#it used to be my ringtone then I changed phones and never bothered

[seiko-chi]

Being on my period is so weird

I have not heard a favorite song for so long, and just hearing the opening melody I was about to cry

Granted I don't have to be on my period to be emotional..... Maybe the heat is getting to me today

[niningtori]

mastermind | oneshot

pairing: choi beomgyu x you

summary: you should be used to your relationships failing by now, but after finding out your boyfriend, yeonjun, cheated on you, you're devastated yet again. and beomgyu, your best friend, is there to pick up the pieces, just like always. but isn't it a little odd that things just never seem to work out?

genre: romance, angst, smut (MDNI), yandere

warnings: YANDERE!GYU, manipulation, gaslighting, SMUT (MDNI!) creampie, breeding kink, pregnancy kink, dirty talk, degradation, if i missed anything pls lmk!

word count: 5.1k

notes: ... hi. i'm reposting this with major edits but i hope you all still like it!

｡o.ﾟ｡*･♡♡･*｡ﾟo｡ ｡o.ﾟ｡*･♡♡･*｡ﾟo｡

do you love your boyfriend? of course. do you trust him? of course. so are you surprised to see a photo of him very clearly making out with another woman? well, of course.

your friends, your family, and even passersby would simply tell you you shouldn’t be, though. yeonjun used to be very well known for his sexual escapades, so when you announced he was your boyfriend, nobody was particularly happy for you. especially not your best friend in the whole world, beomgyu. 

“he’s just gonna hurt you, just like the last one!” 

you remember flinching at this. you remember how hurt and indignant you felt at the time. you also remember the silent treatment you gave him, and the cold war that began shortly thereafter. he apologized afterwards, of course, but you had asked him what was so bad about you that he couldn’t just believe that yeonjun had changed for you. he was silent at this, which only made you even angrier. it was all pointless in the end, you suppose.

as you sit on beomgyu’s couch, your phone rings again. you have a special ringtone for yeonjun, so you don’t even bother to check the caller id before you silence it. he’s been calling you incessantly since you texted him that you saw the picture and were done with him. your face is downcast and if you weren't so consumed by your sadness, you'd notice the faint look of delight in beomgyu’s eyes. 

“i think you should just block him,” he says as nonchalantly as he can muster. maybe in another state of mind, you'd register the satisfaction in his tone, but right now? all you can sense is his urgency, which can easily be explained away by selfless and sincere concern. just how he likes it.

“you’re right,” you sigh. “i guess i just don’t understand. things were going so well, and then he goes and does this to me. i don’t know what i did wrong,” you say while burying your face in your hands. he almost can’t control the way his lips want to curl up at this, but he’s become nothing if not a master of containing his true emotions. he’s kept them from your prying eyes for years, after all.

“aww, baby. it’s not you, it’s him. he’s just not the right guy for you,” he coos, but for some reason, you can’t help but be annoyed at his kindness. 

“i know you want to say i told you so, so say it,” you snap, pulling your face from your hands and scowling at him.

“i don’t want —” 

“if you wanted me to learn my lesson, i’ve learned it, alright? i don't need to be taught again,” you say with a huff. you know you’re being unreasonable. you know you’re being a bitch, but you just can’t help it. who told beomgyu to be right about your potential partners all the damn time? fuck his crazy-accurate intuition.

he looks genuinely hurt by your harsh words, though, so you can’t help but feel a wave of regret wash over you. you’re drowning in it, even, as you watch his puppy eyes gloss over.

“beomie, baby, i’m so sorry,” you say, gently grabbing his face with one hand and pushing his long hair behind his ear with the other. “i know i’m being awful to you when you’re just trying to help.”

“it’s okay,” he says solemnly, looking like a kicked puppy. “as long as you’re sorry.” somehow, his easy acceptance of your apology makes you feel even worse. you pull him in for a hug and he buries his face in your neck to a) soak up your scent and b) hide his growing smirk. but you’re too caught up in your feelings to notice.

“it’s really okay,” he assures once you part.

“no, it isn’t. i’m being a shitty friend. how about you stay over tonight? we can watch a movie and i’ll order something for us to eat,” you suggest. he graciously accepts your peace offering and the night is spent with giggles and an overt amount of cuddling.

as you’re drifting off to sleep, you feel beomgyu plant a kiss on your forehead. to anyone else, this might come across as oddly intimate, but you know better. people have said that you two would make a good couple, but you two do nothing but laugh it off every time. they just don’t understand your dynamic. he’s a man like any other, you guess, but seeing him as anything other than a friend is simply laughable. you know he feels the same exact way about you, too, which is why you are unfazed by his next words. 

“i love you. it’s just — i just love you so much, you know?” he whispers.

“aww, beomie. you know i love you, too. you’re my best friend in the whole world,” you murmur as sleep finally overcomes you.

if the lights were on, you’d see how his face falls and contorts into something like a grimace.

-

yeonjun has been spamming you like crazy, so you listen to beomgyu and block his number as well as his social media accounts. you think this whole chapter of your life is over, but, as always, you are wrong.

a week or so after your messy breakup, a sudden knock at your door pulls your attention away from mindless scrolling on your phone. you don't think much of it — it’s probably just beomgyu with some takeout, or something. however, when you look through the peephole, you realize that yeonjun is not finished bothering you just yet. 

“baby, please. i know you’re there. please, just open up. i’ll explain everything!” he pleads. you’re not particularly known for your callousness of heart, so it doesn’t take much more begging for you to feel guilty and let him in. you open your door with a sigh. 

“thank you!” yeonjun says with a look of pure relief as he hurriedly enters your apartment. he takes a seat on your couch (unprompted, you might add) and takes a shaky breath. you cautiously seat yourself on the other end of the couch and prepare to listen to whatever bullshit he has conjured up for your viewing pleasure before you decide that it’s best just to cut to the chase. ripping the band-aid off, and all that.

“look, i don’t care that you’re sorry. there’s nothing you can say to make me change my —” 

“it was beomgyu!” he exclaims before you can get another word out.

“... what?” you ask confusedly. where the hell is he going with this?

“the girl, the picture, fucking everything was all his fucking fault. he did it,” he rants. oh. he must think you’re fucking stupid.

“yeonjun, please don’t waste my time,” you sigh. “i think you should leave,” you add, getting up from your seat.

“wait!” he pleads, reaching for your hand and gently pulling you back down. “remember how i always told you that i had a weird feeling about him? like how something always felt… off?” oh well. if he wants to continue putting on a show, then so be it. besides, it’ll be a funny story to tell beomgyu later on.

you nod.

“well, he always looked at me weirdly. like, whenever i’d walk into the room, there was always this… this tension and i never knew why, but i understood it as soon as we made things official. it’s because he likes you.” you’re silent for a moment and yeonjun actually thinks he’s getting through to you before you burst into near-maniacal laughter. his face falls.

“beomgyu? beomgyu likes me?” you say between giggles. beomgyu loves you like a sister. no way in hell does he harbor a shred of romantic love for you. 

“you’re not listening,” he grunts, slightly tugging at his own hair in frustration. “he’s always been weird, and the other night at the bar, he introduced me to that girl you saw me ‘kissing’. they kept giving me drinks until i could barely fucking see straight. then she kept coming onto me, but i said no. i finally told her to kick rocks, but the next thing i knew was that she was kissing me. i know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me.” you want to dismiss everything he’s saying, but his utter sincerity seems to strike a chord within you. you can’t say you believe him, but he continues before you can properly digest his words.

“think about it. why the hell would i cheat in such a public place where all of our friends hang out? don't you think i would be smarter than that? and even if i wasn't, you know me. you know i would never cheat on you.” he seems desperate now, but it’s still hard to believe that beomgyu orchestrated this entire thing instead of the very real possibility that yeonjun just got drunk and acted recklessly.

“alright, this isn’t funny anymore. you need to stop,” you warn, not liking how much he’s making sense.

“think,” he repeats with conviction.

so you do. you think back to all of the tumultuous relationships you’ve had until now. they've all ended in different ways, yes, but they all had one common denominator: beomgyu. oh, beomgyu saw your boyfriend getting cozy with his ex. you’re having an argument with your boyfriend? beomgyu thinks he’s a piece of shit because of how he treats you, you obviously deserve better! wait, your boyfriend keeps taking too long to text you back? he’s just losing interest! it’s clearly better to break it off now rather than getting too invested when you’re inevitably going to break up, anyway. and all the other greatest hits. your face twists from focused to horrified as the realization sinks into your bones. it's beomgyu. it’s always been beomgyu. 

you look to yeonjun with pure shock in your eyes and he meets your gaze with a look of sympathy. you finally get it. 

“junie, i’m so sorry,” you say, tears springing into your eyes. “i’m so sorry i doubted you.” 

“it’s okay,” he replies with a melancholy smile. “he manipulated you.” 

“does… does that mean we’re back together now?” you ask, voice tinged with hope. his smile falters at your question, and you feel a sense of dread.

“i need some time,” he says after a pause, dropping his hand from yours. “you really hurt me. i understand that beomgyu manipulated you, but it really hurts that you didn't trust me, you know?” 

“i understand,” you quietly reply. you’d be hurt if the tables were turned — it’s only natural. you just hope to god above that you haven’t let beomgyu ruin another good thing for you.

-

beomgyu is confused as to why you’ve been ignoring him for the better part of a week. you don’t respond when he texts or calls, and his intuition is telling him that it has something to do with yeonjun. maybe you’re just shutting down because of the breakup? it was particularly brutal this time around, after all. he’s lucky that yeonjun has such a lascivious sexual history, or else you might not have bought his little charade, even with the proof presented directly in front of you. that’s how much you love(d) yeonjun. the thought causes jealousy to rear its ugly head in his stomach, but whatever. there’s no way you’re going back to him after the way the scandal has made its way through your social life. even if you do want to get back together with him, there's no way your pride will let you. your pride has been a particularly nasty sort of obstacle in beomgyu’s pursuit of you, but it’s absolutely delicious to be able to use it against you like this. serves you fucking right.

still, it’s his job as your dutiful best friend to cheer you up. with this in mind, he picks up your favorite takeout and heads to your place. he smiles when he imagines the way you’ll gratefully embrace him once you realize that he’s here for you. maybe this time you’ll understand that he’s always been the one who’s there for you when someone hurts you. maybe this time will be his big break, finally freeing him from the purgatory he has been in for god knows how long.

he knocks on your door with a hopeful smile on his face. surprisingly, you’re swinging the door open mere seconds later with your eyes similarly lit up with hope.

“yeon— oh. it’s you,” you say, deflating immediately. there’s a certain sense of resentment in your tone that he catches onto, but he chalks it up to disappointment. his face falls. goddamn it. damn it all to hell.

“i brought you some food to cheer you up,” he says while shaking the plastic takeout bag, completely ignoring the slip of another man’s name. 

he invites himself in, slipping off his shoes and sitting down on the couch as he usually does. 

he waits for you to join him, but when he looks up at you, all he sees is you staring at him, arms crossed and face contorted in anger. surely you can’t be that upset that he’s not yeonjun, right? now that he thinks about it, why would you be expecting yeonjun, anyway? hadn’t you effectively cut him off? did you talk to him and take him back after all that (you think) he’s done? that can’t be right. unless… unless you actually let him talk to you. oh god, please tell him that’s not what happened.

“what’s wrong?” he asks, face devoid of anything deeper than curiosity and worry. 

you’re silent for a moment before you carefully choose your next words.

“i talked to yeonjun,” you reply, and his heart sinks to his stomach. “he told me some… interesting things.”

beomgyu hopes you don’t notice how hard he gulps. you do not.

“what did he say?” he asks, face tense but still showing no clear signs of guilt. 

“he told me what happened that night. he told me how you got him drunk and basically forced that girl onto him. he also said that you’re the reason none of my relationships work out,” you declare, opting to stop beating around the bush and just get some answers. you study his face for a crack of some sort, but there is none.

“and what do you think?” he asks quietly.

“i think… i think he might be telling the truth,” is what you say, but you’re sounding increasingly unsure with every word because beomgyu looks more hurt than you’ve ever seen him.

“you believe him over me?” he asks, voice cracking and lips trembling with his brown eyes glossed over in what you can only describe as devastation. god, either beomgyu’s a really good actor, yeonjun’s a really good actor, or you’re just fucking stupid.

“i… i don’t know what to think, beomgyu,” you whisper after a pause. all he does is nod before his next words pierce your heart.

“is that why you’ve been ignoring me?”

jesus christ. you were so sure that yeonjun was telling the truth when he told you about beomgyu, so ignoring him only seemed natural under the circumstances, but he looks every bit like the victim in light of your accusations. his trembling lips and wounded gaze make you want to strangle yourself for ever doubting him. as you feel yourself being consumed with remorse, though, you remember the sincerity and desperation in yeonjun’s words. maybe this was all a huge misunderstanding? maybe they’re both convinced that they’re right? 

“y-yes. i’m sorry. i was just confused. maybe he just misunderstood?” you babble. he likes your hesitancy, but it’s still wearing on his patience. as much as he wants to say he can’t believe that you’d question him because of some guy you dated, he can believe it when it comes to you. you always, always, always hurt him like this, and he’s had just about enough.

“and what if it’s true?” he asks, pathetic facade wiped clean off of his face while something more somber replaces it entirely. your eyes lock with his and you’re stunned silly. 

“what?” is all you can manage to reply with. 

“what if i pushed that girl onto yeonjun? what if i ruined all of your relationships? what would you do?” 

“so it’s true?!” is all you can say, guilt flaring into sheer rage and hurt. 

“so what if it is?” he asks, as if he doesn’t comprehend how twisted this is.

“so… so how could you do that to me?!” 

“i was only doing what’s best for you,” he impatiently replies. “they were only gonna hurt you, can’t you see that? even before i did anything, there were still all those men who cheated on you, lied to you, used you. what’s wrong with wanting to protect you from people like them? i just couldn’t stand to see you living like that!” he argues, clearly believing he’s completely justified in all of this.

sure, you’ve been hurt before even without his intervention, but that doesn’t mean he can just play puppeteer in your love life to “protect” you from anything similar happening ever again. you trusted him and he manipulated you. he acted like a knight in shining armor this entire time while knowingly sabotaging any potentially good thing that could come your way. and he did it all because he wants to protect you? bullshit. 

“you know, i thought that even if everyone other man in the world could hurt me, you never would,” you say shakily, either from sadness or anger. maybe both. “i guess i was wrong.”

“hurt you?! hurt is watching the person you love fuck other people over and over and over again! hurt is watching you laugh me off and never even fucking considering me as an option, goddamn it!” he yells while slamming his hand on your coffee table. 

“so your solution was to fuck up every relationship i have just to have me to yourself?! do you not realize how fucked up that is?!” you yell back, trying to appear unfazed by his increasingly enraged behavior. he seems to falter at this, genuinely at a loss for words at your unforgiving pinpointing of his erratic actions. the desperate, eager-to-please beomgyu you know all too well is finally back and you feel your confidence surge because of it.

“i only did that because —”

“why? because you love me? or think you do?” you mock with a hollow laugh. “you don’t purposely ruin the life of someone you love.” he looks genuinely wounded by your words. 

“but i —”

“i don’t care. get out,” you say mercilessly. you’re absolutely through with listening to his fucked up ideations about love and what his twisted moral compass deems as justified because of it. you’re so preoccupied with preaching on your soapbox, you don’t even realize his attitude has once again shifted from the compliant beomgyu to the one you don’t recognize at all. 

“... no,” he says flatly. 

“did you not fucking hear me? i said get out,” you repeat through clenched teeth. normally, your raised hackles would be enough to scare him off, so you figure he’ll tuck his tail and leave right about now. oh, how wrong you are.

“are you deaf?” he asks with a sneer. “i said no.”

“what do you mean, no?” you ask. somewhere in the depths of your mind, alarm bells begin ringing, but it’s far too late to heed them. plus, you’re still under the impression that he’ll bend to your will. 

“oh, so you’re not deaf. just stupid,” he snorts. your jaw is agape at his audacity. beomgyu has caught an attitude and gotten fresh with you before, sure, but nothing like this. to say you’re dumbstruck would be to put things in the mildest of terms. you can barely get out your next sentence.

“w-what do you mean?” 

“i’m not leaving this apartment,” he says firmly, and before you can even ask him to explain, he’s dragging you away with a painful grip.

“ow! beomgyu, you’re hurting m—” 

“shut up. i told you what real hurt is, but you're not fucking listening. i don't want to hear another word come out of your mouth,” he says in a monotone voice. if the alarm bells were ringing in the depths of your mind before, they’re absolutely blaring at the forefront of your brain right now. 

“what are y-you —”

“i thought i told you to shut up,” he snaps before roughly grabbing your face and planting his lips on yours. the kiss is crude. it’s absolutely vulgar with the way it’s all tongue and teeth and saliva, but after a few seconds of uncertainty, you find yourself melting into it. this is wrong. you two are the best of friends, almost like brother and sister. and more than that, you love yeonjun, right? you’re supposed to be working on getting back together with him, aren’t you? but your reason starts to be sucked away as you feel his hands caress your body, leaving nothing but fire in their wake.

you don’t know how you got here, almost completely naked as you lay on your back while beomgyu continues attacking your lips. it’s blazing hot and you can’t help but feel your underwear becoming wet with every moan that escapes his mouth and consequently reverberates onto your tongue. as if he already knows the intricacies of your internal battle, one of his hands finds its way to your now soaking wet pussy and he uses his index and middle fingers to spread the slickness around. he swirls his fingers around your hole and just barely pushes one of them into the entrance. you gasp at the shallow intrusion and you can feel his notorious shit-eating grin pressed across your lips as he feels how tight you are. you’re ridiculously turned on and he knows it. he pauses his actions only to unzip his pants and yank them down to his knees. your eyes widen at what you can only describe as his huge appendage, all reddened and already leaking. you feel your cunt throbbing with even more need at the sight, but your last shred of reason still makes you hesitate.

“beomgyu, we can't… we're friends, and yeonjun is —”

“can’t you just let me make you feel good? god, you’re making this so difficult, but what the fuck else is new,” he growls. 

he's right. you are making things difficult. there's no way of salvaging your friendship after this, so what's the point in holding back now? you realize that while he may be absolutely unhinged, his feelings for you are real. do you reciprocate them? you don’t know yet, but the thought of him doting on another person the same way he dotes on you makes you feel uneasy. as for yeonjun? well, he deserves better than the cesspool of turbulent emotions that you currently find yourself in. 

“you still sure you don’t want me?” he asks cockily. you, with all of your pride, can only muster up a feeble shake of your head. he knew the answer before you gave it to him, but his condescending gaze shows you that your words have scratched a certain itch of his.

he rubs his hardened length against your folds and it’s all you can do to resist locking your ankles around his waist and pulling him into you, but something stops you. protection. you don’t even have to say it, because he knows you too well for your own good.

“let me fuck you raw,” he says breathily, just barely poking his length into your tight hole. “i know you need it, baby. just let me take care of you.” you’re silent for a moment before pinching out your next words.

“p-pull out?” he won’t because he knows you’ll be begging him for his cum when he’s done with you, and you already know he won’t, even when he nods and promises he will. you don't know why you even asked. 

the ache you feel to have him buried inside you is quickly replaced by the ache you feel once he begins to stretch you out. it’s a stinging, burning sort of pain, but that’s nothing in comparison to the pure pleasure you feel as his flared tip drags along your walls. he begins with thrusting shallowly, fucking you open like you’re a virgin, and you’re so tight while he’s so big, you might as well be. 

painfully slowly, he pushes each and every inch of himself into your gummy hole. he reaches places you didn’t even know existed and stretches you open so good all you have the brainpower to call the sensation is fullness. overwhelming fullness. when he finally sheathes himself in you completely, a strangled cry leaves both of your throats as you feel him throbbing inside of you and he, in turn, feels you pulsating around him. 

after you adjust, you expect him to start drilling into you with reckless abandon, but he does nothing of the sort. just watches you with a strange look on his face. 

“b-beomie? what are you doing?” you ask pathetically, head raising up from its place on the pillows to meet his wanton gaze.

“beg me for it.”

“beg for w—” your question is interrupted by a sharp smack on your sensitive pussy. 

“beg me for it. beg me to fuck you like a whore. i won’t tell you again,” he says menacingly. your bleary eyes are so confused, so stupid, and so, so cute, but he’s determined to use the last of his self-control to get you to feel even a fraction of the desperation he’s felt for years. well, even if you don’t, he’ll spend the whole night fucking you dumb until you do. but you’re so hungry for his dick, you don’t even realize that he’s bluffing.

finally, you understand what he’s asking of you, and you waste no time to comply. 

“n-need your cock, beomie. need you to make me f-feel good,” you say, trying to retain even a semblance of your dignity. this brings a mean smirk to his face, but he’s not done with you, yet.

