#i'm not technically playing a sport at the moment but i'm taking a break for the first time in like 10 years | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

unholydeukae · 6 months ago

Text

In order to not make the last post too long, here's part 2 for the 2yoo scenario :)

(have some Yoohyeon to drool over)

Somehow, Yoohyeon does not fall asleep immediately after her third orgasm. Technically, she could take more - her record counts 17 orgasms after all - but that doesn't mean that she always needs that many. More like the opposite, she's usually most satisfied with two to eight orgasms and today is no different. She looks at Dami, who still hovers above her, her weight resting on the arm that's not in between Yoohyeon's legs and isn't surprised to see her girlfriend's eyes already resting on her.

Yoohyeon in her post-orgasmic state might be Dami's favourite thing to look at. It's a perfect mixture of a fucked out expression, satisfaction, contentment and an indescribable glow emitting from her body. When she notices Yoohyeon looking at her, she smiles, then pulls her hand from her legs. For a moment, she contemplates if she should have her lick her fingers clean but decides she'd rather have another taste herself.

An inadvertent moan escapes her when she sticks her tongue out to lick her index finger. Yoohyeon watches her in awe, the fucked out look on her face gone in an instant. It's not the first time that Dami does something like that and not the first time for her to moan either, but for some reason, it's still amazing for Yoohyeon every time it happens.

Once she's done, Dami shifts around a bit until she sits against the headboard of the bed. She pats her lap; Yoohyeon often likes to rest her head there after they had sex, to relax and get some scratches but today she doesn't lay down. Instead, she clumsily - her legs are still kind of jelly - sits up and moves around until she straddles Dami's thighs. The latter looks at her curiously but closes her eyes and smiles when Yoohyeon carefully places her hands on her waist and strokes up and down. Hair tickles her nose when the girl leans forward and whispers in her ear.

"I wanna make you feel good, too."

Dami's hands make their way to Yoohyeon's back, then up until she cups her face with her hands. She opens her eyes and is met with Yoohyeon's expectant ones. Sometimes, Dami would do anything to make her girl feel good but is not in the mood to be touched like that herself and Yoohyeon knows and respects that. That's why she always asks or tells her that she wants to touch her, to make sure that she doesn't cross any boundaries. Dami smiles and gives the tip of her nose a little kiss.

"I'm all yours, baby."

Yoohyeon can't help but beam a bit at those words and immediately catches her lips in a passionate kiss. Usually, she's not one to take control like that but from time to time, she likes to play boss and Dami, of course, lets her. Their tongues touch and the smaller one moans when she feels short nails scratching her back. Yoohyeon is clearly spurred on by that and slides her other hand under the back part of the sports bra, using her nails to scratch the skin there as well.

Dami's fingers are entangled in Yoohyeon's hair and even though she'd never admit it, she loves to see her so eager to please her. A moan escapes the taller one when Dami grabs a fistful of her hair and lightly pulls. Yoohyeon breaks the kiss, a bit out of breath, and sends her a slightly offended look.

"Hey! I'm the one who's in charge! Don't distract me like that..."

A smirk and some head pats are the immediate reaction.

"I'm sorry, princess. You know I can't resist you when you're passionate like that. Please, go on, I won't interrupt you anymore."

Back to looking satisfied, Yoohyeon places a peck on her girl's lips that are still curled into a smile before she scoots backwards and pulls the flannel off Dami's shoulders. After tossing the garment to the side, her hands roam over the freed shoulders and she can't resist sucking on the skin until a bright red hickey appears. Her expression becomes even more satisfied, although Dami is not sure how that's possible, and she begins pulling up the sports bra, urging her to lift her arms so that she can slide it off.

The bra joins the flannel somewhere next to the bed and Yoohyeon's attention is completely drawn to the newly revealed boobs in front of her. Dami grins - she knows she probably looks just the same when she sees Yoohyeon's breasts but that doesn't make it less endearing. Hands cup her chest for a moment before Yoohyeon leans forward, sticks her tongue out and flicks it over the slightly hardened nipple. It's hard for Dami to not grab her head and push her against herself, the need to feel her mouth all over her boobs is great but she takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down. A chuckle.

"Seems like it's hard for you to stay collected, huh? Don't worry, I won't make you wait."

Lips close around one of her buds, finally. Truthfully, Yoohyeon didn't wanna wait anymore either. Her tongue taps against the tip of it before she starts circling around it, playing with the two knobs of the piercing that has been adorning Dami's nipples for years. While she sucks and licks, she starts pinching and pulling the other nipple with her fingers, well aware that the piercing makes Dami feel everything even more intensely, so she's not surprised to hear quiet groans from her. She's just about to switch breasts when Dami lays a hand on her cheek and looks at her with a surprisingly needy expression.

"I feel like I'm about to burst, please, baby... I know you want to make me feel good."

Yoohyeon contemplates for a second. Teasing Dami like that is great because it's not a super regular occurrence, but she's also at least as impatient to taste her as she is to feel her. She continues her way to the other boob, leans forward, gently bites the rock hard bud and nibbles on it for a moment - a moment that makes Dami nearly see stars - before she lets go and starts travelling downwards.

A few hickeys on slightly quivering abs and she reaches the waistband of Dami's boxers. Yoohyeon hooks her fingers under the rubber and slowly pulls them down. Once she reaches the hips, she's surprised to see Dami struggle for a moment to lift her hips enough for her to slide the boxers further off but they manage eventually. Dami's eyes are slightly foggy and one look at the undergarment explains why.

"Fuck, babe, you're absolutely drenched. I don't think I've ever seen you this wet, what happened?"

It's hard for Yoohyeon to not let out a gasp while she pulls the boxers down completely. Thin strings of arousal connect her girlfriend's glistening pussy to the garment that's pretty much soaked in the centre. Dami looks at her with a partly pleading, partly excusing expression.

"I told you I'm about to burst... Are you really gonna make me wait even longer?"

Yoohyeon is still in awe - the girl is so wet that it not only ruined her boxers but also got smeared over her outer lips, glistening in the neatly trimmed hair. A hand on her shoulder snaps her out of trance. She looks up, sees Dami slightly tremble and decides she has waited long enough. Yoohyeon shuffles back until she lays on her stomach, then she squeezes her hands under the girl's thighs so that she has a firm grip on her. One last glance up - Dami's eyes are halfway closed and she clearly tries her best to breathe calmly - and she leans forward, one lick with the broad of her tongue before she immediately starts sucking her clit.

The smaller girl groans so loud, Yoohyeon is sure the neighbours heard it. She knows Dami cums fastest when she sucks on her clit, so she keeps doing that, additionally dabs it with the tip of her tongue. She knows she cums fastest that way - but she wasn't aware it could happen that fast. It couldn't have been more than two minutes when Dami's thighs start to tremble heavily, her breathing becomes fast and shallow and suddenly Yoohyeon's head is trapped between her legs. Her moan is loud, loud enough for Yoohyeon to hear it even though her ears are covered by thighs and it takes quite a few seconds for Dami to stop spasming.

Slowly, the grip on her head loosens and Yoohyeon looks up, only to be pushed back down.

"More."

The desperate, yet demanding tone in her voice makes the older one moan into the pussy in front of her. Not wasting a second, she gets back to stimulating her girlfriend, licking around her entrance and inner lips instead of immediately sucking her clit again. Still, it seems to work Dami up, brings her closer to the edge- quiet mumbling makes Yoohyeon prick up her ears. For all she can make out from where she lays, her girlfriend silently curses.

She can't help but grin, it's rare for Dami to become so worked up that she gets vocal enough to curse. At the same time, a proud feeling spreads in her chest, after all it's her, Yoohyeon, who managed to drive her over the edge like that. With new energy, she focuses her attention more on Dami's clit again, only occasion licks further down and soon enough, her thighs start trembling again.

The curses become louder, Yoohyeon hears her clearly now.

"Fuck, God, I'm- holy shit, yes, fuck-"

For a moment, she contemplates lifting her head and teasing Dami when she's so close, but as if she could read her mind, the latter grabs her hair close to her scalp and presses her deeper into her pussy. Yoohyeon barely manages to breathe in before her nose is pushed into trimmed hair and the possibilities for getting air into her lungs become nonexistent. It turns out, it's not as big of an issue as she initially thought because the additional pressure against her clit makes Dami cum nearly immediately.

More curses spill from her lips. Yoohyeon thinks she hears something like "fuck, feels so good" but her ears are already covered by thighs again, so she can't be sure. Dami slowly moves her hips to rub herself against Yoohyeon's tongue while she rides out her orgasm but the curses turn into unintelligible mumbling until the only sound left is deep, heavy breathing.

The hand in her hair stopped gripping and now just lays loosely on her head, Dami's thighs are relaxed again and her whole body stopped quivering. Gingerly, Yoohyeon starts licking up the wetness and cum from and around her pussy, careful to not overstimulate Dami who's clearly exhausted, but still manages to softly pat her head. When Yoohyeon's done, she lifts herself up, groaning quietly due to the position she was in. She looks at Dami and sees that her eyes are closed and her breathing is even and relaxed.

"Babe..? Are you asleep?"

Dami mutters something she can't understand but it at least tells her that even though she's not completely asleep yet, she's about to be in probably less than a minute. Trying her best to not stir the worn out girl, she carefully moves her into a horizontal position before she lays down next to her and covers them both with a blanket.

"I love you."

Dami doesn't answer anymore but her hand, that's holding Yoohyeon's, squeezes hers almost unnoticeably. Yoohyeon smiles before she drifts off to sleep as well.

#dreamcatcher #dreamcatcher smut #deukae smut #dami smut #yoohyeon smut #2yoo smut

21 notes · View notes

fincalinde · 2 years ago

Note

random question friday: what sport do you think lxc would play?

Random question Friday I answer several Tuesdays later! This fox cannot be tamed.

So lucky for you this happens to be a subject near to my heart and those closest to me are at dire risk of having it outlined to them at any given moment that LXC is without a doubt a tennis player. Here are my reasons three:

Tennis is a sport associated with wealth and social status. It has traditionally been a sport of the middle classes and above, which I have been informed is also true in China and is one of the reasons for the tennis boom there in recent years. As the leader of a prestigious clan, LXC is at the pinnacle of his society and in a modern AU would therefore participate in such sports.

Tennis requires extraordinary mental discipline. When you're on the singles court you have to solve your own problems and your own mental strength is vital because there's no team playing around you and every single point counts. That mental discipline is not a million miles from the kind of discipline required to become a truly powerful cultivator making maximum use of their talent.

Sexy Wimbledon whites.

I happen to love tennis so I'm aware I have a shocking bias, but I think it's just two keen interests I have happening to fit together surprisingly well.

