closed.

"You don't prefer Dew's nest, that little space heater?" Mountain teases, still combing through Rain's waves. Rain snorts, finally cracking open his pretty cerulean eyes. He raises an eyebrow, playful irritation peaking through the haze of sleep.

"You know I love Dew," Rain says, staring fondly at Mountain's sleep-warm face. "But this is ours. I like what we have, I like waking up in your arms." He reaches up, lazily running a finger along the line of Mountain's cheek, just above the edge of his stubble.

Mountain smiles, and Rain can't help but return it, finger moving to trace over his smile lines, deep along his lips. "I like this too, darling. Wouldn't trade it for the world."

They bask in each other's company, drifting slowly in and out of sleep, until Mountain's alarm sounds, shrill and harsh. Both of them startle, Mountain jolting upright. Rain laughs as Mountain drags him up, still holding him to his chest.

"Time for work?" Rain chuckles, yawning and stretching, and Mountain gets a good look at Rain's sharp, serrated teeth.

"Greenhouse's waiting," Mountain breathes, fighting his own yawn. He's supposed to be a morning ghoul, Lucifer damn it. "Chores have gotta get done."

Rain smiles, rubbing the side of his face against Mountain's chest. "I know, sunflower. I'll have tea ready when you get back," he tempts, even as he groans at the idea of getting out of bed.

Mountain hums, leaning down and kissing between Rain's horns. "You promise, tadpole? I'll take you up on that."

Rain chirps, extricating himself from his mate's arms, pushing him to his feet. Mountain hisses as his bare feet touch the cold floor, but stands anyways. "Go get your chores done. I'll be waiting."

Mountain turns, hand moving to cup Rain's cheek. He draws his face up, a sweet kiss pressed to his lips that lingers. Rain grins at him, and despite the cold, Mountain finds himself ready to face a new dawn.

[nycbaby21]

"I really hope so."

*ends in a cliffhanger, if you guys want I can write more*

prompt: "Where do we go from here?" & "You tell me."

word count: 3,038

Rapid knocking woke me up this morning around three. In the moment I can’t tell which is louder the knocking or my heartbeat. I slowly and quietly tiptoe over to the front door to look through the peephole. As I pass the closet I grab a hockey stick Mat left me “for protection.” I argued it wouldn’t protect me much, but he wouldn’t stop until I took it. I see the hockey players outside the door soaking wet. I open the door and grab him pulling him into the house. “Barzy what the hell are you doing,” I ask voice slightly raised from the panic still coursing through me. He looks down at me to answer but his eyes drift to the hockey stick in my hand.

“Thought it wasn’t going to protect you,” he tried to joke but I could tell something was bothering him. I poke him with it while he lets out a small laugh and throws it on the couch behind us. The small joy he just had is gone and his eyes fill with tears. “She left me again,” his voice cracked and the dam behind his eyes broke. Tears began to mix with the leftover raindrops on his face. “Oh Barzy,” I say throwing my arms around him. He buries his head in my neck and squeezes my waist. I run my fingers through his dark locks, occasionally smoothing out a small knot. His body shook as he cried. I just stood there holding him, only letting go when he did. 

“C’mon let’s get you out of these wet clothes,” I whisper slipping my hand into his and pulling him towards my bedroom. He sat on the edge of my bed while I searched through my closet for clothes of his I had stolen over the years. I pull out an old Islanders shirt and some sweatpants and pass them to him. “I looked everywhere for this stupid shirt. I should have known you had it,” he laughed going to the ensuite bathroom to change. “That and about six more,” I say pulling back the sheets and throwing the top blanket I had for the cold off. Mat was a space heater and very cuddly when he was upset. So if we slept with that on we would both wake up sweating.

 Mat walks out and sees you fixing up the bed and just stops and watches you. He is so grateful to have you as his best friend. There weren’t many people who would be so kind and loving towards him when he woke you up banging on the door at three in the morning. I look up and just see him staring. “Stop being weird you dork,” I laugh tossing a pillow at him. He shakes his head and walks over to the side of the bed I was standing on. “Did you want this side,” I ask confused because he always sleeps on the other side. He just wraps his arms around me and whispers “thank you” into my hair. I take in a deep breath and hum in acknowledgement rubbing my hands up and down his back. 

When the two of us finally got into bed and settled down, my brain started to drift off. I had known Mat for about four years now and we had gone through a whole lot together. Every time I thought something would break us and make us drift apart, it only ever brought us closer. I don’t really remember when the lines started to blur between friendship and more to me. But as I am laying here next to him, I can’t help wishing it could always be like this. My thoughts were interrupted by Mat,” Thanks again for everything Y/n. You’re a really good friend.” I never knew one word could make me feel so sick.

I rolled over at ten o’clock and sighed turning over to see the bed empty. Worried Mat had done something stupid, I rushed out of my room and searched the house for him. I stopped when I heard a soft voice coming from the kitchen. “Yes I am aware that I’m not at home,” I hear him say to whoever is on the end of the call. I peeked around the corner and see Mat standing against the island rubbing his face. “Of course, I came here. She is my best friend,” he raised his voice only a little assuming I was still asleep. I could hear her voice now, the ex-girlfriend who hated me. 

We didn’t start out on the right foot and there was never really any going back from that. She cornered me at a team party and told me to back off of Mat because he wanted someone beautiful like her and not me. Safe to say I didn’t care for her too much after that. I was always friendly for Mat’s sake because he was truly happy and she was really nice to everyone else. So I held my tongue and tried to coexist.

“Don’t talk about her like that. She is the only reason I am still holding it together right now. Yes, it is fair. You promised after the last time you would stop talking to him and you didn’t. So don’t make me the bad guy here for calling you out on it.” I could hear her getting louder and he cut her off,” it isn’t the same. You dated him, you slept with him, you loved him. She is nothing more than my best friend okay,” his voice raised to match hers. His words hit me like a bullet. I tried to turn around and go back to my room, not trying to hear anything else to break my heart more. I bumped into a shelf I had in the hallway with my pinky toe. 

I let out a few colorful words and dropped down to the floor. I hear footsteps and Mat is quickly down on the floor with me looking me over. He finally sees me holding my foot and gently moves my hand to try and get a better look at it. I couldn’t really see much through my blurred vision thanks to the tears. At least I can play them off as physical pain now and not emotional pain. “Shh it’s okay, I got you,” he said holding me. He repositioned us and carried me over to the couch. He left and came back with a bag of frozen vegetables. 

He carefully placed them on my foot and looked up at me. “You okay,” he whispered. I shook my head yes and gave him the best fake smile I could. Apparently I had gotten pretty good at them over the years because he nodded and rubbed my calf. He brought me some pain meds and a glass of water. “You sure you don’t need anything,” he asks looking all over my face. I shake my head no. “Okay so what are we watching,” he says getting comfortable on the couch. I sigh wishing I could get sucked into a black hole at this very moment. “I don’t know Barzy, whatever you want,” I say looking at the TV and not him.

“Okay so you’re cool if I put on game highlights,” he asks already queueing them up. “Yeah that sounds fine,” there is no emotion in my voice. “Okay, I know you aren’t fine now. You hate watching highlights with me. Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it,” he scoots closer to me and puts his hand on my knee. I tense up under it and his face drops. “Did I do something,” he asks voice filled with fear and confusion. “No you didn’t do anything. I told you I was fine Mat,” I hugh off already tired of pretending my heart hadn’t shattered five minutes ago. I knew it wasn’t his fault, you can’t help who you are attracted to. I know I shouldn’t take it out on him, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care at that moment.

“Mat,” his voice breaks a little and he gives me a weird look,” You never call me Mat. Y/n please talk to me.” I shake my head tears falling down my face again. He tries to wrap his arms around me and I shrug him off. “I really can’t do this right now okay,” I cry standing up and trying to walk away but the pain in my toe sends shock waves throughout my body. “No, you can’t just walk away. We promised to always tell each other everything, remember? So tell me what I can do to fix it,” he says moving to stand in front of me blocking my way around him to leave. I look up at him and I can see water brimming in the bottom of his eyes. “You can’t fix it. Okay, no one can. So please drop it,” I say dropping back onto the couch.

