#interabled relationships

[a-little-revolution]

you've talked a bit about representation of little people in media and i want to ask: what are aspects of being a little person that often get overlooked or under-explored?

Hello! Gosh so much gets overlooked, but one thing I always come back to is that we need to see more little people in love! Stories about love and family are a great way to humanize a marginalized group through media - to show viewers that our lives are not without love, connection, community and care.

As a teen I truly felt like I would never fall in love, that people like me just don't get to have that. And media only reinforced that by objectifying and dehumanizing bodies like mine. There were and still are very few stories that depict little people falling in love, getting married, having children. But it happens all the time in the real world! The dwarf banquets I go to are entirely built around there being families with children, couples, and groups of friends. Disabled people are not loveless. People just aren't telling our stories.

[cripplecharacters]

I have two disabled characters who are in a relationship. One uses a wheelchair and has double LLA (one above one below knee), whike the other is generally mobile and doesnt use any aids. Theyve been in a relationship for years, but mostly online rather than in person (the story takes place in person). Should I have them have a consent and boundaries (e.g. you can lift me but only if I ask or if i'm already using you to pull myself up, you may offer to help me move over difficult terrain but what path we take is my decision, im okay with you touching my nubs if you tell me youre gonna do it and wait for confirmation beforehand) talk 'on screen' or should it have happened earlier in/at the beginning of the relationship and be referenced to?

Sorry if this is confusing. I am disabled, so I have had to have these talks before, but I dont use a wheelchair and ive never been in a largely online relationship where physical stuff isnt relevant.

Hello!

This is a similar situation/dynamic to my boyfriend and I. Though we're not in an online relationship, we are long distance and most of our day-to-day interactions take place through texting or social media. Both of us are disabled but at different "levels" (So to speak).

While we have several disabilities in common (Autism, Tourette's, ADHD, etc.), the main difference is our levels in physical disability. He is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair full time. I have an undiagnosed disability that causes me chronic pain/limited mobility and use a cane and other mobility aids.

Above all else, though, we're both two separate people. We have different histories, opinions, and experiences. Most of our discussions about boundaries have actually been about language. While I reclaim the term "cripple" for myself to a degree, he doesn't. On the other hand, he prefers to be called "somebody with autism" while I prefer the term "autistic person".

These seem like small things to worry about but they're fairly important, both to our identity and our relationship. We have a sort of compromise in our relationship. I haven't changed my language entirely and neither has he, but we've both adjusted it. He uses the language he's comfortable with for himself, I use the language I'm comfortable with for myself. We generally stick to neutral language when speaking generally.

I mentioned that this is the only real discussion we've had about boundaries. The rest of it has happened more over time, usually in the form of correcting one another or elaborating on our needs and preferences.

Like with consent, it shouldn't just be one conversation. It's constantly evolving.

In your story, it may be best to show that. If you leave it as something that happens offscreen, it may be looked over. If you have a big conversation happen onscreen, it could undercut the seriousness of their relationship or come across as clunky.

Having this discussion be an ever-evolving series of small conversations instead can make it seem more natural and also help show how somebody's needs and preferences can change over time.

If you do want a conversation/discussion to happen that's specifically relevant to their online relationship, it could involve their boundaries and preferences around things such as language (What terms to use, which ones to avoid, etc.), photos/videos (Whether they can be shared, whether they can be requested, what parts of themself will be in them, etc.), talking about them to others (How much information they can give others about their partner's disability, etc.), etc.

The big thing with boundaries is that it's not a "one size fits all" thing. Somebody's boundaries will constantly be changing and shifting depending on the situation, the day, or even just their current mood.

At least for my boyfriend and I, the biggest thing is communication. There will be times where I notice he's struggling and will ask if he wants me to push him for a bit. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. But even if he's okay being pushed by me, I would never just randomly start pushing him without his consent.

With your characters, this could look something like one character asking the other if they need help doing something (Ex: "Do you want me to grab that for you?"). It could also look like one character correcting the other on language for themself (Ex: One character says, "This is my girlfriend, she's autistic." The other says, "Actually, I prefer being called a person with autism."). The character could explain why that is (Ex: "I was called autistic a lot as an insult and don't want to use that language for myself now.") or they can just leave it as is and let their preference be known.

As with any relationship, navigating consent can be a bit awkward at the beginning -- especially if this is your characters first time meeting in person. It's normal for them to stumble a bit and for there to be misunderstandings. For example, maybe one character accepts the other's offer of help but they have two different definitions of what "help" means in that context.

Of course, the nature of the conversation will differ depending on when they're having it. If it's happening during the online part of their relationship, it likely won't focus as much on physical things (When to help them, for example) and will instead focus on some of the other points such as language and discussing their disability with other people.

The last thing to keep in mind is that the process of discussing consent and boundaries looks different for everyone. The information I'm sharing is just my perspective on the matter. You'll have a different one, as will your disabled readers.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[crazycatsiren]

Just something on my mind right now.

Allistic people, if you have an autistic friend, what you should be mindful of is that if you want your friend to go out and hang out with you and company, you ought to refrain from giving them a hard time about what they have to do in order to keep themselves safe and sane while they're away from their safe space (home) no matter the circumstances.

Speaking from personal experiences here, I know I want to get out of the house, go to places, spend time with friends, have fun. But if me leaving my comfort zone (which is never an easy thing to begin with) is met with the punishment of no accommodation and no consideration, well, guess what, I ain't going to want to do it again, at least not with the same people again.

It's not a switch that can be turned on and off. I can't make myself 100% socially palatable on the best of and highest masking days. As I was telling my husband the other night after us returning from a summer fest, a little bit of advocacy such as "this place is overwhelming/overstimulating/sensory overloading for her" goes a long way. (Context: I snapped after I was made the butt of jokes for the evening, for being "oblivious", because I was bombarded by noises, crowds, smells, and heat from all sides in every direction, and therefore couldn't focus on anything, because sensory hell, because autism.)

[armitagehuxsleepschedule]

not enough kylux content touches on the class disparity between them and this is a silly tragedy. like that's gotta factor in a little bit to why hux hates kylo so much. like "oh, so this wealthy core republic politician's son descended from alderaanian royalty and naboo nobility can flout all the rules and regulations and face zero consequences for it huh?? of course he doesn't care that his tantrums are hurting the budget, bourgeoisie scum"

[greco-roman-jewess]

Something interesting is happening on the r/israel subreddit

Alawites are coming in to thank Israelis as a whole for standing up for them… and to apologize for how the Islamic world treats Jews.