“surely you can do better than that?” he taunts, rocking his hips ever so slightly so you can feel every inch of his length and girth teasingly hitting your cervix, but providing no relief. fuck your dignity. you need him.

“please! please, i need you! need your cock to fill me up!” you whine.

“mhmm, and?”

“need you to fuck me! need you to fill me up with your cum!” well, there goes your resolve to have him pull out. this seems to satisfy his sadistic desires.

“oh, my love. all you had to do was ask,” he says with a grin. and that’s when he starts. 

his hips meet yours in the most punishing way, and that’s what this is: a punishment for the way you’ve treated him all these years. you can feel it in the way that his fingernails dig into your skin and in the way that he mercilessly presses down on your tummy until all you can feel is pressure building up to something unknown.

“who else can fuck you like this? who else can split you open like this?” he asks as lewd squelches reverberate throughout the room. 

“n-nobody! only you, beomie!” you cry.

“that’s my good girl, such a good girl. baby just needs me to use her like a fucktoy, right?” and all you can do is whine and clench in carnal need as the poor springs of your bed squeak with every unforgiving thrust.

“oh, you like that, don’t you?” he snickers. “you like being my little whore. you’re just a toy for me, alright? free to use whenever i feel like it.” you nod in agreement and he lets out a chuckle as he pounds into you at an unimaginable speed, balls slapping your ass with every fiery thrust. each time he pumps into you, your pussy’s clamping down on him and sucking him in like that’s where he’s meant to be. and maybe it is. 

“god, i’m close,” he groans after pumping into you for what feels like hours, and you whimper like a bitch in heat. “honey, don’t worry,” he tuts. “i’ll fuck you every day, i’ll fill you with my cum so you can’t leave. not that you’ll want to after this. you’re made for me, made to be my cumdump whenever i want.” 

“y-yes!” you shriek, somehow liking the idea of being full of his cum forever and ever. 

“that’s my girl. baby just wants me to fuck her good. that’s all you needed, right? that’s why you’ve been such a brat. you just needed me to show you what it’s like to be fucked right,” he says, rolling your clit for good measure, which is enough to make you reach your high as it comes crashing down around you. beomgyu wasn’t lying when he said he was close, so when he feels you clenching around his big cock as if you’re milking him for all that he’s worth, you feel it twitching before hot bursts of cum paint your inner walls until you’re leaking white and seeing stars. he continues with slow, lazy pumps until he softens. you stay like that for an indeterminable amount of time, breathing raggedly while your bodies are overcome with thrums of delight. 

when he finally pulls out and lays down beside you, bodies slick with sheens of sweat, he pushes your hair back behind your ear and plants a kiss on your temple. shakily, he takes his hand and rubs it along your distended tummy, full of his cum. he lovingly strokes it with an awed smile on his face.

“such a good girl for me,” he repeats. “i can’t wait until you’re pregnant. you’ll have as many babies as i can give you, right?” and all you can do is nod deliriously. he smiles in satisfaction as you eagerly agree to his every nasty, perverted thought. “god, i love you so much. and you love me too, right? say it. say you love me.”

“i love you.” and you realize that you do.  this man is deranged, but he’s yours, and for better or for worse, you're his. especially now that you might very well be carrying his children. and even if you aren’t, you know he’ll make good on his promises to keep fucking you until you are. should you be glad that he effectively ruined every potential relationship for you? you were unsure before, but you realize that nobody has or ever will love you as much as he does, even if he has a demented way of showing it. well, it is what it is. there’s no way out after this.

notes pt. 2: i hope this goes over better after the editing!

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[ellieswrldd]

about you

pairing: spiderman!ellie williams x female reader

summary: ellie is living a double life, one of a college student and one of a crime fighting hero. she wants you more than anything but is scared to put you in danger.

content warnings: SMUT 18+ MDNI, oral sex (r!receiving), scissoring, use of alcohol and weed, ellie is kind of a nerdy loser, a little rushed! not proofread

a/n: writing this taught me that i should never try to estimate when i’ll finish something because “posting this week” quickly turned into “posting sometime this month”….sorry lmao. also this is inspired by the 1975 song!!

8:30 am

Good morning New Yorkers!

This was Ellie’s favorite part of the day. A bagel in one hand, the newest edition of Savage Starlight in her other, and her phone playing the morning newscast. 

Today is April 12th and it looks like another beautiful day…

Moments like these were the only times she felt at ease. Her university classes kept her busy and when she wasn’t studying or in class, she was off protecting the city. 

So, sitting on the rooftop of a building where nobody could bother her was Ellie’s idea of peace. 

It was easy to lose track of time while in her spot and Ellie always tried to keep an eye on the time, but it seemed to end the same way almost every day. 

We’re starting to see some traffic down by— 

The reporter was cut off by Ellie’s loud ringtone. She glanced at the caller ID and sighed softly when she saw it was her best friend Jesse calling. 

“Hey man, I’m kinda busy right now—” She said as she took a bite of her bagel. 

“Dude where the hell are you? Class started fifteen minutes ago and we have that big lab today!” Jesse whispered-shouted into his phone. 

“What are you talking about? I don’t have class on Thursday mornings,” She said. 

“Ellie, it’s Friday, we have class today,” Jesse said sharply, clearly irritated by Ellie’s lack of organization. She couldn’t blame him– he always needed her help during labs, and without her, it was likely he’d get a failing grade. 

“Oh shit!” Ellie groaned and began tossing her things back into her backpack. “I’m on my way right now, I swear.” She stated with her phone pressed against her ear by her shoulder. Stuffing her face with the last of her bagel, Ellie slid her backpack around her shoulders and stood up. 

The streets were beginning to bustle with activity and the sky was bright, New York was awake and ready for the day. Ellie pulled her mask over her face and jumped off the roof, flying towards her class with the flick of her wrist. 

—

10 pm

Going out was the last thing on your mind. You were still coping after a messy breakup, and partying didn’t sound like fun. The only reason you found yourself standing in front of a bustling frat house was because Dina had dragged you here. She had made a variety of arguments as to why you needed to come, mostly consisting of “You’ve been too sad, let’s get you laid!” or “I need you to be my wing-woman, Jesse will be there!”. Despite her nagging and desperation, you somehow ended up following her right to the party. 

“Dee I don’t feel great, maybe I should just go back home,” You mumbled and tugged at the skirt you wore. It was Dina’s and it was far too short for your liking. In the past, you loved partying and going out with friends, but at the moment all you wanted to do was curl up in your bed. 

“Just stay for a little bit, I promise you’ll have fun. It isn’t good for you to rot in bed every day anyways,” Dina linked her arm with yours and gave a soft smile. You sighed and nodded, she had a point. 

You stood in the frat, holding a red solo cup close to you. Dina shifted nervously beside you. 

“What if he changed his mind? Maybe he doesn’t want to see me,” She crossed her arms.

“Dina, he’ll show up, don’t worry.” You reassured her. “Have another drink, you need to chill out,” She shrugged and poured herself a drink. 

“Hey, Dina!” A man greeted your friend loudly, a bright smile on his face. Dina grinned and gave him a quick hug. 

“Jesse! I’m so glad you made it, I was starting to think you weren’t going to show,” 

“Sorry, Ellie was taking forever to get ready, slowed us down,” He laughed and shifted his gaze to you. “I’m Jesse, you must be y/n,” 

“Yeah, Dina’s told me a lot about you,” You glanced past him and looked at the girl standing awkwardly behind him. She was staring down at her phone, her lips pursed, clearly not excited to be there. 

“Oh, this is Ellie,” He turned and nudged Ellie with his elbow.

“Hi,” She offered an awkward smile and stood a little straighter. “Sorry, I don’t come to these things very often,” Ellie looked around at the frat, drunk partygoers dancing and screaming, the floor covered in red solo cups and sticky liquids, it wasn’t really her scene. 

“That’s alright, it’s nice to meet you,” You shook her hand. “I’m going to go out and get some air,” You shouted into Dina’s ear and she nodded. Waving to Jesse and Ellie, you pushed past the crowds and made your way outside. 

The cool air against your skin was a relieving change. You leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. It was nice that Dina was looking out for you, but it was honestly overwhelming. 

“Mind if I join you?” You turned to look at Ellie, who stood a few feet away with her hands in her pockets. You simply nodded and tipped your head to the spot next to you. Without all of the flashing lights, you could get a good look at the other girl. A red flannel hung loosely around her frame, her short hair was in a messy half-up half-down style, and her face was covered in light freckles.

Ellie’s eyes lingered on you for a moment before she spoke again. “You look stressed,” 

“I guess that’s one word for it,” You chuckled. She dug her hand into her back pocket and pulled out a neatly rolled joint.

“Jesse gave me this, do you want some?” Your eyes lit up a bit at the sight of the joint and you looked back at her.

“How could I say no to such an offer?” Taking the joint, you held it between your glossy lips. “You got a lighter?” 

Ellie’s eyes widened slightly as she realized she had been staring at your lips. “Ah— yeah, here,” She took the lighter from her pocket and fumbled with it a few times before she got a steady flame. You leaned in and watched as the end began to burn. 

“You don’t smoke much, do you?” You giggled softly as your eyes drifted toward her. She watched you intently and shook her head. 

“No, not really,” You breathed out the smoke and offered her the joint. 

“Do you want to try?” Your voice was soft and sweet, Ellie couldn’t help but take the joint from your fingers. “Just breathe in slowly and then exhale,” She followed your instructions, still watching you as she took a drag. Coughing, Ellie passed it back.

The two of you passed the joint back and forth in silence, staring up at the night sky until you were able to drown out the loud noise of the party. 

“Jesse and Dina are definitely hooking up right now,” You blurted and started laughing. 

“Oh my god they totally are,” She shook with laughter. As your shoulders touched Ellie’s and you laughed until your cheeks grew tired, you realized that you were actually having fun. You hadn’t thought about your ex in hours. 

Eventually, Ellie offered to walk you back to your dorm, and you accepted gladly. 

The walk back was full of mindless giggles and seemingly innocent brushes against one another’s arms. Ellie leaned against the frame of your door as you fumbled with the key. 

“Do you want to come inside?” You muttered with a smile once you managed to get the door open. Ellie’s heart pounded at the offer and she could feel heat rush to her cheeks, but she found herself shaking her head no. 

“I—I’m sorry, I can’t,” She bit her lip and looked down at her sneakers. “I’ve gotta be up early tomorrow for work, but I’ll see you around, yeah?” You tried not to look disappointed but Ellie could see it on your face almost immediately. 

“That’s fine, see ya,” You sighed and closed the door with a small smile. 

Ellie could feel her heart sinking, and she almost regretted her words. Almost. She knew better than to get involved with someone while in her position, she could put you in a lot of danger, and it was too risky. 

The next few days were rough. Ellie seemed to be actively avoiding you for some unknown reason and it felt like Dina and Jesse were too wrapped up in one another to even notice you. Every time Jesse came over to see Dina, he used the same excuse to cover for Ellie’s absence. “She’s busy studying, couldn’t make it today.” 

“Hey, have you seen Ellie lately?” You asked Dina as the two of you walked to class.

“Huh? Oh, no, I haven’t, why?” Dina glanced at her phone before looking back at you.

“Well, I thought we kinda hit it off at the party, but I haven’t seen her since.” You sighed and trained your eyes on your shoes. “I invited her to come inside our dorm, but she said she had work and bolted,” 

Dina looked confused. “That’s weird, she doesn’t work in the mornings,” She shrugged. “I can invite her to come with us to that bar tonight, how about that?” Dina bumped her arm against yours.

“Sure, that’s great,” You smiled, relieved to see your best friend was still looking out for you. Her words stuck with you, why would Ellie lie to you? Maybe she was avoiding you.

That night, Dina got ready with you in your shared dorm. 

“Did she say she was coming?” You asked nervously as you stared at yourself in the mirror. 

“She just liked the message,” Dina snorted and rolled her eyes. “What an ass.”

You sighed. “She’s definitely avoiding me,” 

“I’ll have Jesse drag her ass down to the bar if she doesn’t show, don’t worry babe.” Dina pat your shoulder. “Are you ready to go? I think some of the other girls are there already.” 

“Oh, yeah.” You took one more glance at yourself. You wore a sparkly fitted dress, one that had been growing dusty in your dresser. It was pretty, but a little loud for your taste. “Let’s go before I change my mind,” Dina laughed and nodded.

The bar was busy already, filled with college students and their fake IDs, overpriced drinks in their hands. Dina ordered the two of you some drinks and you stood beside her at the bar. 

You couldn’t help but watch the door as Dina told some exaggerated story. You hated this, the feeling of self-doubt and disappointment that coursed through your body every time a girl let you down. It had only been a few weeks since your last girlfriend dumped you, and yet here you were repeating the same vicious cycle with another girl. 

Just as you were about to make an excuse to leave, the door to the bar opened and Ellie strolled in. She was by herself, fidgeting with her hands nervously as she looked around the room.  

You turned back to Dina before you could meet Ellie’s gaze. You had decided that if Ellie wanted to speak, she would have to come to you first. 

“Hey,” Ellie tapped your shoulder and stood beside you at the bar. 

“Hi Ellie,” You gave her a tight-lipped smile and took a sip of your drink. Ellie glanced at her shoes for a moment before speaking again. 

“Can we talk?” She asked quietly. Was she nervous?

“Sure, yeah, outside?” Ellie nodded and followed you out. 

“Okay, you wanted to talk so let’s talk.” You crossed your arms and faced her once you stood outside. 

Ellie took a deep breath and stuffed her hands in her pockets. “I know this is kind of forward, but I like you, and I want to get to know you better, but—”

“But?”

“I’m just,” She sighed, seemingly frustrated. “I can’t, I can’t be around you,” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” You scoffed. 

Ellie pinched the bridge of her nose as she struggled to think of a reply. 

“It’s not a good idea,” She mumbled.

“You’re still not making any sense,” 

Ellie hesitated. “Can I show you something?” 

“Sure,” 

“You seriously can’t tell anyone about this,” Ellie glanced around. “Like anyone, not a single soul,” 

“Jesus, I get it, Ellie, I’ll keep whatever secret you’re sharing.”

Ellie nodded and took one more look to make sure nobody was nearby. 

“I’m, um, kind of like a superhero of sorts, like I fight criminals and protect people sometimes,” Ellie’s cheeks seemed to burn red as she spoke. “I just— I don’t want you to be put in danger because of it,” 

You stared at her for a moment before you laughed. “Is this some kind of joke? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! You’re a superhero? Forget it, I’m going home, Ellie,” You turned away and began to walk toward the bar. 

Ellie reached out and grabbed your arm. “No, I swear I’m not lying, I can prove it!” She said frantically. 

“You can prove it?” 

“I can,” She nodded. 

“Okay, prove it.” Ellie nodded and offered her hand to you. 

“Let’s go to my dorm, I can show you there,” 

“Are you trying to get me to sleep with you?” Ellie rolled her eyes. 

“Not at the moment, no. Would you just come with me?”

“Alright then, let’s go,” 

The walk to Ellie’s dorm wasn’t long, but the tension between you and her made it feel insufferable. 

“Here we are,” She nodded toward the building and unlocked the front door. Ellie led you up a few flights of stairs before finally arriving at her room. 

Ellie’s dorm room was covered in colorful posters and pictures. A small telescope was leaned against the wall by her window, comic books were stacked high on her nightstand, and some science textbooks were left open on her desk alongside scattered papers and assignments. 

“This is cute,” You muttered as you ran a hand along her navy blue bed sheets and looked around the room.

“Oh, thanks. You can just make yourself at home,” She smiled and went to open her closet. 

You sat on her bed and watched her rifle through her clothes. “How do you plan on proving this?” You asked, slightly amused by this whole situation. 

“Just wait and see, I don’t think you’ll find it funny in a minute.” She said, glancing over her shoulder to look at you. Ellie finally pulled out a hanger covered by a black zip-up cover. 

She held the hanger up and unzipped the cover, letting it fall to the floor. Underneath the cover was a bright red and blue suit. 

“What is that? Some sort of cosplay outfit?” You snorted.

Ellie narrowed her eyes at you. Without a response, Ellie slipped off her flannel and started tugging her shirt off. 

“What are you doing?” You gasped and covered your eyes. 

“I’m just changing, don’t cream your pants.” She said sarcastically. Ellie stepped into the suit and pulled it on. 

The suit itself seemed good quality, it was a shiny, bright red with black and blue highlights, and it fit her like a second skin. With a closer look, you could see the little details of the suit were designed to resemble a spider web of sorts. 

“This is what I wanted to show you,” She said and held out her hands. On each wrist was a complicated gadget that wrapped around her wrist and lay in the palm of her hand.

You reached out to touch the device but Ellie pulled her hands away. 

“Don’t touch them, you’ll regret it.” She said with a small smile. 

“What do they do?” 

“I’ll show you,” She walked across the room to her window and pulled it open. “C’mere,” 

You went and stood by her side, an anxious feeling bubbling in your stomach. Ellie reached behind her head and pulled the mask of the suit over her face. 

“Do you trust me?” She asked, her arm snaking around your waist. 

“Do I have a choice?” Ellie laughed and pulled you closer to her side. 

“Hold onto me, and uh— don’t look down,” Before you had time to ask her what that meant, Ellie flicked her wrist and sent the two of you swinging out of her window. 

As you flew through the air, all you could hear was the wind blowing past you and the sound of your screams. It was then that you started to believe that Ellie could be telling the truth. 

“Ellie Williams put me down right now!” You screamed as you watched the buildings fly past you in a blur. 

“Calm down, we’re almost to my spot.” 

Ellie slowed down and stopped on a rooftop. She pulled her mask off. “This is my favorite spot in the city.” Ellie helped you find your feet and kept a hand on your lower back. From the rooftop, you could see the glittering lights of the city life and the usual noise seemed to be quieter. 

“That’s great and all but I think I might vomit,” You let out a shaky breath and sat down. “You wanna explain what the fuck you just pulled?” You looked up at her.

Ellie grinned and sat next to you. “The nausea will pass, just take deep breaths. As for that,” Ellie showed you the gadget on her wrist. “They’re web shooters, I made them myself. They shoot something similar to spider webs, but much stronger.” 

“So what, you’re like a spider-girl or something?” 

“Well, when you say it like that you make it sound childish.” Ellie chuckled.

“Okay Spider-Woman, why is this stopping you from taking me out?” 

“I’m scared,” She sighed. “I already put myself in so much danger by doing this, do you know how much worse it would be if I had to worry about keeping you safe as well? I can’t guarantee that you’ll be protected from everything I deal with, and I can’t even imagine what it would be like for you if I ended up hurt or worse.” 

You stared at her for a moment and reached out to rest your hand on top of hers. 

“You’re forgetting that I’m my own person, Ellie, I can make those decisions for myself. You don’t have to protect me, I can do that on my own.” 

Ellie, careful not to touch the web-shooter on her palm, squeezed your hand gently. “I want you and I want this so bad, you have no idea,” 

“Show me,” You murmured as you turned to face her. Ellie let out a shaky breath and leaned in. 

Your lips tasted exactly how Ellie had imagined they would. They were sweet, presumably from the lipgloss you always used, or maybe you just always tasted like cherries, Ellie couldn’t tell, all she knew was that she wanted more. 

“Let’s go back to my dorm,” She murmured as her lips chased yours. 

“Okay,” You agreed, every thought in your head was focused on Ellie, and suddenly the only thing you cared about was getting that comic-book-looking costume off of her body. 

The quick trip back to her dorm wasn’t as scary as the first, though you weren’t sure if you could ever get used to the way your stomach dropped every time she swung. 

The moment your feet were on the floor of her dorm, Ellie had you pushed up against the door, her lips traveling down your bare neck. Your hands ran down Ellie’s back in search of a zipper or button to take off the suit, but you grumbled in frustration when you failed to find one.

“How do you take this fuckin’ thing off?” You muttered while Ellie ran her fingers along the hem of your dress. She laughed softly against your skin.

“The zipper is right here,” She whispered into your ear, taking your hand and guiding it to the side of her torso. Hidden beneath her arm and within the detailing of the suit was a tiny zipper. 

Your lips met hers again, and while you slowly dragged the zipper down, you let your other hand slide around her waist. 

And just before you were able to completely unzip the suit, a loud banging on Ellie’s door startled you both.

“Yo, Ellie, you in there?” It was Jesse, and he sounded very drunk. Your eyes widened as you looked at Ellie, waiting for her to say something. 

Ellie held a finger up to her lips and signaled for you to keep quiet. She was sure that if Jesse assumed she wasn’t home, he’d find someone else to bother. 

Jesse banged on the door a few times and groaned loudly when he realized Ellie wasn’t answering. You sighed softly once you heard him shuffle away. 