“How do you know that? You can’t know that unless you tell me,” I can hear the aggravation in his voice. “Please don’t make me do this okay,” I whisper pleading with him. “Okay I won’t,” he says after looking at me for a minute. He walks towards the couch and squats in front of me. “But if won’t tell me I’m leaving. I’m walking through that door Y/n,” he says sternly and looking into my eyes. I stay quiet and make no move to speak. “You know what forget this,” he says standing up and walking towards the door. “You know I came here last night because you are the only person I trust enough to be this way with. I guess I thought you trusted me enough too,” these were his last words before he walked out of the door. 

The last time I saw Mat was two weeks ago after he walked out. I didn’t blame him for doing it, hell I would have done the same thing. I didn’t tell him because I didn’t want to lose him and that’s what I did anyway. I tried to call him and left him a couple text but got nothing in response. The longer I went without seeing him the harder it was. I wasn’t sleeping and was barely eating. The doorbell interrupted my thoughts and I ran to it thinking maybe it was Mat. I threw it open to see an Islanders hockey player, just not the one I had hoped for.

“Well don’t look too disappointed,” Tito said when my face dropped. “Sorry, I just thought maybe, you what nevermind,” I said walking back to the couch and letting him stand at the door deciding if he should come in or not. He sat next to me and looked around my living room. “I mean this with so much love, but sweetheart you look like shit,” his voice is as soft as the look he gives me. I try to speak but no words come out. I just start crying again and he pulls me in. “I know,” he says. Of course he does, he is Mat’s friend way before he is mine. After hearing that I shake him off and move further down the couch. “Hey no. C’mon, we are doing this okay,” he traps me in the corner of the couch and doesn’t let me go. 

“You shouldn’t be nice to me. I hurt your best friend, you should hate me,” I choke out through my sobs. “Sweetheart you are my best friend too. Just because I see him more doesn’t mean I love you any less. And I know you would never hurt anyone on purpose, Barzy most of all. So I know you had a reason,” he looks at me waiting for some kind of sign. I nod my head yes and look up at him. “Okay wanna tell me why,” he asks quietly. I shake my head no. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me. But I will tell you this, two of my favorite people in the whole world are hurting right now. And if I can help even just a little bit I want to,” Tito had always had the biggest heart.

“You can’t tell him. I mean it Tito, not a signal word,” I say before taking a deep breath. “Promise,” he nods looking at me waiting. “I’m in love with him, Tito. And I have been for a while now. And he shows up here all sad about the breakup. I always have to help him when some girl breaks his heart. He always comes to me for comfort and cuddles and I give it to him every damn time. I kept thinking one day he would see me, as more than just a friend,” I start and finally look over at him to gauge his reaction. He is calm and just reaches down and grabs my hand,” I heard him walking to her the next morning. I guess he was talking to her ex again and that’s why they broke up again. She said something about him running to me and he said it was different. She dated, slept with, and loved him and I was just a friend. That’s all I will ever be to him. I tried to run back to my room and hurt my stupid foot and I was so mean to him. He needed a friend but I don’t know if I can be that anymore.” After that whole long rant, I broke down again and sobbed. 

He held me for what felt like hours. I finally cried myself to sleep on his shoulder. He sat right there and let me. I woke up and it was dark outside, the only light coming from the TV. “Shit is that too loud. I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he says turning it down. “No, it’s fine. You didn’t wake me up,” My voice was scratchy from all the crying. He looked down at me and smiled. “I love you, sweetheart,” he whispered bumping my shoulder with his. “I love you too. Thanks for not only being his friend but mine too,” I smile leaning back into him. “Always. Plus you smell way better than him. Well, usually not right now because wow,” he jokes and I hit him in the chest. We both laugh and it was the first time in two weeks I had done that.

Tito finally left and I cleaned up the mess I had piled up for two weeks. I took a shower and actually put on clothes that didn’t have old stains on them. Throwing them into the laundry I found Mat’s clothes from that night. I picked them up and hugged them. I really did miss him. Maybe there was a chance I could still be his friend and not break my own heart in the process. I quickly fold them up and grab my keys heading to my car. I drove to his place and sat there in for a few minutes working up the nerve to go in. His room man recognized me and waved me in. “Missed seeing you around here kid. Think buddy boy has too,” he laughs ushering me to the elevator. “Why’s that,” I ask stepping in after him. “I haven’t seen the boy smile in weeks. Is he okay,” he asks me. “I don’t know, but that’s why I’m here. Checking in on him,” I smile at him when the doors open on the right floor. “Give him my best,” he smiles and the door closes leading him back downstairs.

I took a deep breath and knocked on his door. I waited and waited but I didn’t hear anything so I turned around to leave. “Y/n,” I hear his confused voice behind me. I turned around expecting to see him just as bad as I was, but he looked just like he always did great. “You left these,” I say pushing the clothes towards him. He reaches down and takes them. “That all,” he asks, I can tell he is implying that I am going to talk to him about that morning. I open my mouth to try and speak but nothing comes out. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Goodnight Y/n,” he walks back inside the apartment and goes to close the door. “I’m in love with you,” my words rush out before thinking too much about it. 

He freezes in the doorway. His back is still turned but he quit walking. “I have been for a while and hearing you say you didn’t feel the same really hurt me, so I lashed out at you. And that wasn’t fair. But I miss you so freaking much Barzy. I know you don’t love me, which is okay really. If you can move passed it I can too,” I say walking closer to him. He slowly turns around and meets my eyes for the first time tonight.

I look past him into the apartment and something pink catches my eye. I know as soon as I see it what it means. They were back together. She was in there and I was out here looking like an absolute idiot. He follows my gaze and his head snaps back to me. “No. hey Y/n let me explain,” he starts but I shake my head. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me Mat,” I say turning away and start walking back to the elevator. I push the button when I hear his footsteps getting closer.

“Where do we go from here,” he asks as I turn getting on the elevator. “You tell me,” I say. This time he is the one with nothing to say and I am the one leaving. “I’m sorry,” he croaks out tears filling his eyes. I smile shaking my head and letting tears roll down my cheeks. “Don’t be. I’ll be okay, I promise,” I say pushing the lobby button. “What about us? Will we be okay,” he asks sounding like a scared little boy. The doors start to close and I give him one last smile,” I really hope so.”

[bangpop91]

I'll Meet You In Between

It's day 2 of @bucktommypositivityweek round 2! Today's prompt was scenes from a firetruck. This drabble takes place directly before Mayday. I hope you guys enjoy Day 2

Buck woke a groan fumbling with his phone to turn off his alarm before flopping back down into the bed not wanting to get up for the day. It hadn’t been that long ago that he looked forward to every shift. But these days the idea of getting out of the massive plush bed that also happened to feature a big muscular pilot with ridiculous bed head, and is like his own personal space heater. Buck wiggled closer into Tommy’s side burying his nose into Tommy’s armpit making his man grunt.

“Your face is like icicles,” Tommy groaned, adjusting himself so that they were face to face.

“It's not my fault your house is like a penguin habitat.” That startled a laugh out of Tommy while Buck grinned, pressing kisses against Tommy's stubble covered cheek. 

“You have a shift baby.” Tommy reminded him before capturing his lips in a sweet kiss.

“So do you.” He replied in-between morning kisses, where if he played this right could lead to morning sex 

“I don't have to fight crosstown traffic.” Tommy countered sitting up scratching his scalp making his mess of curls even more out of control from where they curled frizzy and untamed on one side and flat against his scalp on the other. He looks so rumpled and soft, far from the cool guy exterior Tommy meticulously puts on like armor every morning. He's moved on to casually scratching an itch on his chest while checking the weather on his phone like he does every morning before he gets out of bed. He wants to live in this moment and it's domesticity forever, he knows that realistically it's too early to talk about living together, about forever. But he wants this to be the sight he wakes up to every morning. Tommy looks down at him, Buck still stubbornly burritoed under the blanket  with his face in Tommy's pillow.

“Bed head?” He asked, looking at him with a lopsided grin. It makes Buck laugh from his spot in bed watching Tommy go through his morning routine.