This is what it looks like when actual solidarity is being built between people with similar interests.

We have been building a culture of advocacy for other groups victimized by islamists over the past 17 months.

Now we are see those people notice.

[fanatic-freakshow]

I've realized the beauty of sign language.

We can communicate even like this.

I've never needed to hear you say you love me.

Everything you've done for me makes me know you love me deeply.

SEE YOUR LOVE

[serpentface]

You said that the Ulelilwa people are the only group fully permissive of intersophont relationships, in this case between Qilik and Elowey. But since the Elowey are mammals and the Qilik are avian and would thus have very different "equipment", I wonder how that would work.

It could involve pretty much any of the litany of non penetrative sex acts out there (with some limitations to oral and digital due to Teeth and Claws)

Elowey have the same basic anatomy as humans and the mechanical act of reproductive sex is basically the same. Their mouths are a little more intimidating than those of humans, but not really any More dangerous to have near your genitals and have similarly flexible lips and muscular tongues, so they would be capable of performing all forms of oral sex. Their hands are the biggest difference- their fingernails are much thicker (though can be filed down to the base) and their fingers are furred, so receiving penetrative digital sex from that might be uncomfortable. But other than that, any sex act performed by humans from Real Life could be accomplished by elowey in the same or similar ways, so there's a lot of possibilities on that end.

Qilik mate via cloaca contact and have no penis, so the external parts of the cloaca is where pleasurable stimulation occurs and their reproductive tract is not predisposed to receive penetration. VERY shallow insertion of a digit or tongue might feel good for the average person but that’s the full extent of it. There’s probably people who like putting things up their cloaca, it’s just not going to be a Common desire (and a qilik cloaca doesn’t have any internal structures like the prostate that are directly pleasurable to stimulate), and the difference in size wrt elowey would likely make penetration painful and potentially dangerous in most cases (it could Probably be safely accomplished for some people with practice/carefulness/substantial lubricant because elowey penises are pretty small and thin, but this isn't going to be all that common).

There are also obvious limitations to performing oral on the part of qilik, they don’t have mobile lips and their jaws are full of small, sharp teeth. You cannot put a penis in there in any way that will benefit you, and their tongues are long and thin and can't lick with that much pressure or finesse. A lot of qilik are more likely to perform oral-adjacent sex with the bare skinned tips and sides of their snouts, which is a notably sensitive area of the body (not in the Fetish World IF YOU TOUCH IT I WILL CUM way, just tactile and good for physical affection of all kinds).

Like Humans, sexual pleasure is not solely derived from the mechanical reproductive act, but this is PARTICULARLY pronounced in qilik. Exclusively reproductive sex is very rapid- the entire act with full sperm transfer takes about 5-10 seconds. Their pre-sophont ancestors would breed over a period of a few hours, cycling through periods of male display, mutual preening, and mounting with sperm transfer. Bonded same sex drake pairs/throuples cooperatively rearing young would also intersperse their greeting allogrooming with mounting and full cloaca contact, as an affiliative sexual behavior that strengthened social bonds. This translates substantially into how behaviorally modern qilik tend to enjoy recreational sex, for most the act is 95% about intimate grooming and physical affection While Aroused and 5% direct genital stimulation.

This would actually be a fairly agreeable circumstance for a qilik/elowey pair, as both species have allogrooming as a basic behavioral drive (with layers of cultural convention tacked on top of it). Allogrooming feels nice in general and can be enjoyed in a sexual context.

So like bottom line for what would commonly be on the table:

Horny allogrooming

Other physical affection (licking, nuzzling, cuddling, etc)

Non or lightly penetrative oral/digital sex

Non-penetrative genital contact

Charged allogrooming moment between Ulelilwa men. Guysrule, beautiful romance, etc

[megalithical]

clark: *seductively takes off glasses*

clark: wow...

lois: *blushes and chuckles softly* what?

clark, trying to keep up his cover: you’re really fucking blurry.

[1tsteatime]

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT DOMA?

OH MY GOD???

My singing monsters has an official antagonist, and they are the GODDAMN SCP ORGANISATION.

I have a lot of thoughts and a very exciting theory I want to share, so buckle up folks, for this bumpy ride.

From what I've gathered off the Wiki page and the trailers, the Department of Monster Anomalies (interesting word choice by the way) seems like it wants to trap any monsters found in our dimension before the monster handlers get to them, and either seal off the access between worlds completely or use it for nefarious purposes.

There are several things I am very curious about here:

-Is DOMA aware of Big Blue Bubble? Is BBB aware of them?

-How far up does DOMA go? It definitely seems governmental, is this some stranger things/off the grid type of secret government conspiracy?

-Why have they only come up now through the paironormals? The organisation has been around for a long time (more on THAT in the theory below)

-What monsters have they captured? They brag about having top notch containment facilities on their LinkedIn page (it is so fucking funny that they have a LinkedIn page), so what monsters do they have trapped? How many?

-What are they keeping the monsters there for? Are they being held hostage? Are they being experimented on? I realise this is, actually, a kids game, so nothing too dark will be going on. Death is literally not even a thing in the monster world so... Realistically, it'll probably cut to whatever monsters are in there just chilling, a bit bored. But what are the INTENTIONS?

-Speaking of intentions, what does DOMA want with the monster world? Do they REALLY want to just 'protect' our world from it? Are they trying to seal all portals? Are they trying to break into the monster world?

THEORY TIME:

I never get theories this early in the development of something, but I am calling this RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

Checking the Wiki, we can see what year DOMA was founded. What year was that?

1908.

Who else do we know that had a connection to the monster world in the early 20th century? Spurrit!!

What if he had an academic rival or a partner who knew he was working on the interdimensional stuff and thought it was evil/dangerous and wanted to stop him?

or... what if they saw what the possibilities were for a whole multiverse, and wanted to exploit it?

One way or another, I'm calling it now. DOMA was founded by Spurrit's rival.

The other major thing I am dying to know about is how they will relate to the game and feature in the future. So far it has been relegated to social media (including job sites LMAO), but what if this turns into an ARG of sorts? After all, the game itself is canon within MSM lore, so I'm not sure we'd actually see them featured in the game, but we could get a video or two about them.

-Will we get a rescue mission for the captured monsters? -Will they escape on their own?

Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I am SO EXCITED to see what comes next.