“Where were we?” Ellie smiled and pulled you close to her. Finally, you were able to pull down that zipper and the suit came loose enough for Ellie to pull off. 

Ellie slid her fingers under the straps of your dress and let them fall down your shoulders. “Can I take this off?” She asked.

You simply nodded. 

As if trying to tease, Ellie slid one strap down at a time, then moved onto the zipper, which she pulled down as slowly as she possibly could. 

After what felt like years of waiting, your dress fell to the floor, pooling at your feet. 

The feeling of Ellie’s skin against your own was everything you needed. She was warm and gentle, even her calloused fingers felt like butter on your skin. 

Hungry for more of her, you reached out and ran your fingers along the waistband of her black boyshorts. Everything about her drove you insane, the sight of her in the simple black sports bra and boyshorts that she wore was enough to make you go practically feral. 

Ellie followed your lead and copied your moves, tracing the waistband of your panties, then going further and dipping her fingers inside. Ellie could’ve sworn that the gasp you let out when she brushed against your clit was enough to make her cum, god she was already completely soaked just by standing there with you. 

“You’re so wet,” She breathed and her fingers slid against your pussy again. 

“Fuck,” You whined. 

Ellie pulled her fingers from your underwear and licked them clean. 

“I gotta have more of you,” Ellie said desperately.

“Then stop talking and do it,” You bit your lip. Your words were the last bit of confirmation she needed. Ellie grabbed your thighs and picked you up with ease.

Just as quickly as you had said those words, Ellie had swept you off your feet and sat you right on her bed. Your legs spread and her head in between them. 

She didn’t waste time taking off your panties, she couldn’t stop herself after she had that first taste. Ellie’s lips brushed against your cunt almost hesitantly but soon enough she was diving into you like she was starving. Your hips bucked up against her tongue as you searched desperately for release. Ellie’s hand snaked up around your thighs and held you down, causing you to whine out loudly. 

“God, you taste so good…” She groaned against your cunt.

“I’m getting close,” You gasped as you felt Ellie swirl her tongue around your clit. 

“We just started, baby,” Ellie chuckled and ran her tongue up along your slit. “Think you can wait a few more minutes? You just look so pretty like this…” She squeezed your thigh and looked up at you with a playful smirk. 

You stared at her, stunned by how she could be so dirty when she was the same girl who had been nervous to talk to you at the bar. How could she look so sexy when her chin and nose were both glistening with your slick and her hair was messy from you pulling on it? Was this the same girl who had choked after taking a drag from a joint?

“Please…” You moaned loudly and let your head fall back against the mattress. Ellie pulled away and kissed the inside of your thigh. 

“Fine, but only because you asked so nicely,” She smiled and stood up, pulling her underwear down and straddling your hips. “I wanna cum with you…” She mumbled as she leaned down and kissed you gently. 

A sharp gasp escaped your lips once you felt Ellie position her cunt against yours. Ellie let out a whiny moan and slowly rolled her hips forward, drawing out a loud sigh from you. Your bodies moved together slowly as if you were performing some heavenly dance. 

Her wet folds grinding against yours seemed to stop every thought in your head. You couldn’t recall the last person who had made you feel nearly this good– hell, you could barely form a coherent sentence. You reached out and grabbed Ellie’s hands, intertwining your fingers and squeezing her hands gently. 

“God, Ellie I can’t–” You stuttered and squeezed your eyes shut. 

“I know, me too…me too,” She groaned and tossed her head back. It wasn’t hard to tell by the way her thighs were beginning to shake or the loud profanities leaving her mouth that Ellie was just as close to orgasm as you were. 

It only took a few more moments before you came completely undone. A hot, sudden pleasure overcame you just as Ellie climaxed. As soon as the pleasure lulled, Ellie climbed off you and settled down next to you on the bed. 

“I didn’t want it to be like this,” Ellie whispered and turned to look at you. 

“What?” You giggled. 

“This,” She said and slid her arm around your waist. “I would’ve been more…romantic. Take you out to dinner, maybe show you all my favorite rooftops, I would’ve made this special.” 

You cupped her cheek and ran your thumb along her cheekbone. “I think tonight was pretty special. It was the best night I’ve ever had.” 

Ellie’s cheeks flushed slightly and a stupid smile tugged at her lips. “Don’t say that, it’ll inflate my ego.” 

“Alright then,”  

“Hey, promise me you won’t tell anyone about my–”

“Your secret identity? Trust me, I’ll take your secret to the grave.” 

“Thank you.” Ellie took your hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back. “I just want to keep you safe,”

“I know,” You sighed. 

On her nightstand, Ellie’s phone buzzed. You passed her the phone without hesitation. 

‘Active robbery occurring at…’ The headline flashed across her home screen. 

You watched as Ellie sat up and started grabbing her clothes off the floor. It had barely been ten minutes since the two of you had finished and she was already getting ready to run off and stop crime. 

“I’m so sorry, I just–” 

“You have to go,” You smiled and watched her slip into the suit. 

“Sorry,” She murmured, leaning down to kiss you before pulling the mask over her face. 

“Good luck and be safe,” You waved as she leaped out of the window and swung into the darkness of the night.

[ll7esxs]

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶

Use the phone + Text you!

Characters: Logan walker, hesh walker, keegan russ, kick, merrick.

X GN! reader!

notes: idk it's safe.

Logan walker:

Not big on texting—he's more of a "call if it's important" guy.

He doesn't even remember how he got the phone.

Old but reliable Samsung Galaxy S21 (won’t upgrade unless it literally dies).

Phone case? Just raw-dogging that phone like a menace. The screen is cracked as hell, but Fix it everytime.

The lock screen of his phone: A stock wallpaper of mountains because he never bothered to change it.

He put it On vibrate 24/7. If it makes a sound, he's confused.

But ofc he feels it when you call or smth.

Battery is always at 5-10% even though he don't use it so much but the battery gone low by itself😔.

He forgets to charge it and just borrows Hesh’s charger.

One-hand texter—his replies are short because he hates typing.

Probably doesn’t have social media? He would have whatsapp, messages and instagram! you told him to make but he just leave it and never enter the app💀

But has Google Maps and a weather app for no reason.

If he texts you, it's short but meaningful:

"You good?" His way of saying he cares

"Will Be home soon." Which could mean in 3 hours or 3 weeks

Will shock you, because you were kinda hesitated to send him a meme, so when you did send him a meme, he'll react with either "😂" or "?" depending on if he gets it.

This shocked you asf cuz you didn't know he understand memes.

This gave you butterflies.

Doesn’t use emojis, barely types full sentences.

You: "Did you eat?"

Logan: "Yeah. You?"

You: "What did you eat?"

Logan: "Food."

You: "Curse you i just asked."

Logan: "Y/n I have been eating for my entire life why i wouldn't now?"

Takes accidental blurry pics of stuff he finds interesting (like a cool sunset or a random stray dog).

You get unintentional thirst traps of him sweaty after training.

If you compliment him Logan: "Didn’t mean to send that."

You: "Sure you didn’t. 👀"

You sent him cupcake remixes songs.

If you call, he picks up but doesn’t talk much—just listens to your voice."Mhm. Yeah. Miss you too." (He smiles but doesn’t say much)

He shrugs when you asked him if he will come back "Yeah, of course! Where i would go anywhere else?"

Hesh walker:

IPhone 12 Pro Max (YEAH FIGHT ME FIGHT ME👺) – Upgraded because he needed better battery life for all his texting.

Clear case with a germa shepherd on the back. Super protective case because he’s broken too many phones.

Homescreen: A Ghosts team Logo

Lockscreen: A picture of Riley sleeping ("He looks majestic.")

Ringtone: Something dumb like "Danger Zone" or an old classic rock song.

Sends way too many gifs and voice messages If he is lazy.

Has a million notifications but replies to you instantly.

Somehow has 100 unread messages from people he doesn't acknowledge them but they know him since he is kind of famousin the field but replies to yours instantly.

Camera roll? 90% nature pic and riley, 10% squad pics, and a secret album of cute pics of you (you don't even know abt it he is like so cool abt it too).

The most normal texter in the squad. Fast responses, actually uses punctuation.

Sends dumb jokes, random pictures, and voice notes of him teasing you.

"Dad just gave the longest speech ever, send help."

[Pic of Riley napping] "He stole my seat. Again."

Uses his phone for music, probably has a playlist of classic rock and hype songs.

Definitely texts you mid-work if he’s stuck waiting for something "Low-key bored. What are you doing?"

Yes he uses social media, especially whatsapp, insta and massenger!

Has a lot of messages from other people He doesn't even know.

You’re his favorite person to text.

"You won’t believe what I fuckin' just did—Dude I tripped over Riley’s toy and tried to act like it didn’t happen in front of logan."

"Mission sucked. But thinking about you made it better."

Sends selfies, pics of Riley, and random squad candids.

[Sends a pic of himself in gear] "Your man looks good today, huh?"

You acted like cupcake's remixes😍🙏🏻.

[Sends a pic of Logan asleep on the couch] "Took this at my own risk."

If you don’t reply fast or didn't send him morning or evening messages he would go with: "Helloooo??? Where’s my daily appreciation text??"

Calls you before and after missions."Yo, just checking in. You good? Need anything?"

When he’s tired, his voice gets softer: "Wish I was home with you right now."

His phone charge getting like 85-70% but then logan ruined his charger since he use it so much but hesh never complain abt it.

Keegan p russ:

Google Pixel 8 Pro Minimalist, good for low-light pics (probably why he picked it).

Black matte case, no design. Practical, sleek, untraceable vibes.

Homescreen: Dark-themed clockLockscreen: A night sky "It’s calming."

Ringtone: Default Pixel tone, but it’s always on silent.

Turns off read receipts and disables typing indicators.

Only 5 apps installed: Messaging, maps, camera, notes, and WhatApp.

Camera roll? Basically empty except for surveillance photos and one random blurry pic of you.

Doesn’t use his phone unless necessary when you call so much. Half the time, it’s either dead or on silent.

Dryest texter ever."Ok."

"See you."

But once he shocked you with a message showing he cares through text, i mean he is like logan save his emotions in real life!.

He really cares about you, you get slightly longer texts:

"Stay inside tonight. Got a bad feeling."

"Be safe." Sent at 3AM, no explanation.

If you call him, he might answer, but expect a "What’s up?" and then silence while he waits for you to talk.

Responds hours later but it’s never on purpose. Just forgets.

You: "You alive??"

Keegan: "Yeah." 6 hours later

You: "That’s all I get?"

Keegan: "Been busy."

Never takes pictures but if he does, they’re surprisingly nice candid shots of you when you’re not looking.

"Thought you’d like this." (It’s a picture of the night sky because he knows you love it)

If you send him a selfie, he just replies (after hours) "Pretty."

THEN ASAP SAVES THE PIC.

Phone Calls: Rare but deep."You don’t have to talk, just stay on the line with me."

He say this if he got a brooding feelings inside.

If he’s on a dangerous mission, he’ll call you before it and just say: "Don’t worry about me. Just wanted to hear your voice." yeah he was desperate.

Thomas merrick:

Huawei Y9 bye.

Black leather case—very executive and no-nonsense.

Homescreen: A Ghosts insignia

Lockscreen: A motivational quote like "Discipline is freedom." (please yall tell me you see the vision)

Ringtone: Loudest default ringtone that woke up the whole base (so he never misses a call cuz he use it for job!).

Prefers calls over texts. If you text him something long, he’ll just call, Doesn't do small talk over text but prefers actual phone calls when he has time.

Very formal texter—uses punctuation and full sentences.

Camera roll? Mostly mission photos, but has one saved picture of you (doesn’t talk about it).

Barely touches his phone. Work comes first.

If he texts, it’s super direct and practical.

"Landed. Safe."

"You need anything?"

If you text him something dumb, he’ll just leave you on read.

Might check his phone once in a while but never during briefings.

You’ll never catch him scrolling through social media. Ever.

Straight to the point, but sometimes softens up for you cuz once you notice he never eat like usual so you remind him.

You: "Don’t forget to eat."

Merrick: "I won’t."

You: "I know you’re lying."

Merrick: "Fine. I’ll eat. Happy?" he didn't lol.

Doesn’t take pictures unless you ask. If you ask for a selfie, he would be confused and stuff cuz here never did take a selfie telling you he will come back anyway.

But when he come to your house, he takes pictures of you, not himself.

Like i said her prefer phone calls especially when he is free.

His voice is calm and steady, but you can tell he relaxes when he hears you.

"You alright?" His way of saying he cares

If you’re upset and wanna yapp, he stays on the phone until you calm down. No rushed words—just listens.

Barely on his phone unless he’s checking mission reports. If you text, expect a reply in 2-5 business hours.

Kick:

What if i told yall he's got the money to buy iphone 15 pro max😔?you wouldn't believe me.

GUYS GUYS GUYS!, I know yall would come to me saying "GIRL WHO BUY IPHONE 15 HE'S BROKE IN THIS HALF APOCALYPSE WORLD"

Guys think abt it's 2027 there could be IPHONE 17!! SO kick broke ass bought IPHONE15!!

The only reason he chose it because he think ios is the safest program

fully jailbroken (probably has custom security software on it).

Some shockproof tactical case "Gotta be prepared." (for what😭)

Homescreen: A digital clock widget with a custom UI.

Lockscreen: A sci-fi looking interface with data widgets yes he was excited abt his phone that he organized it.

Ringtone: Custom-made—probably a futuristic beeping sound made the gang looking around smoothly thinking they got into space or smth.

Has two phones—one for work (Some random old galaxy) and one personal for you and other contact (the iphone)

"Yall don't deserve to be talked by this masterpiece".

He has all the social medias, talking with people he knows! but not that active.

The tech-savvy one. Probably has all the best apps and knows how to use them.

Can type ridiculously fast. His texts are fast and efficient but lowkey sarcastic.

Camera roll? Mostly encrypted files, but has a high-quality photo of you looking cool.

50% memes, 30% gym pics, 20% pictures of you.

Texts fast but types like a hacker—always looks like he’s in a rush.

"KICK STOP COMING ONLINE THEN OFFLINE THEN DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!" that's because he answer you but then disapper then answer you again like he leave the app so many times.

"ETA 5 min. U good?"

"Saw this and thought of u [sends a random gadget or meme]"

You know memes like a lot, but him, he send you stuff that u will never unserstand it.

The guy who helps fix everyone else's phones when they break them.

Lowkey a gamer. Might send you a "Wanna play something later?" text when he actually has time off and bored.

types in perfect grammar but all lowercase because he’s too lazy.

You: "What are you up to?"

Kick: "fixing some encrypted comms. you?"

You: "Being good ig."

Kick: "confirmed. always lookin' good"

Takes the best photos of you. Angles? Lighting? Perfect.

You: "Why do your shots look so good??"

Kick: "Not my shots cuz you're fint shyt"

Sends gym selfies like "Should I flex more? Nah, already flexing too much."

Again...cupcake remix.

"Don't have to say this, But be careful out there, okay?❤️"

Super chill over the phone. Probably calls you when he’s working on tech stuff just to have company.

"Talk to me while I work. Keeps me focused."

"There is no way..."

"way."

[leighsartworks216]

Water in the Sink

Zayne x gn!Reader

Had this idea dancing in my head since I used the quality time feature with Zayne to do my dishes lol Shitty title cuz I couldn't think of anything else to name it

Warnings: medical inaccuracies

Word Count: 565

Main Masterlist

Love and Deepspace Masterlist

AO3

Tag List Form

The dish soap dries out your hands as you scrub the saturated sponge on the face of the plate. You could still decipher the sauce and crumbs from the dinner Zayne prepared tonight. And because he cooked, it was your duty to tend to the dishes.

Except, Zayne was never one to leave a job alone if he knew he could speed up the process.

Once you’re sure the plate has been thoroughly cleaned, you rinse the suds off and pass it over to your husband. He is fully focused on the task, face reminiscent of when he performs delicate surgeries. You stop yourself before you can tease him about how the operation is going on the patient, no matter how tempting it is.

The rest of the apartment is quiet. Calm. The night is still new, the last rays of the sun retreating, leaving golden tendrils of warmth as a loving goodnight on your faces. One beam reflected off Zayne’s glasses, and he shifted to the side to get it out of his eye. Dried plates, bowls and utensils clink together as he stacks them neatly to be put away. It’s only covered up by the splash of water as you dunk the final bowl beneath the surface, followed by the soft trickle of water as you pour it out.

You’re about to hand it off to him when his ringtone breaks the quiet air.

He dries his hands quickly and retrieves his phone from his pocket, answering without bothering to glance at the caller ID. The ringtone already announced who it would be. He steps away from the counter and you take his spot, using the towel to dry the bowl while keeping an ear on the conversation.

“What have you tried to stabilize with so far?”

You stack the bowl inside the other.

“Push sedation through IV, if you can. Increase after 4 minutes if there’s no signs of change.”

You turn to lean against the counter, watching Zayne work on the spot to solve the problem presented to him.

“Call Dr. Greyson to assist. Once the patient is stabilized, prep for surgery. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

He hangs up the phone and slips it into his pocket. The intense look on his face doesn’t disappear. “I have to go to the hospital. There’s been an emergency.” You follow him out of the kitchen as he speeds off to the front door for his coat and shoes.

“Do you need me to take you?” you ask. “You’ll get there faster on my bike.”

You can tell from the glance he sends your way that he wants to refuse. You’d been in the field all day, using said bike to rush from scene to scene. All throughout dinner, he could see the exhaustion of work beginning to settle in your muscles, the stiff movements you took as you washed the dishes in an attempt not to aggravate any bruises.

But if getting there 5 minutes sooner is the difference between losing his patient or saving their life, there’s no point in arguing. He nods.

You quickly shove your boots on and grab your helmet. Zayne holds the door open for you, passing you your jacket and keys as you slip outside. You’re speeding away from your apartment toward the hospital in under a minute.

The water in the sink grows cold.

[downbadumu]

“I hope you’re ok”, but you’re the reason

༄𓏸ଳ˚࿔⋆ content summary: a somewhat sequel that’s set in the same universe as this, slight angst, reader is not MC, this was self-indulgent so you don’t have to read it 😊, a little yearning and a whole lot of not doing anything about it

༄𓏸ଳ˚࿔⋆ word count: 617

༄𓏸ଳ˚࿔⋆ shanna's notes: I love this man and it’s ruining my life!!!!!! (up next in the same series [maybe]! my boy only breaks his favourite toys, call me back, falling)

It was by pure chance that you bumped into a curious girl outside of your work one day. You almost spooked her bones out of her. You didn’t even bother to question her, you like to lead a “not my crime scene, not my bleach” kind of lifestyle; besides, you could practically smell how harmless she was. She stuttered out an explanation anyways, you didn’t pay attention to her until she mentioned a certain colleague and then it all clicked in your head.

This is her.

You hadn’t mean to but you studied her a little closer; she seemed kind, curious with a bit of a rebellious streak, a little more stupid than she leads on but you guess she did look a little like you at certain angles. She stared at you nervously, noting how you were taking her in so you flashed her an easy smile before walking away. “Ok, well, it was nice talking to you, sweetcakes.”

Up until now, you’ve been telling yourself you haven’t been avoiding and ignoring Caleb. Ignoring because, even though you knew him so well by heart you could accurately predict where’d he be, he still had a way of being at a corner you turn in the midst of avoiding his usual routes. He doesn’t try to talk to you anymore, but it was nice to see him around. The next logical step for you was to take on more projects that had you travelling. Problem solved.

Then, it was extra solved because after your half year long project was done, you came home wanting to settle into a slower, warmer pace; though you were never able to catch a glimpse of him again despite going out of your way to take his usual routes.

“He moved back,” Gideon said to you as he set his lunch opposite of you. You raised your eyebrow with practiced nonchalance. “Said it was his idea, insisted actually.”

How dare he.

“Which sucks because how could he have-”

You didn’t want to pay attention anymore, mind drifting off to that ditz with the boring hair you met way back when.

“-ays, he said he’d be back this Saturday for a round of ball, if you’d like to see him?” You hear Gideon question.

You shook your head. This wasn’t your crime scene anymore. You scoffed when Gideon raised his brow at you. “No, I’m committing murder on Saturday.”

Gideon had the audacity to laugh.

Caleb’s finger hovered above the call button. A series of numbers that he never saved because he didn’t think he’d need it on his phone. As he mentally double checked the numbers, a movement caught his eyes; she was tugging on the house’s hose trying to get it further out so she could water the flowers on the farthest corner of the house. Your number ran in his head, and a fond smile tugged on his lips.