“Nicely tousled.” Tommy and him should not be laughing at what dorks they are being, but he loves that he and Tommy can be silly, and there is no pressure to be tough, or manly, or cool, they can just be themselves. 

“Alright Darlin, you do have to get up now.” Buck is feeling a little bratty and burrows further into his burrito of blankets and Tommy’s pillow like a petulant child. “Will you get up if I promise to shower with you?” Tommy teases leaned over Buck.

“I could be persuaded.” He responds and lets Tommy lure him from the bed with kisses. He does make it to work on time, he didn't have time to stop and get coffee on the way to work which is fine because Tommy had sent him on his way with a thermos of coffee, kisses, and a reminder to be safe.

It turns out to be one of the worst and craziest shifts he has ever worked. He knows Tommy's own shift has been just as hectic. And yet in the rare minutes of downtime that he had to check his phone there were messages from Tommy.

A picture of a black cat from the pet rescue site that Tommy likes scrolling through with the accompanying message.

❤️ Loml ❤️ : I love Salem almost as much as I love you.

Buck: Awe he’s beautiful. I love him.

❤️ Loml ❤️ : 🐝🐝🐝🐝

❤️ Loml ❤️ : Are you enjoying the bee-nado

Buck: look at you learning how to use emojis I’m so proud of my old man.

❤️ Loml ❤️ : Don't be a brat, Evan.

Tommy finds him in the aftermath of the plane crash. They are in-between the 118 and 217’s engines when Tommy pulls him in for a hug.

“How you holding up Darlin?” His voice is low and quiet in Buck’s ear.

“I wish today would just end already.” He mumbled clinging to the back of Tommy's flight suit. He doesn't want to let go of Tommy, because right now Tommy is the only thing holding him upright.

“Twelve more hours okay.” Tommy promised, “Just twelve more hours and we will have forty-eight hours together. We'll turn our phones off, catch up on Stylish Designs, and try that new chili recipe.” 

“Okay.” Evan nodded with a smile, Having something to keep him moving towards. An end goal for his shift. Tommy is called away, his chopper is ready, Tommy presses a quick kiss to his lips.

“I'll see you at home.” He says with a big, bright charming smile that makes him melt. He'll see Tommy at home.

[destinygoldenstar]

I LOVE seeing headcanons related to Kai's powers. Like in the show he uses his power as a light source and that's cool, but people online go beyond that and come up with cool ideas of variety he could do as an elemental.

My favorites include:

The flame shield we saw with his True Potential. With how destructive fire is, you'd think his would be offensive like Zane's is, but no it's the opposite. I think that's poetic with how True Potential functions with the master's discovery of themselves. Zane's is raw power from his heart and soul because of his acceptance of his identity. Cole's is strength from his strong will to stand up for who he is no matter the weight and pressure. Jay's is teleportation and flight because... faith trust and pixie dust? Idk that one confuses me a little, someone help me there. Kai's is a shield because he is a brother at his core. That's his fighting purpose. It's to protect his family, blood or surrogate. His fire is a protection barrier for the people he loves.

Speaking of family, the idea that he has a higher body temperature than the others, and it doesn't affect him negatively. Maybe it causes heat strokes in intense environments, but idk for sure if that's a problem for him. So he's just a space heater half the time. Especially for his siblings like Nya and Lloyd. You're cold? You're sick? You're cuddling with Kai and staying warm, and he ain't letting you go. Unless you're Jay, then he might tell you 'can't wait to go to your funeral knowing I could've changed that outcome'. (Lloyd goes limp cause he's part dragon)

The flames change colors when in certain sources like the crystals from Elemental. I never knew I needed that. But I think Kai would just like to play with it around Lloyd to cheer up the angsty child, and Lloyd likes it because ooo pretty lights. Imagine using this for like a bedtime story for someone. He also would do it to frame other people for pranks. 'Oh the ashes are green well clearly Lloyd did it' 'Oh its rocks it's gotta be Cole'. It almost never works.

He's afraid of water because he can't swim. That's how I interpret it. So when you splash him with water, he's just frowning. And it depends on who does it. If it's Nya, he goes, "...ok." If it's someone else, he goes, "What'd you say to me?!" If it's someone like Jay, he goes, "So you have chosen death." My point is that despite the water paranoia, he likes taking baths, especially before bed. He'll tell you he hates them, because they make him do it before bed. They do it to calm him down because if he goes to bed mad, or has a panic attack, or has a nightmare, his powers could go off the fritz and he burns the bedsheets. He likes it as a calming thing, away from stress of the day. He also likes the bath salts, again his flames changing colors with that stuff. Half of the time it's ingredients from that Sereni-tea from that Wu's Tea shorts. It's a therapy medicine for him.

BLUE FLAMES. YUS. This is one that I wish we actually saw in the show because that would be awesome. He doesn't use it very often because it's hard to control and maybe damaging, but that's why he only uses it when he's just... out of control of himself. Imagine a nightmare of a situation where an enemy just takes it too far. Severely injures one of his siblings, for example. Then you just see the fire turn blue... you'd run for the hills if you were them. That man is angry. ANGRY angry

These aren't mine. I did not come up with these. I've just seen these scattered online everywhere, and I love it, and I love art of it.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #314

Today didn't really go as planned.

For sure, J and I got up at 6am, and we got ready to go to the little airport to make a long trip to Pennsylvania so that J could visit the instructor that taught him how to use the tailwheel airplane. We were supposed to get lunch someplace. I made myself a nice breakfast out of berries, a couple burrata, and a slice of that tres leches cake I made recently…

There were interesting patterns of clouds in the sky today when we got to the airport, almost like ripples on the surface of a pond...

...Unfortunately, today it was so cold that the engine refused to start on its own. J and I went to a local hardware store to get a heater to solve the problem. Along the way, I found this rosebush and decided to snap a picture for you:

Sadly, by the time he got everything working, it was too late to go out to have lunch with the instructor. J and I went up anyways, though, just to toodle around. I got a few nifty pictures...

...But then, J decided to teach me a little bit about how to fly the plane. He had me practice keeping it steady. He had me practice turning it. He had me practice ascending and descending.

...It was terrifying!!!! But new things are always terrifying until they become normal. I can say now that if something weird were to happen to J in the plane, I'd at least be able to keep the craft steady, though I don't think I'd be able to land it; landing it is complicated.

But. J wants to teach me how to land it and how to use the radio. We will be going on a long trip one of these days, so it's best for everyone's safety if I have a cursory understanding of how to operate this machine.

...Wish me luck, I guess...???

Afterwards, I decided that I did the scary thing, and that J did a good job of walking me through the scary thing, and so we get to have tasty yums. I wanted eggs and bacon and sausage, so we went to a "Lunchette"? Whatever that means. We had never been there before.

...The food was stellar. The bacon was perfect. The eggs were also perfect. And the sausage was delectable. I got rye toast with butter on it, and I dunked it in the runny egg yolks.

I... didn't get a picture. I didn't get a picture because I was alarmed and on edge. I was alarmed and on edge because one of the other customers, apparently a regular, was talking about how his daughter is in Russia.

And that part isn't the problem. The part that is a problem was when he started saying gleefully that, "they don't tolerate that 'homo' shit or that 'black' shit over there", followed by some recounting of what happens to 'homo' and 'black' people over there, which I didn't listen too closely to, because I was... well. I was pretty upset; I was very surprised to hear someone speak such hateful things so confidently and so openly in my city; my city is supposed to be pretty progressive. Nonetheless, this man spoke hate as though he was certain that saying such horrid things was acceptable in this space.

...I couldn't tell whether or not the people working there were agreeing with the man about his opinion that "homos" and "blacks" should be exterminated. At very least, they - an older man and an older woman - didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable about what this customer was saying. I don't know if it was politeness for the sake of not losing a customer, or if they didn't want to risk the man getting belligerent, as folks like that often do when they get called out.

...So I asked. After the man left, I asked the folks if that man's views are representative of the values that this place holds. I wanted to ask because the food really was stellar, and I'd like to be able to bring my friends here, but I can't do that if it's not safe for them to be here. And I said as much, as earnestly as I possibly could. I hope it got through to them that I was asking in good faith.