[feral-ferrule]

Saturday’s Child Chapter 4

Main pairing: Echo/f!OC, Althea

Word count: 6150-ish

Fic overview: Bad Batch modern AU. Echo/OC this is part of the Hunter and the Librarian universe by @clonethirstingisreal in which the Batch brothers live together, raising Omega.

OC Althea is a university student with a medical delivery job. Echo is a combat veteran who volunteers at the VA hospital where they meet.

Tulip is @substantial-exposure ‘s OC

Warnings: things are heating up, this chapter has swearing, physical violence, angst, tooth rotting fluff, suggestive language including mention of poly relationships, strategic performative gender roll play, kissing and sexual arousal.

This is neither well-edited nor beta read🙌

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

“Go go go go! Awwww!” Wrecker’s disappointment lingered on a groan as a shrill whistle blew and the sportscasters chatted over a replay on the screen.

Echo didn’t really see the play. Althea’s lips had pursed plushly around the edge of her drink. Her head tilted back a little as her throat worked a swallow down and her hair shifted around her face. The kitchen timer beeped. Echo refocused his attention from his peripheral vision to the floor as he braced his hand on the arm of the couch to do the maneuver to lean forward and stand as smoothly as possible.

“I’ll go check the potatoes,” Althea said, as she hopped up and glided out of the room. Her long cardigan waving behind her and exposing more of her figure that was hugged by her dress and leggings. A round of groans erupted from the other side of the seating area as a player fumbled the ball in the game.

“She was looking at you,” Jesse leaned over to say to Echo. Echo looked from Althea to him and then at Kix who was also not paying attention to the game. “So which of you’s going back there with her?”

“I’ll go see if she needs help,” said Kix.

“Leave her alone, Kix,” Echo grumbled around Jesse, “looks like the girls are going back with her anyway.”

Tulip was standing, “Wren let’s go help Althea,” she said with a wink and nodded her head toward the kitchen. Wren nodded back and they left.

“You calling dibs, Echo?” Kix asked, leaning over the back of Jesse’s shoulders.

“Why do you two keep saying that?”

“Cause you asked her out first,” said Jesse.

“We’re just trying to be fair,” Kix added, watching as Tech headed back to the kitchen.

“What makes you think she even wants any of us? That’s not why she’s here,” Echo gritted, also looking towards the kitchen.

“Well, she was talking to me and being real sweet,” Kix said, leaning back, one arm draped across the back of the couch, “and even made a pass at me when I saw her at the hospital.”

“She’s nice to everyone, Kix. What you think was a pass was just her being polite,” Echo huffed, rolling his eyes. Jesse chuckled.

Tech returned from the kitchen with plate of chips.

“Aw come on!” Wrecker boomed at the tv.

Ha!” Jesse pointed at the screen with his hand with the beer, “that’s right cause your team’s a bunch of cheaters.”

“What’s going on in there, Tech?” Kix asked.

Tech paused his bite of a chip. “They are talking but didn’t seem to want to include me- Tulip in particular.” He said with some bitterness. Crosshair smirked.

“Don’t cross her path, Tech!” Wrecker laughed.

Did Althea want you gone, too?” Jesse asked.

“No, she’s too nice- she even smil-“

“See?? She’s nice to everyone.” Echo said, “even when she doesn’t want to talk to them,”he added, looking right at Kix.

“Hey, what are you saying?” Kix asked with feigned innocence.

“He means she doesn’t actually like you,” Crosshair hissed.

“Don’t get cheeky Crosshair,” Jesse said.

“You two are going end up running her off and Echo won’t even get a chance.” Crosshair’s temper was rising.

“Yeah don’t ruin it for him,” Wrecker chimed in, still watching the game.

“That’s real funny coming from you,” Jesse said with a sneer.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wrecker asked, fully facing him.

“You remember,” said Kix.

“Boys that was a long time ago-“ Hunter began to say.

“Ohhhh… Well I was all she needed wasn’t I?” Wrecker sassed, “and Echo’s all Althea needs.”

“Oh good grief here we go,” Echo sighed.

Kix set his beer on the side table and stood “What does that have to do with Althea?”

Hunter shifted a bit taller, sensing the increased hostility, “Little ears, fellas,” he said, glancing at Omega who had been pretending to watch the game.

Wrecker stood up, totally ignoring Hunter and facing Kix.

Jesse rose next to Kix, “Who are you to say what she needs?” He asked pointing a finger at Wrecker.

“She’s a nice person. I think Echo should have her.”

Echo shook his head and stood up to go stand between Wrecker and the other two. “Wrecker settle down, no one’s having anyone.”

“Speak for yourself, Ec,” Jesse said slyly. Echo rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you think Althea can decide for herself.” Tech said, setting his plate of chips down and pulling out his phone.

“These two think they’re calling the shots as usual,” Crosshair glared at Kix and Jesse.

“You’re just like you’ve always been, think you're better than us,” Kix said stepping toward Crosshair.

Hunter tapped Omega and motioned towards the kitchen. He stood between Wrecker and the others as Omega slipped away. “Guys settle down, before they come back in. This,” he emphasized, driving his finger toward the floor, “is a family event with Omega and the girls, don’t act like you're all back in basic.”

“I was going to say middle school,” Tech shot from where he was standing behind the couch he’d been sitting on and tapping on his phone.

“I think you two should keep going so she can hear you for herself,” Crosshair seethed at Kix.

“Hear what? You being a bitch, Cross?”

“Watch your mouth.”

“You’re out of line.”

“Take that back.”

“Make me!”

Crosshair squared up as Echo stepped next to Hunter between the other four. “Stand down!” Echo shouted, “we’re all family here and no one is better than anyone else.”

“Move aside, Echo.”

“Guys there’s a kid here.”

“You’ve changed.”

“Yeah, ya think?”

“Always with the chip on your shoulder.”

“You’ve always been a cunt,”

“Fuck you,”

“Yeah you wish,”

Someone’s fist flies past Echo’s peripheral and lands squarely on Wrecker’s jaw. “That’s it!”

“Settle down both of you!!” Hunter thundered.

“Boys this is not the time or place,” Echo growled as Wrecker shouldered around Hunter to grab Jesse by his shirt and lift him off the ground pushing into Kix who bumped into Crosshair and the two of them careened towards the tv, fists flying and collapsing on the floor, Kix pulled into a headlock. Echo stepped back and caught the tv from rocking off the stand as the lamp behind Jesse crashed to the floor.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

“What? What did they say??” Althea asked Omega, her eyes wide.