But Caleb didn’t bother pressing the button, even though his finger still lingered on it. He knew that you wouldn’t pick up. He could picture you from a lifetime ago watching your phone with vacant eyes as it rang, waiting for it to stop so you could text him back. Not anymore, though. Not since you took on longer projects at faraway places, especially not since your confrontation that he ignored. You might still watch your phone ring (he wondered if you changed his ringtone yet), but you wouldn’t pick up any more, so he doesn’t bother to try. He resorts to thinking about it, the same way he used to think and guess which way you’d use to avoid him.

“Caleb!” Her voice was whiny. He sighed and held the backspace button until your number vanished from his screen, but he doesn't exit the app when he locked and set his phone down.

[481mclarg]

Scared to love you | AL65

★ I've never been good at telling people how I feel, but you make me want to try.

STLY       •       FANFIC + SMAU.

          • Arthur Leclerc x Male!Oc Driver

« K » Just want to say thank you for all the support. Every like, new follower, and reblogs. All the interactions w/this and any fanfic/smau is more than appreciated. <3

Warning: —

★          introduction. | one. | two. | three. | four. | five. | six. | seven. | eight. | nine. | ten. | eleven. | twelve. | thirteen. | fourteen. | fifteen. | sixteen. |

          After finishing shopping, they left the store, with the brunette texting on the group chat the reason for their separation.

          —...Thank you. —Lombardi murmured as they walked on the way to the park that Paul indicated to them.

          —For what? —

          —I don't know... For everything. —He shrugged, somewhat shy. Embarrassed, praying that the heat on his face wasn't evident to the Monegasque, who had been looking at him so much lately.

          —I... You don't need to thank me for anything. —He placed his hand on the back of his neck, caressing his skin and the small curls that fell over it.

          The Italian finally turned around, fixing those eyes that Arthur was addicted to on him.

          —The people... —He murmured, worried, even though there were very few who passed by paying attention to them. The Monegasque lowered his hand down the boy's spine, guiding him with him to a nearby alley.

          The need to thank him again arose from him. He didn't know if for bothering to look for a less crowded place or for what. The words died in his throat, but the gratitude was expressed by kissing the brunette boy back.

          "How long will this last?" he wondered, fearing that it would have an end. Fearing to return home and with a cool head, everything will seem like a big mistake.

          Maybe worse, that only Arthur will find the wrong in all that.

          He was afraid that the idea of ​​going back to being just friends was inconceivable, that he would hate everything that happened enough not want to talk to him again. He didn't want to lose the relationship, nor did he need it to remain like the last few days. He didn't know what he wanted. He was afraid of the future.

          The ringtone of a cell phone startled them, causing them to separate quickly.

          Matteo was quick to take the device out of his pocket, feeling anxiety grow inside him.

          —Giancarlo? —Fear spread to Arthur, who debated between trying to listen to what the man was saying or giving the young man his space to answer the call.

          The dark-haired boy noticed the doubt in the Monegasque, managing to communicate with just his gaze that he didn't want to be left alone.

          He barely spoke, only nodding a few times, with his eyebrows furrowed in concern, murmuring vague assents or denials. The call ended a few minutes later, with a "See you later" from Matteo, who didn't seem to have received a response.

          —Is everything okay? —he asked, almost scared.

          —He found out about the trip, and he's not very happy... —he denied. —He wants me to go home as soon as possible. —Leclerc nodded. His eyebrows furrowed, really worried. Guilt was what he felt. —Don't worry; it'll probably just be a scolding for not letting him know. —

          —Are you sure? I can explain to him, tell him that I insisted on my birthday. —

          —No-. No. It's not necessary, Le. —he denied quickly. —I'll take care of this. —Arthur wanted to insist, but Matteo's phone vibrated again. —We have to hurry. The boys are asking for us. —He changed the subject, forcing the conversation to die there, to get out of that alley and hurry to get to the others.

          Leclerc followed him with concern.

          He understood that this was an issue Matteo wanted to resolve with Giancarlo alone, but he was afraid that he would take all the responsibility and get all the scolding for something that wasn't even his idea in the first place. At the same time, he hated knowing that Matteo could be scolded for things as common as taking a vacation or going out with friends.

          Yes, it was wrong of him to hide something like an international trip like this from his coach and manager, but he did it for a reason. Arthur knew that he wouldn't keep secrets from Giancarlo for nothing; he must have a good reason for deciding to keep quiet.

          Would Girotti be so severe for a young man's simple and almost silly idea of ​​spending a few days partying? Arthur was really worried. Not only because of what the man might do or say to him, but because of what the Italian himself would say to himself.

          Matteo, for the first time all weekend, was using the second bed in the room, and Arthur couldn't feel more strange about it.

          He regretted the loss of the Italian's warmth. He misses him. He didn't know he could miss something he had barely known so strongly. With a sadness he tried to believe was irrational, he looked at the boy who, lying down, turned his back on him from the other side of the room, apparently asleep.

          "I need time to think," he excused himself as soon as they returned to the room after dinner, knowing that it was a doubt they both had. What would they do that night? He didn't think about repeating what happened the previous nights, but he hoped perhaps to be able to talk about all that, about what they felt, and what they wanted.

          At least he would tell him that they were going to pretend that nothing happened and return to the almost formal relation, limiting themselves to the talks at the academy meetings.

          The boy didn't know he could feel that way about losing someone. Yes, he had lost very dear people before, but it was different. Maybe, because he knew that Matteo would still be there, carrying whatever he was holding in and the memory of what he had experienced.

          He knew he was going to miss that weekend. Miss the side of Matteo he had known, the person he allowed himself to be far from home and from anyone who conditioned his way of acting.

          Now that he knew that more carefree and relaxed side of Matteo, closer, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to forget it, to miss it. He was scared of how right it had felt to be embraced by the Italian's warmth, and how lost he imagined himself being without being able to experience it again.

          He was terrified to think that he was missing a warmth that he didn't want to share with him. Could Matteo hate him now? Maybe he hadn't enjoyed that weekend as much as he had.

          Maybe he had never wanted to do any of that, and only now dared to put on the brakes, to distance himself.

          Why had he acted on those stupid drunken ideas? He was still asking himself that question a week after the trip. He was already back in Monaco, and he assumed that Matteo was in Italy. He assumed, because the boy hadn't spoken to anyone after an "I'm home" message, sent hours after landing in France. An almost obligatory message, since Dennis and Paul insisted that he let them know when he arrived in his country.

          Lombardi didn't write to him, and he didn't try to either. He was… afraid? Afraid that he had ruined everything, that he would hate him, that he would never want to talk to him again. Or was it shame that he felt? For feeling so much and confusing desire with something more. Shame for having let himself go and given himself over to the heat of the night, letting himself be enveloped by the atmosphere of the clubs and bars, letting himself be influenced by silly games and his most primitive reactions.

          How could he face talking to Matteo again? He couldn't even think of what to say to him. Just say hello? Talk about the next race? Ask again about the future in Formula 1? Inquire into his feelings? Apologizes?

          Should he apologize?

          Did he feel guilty, and that's why he didn't want to talk to Matteo?

          Giancarlo was a volatile man, yes. Perhaps he overreacted when the driver neglected his image as a star athlete and behaved like the teenager he was, yes. But- if he hadn't invited him…

          If they hadn't insisted on going out, on drinking, on returning to the hotel before the rest, on repeating it a second night… If he hadn't done everything he did before thinking.

          How severe must Giancarlo have been?

          Maybe talking to him wasn't even possible. Maybe he had him incommunicado, punished like a child who is deprived of his phone and networks. Or maybe he just forbade him to talk to him? Has Matteo confessed everything that happened? Does Giancarlo know… how much does he knows about Matteo's life? Is there anyone who really knows about him? Is Matteo allowing himself to know himself?

          He tried to maintain a slight hope. The illusion that the trip had managed to awaken that young and rebellious part of the Italian. That he would let himself live, that he would allow himself to have a life apart from his professional career.

          He tried with all his strength, although inside, he was dying of uncertainty, fear, shame, and guilt.

[ 📲 ] Incoming call...

🔊          —Charles. —he calls his brother one night before dawn. He hates bothering him on a race week, but he needs advice.

          Talk to their older brother or their mother scared him, more than just talk to Charles. He also might be the only awake because of the different time zones. Anyways, he thought hundreds and hundreds of times what to say and what to not.

          He wasn't ready to "the talk" trying to explain if he now also likes boys or the kind of relationship that he had with Matteo. At some point, it would happen, he knew, but it wouldn't be that night. I preferred it to be later, as late as possible

          «¡Hey, Arthur!» he greeted happily. «What's up? Is everything okay at home?»

          —Yeah, all good... —nodded. —I'm calling you for advice. —

          «Oh? What kind?»

          "Hope not sound so stupid..." —Sometime you feel... nostalgic? Missing... not something, to someone —He was looking for the right words to express his doubt. —Missing a teammate so much and being afraid of losing your friendship. —

          «Oh...» he murmured on the other end of the line. The depth of the issue had caught him off guard. «Well, I miss Sebastian a lot, of course; and when Carlos leaves Ferrari, it will take time to adapt to his absence, but... I guess I always knew that Formula 1 was like that» Arthur nodded, although his brother couldn't see it. «Not because they retire or change teams, they stop being friends... and not all teammates are friends»

          —But, you know-. You spend a lot of time with Carlos, so many things, many important moments; don't you feel that you lost something now that he left? —Isn't it normal to feel that emptiness in his chest when he imagined that they would no longer share time together?

          «I don't know if it's that big of a deal, Arthur. I will continue to see him in the paddock» He scratched the back of his neck, beginning to doubt if his brother was really okay. «What are these questions? Whom are you missing?

          —Oh, well- Since I'm not going to continue in Formula next year... I don't know, I've been a bit thoughtful lately. You know, a little... sad. —

          «Oh, Arthur. Don't worry, other opportunities are going to come» He didn't believe that the main problem, now, was the lack of a seat for next year.

          The lack of a companion bothered him. The lack of Matteo.

          —Do you think I will lose my relationship with the others if I leave the category? —

          «Your friends? The ones that travel with you to Spain for your birthday?» he waited to the younger nod before continuing speaking «They would be idiots if they ruined a friendship and so much time together by not being in the same grid. If they do, they aren't worth your time»

          —But I don't want to lose him. —He immediately regretted it, cursing in his mind repeatedly for letting himself speak before thinking.

          «Uh...» he sputtered. Before the younger could retract it or add something to disguise the desperation of the comment, he responded: «Maybe you have to act and do something about it too. Relationships -all types of relationships- depend on the effort of both parties to preserve themselves, right?»

          —Yeah, I guess... —

          «Arth, if I don't go to the meeting, Fred is going to hang me from the Angel of Independence» He spoke a little more hurriedly, while complaints were heard in the background. «Then I want to know who all this was for, okay? See you! Kisses to mom! »

          —See you... —He stammered, barely getting to speak before he hung up the call.

[ 📲 ] ...Call ended.

481MCLARG | 21 . 01 . 2025 | CORREGIDO

[strniohoeee]

Paramour

Pairing: Chris Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N is stuck in the middle of who really has her heart….she knows she’s hurting Chris and herself. And Chris knows this too, but why can’t she stop?🫂

Warnings⚠️: There’s smut in this! My bestie @slumpedvioooo came up with this idea, and I just ate it up; so I had to do it! This is part one of a three part series. I hope you enjoy it because I loved it 🤞🏽

Song for the imagine: #icanteven- The Neighborhood, French Montana

⚠️This is an 18+ story, so minors do not interact, or do??⚠️

Paramour

Noun

A lover, especially the illicit partner of a married person.

This was wrong on so many levels. I was hurting myself, but I was especially hurting Chris. I know he knew how I felt, and I knew it bothered him deep down, but he would never admit it.

When I was laying in his bed my legs wrapped around his torso and my hands in his hair those thoughts vanished. This is where I wanted to be, and I hated myself for it. But at the same time it felt so right….

Currently I was laying in my boyfriend's bed watching a movie with him as I ran my fingers through his hair. Occasionally talking with him as the movie played.

“Do you have any plans tomorrow night?” He asked me

“No I don’t think so” I said looking down at him

“I want to take you on a date” he said smiling at me

“Aww I’d love that” I said smiling at him

“I’m thinking a candle lit dinner, then we take a walk on the beach and then yeah” he said getting shy

“That sounds perfect” I told him

“I’m glad” he said

I went to respond, but my phone started ringing making us both jump at the loud ringtone. I looked down at the contact and immediately got nervous. Why was he calling me when he knew I was with my boyfriend. I grabbed my phone and picked up

“Hello” I said more in a question tone

“Hey Y/N” I heard him say

“What’s up? Are you okay?” I asked him

“Yeah I’m okay, I just miss you” he told me

“Oh…umm that’s nice” I said really hoping he’d change the topic

“Come over?” He asked

“Oh I’m not sure I’m busy right now” I said back

“Pleaseeee” he said on the other line

“Umm alright give me 40 minutes” I told him

We hung up, and I looked down to see him already looking up at me

“Everything okay?” He asked me his blue eyes piercing into mine

“Yeah, my friend just wants me to help her set up for her sisters birthday” I told him lying straight through my teeth

“Oh so then go” he said smiling at me

“But we’re hanging out together” I said

“It’s fine! I’ll see you tomorrow anyways. Go have fun” he said sitting up

“Are you sure?” I asked him

“I’m positive baby” he said leaning in and giving me a kiss

I got up and put my shoes on and grabbed my purse and keys. I looked over at him giving him a kiss. His eyes were saddened by me leaving. I had a feeling he knew what was going on deep down, but didn’t want to believe it. His eyes always told the truth, but I couldn’t bare to look at him this way, so I turned and left

I got in my car and drove to his house, it was about a 30 minute drive. It went by quickly because I was thinking in my head the whole time. Should I be doing this? I mean I’ve been doing this for a while, but should I stop it? This was wrong. I was hurting all three of us, and I knew Chris knew this. I have to stop this, but I couldn’t

I parked my car, and went up to the door ringing the bell, and waited for the door to open. Once it opened and I saw him my throat ran dry….

“You can’t call me when I’m with my man” I said to him as he let me walk in

“Hello to you too” he said shutting the door and locking it

“Sorry” I said shaking my head

“I didn’t know you were with him” he responded pulling me in for a hug

“Chris I’m with him like every other day” I said pulling away

“Sorry baby, it just slipped my mind I supposed” he said with a smug expression

“Of course it did” I said rolling my eyes and walking up the stairs

“I missed your attitude” he said smacking my ass

“Chris enough” I said smacking his hands away

“Wait mama? You didn’t miss me?” He said pouting

“Of course I did” I said turning around and giving him a sly smile

Chris pulled me in by my shirt and crashed his lips into mine. I let my arms wrap around his neck as I melted into his touch. His lips….I could never forget how perfectly they molded to mine. I could stay like this forever

Our kiss began to get deeper, our teeth clashing together as our tongues fought for dominance. It was such a needy sloppy kiss, but I missed him and this felt like heaven.

Chris pulled away and licked his lips looking at me with hooded eyes.

“You’re so gorgeous” he said

“Shut up” I said avoiding eye contact

“You’re my pretty baby” he said rubbing his thumb over my cheek

That phrase sent me back….it was something he used to say all the time, and it made my heart heavy…always calling me his pretty baby…

About 3 years ago Chris and I were messing around for about a year. We weren’t dating but I suppose we were friends with benefits. It was good while it lasted, but when it ended it broke my heart.

Flashback

“Chris if you don’t want to be with me officially that’s fine, but please just let me know” I pleaded to Chris

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you it’s just…..I don’t know” he said looking down

“Don’t know about what?” I asked him

“I just….im scared” he said

“Scared of what Chris?” I asked him looking down at him

“I’m just scared of commitment I guess” he said

“Oh?” I said

“It’s not you I promise, it’s not you it’s me” he said looking at me

“That’s fine, I guess….I guess I’m gonna head out” I said to him

“You don’t have to go” he said

“No it’s fine Chris don’t worry” I said backing up

That day hurt me the most, breaking things off with Chris really set me back. His fear of commitment and my want for him really made us clash.

Once I got in my relationship with Dominic, Chris started to act weird. He wasn’t happy for us, but he wasn’t an asshole to us. That hurt me because that was supposed to be Chris and I, and it wasn’t.

About a year ago is when Chris started having me come over to “hangout”. Those hangouts became cuddles, and then those cuddles became forehead kisses, and then it became kisses, and then that turned into making out, and then that turned into touches and those touches turned into me laying on his bed as he whispered sweet nothings into my ear as he thrusted into me.

At first I felt disgusted and hurt, but I found myself going back to his house. Hoping it would turn into more, and that made me hate myself more. No matter how much I loved Dominic, my heart was with Chris.

I couldn’t hurt Dominic, but also Chris didn’t actually want a relationship and that hurt me more. I used Chris for his body when he offered it, and then went home to sleep next to Dom…..this was such a burden. I couldn’t leave him for Chris, but what I was doing was horrible. However I couldn’t stop because Chris had a hold on me.

Flashback Over

“You haven’t called me that in ages” I said pulling away from Chris as he moved his lips to my neck

“I figured I’d bring it back” he said leaving sloppy kisses along my neck

“Why now?” I said shutting my eyes at the feeling

“Why not?” He said pulling back to look at me

“I don’t know” I said looking away

“Afraid your boyfriend is going to find out?” He said smugly

“Don’t be a dick” I said rolling my eyes at him

“Never baby” he said winking at me

“Let’s go to your room” I said

“Don’t have to ask me twice” he said

We walked down to his room, and when I stepped in my stomach fluttered with butterflies. This was so fucking wrong, but to know the events that would happen next sent me spiraling. In the moments of Chris worshiping my body, kissing every ounce of skin and taking his time with me, any thought of Dominic fled my mind. I wanted Chris as mine….forever

Like I said I love Dominic, but I think it was more of a friendship type of love. I think I fell in love with his actions, and not him as a person. The long walks, the dates, the cute messages, the flowers, the cards, the candies. I mean all of it. I fell in love with the way he acted and not him.

At first I hadn’t realized this, but as time went on and I prayed everyday that Chris would beg me to be his I realized something was wrong.

Not to mention Dominic and I weren’t compatible in bed. He didn’t know my body the way Chris did, and no matter how many times I tried to explain to Dominic what I liked he just didn’t get it; because he wasn’t Chris.

What was really fucked up was that the more I had sex with Chris the easier I found it to go back to Dominic. Chris made me so happy, and Dominic was there to fill the void of not having Chris in my everyday life. Dominic was simply…..my friend.

“I’ve missed this so much” Chris said coming up behind me and hugging me

“Chris I saw you like two weeks ago” I said laughing

“No…that’s not what I meant” he said spinning me around to look at him

“Well then what do you mean?” I asked him genuinely confused

“I mean-“ before he could finish his sentence my phone started to ring….Dominic was calling me

“Hi baby” he said once I pick up

“Hi” I said looking at Chris

“Did you make it there safe?” He asked me

“I did, sorry I was just about to text you” I said

“Oh okay! We’ll have fun” he responded

“Thank you I will, and Courtney said hi” I just blurted out

“Oh tell her I said hi back” he said laughing

“I will, bye baby” I said

And with that we hung up

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” I said to Chris

“Uh nothing, I’m Courtney now?” He asked laughing

“Sorry I don’t know what came over me” I said shaking my head

“It’s fine” he said pulling me in and connecting our lips

I melted into his touch once again, all my thoughts leaving my brain. This is where I wanted to be always

Chris back tracked us to his bed, and pulled away. He removed his shirt and I removed mine. Connecting our lips again and letting myself fall back onto his bed as he landed on me.

“I can’t get over how badly I missed you” he said in between kisses

“I missed you too Chris” I said moving my head back

Chris smiled before kissing down my neck and to the skin of my breasts that spilled out of my bra. He lifted me up and took my bra off

Kissing from the valley of my breasts to my left breast and then to my right one. He slid his tongue over my left nipple, and looked up at me causing me to bite my bottom lip and let out a whimper.

He then did the same to my right breast as his hands ran up my torso. Goosebumps following every inch of his fingers.

Chris began to kiss down my stomach causing me to squirm, and he stopped at my jeans. Unbuttoning them and slowly sliding them down

“Chris please” I whispered out

“I know baby, I know” he said pulling my jeans off and tossing them behind his head

He began to kiss down my legs and to my thighs whispering against my skin. He slid his pointer and ring finger against my cloth pussy

“Chris” I moaned out and licked my dry lips

He hooked his fingers in my underwear and slid them down. Spreading my legs wider and kissing my inner thighs.

He leaned down towards my pussy and spat causing my toes to curl and my hips to come off the bed.

Chris attached his mouth to my clit swirling his tongue around before sucking on the sensitive bud.

“Oh my god” I moaned out gripping onto his hair

His tongue moving in every direction against my clit causing me to close my thighs around his head. Lapping at me like a starved man

“I need more” I panted out

Chris pulled away, his mouth covered in my arousal. He looked so hot like this I swear I could cum from the sight of it.

