#it was fully cement basement with one bathroom with no door

[pained-expression]

I love my house and I don’t want to move and I especially don’t want to move to a city because cities make me anxious and I definitely don’t want to move to a city 30 mins from where I grew up but the sheer fucking diversity of the gig I was at on Friday was so heart warming like the headliner was a band consisting of 4 drummers and a synth player like do you know how unlikely it is I will ever see anything that fucking lit in my town??? Even in a town with a uni famous for contemporary quote unquote weird music??? We’re supposed to be experimental and nah you never see interesting shit like that but that’s like a regular day in a big city when you find the right venue

[enderpearlgirl1005]

Girl Vs The Undead

Chapter 1 The Outbreak

A girl named Rina woke up to her alarm clock going off, when she woke up she saw her alarm sitting on her night stand. She reached out and pressed the stop button. She then pushed the covers off her bed and got up, her bare feet standing on the cold cement floor of her room, which was supposed to be the basement.

Rina rubbed the tired out of her eyes and looked around her room, on the other side of the room was a wardrobe and a dresser. Sitting right below a small window was a desk where she'd do her homework and study, as she was home schooled. On the other side of the room was a TV, table, and where Rina kept her computer and other electronics.

Rina then walked over to her wardrobe, got out a green tank top, brown shorts, and brown knee high boots. She then went over to the room that was a few feet away from her bed, which was her bathroom. She went inside and took her pajamas off, hopped in the bath and got a nice hot shower.

When she was done in the shower she hopped out and wrapped a towel around herself before grabbing a hair brush and brushing the rat's nest out of her hair. When she was done with that she looked at herself in the mirror, she smiled at herself when she saw her pretty face.

"Man, nothing helps a girl feel better after a nice hot shower." Rina said to herself as looked at herself.

She was rather happy with the way she looked, especially her eyes, as her right one was green while her left one was red. She liked that about herself as she felt like it made her unique and stand out from the crowd. Rina then looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for breakfast, then after that her classes would begin.

"Oh shit I gotta get going, Dad said he would teach me more physics today!" Rina said as she quickly dried herself off and got dressed.

Once she was fully dressed she quickly opened her medicine cabinet and took out a big container of medicine. She then opened it up, took out a pill from the container, then put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it. The medicine was something she had to take every day, her parents say it's because she has a rare disease that would have a serious effect on her if she didn't take the medicine.

However they never told her what it was exactly and everytime she asked they just changed the subject. This always left Rina confused, as they seemed to be hiding something about this "disease" from her. She just assumed that it was something they didn't like to talk about as it could be harmful to her so she just let it go.

"Hey Mom! I'm coming up the stairs!" Rina called out expecting for her mother to be waiting at the top for her.

However when she got to the top stair and opened the door she was greeted to an empty kitchen. This confused her cause normally her parents would be in the kitchen making breakfast and have stuff ready for her homeschooling.

"Mom? Dad? Where are you guys?" Rina asked as she stepped out of the kitchen and into the dining area which doubled as the living room.

When she looked around she saw that there were some eggs, bacon, fruit juice, and a note sitting on the kitchen table. Rina walked over to the wooden table and opened up the note to see what it said.

"Dear Rina Your father and I have been called in by the company for some important work. We might not be home for a few days so we prepared everything for you. There's some books and worksheets you can use to school yourself till we get back. There are also plenty of leftovers in the fridge, and if anyone ever tries to get inside the house get one of your fathers gun's out of his wreck room. And one more thing make sure to take one of your special pills each day you don't want your disease doing any harm to you.

Love Mother."

Rina smiled as her parents were so caring and hardworking to provide her with the best life she could have. Her father even taught her how to drive and use guns in case she ever needed to use them. Rina then sat down at the table and began eating her breakfast which was still nice and warm so her parents left not too long ago. After she was done eating she got out the textbooks and worksheets, then began working on her school work for the day. Once she was finished with that she looked at the time and saw that it was rather late in the day around 6:30 Pm.

"Hmm well sense Mom and dad aren't home I guess I can goof off and stay up as late as I want till they get back." Rina said to herself with a smile on her face.

She then got out some of the leftover pasta in the fridge, heated it up in the microwave, got out some pop, and headed down to her room. When she got there she put her dinner down on the table, grabbed the Tv remote and turned it on.

(Later that day at 11:00 pm)

Rina was now laying on the couch with some chips and drinks watching a zombie horror film. Rina had been into zombie's for her whole life even when she was just an innocent four year old.

As she was laying there she heard her phone ringing, so she paused the movie and got up to see who it was. When she took a look at the caller ID she saw that it was her mom. She picked up and heard her mother panting heavily and some other noises in the background.

"Mom? Is everything alright? Why do you sound out of breath?" Rina asked, a bit worried.

"Rina *gasp* Listen, I don't think me and your father will be home in a while. Something happened here at the lab and I don't think we'll make it out alive." Rina's mother explained while gasping in pain.

"W-What! No I'm sure whatever it is it's not that big of a deal... right?" Rina asked, now scared for her parents.

"Rina, there's so much going on here that you don't know, but I'm going to try and explain to you." Rina's mother explained.

"W-what? What's happening?" Rina asked worried and concerned for her parents' safety.

"Rina, listen what I have to say is about you and your disease! I might not be able to tell you this directly because of what's happening, but Rina your- AHHH!" Rina's mom was cut short as she screamed and was attacked by something.

"Mom? Mom? MOM! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! MOM *sob* DAD ARE YOU THERE TO! DAD!" Rina desperately called out over the phone as she heard other people screaming and gunshots before the line went dead.

Rina then fell to her knees and started crying as she didn't know if her parents were alive or dead, and she was wondering what her mother was going to tell her.

(The next day)

Rina woke up and groaned in pain as she passed out on the floor last night from how much she cried.

"Ugh w-what happened?" Rina asked as she rubbed her sore neck.

The memory of what happened then came back to her and she felt her stomach turn from fear. She remembered her mothers blood curdling scream, the gun shot and screams from the other workers in the lab her mom worked with.

"Oh God *sniff* Mom Dad, no *sob*" Rina then put her head in her knees and began crying even more worried about her only family and world.

After crying some more Rina straightens herself up and wipes the tears off her face.

"No I can't just sit here and cry, my parents have to be alive... they just have to be. They Might need my help, so I better start packing up whatever supplies I can, and head out to their work place to see if anyone is there and if they're alright." Rina said to herself as she got up and ran up to her wardrobe.

She got a few suitcases and bags out of her wardrobe and went into the bathroom to collect whatever medicine she had to help anyone out. When she saw the container for her medicine she quickly took a pill out of it before packing it up along with the rest of the medical supplies.

After getting the first aid Rina ran upstairs and started packing some food in case anyone was hungry. Once she was done packing the food she went to her fathers wreck room which was filled with loads of guns, knives, and other weapons.

Rina put on some gun and knife holders along with some bullet carriers so that way she could have some weapons of her own to defend herself from whatever happened at the lab. She then grabbed two shotguns and put them in their holders: two pistols, two hand guns, three hunting knives, a sniper rifle, a crossbow and some arrows.

Once Rina was done arming herself she packed up whatever guns and weapons she could so that way if anyone else needed it then they could get it from her

"Okay I think that's everything, now I just need to get this in my car and drive out to my parents workplace... and hope that they're alive." Rina said to herself as she got to work, still a bit worried about her family.