I was given a vague response - "it's a business" and "we don't pick sides" and "we try to be nice to everybody".

...It would have been easy enough to say, "no, we don't think like that man". But that's not what they said. Rather, I feel like they kinda dodged the question, and... instinct tells me that their response tells me everything I need to know about this establishment. Instinct tells me that the establishment is run by white Christian nationalists, and... given that those folks are actively trying to exterminate folks like me and J and M and most of the rest of the people I love... I find that to be sad and alarming.

...My instinct aren't always right, though. Sometimes they sense danger where there isn't any. I'm not sure what to make of it. There's part of me that wants to leave a review - to warn people about that place. But... I don't want to destroy an already-struggling business by using my voice carelessly if they're not actually a white supremacist establishment.

...Sephiroth, sometimes when I think of the number of people who wanna see me and my family get tortured and killed just for the way we were born, I get very scared. People like the man we heard talking today... he hates black people simply because of their skin color. He hates gay people just for the fact that they don't experience attraction in the same way that he does. And... I know the mechanics of how people become like that. But... I don't know how to help him stop being so afraid of folks who have no intention of hurting him.

J's father is black. I'm pansexual. M's father is Jewish. And just for these reasons, lots of people would like to see us beaten, tortured, and slaughtered, even though all we wanna do is hang out and play board games and video games and share tasty snacks. Like... if this guy we saw at the place wasn't so hateful, we'd even share our snacks with him. It's sad to think like he hates us this much, and... he doesn't even know us, and we didn't even do anything other than be alive.

...I wish I could help him. I wish I could help the person who screamed "queer" at J, too. But I can't, because there's no way they'd listen to me, or even start a dialogue with me in good faith and... I guess when I think about it on a large scale, I feel powerless and afraid.

...I don't know what to do other than write about it, and vote.

...

...I really hope that the results don't turn out badly this year. If they do, M, J, and I will really have to think about getting out of this place. I've been reading more and more lately about this thing called Project 2025, and it's really scary. It's basically a giant huge plan to criminalize being LGBTQ+, to restrict access to education, to militarize our country even further, to dehumanize certain kinds of people on a federal level, and lots more very scary things. It is very much a calculated move towards fascism.

...Even if we elect a candidate for president that does not support Project 2025, it will still always be looming as a threat in the background. And... I don't want anyone to get hurt. I don't want anyone to have to struggle to live.

...And... if Project 2025 does go through, I'm sure a decent chunk of my letters here will be taken down and deleted, and maybe I'll even go to prison for writing them, because I have touched on LGBTQ+ issues, and under these laws, talking about that stuff or even anything tangentially related to it will be considered "pornography", and "pornography" will be outlawed under this framework, and anyone who distributes it or consumes it will be imprisoned. Even wholesome things like Steven Universe will be outlawed.

...Sephiroth... I don't know what to do. I'd ask you for suggestions, but... I'm not sure whether or not you're healed enough to offer me anything constructive. And even if you were, it's not as though you could ever answer me, anyway.

...You're a fictional character, after all. It's not as though you're someone I could actually talk to, no matter how badly I wish I could.

...

Well. I guess I'll play some Oddworld. At least there, I can pretend like I have power enough to do something about something bad that is happening. At least over there, I can pretend like I have an able body and a voice that people think is worthwhile. You'll find me over here, if you wanna hang out:

...Please stay safe out there, Sephiroth. Try to make good choices. Try not to let the bleakness of things bring you to your knees. It won't be weird like this forever. Please use your power for good things. I'd be trying to do the same, if I had any.

I love you. I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[mc-lukanette]

Marinette shivered, bringing her blanket further around her as she stared out the window. Even though it was still autumn, the weather for the day could easily be mistaken for winter. There was snow falling outside and, while she normally would find it pretty, she was still waiting for her tiny heater to warm up the room.

...I hope Luka's okay, she thought, curling in on herself worriedly as she imagined how he might be doing. They'd only met recently, but he was always so sweet to anyone who came by, even listening to people's situations despite his own. It felt like they were good friends.

She was certain he had money to stay somewhere as, despite him explaining that he wandered from town to town, he always managed to get enough gigs or general work with his musical talent. He could play just about anything and she'd never seen him turn down a single request (though he did make an amusing face when someone asked him to play an XY song once).

For all she knew, he could've already left and gone somewhere warmer. The thought made her feel colder, wishing that she'd be able to at least say "good-bye" to him had she known.

He might not have left, she reminded herself. He could even still be out there in the cold. Maybe he couldn't find a place soon enough, or everywhere was too packed, or he didn't even know that it'd get cold in time to do anything about it.

She glanced at the window again, watching the snow and imagining how cold it must be outside if she was still cold inside where she didn't have to worry about the wind chill factor of a cold breeze.

After a few seconds of silence, Marinette let out a loud whine of relent, throwing the blanket off of herself and pouting all the way to the door. She snagged her jacket, put on some boots, and opened the door to brave the cold outside.

——

"Luka!" Marinette cried, storming up to him. "What are you doing out here?!"

She found him out in the park, sitting on a bench like it wasn't snowing outside. He was in the middle of playing guitar, though "playing" was a bit generous when his fingers seemed frozen in position. She distinctly remembered cold winters back when she was younger when the heat would be only in the bakery section of her parents' house, leaving her to zone out in her room when it felt too chilly to think straight.

Luka only looked up at her when she put a hand on his shoulder, his hand twitching as his eyes focused on her. The scarf he wore was of decent quality, but hardly good enough to keep him warm.

"M-Marinette..."

"I can't believe you're still here!" She threw her hands up, but flinched and hugged herself when a cold breeze flew past. She scowled at the flecks of white in Luka's hair making it sparkle, eyes trailing down to his pants next to add, "And you're still wearing distressed pants when it's this cold?!"

"Sorry." He smiled, but sounded confused as if her worrying about him was strange. "I thought maybe I could make something new. It's not that cold."

"Not that—" Marinette bristled. She'd been out in the cold for maybe five minutes and already hated it. Almost like a declaration, she said, "...You're coming with me."

He blanked. "What?"

In a swift motion, she took his guitar from his lap and put it in the case, locking it shut so she could safely get it onto her back.

"Marinette—" Luka tried to protest again, but she was already grabbing his arm and pulling him off the bench. He stumbled, his legs taking a moment to find stability.

"You can lean on me if you have to," she insisted. "Why didn't you go somewhere anyway?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I thought someone else could use the space I'd—"

She huffed, almost rolling her eyes. "Yeah, you think that way, and then people start walking all over you, being all friendly just so they can..." She trailed off as she caught Luka's concerned gaze, blushing when she realized that she was revealing too much. "Ah—anyway, we need to go."

——

After practically shoving Luka inside her home, Marinette turned and used her full weight to slam the door shut behind them. The warmth of her house slowly started to sink back in and she let herself sigh in relief, almost dropping to the floor before she remembered the guitar case on her back.

"Can I set this down?" she asked.

Luka nodded, seeming somewhere between fond and amused. She took the strap off of herself and let it lean against the corner of the room, then started to dust off bits of snow from herself. Taking a look at Luka, who stood either too cold to notice his own state or uncaring, she reached up and did the same to him. She felt like a feather duster, brushing unwanted specks and such away to make way for a neater appearance.

It was only once she stepped back in satisfaction that she noticed Luka's wide eyes. It registered with her then that this was a grown man, she was a grown woman, and she was touching him even if it was with wholly innocent intentions. Maybe it was simply because Luka was such a comforting presence or she'd just been lost in the moment, but she genuinely hadn't thought about it.

"...O-oh!" she exclaimed, turning away and trying to find any distraction. Spotting the heater still in the corner, her mind buzzed trying to think of how to best rid him of the cold and she decided, "I'll let you use my shower."

"I—" Luka shook his head, back straight like he was trying to be professional about this. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Good thing you're not asking then!" She gave him a gentle push towards the hall as a test, eyeing his legs when he adjusted his balance. "See? I bet your legs are still frozen! Now go!"