“Well I didn’t hear everything over the tv from where I was sitting, but when you came back to the kitchen, Jesse asked Echo and Kix who was going to follow you in.”

“That’s when I got up I brought Wren back with me,” Tulip added.

“So now Jesse and Wrecker are arguing which brother deserves her more and Crosshair is joining in.”

Tulip rolled her eyes.

“Oh no,” Althea worried, looking at Wren, “I do not have the social battery for this situation.”

Wren laughed out loud before she could stop herself. “Me either, and I’m not even involved,” she said.

“What are you going to do?” asked Omega.

“What was Echo doing?” Althea wondered.

“He got up between Wrecker and Jesse.”

“They’re up? Like on their feet?” asked Tulip.

“Yeah.”

Althea felt sick with a panicky combination of guilt and fear. If Echo got hurt…

Tulip narrowed her eyes at the back door. “We gotta nip this in the bud,” she said looking sidelong at Althea.

Althea sighed, looking at the hotdogs and noticing they needed to come off the grill onto a plate. She had an idea. “You’re right. lt’s because of me, I’ve got to fix this.” Taking the tongs from Tulip, she gathered the hotdogs onto the plate and turned off the grill. She looked over at Wren and noticed her color looked a little drained and she was hugging herself a bit. Althea looked at Omega and back at Wren. Tulip held the door for them as Althea carried the plate and tongs, and Omega held Wren’s hand. They all filed inside noticing how much louder it seemed with blaring commercials and several loud male voices all raised over eachother.

“You- chip- FUCK YOU- shoulder- cunt- always- did-THAT’S IT!”

“SETTLE DOWN!” Hunter’s voice rang out over it all as some loud thumps and bumps carried in with the voices.

“Maybe stay in here with Omega,” Althea said to Wren as Omega helped her to the table. Wren looked like Althea felt which made her feel even worse. She set the hotdogs down by the chili.

*Crash*

Althea and Tulip looked at each other. Althea took heart at the fire in Tulip’s eyes and set in her jaw. She knew these guys and didn’t seem afraid of any of them. Tulip led the way into the living room and surveyed the scene. Arms crossed, weight on one leg and the other foot tapping.

They all froze in turn and looked at Tulip. Wrecker holding Jesse by his shirt, Cross and Kix on the floor,

Echo holding the tv, Hunter pulling on Wrecker’s arm, and Tech by the front door, recording everything on his phone.

Althea appeared then from behind Tulip. While Tulip looked angry, lips pursed, running her tongue along her teeth, Althea looked distressed and shocked.

Wrecker dropped Jesse and Crosshair let go of Kix. Tech lowered his phone and Hunter turned to see who they were all looking at. Echo lowered his eyes, unable to bear the look on Althea’s face. Her eyes shimmered with threatening tears and she turned around and went back to the kitchen. Tulip watched her go for a second before she rounded back on them with a fury. “Nice job assholes,” she hissed at the room before stomping out.

They all looked over and up at Echo. “You all happy with yourselves now?” He gritted out. Kix and Crosshair glanced at each other. Kix shook him off and stood up.

“Now if you are all done I suggest you go in there and apologize to the girls,” Hunter said in a dangerous tone as Crosshair stood up next to Kix, making a point of not looking at him. Jesse rubbed his neck and Wrecker rubbed his hand that had been twisted in Jesse’s shirt. They looked at eachother from where they hung their heads.

“You got a smoke?” Echo asked Crosshair, only to make a face as he was offered a clove. “Never mind.”

“You quit anyway.”

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Should I just leave? No. No I have to do something first, Althea reasoned with herself as she ducked into the kitchen. Wren looked at her sympathetically from where she sat with Omega. “Are you ok?” Althea asked.

“I’ll be alright, I just need to sit a minute,” Wren said, taking a deep breath. “But how are you doing? What’s going on out there?”

Althea glanced at Omega, “They were definitely having disagreements- but it looked like Hunter and Echo were trying to stop the others and Tech had moved out of the way to video it. I’m… so sorry about this, I’ll try to fix it before I go.”

“Are you doing alright?” Tulip asked as she appeared and hovered over Wren, soothing her back.

“Yeah I’ll be fine,” Wren smiled, “Thanks for handling things in there.”

Althea picked up a plate from the counter. “Omega, I have an idea, but I need your help, what does Echo like?” Omega caught on to the idea with a big smile and helped Althea plate up what Echo liked from all the food they had laid out.

Tulip looked over at Althea and Omega curiously. Althea noticed and said, “This might be old fashioned but I think it’s the best way to handle things at this point.”

“Are you only making a plate for Echo?” Omega asked in a whisper.

“Yep,” Althea said, emphasizing the ‘p’. “Now, can you please go tell the guys food’s ready?” She moved to stand out of everyone’s way.

Omega skipped out of the kitchen feeling very conspiratorial, “Guys! food’s ready!” she hollered then skipped back in and gave the thumbs up sign at Althea. Wrecker, Jesse, Kix, all looking sheepish and patting each other’s backs, filed in. Tech, Hunter and Crosshair followed. Hunter went straight over to Wren as the others clamored around the food.

“Boys.” Echo’s deep warning sounded out through the room. He folded his arms and looked at them all, his eyes stern under the brim of his knit hat. Everything came to a halt and they turned to face Althea, Wren, Tulip and Omega.

“I- we are sorry, for being idiots,” Wrecker said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“and upsetting you,” said Kix, looking at Althea and then at his feet.

“Yeah, sorry, ladies.” Jesse said.

They all looked at Crosshair. He glowered till he caught Tulip’s eye and mumbled a sorry, flicking his eyes up at Althea briefly. Tulip went over to him and he wrapped his arms around her and murmured something in her ear. She gave him a playful swat and whispered something back to him.

“Thank you, everyone,” Althea said softly, letting her eyes linger on Echo. His scowl softened as he noticed her admiring his commanding posture and energy.

“Let’s dig in! Looks like Althea got started already!” Wrecker said.

Omega showed everyone the plates and forks as Althea intercepted Echo at the back of the queue. “I made you a plate, Echo,” she said, “Omega helped me with what you like.”

Echo looked astonished and reached for the plate, brushing fingertips with Althea. The guys all turned to look and exchanged glances. Hunter nodded at Echo and said something to Wren. “You didn’t have to do this,” Echo said, with a hint of a smile.