As a bonus, this is my opinion on professional playing styles for the tennis AU I will never write but have bored on about privately for the past three years:

LXC - your classic elegant all court player, the most powerful one-handed backhand on the tour, as much as he enjoys singles in his heart of hearts he never has more fun than when he's playing doubles with a good partner

JGY - counterpuncher, scrambles like you would not believe, literally never knows when he is beaten and has pulled out more wins from match point down than any other player, has a completely undeserved reputation for gamesmanship via taking bathroom breaks and medical timeouts as a strategy (EVERYONE DOES IT)

LWJ - technically an all court player but drifts into pusher territory a little too often because he likes to hit perfect shots until his opponent makes a mistake - however when he does step up to play offensively, beware

WWX - loses points he should win because he's hitting tweeners for the lolz, gets seriously injured playing doubles with JC and changes his playing style drastically to shorten points, becomes serve and volley king and still hits tweeners and underarm serves whenever he wants, literally the worst doubles player known to man

JC - offensive baseliner constantly being berated by his mother (coach) to COME TO THE NET and can never volley as well as WWX does, hugely outstrips WWX in ranking after the Incident and is constantly paranoid that without said injury WWX would always have beaten/outranked him

NMJ - servebot, breaks rackets on court, has been defaulted from matches for rage hitting balls, is the toughest prospect out there on grass and hugely respected for it, retires early due to health and becomes his brother's very ineffective coach

NHS - defensive baseliner bc that's the farthest position from the balls shooting at him at 200kmph, hasn't even cracked the top 200 and all his tour-related costs are covered by NMJ, has won a couple of doubles titles where NMJ did all the work, still somehow makes more in endorsement deals than most of the rest of the cast put together

#ask #testblog-54 #you don't know how deep this goes #when i say i have an entire tennis au i mean it #and i am not a casual fan #i am a super mega nerd fan #zewu-jun en super dude #han vinner opens her og opens der å herregud!#(deep cut joke entertaining only to me)#if anyone does want me to expound on tennis au i will do so #just know that you ask at your peril #roquen's xiyao tennis au

79 notes · View notes

thewickedbohemian · 2 months ago

Text

Thoughts on a Tracker that showed the show's seeming influences of both Leverage and Scooby-Doo

and why are we airing at 8 again, is this going to be the show's new timeslot or are we just gonna keep bouncing around

can't anyone ever disappear in the light

oh hello again Billie (her this episode, Russell last episode, guess we're really trying to establish who's kinda-part-of-the-ensemble-beyond-just-Colter's-team)

in a weird way it makes senses someone that chaotic would be from this kind of small town (I've listened to enough emo music)

again with the thematic connections between Colter and the people he's searching for

okay parents, whose dream is this

hello mystery oxy, now I'm seeing a bunch of ways this could go

so it wasn't his but that just adds more wrinkles

is the girlfriend really trouble

but Billie's sure trouble for diner guy getting a little too fresh (just what was he implying about her with the transactional shit)

hometown knowledge comes in handy and holy shit that's a mess

thank god she's alive but what's with the blood bag

and we've got LEOs stonewalling our hero again (and now I'm afraid the show's doing an accidental-racism with the Authority Minority trope with how many times that character's a PoC)

I like the acknowledgment that the tech-ing takes time that you don't really get on most other procedurals

selling blood? a different kind of shadiness than I expected

especially because it's not to a hospital but thank god that building's lit blue so we're not in the goddamn dark again

so keeping with the halloween-week trend I've noticed with what episodes are coming of the shows I watch we've got metaphorical-vampire biohackers and "I vant to buy your blood"

not the body we were expecting

so SNU booster guy's a douche, Billie might have been getting strung along and I swear I've seen an equivalent of this twist on Leverage before

and now I'm getting reminded of Elliot from Colter and Billie's interactions, not from either but kinda both and Billie really needs an "Elliot moment"

holyshitweknowshesnotgonnadiebutwhotheheckdidthat!

well...she found the pitcher (and thank god they don't want to "suck her blood" too like his)

potentially-suspicious nutrient supplements?...

Bobby did his digging and turns out booster guy wasn't just a douche but playing both sides of this

and Colter still thinks Billie ghosted him

cue a bunch of technically-the-truths and Colter trying to be subtle with the noticing and the questioning

I think this is the closest fight so far that he's ended up winning

I was just saying Colter, shoot his ass in a way that won't hit her

but Billie sees things a little differently

all sorts of father-son and sport thematic exploration and (other than the literal baseball gloves they're using) why is "To Break In A Glove" metaphorically playing in my head

Colter's reached a high enough friendship level to unlock Billie's tragic backstory

and it sounds thematically similar to his own which she doesn't know as much of as I thought she might

both the songs in the bar (at the beginning and end) sound cool but I don't know what they are but god is this show ever good at the country banger needle drops

#tracker #cbs tracker #tracker cbs

3 notes · View notes

brighteststar707 · 2 years ago

Note

Hi I have some numbers for the ask game: 14 & 31 for Jumin and 50 for V please! Hope you're feeling better now💗

Hi Xela! I'm sorry it took so long for me to reply, I've been busier than expected this weekend. I'm definitely feeling better, like I'm actually living life again. I hope you're also feeling better!

I've also enjoyed talking about character headcanons and indulging in my mysme thoughts again :)

Jumin

14. What are they petty about?

Although he appears professional and put-together to the public, we know that's not the full story. Jumin can be childish and petty too, especially when talking to certain members of the RFA 👀.

He's very sensitive about Elizabeth the Third. Call her by her full name, treat her with respect and recognize her true beauty and elegance or face the wrath of petty cat mother Jumin.

Also, I think he's at his pettiest when talking to Zen. It's very satisfying to see how quickly he can get a rise out of him, and it's good revenge for when Zen is talking shit in the chat.

31. What dumb shit do they do without hesitation?

Spending money. Especially with two people (technically one person and one cat) to spoil now, he will not hesitate to drop ridiculous amounts of money on things that he shouldn't, just to make you happy. Be careful of what you say around him or he'll be buying you an island just because you said you miss the beach.

Elizabeth III lives in kitty paradise and wears diamond-encrusted collars, and it's still not enough for him. She has enough toys, beds, collars and different kinds of treats to last her all of her nine lives.

Special mention for this moment:

Pure reckless dumb ideas from Jumin here. Only he would think of stealing a sports car and crashing it just to get revenge and let off steam.

50. What are they super embarrassed about enjoying?

He isn't used to feeling embarrassment. However, he has some guilty pleasures that he likes to keep to himself.

I think that he secretly enjoys reality TV shows. The over-the-top personalities, the bizarre situations they get put into, the ridiculous fights that inevitably break out... He just can't look away. It's like a nature documentary on a new and strange environment he'd never have known otherwise.

He also enjoys watching romance dramas (though he stays away from ones about office romances, they feels too close to home). He is secretly an expert on the different tropes and character types, and likes to theorize with Elizabeth on what's going to happen next.

Jihyun

14. What are they petty about?

I believe that Jihyun at his best is as mischievous and petty as the next RFA member. Remember, he grew up with Jumin. He can give as good as he gets, even if it's in his own way.

This is most obvious when he's talking to Jumin or Saeyoung, as he's the most comfortable with them. If they try to tease him or embarrass him, he has plenty of ammunition on them to fire back.

31. What dumb shit do they do without hesitation?

*gestures to the whole of another story*

V thinking he could take on Mint Eye and rescue MC all by himself only to get drugged into oblivion is a pretty strong contender for dumbest V moment.

Despite being one of the oldest members and the head of the RFA, he doesn't seem to think things through completely. He's the definition of act first and think later, because he has so much that he's desperate to protect.

50. What are they super embarrassed about enjoying?

Videogames. He has a console at home (an old one of Jumin's) and a decent collection of games. He often unwinds by playing indie games with unique artstyles and calming environments. These aren't the ones he's embarrassed about.

He made a LOLOL account out of curiosity after hearing Yoosung talk about it, and was hooked almost immediately. He has since gotten quite good at it and even branched into other similar games. He doesn't bring it up in the chat because he's embarrassed of what Saeyoung and Yoosung would say if they found out.

#Thank you for the ask <3 #ask game #jumin-ssi #mystic messenger jumin #mystic messenger jumin han #mysme jumin #Mystic messenger V #Mystic messenger Jihyun kim

22 notes · View notes

gametriprant · 2 years ago

Text

I was tagged by @mdelaunay (gracias^^)

1. are you named after anyone?

Nope, I was named this way because in Catalan and Spanish it's written the same way and pronounced similarly, so my grandparents wouldn't change it.

2. when was the last time you cried?

I'm not counting one little tear sometimes in emotional movie moments, and then last time was in 2019 after a trip to see a friend when I realized she was not a good friend anymore, and the realization made me cry.

3. do you have kids?

Yeah, one son that is 9yo and two kitties.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yep, plenty of times I'd say.

5. what sports do you play/have you played?

I don't, I'm not good at them, but in high school I enjoyed playing football during breaks.

6. what’s the first thing you notice about other people?

Not sure, I guess their face and eyes.

7. scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies can have happy endings! But yeah, I'd take happy endings.

8. any special talents?

I'm good at table games and technical stuff. Apart from that. not sure.

9. where were you born?

Barcelona, Spain.

10. what are your hobbies?

Painting miniatures, video games, reading, watching films/series, table games.

11. do you have any pets?

2 cats, Lulu and Nana^^

12. how tall are you?

172cm

13. fave subject in school?

Math, Physics, Biology

14. dream job?

Retired with full pesnion

15. eye colour?

Brown-greenish

I tag @mncqvq1, @misspecas, @duckland, @louwitcher, @miisd, @amarantoo , @bitchesbecrazy89 , @dying-of-the-light , @peter-nautico , @cat-charmer , @noisycoconut , @somewherebehindthemusgo , @being-john-malkobitch , @spicytchai90 , @raccoontastic , @whinyfrog and anyone else who wants to do it and sees this (tag me!)

12 notes · View notes

whatisshelties · 11 months ago

Text

Did I talk about how when I volunteered at an NACSW event, there were "NACSW" people shit talking AKC? Like saying it's so easy and the people in the area haven't trained their dogs good enough for NACSW because they all do AKC.

I was like wow, what a great inviting atmosphere. :)))) Gave me vibes of people ragging on NADAC for being "too easy" because they got rid of equipment and the courses aren't technical.

They're hosting an ORT locally in May, and I will finally cave and join NACSW. Overall, I think I like the organization better as far as their searches, odor concentration (AKC is like stupid high amounts of oil on those swabs. Why 2 drops? Why not just one if you're going to do it that way?), judges being allowed to offer an off leash option in any level. But the superiority complex of certain long time members might get on my nerves. Oh, and the 'You've got to travel beyond day trip distance if you wanna play seriously,' attitude.

Like I'm so ready to be out of AKC events (again), with scent work as the exception. I haven't found that the people are nasty (unlike agility :))). It's more flexible and available than anything else. It caters to a more casual player, which at this moment in time, I am. I don't have the means to go chasing dog sport titles right now. NACSW seems like more of a commitment. (Especially with that yearly membership fee to play. Nobody else does that that I know of.)

I think my biggest beefs with various agility organizations has been equipment spec or safety based. Like right now it's how there really aren't height breaks for the tallest dogs. There's been contact surfaces/slats, a-frame apex height. I've gotten to the point where it's like...course styles are a taste thing for everyone. I don't care for technical stuff, but I'm not going to shit all over it anymore as long as the equipment is safe and people take their dogs physical capabilities into consideration when asking for it.

That's probably my other biggest beef with agility now days, and I think it's more prevalent in some organizations than others. People don't honestly assess their dog's physical ability and will ask them for more than the dog is capable of. I think in organizations like NADAC and CPE where people are supposedly "less competitive" they are at least more likely to take the optional height breaks. CPE already has very lax cut offs, so maybe it's not even necessary in a lot of cases there.

Like I'm not saying you can't critique organizations, because they certainly all have shortcomings, but taking personal jabs at handlers and making judgments like "that org is just easier" is not a great look.

4 notes · View notes

bongaboi · 2 years ago

Text

West Ham United: 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League Winners

Pietro Terracciano saved from Michail Antonio in the opening minute, and West Ham took courage for a while, hurrying Fiorentina and preventing them from building from the back. Declan Rice fired just wide from the edge of the box, but the Viola pressed and passed more effectively as a stop-start first half went on.

Luka Jović had a shot blocked at source in the box, and got behind the Hammers' defence in the final seconds before the break. The No7 reacted sharply after Christian Kouamé's header looped back to him off the post, but the effort was ruled offside.

The second half sparked into life after West Ham were awarded a penalty, Cristiano Biraghi handling a long throw into the Fiorentina box. Said Benrahma struck it sweetly into the top corner, sending Terracciano the wrong way.

Their lead lasted just five minutes, though, Giacomo Bonaventura controlling Nicolás González's knock-down and then beating Areola with a low angled shot. It might have got even better for Fiorentina three minutes later, Rolando Mandragora flashing a powerful shot just wide from the edge of the box.

However, the momentum drained away, and extra time looked to be looming when Areola saved Sofyan Amrabat's hopeful effort from distance. There was a final cruel twist for the Viola, though, Jarrod Bowen chasing Lucas Paquetá's smart ball through the Fiorentina defence before angling the ball past Terracciano.

Laufenn Player of the Match: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) "Even when they were not on top, he was the outlet for West Ham's counterattacks and then scored the goal to win the match." UEFA Technical Observer Panel

Paolo Menicucci, Fiorentina reporter Football can be cruel. Fiorentina dominated possession for the whole game and were the more dangerous side with the ball and created more chances to score but a sudden counterattack is all it takes to destroy a dream. Fiorentina have reached two finals this season and lost both of them, but Vincenzo Italiano and his players should be proud of the way they have played, even though they failed to win any trophies.

Lynsey Hooper, West Ham reporter The Hammers only held on to their initial lead for a matter of minutes. Despite a rocket of a penalty from Benrahma, the momentum shifted when Fiorentina equalised. The match was anyone's at 1-1, but Bowen was quickest to a through-ball and kept his composure to beat the goalkeeper in the final minute of normal time. The image of David Moyes running down the touchline will live long in the memory, as will this European title victory.