She walked past him and tried to show him the way. It took a moment, but she eventually heard his footsteps following after her, confirming that he'd finally accepted the offer.

Marinette took one look into the bathroom to make sure she didn't need to panic clean, then stepped aside to allow Luka in. "There you go."

"...Thank you, Marinette," Luka said.; she could tell that he'd held back another refusal and it made her feel a little smug. He continued, "I'll pay you for it."

She poked his chest. "Don't. It's just one friend taking care of another." She paused, hesitating when she realized that they'd never established their relationship. "Uh... w-we're friends, right?"

Thankfully, Luka smiled at her, voice soft as he replied, "Yeah. Of course."

She smiled back, watching as he turned away to head into the bathroom. He went to close the door as something occurred to her, her hand unconsciously reaching out to stop him. "Wait!"

He opened the door back up, blinking at her. She ran off to go grab her tiny heater, unplugging it from the wall and gathering it in her arms.

"Here," she said, running back and handing it over to him. "Plug this in. I hate it when I get out of the shower and it's cold."

"Don't you need this?" he wondered, adjusting his grip on it to ensure he wasn't putting any pressure on the wire.

She waved a hand, dismissing the idea. "I'll be fine for a few minutes." Looking him up and down, she mulled over if she covered everything. Her eyes locked with the tears in his pants and she snapped her fingers, noting, "Ah, you'll need something warmer to wear!"

She didn't wait for him to say anything and went off to her room. While he was obviously too big to wear anything of hers, she still liked to dabble in making clothes in her spare time - including menswear - so she found something suitable enough for him.

Luka was still standing awkwardly in the doorway when she returned. She piled the clothes into his arms that were still carrying the heater, but while he was giving them an odd (almost uncomfortable?) look, she had another thought.

"Oh, and you'll need your own toiletries of course!" She went past him into the bathroom, crouching down at the sink to open the cupboards underneath it. She always kept spare hair care products for when she ran out, and while she didn't really have any that were made with men in mind, she didn't imagine Luka would care about that sort of thing.

She brought back a few of them she thought he might like, though his arms were still full with the heater and clothes. Leaning left and right to get a good look at the situation, Marinette carefully wedged the products where she knew they wouldn't fall.

Somehow he gave an even stranger look at the products themselves. It was comical actually, poor Luka standing there and trying not to drop anything she'd handed him. She blushed, wondering if maybe she'd overwhelmed him at all.

I-I guess I could've just put everything near the sink or something instead of giving them to him, she thought, rubbing an arm shyly.

Luka, however, took it all in stride, a laugh bursting from his chest that almost threw off his balancing act. "You're a funny woman, Marinette."

"F-funny?" She stared, wide-eyed at what she interpreted as a bizarre reaction. Did she embarrass herself?

Luka's gaze was warm though, reassuring her before he turned away to her towards her shower. While he didn't elaborate, the way her heart skipped a beat told her that he could've only meant good things.

She walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her to give Luka privacy. There was a clattering noise from the other side - probably him finally losing his hold - and she covered her mouth with both hands to hide her laugh. He was a little funny himself.

——

While Luka was taking his shower, Marinette decided to prepare some hot tea to keep her warm. The lack of her heater still left her a little cold, but she put up with it like she said she would.

She could hear the shower running, as well as what she was certain was Luka's humming. If she listened closely enough, she could tell what sound it was.

He has good taste, she noted, finding herself humming back.

She didn't have people over that much, so it was often just her in the house. She didn't even think anyone had used her shower before besides herself. Now that the panic of getting Luka out of the cold had settled, it was oddly nice just having someone in her otherwise lonely space.

Time passed, Marinette only stopping her humming when she needed to take a sip of her tea. Another cup had been set out in case Luka wanted something as well, though she was prepared to make him hot chocolate instead if he didn't like tea.

It was strange though. At some point, she stopped hearing the shower itself and only heard Luka's hum. It also sounded like it was louder than before. Maybe she was hyperfixating so much on the sound that she was blocking out everything else?

At least, that's what she thought until she looked up, noticing Luka leaning against the wall. He was still humming along with her, a look of amusement on his face.

"Buh—" She averted her gaze, a strangled noise coming from her throat when she cut off her hum. "S-sorry. I knew that one, so..."

"You always made the best requests," Luka compliments instead of addressing the humming elephant in the room.

She giggled sheepishly. "I know the best music. That's why." Then, trying to turn things around on him, she grinned and reminded him, "I would've asked you to play XY if I didn't."

Luka's face soured instantly. Feeling successful in her attempt, Marinette laughed in delight.

Now that he was out of the shower, she was able to properly take him in. Sweaters weren't really "his thing" and it showed in how he wore it - not that she wouldn't take on the challenge of making him one he liked wearing - but it was comfortable. His hair, meanwhile, was damp, but dry enough that he didn't need a towel around his shoulders to catch water. She kind of wanted to touch it, entranced by the way his highlights remained unaffected by being washed. Maybe they were natural after all.

Unprompted, she blurted out, "How aren't you famous?" and while it would've been easy to take it back or apologize, Luka was never offended by more personal questions and she wanted to know. "You're more talented than most - probably any - musicians in the industry, you're handsome, and you have good energy."

He blushed at the blatant compliment to his looks - cute - but answered anyway, "People have tried, but I'm not interested."

"Really?"

He walked closer to her for a more comfortable conversation. She showed him the hot water and his choice between tea or hot chocolate, noting that he opted for tea and sweetened it a little more than she would have.

She made a mental note that he had a bit of a sweet tooth.

"I know it sounds like an honor to have people offer me deals," he sighed, leaning against the counter and fidgeting with the tag on the teabag, "but they always want me to change something. They think I need more tattoos and piercings, or want me to be a little meaner for an 'edge', or change the kind of music I like to make."

Marinette understood that. There were some types of fashion she didn't like to make, and while it felt bad turning down requests from friends or even commissions, she didn't want to force anything or go outside of her comfort zone. She was simply her and she respected herself enough to avoid putting herself through that.

"I get it," she said after a moment, smiling sympathetically at him. She'd already revealed something personal that day, so she didn't want to unload further onto him. Maybe another time.

Luka smiled back at her, then looked back down at his tea. He took the spoon and gave the tea a stir, adding on, "I wouldn't have accepted anyway, even if they did give me a good deal. I don't think I want to be a rock star."

In shock, she wondered aloud, "No? I was so sure that's why you were traveling. I thought you were trying to get someone to notice your skills?"

Her reaction felt rude, but it didn't look to surprise him. She supposed he must've gotten it a lot, perhaps from frustrated people who wanted him yet couldn't have him.

He hesitated, tapping at the edge of his tea cup with a black nail, before asking, "...Can I tell you something personal, Marinette?"

Perhaps too eager for her own good, she stepped closer and nodded fervently. It was perhaps too close for the amount of time they'd known each other, but she was too curious to care and Luka didn't mind.

"My mom never liked being tied down," he began. "Even if we stayed in the same city, we lived on a houseboat so she could move whenever she wanted to." He stared off at nothing, as if reminiscing on mixed memories. "I never said anything about it because we were taught to go wherever our passion took us, and hers took us all over until I grew up enough to go out on my own."

"And she rubbed off on you," Marinette guessed. She imagined a little boy on a pirate ship, going to sleep in one place and waking up somewhere new; a dramatic mental image and almost definitely not how it was actually like, but she felt that it was the feeling he was getting across.

"She didn't have an anchor keeping her in one place," he continued, lifting the teabag slightly just to let it go and watch it sink back to the bottom of the cup. "She did meet some woman before I moved out, but she liked to travel too." He shrugged, unbothered. "I don't know where they are, but I'm sure my mom's happy."

It sounded sad, but Luka didn't. Marinette wished she could be in his mind for a moment, going through his memories to see where his attachment to his family began and his lack of attachment when it came to letting people do as they pleased began. What could she even say? That his mother surely missed him? That he was better off as he was, going around by his own choice than his mother's? That he at least seemed happy traveling from place to place and playing for people even if he didn't have a place to call home?

"You're looking for your own anchor then," she said instead. She was sure that's where he was going anyway.