“Yeah, I did.” She slid her hands over his, both his prosthetic and flesh, and smiled sweetly, caressing the angles of his face with her eyes.

Breaking contact, she placed a fork on his plate for him and turned around to cut the brownies into squares and set them out on the table. She noticed Omega watching everyone’s reactions and gave her a wink. Jesse and Kix shrugged and sighed and went about piling their plates full of chili dogs. Echo set his plate on the table and sat down in one of the armed chairs. Jesse and Kix patted Echo on the shoulder as they passed him to go to the living room with Wrecker who turned and winked at Echo with a thumbs up.

“See, I knew Allie would pick-“

“Drop it Tech,” Hunter warned. Tech gave him a weak salute and joined the others leaving for the living room.

Tulip rummaged in the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas. She and Crosshair sat at the table and she pressed the bag to his blooming black eye. Althea faced the table, “I’m really sorry you guys, I don't want to cause problems with your family.”

“You didn’t cause this, these guys have beef going way back,” Echo grumbled, “this crew can be hot headed.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hunter implored, “I’m sorry your first impression of us is this way.” He added glaring at Crosshair.

“They had it coming,” Crosshair seethed. Hunter sighed and shook his head.

Althea smiled weakly, but was reflecting on problems in her previous relationship. She wanted to stay but felt that she ought to leave. Echo and the others watched her grow quiet and withdrawn.

It started to rain hard. A gust of wind slammed the screen door closed outside, snapping Althea out of her reverie. “Oh I’ll go cover the grill,” she said.

She ducked outside, found and struggled with the grill cover in the pelting rain, soaked and chilled and crying. She should have left as soon as she felt the tension. Now the brothers or cousins whatever they were- their family- were having problems. She was trouble. It was a refrain her mind spun and spun.

“Althea,” a deep, warm voice and presence was behind her. She felt the rain stop hitting her and heard it patter on an umbrella. She turned around. Echo was so close. She felt his warmth as he handed her the umbrella and took the grill cover. He quickly fit it over the grill as she held the umbrella over him. He turned back to her and reached for the umbrella again. As the porch light illuminated her face he noticed she had been crying. She saw him notice and cast her eyes down, chin trembling. He drew her into his arms. “You did nothing wrong, I’m so sorry, Althea.”

She nuzzled into his shoulder and took a big shuddering breath. She wrapped her free arm around him under his. Clinging to him she felt his strong, broad back and shoulders through his hoodie jacket. He smelled like soap and fabric softener, and man.

“I should go.”

“Please stay,” he said into her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, desperately hoping she wouldn't run off already. He tried to hold her gently and not squeeze her fast like he wanted to.

The feeling of his warm breath on the shell of her ear gave her butterflies. She looked up at him, a breath away. His golden hazel eyes were intense like a cat’s but warm and soft and caring. And they burned with want. Althea looked between them and to his lips then back up to his eyes.

He was doing the same, her mouth was so close.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled his nose, her lips barely a whisper away from his, letting him take the next step.

His mouth was on hers, pressing a soft yet firm kiss to her lips and pressing the umbrella handle between their bodies. She felt warmth bloom inside her and let go of the umbrella to wrap that arm around him. She melted into him as the umbrella shifted and settled on their heads. He cradled her head, his fingers in her hair. She pressed her body flush against his, pulling him to her. He wrapped his prosthetic arm around her lower back and squeezed her to him. She squeaked, surprised at his strength with that arm and parted her lips to take a breath and ran her tongue along his lower lip, inviting him to deepen the kissing. He met her tongue with his and she opened her mouth more, angling her head for him. He dove inside her mouth caressing her tongue with his, tilting his head to the other side and holding her face and jaw and threading his fingers back through her hair. Her heart felt like it wanted to fly away and she tried catching it with her breath. She made little sighs into his mouth which drove him wild with desire and he hummed lowly as he kissed her more ravenously.

“Echo?”

They both froze against each other’s mouths. The door cracked open. “Jesse and Kix are leaving. Oh.” Hunter stopped short as he noticed how closely they were standing, their heads covered by the umbrella but their arms clearly around each other.

“Bye Echo!” Jesse said from further in the house.

“Heeeeyyyy. Althea, if it doesn’t work out with Echo you know how to find us.” Kix said from the doorway.

Echo kept their lips together as he reached back and closed the door on the three of them. Althea smiled against his lips and nuzzled his nose.

“Find -us?” Althea asked between kisses.

He sighed and considered his words, “They like.. to share their women.”

Althea's eyes widened with surprise and then realization that they’d been dropping hints to that the whole time. He seemed a little uncomfortable with the subject so she didn’t ask about what that meant exactly. She kissed him back along his jaw which was prickly with stubble. “You mean I passed up a two for one deal?” She teased kissing just under his ear, making him shiver.

“And picked my shrinkflated dented can ass.” He said as he nuzzled her ear back.

“Oh I think I got the better buy,” she said, pulling back to look him in the eyes.

He smirked, “you don’t strike me as that cheap.” A flicker of sadness dimmed his eyes briefly as he caressed her cheek.

“Oh you’re right,” she said, looking at him through her eyelashes, “I have very good taste- for kindness,” she gave him little kisses to punctuate each word, “intelligence, respectability, integrity, bravery, sexiness,” she smiled into the last kiss. “You’re the package deal.”

Not believing his wildest dream luck, he kissed her face back to her ear heading for her neck.

“What about you? Is sharing a family tradition?” she teased, figuring she already knew his answer.

He practically growled, squeezing her firmly with his arm, flexing his fingers in her hair, sucking and raking his teeth under her ear, making her keen. “I’m selfish.”

She shiverd, as much from arousal as from the cold. “You're, oh!,” her breath hitched as he moved lower down her neck, “you’re warm.”

It started to rain harder and he felt her shivering more. As he grasped the umbrella and guided her to the door they heard car doors and an engine start. He left the umbrella at the door and brought her to sit at the table then went out to the living room. “Wrecker throw me that blanket,” Echo pointed at the throw blanket draped over the back of the chair he was sitting in. Wrecker pulled it out from behind him and threw it to Echo.

Althea felt a warm, fluffy soft blanket wrap around her.

Echo squeezed her arm and pulled away. She heard him rummaging, boiling water, pouring, stirring.

He brought her a very aromatic steaming mug just as she sneezed. “It’s a gingery chai tea. I hope that’s ok.” He handed her a tissue.

“Oh thank you, I love spicy teas.”