(Later)

Rina was driving through the town that was near her house, and she noticed that the area that was normally buzzing with people looked like a ghost town. There wasn't a soul in sight, just empty cars, houses, she didn't even see a homeless person. Normally a homeless person would be very sad, but for Rina she felt like it could be a good thing now as she didnt like the looks of the town.

"What the hell happened here?" Rina asked as she continued driving down the dead street.

Soon she arrived at her parents work place which was called B.R.I.M (Bio Research In Medicine) Rina then parked her car near the doors and got out. When she got a good look around the area she still saw no one but more abandoned cars and scattered trash everywhere.

"Damn, what happened here? This place looks like it was hit by a combination of an earthquake, tornado, and tsunami just more dry." Rina said to herself as she walked to broken glass doors.

When she looked at the doors she saw that they were smashed from the inside along with the other windows, as there was glass everywhere. When she opened the door and looked inside she was hit with the smell of death so badly that she almost threw up. However she pushed through it and went inside to see that the place was absolutely destroyed (even more than the store on black Friday).

"Hello? Anyone here? Mom? Dad? Anyone?" Rina called out hoping to get an answer while walking through the destroyed medical lab.

"Ugh... H-Hello? Who's there?" Rina heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Oh god! Reg! Hang on! I'm coming!" Rina called out to Reginald and ran in the direction his voice came from.

When she got there she saw Reginald was on the floor with broken glasses, a torn up lab coat, blood dripping down his forehead, and his leg stuck under a fallen book case.

"R-Rina... Oh thank god you're alive... and I see you over prepared yourself like your father does." Reginald jokingly commented.

"Yeah well I don't want to walk into danger naked alright. Now help me get this book case off of you." Rina instructed as she went over to Reginald and started lifting the case off his leg.

Reg helped Rina out and soon he was free but his leg looked pretty bad and Rina even saw that someone bit into it.

"Damn what the hell happened here?" Rina asked as she picked Reg up and took him outside.

"Ugh! An experiment escaped." Reg explained while groaning in pain. "What? How did some sorta lab rat cause this to happen?" Rina asked, confused.

"N-No it wasn't a rat... It was something else, from what I knew it was infected with some sorta virus that Mr. Z made." Reg explained.

The two then managed to get outside and Rina sat Reg down on a bench.

"Stay there and I'll get some medical supplies out of my car to try and patch you up." Rina explained as she headed to her car.

"Don't *gasp* b-bother I'm not going to make it." Reg explained as he leaned back.

Rina stopped dead in her tracks, looked back at Reg and asked "Why do you say that? All you got is a busted leg, some cuts, and that bite, but why the hell do you think you're going to die?"

Reg sighed and said "B-because the person who bit me was infected with the virus and *gasp* the virus turns you into a zombie."

When Rina heard that she felt her heart drop and she could only hear the slight ringing in her ears. However it only lasted for a few seconds as Rina shook her head in denial.

"No No No! That's not possible, it's just in the movies and video games!" Rina explained.

"R-Rina I know you might not believe it... but it's nothing but the truth. Mr. Z made a virus that turns humans into zombies and I'm infected with it." Reg explained still in pain as he got weaker and weaker.

Rina looked down to think for a moment, half of her wanted to believe him, but the other half kept on denying it as it can't be true. She then looked at Reg and was horrified to see that half of his face started looking like it was rotting as an infection started spreading around him.

"R-Rina I need to ask you something. P-Please got t-to my house a-and find my daughter L-Lucy. Take c-care of her and t-tell her Daddy loves her. A-and that she'll b-be okay when I'm g-gone *cough-cough-cough*!" Reg asked before he started coughing uncontrollably and then spewed out a large puddle of blood.

Rina's eyes widened in horror as she watched a good family friend start dying before her eyes and turning into a zombie. Reg, now a zombie, stood up and started limping towards Rina with his arms outstretched and his arms rotting to grab her.

Thinking fast Rina grabbed one of her pistols and pointed it at Reg's zombified head. "Reg If you can hear me in there. I-I just want to say that... I'm SORRY!" Rina yelled before pulling the trigger sending a bullet flying through the air and through the zombies skull.

When she opened her eyes she was horrified to see Reg's body lying on the ground bleeding from the bullet hole. She could still see the infection coursing through his body as his pale white eyes looked up dead at the sky.

"Oh god. Shit's hitting the fan faster than a speeding train." Rina said as she backed away from the dead zombie and to her car.

When Rina got to her car she reached for the handle on the driver's side, but stopped when she heard groaning. She looked over to the nearby tree line and was horrified to see more zombies coming out and heading towards her.

"Oh Shit! Oh SHIT!" Rina screamed in horror as she scrambled to get in her car and start it.

However to her dismay the dam engine wouldn't start up and Rina was now fearing for her life as she looked outside and saw the zombies getting closer to her. Thankfully on the fifth attempt the car finally started and when she managed to get it running she slammed the gas pedal and raced out of there.

"Oh god, How the hell did this happen? What the fuck started this? And how fucking far has this virus spread?!" Rina asked herself in a panic.

"Ugh No time to think about that. I gotta get Lucy and find my parents, along with any other survivors." Rina told herself as she drove off to Reginald's house.

After some time of driving and thankfully not seeing any more zombies Rina arrived at Reginald's house which looked like it had been abandoned for years. She got out of her car and had her hand on one of her guns in case she ever ran into another zombie.

When Rina went inside the place was trashed, with the fridge open, food and blood splattered everywhere, and kids drawings spilled all over the floor. The smell was even worse than the mess as it stunk of rotting flesh and spoiled food (which was caused by the fridge staying open for so long).

Rina cautiously stepped inside and started calling out for Lucy to see if she was still there. "Lucy! Lucy you here? If you're here give me a shout!" Rina called out praying she would get a response.

"R-Rina y-you here?" Rina heard a static voice call out to her.

When Rina heard that she started looking around frantically for the source till she saw one of Lucy's toy walkie talkies on the ground.

She picked it up and asked "Lucy is that you?"

"Y-yes it's me." Lucy replied.

Rina let out a sigh of relief when she heard Lucy's sweet innocent little voice.

"Are you okay and where are you?" Rina asked, looking around the place for her.

"I'm outside in my tree house, look through the kitchen window and you'll see me." Lucy instructed.

Rina obeyed and looked through the kitchen window to see Lucy peeking out of her tree house and waving at her. Rina smiled and waved back, happy to see another friendly face and not one that was infected.

"Lucy don't worry I'm here now I'll be outside to get you." Rina explained.

"O-okay but be careful my babysitter got bitten by one of those things and I don't know if she's still in there." Lucy explained.

"Okay I'll-AHHH!" Rina screamed as she turned around and was attacked by another zombie.

The monster tackled her to the ground and tried to bite her, but thankfully Rina didnt let her guard down and still had her hand on the gun. So she put the gun in the zombie's mouth and pulled the trigger, killing it instantly. It then plopped down on Rina and she pushed it off of her.

"Rina! Are you okay!" Rina heard Lucy ask in fear.

Rina looked up and saw Lucy holding onto her teddy bear, her walkie talkie, and a flashlight. "Y-yeah I'm fine. And I'm so happy to see you alive Lucy." Rina said as she crawled up to Lucy and hugged her.

Lucy hugged her back and smiled happily to see that Rina was alright and alive.

"Come on, let's get out of here and find some other survivors." Rina explained as she got up and took Lucy by the hand leading her outside, into her car, and driving off.