He slid off the bed to remove his pants and underwear. His dick springing free and my knees going weak. He came back over and lined himself up with my entrance

Slowly sinking into me, both of us letting out a gasp at the feeling. No matter how many times we fucked this feeling sent me spiraling every time.

He leaned forward holding himself up by his forearms as he bottomed out. He grabbed my left thigh and helps me wrap my legs around his torso

He left his hand on my thigh as he began to thrust into me. My hands ran over his back as my nails gently glided against his skin.

“Fuck Chris just like that” I moaned out snaking my hand up to the back of his head as I pulled at his roots.

“You’re meant for me, you take me so well” he said moaning out as he kissed my temple. My stomach flirting at this intimate action.

Chris began to kiss my neck as he thrusted into me, my body falling deeper into the mattress as his name fell from my lips like a mantra. I never wanted this to end….he was my kryptonite

“Come on baby” Chris said as he pounded into me as I clenched around him

“Fuck baby I’m going to cum” I moaned out. The pet name slipping my lips went unnoticed by me, but not by Chris. His stomach coiled at this and his ears perked up. He loved it so much.

“I know mama” he croaked out into my ear

Chris’ hips snapped into me at a faster and deeper rate causing my breath to hitch in my throat. His hands running all over my legs and torso as his lips ghosted against my neck.

His hips relentlessly pounding into me as I cried out in ecstasy. I was so glad no one was home because this was the loudest I’ve ever been with him.

“Keep going…fuck just like that” I moaned out my legs wrapping around him tighter as I pulled him as close as humanly possible

“You’re driving me crazy” he said in a gruff tone as he used his left hand to push some hair out of my face.

Chris used his left thumb to run it over my cheek where the tears had now dried. Looking into my eyes as his mouth fell open and he pounded into me.

My thighs becoming shaky as my orgasm neared. My nails scratching as his back and his name falling constantly from my mouth in loud cries of pure joy.

In this moment it was just Chris and I, and I swore I was in pure ecstasy. All my thoughts were gone with the wind and I loved it.

Chris snaked his hand down in between us as he began to rub my clit, sending shockwaves throughout my body.

“Oh. My god oh my god” I moaned out my eyes shutting as my brows furrowed

“Look at me baby, look at me when you cum” he said in a whisper

I opened my eyes as he continued to thrust into me, he began to rub my clit faster

“I’m gonna cum” I yelled out clenching down on him

“Give it to me” he said biting his lip as his chest rose faster

These words alone sent me into orbit, I pulled Chris in closer as I clenched down on him. My thighs were shaking as my lower abdomen contracted. Cumming all over Chris’ dick as my breathing was shaky. Fuck and his name the only two things able to spill from my mouth in this moment.

Chris helped me ride out my high before I let my legs down and released him. He pulled out of me as he began to stroke his cock

“You’re so fucking beautiful, you do things to me I can’t even explain” he said in a low tone

He stroked harder before his own thighs began to shake, and his mouth fell open. He painted my lower stomach with his seed as he moaned out my name.

He allowed himself to calm down to control his breathing. He got up and brought a rag back to wipe me down before tossing it in his laundry basket.

We slid under his sheets and I faced him. Taking in his beauty. His freckles, his rosy cheeks, his plump lips. My finger traced his jawline as I looked at him

He looked back examining my face and brushing my hair away before opening his mouth to speak

“I meant it when I said you're gorgeous” he said in a whisper

“Thank you Chris” I said with a small smile

“My beautiful, beautiful Y/N” he said turning his head into my touch as he kissed my hand

It was in these moments that I saw a small glimpse of us being together. Of us being more than just fuck buddies. Chris has a nurturing soul, and I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to share that with someone else. Unless he did, and that someone else just wasn’t me….

“We’re throwing a birthday party for Madi next week you should come” he said looking at me again

“Yeah I’d love to” I responded smiling at him

“And you can bring…what’s his face” he said chuckling

“Dominic” I said with a blunt expression

“Yeah him” he said rolling his eyes

“I’ll run it by him” I said laughing

Before we could speak my phone started to ring

“Speak of the devil” Chris said looking at my phone as I turned over

I picked it up on the third ring

“Hello?” I said

“Hi baby, why do you sound so out of breath?” He said laughing

“Oh uhhh I was running up Courtney’s stairs” I said laughing and looking at Chris with wide eyes

“She doesn’t have stairs” he said confused

“Ohh uhh the stairs outside her house we were taking trash out” I said lying straight out of my ass

“Ohhh uh well okay, I’m glad you had fun” he said

“Yup lots of fun” I said looking at Chris and he just smirked at me

“Alright baby I’m going to let you go, I’ll see you tomorrow” he said

“Okay love you” I said cringing to myself because I didn’t even mean it

We hung up and I let out a sigh

“Stressed?” Chris asked me

“You could say something like that” I said looking at him

“Come in closer talk to me about it, spend the night” he said

This was uncharted territory. Chris never asked me to spend the night, and I assumed it was only because his brothers weren’t home.

“Stay? With you?” I asked him

“No stay with the Holy Ghost, duhhh stay with me” he said laughing

“Okay….yeah I’ll stay” I said smiling at him

Chris shut the light off and pulled me in closer my back to him.

This was wrong, but it felt so right. To be able to lay in his arms as we fell asleep was something I’ve always wanted.

This made my heart warm, but what kept my mind racing was that this was a one time thing and only for tonight. Our next encounters would not be like this.

I’d be in my own bed the following morning alone and saddened that I could not keep the only man I’ve ever wanted to myself.

I was the paramour.

The End

Alright guys this is part 1, and I truly hope you enjoyed it. I genuinely loved writing this and it like had me giggling and kicking my feet, but also lowkey sad😭😭 I wonder what will happen in part 2 and 3??? Stay tuned for more LMFAOAOA! I love yall so much 🤭🖤🖤 also sorry it took so long to get done I got busy

-J💅🏽

@rac00ns-are-c00l4

[op814kitty]

Illicit Affairs // Lost The Breakup Part 6

A/n: Hello, thanks for encouraging me to keep writing this, Its becoming really fun to write it and hopefully you'll keep tolerating my mediocre writing

Previous Part // Next Part

Oscar’s grin fell as soon as he entered the motorhome. Lando was sitting idly on a couch, scrolling on his phone. He looked up as he heard the door open, assessing Oscar with a mix of distrust and anger. He stood and jerked his head towards the driver rooms on the other side of the foyer. 

“Let’s talk then” He said, gruffly. 

Oscar nodded and followed Lando into his room. Guilt sizzled through his body.  He could see the tiredness in Lando’s face. His eyes more sunken than usual, sharp anger hiding the fatigue below. Lando shut the door gently behind Oscar. 

“What do I have to do to get her back?” Lando sunk into the small couch next to the door, his head resting on his hands. “She’s everything to me. I don’t even know why I said it” 

Oscar stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Mate..” He began, but how could he explain it. 

Lando looked up at him. “I love her.” 

“Lando, You wouldn't have said it if you loved her.” A flash of anger came over Oscar. Unexpected to both mem. “You can’t do that to someone you love! She loved you and you hurt her and these are the consequences!” 

Oscar swallowed the rest of his outburst. 

“Why did she go to you straight away? Was there something going on while we were together?” 

Oscar slumped on the sofa next to Lando. “ I can’t lie and say I didn’t have feelings for her while you were together.” Oscar swallowed, “But I swear nothing happened until after you broke up” 

“Until after we broke up?” Lando jumped up, pointing a finger at Oscar accusatorily. “What happened after we broke up? God, I knew you were a snake, waited till she was single and vulnerable to weasel your way into her pants huh?! How low can you be?” 

“NO!” Oscar jumped up too, “I’d never do that I swear. I was just trying to be a good friend and it just happened” 

“Just happened ?! You just happened to fuck my ex less than a week after we broke up?!” 

“God, No!” Oscar put his hands up placatingly. “ I didn’t sleep with her. We just kissed, okay? It only happened this morning” 

Lando turned towards the small mirror and basin in the far side of the room. “ Get out of my room” He growled, “ And stay out of my way on track or I’ll put you in the wall.” 

Oscar didn’t protest. 

– 

Your phone rings across the room. The bright ringtone you had set for Lando, and not bothered to change, filling the empty space. You groaned and went to answer. 

“Lando.” You said, “What do you want?” 

You could hear him sigh on the other end of the line. “ Can we talk? I know you’re in Spa, Maybe meet for lunch?” 

You push a hand through your hair. “Why?” 

Lando is quiet for a moment, you can almost imagine him shrugging. “Closure, I guess?” 

“Fine. Don’t make me regret this, Norris” 

“Okay, see you soon” 

–

The cafe Lando chose was intimate. You could see him sitting in the corner, dark quadrant hoodie and Mclaren cap shielding him from prying eyes, as if there was any way to hide as a world famous formula 1 driver. You slid in across from him. 

“You wanted to talk. So talk.” 

Lando looked up at you. You could see how tired he was. His eyes were sunken and he fidgeted uncontrollably. 

“ I didn’t mean to say it. And it wasn’t you, Never you! Just juggling us with my work, it was hard. But I wanted it. I didn’t mind the hard work if it was you…” Lando rambled. 

“If you were struggling, why didn’t you just talk to me? We could’ve worked things out.”  You said, tenderly. 

“We still can.”

“No, Lando” There was finality in your voice. “I won’t start this again. Not when you made me feel like a burden when all I tried to do was support you.” 

“You’ll just start dating my teammate instead?” Lando mumbled, looking towards the door. 

“I told you, there's nothing -”Lando cut you off before you could continue. 

“I know you kissed him.” 

You bit your lip. You hadn’t expected Oscar to tell him. It seemed cruel to rub whatever was happening between you both in Lando’s face. You sighed. 

“Not that it’s your business but it was a mistake.” You stand up. “I’m not vindictive enough to start dating your friend right after we broke up.” 

You quickly left the cafe, texting Oscar as you walked back towards the hotel. 

Y/n:  I don’t think we should have dinner tonight. I’m not feeling well, I think I’ll head to bed early. 

Tag List: @amz824 @cmleitora @herexpertcollector @piastrams @coriyaps @milkysoop

[meowmeowraven]

Hmmm, I'm not sure if this will be ok with you, but could I request Caelus, Dan Heng, March 7th, and Gepard with a reader who's like Sailor Jupiter?

A sailor between the stars ⭐

Caelus, Dan Heng, March 7th, Gepard x Sailor Jupiter! GN! Reader

Warnings: Serval is in Gepard's part!

Notes: yay, my first request, and yes of course, i'm actually glad that other people like Sailor Jupiter!

Caelus

He digs through trash. You enjoy cooking. What more can i say?

You end up having to drag him away and to cook for him. But he still goes back to digging through trash, because it's Caelus.

Walking through the now, dark and cold streets of Belobog, you notice one of you companions, Caelus. He was doing the most unnecessary thing, again, digging through trash. It was a disgusting sight, you never knew how Caelus could do this, even in plain sight and day. Lucky for the both of you, it was night. "Caelus?" Upon hearing a familiar voice call his name, he doesn't bother to look. "Yeah, what is it [Name]?" Hearing him speak like digging through trash was nothing gave you even more mixed emotions. "You're digging through trash? AGAIN?" you were already making a plan in your head while walking towards him. Before he could answer, you pull him back to the Astral Express, like it was nothing, then forcing him to clean himself. "Fine. I'll still go back to digging through trash..." He mumbles the last part to himself, as if it was nothing.

By the time he finished cleaning and taking care of himself, you finished cooking him one of your best dishes, handing it to him, to eat. (He went back to digging through trash.)

March 7th

March was ECSTATIC when she found out, she knew you were capable of many things, such as gardening, cooking, fighting even without a weapon. But y'know she was still surprised.

She really likes your sailor costume, so she decided to learn sow and make her own matching sailor costume, even tho hers isn't out of magic, it still matches your own. <3

"woahhh, [Name], you look so, amazing!" March squealed in excitment when she saw how much you changed. "Thank you, March." Her comments made you chuckle. March walked closer to you, and started to inspect everything about your new look and outfit. "I've made my decision! I'll make a sailor costume like yours, so we could match!" Her excitment made you excited aswell. "imagine, us two, the magical sailors who save planets!" March laughed at her own statement, which also made you laugh.

Dan Heng

Ah, yes the grumpy boy.

Dan Heng wasn't very surprised by your sudden change of appearance, just like March, he knew you were capable of many things.

Okay, i lied, he is surprised, but he doesn't show it.

He walked in on you while you were transforming, in an alley on the luofu. He promised to keep it a secret, but March will try to get everything out of him.

Dan Heng was walking past an alley, the one you picked to transform in. He saw a strange, sparkly green light. That's when he walked in there and you were there, but you didn't see him, since you had your back turned. "So? Is this who you actually are?" You heard the familiar voice of your companion, Dan Heng. "I- uh.. it's.. uh-" Before you could finish speaking, Dan Heng cuts you off. "Don't worry, [Name], your secret is safe with me." Deep inside, Dan Heng was very surprised.

Gepard

He can't garden to save his life, so imagine how happy he was when he found out that you enjoy gardening and your plants don't die.

He is so embarrassed to ask for help at first, but he gets used to it, and on his days off, he gardens with you. (He got his sister to ask you for him.)

He also leaves his plants at your house since he can't always take care of them..

You hear your ringtone and feel your phone buzz, you were getting a call from Serval. Once you answer, you hear Serval speaking. "Hey, [Name]! Are you free later today?" You could tell by her voice and tone that she was asking for someone else. "Hi, yeah, what's-" you were cut off, as she quickly spoke. "Uh, come to the workshop, we'll talk about it there." It was strange, when she called you, you two would talk for hours, this time it was different.

Once you arrived at the workshop, you could hear Serval laughing and teasing none other than Gepard. "Hey, what's up? What did you need?" Serval stops laughing, and looks at you, still smiling. "Do you mind gardening with lil' Geppie here? He is too shy to ask" Gepard's face got red due to the embarrassement. "Serval!" Gepard's attitude made you chuckle. "Sure, i don't mind."

Back at your place, you taught Gepard how to plant flowers, how to move them from a different pot to another. He tried to follow your steps and do it like you, but his strength was a big obstacle.

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day 22 - Prompt: Lazy @jegulus-microfic

December Daily Series - 500 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

James stared at his mobile screen expectantly, watching the three little dots dance. It had been over an hour since he’d given in to a lazy flop onto his bed while Padfoot curled up at his feet. He’d held off texting Sirius until two minutes ago. Twice, Sirius had started to type and stopped. The third time, the dots flickered for ages.

When his phone dinged loudly with a notification, James jumped. It was Peter. He would be arriving late.

He swiped the notification and tossed the phone on the bed. All he’d asked was if they were coming back soon. He really wanted to join them, but he doubted Regulus would agree.

The opening beats of “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me” blared a moment later. James laughed at the change to his ringtone. Sirius set the most obnoxious, clingy songs for his contact because James never bothered to lock it.

“James! Hi!!” Sirius shouted. “We miss you!”

James didn’t realise it was a video call until he saw the dark screen suddenly blur. “Sirius? Why are you yelling?”

“He’s…al-always yelling.” That sounded like Regulus, but it was heavily slurred.

The screen flashed Sirius’s mischievous grin before it faced his brother. Regulus was curled up in the corner of a booth with one arm draped over his head, eyes closed, and forehead against his bicep. His other arm held his knees pulled up to his chest.

“Reggie’s no fun. You should come! You’re loads of fun. Right, Reggie?”

“Mmm.” The hum was noncommittal at best.

James grabbed his trainers. They were both clearly pissed and in no state to walk back unattended. He saw enough decor to identify The Red Lion.

“I’m on my way. Stay put,” he insisted. The order was for Sirius, who had a tendency to wander when pissed, but Padfoot huffed in agreement.

When he reached the pub, James found Sirius first. He was dancing with a pretty redhead who giggled as he twirled her around. James shoved his shoulder as he passed, then searched for Regulus.

He found him in exactly the same position. James slid into the booth and leaned in. “Regulus? Are you alright?”

“Potter?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Regulus slowly lifted his head, then squinted. “I see that.”

“Do you want to go back to the inn? I can walk you,” he offered.

“No.”

“Oh, alright.”

Regulus stared unblinking, then sighed. “Well, you’re here. Might as well make use of you.”

He unfolded from the corner to climb into his lap. Stunned, James steadied him while Regulus tucked his face into James’s neck. He smelled like gin.

“Are you sure-”

A ring-covered hand patted his face blindly.“Shhh…it’s fine. Just st-stop moving and be warm.”

Regulus’s breaths were hot against his skin, but his nose was cold. James hesitated, then cuddled him closer. As his breaths evened out, James rubbed Regulus’s back soothingly.

“Good boy,” Regulus whispered, nuzzling his neck.

James barely contained a cough as he choked on his own spit.

Next Part>>>

[sabraeal]

at home with the glass half empty, Part 2

[Read on AO3]

Sunlight already spills through the blinds when Gojo’s ringtone rattles across his bedside table, phone millimeters away from a precipitous— and most assuredly, screen-shattering— drop. That is, before Nanami slaps a hand out, snatching its death from the jaws of fate. “This better be good.”

“Nanami-kun.” Gojo-senpai’s never breathless— not since that time he went up against Fushiguro— but he doesn’t bother to croon and that’s warning enough. “As long as you’re flexible on the definition of ‘good,’ I think we can both walk away happy on this one.”

He scrapes a hand over his face, swallowing a groan. “Might I remind you, this is my day off.”

“I’m afraid the cursed spirits didn’t get the memo.” Gojo-senpai laughs. Not that fake one he does to play at being normal, fooling no one but his students, but the other kind— the harsher one that scrapes up from his throat when he’s winning. Coupled with the crack in the background, like a felled tree— no, telephone pole, Nanami realizes— threatening to fall, he can take a guess at what his senpai has gotten up to in the twelve hours since he’s last seen him. “No rest for the wicked and all that.”

There’s no effort in sitting up in bed, in pinching his nose and letting the air rush through his teeth, but that doesn’t change the fact that Nanami doesn’t want to do any of it. “Are you fighting it right now?”

“Well, I asked if it’d give me a moment to make a call” — there’s another crash, metallic this time, and he can only hope it’s a mailbox or vending machine and not some car— “but it didn’t seem amenable.”

Nanami stifles a sigh, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress, the chill of the floor seeping up through his heels. “Where are you?”

“Close. Just down the street really.” No time for coffee then, not even to fortify him against whatever bullshit Gojo-senpai is choosing to play close to his chest. “I’ll send you my location. I’ve got another guy meeting us there. Now, gotta go! I think this next bit might take two hands.”

“But—” The call cuts out with a swift click, the duration flashing across the screen —1:20— before it goes dark, leaving him with only thin strips of sunlight leaving tiger stripes across his covers.

He should have known better, really. Nearly a year and a half back in this world, and it’s the same as it had been when he was in school: last minute, frantic, no information, no questions. His phone rumbles in his hand— Gojo’s email, the only contents a set of geo coordinates. Two blocks away, as promised. A relief, since the last time senpai informed him a hunt was ‘just down the street’, it was on the other side of Shibuya.

A man his age shouldn’t creak getting out of bed, but after yesterday’s hard landing— two flights down onto a fire escape that would have held his weight in high school, but as an adult, decided to squeal and groan and unceremoniously give out over the dumpster below— everything from his shoulders down is shot. If he’d known he wouldn’t have his requisite forty-eight hour recovery period, he would have let Ieiri-sensei look at him. Now he’ll have to settle for only fixing the problems a hot shower can solve.

Halfway through his trudge to the bathroom, memory niggles at him, and his frown furrows deeper into the sharp planes of his face. “’Another guy?’”

*

“H-hold up there, Kento-san.” Takuma’s all wide eyes beneath the edge of his mask, hands held up like he has any chance of holding another grown man’s weight. Trust Gojo-senpai to mention arranging backup and have it be some child, barely graduated and still smelling of spring. “Are you sure you can handle getting up to your place all by yourself? I mean, I could always—”

“It has an elevator.” A dubious eye inspects where his hand presses to his side, bright red staining pale blue. “I can make it across the lobby. This is hardly the worst injury I’ve ever gotten, Takuma-kun.”

At least the child isn’t still wearing his school uniform. Unlike some actual grown men Nanami has the displeasure of associating with. “Shouldn’t you have Ieiri-sensei take a look? Gojo-sen— er, Gojo-san said that you had a bit of a spill yesterday too.”

Funny, he hadn’t seemed too concerned with it at the time. Perhaps he had been too busy yucking it up to pass on his condolences. “I have a perfectly serviceable set of bandages in my apartment. Ieiri-sensei has more than enough on her plate, she doesn’t need to be dealing with a little scrape like this.”