“It makes me feel warmer when I’m cold.” He sat down, straddling her, his arm around her shoulder.

“Thank you Echo,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “Echo?”

“Yeah?”

She shivered and he pulled the blanket up on her more as she cuddled into him closer. “I just like saying your name.”

He nuzzled her hair, “I like hearing you say it. Thea, can I call you that? You don’t seem like an Allie to me.”

She smiled, “Yeah I like that.”

“Thea, I’m sorry about tonight, my family is a lot and it wasn’t fair to you to be piled on and Tech shouldn’t have”-

“No don’t spin it that way, this was probably the only way that the forces that be could have gotten us together.”

“Are we together, I mean do you really want that?”

“Mm hmm,” she hummed, looking at his eyes that were so hopeful it made her heart ache, “I want that- want you.”

He let out a breath he had been holding, his heart soared.

She pulled out her phone. “I was going to send you this later,” she said as she pulled up their text conversation and tapped on the unsent photo. “I put the card you gave me on my dresser with all of my special things. I never thought I’d be able to get to this point with anyone again and the more I ran into you at work the more- I’ve wanted to kiss you all weekend.”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you a lot longer than that.”

“Oh?” She looked up at him.

“I noticed you the first day you started.”

“Really? I was so lost,” she giggled.

“You seemed like you knew what you were doing.”

“Thanks I guess I played that off pretty good.” She sat up quickly and ducked away from him to sneeze.

She sipped her tea as he kissed her temple. He got up and brought her the box of tissues.

“Thanks, Echo, can I use your bathroom?”

“Of course, it’s right through there,” he said pointing to a little hallway next to the stairs.She grabbed her bag and slipped into the bathroom.

He sat there using the moment to process the events of the last hour or so. “Hey, how’s everything?” Hunter asked as he went over to the fridge and grabbed a soda.

“I think ok- Better than ok, really.”

“That’s great, brother,” Hunter said, “make any plans yet?”

“No, I’ve got to come up with something.”

Hunter pats his shoulder, “Let us know if we can help.”

“Thanks, man,” Echo said, feeling deeply grateful for the offer. He hadn’t dated since getting blown up in the war and was starting to spin up thoughts of not being able to be who he thought Althea deserved.

Hunter noticed him get a little sullen, “Hey come watch halftime, you and Althea can sit together.” Echo nodded and they went out to the living room.

“You’re welcome,” Crosshair deadpanned.

“For what?” Echo asked, annoyed.

“I told those two idiots to leave.”

“Oh I was wondering why they left.”

“Kix had a shift coming up and Jesse had to drop him off before they had anything more to drink,” Tech clarified.

“Well I did tell them to leave, anyway,” Crosshair grumped.

“Where’s Althea?” asked Wren

“In the bathroom,” Hunter said as he sat next to her, taking her hand. Wren rested her head on his shoulder. “Do you need to lie down?” Hunter asked.

“I thought about doing that earlier, but I’m ok now,” she said.

Echo kept glancing toward the kitchen and bathroom and started fidgeting. He couldn’t help but wonder if Althea was alright. Wren noticed him and could tell he was agitated. As the minutes ticked by and several commercials played Wren found herself trying harder to pay attention to the tv. She got up and walked over to the bathroom door. Tulip followed.

Washing her hands, Althea looked in the mirror and got a makeup wipe out of her bag and cleaned the little bit of bleary eye makeup off her lower eyelids. She applied fresh mascara and some bb cream to camouflage the splotchy mess from crying. She then added some more tinted lipgloss that tasted like vanilla and honey. She ran a mini brush through her damp hair and decided that was good enough. Her reflection still reminded her of a pathetic wet cat.

There was a knock at the door. “Hey, sorry to bother, but are you alright?” Wren’s voice sounded muffled through the door.

Althea opened the door to see both Tulip and Wren. “Yeah I’m better now, sorry to hog the bathroom. Sorry for all the drama.”

“Oh it’s alright we just wanted to check on you, not use the bathroom, there’s another upstairs, anyway,” Wren assured her.

“Totally not your fault, those jerks really did have that coming.” Tulip softened her frown and reached out and gave Althea’s hand a squeeze.

“You’ll be ok,” said Wren, “all the guys here totally support you and Echo. He will take good care of your heart. come out and sit with us. Did you get any food?”

“I really didn’t intend to stay this long and need to get home,” Althea worried.

“At least watch halftime with us, I’m sure it will be as awful as every other Super Bowl,” said Tulip.

Althea laughed, “Ok, just halftime should be ok.” They walked out toward the kitchen where Wrecker, Omega and Tech were hovering over the brownies.

“You brought the brownies?” Wrecker said to Althea, “Aw they’re so good, thanks!”

“Yes, they are rather good,” said Tech.

“Fankooo,” Omega said through a mouthful. They each grabbed another.

“You are welcome,” Althea cheered, “and thank you for having me over.”

Are you leaving?” asked Wrecker, noticing she was holding her purse.

“Not yet,” she said, hanging her bag on the back of a chair. I’ll stay through halftime, but I have so much homework to finish.”

“Oh I’m glad I don’t have homework anymore, don't miss that at all!” Wrecker declared.

“Would you like something to eat?” Wren asked.

“Thank you, but I'll just finish my drink, I think, I’m too all over the place to think about eating.”

“I totally get that,” Wren said.

Echo was sitting on one end of the larger main couch and Hunter on the other. Wren sat next to Hunter and Omega sat next to her in the middle. Althea came around and smiled at Echo who leaned forward and stood, offering her his seat at the end. Omega started to pout. “Thank you, Echo, I’ll sit right here so I’m next to you and Omega, I think.”

Omega beamed as Althea sat by her and Echo lowered himself back down. It was a cozy fit and Echo’s broad shoulder bumped against Althea’s. She wanted to really snuggle up to him, but didn’t want to get too intimate with Omega right there and everyone else around. She found his hand and rested hers on it.

“Well, well, well, look at that. The matchmaker in all her glory between her handiwork.” Crosshair said as Tulip squeezed next to him on the oversized chair he was in. Omega got a big grin on her face. Hunter reached behind Wren to pat and ruffle Omega’s hair.

“Oh?” Althea looked over at Wren.

Wren blushed, “Well, she really worked hard on us,” she said, squeezing Hunter’s hand.

Tech cleared his throat where he was stretched out on the garage couch, “Ahem.”

“Oh sorry Tech,” said Omega, “I guess you did help,” she teased.