Jarrod Bowen, West Ham forward, speaking to BT Sport: "I dreamed of scoring but to score the winner in the last minute, I thought I was going to cry. I'm just happy, I can't put it into words. We haven't had the best season, myself included. I'm over the moon. You make that run ten times and you might get it once. I had a lot of time but I was confident and when I saw it going in, I didn't know what to do. This was the biggest game of my career."

Declan Rice, West Ham captain: "When Jarrod ran through on goal I said to myself: 'This is your time'. And then you see the ball hit the back of the net. I'm still in shock now. Honestly, it's incredible."

David Moyes, West Ham manager, speaking to BT Sport: "This year we've gone unbeaten in Europe, which is incredible. Being in the Europa League next season will be a thrill again. The moments when you win in the last minute of the game and get to celebrate with your family don't happen often. It can go against you but tonight is a brilliant feeling. This competition has been great for us; the players have been remarkable."

Vincenzo Italiano, Fiorentina coach: "We lost two finals when we played really well and it's a shame. Tonight, I honestly didn't imagine it could finish like this. We played well, had chances, equalised straight away after a penalty that could have killed us. We responded, we had a great chance through Mandragora. Then a ball came down the middle, we did not make the right movement in defence and it was all over. The lads were destroyed."

Cristiano Biraghi, Fiorentina captain: "It's so awful to lose like this. We are dead inside, above all because we are the players on the pitch but we were playing for a city, for the fans, the people who came to us after the Coppa Italia final [a 2-1 defeat against Inter] to tell us how much Fiorentina mean to them. The biggest regret is not taking anything home for them."

Joe Cole, BT Sport

"We've seen all the outpouring of emotion: I've never seen so many grown men cry. It's incredible. It's one of the most iconic scenes in this club's history."

Key stats West Ham have won their first major continental trophy since the 1964/65 European Cup Winners’ Cup. The Hammers made it through the whole campaign unbeaten; their final record W14 D1. David Moyes is the first Scottish coach to win a UEFA competition since Sir Alex Ferguson claimed his second Champions League title with Man United in 2008. Fiorentina finished as the top scorers in this season's Europa Conference League with 37 goals; West Ham were second on that list with 29. Fiorentina's Arthur Cabral was the joint-top scorer in the Europa Conference League this season on seven goals; Kouamé and Biraghi provided the most assists with five each.

Line-ups Fiorentina: Terracciano; Dodô, Milenković, Ranieri (Igor 84), Biraghi; Amrabat, Mandragora (Barák 90+3); González, Bonaventura, Kouamé (Saponara 61); Jović (Cabral 46)

West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma (Kehrer 61), Aguerd, Emerson; Souček, Rice, Paquetá; Bowen, Antonio (Ogbonna 90+4), Benrahma (Fornals 76)

#2023 #uefa #uefa europa conference league #west ham united

0 notes

vukovich · 2 years ago

Text

It is technically time to open Peculiar Prompts to celebrate a milestone... but... I decided to prompt myself. So here we go.

Pret, prat. Tallywhack.

It was fencing practice again, one of Harry's more loathed cross-training exercises for duelling. At least with the boxing, Robards let them land real hits. The worst, though, was Turkish oil wrestling, because the only other Auror in Harry's weight class was Draco "Good Show Today" Malfoy.

Plenty of other guys got boners during those training sessions, but Harry was pretty sure he was the only one who'd ever surreptitiously blown his load in his pants. At least he hoped he'd done it with some measure of surreptition. Surrepition? Surrep... Syrup... tits... on...?

Anyway.

Fencing was still plenty irritating. He ended up paired with Malfoy half the time, which was bullshit, because Malfoy had started formal training with a sword when he was four.

Harry danced on his toes, dodged what he thought was the whipping tip of Malfoy's foil, realised he'd been faked, and got slapped in the ribs.

"Point!" Malfoy spat. He reset his stance, glancing behind himself at the wall. It was covered in dark blue padded mats.

"Come off the wall," Harry said, and took a step to the side to square up across the centre mark. "You always do that."

Malfoy just shrugged and stayed stubbornly in place.

"Why do you do that?" Harry asked.

"Even things out for you, Potter. Lord knows you've never challenged me when my back wasn't to the wall." He held his foil aloft, the point aimed at Harry's face. "Hate to break the streak for you. It'd be sporting of me to add a sink, really. Maybe a snivelling ghost for ambiance."

"Oh, that is it!" Harry spun to the side, lifted his foil to his shoulder like a javelin, and hurtled it at Malfoy.

Harry had a split second of horror, because neither of them could reach their wands faster than the airborne sword would meet Draco's face.

It flew, its middle wobbling and warbling, until it slammed tip-first into the wall behind Malfoy's ear. Padding puffed out of the wall like a spit take. The middle of the blade sang like a struck saw, and the handle swung in a lazy circle.

The metal and leather handle tapped against the meat of Malfoy's shoulder, then wavered its way up his face. Slowly, as the blade settled, the handle worked out a slow, ambling path up the side of Draco's cheek, then back down.

"Red card, Potter." He clicked his tongue twice. "Red card, indeed."

An embarrassed flush raced up Harry's neck, not only at having lost his temper so easily, but also... mostly... because the handle and pommel of his foil were similar in size and shape to his cock. And so the sight of it lazily stroking Malfoy's cheek, as if was working up the courage to slip between his lips, was just rather blush-worthy.

"Malfoy, I- I'm-" Harry stammered.

"No need," Malfoy said, soft and low. He leaned his cheek against the bobbing handle, holding it still. "Not the first time you've blown it in this gym, is it?"

Malfoy's voice was a purr. He let the handle of the foil come to rest against the hollow of his cheekbone. Harry's entire body ran hot.

Malfoy turned slowly, offering his lips to the handle of Harry's foil, to leather strapping still wet with the sweat of his palm. His lush, pink lips pressed against it, and Harry gasped.

"You're a rather poor performer in nearly every exercise," Draco said, briefly pulling his lips from the leather, as if he'd only grudgingly come up for air.

Harry's words lost speed in the back of his throat. "I am not," he said weakly.

Malfoy hummed, and the foil's blade shivered. So did Harry.

"I-" Harry started. "I beat you in tennis last week. Forty-love, even."

Malfoy hummed again. Harry let out a little moan, but Draco didn't seem to notice. "I was playing wrong-handed for a bit of sport."

Harry thought about it for a moment. Malfoy had served out wide that day. "You bastard."

Malfoy's smirk turned into a grin, and he ran his stretched lips gently against the handle. Harry watched as his face softened, first, his cheeks, then his eyes, and then his lips tenderly grazed the leather.

"There are other games," he said, quietly enough that only Harry could hear. "Better games." He dragged his lips down, down, until they grazed the bulge of the pommel. "To see who's the bigger man."

Harry's voiced exhalation of "Yeah?" meant 'Please' in every language.

The tip of Malfoy's tongue slipped out between his teeth, and he caught Harry looking. He smirked, pulled it back in, and let his lips spread around the side of the pommel. Harry gaped at him, slack-jawed, wide-eyed, and pants straining.

Malfoy's teeth showed, and he let the warm, damp leather lodge between them. Sharp, sharp teeth, the handle caught in them like a bridle bit. Malfoy's jaw tensed, and Harry gasped. His hand darted to protect his groin, but his other hand caught it mid-transit, making him look at ease, but suddenly.

Malfoy bit into the leather just enough to make a mark, then eased the handle from his mouth. "Don't worry, Potter. Bite inhibition is a part of good breeding."

Harry stammered three different replies, then gave up.

Malfoy plucked the foil from the wall and carried it to Harry. His eyes flicked to the locker room, then back to Harry, then back to the locker room.

"En-garde?" Malfoy asked, stepping closer.

Harry didn't have a reply beyond his thundering heartbeat.

Malfoy licked his lips, standing toe to to with Harry, but a half-head taller. Like a challenge issued, he said, "Pret."

Harry glanced at the restroom door. His chest was heaving, but he tried to hide it. He could make it to the showers. He could run that fast. He could make it past the sinks, around the corner. He wasn't faster than Malfoy, but he was more nimble, and-

Malfoy leaned down to his ear, snapped his teeth, and hissed, "Allez!"

And Harry ran.

#peculiar prompts #drarry #fencing

110 notes · View notes

krastbannert · 2 years ago

Text

As @calcliffbas, for some reason, can't send me asks from his blog, he sent me a message when I first reblogged the "5 Headcanons About an AU" ask game, so I'm putting them here in this post.

Maiko in a small-town Grocery Store AU

I've read a story similar to this one, actually, called photosynthesis of the soul, where Iroh and Mura owned shops in a mall (tea and flowers, predictably) that Zuko and Mai worked at. It was really adorable, actually.

Mai is the floral department associate, running it under the supervision of her aunt Mura, the floral department manager. She doesn't mind it - it's quite, and she likes the hidden meanings that flowers can have.

Zuko works in the deli, usually in the background; he started in the customer service area but that didn't work out so well after he got in a fight with a customer named Jet.

Mai had already been working there when Zuko was hired, and she thought he was a little weird, but handsome. She likes him, at least from a distance, and his awkward flirting is cute whenever he comes by.

Zuko usually ends up in the floral section when he takes a break, at first because it reminds him of his mother, who had been a florist. That's how they end up meeting (actually meeting, not just locking eyes from across the store); Mai wants to know why he keeps coming over here and interrupting her drawing/flower-arranging.

Azula had come to the store to bother their uncle (the owner; he bought the store from Ozai) and she almost instantly became best friends with Mai the moment she walked in. She proceeded to viciously tease Zuko and Mai until she eventually had enough of their pining, and set them up on a date.

The Dragon Prince characters' misadventures at a Friday night youth club

This one...hmm.

Opeli and Ibis are the technically the two running the place, and she is incredibly tired because all these kids are causing a lot of trouble. Opeli survives Friday nights mostly on caffeine; Ibis needs about four hours of meditation instead of twenty minutes.

Nyx causes a ton of trouble by playing pranks on everyone. And I mean everyone. Opeli, Soren, Rayla, Callum, Ezran - she even plays pranks on Bait, sometimes. Everyone says they hate it, but they love it. Really, they totally do.

Soren and Claudia are new additions to the group, coming from a relatively troubled home; Rayla invited Soren after they made up, following several fights on the sports field. Claudia was a harder sell, but eventually Soren managed to convince her. Turns out they both really needed a place to get away from home.

Amaya, Janai, Opeli, Ethari, and Ibis shouldn't have one, but they have a bet going about whether or not Rayla and Callum will get together, since the two have been dancing around each other for a very long time now and they're all frustrated. Marcos, Amaya, and Gren have a different pool for Nyx and Soren - they all lost, though, because Nyx and Soren got together, secretly, before the pool was started.

Bait, Zym, and Stella cause lots of trouble by breaking into the pantry and eating...well, everything. Ezran, Callum, and Rayla think its hilarious. Soren is scandalized and upset that all the food is gone. Claudia just wants some hot brown morning potion. Nyx is the one who let them in.

Sokka and Suki's meet-cute in their very own College AU

I actually kinda wrote this already, believe it or not😅may not be exactly what you're looking for but this is what I got.

Suki is a health physics major, Sokka in aeronautical engineering; they met, technically, years before, during high school soccer, but had fallen out of contact. They met again during freshman year physics. Sokka was surprised to see her, but he was nonetheless, still humbled.

Sokka is, of course, still hung up on Yue. Her passing affected him quite a lot; it took a lot of conversations with Zuko, Iroh, and Katara for him to get it into his head that no, past did not equal present or future.

They actually got together almost completely on accident. They got dinner after a class they were TAing together, and then they just...stayed out. And then they were together, under the moonlight.

Katara, Azula, and Aang were not surprised in the least. They both saw it coming from a mile away. Zuko was mildly surprised (Zuko, in any AU, is still Zuko), but he figured they went well together. Ty Lee called bridesmaid the moment she heard.

Suki, for her part, was just glad they got together. She'd been thinking about Sokka for nearly two years after they first (actually) met, and she knew she was crazy - her aunts both said it to her face - but she held on to him, hoping they'd meet again some day. For all his faults, he'd been a good guy. (And he was cute. That was a bonus, too.) When she finally did see him again, it was a rush of happiness, mixed with a little," Oh, crap, this guy again." (She did still remember when he said girls shouldn't play soccer or do martial arts. And she also remembered running circles around him.)