He hummed with a confirming, "Mm," and that was apparently all he had to say on the subject, as his next comment was, "I should get your heater back from the bathroom."

She let him go, watching him disappear into the hallway. The vulnerability he'd shown her made her shiver, drawing her eyes back to the world outside her window. Taking her teacup with her, she crossed the space and set it on her windowsill while she took in the sights.

The snow had stopped only after she and Luka were out of its range, because of course, and she focused on the blanket of snow covering just about everything. Some people walked by, most dressed for the occasion while others were as unprepared as Luka, and Marinette frowned at the idea of having not planned further than getting him a warm drink and shower. On some level, it wasn't any of her business, so whether Luka moved on to go somewhere warmer or chose to stick around a little longer shouldn't matter to her.

It mattered to her.

As she mulled it all over, she faintly heard footsteps behind her, the other sounds signaling that Luka had returned and was setting up the heater back where it was before. Not stopping to think or let herself regret saying it, she voiced, "Do you want to stay here until the cold lets up?"

Silence was her response, and even his movements had stopped. She followed the original source of the sounds to see Luka crouched down, his hand hovering to put the plug in the socket yet frozen in place while he stared up at her in surprise.

Still committing to the suggestion, she anxiously tried to persuade him. "I know you were just talking about how you travel everywhere, but I'm worried about you. Even if you have the money to go somewhere warm, it's still expensive, isn't it?" She waved her arms about as she spoke, trying to work out her nerves. "I'm not asking you to pay rent either. The house is big enough and your company is—"

"Won't that make things hard for you?" he suddenly questioned.

"...Huh?" She tilted her head, puzzled. Wasn't she just explaining how there was more than enough room in her house for another person?

Luka stood, abandoning the plug - or maybe having forgotten it entirely - to stand up at his full height. Touched, he put a hand to his chest, but clarified, "If you really want me here, I'd love to, but I don't want anyone to feel awkward if I stay."

"What are you talking about?" She stepped closer to him again. "Why would it be awkward?"

There was that face again: the one he'd made when she gave him clothes and the hair care products from under the sink. She ran over their whole conversation, wondering if maybe she'd said something that he could've taken the wrong way.

"Marinette," Luka said, sounding as confused as she felt, "I'm talking about your boyfriend."

"My—" She felt like she was going to fall over. "My what?!"

"Or your girlfriend," he hurriedly corrected, looking contemplatively at the clothes he was wearing. "I guess if she was tall enough, then—"

"Luka!" Marinette put a hand over her face in an attempt to cover up her blush, her other hand waving wildly at him to tell him to stop. "I-I don't have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, or anyone. Those clothes are mine." Okay, maybe that would only confuse him further. "Do you remember when I told you that I design clothes?"

He nodded.

She pointed up and down at him. "I made those. They don't belong to anyone."

Luka's body language changed in an instant. Both of his hands went up to grasp at the sweater, his eyes intently taking in every detail of it with such awe that she felt a sudden burst of confidence.

Everything clicked now. He hadn't looked awkward in the clothes she made because of how he felt wearing such clothes, but rather because he thought they belonged to someone else. He only hesitated on accepting because he thought there was someone else living with her. With the latter, there were all sorts of ways she could interpret him having thought that she'd already been spoken for, but regardless, it did mean one thing...

"So you'll stay then?"

He tore his gaze away from the clothes to make eye contact with her. In response, she held her hand out, hoping to make the offer "official" with a handshake. She could already imagine him insisting on doing dishes for her or giving her warnings about when he'd be gone and when he'd be back, and honestly it just made her all the more eager to get him to accept. He was just cute that way.

"...Alright." He beamed at her, reaching out to complete the handshake. "I'll stay. Thanks, Marinette."

It must've taken a lot for him to agree to root himself somewhere, so she felt extra special albeit a little guilty for it. Besides, maybe it was just her imagination, but she did feel like an anchor in a way, keeping Luka grounded in her presence. It felt as though he wouldn't go anywhere so long as she kept holding onto his hand.

Idly, she thought that she wouldn't mind being that for him.

[echo-goes-mmm]

Second-Hand Goods #4

Masterpost

Previous

Next

Warnings: Groping, drugging, implied future non-con

The basement didn’t have a clock, but Emmett knew it was early when he woke to the sounds of Master on the stairs. 

The basement was still chilly, even with the space heater and bedding Master had given him. Emmett distantly wished Master had given him bedtime medicine, because he hadn’t slept well at all.

“Good morning, sweetie.” Emmett stopped himself from wrinkling his nose at the pet name. It wouldn't be received well.

Master was carrying something rolled up, a paper bag with the PetSmart logo, and a bowl with a spoon.

“Aren’t you going to say good morning?” Oops.

“Sorry Master. Good morning.” Master smiled at him, and put the bowl in front of him. Oatmeal; maple and brown sugar flavor. Emmett savored the hot food as he watched Master unroll the whatever-it-was onto the floor of one of the kennels.

A hint of discomfort tickled the back of his mind, but he dismissed it in favor of breakfast. 

“I’m going to pick up a guest tomorrow,” said Master, “So we’ll need to get your uniform on.”

“Uniform?” He didn’t like the sound of that.

Master picked up the PetSmart bag. “It’s nothing to worry about. I had it custom made so it’ll be comfortable.”

Oh. Master hadn’t lied to him so far, how bad could it be?

Master pulled out a muzzle. 

“Wha- why-”

“I was thinking,” Master interrupted. He crouched, patting Emmett on the cheek. The muzzle clanked in his hand. “You’re so sweet, and our guests can be so feisty. And you really want to come upstairs, right?”

“Uh huh.” He really didn’t see where Master was going with this.

“Well, they won’t be so troublesome if it looks like I’m making you help me out. So this handy little accessory will show them you’re friendly.”

That… made a little sense. He didn’t want to have to wrestle with a ‘guest’. He’d never been much of an athlete.

Master loosened the strap, pulling the wire frame over his head and onto his face. There was a padded barrier between the metal and his cheeks, and the actual shape and size still allowed him to open his mouth. It wasn’t so bad.

Master grinned at him, and Emmett didn’t like the look of it. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t stay in the cold basement forever.

Master reached into the bag again, and Emmett’s heart dropped. There was more? It was only a red collar with an engraved name tag, but still. He didn’t like all these surprises. 

Once the collar was fastened, Master grabbed his chin and tilted his head this way and that. A tiny voice in his mind wondered if this was really to help with the guests, or if Master was just pleased to see him looking like a pathetic dog.

It didn’t matter what the tiny voice said. Emmett didn’t want to die. He’d take a thousand days in a muzzle over an hour with his torturer. And he’d wear a collar forever if he didn’t have to work two jobs just for rent.

There was one more thing in the bag. A leash.

Master clipped it to the ring on his collar, the metal jingling. The tips of his ears burned as Master unlocked the shackle around his ankle.

“It’s a little chilly down here, isn’t it?”

Emmett opened his mouth to respond, but Master put a finger to his lips. “Ah, ah, ah! No talking when you’re in your uniform. Understand?”

Emmett nodded.

“Since you’re doing so well, I think we can have an hour upstairs.” He tugged on the leash, and Emmett followed for half a moment before Master laughed and stopped.

“You can stand up, silly thing. I didn’t tell you to crawl.”

His face burned as he got to his feet. 

Upstairs was much warmer, and Master had Netflix already running with the next episode of the nature documentary. 

“Want a coke?”

Emmett nodded. He hadn’t had a soda in… how long had he been missing? 

The coke was a fancy one, the glass bottle and made with real sugar. Master stuck a straw into it so he could drink through the muzzle. 

One hour, and he’d be back downstairs.

He couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

___________________

Maybe he was overdoing it with the drugs. Emmett didn’t protest when he put his arm around his shoulder. Didn’t react when Ander put a hand on his thigh.

He’d slipped part of a dose into the oatmeal and the second half into the soda, but it was clearly too much for him. He was half asleep. Damn.

Ander didn’t feel like fucking him when he was so out of it. No fun at all.

He took Emmett downstairs, keeping an eye out for stumbling. 

He ordered him to sit down, and even that seemed like a lot for him. 