“Scrape?” Takuma squints into his wince. “That thing looks like it’ll need stitches at least.”

Good thing he’d taught himself to do them back in first year. One could only wonder what they were teaching the children now if even a cut like this had them scrambling to see someone with the reverse curse technique. “I’ll handle it. Now, make sure you have someone look at that head of yours. Concussions may not present obvious symptoms at first, but they can pose quite serious problems if untreated.”

“Are you kidding me?” the kid huffs as Nanami turns toward the doors, arms thrown up in the air. “You’re bleeding out over there, but I get a tap on the head, and you think I should see a doctor?”

“You’re a promising sorcerer, Takuma-kun.” An understatement; barely a few months out of school and he’d managed to acquit himself well in a fight that had taxed even Nanami’s reserves. Not as much of an accomplishment during work hours, he’ll admit, but if he’d been considering overtime, then the spirit was no slouch. “It would be a pity for you to be taken out of the fight by a simple mistake.”

Air hisses through the boy’s teeth, and in the reflective glass of the door, Nanami sees him shake his head. “You’re really something else, Kento-san.”

“Trust me,” he croaks, hooking the handle with his free hand. “I know.”

*

The classic location to stitch up wounds is the bathroom, perched on the edge of the tub while the easily bleached white porcelain accepts the brunt of the bleeding. But trading down from a stockbroker to a sorcerer’s salary had necessitated the removal of a few everyday luxuries of his last apartment, one of them being the soaking tub. So between balancing his sewing kit on the sink crushed between shower and toilet, and a flat and clean countertop, it’s the kitchen that wins out as his makeshift emergency ward.

A mistake, since even as he strings the sutures from flesh to ragged flesh, the muscles of his abdomen clenching from the sting, he sees it— that wrinkled scrap of white visible no matter what angle he approaches his morning coffee. It mocks him from its place on the counter; his scarlet letter, a badge of shame, the physical proof of his wavering resolve; an accusation and a condemnation all at once.

Sayo, the characters still read, not a single stroke of it or the number beneath the slightest bit smudged. How could it be, when it hadn’t managed to stay in the bin long enough for him to finish his jambon-beurre? He winces, not from the sensation of string sliding through skin, but his own lack of discipline. How many excuses had he found to walk past it that night? Just a glass of water this time. Then a perusal of condiments, wondering if his dinner might need any, only to decide— three times!— that no improvements were possible on such perfection. Followed by a foray for the proper side dish for a sandwich of that caliber.

He cannot recall the exact instance that he plucked it from its resting place, only that one moment it was canted on its paper bag, destined for the municipal dump, and the next it was cradled in his hand. Foolish for him to set it up like that, as if it were an idol on a shrine; his countertop a poor excuse for an altar. Even more foolish still to have rescued it at all.

It’s a crutch, he knows; proof that there’s another world out there, one he could be part of if he so chose. A place he could possibly escape to, so long as he turned a blind eye to the grotesques that slithered around every corner, ignoring every monstrous curse that clung to a smiling stranger. A simple task to put his back to the single evil that he could change and mindlessly participate in worsening the rest.

There’s no point in keeping it. He tried that once; staying away, being normal. Exchanging endless existential dread for the everyday concerns of status and reputation and making ends meet. Focusing his attention on the money he could make rather than the curses he could dispatch. Sorcerers rarely made it to retirement, and Nanami wanted to to have the chance at a life, at a family, at something that might pass for love. To travel, to see more of the world than the darkest places in Japan, tearing evil out by the root. To see forty, and the crows feet it might bring.

He’d had so many plans that day he’d left, so many hopes. And all he had done in those four years was make rich men richer.

One day, when he’s been run through and wrung out, missing limbs or eyes and no longer of use as a sorcerer at all, he might go back there. Might take that chance for a normal life. But— he hisses, skin pulling tight as he knots the gut— it won’t be any time soon.

And yet. Yet.

*

It’s not about the girl, he decides as the bell chimes above his head. It’s about the fly-head; about how in twelve months, she’d had one nearly as large as the last. How it’s nearly been five months now— no, six— and she might have another just as big. It’s not common for curses to act like that, to keep clinging even once they’re exorcised. For someone to keep attracting them, even once cleansed.

There’s something going on, is all. A reason for fly-head after fly-head to keep chittering in her ear, nibbling the shine off her smile. And if he can fix it, well—

Then he can stop wondering about it. One day off is a fair price for his peace of mind, even if his side twinges with every sway of the metro. Even standing here, lost among the tables and chairs, takes a kind of stamina, though with the way one of the cashiers looks at him— a quick once over from the broguing on his wingtips to the sleek shape of his hairline— he’s wondering if that particular anguish is less physical and more…social.

There’s no rush at the moment; just as he planned. It’d been tempting to come as soon as it opened, to disappear into the rush of salarymen looking for morning coffees and warm breakfast sandwiches, but the thought of surviving those mindless drones and their jostling elbows makes him suppress a shudder, even now. And in any case, it would be easier to assess the progress of any curse without a line of hungry customers between him and the baker. Or at least it would, if she were manning the counter. Which she isn’t today, it seems.

Ridiculous. This little side trip ended up futile as he knew it would be. He came all the way here— even crossed through Shibuya— only to be fouled up by a concept so simple as shift work. Typical.

The other cashier at the counter glances up, catching their co-worker’s inattention. It’s strange to see a diligent employee from this angle; the way her brows furrow and her cheeks puff, exasperation in every ounce of her sigh. In the way her mouth rounds, ready to call out, when—

When she lets her gaze slip from them to the object of their attention. The one standing at the back of the shop. Namely, him.

Ah, yes. This was definitely a mistake.

Her eyes widen, and she digs an elbow into her co-worker’s side, earning herself a startled glance. There’s some sort of miming— something around her neck, and then a hand shot up high in the air, and the other girl nods, scurrying to the back. A curious occurrence, but not one he has any reason to bother himself with.

At least, not until the baker emerges from the kitchen, sans beret this time, head swiveling like one of her displays.

“It’s you!” Clouds must part somewhere beyond the bakery windows; there is no other reason for the girl’s face to brighten so much between one breath in the next. A soft clap brings her hands together, every pore of her far more pleased than he can account for. “Just give me one minute, I’ll…”

She edges around the counter, back to him as she bends over a case, the white line of her shoulders bared to him— and there it is, that same damn curse, small and larval, one of its tendrils curled around the curve of her neck. Obnoxious, that’s what it is. Tenacious. He might respect it, if it was anything but a mindless manifestation of the world’s misery and malaise.

As it is, he can only think of the movements to exorcise it; the precise methods he might use to keep another of its kind from gaining traction again—

“Here.” A white bag hangs in front of him, her smile peeking around the edge of it. “Your casse-croute. On the house.”

“I…” The paper settles into his hands, awkwardly cradled between his palms. It’s a jambon-beurre, he wants to say, or, it’s pronounced casse-croûte, but he can’t manage it over the ringing in his ears, an alarm set off from far away. “I haven’t even ordered anything…”

“I told you, didn’t I?” She rocks on her toes, just once, her smile stretched wide. “I keep one ready,  hoping you’ll drop by.”

That’s not quite the way she put it before, he’s sure, but with Gojo’s finger pressed to a temple, he couldn’t say why. “Oh. Thank you.”

“I don’t know what it is you do with your hands or whatever, but” —she rotates her shoulders, one after the other, a fine display of physical fitness— “I can’t complain with the results. My neck feels wonderful after you’re done. A sandwich is the least I can do.”

There’s far, far less she could be doing— that most people do, whether they mean to or not— but that’s not what he says. No, instead he catches that little tail of her curse lashing from the corner of his eye, and asks, “And how are you doing now?”

That gets a blink out of her, a recoil that drives her one step back. A much safer distance, in his opinion. “Excuse me?

“You’re all right, aren’t you?” He’s too large a man to follow her forward or even bend down in inquiry; he knows all too well how intimidating all hundred and eighty-four of his centimeters will be to a girl her size. He’d gotten more than his fair share of kicks aimed at his shins-- courtesy of his much more…vertically challenged senpai--before he’d learned that fact for good. “Feeling well? Sleeping well? Nothing—?”

The bell jingles behind him, and Nanami steps aside as a customer elbows past, eyes reserved solely for the chalkboard hung on the brickwork.

“I’m doing fine,” she murmurs, absent, attention drawn to where the customer stops just short of the till, shooting out his order rapid-fire as her employee keyed it into the cash register. With a shake, she turns back to him. “I supposed I can’t really complain. I mean, except for this little twinge—”

Her fingers brush over the joint between neck and shoulder— right where that little bastard curls his tendril tighter, siphoning off a sip of her pain— and then skitter away, knocked askew by the next customer through the door. At least this one mutters an apology before they skirt past, bobbing a bow as their companion comes around the other side, asking, “Have you tried the sandwiches here? I’ve heard they’re to die for.”

“Ah, sorry.” The baker wrings her hands as another glut of customers traipse through the doors, louder this time, debating their orders only a few steps away. “I guess the lunch rush is starting early today. If you don’t mind, I could just—”

“Don’t worry.” He raises a hand to ward off her apologies, shaking his head. “I’ve taken too much of your time already.”

“No, I—”

“Thank you again for the sandwich.” He holds up the bag, offering her a faint smile. It’s the least he can do, when she’s already been so kind. “I can just—”

“Wait!” Fingers brush over his sleeve, dimpling 100% cotton but flinching away before they can meet the more solid barrier of his flesh. “Ah, I just thought…after the rush, I can have someone watch the till. And maybe” — she glances up at him, eyes far too wide, too hopeful to be aimed at him— “I could take you to dinner? As a thank you, I mean.”

He blinks. “It’s lunch.”

“Oh!” Her hand claps to her cheek, the pink blooming there all the more obvious for it. “Right, of course. How silly of me. But maybe I could, um…”

Both their eyes drop to the bag clutched in his hand, still hanging between them. “You already gave me mine,” he reminds her, gently.

“Right, of course I did. But I mean…” She grimaces, gaze darting to the windows. “Coffee? Not here. But, um, elsewhere?”

You’ve got to watch out for women, Nanami-kun. Even now he remembers how Gojo-senpai’s glasses glinted under the summer sun, the slant of his grin hiding an edge while Geto-senpai shook his head. They’re always trying to get you to a secondary location.

What for? Nanami had asked, only fifteen and already suspicious of the advice his senpai doled out with the same enthusiasm creepy old men on street corners did candy.

One long, pale finger pressed to his lips. I’ll tell you when you’re older.

Ridiculous to think of it now, when this baker is only wanting to thank him. When his only reason for accepting is to understand how to rid her of that stupid fly-head once and for all.

It chitters on her shoulder, bug eyes cocking, curious. As if it could sense even a fraction of his malevolent intention. As if it were just becoming cognizant enough to realize he might be an enemy.

“I suppose…” The words ring out in too high a register, and he clears his throat. “Coffee would be nice.”

*

“I’m sorry to make you wait.” The baker is flushed when she hurries out to meet him, tossing a warning glare through the glass doors at the two cashiers waving them off. “I never thought it would last that long!”

Without the red beret and chef’s coat, she might well be a stranger, the sort he might pass on the station platform without even a second glance. Perhaps he has before, eyes only drawn for a moment by the fluttering of her hair— so different now that she’s released it from the care of its holder— before he let them slip away. “It was no trouble at all.”

“It was an hour and a half,” she laughs, shaking her head. “Honestly, you’d think if the rush started early, it’d have the decency to end early. But at least we don’t have far to go— the café’s just around the corner.”

“So close?” He’s not sure about the wisdom of eating at the competition, but the question doesn’t make her skip a step, even though she takes two to three for every one of his, no matter how he tries to slow his pace. “That seems like a…conflict of interest.”

“Oh, no, not at all. They have a metro stop right on the other side of this street, so they get customers from that station, and we get ours from the one right outside, so it’s just like…ships passing in the night, or whatever. But I come here sometimes when I get tired of the coffee we make.”

He blinks down at her, tracing the haphazard line of her part. For as much care as she’s taken to straighten her clothes, it seems letting her hair down had been a last minute decision, a few strands falling astray. “You get tired of your coffee?”

“Not really,” she admits, slanting a smile up at him. “But it’s good to get away sometimes. Put a little distance between me and my work, if you know what I mean.”

Nanami lets his mouth hook at a corner. “I think I do.”

Her breath catches, right before her eyes slip away, catching on a chalk sign board. “Ah, um, here it is. Do you mind sitting outside? It’s nice today.”

It is— warm enough that when he slings his jacket over the back of his chair, the breeze is still pleasant. Summer hasn’t quite arrived, but its perfume unfurls over the city, enticing its denizens to linger, to let the sun wash over them for just a few minutes longer each day.

He lets his eyes shutter, just for a moment, wind running its fingers through his hair. “This is quite nice.”

“Isn’t it?” The baker— ah, Sayo, he supposes, at least with her out of uniform— slides into the seat across from him, propping her chin up with a hand. “Our sandwiches are better, that’s for sure, but I wish we had the square footage for an outdoor space like this. I’d need another full employee to bus those tables, but— ah, just ignore me! I didn’t bring you here to complain about business stuff.”

“It’s quite alright.” Better, actually, since it gives him the excuse to segue into, “You were saying your neck was getting tight again?”

“Well, yeah, it’s getting that way lately, right up around— ah, no wait!” The hand she’d lifted to her neck falls onto her cheek instead, covering an embarrassed giggle. “I’m taking you out to thank you! Not to fish for, er, well…”

“It hadn’t crossed my mind,” he assures her, letting his mouth curve into a softer shape. “But I’m happy to know that I’ve been able to help, at least a little.”

“More than little!” she insists with a laugh. “I don’t know what it is you do, but I even sleep better after. Better than any massage I’ve ever gotten!”

“Glad to hear it.” If only glares could exorcise curses, the fly-head on her shoulder would already be withered, just black energy flaking off in the breeze. But instead it just wriggles its eye stalks at him, undaunted. “But it is getting worse, isn’t it?”

“Oh, well, maybe just a twinge here and there.” Even as she waves him off, her hand lifts, working at that joint where the fly-head sits, eating his fill. “You know, the regular amount of stress.”

“Really.” Nanami leans over the table, attentive, the fly-head quivering under his stare. “Or would you say you have more than the usual amount of stress? More…complex problems?”

“What?” Her mouth hooks, rueful. “You mean aside from all the regular problems of running a bakery?”

“Oh.” He blinks, settling back. That’s right; she owns a business. Not in itself enough to spawn these little pests, but possibly a contributing factor. “Of course, that must be difficult. You seem to be doing so well, I hadn’t even considered…”

“Very well,” she informs him with no little pride. “But you know how it is. There’s always a machine that’s breaking or a dough that doesn’t rise right, or a batch that comes out wrong. The nature of the beast, or whatever.” She shrugs, unruffled. “I’m just lucky that it was doing so well when I took over. Keeping an already profitable business in the black is a heck of a lot easier than trying to drag one out of the red. Or worse, starting one from scratch!”

His brows raise, appraising her. “It wasn’t your business to start? So you bought it off the former—?”

“Oh, no no no.” She waves a hand, laughing. “No way, I could have never afforded something like that. It used to be my parents’— my mother’s really. But she died while I was in uni, so I picked up a few shifts around the place to help my dad out. But then he got sick a few years back, and…”

She strives for casual when she shrugs, but he can see the jagged edges in it, the places where a little fly-headed bastard could really stick its proboscis in and cause trouble. “My younger brother’s at university now, trying to be some sort of engineer. With Mom gone and Dad pretty much retired, someone has to make the money to get him through the rest of his degree. And that’s not even talking about Dad’s treatment…”

“That’s a lot for someone your age.” And would certainly explain how these curses keep glutting themselves on her the second he turns his back.

“Oh!” Her laugh is softer this time, accompanied by a delicate flush across her cheeks. “I’m not…I’m not that young.”

Nanami cocks his head, mouth flirting with a frown. “You’re younger than me, clearly.”

“Maybe. I’m twenty-seven.” She sighs over her coffee, chin in hand. “You know, my grandmother likes to remind me she was married at my age. With three kids! I’m lucky to keep a plant alive.”

He doesn’t realize his mouth is open until he closes it to swallow his, “Ah…”

“What?” Her head tilts, playful. “Can’t believe it? I know, everyone says I have a babyface.”

“No, it’s not that. I mean, you do have a very youthful face.” He wouldn’t have placed her above twenty-two, and even then, it would have been a stretch— but that’s not why he clears his throat, his own face suddenly hot. “It’s just…I’m twenty-five.”

“Oh!” It’s her turn for her eyes to go wide, for her own jaw to slacken in disbelief. “You’re a baby!”

A scowl slips out of him before he thinks to suppress it. “Only two years younger.”

“You’re almost my brother’s age.” A corner of her mouth twitches; she ducks her chin to hide it. A futile exercise when he can already see the way her shoulders shiver. “Practically in the cradle.”

“I think,” he says, testing out each teasing step of his tone as if it might give out beneath him. “You’d be hard pressed to find one that would fit me.”

Her gaze cuts across the straight line of his shoulders. “That’s for sure.”

They both take a sip of their coffee— regular for him, two creams, no sugar, and hers some a latte of some sort, the pattern in the cup long since gone. He’d been too distracted to even look at what it was. Strange; it was the sort of detail he liked to note in the coffee shops he visited. A good artist usually denoted a high quality café, and if there was one thing his former life had shown him, it was that every bit of luxury was well-worth the price you paid for it.

“It’s funny.” She’s quieter now, more thoughtful as she speaks. Slower, even, as if she’s savoring the taste. Or perhaps the moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone about this sort of stuff. You know, my mom, my dad. Daisuke’s tuition. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve really talked to anyone since my mom died. Not about real stuff.”

He hums, sipping at his drink. The bitterness floods his mouth; an apt flavor for when he says, “It’s hard to talk about grief with those that haven’t experienced it.”

Sayo glances up at him. “Have you?”

It’s impossible not to remember Haibara and his quick laugh, the boyish face that never missed a chance to smirk or smile. Boyish— ha, of course. He’d never had the chance to be anything but. Right at the cusp of manhood, plucked from the precipice before he could fall over it. Hardly the only friend he'd lost during those years, just...the first. The hardest.

“Yes.” He clears his throat, blinking away the sting in his eyes. “You could say that.”

She’s quiet for a moment, contemplating her cup. “Does it ever get easier, do you think? Carrying it around like this?”

“I think it only gets different.” Easier to forget about in the moment, at least, but perhaps that’s because Haibara was a only friend, not family, and certainly not...something more complicated. Just someone he knew for a few brief years in his life. “But it’s easier when you talk to people who have suffered in the same way. Harder to find, but they are here, if you look.”

Her head tilts, her mouth matching its angle. “Like you.”

Ah, that was foolish of him. Here he is trying to close the door on this world, and he's gone and practically held it open for her to slip through. “I don’t think that’s….”

His tongue trips over itself, tangling as his gaze darts somewhere, anywhere but her eyes and finds— the fly-head. Significantly smaller now, chittering angrily.

“I suppose,” he sighs, wearily. “If you need too.”

“Then we should exchange contacts, shouldn’t we?” She plucks her phone from her purse, giving it a cheeky little wave. It’d be charming, if he didn’t know what a terrible idea this would be. “If we’re going to talk, that is.”

“Of course.” He slides his own out of his pocket, passing it over hers until it beeps. Hamasaki, it reads, Sayo.

“Oh, Nanami!”

A shivers shoots up the length of his spine before fizzling out to his fingers. “Excuse me?”

“Ah, I mean, that’s your name, Kento-san. Kento Nanami-san,” she says, mouth hidden behind her hand. “I just thought it was funny because I’m, well, Sayo.”

He could hardly forget it, the way that paper had haunted him the past few months. “I know.”

“Oh, right, you would have already…” Her cheeks flare a brighter red. “I just thought it was interesting, since the characters of your name are seven and sea, and mine is…”

He blinks, the meaning suddenly resolving in the single character. “Sand.”

“Right.” Her mouth splits wide, into a smile that takes the breath right from his lungs. “We go together, don’t we?”

“I…” It’s terrible how nice that sounds. A coincidence meant for a better man than him. “I should really go.”

“Oh, right! I’m sure my employees will be wondering where I’ve gone off to.” She shakes her head. “Well, anyway, thank you for talking to me, Kento-san. It was…nice.”

It was. Nice. Normal. That’s half the problem. She begins to stand, and before he can stop himself, Nanami blurts out, “Wait. One more thing, if you don’t mind.”

She blinks at him, wide eyed. Too hopeful, once again. “Sure.”