#krast answers asks #(kind of)#@calcliffbas #maiko #sukka #atla #tdp #ask game

20 notes · View notes

fabelds-blog · 2 years ago

Text

Steddie as common romance novel tropes & pairings (part one)

Sports AU

Steve as a minor-league hockey player who has an ongoing feud with figure skater Eddie, because every time Steve schedules time on the ice, Eddie is always there first. Eddie uses dice rolls to determine how many minutes he has left despite the entire time actually belonging to Steve. In Eddie's defense, he's on his way to the Olympics as a pairs skater with Chrissy Cunningham; Steve has yet to get off the bench. And Eddie knows that because despite telling Steve that he detests hockey, after they meet, he watches every Indy Fuel game. And when the sniping has turned to flirting, Dustin catches on to Eddie's interest in hockey and drags him to a game where they have seats right behind the team because, "Henderson, when were you going to tell me that you're best friends with the future love of my life?" And they're so close that when Eddie heckles Steve's coach about not putting Steve in, he hears him loud and clear, and the coach gets so sick of Eddie's mouth that he says, "Harrington, you're on towel duty for bringing your boyfriend to badger me, but dear God, you're up." Steve actually scores a few goals, and if he gets a penalty for taking off his helmet and shouting, "That's for you, Munson," he'll take it. And if Eddie can't stop staring at Steve's hockey ass that's no one's business but his own.

Fake Dating/Wedding

Steve as Robin's best man in her wedding. Only she's getting married to Nancy and feels incredibly guilty about it because Steve was the one who really wanted to get married (to Nancy, no less) and he hasn't been able to find The One despite his efforts. Steve, who just wants Robin to be happy, puts out an ad for a fake date to the wedding. Must be charming, must be funny, must be willing to pretend they're going to spend forever together. Generous compensation provided. Eddie answers, for the money and because he absolutely loves weddings (the theatrics! the dancing! the cake!), but there's one condition: no kissing and no sleeping together. The first becomes a problem the minute they meet because Eddie can't stop staring at Steve's mouth, and he notices how Steve's eye catches on the column of his throat. But it's purely physical attraction until Eddie realizes if there's one thing Steve can't enough of it's loud-mouth opinionated nerds; and if there's one thing, Eddie can't get enough of it's broad-shouldered jocks who discreetly cry into his shoulder during Robin and Nancy's first dance. And of course, at some point, the lead singer/guitarist in the wedding band gets sick, and Eddie offers to jump in. Steve is surprised, "You didn't tell me you were in a band." Eddie grins and says, "Technically, I'm not at the moment," before he gets on stage and shreds all the 80s pop classics. He can't help but serenade Steve with Spandau Ballet, and when Nancy and Robin throw each of their bouquets, Steve and Eddie catch them both because of course they're next. (And they do kiss immediately after Steve compares that double catch to a D&D one-shot Dustin roped him into playing. "He wouldn't let me max out my charisma," Steve complains, "which is bullshit because --" and he's cut off by Eddie pressing his mouth against his. Breaking away only to say, "Outdoor or indoor wedding?")

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #st4 vol2 #steveddie #my writing #my posts

23 notes · View notes

tlcwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Two Hearts Make a Whole

Prompt: “Kiss me again, like you mean it.” Photo prompt below.

Summary: NYC Pride is for celebration, and occasionally, long-overdue revelations.

Word Count: 2,001

Tags/Content warnings: Marvel. Stucky. If you have a problem with it, there's the door. SFW. Slight TFATWS spoilers so read at your own risk. Platonic Reader. Two idiots in love. Technically canon-divergent because I'm still in my everyone-is-alive-and-in-this-timeline happy place that I will never ever leave fuck you very much Russo brothers but not AU. Found family. All the feels. Complete and total LGBTQ+ support. Lots of bad language words because #me. Un-beta'd.

Author’s Note: Okay so yes this is technically 4 weeks late for @autumnleaves1991-blog's Writer Wednesday weekly challenge. BUT, it was incredibly important to me to finish this one before Pride month is over. Made it by the skin of my teeth.

Happy Pride, y’all. If you’re out, you’re amazing. If you’re closeted, you’re amazing. However you identify is valid and important. Trans folx are LGBTQ+. Bisexuals are LGBTQ+. Ace folx are LGBTQ+. Anyone who identifies or thinks they may be as queer is LGBTQ+. All are welcome in the family. You have the right to choose your pronouns and we have the responsibility to use them. Live whatever your truth looks like to you and love each other. Love is love is love is love. If your family doesn’t accept you for you, I’m your mom now and I’ve got mom hugs available on demand. Homophobes and TERFS can fuck off and roll in poison ivy. Always punch Nazis. Pride shouldn't be limited to the month of June. And don’t you dare forget that Black and Brown trans women were the ones who rioted at Stonewall, and we owe everything to their bravery. Don’t forget that much of popular ‘gay’ culture was appropriated from Black women. And for more facts about Pride that you should absolutely know, Rawiyah Tariq (@ mammyisdead on Instagram) has a phenomenally good overview.

“Oh my god.” You gasp loudly. "Oh my GOD. Is that-"

“What?!” Instantly in First Avenger Protective Mode™️, Steve surveys the crowd, wishing he had an actual shield instead of the screen printed one on his shirt. “What is it?”

You gasp again, smacking Sam’s arm repeatedly. “OHMYGOD IT IS HOLY FUCK.”

“First; ow.” Now-Cap rubs his bicep. “Second; clue in the class before Steve has an aneurysm, please.”

Vibrating with excitement doesn’t begin to describe your current state. “HER ROYAL HIGHNESS MISS LEMON MERINGUE IS STANDING RIGHT FUCKING THERE.”

With the finesse of a shampoo commercial, Bucky's dark locks fly as he whips around. “What?!”

“RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE.” You abandon a relieved Sam and latch on to Bucky’s vibranium arm. “Oh my GOD I love her so fucking much.”

“She was robbed, absolutely fucking robbed,” he agrees, craning his neck to get a better view. “Divine Tension’s lip sync was shameful.”

Sam glances at Steve, who is slowly coming out of protector mode. “What the ever-loving hell are they talking about?”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Nat flicks more confetti at both Cap-the-former and Cap-the-current. “They watch it every week.”

“Really, Steven, for a guy with enhanced super senses, you miss a lot.” Tony hefts a bedazzled Morgan higher on his back. The toddler, accompanied by Scott playing air-piano on the ground, sings along with the ABBA song being blasted at full volume through the street. Tony continues as if this is an everyday occurrence. “Why do you think both of your People disappear every Friday evening?”

Ears pink, Steve mumbles something.

“What?!” The only other one with hearing enhanced enough to hear a murmur over the cacophony of several thousand people belting out the chorus of ‘Dancing Queen’ at the top of their lungs, Bucky turns to stare at his friend. “You thought we were datin’?”

Steve’s blush extends down his neck.

You and Bucky stare at each other for a moment before you both collapse on each other, exploding into stomach clenching, thigh slapping laughter.

“I’m gonna guess that’s a ‘no’?” Clint confirms with Nat.

“Oh, a big ‘no’.” She watches affectionately as you and Bucky calm down enough to look at each other, breathe for a second, and both promptly dissolve into hysterics once more. “Like, the biggest ‘no’.”

Sam crossed his arms across his chest, his stoic stance so reminiscent of Steve it’s amusing (as well as a beautiful disparity to the sequined crop top he’s sporting. Oof, those abs.). “How do I not know about this?”

“Because you’re not a former super spy?” The usually-Black-but-today-Rainbow Widow tosses the last of her confetti at Tony, who spins a jubilant Morgan into it. “Or because you and that leggy barista from the lobby coffee shop are too busy playing hide-the-“

“-Baby Shark!” Morgan suddenly shrieks, flailing towards a guy on roller blades wearing a fin and tail (and not much else).

“Yeah,” Nat finishes with a smirk, “Hide-the-Baby Shark.”

Sam flips her a gesture that makes Clint laugh and Bruce sigh.

You and Bucky have finally managed to pull yourselves together. “Oh my god, Steven Grant,” you gasp, wiping tears from your eyes. “That’s the funniest fucking shit I’ve ever fucking heard.”

“Language!”

Steve glares at Tony. “One. Time. It was one. Time.”

Bucky slings his flesh arm around Steve’s shoulders. “Oh, punk. You may have perfect vision now, but sometimes you’re still as blind as you were before.”

Visiortn himself nods sagely. “Humans can be quite unperceptive when it comes to matters of the heart.” Vision casts a fond smile at Wanda, who is using her powers to make Pietro’s tinsel wig fly on and off. “Sometimes you have to look harder to see what’s right in front of your nose.”

A confused frown on that handsome face, Captain Clueless looks at Bucky. “Why do I feel like everyone else knows something that I don’t?”

His bestie sighs deeply. “Because, Stevie, almost everyone else on this planet knows that my tastes tend towards tall, blonde, blue-eyed knuckleheads who have zero sense of self-preservation.”

“And an ass you could bounce a quarter off of,” Scott helpfully supplies.

“And that,” Bucky agrees.

Steve frowns.

You press your palms to your eyes in vexation. “You, Steve. He’s talking about you.” (Seriously, how has this idiot survived for over a century while being so dumb?)

Whatever he was expecting, it was certainly not that. “He-“ The Man With A Plan gapes as he turns to his oldest friend. “You-“

“Me,” Bucky says gently.

Even though you’re slightly surprised that Bucky is going to do this in such a public forum, you can’t help but be so proud of your friend. It has taken a long time for Bucky to believe he deserves to be happy. There are days he still sinks into that dark place, where his inner demons whisper that he should have fought harder against his Hydra captors, and that his past actions were still somehow his fault. Those are the days no amount of baking or Modern Marvels will bring him out of his funk. You, Steve, Sam, and Nat have all held those strong shoulders as they shook with sobs, overwhelmed by the shame and horror at what his hands had done without his consent.

But he’s here. He’s free. And he’s smiling nervously at his best friend.

“I-” Steve is short-circuiting. “Me?!”

“Stevie.” With the kind of tender patience that can only be born of a lifetime of keeping (or attempting to keep) an idiot such as one Steven Grant Rogers from flinging himself headlong into every fight he comes across, Bucky moves his flesh hand to the back of Steve’s neck. His face is full of such soft affection that you almost want to look away for fear of intruding on this suddenly intimate moment. “What do you think ‘til the end of the line’ means, you idiot? You’ve been it for me since I was thirteen-years-old.”

Blue eyes are locked with blue eyes as Steve processes this revelation. “I-” He shakes his head as if to declutter his thoughts. “This whole time?”

“Since the first time I saw that asshole knock you down, and your scrawny ass climbed right back up.” A wry chuckle escapes as Bucky reminices. “You were ninety pounds soaking wet, and you stood there, against a guy who was three times your size, and never waivered for a second. It was magnificent.”

“I don’t like bullies,” is Steve’s quiet response.

Bucky’s grin is adoring. “I know, sweetheart.” He gently strokes the back of Steve’s neck with his thumb. “You’ve always had a heart way bigger than your brain.”

Steve is still back on the first part of Bucky’s admission. “If you’ve felt- if you-” He’s practically pleading. “Why didn’t you say anything then?”

Bucky shrugs, attempting and failing nonchalance. “It was a different time, you know?” He’s uncharacteristically unsure of himself, the subtle waiver in his voice revealing the anxiety born of a lifetime of being forced to hide his truth. “I mean, you remember how it was; you didn’t talk about, no one talked about- about being- about people like...” He swallows thickly. “And I was so scared you didn’t, that you weren’t-” His voice breaks.

Even though you’ve all been emotionally invested in this love story for years, the entire team respectfully pretends not to listen as the former Winter Soldier quietly admits his deepest secret to his closest friend. It’s enraging as Bucky confesses yet another way he's been a victim of his circumstances, and denied his right to live freely without derision. Once more, you’re awed by his resilience.

“-it was a risk I couldn’t take,” Bucky finally gets out, that stubborn fire back in his eyes. “I couldn’t lose you, Steve. I couldn’t chance it. I could live with just being your friend and only your friend so long it meant you were in my life.”

Stunned silence meets the end of his confession. Steve’s face is impassive, those cerulean eyes uncharacteristically inscrutable.