"Rina? Is daddy alright?" Lucy asked innocently.

When Rina heard Lucy ask that she didn't know what to say, telling a little ten year old girl that her father is dead is one of the hardest things anyone can do. However Rina knew she couldn't keep it from Lucy forever as the truth always comes out eventually.

Rina sighed sadly, stopped the car, looked over at Lucy and with tears in her eyes said "I-I'm sorry Lucy, but Reg is g-gone... He got bitten and turned into one of those monsters. I-I had to shoot him in self defense."

When Lucy heard that she felt like a bolder was just thrown on her chest, as she started crying along with Rina. Rina then scooted closer to Lucy and gave her a big sister-like hug while also comforting her.

"Shh Shh it's alright Lucy you dad's in a better place now, and he wanted you to know that he loves you so much and that you'll be okay even when he's gone." Rina explained while stroking Lucy's hair trying to stay as strong as she can be.

The two sat in the car crying over the sad tragedy of Reginald's unfortunate demise. Soon the two were able to straighten themselves out and they wiped the tears off their faces.

"*Sniff* Thanks for t-telling me the truth Rina... even if it was something I didn't want to hear." Lucy said, still sniffing a bit.

"I just knew that you'd find out eventually as the truth will always come out. And I believe that you should always know the truth about this... even if it's something you wont like." Rina explained as she started up her car again.

However she was interrupted when someone slammed their face onto the driver's side window which scared the living souls out of Rina and Lucy. Rina quickly pulled out another one of her guns and pointed it at the window in case it was another zombie, but she saw that it was a teenage boy.

Rina then got pissed as this idiot not only scared both her and Lucy, but could've gotten himself killed. She then aggressively opened the door causing the guy to back up a bit and started yelling at him.

"What the fuck are you doing!? You Goddamn moron!? You scared the living hell out of me and my friend here! And I could've Fucking killed you cause I thought you where a god dam zombie!" Rina yelled angrily.

"Wowowow Okay I'm sorry I'm just looking around for any survivors cause me, my girlfriend, and my friend needs help and shelter. I was hoping you and your little sis here had what we needed." The boy explained calmly, understanding why Rina was so mad.

Rina calmed down and looked back to Lucy who nodded her head wanting to help them out. "Okay well my name is Rina and that's Lucy, she's also um,... not my sister I'm just her friend. And what's your name?" Rina asked.

"I'm Lee, my girlfriend is Janet and my other friend is Ron." Lee explained.

"Alright I have a house that's up in the mountain woods, it has an electric fence that surrounds the place, and if anyone in your group is hurt, I have medical supplies in my trunk as I came out here looking for my folks." Rina explained while also pointing to her trunk.

"Thanks, that's what we need as Janet's ankle is in need of medical support." Lee explained.

"Well let's get you all to my place and I can patch her up there. And if any of you need food as well I've got plenty of that as well in my car." Rina explained.

"Wow you packed up like you knew it was the apocalypse." Lee commented, impressed.

"Well it's like my father said, you better be prepared for the worst or you're dead." Rina explained while leaning back in her car.

"Okay well I'll go get them you two just wait out here and I'll be back" Lee said as he ran into a nearby house.

(Inside the house)

Lee opened the door and was met with Ron standing right in front of him which scared him badly.

"Oh god! Ron you scared me, don't you be standing in doorways all creepily like that in this situation okay?" Lee asked his friend.

However Ron didn't answer him and said "Who's that girl out there?"

Lee then looked back and saw Rina still leaning on her car patiently waiting for him. He then looked back at Ron and said "Her name is Rina and she's gonna help us out. She's got a safe haven, food, medicine, and weapons. She's our key to surviving this thing!"

Ron then looked behind Lee to get a good look at Rina and said "She's hot, and looking more badass than Jill Valentine from Resident Evil 3."

Lee rolled his eyes as he pushed past Ron and went into the living room to get Janet. When he walked into the room he saw Janet lying on the couch with a makeshift cast on her ankle.

When she saw Lee she smiled at him and said "Did you find anyone out there?"

"Yes I did, a girl named Rina has what we need and her place is the perfect safe haven for us." Lee explained.

"Oh thank god, come-on help me up and let's go meet her." Janet said excited to have a safe place to stay for a while.

So Lee helped Janet to her feet and led her outside, where they saw Ron was standing in front of Rina talking to her.

"Oh shit he better not screw us by saying something stupid." Lee groaned as he and Janet went up to the car.

Ron meanwhile was trying his best to make a good impression on Rina wanting to impress her.

"So Um, you workout or something?" Ron asked.

"I've been trained in military combat as my dad was in the military before retiring to the medical business." Rina explained.

"Oh cool... well I like your eyes, one of them shines like an emerald and the other shimmers like a Ruby." Ron complemented.

"Thanks my mom said I have heterochromia so my eyes are different colors because of that." Rina explained.

"Cool, never meet anyone like that before." Ron said.

Lee then interrupted them by saying "Hey Rina, this is my girlfriend Janet."

Rina looked at Lee and saw Janet leaning on him. "Hey I'm Rina, nice to meet you."

Rina introduced herself and put her hand out for Janet to shake. "Nice to meet you as well, any kind of human in this situation is a great sight to see." Janet stated.

"Yeah, well let's try and keep it that way and head off to my home." Rina stated as she unlocked the car for the rest of them.

The three then got inside the car and Rina started up the engine and began driving off to her place. While Rina didn't fully understand what was going on or how this happened, one thing was on her mind though. She had to find other survivors and her parents.

[enchantedblackrose]

Safe Again

Not my image. Google image search

Pairing: Antonio/Fem Reader

Requested @fabyoliveira1999

Summary: Y/n is kidnapped when an undercover assignment goes wrong

¡Warnings: Swearing, mentions of blood, allusions of sexual assault, potential police brutality? All very in line with the show

A/n 1: this is a work of fiction. The gang and names used are completely made up and not meant to reflect any real persons. Thank you.

2: Part 2 will be a fluff drabble

Safe Again

A darkness overcomes you as you slip out of consciousness. The steady beeping of the machines around you are now frantic, their shrill sound piercing the ears of everyone around. 

Antonio yells out your name as hospital staff force him from your room. It isn't until Hank and Kevin pull him by his shoulders does he fully retreat. He sees a familiar face in the hallway and remembers a conversation he's been meaning to have.

"Halstead!" Antonio's voice shakes in anger. He stands face to face with the younger detective. His finger accusingly pointing.

"How the hell did this happen in the first place, man? You were supposed to have her back!"

Jay's voice was quiet. "I know." He drops his head in hands. "I'm so sorry, man. I should've pulled us out of there."

"You were supposed to watch her."  Antonio strains to speak, his tone is much softer this time as he fights back the tears threatening to spill. Wordlessly, he claps Jay's shoulder, giving it an affectionate and apologetic squeeze. None of this is Jay's fault. Antonio knows this and instantly regretted taking his emotions out on his colleague.

-72 hours prior-

You're sitting in the bullpen, having just been assigned to go undercover with your partner acting as your boyfriend. The idea being that the two of you would infiltrate the known drug gang the Scorpions as potential buyers and dealers for the more upscale neighborhoods the leader, Sammy, was trying to reach.

Your actual boyfriend is the first to speak. "Oh hell no. You're not doing this," Antonio tells you, earning a hard stare from you in return. "She's not doing this," he shifts his attention to Voight. "These...thugs are ruthless. They're killers."