Ander snatched Emmett’s allotted pillow and blanket, tossing them into the kennel. 

There, a cozy little cage for his favorite dog. 

He grabbed Emmett by the back of the hair, like scruffing a cat. Emmett whimpered, and shit if that didn’t make him a little hard.

“C’mon sweetheart. In you go.” 

Emmett crawled in with little resistance. Ander locked the door, and Emmett was already clutching his pillow, eyes unfocused and drowsy. Cute.

Maybe he’d get around to fucking him tomorrow.

taglist: @writereleaserepeat @paintedpigeon1

[writingintheshadowsforever]

Riri Williams x Reader Personal Space Heater

You grew up in California, and whenever it came time for a family vacation. Your parents always picked some sunny tropical paradise. You weren't used to dealing with any temperatures below sixty degrees, and snow was practically a myth to you.

Riri knew all of this prior to inviting you to spend Christmas with her and her mom. Usually you would go home for the holidays but your parents had finally been able to retire from their jobs. This year, and were currently traveling all around the world like they always wanted to. Initially, they did offer to send you, your older sister and brother plane tickets of your own. So all of you could fly over and meet them in Greece where they would be for the next week or so. But all of you turned down their offer, deciding it was best to just let them enjoy their journey together. Your parents always wished for alone time like this, and were only offering to be nice. That's the kind of parents they were, so you guys decided it was time to return the favor.

Your older sister decided to go home with her own boyfriend, who was eager for her to meet his family. He had met hers last year, and it was the same thing for Riri. Last year, all three of you had brought your significant others home, and this year, all of them wanted to do the same.

You thought Riri was being ridiculous when she forced you to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe.

"Babe, those thin hoodies and small ass coats aren't going to do any good in Chicago. You're going to freeze your ass off, " She told you.

"And we can't be having that now, can we?" You joked, shuffling through the jacket rack.

"No, we cannot." Riri mused her eyes, drifting lower and lower, admiring the view. Despite all her protests, you still chose to wear a pair of white jeans that were a little tight on you, and while she was worried. About you shivering to death in the pants due to the Boston cold air. She had to admit the jeans did your ass justice.

"Seriously, Riri, stop staring at my butt and come help me pick out an appropriate jacket. Our flight is leaving in a couple of hours, and we need to get there early to beat the crowd." You said, turning around to face her, knowing she was only half-listening to you.

Her eyes stayed glued to your backside until your body was fully turnt around. She looked back up, almost instantly giving you a grin despite the irritation on your face. "Alright, step aside. I got this, and stop worrying we're on good time right now. This store isn't even crowded. We'll be out in no time."

"Yeah but traffic is going to be a bitch" You reminded her.

Riri nodded her head in agreement, moving the jackets aside a little faster. So far, every time, she tried to let you pick out something you liked on your own. You completely failed the assignment while the clothing would no doubt be stylish and beautiful on you. The material was weak and nowhere near thick enough to for the Chicago winter. Not only did she not want to deal with your whining about being cold, but her mother would kill her if you showed up on her doorstep in insufficient clothing.

It took her about twenty minutes, but she was able to pick you out two strong winter coats, a few sweaters, and three pairs of pants. You had also found a pair of black snow boots and an oversized hoodie with your favorite band on it to add to the pile.

"Are you sure you don't want anything, babe?" You asked her as the cashier scanned the clothes.

"Naw mamas, I'm all good, unlike you. I'm actually prepared for the Chicago snow." Riri said, waving you off. It was the third time you offered to buy her something.

"I still think you're exaggerating about how bad it's going to be. I mean, if I can handle the cold weather of Massachusetts, then Chicago should be a breeze."

Riri let out a laugh. "Oh, and by handle, you mean you spend every waking moment locked up in your room with a five-hundred dollar space heater. That has enough power and range to keep the whole building warm."

"You say that like you don't crash in my dorm the second winter hits," you shot back.

It was funny because the same way you weren't really thinking about how cold it would be in Chicago. When you decided to go to MIT, you did no research about the weather in Massachusetts. Your first year when the cold temperatures hit your teachers had to threaten you with a failing grade to get you to attend classes in person. Your parents sent you back to school with the expensive space heater next semester. Riri did have one of her own, and while it did get the job done, yours worked wonders. When she walked into your dorm room, it felt as if you had an actual fireplace in your room with flames ignited. Of course, she crashed with you.

"Yes, I enjoy being as warm as possible, but unlike you, I still know what real cold is, and I'm going to enjoy watching you eat those words later on." Riri said, shaking her head.

You paid for the clothes and ended up buying her something after all. Riri spotted a Starbucks before the two of you reached the exit and wanted a hot chocolate along with two cake pops. No doubt there would be one in the airport, but you knew from experience the line would be stupid long. It was the last thing you wanted to have to deal with, so of course you got her what she wanted. Also, getting yourself a hot mocha with a chocolate chip cookie.

Riri ended up making the drive since you had to repack your bags with the new clothes. Traffic was heavy, but the two of you still managed to reach the airport about five hours early for the flight to Chicago, and while the lines were long. Both of you knew it could be much worse around this time. Once you and her were made through security and was fully processed for the flight. Riri fell asleep with her head resting on your shoulder.

You let her sleep for the entire wait time, knowing she had to be tired. The young genius woke up two hours early to finish packing for the both of you. Well, it was mainly your bags she had been worried about. Her snooping through your suitcases is how she came to the conclusion. You were completely unprepared for this trip to Chicago, and that's what really led to the shopping trip.

While you appreciated her concern and loved the way she was looking out for you. Deep down, you still weren't worried about the cold. How bad could it be?

Eight hours later, after one long flight with only a slight delay, your question had been answered, and you were regretting your decision to not change your clothes. Riri urged you to go in the bathroom and switch out of the tight jeans. One of the pair of pants that she picked out, but you stood your ground.

She didn't even try to hide the smirk on her face as your teeth chattered. While your the bottom half of your body shivered. You were smart enough to throw on the black wool coat with cotton padded on the inside.

"H-h-how ar-are we-we getting ta-ta-to your mom's? You stammered out the question.

"There are some Ubers down here come on," she told you, taking your hand into her gloved one. She could feel how frozen your hands were through the glove, and her eyes glanced down to see both of your hands bare. "Ma, where are the gloves I gave you?"

You looked away at the tone of anger in her voice. While she was probably taking joy in being right. The last thing Riri wanted was for you to be sick, which is why despite all the teasing she was doing. She made sure you had everything you would need to stay a little warm. "The gloves are in my bag. I didn't think I would need them, alright." You admitted falling back behind her as a cold gust of wind blew past.

You pressed your chest to her back and wrapped your free arm around her waist. Riri didn't protest at first, but then your freezing cold hand touched her bare stomach. She jumped a foot in the air with a shriek. A few people glanced at the two of you, and one guy shot her an apologetic look as his girl stood behind him with her hands stuffed in his pockets. If anyone knew her pain, it was him.

"Y/N, have you lost your damn mind?" She cried out, releasing her grip on your hand as she wiggled out of your hold.

"My hands are cold. I'm cold," you whined, wrapping your arms around your waist. Pressing your hands into your own jacket as tight as possible.

"Yeah, I get that, but what's wrong with my jacket pocket?" Riri asked, raising an eyebrow at you.

"Body heat is better," you said with a shrug.

"Bruh, you do that again, and I will revoke all your cuddling privileges," Riri threatened. Her hands held out in front of her to ward you off.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry now will you please." You begged motioning for her to turn around with your head.

Riri raised a single finger at you with a stern look, warning you not to try anything funny. Nevertheless, she turned back around so you could resume hugging her from behind. This time, your hands slipped into her jacket pockets. The two of you finally made it to an Uber, and after putting the address into the GPS. He started the drive to her mom's house. The car ride was silent as you cuddled up to her in the backseat.

Riri paid attention to the route he was taking, not just for safety reasons, so she would know when the trip was almost complete. Halfway through, she dug in her bag, pulling out an extra pair of gloves. "Unless you want to see my mom strangle me to death, put these on."

You slipped the gloves on without argument, murmuring a quiet thank you.