You can all tell Bucky is heading steadily towards dread and heartbreak the longer Steve takes to respond. You and Sam exchange a look, both ready to intervene if Steve demonstrates any of the abhorrent attitudes that were so prevalent in the society of his youth. It would be completely out of character for him, but...

Finally, Steve speaks. “You’re telling me,” he says, his words slow and deliberate, “that you made me wait ninety-three years to tell me you’ve felt the same way about me as I have about you since the day you picked me up out of that alley?!”

The whole found family breaths a collective sigh of relief as Steve pulls Bucky even closer, broad chest to broad chest.

“Okay, to be fair, you were an ice cube for most of that time and I wasn’t exactly available for a relationship.” Bucky’s grin stands in contradiction to his mullish defense. “But yeah, that’s the gist of it.” There’s the Bucky you all know and love, biting his lip with those perfect white teeth. “Now, punk, I’d really like to kiss you now, but first I need you to say you want me to.”

“You-” Steve’s throat works as he attempts- and fails- to rein in his emotions. “You jerk.”

And then the Star Spangled Man seizes the president of the Sometimes-Former-Assassins Club by his ridiculously perfect face and crashes their mouths together.

At any Pride event, seeing two men kissing is, obviously, to be expected. But seeing The First Avenger and The White Wolf attempting to swallow each other’s tongues is not at all routine. As people realize what is happening, the crowd is whipped into a frenzy the likes of which is usually reserved for the aftermath of sporting events and elections that defeat fascists.

Watching the two men embrace, Scott sniffles loudly. “I’m gonna cry, I’m so happy.”

He’s certainly not the only one. Wanda has a watery smile as she wraps her arms around Vision and Pietro; Pepper, Tony, and Bruce are watching with fond parental energy; you and Sam sandwich Peter between the two of you, grins practically splitting your faces. Even Nat’s eyes look suspiciously shiny and she and Clint sling their arms around each other with platonic affection. And that’s not counting the several thousand people who are cheering for love being love being love being love.

When they finally break their embrace, the Centennial twins are startled to see they’ve collected quite an audience.

“Uh, so…” Suddenly bashful, Steve glances back to his- partner? Boyfriend? Soulmate? Is there a word that can accurately describe two people who have found each other time and again in a world that seems hell-bent on keeping them apart?- his ears practically maroon with embarrassment. For a guy with one of the most-recognized faces in the world, Steve is still incredibly and endearingly uncomfortable with attention. “Buck?”

Bucky seems just as stunned as Steve.

Thankfully, the masses demonstrate the usual support that’s the hallmark of Pride. “LOVE IS LOVE!” someone screams in the crowd. It’s quickly echoed, and chants fill the park.

The attention momentarily off them, the former Winter Soldier and his giant himbo of a soulmate look back at each other. You pretend not to watch through the happiest tears as they embrace again, bringing their foreheads together. The relief they share is palpable, as they’re finally able to show the world- and each other- the love they’ve each hidden for so long.

Bucky’s voice is so soft you have to strain to hear it. “You have no idea how much m’in love with you, Stevie.”

“Pretty sure I do,” Steve answers, bringing a hand up to carefully wipe the tears from Bucky’s face. “‘cause it’s as much as I love you, Buck.”

Bucky's answering grin can only be described as saucy. “Then kiss me again, like you mean it.”

And Steve, for once in his long life, does exactly as ordered.

---

A/N: “The Sometimes-Former-Assassins Club” is from Starry_Emerald173’s BRILLIANT The Avengers Wrangler over on AO3. If you haven’t read it yet, drop what you’re doing and do so immediately. Make sure you're not drinking any liquids, or your keyboard/phone may be in peril.

#writer wednesday #steve x bucky #stucky #steve rogers fic #pride #steve rogers fanfiction #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #stucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #love is love #happy pride #steve rogers x bucky barnes #platonic reader #my writing

55 notes · View notes

eryiss · 3 years ago

Text

Ship: Freed x Laxus

Rating: Teen

Prompt: Late Nights, Early Mornings.

Summary: Long distant relationships are difficult, made worse when it's between two men in different colleges. But Freed and Laxus will make it worse, and if secret phone calls late in the night are what's needed then that's what they'll do.

Notes: This was day three for my admissions to Fraxus Week. It's hosted by @fuckyeahfraxus, who you should check out for more Fraxus content.

Links: Event Masterlist ||| Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction

Four Ways to See the Dawn

Year: 1982

Location: Washington DC, USA

"Hey."

Laxus murmured the word, quietly fiddling with the cord to the phone as he glanced at the sleeping man in the other bed. The stranger seemed to be sleeping soundly, snoring without a care in the world, and so Laxus felt pretty confident that he had privacy. So long as he didn't make too much noise, he could speak without being overheard.

Good, this was going to work.

It wasn't ideal. It was nearing two AM, and Laxus had found himself fighting sleep as he'd waited for his roommate to pass out. The guy was apparently something of a party animal, and he was fully taking advantage of the many frat parties, drinking nights and mixers that filled the first weeks of college. Laxus had avoided them all – they were all too loud and rowdy for him – but he understood the appeal. He couldn't be angry that the man was so unpredictable; Bickslow would hardly know that he was stopping Laxus from his phone call with Freed, after all.

Freed didn't have the same problem. His college, which was half way across the country, didn't have roommates to worry about. He'd promised that he'd be waiting by the phone for him whenever he was ready to call, and he'd answered the moment Laxus had rung.

"You sound tired," Laxus teased. "Didn't wake ya, did I?"

"No, but it was close," Freed chuckled, and the sound was incredible. "I missed hearing your voice."

"Me too."

They'd promised themselves that, for the first two weeks, they wouldn't talk. College was a big thing, and they couldn't fuck it up, so decided they need to fully submerge themselves in college culture instead of becoming shut-ins who only spoke to one another. It was the right thing to do, they both knew it, but Laxus had been missing Freed's presence every day, and no amount of taster classes, tours around campus, and bottles of tequila would remove that.

Freed had always been there. They'd grown up on the same street, played on the same sports teams, and attended the same house parties. Jokes had been made that they were attached at the hip, and that they might as well be inseparable with how much time they spent together.

Laxus had to smirk at those jokes. If only they knew.

It had happened quite randomly, really. Laxus had broken his leg in the last year of high school, and he'd had to sit out on the final game in their baseball tournament. Freed had ended up hitting the home run that won their team the game, and had been rightly commended. Laxus had stumbled into the locker room on his crutches when everyone was left so he could congratulate the man in private. Freed had clearly noticed that Laxus was more melancholy that joyful, and forced Laxus to admit it felt shitty to miss the final game of his high-school career, even if they did win.

Freed had waited for a moment, thinking of what to say. Then, with his thigh resting against Laxus' non-broken leg, he quietly whispered 'I won it for you, you know. Not for the team.' The words were packed with years' worth of friendship and passion, and they were forever imprinted on Laxus' mind.

He'd kissed the man without thinking. Freed had kissed him back.

What followed was a summer of making out, going to the romantic spots around Magnolia under the pretence they were still just friends, and, on the last night before they left for college, they'd slept together for the first time. It had all been incredible.

But the summer had to end, and they could hardly keep going as they had. Magnolia was small, and their friendship was known well enough there for nobody to question how much time they were spending together. Now they lived in different states, a long and expensive train ride away from each other. The making out and the dates and the sex would have to stop, because it didn't make senses for it to continue. All they had left was quiet phone calls late at night where nobody could overhear them talking.

It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for now.

"You, erm, you done many classes yet?" Laxus asked, cringing at the awful question.

"No, they start on Monday," Freed answered, and shifted slightly. Laxus idly wondered if he were in his bed or not. Freed looked good in bed, curled up in a dressing gown with a book. If Laxus was there, he'd content himself by running his hand through his hair. "You?"

"A few taster things, just tryin' to find out what I wanna major in, y'know," Laxus all but scuffed his feet. He hadn't expected this to be this awkward. "Guess you don't have that problem."

"No," Freed agreed. He was training to by a surgeon, Laxus was at college mainly because he didn't know what else to do with his life. "How's your roommate?"

"He's good. A little weird but seems harmless," Laxus glanced at the sleeping man, who was stretched over his bed and drooling. "Seems to be out at parties most nights, so maybe I'll be able to call ya earlier in the night. Not force ya to stay up so late."

"It's worth it," Freed said without missing a beat. "I've missed you, Laxus."

"I missed you too," Laxus whispered.

Neither man spoke for a moment, and Laxus wished he knew what to say. He wished he had a ridiculous story of his fun, interesting college life that he could use to break that layer of awkwardness and entertain Freed with. But he'd done nothing; college was much less interesting than he had been led to believe. He couldn't think of a thing to say, and the electric humming of the phone was getting on his nerves.

Freed must have felt the same way, as Laxus could hear him fidgeting across the phone. Laxus wished he could just pull the man into his arms, as he often had in their quiet nights alone over the summer. But he couldn't. For months, he couldn't.

"It's gonna get easier, ain't it?" Laxus asked. "Doin' this?"

"It will," Freed said, and he sounded sure. "It'll take some time, but it will."

"Fuckin' better," Laxus mumbled more to himself than to Freed.

"It will," Freed repeated. "And thanksgiving is only a few months away, and we'll be able to see each other then."

"Guess so," Laxus nodded, trying to feel encouraged. "You still doing thanksgiving with me and Gramps?"

"If he'll still have me."

"He will," Laxus replied immediately, and then forced a smile onto his face. "And I promise it'll be more successful than last year."

"More successful? Is that possible?" Freed asked sarcastically, and Laxus chuckled.

"You saying that me and Gramps getting into a screaming match, the turkey ending up in the cat's litter tray, the two of us getting covered in cranberry sauce, and the neighbours making a noise complaint wasn't successful?" Laxus scoffed, smiling as he remembered the night the previous year.

He also remembered how, just before Freed drove back to his own home, he'd confessed that it was one of the most enjoyable thanksgiving's he'd had.

"You seem to not realise that, with long hair, pureed cranberries really have a lot of space to hide in," Freed chuckled. "A problem you don't seem to face."

"I'll aim for your face this year then," Laxus grinned.

"That's all I ask," Freed was grinning too, Laxus could hear it in his voice.

The situation wasn't immediately remedied, but they found themselves talking about the ridiculous shared moments they'd endured in Magnolia, and Laxus felt the awkwardness seeping away minute by minute. It was nowhere near as good as driving to the mountains, lying on his car's roof with Freed curled against him, but damn if it wasn't the best couple of hours he'd spent since arriving in Washington.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up sometime later in the morning. The phone was clutched against his chest, the line dead, and the sunlight was fluttering under the curtains. He smiled privately, and closed his eyes, phone in hand.

---

"Freed, you okay? It's four in the mornin'?

"Hey. You're awake. Hi."

Laxus forced his eyes open, groggy and sleep deprived. He blinked a few times, sitting up. The ringing of the phone he'd just answered seemed to still be blaring in his mind, and the overly loud, inelegant words that his boyfriend had just near yelled into his ears made Laxus wince. It was nearly four thirty in the morning. Why the hell was Freed awake?

"Course I'm awake, phone's fucking loud," He complained, sitting up and leaning against the wall. "Why're you awake?"

"Ever and Mirajane," Freed said, as if that answered anything. Laxus waited a moment before he realised that was all Freed felt he needed to say.

"What about them?"

"I told them that it was my birthday tomorrow – or, well, it's today now, isn't it. But it was tomorrow when I told them. Well, technically it was yesterday when I told them, but in the context of me telling them about my birthday, my birthday was tomorrow, which is now today," Freed spewed the mess of words out, and Laxus could hear him frowning. "They said I needed to go out drinking. They wanted to take me out for my first legal drink."

"Yer turning nineteen, not twenty-one," Laxus deadpanned, though smirked.

"Oh yes, so I am," Freed was frowning. "I broke the law many times tonight then."

"Sounds like it," Laxus chuckled. "You only just gettin' in? It's pretty late. Or early, I guess."

"No, we left the club at about one. We've been in the dorms for a few hours, Cana knows someone who can get us beer cheap, so we kept going. Someone made me brownies, but I wasn't allowed to eat them because apparently they had pot in them, so Mirajane slapped the guy and said she'd report him to campus security because we only found out when Jet and Droy started talking about the walls having a face," Freed laughed heartily, and Laxus smiled, imagining the man's expression as he did so. "Why do people always put weed into brownies? It's so overdone. Why do you never hear of a pot carrot cake or banana loaf?"