Tech scoffed in mock offense.

Althea patted Omega's hand and they giggled together. Then, looking over at Echo, and loosing herself in his eyes, she threaded their fingers together. “Thank you, Tech,” she said without looking away.

“Get a room,” Crosshair scoffed. Tulip elbowed him in the ribs and he grinned devilishly, tickling her back and making her squeal.

Althea raised an eyebrow at that suggestion and parted her lips in a tiny smile, still looking at Echo, feeling her heartbeat a little faster. She noticed his eyes dilate a little before a look of fear flashed on his face and he looked down at his legs. Althea squeezed his hand and tilted her head till he looked back up at her. She leaned over to whisper in his ear, “As much as I like your family, I’d really like to be alone with you.” She punctuated that with a tiny kiss on his jaw.

“What is this music?”

“Who is this?”

“I like their outfits.”

“Of course you do, Wrecker.”

“You know you do, too.”

“Do you know who this is?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

Echo and Althea tore their eyes from each other to see what everyone was talking about. Althea was familiar with the singer, Echo seemed to find it interesting, but neither of them found it better than just being next to each other. Althea was feeling increasingly tired, and felt a tickle in her throat. She felt a sneeze coming on and lept up and managed to step away and pull out a tissue that she had stowed in her dress pocket before sneezing.

“I may have caught a cold outside. I’d better get going.”

“Awww,” Omega protested, “Can’t you stay for the whole game?”

“I’m sorry sweetie, I promise I’ll be back another time.”

Echo stood and put his hand on the small of her back. “Are you ok to drive, one of us can take you home if you need and another can drive your car.”

“I’m fine to drive but want to get home before I feel any worse,” she replied.

“Please eat something at least,” he said.

“I’ll take some with me I think,” she said as he steered her to the kitchen with concern on his face.

He pulled a plastic food container out of a cabinet. “Your’re going to have to help me with what you like this time,” he said. “Oh I like everything except that liquid nacho cheese stuff- I’ll eat it but not when there’s everything else.”

“Do you want a hotdog, baked potato or both?”

“I think half a baked potato, they’re so big.”

He filled the container and snapped its lid on as she grabbed her bag. He handed her the container and she nestled it in her bag so it wouldn’t tip over. They walked to the front and Echo pulled her coat and umbrella out of the front closet where Tech stowed it. He helped her put it on and she turned around to say goodbye to everyone just as Omega threw her arms around her. “Thank you for coming over, I’m so glad you picked Echo.”

“Omega-“ Hunter began.

Althea held up her hand, “It’s ok Hunter,” she said with a small laugh and knelt down to give Omega a proper hug. “I am so happy that I get you in my life along with Echo. I feel very lucky.” Omega squeezed her harder and let go, stepping back and wiping her eye with her sleeve. Althea stood back up, “ Good bye, everyone, see you soon hopefully. Thank you, ladies,” she added, looking at Wren and Tulip.

Everyone said their goodbyes and Althea shuffled out the front door with Echo close behind. The door closed and Althea turned to Echo, “I wish I could stay longer. I really like spending time with you and I always seem to have to run.”

“Do you have any free time this week?” He cozied up to her and held her around her waist.

“I should on Tuesday after class.”

“We can meet for that coffee..”

She smiled, “It’s a date.” She slid her arms around him. He squeezed her, his hand caressing her back, resting his forehead to hers.

“Text me when you’re home safe?” he said.

“Ok.” She closed her eyes and nuzzled him with her smaller nose.

They hesitated, both not wanting to tear apart from the other and knowing kissing now would make it so much harder. He kissed her, anyway. She leaned into it and playfully bit his lower lip. “Ayee!” she squeaked out as he hummed almost a growl, spun her around and pressed her against the side of the house, crashing his mouth against hers, knocking teeth. His hand threaded through her hair. He felt possessive but restrained. For a split second she felt his arousal press into her hip before he backed off of her, his kiss ending with a trail of nibbles and pecks along her jaw.

She panted, not having expected him to maneuver her around like that, and wanting to feel all of him again, “I have to go for real.”

“Ok so go,” he said against the spot he’d found under her ear that made her quiver.

“You aren’t making this any easier,” she said with a gasp as he grazed that spot with teeth and tongue.

“I know.” He pulled back with a smirk and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips still holding her around her waist.

“Echo?” said a voice from out on the sidewalk. They both turned to see who it was and saw a man in a wheelchair by the driveway.

“Hey, Trace.”

“I don't mean to interrupt- who-“ he squinted in the evening gloom.

“You remember Althea?”

“Ohhh Althea, hi! You came?”

“Maybe soon,” she whispered in Echo’s ear, catching his eye with a minxy little smile. She could feel his hand grip into her waist as he turned a shade pinker. “Hi, Trace, I was just leaving.”

“Go ahead to the back, Trace, I’ll meet you inside,” Echo called over to him, “help yourself to any food.”

“Ok thanks, man. Bye, Althea.” He wheeled up the driveway and out of sight.

“Bye Trace,” Althea called and looked back at Echo.

“Definitely soon,” she blinked at him, enjoying how flustered he seemed. His prominent adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. He gripped her harder and was about to say something, but she ducked her head into her coat to sneeze and fished another tissue from her pocket. “Oh I’m so sorry, I don't want to get you sick, too,” she sniffled.

“Then we’d just have to recover together,” he smiled, tucking the hair in her face behind her ear.

“I’d better actually go,” she said sadly.

“Drive safe, Thea.”

She huffed a sigh and walked away from him. Then skittered back to him, held his face and kissed him quickly, turned and trotted through the puddles to her car before she let herself get caught up any longer. He did have a new guest inside and she imagined Trace was wanting to hear all about everything.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Trace munched on chips at the table and listened to Omega account all the details of her observations of Althea’s visit. He and Echo exchanged looks when she got to parts she didn’t really have the whole story on. Echo’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out and saw the text notification from Althea. He opened the message which included a picture of some papers and a laptop with something like chemistry and math calculations:

Wish I was with you

Me too, don’t stay up too late

*He sent a picture of the empty brownie pan

Glad I got one

😮 wow they really liked them

The chili is delicious, pass my compliments on to Hunter

👍will do

Ok gotta focus

Good night

Good night 💋

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Notes: if you are confused about the extended batch family it’s ok, so is Althea. The modern AU here is inspired by the ideas of Modern Batch AU and Modern Fives AU stories by kaydear (Illyria_Lives) on AO3 by way of the Hunter and the Librarian. (Can’t get the links to work) They are really good, highly recommend. So Jango is their dad and he was a sperm donor so there’s alot of siblings out there, and, well, it gets complex. I’m putting a slightly different spin on the background.