A few minutes later, the driver pulled up to a two-story dark blue house with the edges of it painted white. There was a big porch leading to the front door with chairs set up on either side. There were Christmas lights lined up on the outside along with a few reindeer statues in the front yard.

"So much for waiting for me to put up the decorations," Riri grumbled under her breath. She opened the car door and got out waiting for you to follow before shutting it. The driver let the window to the passenger seat so you could pay him. Meanwhile, Riri got the luggage out of the trunk between the two of you. There were four suitcases with only one belonging to her. You packed a little more than she did, considering this was her home.

"So this is your last chance to back out if you're having any second thoughts." Riri said, fumbling with her fingers with her eyes directed at the snowy ground.

You could feel the nerves coming off her in giant waves, which surprised you. Up until this point, she had been nothing but calm about this whole thing. Heck, when you took her home last year to meet your parents. Riri handled it with ease. Nothing fazed her, not even when your siblings cornered her with if you hurt my baby sister conservation. That every other girlfriend you had in the past seemed to dread more than anything.

"You know I would grab your face and kiss you right now, but my hands are starting to freeze through these gloves. Come on, Ri, you know there's no such thing as second thoughts with me. At least not when it comes to you, I'm sure about everything when you're involved. Let's get inside before both of us freeze our asses off, " you told her.

She found herself releasing her deep breath she didn't even know she was holding in. At your reassurance, the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach seemed faded away just like that. Riri lifted her head up to see you standing there shivering as snow fell from the sky. But you had a big grin on your face with your hand extended out for her to take. She did tugging you closer to her so she could press her cold lips to your own. In a heated kiss that would warm both of you up.

"Riri Williams, if you don't get in this house and bring that girl of yours in here with you. I'm going to come out there and drag both of you in here by the ear. It's below zero out there with a blizzard going on. Now is not the time for y'all to be out sucking face. This is not a Hallmark movie." A woman's voice yelled from the porch combined with the sound of a screen door flying open.

Riri pulled away as heat rose up on her cheeks due to embarrassment. You covered your mouth with both of your hands to muffle your laughter. "Sorry, Momma, we coming."

"Right now," her mother demanded and disappeared back into the house.

Riri let out a groan as you shook your head in amusement. "I'm so glad you find all of this to be so funny."

"Hey, you kissed me," you said before bursting into laughter bending over with your hands on your knees.

"Help me with the bags before she makes good on her threat," Riri snapped, smacking you on the shoulder. You straightened up a few seconds later to slide a duffel bag onto your shoulder and to take the handle of one of the rolling suitcases. Riri might have sounded frustrated, but you could see the humor in her eyes.

You followed her into the house and was presented with. A spacious and cozy living room on the back wall was the furniture consisting of. A large dark gray sectional sofa with a futon at the bottom and a recliner in the corner of the room. A big glass table was positioned in the center of the floor covered in little whatnots and two jars filled with candy on either side. On the other wall of the living room, there was fifty-five to sixty inch flatscreen TV with the Samsung logo on the front. It was resting on top of a big brown TV stand with a cabinet area at the bottom.

A cop drama was playing with the volume set pretty low, making background noise.

"Momma," Riri called out, setting the suitcases off to the side. She motioned for you to do the same as she headed towards a doorway. You dropped the duffel bag on the floor by the suitcases and hurried along right behind her.

The doorway led to a kitchen covered in white tiles floor with a brown dining room table with six chairs pushed in. The kitchen was a mix of modern and old schools with an island in the middle matching the brown table. A brown-skinned woman who had maybe an inch on Riri was at the kitchen sink with her back to both of you. She was dressed in a black shirt with some blue sweatpants and a pair of black bedroom shoes on her feet. A blue bandanna was tied on top of her head, but box braids spilled out of it, going down to her back.

"Riri, I hoped you took those shoes off at the door. No tracking in my kitchen." The woman said without turning around.

"Shit," Riri muttered, turning back around to go do just exactly that. She gripped you by the waist, moving you along as well. Both of you left your shoes by the door along with a set of others before making your way back to the kitchen. By now, her mom was done in the sink and was mixing some raw chicken in a bowl of seasoning.

Her mom paused her cooking to wipe her hands and come over to both of you. Immediately, Riri threw herself into her mother's arms, who wrapped her arms around her in bear hug. "It's good to have you home, my little genius."

"It's good to be home, momma," she replied, burying her face into her mother's neck. They stayed like that holding each other for a solid ten seconds. Before her mother's warm brown eyes settled on you standing in the doorway. You gave her a little wave with a small smile.

"Alright, come on, introduce me to your girlfriend. She's the first one you bought home in forever." Her mother said, pulling away.

Riri took a step back and took you by the hand to pull you forward. "Mom, this is y/n. we've been dating for about a year and a half. Y/N, this is my mom."

You held out your hand for her to shake "Mrs.Williams its so nice to finally - whoa, okay." You let out a small gasp of surprise as she knocked your hand away and pulled you into the same bear hug. She shared with her daughter just a minute ago. You were a little hesitant at first, but eventually, you did return the hug.

"Don't be shy sweetheart you're practically family at this point. My little girl hasn't ever brought someone home even when I would beg her to. The fact that you're here lets me know you're something special, honey, " She told you.

"Mom," Riri whined.

Her mother gave her a wink as she finally released you. "Why don't you two go get settled in. I'm cooking dinner for tonight, but there is some leftover lasagna in the fridge. If you don't want that, it's early in the day. I'm pretty sure Riri would love to take you out in the city. Just have some fun and enjoy yourselves. We can catch up at dinner."

You and Riri ended up going out into the city after eating some of the lasagna that did not disappoint. Despite the cold weather, you loved sightseeing the city of Chicago captivated by the beauty of Riri's home. Now that you were in the proper clothing, the cold wasn't as bad, and you were ready to take full advantage of the mountains of snow. You were like a little kid pulling Riri into a vacant parking lot to make snow angels, build a snowman, and do every other cliche activity. You witnessed people doing on TV during Christmas movies. Riri didn't mind one bit even though she grew up in this weather and had done these things a million times. Doing it with you made her feel like it was the first time.

The sun was getting ready to set as the sky started to turn a dark blue. By the time the two of you made it back to her house, Riri went into the house to wash up and attempt to get a quick nap in before dinner. Her mom was sitting in the recliner watching The Brothers and informed her. The food would be ready in about two more hours. You were still outside sitting on the front porch watching the snow fall.

It was when the winds started to pick up and get stronger with each breeze. You called it a night and went inside. Riri was in bed buried under the covers, and there was a small space heater going, making the room slightly warmer than the rest of the house. You shrugged out of your jacket, socks, and gloves before slipping into the bed with her. She let out a soft hum to greet you and turned her body around to face you.

"How you feeling, Ma?"

"Snow is freaking beautiful but got damn I'm freezing," you whispered through chattering teeth.

"I told you to come inside and watch the snow fall, but you never want to listen." Riri gloated, shaking her head with an amused smile that you could barely make out under the darkness of the duvet.

"Well, it's a good thing I have you to warm me up then, huh?" you commented. Riri wasn't sure of what you meant at first but found out a second later. When your feet pushed their way under her legs. You grinned as Riri let out an even louder shriek than the one from earlier. No doubt your toes were the coldest part of your body.

"Holy shit y/n" Riri shouted, attempting to scoot away, but you let out a whine stretching your legs out to follow her. You wrapped your arms around her waist to pull her back.

"Okay, okay, your feet can stay, but you got to chill," she complained, squirming in your arms. As your hands found her bare skin again. "You lucky I freaking love you because your ass should be on the floor for that little stunt."

"Come on, you're used to this. I'm not, which means you have to be my personal space heater."

"Man, you could've given me a heads up, at least."

You shook your head. "You would've said no."

"Damn right now come here let's get some sleep before the food is ready. I'm tired, and my mom will not tolerate us ditching dinner." Riri opened her arms, letting you settle in her embrace with your face buried in her chest.

"Oh yeah, I love you too, Ri,"

Riri gave you a quick squeeze indicating she heard you, and both of you fell into a blissful sleep.