"Brownies are easy to make, I guess," Laxus grinned.

This was uncharted territory for Laxus. Freed wasn't exactly a total rule follower, but his parents were strict and so alcohol was something he'd never risked. Laxus had always wondered what a drunk Freed would be like. Apparently, he rambled and was happy. It was a nice side of him to hear.

"You think brownies are harder than a banana cake? You know nothing about baking," Freed laughed at him, and Laxus smirked. "Do I have time to bake a pot filled gateau, do you think? It might make mother's book club interesting at last."

"Don't spike your ma with drugs Freed," Laxus instructed, and Freed laughed.

"Yes, it sounds bad put like that," Freed agreed. He was quiet for a moment, and Laxus heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Perhaps one of his boots, given the clunk. Laxus had become something of an expert at figuring out what Freed was doing by the sounds he made. "It'd serve them right. Rather see you than them."

"Come on Freed," Laxus sighed. "They're your parents, they wanna see you."

"Well they didn't on parents' weekend, or at thanksgiving, so why now?" Freed huffed, fabric shifting now. He was probably getting into bed. "They're taking me to dinner, and I saw the place. It's got five stars, Laxus. That means it'll be stifled and pretentious. They won't know what to say to me, so we'll just eat in silence and we'll all want it to end because we know we don't have anything in common and they're only coming because it'll look bad if they don't," Laxus wished he could deny the claim, but he knew Freed's parents and that was probably true. "Would've rather gotten the train to Washington so I could see you."

"Shouldn't I be coming to yours?" Laxus asked, trying to change the subject to something less maudlin. "It's your birthday."

"You saw my campus when you drove us home," Freed dismissed, and Laxus supposed he had. They'd driven back to Magnolia together for some time alone, as Laxus passed Freed's college on the drive back. "It's my turn to see your place. Your classrooms, your student lounge," He paused, and was clearly smirking when he spoke again. "Your bed."

"My bed, huh?" Laxus smirked. "What were you gonna-"

Laxus would have continued, but an airborne pillow slammed into his face. It took his sleep-lagged brain a moment to understand what had happened, and he slowly looked towards his glaring, very much awake roommate. He probably should have realised that the phone would have woken them both up, not just Laxus.

They looked at each other for a moment, Bickslow unblinking. Laxus wanted to speak, but no words came, and Bickslow was the one to fill the silence.

"Look, you know I'm cool with you two being together. Probably been to more of the marches than either of you two, so be as gay as you wanna be," Bickslow's voice was croaky and hoarse. "But don't phone fuck when I'm in the room. It's just bad manners."

"We weren't gonna-" Laxus cut himself off. He couldn't be sure of his words, so instead he said a guilty, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Bickslow shrugged. "Just give me my pillow back and we'll call it even."

Laxus did as he was told, and Bickslow took it, hooked it around his head so it covered his ears, and turned to lie facing the wall. It was as close to privacy they could get in the small room without either of them leaving, and Laxus appreciated the action. When he spoke again, his voice was more of a gentle whisper.

"You should probably get to sleep," He instructed, and grinned when he heard a yawn overpowering his words. "Make sure you drink water before you crash, okay? And don't bother with yer classes, you'll either still be drunk or too hungover to take anything in."

"Yes, I suppose I will be," Freed agreed. "I'll call you once my parents leave."

"Okay," Laxus nodded. "Happy birthday, baby."

"Thank you," Freed said softly. "Goodnight. Love you."

"Love you too."

Laxus hung up the phone, curled himself back under his covers and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to sleep, he heard the grinning words of his roommate as he said, 'you two are so damn cute.' Laxus' retort of 'fuck you' was only slightly less threatening because of the smile he couldn't shake, and the yawn he couldn't hold back.

---

"Don't talk, I need to say something."

"Laxus? What's wrong?"

Laxus was jittery. He'd been jittery all day. He'd had nervous energy throughout the night, and it kept waking him up and he did whatever he could to get to sleep but nothing had worked, and he'd found himself stressed, awake and jittery. He couldn't stop moving. Couldn't stop bouncing his leg or taping his fingers or flexing his arms because he needed to do something with this energy, but he didn't know what.

At six AM, after a night of awful, interrupted sleep, he'd decided enough was enough. He'd changed into running gear, pulled out his Walkman and stormed from his dorm room. He'd ran for however long, and yet the jitteriness didn't go. If anything, it made things worse.

Calling Freed had been a last resort.

He hadn't returned to campus yet, instead finding a phone booth to climb into. It had started to rain as he'd run, and he was dripping wet as he rang Freed's number. The cold and the wet were the last things on his mind. He just needed to get on the call with Freed, just needed to hear that thing's would be okay and that he was making a big deal out of nothing. Freed was a smart guy, and he wouldn't bullshit Laxus about important things. No; Freed would make things okay.

"Dad's court case was moved forward," Laxus spluttered before he could stop himself.

It was supposed to be in the autumn. It was supposed to be months away. That would give Laxus time to prepare himself, to know what he was going to say. To get out of his own head so that he could focus on taking the bastard to jail. It was not supposed to be next damn week!

Laxus was a character witness. In the trial itself, he wasn't all that important, but he knew that the media would love to know what he thought about his father. Ivan was a well-known businessman, and his scandal had been national news. He'd made many enemies over his years working, and people were relishing in his downfall. Everyone wanted to hear how not only was Ivan a bad businessman, but a bad father too. Laxus wasn't ready for the attention, he wasn't ready for anything.

Freed took a moment to think before he replied.

"Where are you?" He asked. "Are you in your dorm? I can hear the rain."

"Erm, no," Laxus shook his head, looking around. "I'm near a park. Not sure where."

"Right," Freed murmured. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need," Laxus faltered.

He needed to be told that everything was okay. That the court case would just be a single day in his life, and he could get past it and move on. He needed to hear Freed saying that he would get past this, and that his life would return to normal. He needed to see Freed's warm smile, the one he seemed to show only to Laxus. He needed…

"It's nothing. Sorry if I woke you."

"Go back to your dorm, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"What?"

"The trains start running early. I can probably be at yours by ten," Freed mused aloud. "I want you to go back and try to sleep. You mentioned that Bickslow has hypnosis tapes he uses to sleep, borrow one."

"Freed, you don't need to come here," Laxus tried to argue, though he didn't want to. "You don't have the money."

"I'll find it," Freed dismissed. "The next train leaves at seven, I believe. I'll be on it."

"Freed."

"Laxus."

Anyone who thought that Laxus was the more stubborn one out of the two of them clearly didn't know Freed.

"You really don't need to come," Laxus whispered, the rain pounding on the small box he sheltered in. "I'll be fine."

"You deserve to be better than fine, Laxus," Freed whispered back.

Silence hung on the line, and at that moment Laxus' world only persisted of the small phonebooth, the rain clattering down on it, and the man on the other end of the phone. He closed his eyes, clenched them shut, and tried to focus on the soft sound of Freed's breathing. Freed was coming. He was coming to make things better. As much as Laxus wanted to protest more, because Freed couldn't afford it and he was going to miss his classes, he just wanted his boyfriend in his arms. He just wanted him there.

"Are you sure?" He asked in a shaking sob.

"Of course," Freed assured him. "Go back to your room and sleep, I'll be there soon."

Laxus did indeed return to his room. He showered off the rainwater, ignored Bickslow's questions as to what happened, and curled up into bed. The white noise tape that Bickslow gave him cleared his mind, and as he assured himself that the clump of blanket he was clinging to would soon be replaced with Freed, he felt everything become just a little more manageable.

---

Sun hit Laxus' face, a gentle warmth that woke him up. He smiled as it happened.

A roadside motel was hardly the most comfortable place to wake up, but Laxus couldn't think of anywhere better to be at that time. No amount of bitter coffee, cramped showers, awful breakfasts, and itchy sheets would stop that. Not when he was waking up with Freed in his arms.

It was Freed's graduation day, the final nail in the coffin of their shared college experiences. Once today had finished, there would be no more dorm rooms, no more phone calls, no more long distance. They just needed to get through the ceremony, and they would be free to spend as much time as they wanted together, without the looming dread of being split apart by the oncoming semester that had previously seemed ever present.

It was over. They were done with college and free to love each other fully and wholly.

They'd found an apartment they could afford. They'd gotten an odd look when their realter had seen two men wanting to live in a cramped, one bedroom apartment, but they didn't care. Three years split apart was over, and they felt they deserved their own place no matter what other people thought about it. They'd more than paid their dues in being apart; they were owed time, and a home, together.

It worked out well. Freed's career meant he needed to continue studying, and he'd found placement in a hospital on a partial scholarship in New York. Laxus, over his time in college, had decided sports journalism was where his passion lay, and he'd been shortlisted for multiple internships in the city. It was all perfect.

Speaking of perfect, Freed made a small mewling sound as he woke.

"Mornin'," Laxus smiled.

"Morning," Freed croaked. He leant up and pressed his lips against Laxus', resting against his body. "You're awake early."

"Excited to see you get yer degree," Laxus shrugged.

"Excited to see me leaving the dorms, more like," Freed chuckled, resting his head against Laxus' chest.

"Can you blame me?" Laxus asked as he ran a hand down Freed's side and kissed his crown.

"Not at all," Freed hummed, contentedly.

Laxus hummed, watching as the new morning sun filled the room. Flashes of a future where this would be his every morning, where Freed would always fall asleep in his arms and wake up beside him. Freed would be his, and he would be Freed's, as they were always supposed to be.

Their love story was quiet, made up of fleeting moments and late-night phone calls. Not the stuff of fairy tales, but, for them, perfect.

#Fraxus Week #Fraxus #Freed Justine #laxus dreyar #Fairy Tail #Fanfic #Writing #One Shot #1980's AU #College AU #Word Count 3.8k

11 notes · View notes

blushing-starker · 4 years ago

Text

Having a boyfriend that's a natural rule breaker becomes even more tedious because now it's two people conspiring together, itching to shatter social norms. Sure, they won't pull the fire alarm stunt to get out of a quiz (that's more Rocket and Groot's style), place mirrors on front steps to confuse Fury and nearly give the principal a heart attack (Loki with an exasperated Thor and cackling Hela) or hire a mariachi band to follow hall monitor Alexander Pierce (Steve had joined Bucky and Sam in that one); they'd never sneak into the air vents, fill them with glitter so the haughty board of directors would be covered in pink sparkles when they cranked the ac (Clint and Nat).

Ok, they did help with that last one, buying the shimmering stuff from T'Challa's sister and slipping five jars into Clint's backpack, but they didn't actually go into the vents.

But that's not the point. The point is there are limits to their rule breaking; Tony's spot on the football team and Peter's participation in the art club too important to risk on something as silly as skipping a quiz. No, they thanked their best friends, unhooked the window lock and slithered out only after finishing and handing in the quiz. They weren't amateurs.

Still, Peter knows Tony literally couldn't have chosen a worse time for their impromptu lunch date. (Luckily, he'd expected this exact situation.)

"Tony, they don't even have bad food today. We could just wait until the bell rang to meet up and eat at the bleachers. Like we always do a day before a big game."

His boyfriend swivels around, hooks nimble fingers into his belt loops to pull Peter closer, never once stumbling even while walking backwards. The grin he shows is manic, just this side of wild to let Peter know this isn't about haunting nightmares and bouts of anxiety. This is normal, too high on a feeling Tony Stark. Which means he won't head back to school unless Peter pulls out all the stops...

He's too exhausted from last night's art project to use up energy on the puppy eyes. So he sighs, tugs on the blue varsity jacket Tony loves to show off, kisses a dimple before turning this untamed creature around.

"Come on, I found a new route to that shawarma place with MJ and Ned last week." It sounds exasperated, but Tony knows Peter will do anything to keep him happy. Well. Not anything. There's only so many times they can discuss Star Wars before simply agreeing to disagree on whether Han and Luke are pan or bi.

"What, and you tell me this now?", Tony squawks indignantly from Peter's left side, freezing nose nuzzling into Peter's neck as revenge.

Like a robber caught sneaking into a vault, he raises his hands instantly before shoving Tony away.

"Hey, you were focusing on practice! If I told you, you'd bring Rhodey, he'd bring T'Challa and then Shuri would pop up and who goes where she goes? Bucky, which means Steve and Sam, who'd already be there thanks to Rhodey and of course Clint would somehow appear with Nat. We'd be together so Ned and MJ are gonna be teasing with Betty and half the guys in our grade have a crush on Nat, or MJ or Shuri or Betty or you. So what's the end result? The entire football, soccer, basketball and swim team eating shawarma a week before the games. I am not hearing Coach Coulson scold me for you guys breaking diet again. I'm already on his list, another situation like that and I'll have to run fifteen laps around the field."