Hank's eyebrow shoots up, wordlessly questioning Antonio. "Watch yourself there. Last I checked this was my unit. I give the orders."

"Sarge, if I may," you interrupt. "I'm willing to do this. I've successfully gone undercover before and I've gone alone," you remind not only your sergeant, but your boyfriend. "I want to do this." Your eyes fall to Antonio momentarily before looking back to Hank.

"Do whatever you need to prepare," he orders. You nod, reaching for your cell phone. Hank turns around and heads into his office. Antonio is hot on his heels, letting the door slam shut behind him after giving you a displeased look.

You huff an angry sigh. From his desk, Jay offers a sympathetic smile. "He's coming from a good place, y/n," he reminds you. "He's just scared. He knows you're more than capable of handling yourself out there."

Appreciating Jay's words, you nod your gratitude and make the call to set up this meeting.

//

You are fuming the entire walk up the stairs to your apartment. Antonio follows closely behind. You wait until the door closes completely before angrily spinning back in your heel to glare at him.

"Do you have any idea how demeaning and humiliating it is to not only have my boyfriend, but a superior colleague to react that way in front of my sergeant? Our sergeant? This is important, Antonio! And I'm not some rookie. I've done this before! You have no right-"

"You're right," his voice is calm and not at all what you expected to hear. "And I'm sorry, mi amor. I made sure to tell Voight before we left that I support you doing this and promised to not let my feelings compromise this case."

"Oh." You feel your anger start to dissipate. "In that case…can you order dinner, please? I'm going to take a quick shower." You stand on your tiptoes, pecking his lips softly with yours before heading to the bathroom.

//

Today was the day you and Jay, or rather your aliases Roxie and Ray (you relentlessly teased Jay about his lack of creativity), were meeting Sammy, having already built a rapport with some of the other members lower in the chain of command. If it went well, today should be the day you make the bust. Both of you step into the garage to meet the team and go over plans one last time. You're in a body flattering dress hitting right above your knees, Jay in a suit sans necktie.Your friends whoop and catcall  Part of your personas was playing a bored, wealthy, money-motivated couple and you had to look, not just act, the part. As Antonio approaches, Jay excuses himself saying he'll be in the car waiting whenever you're ready. Antonio's voice is quiet. "There's still time. Don't do this."

"I thought you supported me."

"I did...I do! I just can't let you-"

"Let me?" You yell, earning the unwanted attention of those nearby. You shake your head, hurt and disappointment shine in y/e/c eyes.  You walk away without another word, getting into the passenger side of the car

//

You reach the autobody garage the Scorpions use as a front. Immediately they pat you both down by a few members you've met during the time undercover. You're positive your inspection is more thorough as he squeezes your one ass cheek.

"Hey man," Jay shouts seeing you get groped.

"It's alright, babe," you wink. "Rico's only appreciating a good thing when he sees it." Rico smirks before declaring, "They're both clean."

Sammy, and another man you recognize from case files, Nic enter. "What's this? Who did you bring me?"

"These chumps are gonna be your new sellers."

Sammy's eyes hone in on you. You hold his gaze. "Hell naw," Nic says. "They brought you cops."

"Oh, please," you say, rolling your eyes. "With this face and ass-he knows, he felt it," you point to Rico, "I'm too fine to be a cop." You flash a cheeky smile.

"Bitch, shut up!" The back of his hand connects with your right cheek. The stinging causes your eyes to water. Beside you, Jay flinches; it's hard from him not to react.

'Listen man, I don't know what you think is going on. We just-"

"You can shut up, too." 

You hear the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking, turning to see it pointed at Jay. Sammy gives a nod to one of the others. 

"Look out," you try to warn Jay, but it's too late. The butt of a gun hits Jay in the temple and he gets kicked at the back of his knee until he falls to the ground. His head hits the cement flooring hard. You don't understand why the team hasn't busted in yet.

Nic's gaze is on you. "You testified at Dierk's hearing." His fist swings and it makes contact with your jaw. It's enough to make you sway but you remain on your feet. "He was my cousin you, stupid bitch. Get her in the car. Leave him."

As you're forced into a black SUV, you manage to choke out a weak,"Jay, " your stained voice sounding unrecognizable to your own ears.

//

The equipment they sent you in with was faulty. Voight was furious as was Antonio. They whole worked diligently to get video or audio, anything to keep tabs on you and Jay. It's not until the SUV, with you unbeknownst to them inside, peels out, that the whole team moves in and finds Jay bleeding and unconscious on the floor. Kevin reaches him first. "He's alive!" he shouts to the others. Adam radios for an ambo before he and the others continue to clear the building. Kevin gently shakes Jay awake. He groans, hands instantly reaching the side of his head. He makes to stand.

"Easy there, brother," Kevin warns. Jay lets Kevin help him to his feet. "We've got a bus on the way."

Jay nods, "I'm fine. Where's y/n?"

"She's not here. No one is," Hank answers as the rest of the team draw near Jay. Jay's stomach plummets as he realizes they've taken you, his partner.

"Son of a bitch!" Antonio yells, kicking an oil drum.

"We work fast to get y/l/n back," Hank declares. "Check for surveillance, witnesses. We find that SUV and we find y/n. Alive

 Any means necessary.  Let's move." The team disperses and his hand clasps Jay's shoulder. "You get checked out by medics first." Jay opens his mouth to argue, but shuts it quickly. He nods his compliance. Hank and Antonio follow him to the ambulance that's just arrived.

"Hey boss," Jay speaks, with a tentative glance to Antonio. "This went south when Nic recognized y/n as the detective who testified against his cousin. Hank pursed his lips, but even in his anger, the color drains from Antonio.

"Voight," Antonio's voice almost cracks.

"We'll get her back."

//

Bloodied and bruised, you're alive with very little clue as to where you are. Your survival skills kick in.

You take note of your surroundings. You think you're in an unfinished basement of a residence. Definitely a lower floor as you remember being tossed down a flight of stairs. Your hands are bound behind your back and tied to a support beam. The door to upstairs is locked and even if it wasn't, based on all the noise coming from the floors above you'd never make it out undetected. 

The door opens and heavy footsteps make their way towards you. Nic comes into your line of vision.

You try reasoning with him, "As far as I'm concerned, nothing's been done that can't be undone. You just gotta let me go."

"You don't get it, do you? Maybe this will clear things up for you." He draws his gun, pressing it into the middle of your forehead 

"But first I'm gonna fuck you real hard." His face inches from yours. Nic pulls the gun away. His stale, hot breath reeking as he stands too near. You couldn't help but scoff before you throw your head into his, headbutting him with all the might you could.

He cries out in agony.

"Stupid bitch." He backhands you. Then grabs you by the chin. His furious eyes never leave you and a rough hand claws at the skirt of your dress. You feel cold metal pressed against your thigh. "First, I'm gonna fuck that tight pussy with my gun inside you then-"

"Why?" You smirk. "Afraid you won't be able to get it up?" So much for those survival instincts. Anger flickers across his face. His free hand makes a fist. You dodge his swing and he instead makes contact with the pole. This enrages him more. Hastily Nic puts the gun back in his pants. Both his hands wrap themselves around your neck.

//

14 hours have gone by. That's how long it's been since Antonio's last seen you. He's hurt and getting desperate. With less than two hours of sleep (Antonio only went home after Voight said he wouldn't be any help without some rest), he was out trying to find any witnesses, checking traffic cams, and placing calls to all his CIs in hope that any of them might be able to give a lead. When one of them started stringing him along, Antonio jacked the guy up against an outside brick wall near the precinct. That's when Kim found him. 