His hand sweeps over her shoulder; a solid, unbroken line. The simplest spell in his repertoire, the first he ever learned. The knit of her sweater tickles the pads of his fingers-- too close, he realizes, sloppy-- and he can't tell whether it's that or the worm's collapse that causes the static to rush through them, both numb and too sensitive all at once. He draws back, arm dropping to his side, and Hamasaki-san—

She’s flushed, breath rattling out of her with noticeable effort.

“There was something on your sweater.” It’s not quite a lie, but still. “Have a good afternoon.”

“R-right,” she murmurs, just barely audible as he strides past. But it’s him that stutters to a stop when she calls out to him on the street, bouncing on her toes as she promises, “Don't forget! I’ll be keeping a sandwich in the case for you.”

[once-upon-helluvaboss]

Western Energy Rewrite

An elevator door opened on the top floor of aptly named ‘Richest Cup Cafe’, inside was an imp server and Stolas with Stella holding onto his arm.

“Right this way.” The imp said leading to the two to their private seating. The imp opened the more or less soundproof curtain and pulled back the two seats for the birds.

As Stella and Stolas sat the imp set down two menus, “ Another server will be back soon for your orders soon, " The said before giving a bow and leaving two to themselves.

Stella’s face dropped almost immediately after the imp was gone, giving a small huff and turning her head away from Stolas as he sighed.

After a moment of silence Stolas sighed, rubbing his head. “I don’t know why you insisted we come so early…” Stolas commented, rubbing his head.

“I always like to be early, you know hectic traffic can become! I bet you just wanted to try to get a quickie with that imp!” Stella accused,

“What, no it's not that at all! It's just– oh why do I bother?” Stolas sighed as he relented, not wanting another argument as he took off his hat to rub his temples.

“Maybe we should have left a bit later so you wouldnt look like such a mess!” She responded, it was true Stolas hadn't exactly taken the best care of himself as of late.

“Ugh I swear the only reason I haven't divorced your sorry ass already is because we both know you’d be hopeless without me!” She huffed as she began digging through her small handbag.

Despite the size of it never ceased to amaze Stolas just how much fit in the purse as Stella threw out a lamp,bouquet, and small dog all while looking for a brush.

“Come here,” Stella said finally finding the brush before reaching over the table and grabbed Stolas’s face pulling him close to brush his feather back.

Stolas couldn't stop himself from blushing. You would think that with everything going on Stella would have tried to discreetly rip a few of his feathers out, but she simply brushed his feathers and combed through them with her fingers as tenderly as she always had.

Stolas closed his eyes at the soothing feeling, reminding him of when Octavia was young. How he and Stella would cuddle with their daughter between them. Back then his only worry was what they were getting for breakfast the next morning.

Finally Stella let go of him and they both sat back in their seats. He felt happy seeing the slight blush across her pale feathers, for a moment he felt like this was just a date and that they'd be entangled with each other when they got home. For a moment he felt as if everything was okay.

Suddenly they curtain shot open and there stood Andrealphus, Stella’s older brother and the two were quickly reminded why they were here.

“Stella, oh hello my darling sister!” He said coming towards her with a hug that she happily received.

He then stood up and turned to Stolas, “Hello Stolas.” He said a sly smile plastered on his face.

“Andrealphus.” Stolas grimached.

“Now that I’m here, let's not beat around the bush shall we?” Andrealphus said in the same sly tone.

“Agreed.” Stella said as an imp server walked in putting a tiny imp on the table along with a kettle and teacups for the birds.

“Stella, he has nothing to do with us, why did you insist on him being here?!” Stolas groaned

Before Stella could get a word in, the window breaks, revealing Striker posing on a table. He discards his poncho and twirls two angelic revolvers in his hands. He fires one and the bullet hits the window near Stolas' head. Stella looks on a bit shocked as Stolas dodges more bullets. He changes his form and tries to fly out toward the exit. Striker wraps Stolas in glowing white rope before he can escape. Stolas falls to the ground in an alley, captured.

“Lovely, just lovely…” He groaned

_______________________________________________

On the highway Blitzo is driving the I.M.P. van, with Moxxie and Millie in the back and a fearful Loona next to Blitzo. Blitz's phone lets out a bird ringtone.

“Oh, shit. Stolas! It's really not a good time, man…”

“Sorry it's a bad time yet again. But, I seem to have found myself in a bit of a struggle. I'm tied to the back of a horse at the moment.” Stolas responded with an exasperated sigh.

“Pfft...lucky bitch.” Blitzo responded

“Rather unlucky actually, I seem to have been stolen by that little cowboy friend of yours!” Said annoyed that Blitzo wasn't taking him seriously.

“Ohh, which one?” Blitzo responded monotone again.

“How many cowboy friends do you have? What does he look like, your highness?” Moxxie asked.

Stolas glances up at Striker's grinning face. “Umm… he has a shiny gold tooth?” Stolas shrugged.

“That's Striker, sir!” Moxxie exclaims

“Oh, for fuck's sake! A– wait can't you just get away? With that big demon form thing?”

“Believe I would have if it wasn't for this blessed rope, he’s bound me in! So, do you think you could come give me a hand!?” Stolas exclaimed as he began to worry more wondering where he was being hauled off to.

“Oh, shit. Stolas, I can't today, alright? I'm sorry. I-I'm literally on my way to take Loona in for her very important Hellbies s-h-o-t.” Blitzo spelled out glancing nervously at a frightened Loona. “It takes years to book an appointment at this place, it took five to get this one. So, you know- eh, and she's been doing a lot of field work. So, you know, she needs it! Plus your royalty you probably have like a bajillion guards coming to get you anyway!”

“But they won't-" Before Stolas could finish Striker swipes the phone away with his tail. “Would you shut up already? I can hear you, y’know!”

“Don't worry about your lanky bird...he's in good hands.” Striker smiles before crushing the phone

“Shit.” Stolas cursed.

“Gaaagh, damn it!” Blitzo squeezes his phone in his hand. He moves the clutch forward and the van speeds down the highway.

“Sir, let me and Moxxie handle this one.” Millie says

“Are you sure you two got this alone?” Blitzo asked

“We got it, sir! Together, we are a lethal combo. Not to mention we both have a score to settle with that dickhead!” Moxxie responds as Millie places a cowboy hat onto Moxxie's head.

“Alright. Well, hurry. Stolas sounds like he might be in real shit this time.” Blitzo says as he pulls up to the tall Fd. An's Hospital main building.

“And knowing that guy's aesthetic, my money's on Wrath.” Blitzo continues as he drops the car keys into Moxxie's hand, before pulling Loona out of the van and carrying her over his head.

“Now, get your asses down there and look for some cowboy crap or something.” He yells as Moxxie drives the van away.

“Come on, Loonie. Come on, this will be over lickety-split, alright?” Blitzo assures as she pushes the door open and drags Loona inside by her tail.

“Of all the days for him to get his stupid feathered-ass kidnapped...I have waited five fucking years for this appointment! FUCK ME IN MY LITTLE RED HOLE!” He yells before Blitzo glances over to a mother giving him a quick dirty look her kid on a leash next to her

“Hi. The fuck you looking at?” He says as the woman rolls her eyes.

Blitzo walks up to the desk toward a nurse from the sloth ring. “Heya, toots. I'm here for that S-H-O-T for my Loonie Toonie.” Blitzo laughs as Loona growls from behind, seeing a nearby poster shows a hound with a needle in its back that reads ‘Get yours today or else!’

“The what?” The nurse says blinking one eye at a time.

Blitzo groans “The bullshit that my daughter has to get every year that you mother fuckers only allow us to schedule every five years. How the fuck you fuck up that bad, anyway?” he says, writing down his name on the clipboard's paper.

“Oh, I can't spell.” The nurse says as Blitzo pushes the clipboard to her. “I can't read, either.”

Blitzo groans again, “The fucking Hellbies shot you fucking re-” Blitzo paused clenching his fists before continuing. “The appointment is under Blitzo” He continued gritting his teeth.

The nurse flips through a notebook full of appointments. “Uhhh... I don't see any Blitz on the list.” She says tapping the clipboard.

“With an "o", it's silent…” Blitzo hissed.

The nurse flips the notebook over “OH! An "o" right here. Yep, yep! Blitzoooo, Blitzooo”. She says as Blitzo's eye twitches as he seethes in anger.

“Yes, we'll be ready for her in just a bit. Please take a seat, Mr. O.” Blitzo sighs as he accidently reveals the pistol hidden in his shirt and the mother glares at him.

He simply rolls his eyes as he takes a seat, “Of all things to worry about in hell!” He says glaring back at the mother,

Blitzo glances at Loona who is whimpering in fear under three chairs. “Oh, don't worry, Loonie. It's okay, it's just one little prick, you won't even feel it!” He says hoping to calm her.

“Ew, don't say that, it sounds vulgar!” The mother says

“What? Vulgar?” Blitzo says, looking back to the woman.

“Pervert!” Se exclaims

_______________________________________________

Striker continues galloping on his horse with Stolas tied up behind him, as the cowboy's theme song begins.

♫ He's galloping over the dusty plains ♫

♫ Even the cacti know his name ♫

♫ If you don't want to die, don't cross his path ♫

♫ The best assassin in the Ring of Wrath ♫

♫ He's Striker! He's Striker! ♫

♫ Sure-shootin', darn-tootin', his name is Striker ♫

♫ Gonna bring that bird back to his lair ♫

♫ With his magic rope and Western flair ♫

♫ He's very good at causing pain ♫

♫ And he loves to ride on the choo-choo- ♫

Striker glares at the mariachi quartet imps before they can say "train".

♫ Dirty-dealin', prince-stealin' ♫

♫ He's a villain, Striker! ♫

♫ He's fast and strong and tall and mean ♫

♫ The foulest imp you've ever seen ♫

♫ He'll break your bones to hear 'em crunch ♫

♫ He likes to eat pâté for lunch ♫

♫ He's Striker, hmm, ye-ye-yeah ♫

♫ He's Striker ♫

The last imp extends the notes, much to Striker's annoyance.

♫ He's Striker, he- ♫

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M TRYIN' TO DO MY FUCKING JOB! YOU COMIN' IN HERE SINGING ABOUT ME FOR THE MILLIONTH FUCKING TIME! LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE, YOU FUCKIN' FREAKS!” Striker screams as the terrified mariachi impulses quietly ride away in the cart.

“How does one get their own theme song?” Stolas asks.

“Trust me ya’ don’t want one!” He hisses back.

_______________________________________________

Back in the waiting room Blitzo tries to converse in his boredom “Soooo, nice weather we're having, huh?”

“Hey mommy, is he one of those fire toads you told me about?” The kid asks innocently pointing to Blitzo

“The fuck did you just call me?” Blitzo growls

“It's not polite to call them that to their face, honey. Wait until we're in the car.” The mother says patting him on his head

“You got a problem with me, cunt?” Blitzo responds

“There is a child present, you filthy Imp!” The woman says, covering her son's ears.

“I may be an imp, but I aint filthy! Oh also, my kid's here, too, and I don't think she would appreciate you calling her father..."things". Also this is literally hell, your son's heard worse!” Blitzo said, gritting his teeth again.

“Is there any way we can reschedule for a time when less of the unemployed rabble are out?” The mothers asks the nurse.

“Oh, please. I bet the hardest work you've ever done is convincing your husband that little shit's his!” She yelled pointing to the kid whose eyes began to water.

“Oh, yeah? And what do you do that's so important?” She asks rolling her eyes

“Me? Oh, I kill people. How does a two for one special sound, whore?”Blitzo says, pulling out his flintlock pistol and pointing it at her.

“Ahem Mr. O, the doc will see your hound now.” The nurse causes Blitzo to drop the mother and he strangles before grabbing Loona and heading into the room blowing a raspberry behind him.

_______________________________________________

Somewhere in the desert Moxxie and Millie pull up to a gas station “Crumbs! I'll grab the gas. Millie, go and see if anyone's seen Striker anywhere.” Moxxie said as he stepped out of the car, soon a biker gang pulled up. One of them noticed Moxxie.

“Hey, queer boy! You stealin' my hat?” One of them yells.

“Where else would you find a homophobe but hell?” Moxxie mumbles under his breath

“Hey I’m talking to you!” The biker yelled, making Moxxie turn.

“What?” Moxxie said

“Same hat.” The biker said, pointing to his hat identical to Moxxies.

“Oh, um sorry? My wife just put this hat on my head. You know, because it was...hot...outside..” Moxxie responded nervously.

The biker gets into Moxxie's face. “Saaame. Haaat.”

“So, we're doing this now, huh?” Moxxie sighs.

As Millie looks around the gas station she finds a mariachi band,“Howdy, boys! Y'all seen this motherfucker riding around here?” Millie says showing the band a drawing of Striker firing a gun. As Moxxie fights the bikers near the pumps.

“♫ He's galloping- ♫” The quartet begins.

“No, NO! No singing! Just a yes or no, please.” Moxxie sighs.

One of the quartet imps cough, “Yeah, he lives out by the Badman Lands, in the old train tunnel near the mine shafts, ya can't miss it.” The second member says.

Moxxie rides on the biker leader's back and slams the biker's head on the door. He slams the biker's head through one of the van windows. He swipes his credit card before avoiding the biker's attacks, before taking the gas nozzle and wrapping it around the biker's throat. He then pulls the biker down, puts the nozzle in the tank and leans against the van with his phone with a sigh.

“Thank you, kindly. Come on, Mox! We got a lead!” Millie says as she and Moxxie get back in the van. Moxxie speeds forward, taking off the biker's head and exploding the gas station.

_______________________________________________

In Striker's hideout where he's tied up Stolas upside down on some railroad tracks. Stolas opens his eyes and spots Striker nearby using a whetstone to sharpen a Blessed Knife.

“So, my wife paid you for this? Wouldn't a holy bullet have sufficed?” Stolas sighed.

“I was paid to give you the real royal treatment; your wife must REALLY hate you.” Striker chuckled

“Mphm” Stolas sighed “So. Train tracks? Really? Seems a bit clichéd, doesn't it?” Stolas said, trying to calm himself.

“It's a classic. What can I say!” Striker chuckled again.

“Is the giant statue of yourself also a 'classic' or...?” Stolas said looking up to a statue in front of Striker that has him grinning with a giant erection.

Striker growls throwing the whetstone at the statue. “Ugh those fucking mariachi freaks put it up! Havent had the fucking chance to take it down!” He growls glaring up at it.

“I'm just impressed you seem to have such dedicated fans.” Stolas responded

“I call 'em' stalkers, but to each town!” Striker said as he walked up and stabbed Stolas with the now sharpened knife.

“AAAGH!” Stolas yells as Striker cuts him down.

“What the hell! I thought we were having a conversation!” Stolas coughed

“Listen, I'm just doing my job, nothing personal.” Striker laughed as Stolas tried to petrify him with his eyes.

“Don't bother trying to use your little eye trick on me; those ropes ain't gonna let you do a thing.” Striker laughed, stepping on Stolas's open wound.

“Well, you seem to be forgetting; You're dealing with royalty, I’ll have someone get me out of this one way or another!” Stolas declares kicking Striker in the face

Striker grabs Stolas's ankle and Striker lifts up his foot and stomp on Stolas's leg and breaks it.

Stolas grunts trying his best not to show his pain, “Blitzo handles me rougher than that in bed; nice try!”

Put off by this, Striker stabs Stolas in the leg. “And his knife is bigger... and hits sooooo much deeper.” Stolas chuckles meekly.

“Being a smartass hmm?” Striker asks, grabbing Stolas by his hair feathers. “Cause, once I split your neck open and let you choke on your own blue blood, you won't be worth any more than the tombstone you'll be buried under.” Striker threatens holding his blessed knife at the back of Stolas’s neck.

“Blitzo says far more dirtier things to me with much sharper objects at my throat.” Angered with Stolas' refusal to give in, Striker throws him to the ground, “Alright birdy, now it's personal!”

Back at Fd. An's Hospital, Blitzo and Loona are inside the doctor's office.

“Welcome, Bingo. And this must be Tuna.” A demon doctor named Somna says.

“Loona, yeah. And you can hurry up, please; she isn't a fan of shots. So, let's make this quick for all our sake.” Blitzo warns

“Oho! Come, now; she can't be that bad! I see hellhounds every day; there hasn't been one that has caused any issues!” Dr.Somna assures before pulling out a comically oversized syringe; Loona immediately growls and lunges at him. Blitzo quickly grabs the doctor and gets him out of the way.

“Told ya’, dipshit.”

In Andrealphus's mansion in the Pride Ring. Andrealphus and Stella are having tea and Andrealphus creates several ice cubes, stirring them into his drink.

“So, earlier. That assassin.Was that you~?” Adrealphus says playfully

“Guilty~. Yes, it was.” Stella as a mix of emotions bubbled in her chest.

“You silly minx, you! I told you all we needed one more try and now he’ll be out of feathers forever!” Andrealphus giggles.

Stella paused for a moment before gulping her hot tea, “B-but maybe I should call it off!” Stella yelled out.

Andrealphus nearily spits out his tea, “Now why in the seven circles would you want that?! He’s embarrassed you and your daughter, and descarsied your marriage, all while sleeping with an imp no less! I mean if it were me he would've been long gone!” Andrealphus huffed.

Stella began to twiddle her fingers “Ah, well… I just realised it wouldn't exactly turn out that well.” Stella started

“He'll be dead; why wouldn't it turn out well? Don’t tell you've grown sympathy for that imp sucker.” Andrealphus said rolling his eyes

“What– noooo obviously not! It's just that…. I've already produced an heir; when he dies, his duties, his possessions, his legions, it'll all pass to.... Octavia!”

Andrealphus absentmindedly continues to drink without acknowledging her.

“If Skriker killed him, I would....”

“Laugh? Ha-” Andrealphus said.

“I'd get nothing! Even if he somehow hasn't realised I sent an assassin after him, w-we haven't talked about wills meaning in any case Octavia is the de facto inheritor! And if she finds out I was the one who killed her father I doubt she’ll want to share!” Stella yelled

Andrealphus paused and put a hand on his chin. “Mm I must admit dear sister you're more than your face! But in that case what do you suggest we do? But we’ve already gone quite far, if this gets out we’d be in trouble you know, so have any ideas?” He asked, standing up from his chair and coming closer to him.

Stella bit her nail avoiding her brother's eyes “Hmm. W-well, I'm not sure. But I do know we can't do much if he’s dead, but with him alive, we have options. Plus he has some desire to rekindle our relationship so he’d probably keep quiet. So I think it's best we bide our time and wait for an opportunity…”

“Oohhhhhh, but I- we want him dead so badly!” Andrealphus pouted. “But I see what you mean, my fiery vixen.” He continues as briefly cups Stella's face with a single hand. He grabs his icy blue customized rotary phone and sets in Stella's hand, “Go ahead call off your mangy stray.” He says walking out the room leaving Stella to stare at the phone in her hand.

_______________________________________________

Back at Striker's hideout, he throws Stolas down while circling him. Leaving Stolas panting and whimpering in pain.

“Well, this has been fun, but every good thing has to come to an end. Shame you won't see your kid again.” Striker sighs sarcastically.

“Don't you dare breathe a word about my daughter!” Stolas huffed angrily.

“Ohh, finally hit a nerve, huh?” Striker laughed.

“I swear, if you go near her, I will destroy you!” Stolas yelled

Striker stabs Stolas in the shoulder again. “Big talk. But, just that. Any last words, Goetia?” He says holding the knife dangerously close to his face.

“Blitzo will-”

“That rodeo clown told you he ain't coming; Nobody is coming.” Striker laughs maniacally.

As Striker raises the knife up to stab Stolas through the heart, he hears his phone ringing.

He groans as he picks up the call from Stella, “Listen dollface, I told you if ya’ wanted a tape that would be extra. Not to mention I’m at the end of the show!” Striker holding the phone with his shoulder to keep a grip on Stolas's collar.

“Mm, change of plans, darling. I need him alive.” Stella sighed.

Striker looks annoyed and shifts his gaze between the wounds on Stolas and his knife. Striker throws Stolas on the ground before sitting on him as he continues his call.

“I'm kind of in the middle of finishing him off.” Striker responds as Stolas tries to speak but Striker uses his tail to muffle him.

“Well, don’t. We need him alive to– ah get some affairs in order. I promise I'll pay at least two times extra, I just need you to spare him and bring him to me."

“Ugh, and you wondered why I charge spousal fee’s!” Striker exclaims.

“I know, I know. Just– do what I ask and you will be generously compensated!” Stella assured.

“Yes ma’am.” Striker groans rolling his eyes.

“Good.” Stella says with a sigh of relief as she hangs up the call.

Striker growls and smashes his phone against a rock. “Well, good news for you, Feathers. Dolly said she don't want you dead no more!” Stolas sighed in relief before Skriker continued, “But, she didn't say what condition you had to be in.” He smiles as he grabs Stolas and hovers his knife near the prince's eyes.