"Oh come on, you can do those in your sleep." He could, but again, not the point.

"With a weighted backpack, Tony."

"Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't want that."

"Before cycling fifteen laps and then swimming fifteen laps."

"Jesus, why would he even do that?" Tony looks at him then, disgruntled at the thought of his boyfriend doing all that.

He shrugs, doesn't want to explain Peter had done it once when it all got too much and he'd needed to release the pent up energy. He hadn't noticed Coach watching him, ready to come help if he hurt himself. They'd talk afterwards, Coulson making him promise to never do that alone. Now it became a reward and a punishment. Peter won the art contest? Fifteen everything to focus his mind and not go jumping off walls in his excitement.

His students wolfing down a thousand calories before a game? Fifteen everything so Peter would at least "time it so it's not during the season, Jesus". To be fair to Peter, Tony participated in almost all the sports teams so scheduling was hard.

"Listen, just don't eat a whole animal, ok? We can split it, eat enough," he glares at Tony, pushing through even as the puppy eyes come out, "and then head to the movies. They're showing Aliens for a few days cuz of Halloween and I already texted the guys to come during lunch."

His boyfriend, smart and sharp and witty, just blinks at him. "But we have class after lunch."

"Technically, but I convinced Mr Pym to let the class out of lab so we could all hang out. It's the one class we share so now the whole group can see it together."

Tony stops, eyes wide and mouth open.

"You, what, planned this?"

"Yeah, something fun before tomorrow to take it off your mind for a while. Or, you know, not make it stand out as much. I know how focused you get, and it's really great, having that as a goal, strategizing and taking it seriously. But I also know it can be a lot, so I thought we should all hang out since each of us has something coming up and we aren't spending much time together. Which I get, responsibilities and family and school; I just missed it and I can't be the only one, right? So yeah, this was planned. Like, two weeks ago. When MJ found the new route, it was like a sign. And I really want you to relax and enjoy the whole, I have friends that care for me and a boyfriend that loves-"

He slaps a hand on his mouth, eyes impossibly wide and cheeks flaming. Tony and Peter stand immobile, the world reduced to beat up sneakers breaking the simplicity of yellow lines on black, a flickering neon sign telling them the shawarma place is open and two hearts slowly starting to beat again after that confession.

Ned would say it's romantic. MJ would bluntly remind them it's a bad idea to stand in the middle of the road even if they're saying I love you. And with good reason, since there's the telltale roar of a car bursting with teenagers, voices howling out the lyrics to an AC/DC song. And of course Peter notices the noise of rubber swerving against gravel, the screeching of old brakes and a few terrified shrieks harmonizing with a sharp wind blasting into him out of nowhere. Before he can react, Tony is there, wrapping his arms around Peter and shoving them both into the little patch of grass that grows from a crack in dirty pavement.

There's a moment where his whole world flips, tumbles until he screws his eyes shut and prepare himself for whatever the fuck caused that noise. But nothing comes. Only a sigh blowing a stray curl away from his forehead. But a sigh? Why would?

Tony.

He gasps, jolts upright and apologizes when that just serves to jostle his boyfriend further into the ground. His boyfriend who'd flip them so Peter wouldn't be hurt. Tony is peering at him through half shut eyes, discomfort clear on the grimace he tried to transform into a sheepish grin.

"So, you love me, huh?"

It's the stupidest thing Tony Stark has ever said.

"What the fuck were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt, you could have shattered a wrist, dislocated a shoulder, torn an ACL, bent a leg-"

"This is not what I expected. Also it was a three foot leap forward on grass, I'm fine, Peter."

"Or bashed your head, or busted an arm and then what would you do for the game tomorrow? Who the hell does that?"

"The guy you love, apparently."

"That's not the point, Tony, that's unimportant because you nearly got hurt. Christ, Coulson will slaughter me if there's a scratch on you, and then your mom would be sad and I'd be sad because, what would I do without you? And don't you ever do that again, I can't take it. I am not losing you, Tony. God, why would you do that, risk so much on-"

"On you? Babe, I'd do it again. Ok, not the right thing to say based on the whole face thing you got going on right now. But just hear me out. Don't, stop hitting me, ow, why are you hitting, how are you this strong, Jesus. Ow, stop it. Peter, for fuck's sakes, I love you, you animal. Now please let go of the jacket, it'll get wrinkles."

His hands unclasp the soft cotton, Tony falling back with a groan and Peter's unhinged jaw snapping shut after fifteen seconds of letting the flies in.

It's a wonderful thing, hearing the guy he's loved for so long say it back, say he loves Peter.

It's also fucking stupid since there's even more reason to not do stunts like that.

"You're an idiot. I'm in love with a guy that has one shared brain cell with Steve. You could have been hurt, Tony. And what would that have done, huh?"

His boyfriend sighs yet again, wraps an arm around Peter to push them from the ground and heads to the car where their friends are gawking. He waves them off, offers a "Yeah, I know I'm amazing, no, I didn't break anything, T'challa, yes, I can play, Jesus, Rogers, I can read you like a book. I appreciate the worry, Bruce; Nat, thanks for calming him down. Rhodes, excellent driving. No need to hog the seats, Sam, we need to settle in. Peter, you can keep cursing me out if you, yeah, see how it's nice being fun size when you fit in my lap in a car full of people. What, I'm not walking after that, I don't care if it's til we reach the parking. Let's go, Rhodes. Pepper, I'm fine. "

Clint offers a high five. Tony responds and that's that. Out of sight, Ned gives him a fist bump and MJ keeps on reading her book. It could just be his imagination, but Tony's sure she's smiling, approval clear on her face. He preens, glad to have her blessing, and settles his head on Peter's fluffy hair.

-----

When they're all laughing in a booth, smashed together and picking food off of everyone's plate, Peter nuzzles the crook of his neck, holds his hand and squeezes it. Tony smiles, lights up and shoves at Sam's face when the trio of best friends tease him for puffing his chest out when his boyfriend ever so softly says, "I love you."

"I love you, too." The table whoops and calls for another round of food and Coca-Cola, their family grinning at them and fondly teasing the new couple. Tony grins back, high on this feeling of warmth and happiness and safety and love.

And then Peter presses ice cold lips onto his neck and he lets out a shout, pain coursing through him when a knee slams into the table. His eyes water and through the haze of agony he sees their friends exchanging cash, some grumbling and others smirking. Rhodey and MJ, he notes, are the ones that win the most. They high five before pocketing the cash and ordering dessert.

Peter kisses his cheek, smile innocent and eyes wicked. It's his own fault Tony snatches an ice cube and slips it below his Nirvana shirt. He only has five seconds to lord his victory over Peter before there's ice cream being smeared on his cheek. They battle then, accidentally sending food into Wanda's lap, Clint's hair and Bucky's face.

In less than a minute they are all covered in shawarma and participating in the fight. Peter shrieks when Tony pulls him into his lap, gets chicken on the varsity jacket and tries to wriggle away. But Tony kisses him, tastes ice cream and joy, thanks whoever decided to give him a break and find this incredible person dozing on the roof of the school with Ned and MJ one spring afternoon. Peter kisses back and, at the same time, they say, confidently, honestly,

"I love you."

This is dedicated to @drarryismyshit07

105 notes · View notes

aricazorel · 4 years ago

Text

I was tagged by @ripley95 for Fic Flashback Friday. Thank you!

Messages is a story I wrote a couple of years ago about Kora (Kori) Reese but only began posting it on AO3 in March 2020. It centered around the idea of a female character being part of the original Normandy crew and developing a relationship with Kaidan Alenko. While it actually takes place during the months before the beginning of Mass Effect 3, it details some of their relationship during ME1 and 2 and how they went from crew mates to friends to lovers to ex-flames. and eventually getting back together. I've since written a sequel called Broken Road and a plethora of prompts about their relationship.

I am a huge F!Shenko fan but the idea of Kori kept popping up whenever I went to write Mas Effect. I know first hand that Kaidan is not the most popular romance in the fandom (sometimes problematic for some people even) and pairing him with an OC that is not Shepard almost ensures your story is never going to be a popular one. But they have found an audience with some people and I'm happy with that. I write for me and if you happen to like it too, awesome.

So to introduce Kori and Kaidan here is Chapter 5 of Messages in its entirety. Or you can read Messages from the beginning here on AO3.

Tuesday June 27, 2186 CE, Vancouver-Seattle megaplex, Earth

Reese glanced around the café Kaidan had suggested they meet at. It was in the commercial district of the Vancouver-Seattle megaplex and very busy. It had taken her 25 minutes just to get to the café and make sure it was the right one after the air taxi had dropped her off. She hated crowds almost as much as Kaidan did, but he had insisted they had the best cappuccinos in the city. He had grown up there so he must know. At least she hoped…

She sat at a table for two in the corner waiting for the Major to appear. He was usually the one early and she late but not this time. The Lt. Cmdr. was starting to wonder if he had begun to have second thoughts; she had. But she still came.

Reese glanced at the chrono on her omni-tool. Fifteen minutes late. Did she call him? Message him? Leave a note with the waiter? Just leave and forget about the whole thing?

She let out a frustrated growl as she propped her forehead against her hand. Could things possibly get more complicated? Suddenly her omni-tool signaled that she had a message. Sighing she opened it up guessing it was a ‘sorry couldn’t make it’ text. The holo screen popped up and read, “Look up.”

Frowning the tech glanced up to find a tee shirt and blue jean clad Kaidan Alenko standing before her. He smiled down at her as he held onto a black leather jacket slung over his shoulder. “Hey there.”

“Hey yourself,” she replied as she scooted the opposite chair out for him with her foot. “You’re late, Alenko.”

“Would you believe traffic?” he asked hopefully as he eyed her own outfit. She wore a pair of jeans too but sported a blue tank top covered by a fitted jean jacket. The sentinel’s appreciative gaze was not lost on her.

She decided to give him a break and replied, “I’ll believe you. It took me a while too.”

An expression of relief appeared on his face as he asked, “Thanks. Have you ordered anything?”

“No. That would have been rude,” Reese replied with a smile as she noticed Kaidan was still ‘taking in the view.’ “Is there something I can help you with, Major? You seem to be concentrating very hard on something…”

Kaidan’s face instantly turned red as he cleared his throat. “I, umm, couldn’t help but notice how amazing you look…”

She cocked an eyebrow as she brought up the virtual menu. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said as he started looking at the screen. After a moment he glanced back at her and asked, “So you’re not going to hit me?”

Reese snorted and said, “No, I’m not going to hit you, you big baby.”

Kaidan began to protest the name-calling and she added softly, “You were being nice…”

“It was more than being nice, Reese. I meant it. You look beautiful,” he said sincerely as he watched her play with her hair. She wore the long dark locks in a loose side pony tail. Her hair was nearly down to her waist now. Three years ago it had only been to just below her shoulders.

Kaidan grinned as he realized as much as things had changed many things had stayed the same. They sat in silence for several long minutes, each keying in their orders. Finally, after the menu disappeared, she said, “You’re looking good too, Kaidan. Actually it’s given several of the girls I work with plenty of gossip fodder.”

He looked at her closely and said, “You’re…embarrassed. Aren’t you?”

“I didn’t say that,” the tech denied without looking him in the eye.

“You didn’t have to. Everything else did,” he replied with a smirk. “Kora Reese is actually embarrassed.”

“No and don’t use that name,” she snapped.

Kaidan held up his hand in surrender. “Okay. Fine. You’re uncomfortable then, Lt. Cmdr. But why?”

“Kaidan…”

“Don’t Kaidan me. We’ve been talking for months and now I find out you’re uncomfortable. Embarrassed more likely and I’m the cause of it,” Alenko snapped as he slumped against the back of his chair.

“No, that’s not it…I just…I’ve never liked people knowing my business I guess,” Reese replied quietly. “I’m not…They’ve seen me talking to you on the vid chat and I got used to working alone except Tali…and she doesn’t tease…a lot…I just don’t—I didn’t mean—“

“Reese, you’re rambling,’ Alenko said calmly, his own annoyance subsiding.

She looked at him with cloudy grey eyes. “I don’t want to fight, Kaidan. I just want to…spend time with you, get to know you again.”