"We got something," she says in a hurry, fearing Antonio may do something he can't come back from.

The team picked up two Scorpion members and one is currently in the cage. 

"Five minutes, Hank. Just give me the key and five minutes alone with this guy," Antonio pleads to his sergeant. From the cage, the Scorpion chuckles. Antonio lunges causing the chain links of the cage to rattle. He appears more animalistic than human and the laughter does immediately. "Where is she, you bastard?" Hank looks at the guy, still refusing to talk, then he unlocks the door for Antonio.

"Are you crazy? You can't let him in here with me," he shrieks.

"Your boss has one of our own. And she just so happens to be his girlfriend, so you're crazy if you think I could really stop him if I wanted to," Hank answers before moving away from the door and heading upstairs. The door barely swings open before Antonio steps inside, knocking the guy to his ass with one punch. He picks him up by the shirt collar preparing another blow when Jay and Adam come flying down the stairs.

"Get outta here!" Antonio yells.

"We got an address. Atwater and Kim they picked up another member and he talked," Adam says breathlessly. Antonio hesitates.

"C'mon on man," says Jay, "He's not worth any more of your time. If y/n's there, let's go bring her home."

//

Hours have passed. How many you're unsure, but as they ticked by your hopes of being found or escaping  dwindled. Pain flows through your entire body. You sit on the cold, hard basement floor, unable to stand anymore. Nic had strangled you until you passed out. He never touched you like he promised and when you regained consciousness you were alone.

Shouts came from upstairs. You're unable to hear every word, but you catch enough to know they're talking about you.

"We need to move her now. We've kept her alive too long!" You hear footsteps and then the opening of the door. Nic appears before you, with a sinister grin. Your heart races as he nears. His eyes roam your body as he undoes his belt. He pulls you to your feet by your hair. A whimper escapes you and he laughs. Once again, his hands pull at the skirt of your dress. His hands travel along your thighs and ass squeezing both. His touch makes your skin crawl that you actually shudder. His fingers start to tug your underwear down when there's a commotion from upstairs.

"Freeze! Chicago PD."

"Drop the weapon!"

"On your knees! Face down." 

"I said drop it!"

Your heart flutters with hope, but then shots ring out and you have no idea who's firing or what's happening up there.

"Down here!" You yell. The basement door opens.

"Chicago PD!" Antonio and Jay's voices ring out.

"One male. He's got a gun," you warn. As they rush down the stairs, Nic pulls his gun on you.

"Drop your weapon!" Jay orders. His eyes perfectly fixated on the gun in Nic's hands. Antonio eyes you carefully and while seeing you bruised and a gun to your head isn't ideal, he's relieved to see you alive. Your colleagues' guns stay fixed on your offender. "You won't be told again. Drop. Your. Weapon." Your eyes lock with your boyfriend's beautiful brown ones and you nod ever so slightly. You slide down the pole as Nic moves towards you as if he was going to use you as a shield. Both Antonio and Jay fire their guns. Blood splatters onto you. Jay moves to check the body, but all you really notice is Antonio running to you  and it's honestly a beautiful sight.  "Baby, baby, baby. Hang on. I got you," he soothes, working quickly to free your hands of the zip ties. Your head falls into his chest. Really your whole body just collapses into him. Antonio holds you close, careful not to embrace you too hard, but his touch has never felt better. You sob uncontrollably as he begins to rock you.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," you repeat.

"Shh. You did nothing wrong, mi amor. Shh, now, baby. I got you. You're safe again."

//

Immediately you're taken to the hospital. Blood is drawn,xrays taken, exams given. You've sustained several injuries, but nothing critical. Mostly you're bruised and exhausted, so when the machines you're hooked up to start beeping erratically, Antonio is confused and scared again, clearly demonstrated by that outburst directed at Jay. 

He opens his mouth to apologize when Will Halstead exits your room. 

"You can go back in now," he says simply.

The intelligence team looks at him, confused.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Y/n wasn't breathing properly."

"What?"

Will puts his hands up. "No no. She's fine. She can breathe. She was sleeping and wasn't breathing deep enough for the machine to register it. I promise she's fine."

There's a collective sigh of relief from everyone.

Antonio coming back into your room is a most welcoming sight. There's so much to say, but your eyelids are heavy with sleep. Instead you take his hand in yours. Antonio's free hand lovingly caresses your face.A feeling of safety washes over you and you drift off into a peaceful dream.

[theycallmebeccawrites]

Chris & Ellie Series: Episode 25

Happy New Year’s Eve (and yes, I realize some of you are already in 2021, but I’m not.) Nothing like waiting until almost the last minute to get my promised new episode posted before the end of December. But success.

I’m currently on my lunch break, so I have to keep this short and sweet.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me as I’ve been writing this series. I truly appreciate each and everyone one of you. And shout out to my betas: @nomadicpixel​ @alievans007​ @heather-lynn​ and @mrs-captain-evans​ - you four are amazing cheerleaders and this story wouldn’t be what it is without you and your help.

♥Becca♥

Pairing: Chris Evans x Ellie Spencer (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: n/a

Episode Summary: Chris returns to Los Angeles (and Ellie)... for real this time.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

This episode can also be read on AO3.

The Chris and Ellie series is primarily chronological. It begins with a flash forward to 2016 and has a few other scenes in the future. However, the majority of their story is told in chronological order starting in 2013 and going through 2017. Each episode starts with a date to help you place it within the story.

The Chris & Ellie Series Masterlist | Chris & Ellie Masterlist

Episode 24.5

Episode 25: Only Fools Rush In

December 5, 2014

Chris's house in Los Angeles was dark when the cab came to a stop in front of it in the early hours of the morning. The driver helped Chris get his luggage out of the trunk and then wished him a 'Merry Christmas' after Chris slipped him a tip.

As the cab drove away, Chris stared up at the big house, trying to block out the memories from that day in July when he'd seen Ellie and Pierre hugging. Now that he knew what had actually happened, he felt like a fool for jumping to conclusions.

He couldn’t bring himself to regret it. That rock bottom moment for him had been a catalyst. He'd finally gotten over the hurdles his mind created and was letting his heart take the lead on the whole Ellie dilemma. He owed it to them both to seek her out. He didn't know how it would go, but he was prepared to apologize and, if she wanted, walk away.

Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door and carried his suitcases in. His eyes drifted up the stairs and he knew he should take them up to his bedroom, but he wasn't ready to go there yet. Instead, he dropped the suitcases at the bottom of the stairs then walked through the quiet house, taking everything in.

For some reason, Chris had expected everything to be different, but it all looked the same. The only thing that was noticeably different was the smell. The house didn't smell bad by any means, it just didn't smell like the light, fruity scent that he associated with Ellie.

It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that he noticed things missing, specifically Ellie's things. Like her ugly coffee cups that she insisted on keeping next to the coffeemaker so they were within easy reach first thing in the morning. His eyes then slid to the floor by the backdoor where Daisy's things had been. He missed her almost as much as he missed Ellie.

Taking a shaky breath, he started a pot of coffee, knowing it would be the only way he was going to make it through the day after taking a red eye flight from Boston to Los Angeles. While the coffee brewed, he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and then looked back at the coffee maker.