“I think these reds might be a pretty trophy; can't have you seeing me again, can we?” He says all to cheerily.

Suddenly a car horn is heard in the distance; Striker gets up and growls while looking for the source. Parts of the cavern ceiling give away and the I.M.P van breaks through, tumbling down an embankment and as the van comes to a stop, the door opens with Moxxie aiming a rifle at Striker.

Striker dodges several bullets and throws his knife into the rifle, causing another bullet to ricochet around the cavern and strike a nearby boom box that begins playing. As Striker pulls out two revolvers, Millie attacks him with a longsword from behind; Striker takes the sword and Millie charges with a katana while Moxxie attacks with two revolvers of his own. All three fight to a standstill and the long sword breaks, with the tip landing in the boombox. Striker is surprised by the song it switches to, but quickly disregards it as Moxxie and Millie double team him with a battle axe.

In the hospital the doctor ends up getting slammed into a bin of used needles, screaming in pain while Striker kicks Moxxie down and pins Millie to a rock with her axe back in the hideout. He notices Moxxie still moving and lassos a nearby stalagmite and slams it into Moxxie's back. As Striker goes in for the kill, Loona is pinned to the ground by Blitzo who motions to Dr. Somna to give her the shot. The doctor hurriedly sticks the shot in Loona's rear, causing her to howl in pain and rage, and bucks Blitzo off her, creating a small crater on the clinic floor.

Striker sees Moxxie reaching for his pistol “Oh, I remember how easy it is to choke the life out of you, little one.” He says pinning Moxxie on the ground and begins choking him.

“Ohhhh, harder.” Moxxie says weakly.

Striker falters before laughing. “Keep it in your pants!” He laughs again before Moxxie kicks Striker's legs out from under him and lassos Striker by the neck, spinning him around and throwing him to the ground.

“Heh, having fun with your first time on top?!” Striker laughs horsley as he aims a revolver at Moxxie, Millie frees herself and strikes the base of his statue.

Striker looks up to see it falling towards him; he tries to move out of the way, but the statue lands on top of him. As Moxxie approaches it, the smoke clears to see that Striker is gone.

“Fuck!” Moxxie curses as he looks towards Millie seeing her carrying an unconscious Stolas

“Oh, crumbs! We've got to get him to a hospital!” Moxxie yelps as they quickly load him into the van.

A group of reporters stand outside Fd. An's, Blitzo and Loona emerge, the former being beaten up and scratched and the latter with a cone around her neck and holding a lollipop. Moxxie and Millie pull up to the front

“Oh, good. You guys actually managed to-” Before he can finish a horde of medical personnel and reporters trample Blitzo as they rush to the van. Two Plague Doctors open the van door as Millie looks worried as the two put Stolas on the stretcher. Blitzo gets trample again when they wheel Stolas inside. Blitzo gets a passing look at Stolas' tail feathers as they run by him.

“Sir, are you alright?” Moxxie says helping Blitzo up.

“Oh, peachy. Yeah, no. Today has been wonderful; what the fuck was THAT about?” He asks utterly confused

“Striker messed him up, bad.” Millie says worriedly.

“Stolas– what? How?... He got hurt?” Blitzo says worriedly as a defeated Loona saunters towards the van and falls face down in the back seat.

_______________________________________________

Stolas lays in a hospital room recovering from his injuries. A heart monitor was beeping and he is surrounded by many plants; have an IV bag next to him.

Stolas hears his phone buzzing and sees a notification from Blitzo, the former starts scrolling through their prior conversations.

He looked at one from the first night they had slept together.

Stolas: WHAT HAPPENED TONIGHT WAS A MISTAKE, AND WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! I RELATIONSHIP IS PURELY PROFESSIONAL FROM HERE ON OUT!

Blitzo: UH COOL

Stolas: AND DON'T BREATHE A WORD ABOUT THIS TO ANYONE!

Blitzo: K WAZNT GOING TOO

Stolas scrolls down past a few conversations.

Stolas: WHILE I THANK YOU FOR TONIGHT, THIS THE LAST TIME THAT WILL HAPPEN!

Blitzo: THATS WHAYT YOU SAID LAST TIME BUTT SUR

He then scrolls down the ones after the night at Ozzie's.

Stolas : ‘I'M SORRY IF ANYTHING I SAID OR DID MAY HAVE OFFENDED YOU TONIGHT.’

Blitzo: ‘ITZ WHATEVS’

Stolas continues to scroll through the conversation .

Stolas : NEXT TIME YOU COME OVER, MAYBE WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT OZZIE'S?”

Blitzo: Y?

Stolas: I'M SORRY! NEVERMIND, IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL. I WAS JUST WORRIED ABOUT YOU. YOU SEEMED VERY UPSET AND YOU TOOK OFF SO FAST. BUT MAYBE I READ TOO MUCH INTO THAT, I'M GLAD IF THAT'S NOT THE CASE. I WASN'T UPSET EITHER, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU WEREN'T AND OBVIOUSLY YOU CAN HANDLE ANY STUPID JOKE A CLOWN CAN MAKE. ASMODEUS CAN BE VERY INVASIVE IN HIS HUMOUR, BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY FUNNY MYSELF. WHAT HE SAID ABOUT ME AT LEAST, I ENJOY BEING THE SUBJECT OF JEST. MAYBE YOU CAN SAY MEAN THINGS TO ME TOO NEXT TIME YOU COME OVER. IF YOU WANT?

Blitzo: SHUR

Stolas continues scrolling.

Stolas: THANKS FOR HELPING ME WITH VIA TODAY, YOU WERE GREAT IN THAT HUMAN SHOW!

Blitzo: NO PROBLEMO

Stolas: ARE YOU COMING OVER TONIGHT WITH THE BOOK?

Blitzo: LYKE OLWAYS!

Stolas: IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE COMING, THAT'S OK! I'M SURE I CAN DO WITHOUT IT FOR A MONTH. :)

Blitzo: K

He was soon reaching the bottom of the conversation.

Stolas: DO YOU PLAN TO VISIT TOMORROW? I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN BUSY, AND WORKING HARD. MAYBE IF YOU'D PREFER, WE CAN SKIP THE BEDROOM AND JUST RELAX, MAYBE? I'M SURE YOU NEED A BREAK.

Blitzo: WUTEVR YOU WANT, IT'S YOUR NIGHT.

Stolas: IF YOU'RE NOT UP FOR IT, OR TOO TIRED, THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE. NO PRESSURE, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING WITH THE GRIMOIRE TILL NEXT MONTH.

Blitzo: MAE BEE

Stolas: MAYBE INSTEAD OF OUR USUAL ARRANGEMENT ON THE FULL MOON WE COULD PROPERLY CATCH UP THIS WEEK? MAYBE MONDAY?

Blitzo: I MIGHT BE BUSY

Stolas: I WOULDN'T WANT TO BOTHER YOU!

Stolas: YOU CAN ALWAYS DROP OFF THE BOOK ON THE FULL MOON AND I CAN LEAVE IT FOR YOU IF YOU ARE TOO TIRED TO DO ANYTHING...

Stolas: BUT, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU.

Blitzo: K I HAAVE TIME FOR A QUICKIE IF YA WANT

Stolas: I CAN LIVE WITH THAT!

And finally there was Blitzo’s most recent texts

Blitzo: GET BETTER SOON :(

He weakly smiles when Blitzo sends a get well soon message.

Stolas: THANK YOU, BLITZ, THAT MEANS A LOT. I MIGHT BE HERE FOR A WHILE, IF YOU EVER WANT TO VISIT.💜

After responding, Stolas sees Blitzo typing a message but does not send it. His smile fades before he looks at other messages.

He clicks a text from his worried father telling him he had seen the news and that he will be there eventually. He laughed meekly at the wording ‘eventually’. His father had several other children and even more grandchildren he was busy with at most times so he didn't expect to see him soon but, it was good to know he cared.

He then looks at some from Octavia he had already responded to, asking if he was okay and telling him she’d be there with her mother. He then checked texts from Stella, he could see she was starting to type something but stopped, he didn't blame her, what could she really say to him?

He finally shuts his phone and rests his head on the pillow drifting into sleep as flower petals fly over his head.

_______________________________________________

Okay so weirdly enough I've actually had this done for like 2 weeks but I only posted now for some reason.

I'd say I changed a fair amount in this one, from changing the beginning with Stolas and Stella and stuff with her and Adrealphus.

And this may be a controversial change but I took out Strikers foreshadowwd trauma with royalty. Idk every other character in this show has trauma so I just didn't see the need to add him into the bunch.

And one last thing, if you have any constructive criticisms or anything you want to ask then please let me know! My askbox is open and I would love to hear what you guys have to say about my stuff.

[axlennyyy]

Authors note- Again. I’m still getting used to tumblr so. The format IS weird. Please tell me if I need to add tagsssss. Oh and. This is a bit of a change of pace for me (and challenge) since this is my first CHAPTER FIC. And it’s also… well, Angsty? I guess.

Summary-

You sat on the edge of your bed, phone on the mattress next to you as you took deep, heavy breaths. Your chest felt heavy, as if you had incredibly fucked up. Your breathing turned shaky, breath getting caught in your throat as you desperately tried to ground yourself.

And then, you heard your ringtone.

Seungmin

Or— a friends with benefits but feelings started to get involved.

—

**this work is for adult audiences only, minors DNI!!**

Tags (?)- friends with benefits, angst, slow burn, unspoken feelings, smut (eventually), VERY sad mc.

Warnings - mild smut, and cussing. Idk if that counts

1.7k words, cross posted on ao3 (eventually)

I think I’m addicted to the title “you and me”

Chapter one - Lines we cross.

You should’ve left. It was an unspoken rule with this arrangement, you did what you had to do and left. But instead you were relaxed against his bed, allowing the room to fill with the buzz of his fan and still naked in his sheets.

Seungmin layed next to you, looking up at the ceiling and occasionally looking back at you. The sound of his breathing making you feel a weird mix or unsteady and comfort. Neither of you said anything since you’d finished— but this felt nice. That was a feeling that you needed gone.

You shifted slightly, pulling the sheets to cover your body. You looked over at Seungmin, his body glowing with the glistening sweat and the dim lamp in the corner of the room. Why was it always like this? From the first time you and him had sex, the feeling after of the quiet intimacy that shouldn’t exist… it made you uncomfortable. Like you were walking very close to a line neither of you were willing to cross.

“So…” you finally broke the silence.

He looked over at you, his full attention on you from the moment you muttered a word.”Yeah?”

“We should probably stick to the rules… right?” You mumbled, looking at him.

He pressed his lips together and then sighed, looking back up at the ceiling as if he wanted to call off the conversation. He didn’t immediately respond, obviously. So when he did, his voice was low and almost reluctant. “Right. Yeah, probably.”

Seungmins hand twitched besides him, but he simply gripped the sheets and sighed. You both knew the rules— no attachments, no feelings, it’s all physical. Yet somehow, that line always seemed to blur when you were together like this. When you were together, basking in the aftermath or sex, it always felt like you could have more. But neither of you dared to admit that.

“Right.” You muttered, almost wanting him to ask you for more.

“I should leave.” You said, staring to sit up.

Seungmins eyes followed your body as you moved, but he did nothing to stop you. “You should but if you want to stay—”

“No thanks Minnie,” You smiled faintly, even though your chest felt heavy. “using your apartment was more than enough.”

You couldn’t dare to look at him as you gathered your clothes. You didn’t want to see the expression on his face— whether it was disappointment or relief— cause honestly… you weren’t sure which was worse.

Eventually, you said your final goodbyes and left his apartment. You felt so empty while walking down the hall, you felt off without him. This feeling never followed you home… So why now? Why was it making your chest ache as if a part of you was missing?

When you got home, the first thing you did was lay in bed and take your clothes back off, then immediately called Seungmin. He picked up instantly.

“Seungmin, I’m sorry to bother but… I’m still feeling—“

“Really? You couldn’t even look at me earlier… and now you want to touch yourself with me?” He interrupted, making you listen to the irony in your actions.

“Minnie, don’t be like that… just help me out here, I feel horny.”

Seungmin sighed from the other end of the line. “You’re unbelievable,” he muttered, but he didn’t hang up.

“And you don’t have to stay on the phone… Yet, here you are.” you teased, shifting on the bed as you hand made its way down your stomach. “I can always handle myself.”

“Oh really?” His voice was quiet, but flirty. “Go ahead then, leave the call, make yourself cum.

You hesitated. “I don’t want to.”

“Didn’t think you would.” You could just picture the smirk that grew on his face.

“Seungmin… please… help me.” You whined.

Seungmin sighed again, but this time it sounded more like resignation than annoyance. Like he hated that he couldn’t say no to you.

“What are you wearing?” His voice had dropped, and you could hear the shift in his breathing.

“Nothing,” you whispered, your hand slipping between your thighs. “I took everything off.”

“Of course you did. Did I not give you enough?” There was a quiet sound on his end—maybe the rustle of his sheets, maybe his hand moving. You wished you could see him, wished you were still with him.

“I mean… I could’ve gone for a round two…”

“You could’ve asked.” He said, then you both grew quiet for a second.

“It doesn’t matter right now Minnie. What are you wearing?”

“Just my boxers… didn’t think I would need clothes.” You gently rubbed your clit as he talked, bitting down on your lip when he said how much clothes he had on.

“Fuck, I wish you were here…” You both got quiet again. But only for a second.

“I wish I was too… wanna see you squirm for me again,” he mumbled. Then you heard him spit on his hand, he was going to jerk off with you. “Touch yourself for me, sweetheart. And tell me what you’re thinking about.”

“I want you to touch yourself too…”

“I am, just tell me… are you thinking of me? Thinking of the way I fuck you and leave you breathless?”

“Hnn… well, that and the way you look at me. You’re so sweet Minnie… makes every part of the sex better.” Fuck. You shouldn’t have said that.

The call got quiet again, but then Seungmin spoke again. “Is that so? Tell me more,”

“I guess… just our friendship, we’re friends you know? Sometimes I just think about your smile— you’re very pretty Minnie.” Fuck. That’s worse. Being horny was no excuse for being stupid, what are you doing?!

You heard his breath hitch. You pulled your hand away from your clit. “Sorry, that— I didn’t mean to say that…”

“No, no, tell me more. Do you really just think about me, my smile?” His voice sounded more careful now.

“Minnie, we can’t talk like this… you know our agreement, right?”

“Then let’s talk like friends.”

“I— Seungmin, no. I’m sorry for bothering you. Good night.” You hung up on him. Why did you do that.

You sat on the edge of your bed, phone on the mattress next to you as you took deep, heavy breaths. Your chest felt heavy, as if you had incredibly fucked up. Your breathing turned shaky, breath getting caught in your throat as you desperately tried to ground yourself.

And then, you heard your ringtone.

Seungmin.

You stared at the screen, hands shaky as you picked it up and stared at the screen. He never called you back— so why now? When you can’t even keep yourself from losing it?

You took too long to answer, so he called again. You knew you shouldn’t but… you did.

You picked up.

“What?” You whispered, voice shaky.

Seungmin’s breath was sharp on the other end. “That’s it?” His voice was tight. Fuck, what had you done.

Your mouth opened, but nothing came out. You couldn’t bring out the words.

“So, you start running your mouth about my smile— Tell me that I make the sex better by being sweet, you admit to just… thinking about me, and you hang up?” His voice was low, angry. “You really think I’m just going to let that go?”

“I— Minnie—“

“You fucked up,” he cut you off. “And now, you’re just gonna sit there, all half assed and pretend you don’t mean it?”

You swallowed, fingers gripping into your legs as you heard him lecturing you about your stupidity.

“I didn’t—“

“Bullshit.” He wasn’t letting you hide this time. “You think I don’t notice the way you look at me after we fuck? Or how you stay a little longer each time, like you’re waiting for something?” He breathed out, sharp and low. “You really think I don’t see it?”

Your eyes squeezed shut, you felt the tears welling up. “Seungmin, stop—“

“No, you’re the one that blabbered about me, now you suffer your consequences.”

Tears started to fall down your cheeks as your breathing grew heavier, louder.

“You don’t have the right to act like this is nothing when you clearly want more,” he said. His voice was low and bitter. “So tell me—what do you want from me?”

“N-Nothing, I don’t want anything. W-were friends…” you were desperately trying to keep the tears from flowing out, desperately trying to steady your voice to not make it obvious that you’re crying. But your emotions got the best of you, sobs left your mouth every time you spoke.

He paused, his breath heavy from the other end.

“Yeah? Then don’t call me next time.” His voice was cold.

The line went dead.

You sat there, phone in hand, your whole body shaking. The sockets of your eyes burned. You hated the way your chest burned, the way you so desperately wanted to call him back.

But instead, tears fell down your face. One after another.

You sucked in a shaky breath and curled in on yourself, knees to your chest as the first sob ripped through your throat. Your chest felt like it was caving in, a heavy ache spreading under your ribs as the tears came faster, harder. You pressed your hand over your mouth, trying to silence the ragged, gasping sounds you were making, but it didn’t work—nothing worked.

You hated yourself for crying over this. Over him. But you couldn’t stop.

Another sob tore through you, and you gasped, clutching the fabric of your hoodie like it might ground you. Your whole body was shaking now, your face wet with tears as you choked on a breath.

Why did it feel like you’d just lost something? Why did it feel like this was worse than just sex?

You shouldn’t care this much. You shouldn’t feel this much.

But the ache in your chest said otherwise.

You eventually pulled yourself under the covers, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Your breath hitched, and you squeezed your eyes shut as you tried to steady yourself—but all you could hear was his voice. That cold finality when he said, Don’t call me next time.

And you hated how much it hurt.

[whensuddenlycats]

Cis, in the same way I never bothered to change my ringtone bc eh, it works just fine. One time I listened to a few other options but they weren't any better, I'm used to the default, and I don't have patience to go through the entire damn list or make a custom one just bc it might fit better. Too much hassle, and I have plenty of other ways I can customize my phone and myself if I so choose. And besides, if it ever starts to bother me, I can always change it another time, you know?

[myhappyxending]

Chris and Regina for the relationship meme! I'm curious to see yours. ☎ 🎼 👋 📱 🌀 👀 💋 😙 😶

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING - @that-obsessed-gay-girl

Send ☎ for your muse’s info in my muses phone (name, ringtone, picture, last text received/sent).

Name: Chris (later it would have a heart emoji after it) Ringtone: I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry (Regina's cheesy, and she knows it.) Picture: One that Regina took when Chris wasn't looking so that she would have something to show the private investigator she hired to dig up dirt on her before she got to know her. She liked it so much she never bothered to change it. Hey! It was hella!flattering! Last text/received/sent: Chris: Your majesty, if you wish to visit with Henry, you can meet us at Granny's for lunch. Tick-tock, queenie. Regina: Your attempt at a threat is cute. Try again.

Send 🎼 for a song that reminds me of our muses.

Take me to church I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Offer me that deathless death Oh, good God, let me give you my life Take me to church I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Offer me that deathless death Oh, good God, let me give you my life

Send 👋 for three things that describe our muses relationship.

flirting, hostile, & compromise

Send📱for a voicemail my muse left yours.

"Ms. Sinclair, I would appreciate that if you're going to check my child out of school that you get permission from me. Emma is not his legal guardian, and I've compromised and allowed her on the pick-up list, but you were not approved. Don't let it happen again."

Send 🌀 for my muse’s reaction to getting stuck in a storm with yours.

Regina secretly likes storms. It's the one time the world around her matches the way she feels inside most of the time. She can relax as people around her are usual on edge from the storm. This is no different. She would let her guard down and would probably reveal something about herself that she wouldn't normally. Whether that's a good thing or not will remain to be seen.

Send 👀 for my muse to compliment yours

Regina's tongue feel large and heavy like she's eaten something and suddenly become allergic. She knows it's because she owes Chris a thank you for saving her life, but she's not used to thanking people for their good deeds. Especially not where her own well-being is concerned so she's hesitant, but the words finally slip from her lips. "You're not as bad as I what I thought. You're actually nice when you let yourself be." It's not exactly a compliment, but it wasn't all bad either.

Send 💋 for how my muse would seduce/flirt with yours.

Regina would most likely flirt without trying to. Or without realizing it. There's a fine line for her between flirting and being completely rotten.

Send 😙 for my muse’s reaction to yours being super affectionate.

Regina would absolutely wonder what spell someone put on her. And she would actually retrace her steps in her mind to make sure it wasn't her that put the spell on her. She would then say to her, "Get a hold of yourself, Ms. Sinclair."

Send 😶 and my muse will confess to something they wish they didn’t do that affected your muse.

Regina wished that she hadn't judged her based on the company she was keeping (meaning Emma). She hates to be judged because of her past, and she would regret that tremendously after she starts to change for the better and getting to know Chris.