Tag list (let me know if you’d like to be added😊):

@adamime @substantial-exposure @clonethirstingisreal @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf @transactivecybermemory @griffedeloup @returnofthepineapple

[andi-o-geyser]

something about the show treating percy's use as only being to serve vex's joy kinda fucking hurts. like vex is distraught, she was in the stream and she was here, that's true. but they are framing this as if it's a romantic loss only and it's making me lose my mind. people don't lose their use to others when they enter a relationship. they don't just become somebody's partner. they're still a person. percy was a full person and vox machina is a family and everyone loved him. that was the point of tearing ripley apart in the original glintshore fight, they were nothing but pure rage because they just watched somebody they love die and at the end of the day, past the monsters and world ending threats everything is about their love with each other, as a group; platonic, familial, romantic, but love as a FAMILY. that is critical to understand. they are who they are because they all love each other, they love each other to the ends of the earth. and the show just. doesn't acknowledge that. percy died so vex could feel sad and that's it. truly what even is the point if nobody else cares. the death doesn't matter if nobody else cares. so percy's death doesn't matter.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! I have some questions about a character of mine. She broke her legs during combat and they never set properly. While she uses a wheelchair most of the time to compensate for that and other injuries, she does try to use custom made crutches. My questions are in regard to how to handle her internal conflict between replacing the parts of her body causing issues (this is a Sci fi setting) and making sure that what happened can never be waved away as one of the many bad dreams she has. Another question is what is the fastest way to move and/or store and use weapons? And lastly, how would her disability affect the romantic/sexual relationship she develops during the story?

- 🖨 anon

Thank you for your ask! Please note we don’t have any amputee mods, so I’m speaking from research and living with metal implants.

Honestly I never understood the whole ‘replacing body parts with machinery so they’re better’ story, in real life the leg would be surgically re broken and corrected, maybe adding metal to help the healing at most [and she would still have chronic pain afterwards, maybe less but I’d doubt it would be gone entirely]. If she needed an amputation way after the initial injury it would likely be because of an infection leading to necrosis. Recovering from a big surgery such as an amputation is a long, tolling process that takes an incredibly long time to recover from, it really doesn’t make sense for someone to do it to mitigate walking difficulties and pain, especially when a leg amputation can cause those same symptoms. Amputation can cause tenderness, muscle weakness, phantom limb pain, pain in the residual limb, and that’s if there are no serious complications after surgery.

Basically your character realistically wouldn’t be able to ‘wave away’ what happened to her, I’ve never seen a surgery or major injury recover with zero lasting effects. Even if she finds a way to mitigate it, it’ll be present through her life.

If you do end up having your character be an amputee I’d recommend looking more specifically into why she would need an amputation and how that would affect her. Also looking into prosthetics would be good, as no prosthesis is a perfect replacement. Also she would probably still use her other mobility aids, especially on the beginning when she’s getting use to the prosthetic, not to mention some amputees forgo having a prosthetic for various reasons including cost, comfort, difficulty of use and more. Here’s a post on writing futuristic prosthetics without being too unrealistic.

For weapon storage I’d look into bags for wheelchairs and crutches. Whole crutches can only really have a small bag hanging off the side, a wheelchair can have bags on the back, sides, leg strap, underside and even the frame! Her ability to get to these bags quickly would depend on practice and whether or not she has any other mobility issues.

As for the relationship being affected, here’s a great post from Sasza! Besides physical accommodations and being more mindful about her leg, the relationship shouldn’t be too different than writing on between abled bodied people.

Have a nice day!

Mod Rot

[crazycatsiren]

It boils down to "consenting adults' love and sex lives are nobody's fucking business" and ho boy how many people just absolutely can't handle it.

[gabrielsantar]

it’s truly what warhammer is missing the most re: primarchs. it’s boring if they all like each other, and it’s boring if they all hate each other; there should be an extremely complicated system of primarch relationships in which at least two of them fucking hate each other but sometimes have to tolerate each other because they all have a bestie in common

[goldenlionprince]

The best way to woo a Ravenclaw is to show them you have a few tricks up your sleeve.

****

It takes James two days before he's ready to go to the library again. He’s a Gryffindor but still, Black is a little bit intimidating and it feels important to think things through before showing his face anywhere close to him again.

So after a good bit of thinking time, James makes his way to the library and finds Black close to the same spot he found him in last time, an obscure corner of the library no one else is using, sitting at one of the study tables and writing away on an essay.

James takes a deep breath and steps up to the table, then slides into the empty seat next to Black and drops his heavy book bag onto the floor. He waits until Black finally looks up from his parchment, the waiting time alone a small form of torture.

“Can I kiss you?” James blurts out into the silence of the library as soon as their eyes meet.

Black looks at him with an eyebrow raised, then turns back to his essay and dips his eagle feather back into the ink pot. “I’m kind of busy right now, Potter,” he says and James’ heart sinks a little. He should have known that Black wouldn't give him an easy time.

He watches as Black finishes his sentence with a flourish and reaches for one of the many books spread out around him. There are a lot of different volumes on different subjects so James isn't entirely sure what he's working on exactly. It's a wonder the librarian hasn't nagged him yet about taking too many books off the shelves at once, but maybe that's why Black is hiding in a far off corner of the library.

When James doesn't move from his seat, Black gives him a little sideways glance. “If you want to wait though...”

A grin spreads on James’ lips as a feeling very close to relief rushes through him, making him a little lightheaded. What kind of magic is Black doing to him? “I can do that.”

With a nod Black turns back to his essay and James pulls his bag closer by the strap. He can fill the time with some essays of his own. There is no way he'll let Black get ahead in class uncontested.

They work side by side for close to an hour before Black puts his feather down. James lets him wait a little longer, finishing his own paragraph on his essay, taking his time, before he looks up from his parchment.

“Well,” Black says, raising that infuriating eyebrow at James again. “If you’re still interested.”

[Read on AO3]

~~~~~~~~~

| How-to Guides for Inter-house Relationships - Series | Part 1 | Part 2 |

[oxventure-text-posts]

Speaking of ships, vaguely tempted to make a list of like Oxventure Cinematic Universe ships that I've never seen anyone talk about or ship and do polls on it