“I want that too, Reese,” he replied reaching across the table with an opened hand.

She looked into his whiskey colored eyes and then at his hand. Smiling she took it and said, “It’s a step.”

“Baby steps, remember?” he said as their order arrived.

She nodded. Maybe old wounds could heal…

“So is this the end of our ‘coffee’ date then?” Kaidan asked as he kicked the pavement with his boot.

“Well, technically yes, but I…it’s doesn’t really have to be…” Reese replied slowly as she looked at his boot. He did look really good out of uniform…

Alenko snapped his head up to look at the Lt. Cmdr. in surprise. “What does that mean?”

She looked up shyly at him. “I…I’m not exactly sure but I don’t think I want to end our date just yet.”

“Reese, I don’t want to push—“

“Kaidan, you were never able to push me into anything…except maybe a wall and that lead to other things…” she interrupted and then trailed off as soon as she remembered what she was saying.

The Major hesitantly reached for her hand and offered, “We could go somewhere else. It’s still light out. There’s a park…and a beach but that’s too far—“

“We’ve been to a park and I’m not going to the beach without a swim suit,” she replied as he started to withdraw his hand.

“We could go back to one of our places…” she added as she grabbed his hand.

“Reese, I’m not sure that’s…”

“Kaidan, if you don’t want to—“

“Oh no, Reese, I didn’t say that. It’s just…after everything…”

“Kaidan, we both said we wanted another chance, but we have to be able to take hold of it…”

Suddenly she found herself pulled into Kaidan’s strong embrace, one hand wrapped tightly around her waist, the other cradling the base of her head. She felt his five o’clock shadow graze her face as he lightly kissed her cheek. Reese found herself returning the embrace without hesitation and sighed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kaidan whispered into her ear, “We’re drawing attention, Kori.”

She pulled away and looked around. Apparently the passersby had nothing better to do than stare, but Reese thought that she heard Kaidan’s name repeated several times. She snorted and said softly, “I think you’ve got a fanbase, Major.”

He looked around more closely himself and retorted, “Maybe they like the hot chick I’m with.”

“Don’t call me a chick, techboy,” she cautioned as he began leading her by the hand away towards an air taxi call point.

“I love it when you’re bossy,” Kaidan said as he signaled for a taxi.

She laughed and replied, “Patience, techboy, patience.”

Alenko woke up in an unfamiliar place on an unfamiliar couch with something warm next to him. He blinked back the sleep and glanced beside him. He found Reese spooned up against him, her head resting on his shoulder, her hair spilling across his chest. He reached down and caressed her check. They had fallen asleep at her apartment watching old 20th century movies.

She stirred slightly and then smiled. “Kaid.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the use of her nick name for him. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’m here, Kori.”

“Don’t leave,” she said sleepily, curling up to him.

He couldn’t decide if she was awake or not. He wasn’t sure what to say. Everything had been so jumbled and then he’d run into her by chance and now here he was on her couch with her. Instead he settled for hugging her tightly to his chest as he ran a hand through her long dark hair. He had missed playing with the long-tangled tresses. The few times they had truly been alone he had even brushed it for her which usually led to something else. He’d never admit to anyone how much of a thing he had for her long hair, but it wasn’t like it was a secret to her.

As he continued to play with her wavy locks, she stirred again. This time she opened her eyes and smiled at him. Her grey eyes were calm and content as she placed a hand on his cheek. “You stayed.”

“Yeah,” he said simply with a grin meant only for her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

#fic back friday #mass effect #kaidan alenko #kori reese #messages #read on ao3 #ao3fic

8 notes · View notes

datingintampafails · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 30: Richard*

Let me start by saying, nothing is wrong with Richard*. I match with Richard* right as the nightmare that is “the microwave” has come to a close. Now that I am mere days away from being fully vaccinated, I break the rules a little bit to give myself a headstart before I am able to actually go on the dates. I figure, what is the harm in working on getting back out there? I send a “Like” to him on Hinge, inquiring about a prompt that mentions he had broken both of his arms. The next morning, I get a reply with the story. After discussing that series of events briefly, he goes on to ask more about me and the video games I play. I step on my soapbox for a time. He tells me that he plays a video game called League of Legends, which has a reputation for having some of the most toxic players online. I ask him half-jokingly if that is his way of telling me he is toxic. He swears by his alibi of not having his microphone on when he plays with strangers, so as to not be tempted. We reminisce about Runescape, and he tells me more about some of the games he plays.

We get into the topic of pets, where he says my dog seems nice. I ask him if he has any pets where I am surprised to learn he has two snakes. We talk briefly about what it’s like having snakes, and we segue onto a conversation about television shows due to my dog having a character’s name in a show he watches, which then segued into a conversation about having coronavirus, and travel, and my changes in taste since aforementioned COVID-19.

I narrate to him a conversation I’m having with my best friend about the show of the moment, “Bridgerton,” on Netflix. Pretty randomly, he officially asks me out for drinks. I tell him I have a caveat, that it needs to be next week, as at this time I am still technically not supposed to be dating yet since I am awaiting my second COVID-19 vaccination. I make a joke that I bet he thought I was going to say I had a penis. He jokes back that he was hoping I would. I continue a joke saying I am pretty sure I don’t have one, but if I do have one it’s extremely small. We learn that we have opposing schedules, “we suck” is how I put it. I offer that in the meantime, we can text/call/video chat in order to continue getting to know each other. He sends me his number though offers that we can talk with a “different method.” Being the jester I am, I turn this into a joke of seeing how many alternate methods I can think of. A good sport, he plays along and adds a few of his own, ending in “Mongolian throat singing.” Despite the ingenious ideas we come up with, I opt to stick to contact him via text message.

Upon texting him and seeing my area code, he recognizes it as his cousins lived in that area. He grew up a couple of hours away in rural Maryland. It is late, so our transition to text is brief for now. In the morning I challenge him regarding who woke up the earliest; I win this challenge due to having a call in at work at four in the morning. We then bond over the legendary Mountain Dew Game Fuel, Citrus Cherry, that would come out at game releases; once my favorite drink, being reminded of its existence brought me anger and sadness, which I expressed I was feeling to him. We are getting along so famously, that I decided maybe I can make an exception to seeing him before my vaccine. He says he is fine either way. We start to plan our date and settle on a brewery I like near me.

Much of our texts are light-hearted jabs at each other, nothing super deep. He compliments my quirks often. He often makes jokes about having a smooth brain and sends me many diagrams. He tells me about his major in college. I then realize I don’t know what he does for a living. I ask him what his job is, that’s when he tells me he is in the Army. The stereotype for men in the military is that they usually get engaged quickly, without knowing a person for very long. Being the jokester I am, I take this opportunity to jab at him. My response to his career is, “oh sorry I don’t want to get married next month.” He says that that is why he doesn't have his job in his profile, because of the stereotypes. I joke that I have been misled to believe he had been a chill down to earth guy.

When it is the day of the date, I jokingly keep saying I am going to wear an evening gown; I mention it a couple times. When I arrive, in my skirt and crop top, I see he’s actually dressed pretty nicely and is sitting outside, wearing long khaki pants and a dress shirt. It is a decently warm day, so I hope he's okay. I compliment him, saying he looks nice and he didn't need to dress up for me. He admits that because I kept talking about the evening gown, that he thought I might have been serious, so he wanted to match my formality. I do notice over the course of the date though that he is sweating through his shirt, especially at the underarms; not the most attractive, but a person cannot help these things.

The conversation goes well, we have a nice time and I regale him with the drama in my video game community and just talk about random things. I have a couple drinks and although we weren't planning on eating dinner there, he ends up eating a burger and I opt to just "steal some fries" since I had a late lunch. He is craving dessert so we walk a block to a local ice cream place and get some ice cream as well. When we return back to where the cars were, I realize that he had Ubered there, because another joke of mine was taken seriously regarding getting super drunk. I feel bad and offer to drive him home. We get in my car and I have him put in his address into Google Maps. I drive him there and when approaching his apartment, I see a lot of construction. He instructs me where I can drop him off and suggests that I turn around in a certain lot. He gives me a hug goodbye and I drive off.

I get completely confused and lost in the construction, between closed streets and cones blocking lanes, so I get stuck in the vicinity of his apartment for five minutes before being able to find my way back to the main road. I let him know of my troubles driving, and also when I got home. He thanks me for going out and says he had a great time. Whereas I also had a good time, I found it strange he made no moves whatsoever during the night and I didn't really feel a romantic urge with him.

I get my second COVID-19 Vaccine and take a day off to recover. We still talk at least daily while he is away on his trip; while he is gone I focus a little more on the other guy I am chatting with, John*. I've told my mom of my predicament between the two men, and between her and I, I decided I'll go out with Richard* again, give him another chance. If things still aren't progressing or feelings startup, I will end it and entirely focus on John*.

Richard* asks me when he can see me again and offers to cook for me. I give him my Friday night, which is a day after I am seeing John* again as well. On Thursday, he texts me to verify, saying "I'd like to see you tomorrow, did you still want to do dinner?" I told him I meant to confirm that day. We don't talk besides that, which is good for me because I don't have to worry about getting texts from him when I'm with someone else. The day of my second date with Richard*, I text him to ask for his address again and ask for suggestions on parking, since the construction was such a fiasco for me, I'm still traumatized lightly. He tells me and after a few hours, I get some complicated news regarding my gaming community, so I ask Richard* if I can reschedule to tomorrow, Saturday. He says it is fine and so we just chat for the rest of the day.

On the day our date will actually happen, he again seems to verify the date, asking me if I'm planning on coming over "today." I snarkily replied, "yeah I don't bail, you said 730." He asks me what I want to drink, as he must be grocery shopping. I panic and say seltzers. I take a quick nap and then let him know I am headed to his apartment. When I arrive, I try to follow his parking suggestions but get confused and don't see anything. After driving around for over five minutes, I start to panic as I don't see anything. I find a random gravel lot that is in earshot of where I had dropped him off on the first date, and I call to admit defeat. I send him a photo as well to show where I am. He comes out to find me and almost walks past my car. I flash my high beams at him to indicate it's me and he hops in the car. We drive around a few minutes and luck upon a spot that is close to one of the side entrances to his apartment complex.

I follow him to his apartment, he is again dressed nicely, and I am wearing more comfortable clothes. He is wearing a nice shirt, but with jeans. We get to his apartment and it is slightly better than a typical bachelor pad, but definitely not overly showy. He is still finishing up dinner, chicken pad thai, and he gets me out a white claw to drink. We chat briefly but he starts acting weird, just off. I just sit in his gaming chair and spin around, look at his one snake, and stay quiet. In a way, I am fine with the silence, as it solidifies my unease about this going anywhere. He eventually speaks up, saying he just got a killer headache and isn't feeling well. Due to his travels, I joke about him having coronavirus.

When the food is ready, I let him serve me, I tell him to go light as I don't eat much. He had talked a lot of game regarding his pad thai being good, and unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing. He used chicken thighs, which I am not a huge fan of, and the noodles seemed almost soggy. Richard* was aware of this, however, and commented that this wasn't his best dish and had used a new kind of noodles. I don't like and say that it's just alright, at least palatable. We watch some Brooklyn 99 and eat on his couch, sitting on opposite sides of the couch. After dinner, I get an official introduction to the snakes and get to pet them, it is bizarre, but kind of cool. Definitely not as fun as playing with, say, a dog. Shortly after that, I say it's getting late and I should probably go home. He walks me back to my car, which is a need since his complex is a maze. Again, he makes no moves and gives me a hug goodbye. For me, it's easy to see that something isn't quite right here. We chat briefly, for the next few days, as I'm not ready to immediately break his heart.

When he texts me four days after our date, explicitly saying the following, I see it is a perfect opportunity to come clean:

He took things very well, and I didn't hear from him again. I commend myself for being a real human and telling people how I feel, rather than ghosting and not giving others closure. I wish more conversations could go this way. I feel bad for the guy. It isn’t his fault that I ended up “playing the game” and doing what you’re supposed to do when you’re dating, which is, not to get stuck on one person and date around. It just so happens, he ended up being the one I obviously didn’t like as much and had to sacrifice for his own good. It’s possible that only due to my extreme attraction to the other guy, that he never had a chance as it was shadowed by my feelings for someone else.

#dating #relationships #tampa #tampabay #hinge #tinder #bumble #stpete #clearwater

4 notes · View notes