"I don't know why you keep them so far apart," Ellie's voice came back to him from a long-forgotten conversation. "It's silly. The coffee cups should be right above the coffee pot for easy access. Everyone knows that."

"You're right," he admitted out loud in his empty kitchen.

Trying to remember the other things Ellie had said to him over their time together, he opened the doors of all his cupboards and began reorganizing them. At first, it required a lot of thought, but once it got down to just putting things away, his mind started to wander.

It had been ten days since he'd learned the truth about what had happened in the driveway back in July. At first, he had been too overwhelmed by the information and hadn't been able to process it. Opening up to his mom about everything had helped, but that had just been step one.

The next step had been sorting through his feelings. He knew he was in love with Ellie. Months of long, lonely nights of introspection convinced him of that. But he also knew that his feelings weren't what was important right now. Ellie's feelings were all what mattered. Him being in love with her didn't mean a damn thing if she didn't feel the same way. Or worse, if she hated him and never wanted to see him again.

He'd tried to put on a brave face for Thanksgiving, but his heart hadn't really been in it. He'd gone through the motions, but not even a competitive game of Trivial Pursuit had pulled him out of his head.

His mom had given him until Saturday morning before she'd stepped in to help some more. Through a series of questions, like 'what are you thinking' and 'what are you planning to do', she helped him get through the quagmire that was his brain. The outcome of which had been him deciding to go back to Los Angeles to talk to Ellie.

The biggest question that had followed his decision had been when. Scott had gone back to LA Sunday morning, but Chris hadn't been ready yet. He'd wanted to come back with a game plan. Even if it all ended up a complete and utter failure.

"What are you doing?" Scott's voice came through the fog of Chris's brain, bringing him back to the present.

Shaking his head, Chris turned and found his brother standing at the top of the stairs to the basement. Seeing the confused expression on Scott's face, he took a step back and took in the reorganizing disaster that was his kitchen.

"Are you ok?" Scott asked, slowly. He'd known Chris was arriving this morning, but he hadn't expected to find his brother rearranging the kitchen when he came in from the guest house where he was now living.

"I'm fine," Chris assured him. "Just felt like reorganizing, I guess." He shrugged. "Ellie was always commenting on the silly places some things were stored and she was right." Stepping forward, he opened the cupboard over the coffee pot. "The mugs are here now. Above the coffee pot."

"You could have just moved the coffee pot," Scott said with a stifled yawn.

"I could have, but it makes sense for the coffee pot, coffee and coffee cups to all be in one area," Chris explained. "Speaking of which, I made coffee. You want some?"

"Shouldn't you be fighting jet lag or something?" his brother asked.

"I slept on the plane," Chris replied with a shrug. "And I've had two cups of coffee this morning. I'll sleep later."

"In your bedroom or in one of the guestrooms?" Scott asked, cautiously. He knew coming back to the house was a big first step for Chris, but he didn't think his brother was fully prepared for the onslaught of memories that the house would bring. Seeing Chris tense at his question, Scott pressed on. "Have you been upstairs yet?"

"I couldn't go upstairs," Chris admitted, softly. The bedroom held so many memories for himself and Ellie but was also the place that his worst memory with her had happened.

"Want me to go with you?" Scott offered. He'd walked by Ellie's side during the aftermath of the breakup and now that his brother was forced to deal with it himself, he could help him, too.

"Will you help me with the kitchen first?" Chris asked, gesturing to the stuff that was still on the counters to put away.

Knowing his brother needed to mentally prepare himself to go upstairs, Scott helped him finish reorganizing the kitchen. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but some of the changes really did make sense. Others, he knew would drive Ellie crazy. Which made him want to take a picture and send it to her, but he resisted the urge. She didn't know Chris was back in town yet and he didn't want to be the one to tell her.

After the last cabinet door closed, Scott expected Chris to come up with a reason not to go upstairs, but his brother surprised him by leading him out of the kitchen.

"Are you ready for this?" Scott asked as he picked up two of Chris's suitcases.

"Not really, but it's not like I have much choice, is it?" Chris asked as he grabbed his other suitcase.

"It'll be ok, you'll see," Scott assured him. "The cleaning lady was here yesterday and she made the bed for you and cleaned the bathroom."

Leading Chris up the stairs, Scott waited for him at the bedroom door. He knew his brother needed to be the one to open the door to fully cement his current reality. Afterall, the last time Chris had been in the room, Ellie had been peacefully sleeping in the bed and it had been April.

"You got this," Scott encouraged as they stood outside the closed bedroom door.

Turning the handle, Chris pushed the door open and found the room just as it had always been when he came home from a long time away. It was both comforting and depressing.

He forced himself to take a step into the room and then another until he reached the bed. He dropped his suitcase onto it and Scott did the same with the other two.

Turning to survey the room, he saw the two neatly stacked piles of clothes on the dresser by the bedroom door. He recognized some of the sweatshirts that Ellie had borrowed from him, but others were just clothes he had worn during the days leading up to his early departure.

Sucking in a breath, he turned his attention to the closet. Crossing the room, he opened the door and was taken aback at the chaotic state of it. He knew he'd packed in a rush, but he hadn't realized he'd left it in such a state.

"I told the housekeeper not to clean it up," Scott said from behind him. "I thought you needed to see the way you left things."

"I hadn't realized," Chris whispered as he felt pressure building in his chest. He could only imagine how shocked and hurt Ellie had been when she'd seen the room. "I really fucked up."

"You did," Scott agreed. There was no reason to sugar coat things anymore. At the same time, he could feel the anxiety radiating off his brother. Reaching over, he put his hand on Chris's shoulder and squeezed. "You're here now. That's what's important."

Turning to look at his brother, Chris felt the weight of the last eight months on his shoulders. Not only had he lost Ellie, but he'd effectively lost his own brother, too. Both because of his own stupidity.

"I'm sorry for being a jackass," he told Scott.

"I know you are and I forgive you," Scott replied with a smile. "I'll try not to rub it in your face. Too much anyway."

Chris rolled his eyes and pulled his brother in for a hug.

"So what's your plan?" Scott asked, once they'd parted.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Chris told him. 

"You mean call her, right?" Scott responded. The idea of Chris just showing up at Ellie's apartment left him uneasy. Assuming his brother knew where she lived.

"No, I'm going to go find her and talk to her," Chris replied with a shake of his head. "We both know I'm eight months too late to just call her like everything is fine between us."

"You can't just show up, Chris," Scott insisted. "You should give her some sort of warning that you're wanting to fix things. A phone call would be the best way to do that."

"That's assuming she hasn't blocked my number," Chris pointed out. "And on the off chance she hasn't, who says she would even answer the call? Or that she won't hang up when she realizes I'm the one calling?"

"She hasn't and she won't," Scott assured him. He knew Ellie hadn't blocked or deleted Chris's number because he'd looked when he'd seen her the other day. As for the second part, he was certain that she would answer the phone for Chris. If only to make sure that everyone was ok.

"I have to talk to her in person," Chris stated in a tone of finality. "Even if it's just to tell her I'm sorry."

Scott sighed, but nodded his head, as if giving his permission, which meant a lot to Chris. He knew that Scott and Ellie had gotten closer during his absence and Scott had been there for her. Oddly enough, he even appreciated the balancing act his brother was doing to protect Ellie but also help him.

"I don't suppose you'd give me her address," Chris asked, hesitantly. He didn't want to cause problems between his brother and Ellie, especially if things didn't work out for the two of them, but it was worth a try.

"I don't know her address," Scott replied. It wasn't a lie, exactly. He didn't know the address of her apartment or even the address of the bookstore. He could tell Chris where Ellie's apartment was, but he didn't want Chris to catch Ellie off guard. Like his brother, she needed time to process things and having Chris just show up on her doorstep would not be ideal.

"Then I guess I'll start at the bookstore," Chris reasoned. "That's where I was planning to start anyway." He frowned as a thought crossed his mind. "She still works at the bookstore, right?"

"Yes," Scott told him, making a mental note to call the bookstore when he had the chance to give them a heads up. "They have later hours right now because of the holidays. You'll probably want to go on Monday. That tends to be their slow day, though with Christmas right around the corner, that might be different."

"I'm going tonight," Chris stated. "And I knew about the later hours, I saw it on their website. I plan on getting there right before closing time."

"Oh," Scott said, hoping his voice sounded calm despite the panic that Chris's words had caused. Then he remembered that Ellie wasn't working that night. He couldn't remember exactly what she was doing, but he thought it had to do with the afterschool program she'd been helping with. Possibly a Christmas party? Whatever it was didn't matter. All that mattered was that someone else would be at the bookstore and she would get a heads up that Chris was looking for her before they met. He wondered if Ellie would believe him if he sent her a text in the morning saying that Chris had shown up at the house.

"... and that's my plan," Chris's voice trailed off.

Scott blinked and then coughed awkwardly as he realized he'd missed Chris's plans while panicking. "Uh, sounds like you have it all planned out then," he said, hoping his voice didn't give anything away.

"Yeah, I guess," Chris replied, nodding, his mind on his plan. He'd spent hours formulating it and it was almost time to put it into action. He took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the disaster that was his closet. "I suppose I should deal with this."

"Good idea," Scott said, his mind on making the phone call. "I'll let you do that. I need to go make a phone call anyway."

It wasn't until Scott had left that Chris felt the weight of the pressure he'd succumbed to the night he'd walked away. Unlike that night, however, his heart was able to push past his chaotic thoughts. Starting with the overturned hamper, he picked it up, thankful that someone had taken care of the dirty clothes that had been in there.

It took him a couple hours to get everything picked up and the clothes from his suitcases put away. The hardest part of it all had been the sweatshirts that Ellie had borrowed from him. He smelled each one, hoping they'd still smell like her, but they didn't.

Around two in the afternoon, he gave in to the mental and physical exhaustion he was feeling and laid down for a nap. He slept for a couple of hours and woke up feeling a little groggy, but also recharged.

Hearing his stomach growl, he made his way downstairs and found the house empty. Going into the kitchen, it took him a few minutes to remember where he had moved things to in the kitchen, but eventually he had what he needed to make himself a sandwich.

With hours to kill, he thought about going downstairs to watch tv, but he wasn't sure he was ready for that. At least, not on his own. The basement, even more so than his bedroom, held so many memories for himself and Ellie. It was where they had built their friendship and where it had grown to be more.

Instead, he went back upstairs to take a shower before trying to figure out what to wear. All black seemed too dramatic, but he didn't feel right wearing anything she'd told him she loved seeing him wear. The goal of tonight was for her to see that he was back in town and for him to at least apologize to her. He hoped that she would give him a couple minutes to explain things, but he didn't want to push her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with.

He spent the remaining time going over every aspect of his plan. He purposely hadn't written down what he wanted to say, because he didn't want it to sound rehearsed, but he had a general idea. If all went well, Ellie would be at the shop when he got there and then he'd either talk to her or make plans to talk to her another time.

He felt nervous, but oddly calm at the same time. He was as ready as he'd ever be.

With two hours until closing time, he left the house and made his way to the Los Angeles neighborhood that the bookstore was in. He gave himself more than enough time to get there, not wanting to risk getting stuck in traffic and getting there after they closed for the night.

As it was, he got there a good forty-five minutes before closing time and stopped for coffee before finding a parking spot in front of the shop. He sipped his coffee as he waited, mentally going over everything he wanted to say to Ellie. Assuming she let him talk and didn't run him out of the shop.

With five minutes left until closing time, Chris got out of the car and made his way to the shop. The bells jingled above his head as he came inside.

"We're closing in -" A friendly voice started to say before switching to a less friendly one when he came into sight. "Oh. It's you."

Even though he'd never met Veronica, the shop owner, he knew that was exactly who the middle aged woman was. "You know who I am?" he asked, hesitantly.

"You're Ellie's actor," the woman replied, pursing her lips. "I'd heard you were in town."

"Scott," Chris said, suddenly feeling annoyed with his brother. Obviously that had been the mysterious phone call he'd had to make. "Look, I'm just -"

"I know you're trying to find Ellie," Veronica interrupted him. "Go sit in the break room. I'll be with you in a minute."

Confused, Chris followed her directions and made his way into the break room. It was as he stepped into the back room that he picked up on a familiar scent that rocked him to his core. Ellie had been here or maybe her scent was just imprinted on the place since she worked here. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed the smell until now.

"I dated an actor once," Veronica's voice said from behind him.

Chris turned to face her, waiting for a clue as to how it applied to himself and Ellie.

"It was the worst experience of my life," Veronica continued. "He was the vainest man I'd ever met, in the end. At first, he treated me like a queen. Taking me to parties and events with other famous people. Then something changed and it became hell for me. It's been thirty years and I still can't say one nice thing about him."

"I'm sorry you went through that," he said, still confused. "But you're right, Hollywood is filled with some pompous assholes."

"And are you one of them?" she asked pointedly.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I will admit that I let Hollywood and fame in general get to my head when I was in my twenties, but that's not who I am anymore or who I want to be."

"Ellie and your brother would agree to that, I know," Veronica told him. "Which is the only reason you are in the break room right now and not standing outside."

As she crossed her arms and leveled a protective look at him, Chris realized what was happening. His brother had obviously clued her into the fact that he was back to talk to Ellie, but Veronica had taken it a step farther, wanting to protect Ellie from anymore heartache if she could.

"I fucked up," he said, simply. Obviously, he had mentally prepared to talk to Ellie, not her boss, but if he had to play hardball to get the chance to talk to her, he'd do it. "And I hurt her in the process and I regret that."

"Now you're back," Veronica stated, visually unswayed by his words.

"Now I'm back," he confirmed. "I don't know if I can fix things, but I want to try. If she'll let me."

"And if she won't?" Veronica pressed.

"Then I walk away. Forever," Chris promised. Squaring his shoulders, he added, "I'm not here to tell her I love her. I'm not saying I don't, but I know that my words aren't worth shit to her, to you, to anyone who knew about our relationship."

Veronica's eyebrows rose at his confession, but she didn't interrupt.

"I just need a chance to talk to her," he continued. "My brother wanted me to call her, but I know this conversation has to happen in person. It's been too long for it to happen any other way."

As if triggered by the word 'call', Veronica's phone started to ring. He saw her take it out of her pocket and saw the look of surprise that crossed her face.

"Excuse me for a minute," she said before disappearing into a private office and closing the door.

Sighing, Chris sank down into a chair at the table. Dealing with an overprotective boss was not something he had planned. Let alone his brother tipping off said boss. That said, he was happy that Ellie had people looking out for her.

Hearing the door open, he saw Veronica putting on a coat.

"Mr. Evans, you are lucky that I believe in fate," she told him as she turned off the lights in the office. "I assume you brought your car?"

"Uh, yes," he replied, more confused than ever, as he stood up.

"Good, Ellie needs us," she told him. "I'll let you drive."

"Is she ok?" he asked as he followed Veronica out of the building via the door in the alley.

"She's fine, but Santa just called saying he was going to the ER for appendicitis," Veronica explained as she locked up. 

"Santa?" Chris repeated. What the hell was she even talking about?

"The costume should fit you," Veronica continued as if not hearing him. She led him down the alley and to the street.

"Wait? You want me to dress up as Santa?" Chris said, finally catching up. Sort of.

"Yes," Veronica replied, turning to look at him. "Unless everything you said in the break room was a lie."

"It wasn't," he said firmly, finally knowing something for certain.

"Good." Veronica nodded as they reached his car, the only one parked in front of the bookstore. "The community center is a ten minute drive from here. We'll need to hurry though. The kids are expecting Santa and Mrs. Claus to hand out presents."

Head still spinning in confusion, Chris followed her directions to the community center. Then found himself ushered down a dark hallway to an office.

"Your costume is in there," Veronica told him. She opened a door and all but pushed him inside.

Mind still trying to catch up with what was going on, it took Chris a minute to see the Santa costume hanging on a coat hook. Still not sure what this all had to do with Ellie, he grabbed the red, fake velvet pants and was in the process of pulling them on over his jeans when the door suddenly opened.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a woman dressed as Mrs. Claus come into the room. Her costume consisted of a red velour dress that matched Santa’s costume, a white curly wig and a pair of fake glasses.

Glasses that circled eyes he knew very well.

Eyes that widened when they saw him standing there. 

"Chris," Ellie said in a tone of disbelief.

Episode 26

Want to find me off tumblr? I'm @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

Tag List: @nomadicpixel​, @heather-lynn​, @alievans007​, @mrs-captain-evans​, @stopjustlovethemcu​, @thewannabewriter​, @guera31​, @badassbaker​, @chezdricks​, @patzammit​, @katiew1973​, @zoeloveschrisevans​, @marvelouspottering​, @pegasusdragontiger​, @smoothdogsgirl​, @peaceinourtime82​, @ek823​, @anionthewrite​, @mizzzpink​, @giftofdreams, @janeyboo​, @princess-evans-addict​, @jesseswartzwelder​, @avenger-nerd-mom​, @furrywerewolfcollector​, @ladyamandapanda12​, @gigglegirl77​, @poisonedyouth-americanbeauty​, @jennmurawski13​, @theladybiers​, @rapunzel-flynnrider, @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss, @animnerd​, @tvjunkie08​, @coldmuffinbanditshoe​

My tag list is always open, just let me know if you’d like to be added!

[send-me-your-hcs]

Sweeter Than Sugar

a collab fic with @ceratonia-siliqua

Summary: Tony is a man of refinement. Only the best, the highest quality specimens get added to his collection. Peter, a beautiful and very rare male omega, quickly becomes his favorite of all his pets. The perfect omega deserves an equally-perfect alpha. (Or: An a/b/o au where pet owner!Tony forcibly mates Peter and Bucky together for his own enjoyment.)

Warnings: Underage, noncon, a/b/o au, forced mating, dark!Tony, confinement, forced pet play dynamics, forced mating/in heat cycles, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.

Read on ao3.

Peter’s kennel is easily the nicest.

Tony takes good care of all his pets, mind you. Unhappy specimens make poor test subjects.

But the ones that catch his eye, his favorites, they get special treatment.

Peter is easily one of them. His precious pet. His little princess. Peter’s the newest addition to his collection, but oh, Tony loves him already. Peter isn’t kept in the basement with the others. Peter’s room is in the middle of Tony’s spacious penthouse suite.

It faces the living room and the floor-to-ceiling windows beyond it. The back wall of the living room has been replaced with a pane of glass, revealing the room behind it, Peter’s pretty little cell. Tony pulled out all the stops for his youngest, littlest, sweetest omega. The only boy in Tony’s whole collection. Male omegas are rare; ones as delectable as Peter Parker are even more so, and deserve the best treatment possible.

Tony stands on the other side of the glass, smiling as he surveys the room. In the center, Peter’s luxurious pet bed sits like a centerpiece. It’s only about a foot off the ground, oval-shaped, like most pet beds are, but large enough for ten pets Peter’s size to fit comfortably. The round mattress is set in a hardwood frame that matches its size and shape, the lip of the frame rising an inch or so higher than the edge of the mattress, enclosing it, keeping it nice and secure where it belongs.

Hanging from the ceiling above the bed is a circular canopy, draping beautiful, sheer-white curtains over almost the entire bed. Twinkling fairy lights are strung up within the white canopy, making it glow and glitter like the pretty little princess bed it is.

There are two doors to Peter’s kennel. The first is on the right-side wall, leading to the rest of Tony’s penthouse. Tony keeps this door locked always, though Peter can’t reach it anyway. The second door is in the back corner, leading to the boy’s small ensuite bathroom. Peter’s chain gives him more than enough room to reach the toilet and bathtub - in fact, he can reach everything in the room, except the exit door.

Peter’s bed faces the glass wall, faces the living room and the windows. Tony stands on the other side of the panes and watches the little thing, timidly curled up in his mountain of baby blankets and pillows. Beside Peter’s bed is his toy chest, a decorative white box full of books, games, toys he thought the boy might like. Peter’s only opened it once since he was brought here and didn’t touch a thing inside.

On the other side of his bed is his little table, a hand-carved coffee table Tony repurposed for his pet to eat at. The table only comes up to Peter’s knees, though Tony made sure to place a plush pink cushion on the floor in front of it for his baby to sit on. Peter’s pink, sparkly metal dishes are magnetically stuck to the top of the table, the pull strong enough to ensure Peter can’t cheat and lift the bowls to eat from. His pet has to kneel and eat from his dishes like the precious little puppy he is.

The walls are somewhat decorated; Peter’s name is spelled out in pink wooden blocks hanging on the otherwise grey back wall. More fairy lights frame both doorways, making the room feel warmly-lit and feminine. A pastel rug is spread out on the marble floor in front of Peter’s toy chest, matching the white and pink color scheme of the rest of the room. It’s a small, simple kennel, but easily the nicest one Tony’s designed.

Peter is a shy little thing. He tried to hide in the bathroom at first, but Tony simply turned the AC up in the small room to freeze Peter out. Now, the boy spends hours sitting in his pretty pet bed, clawing at his collar, a charming metal band around his neck with a pastel-pink ruffled bow and a little bell in the front. At the back, Peter’s chain trails from his collar to the left wall, furthest from the exit door, where it’s fused to the cement beneath two layers of gunmetal grey paint. Alpha-tested and unbreakable. Peter yanks at it until his neck is pink and swollen and Tony’s mouth is watering.

He chooses Peter’s mate very carefully. Any official, by-the-books mating service worth its salt would be manically concerned about pairing Peter up. In general, omegas are small, petite little things, averaging around 5’2 in height and hardly passing 100lbs. Tall omegas stand at a whopping 5’5 or 5’6, whereas short omegas, like his darling little Peter, sit pretty at 4’11 and need three full meals a day to weigh 95lbs.

An authorized matchmaker would never consider an alpha taller than 6’2 for an omega as tiny as Peter. Alphas tend to be the polar opposite to omegas in stature; with increased muscle mass and superior height, almost all alphas tower over omegas and betas alike. It’s not unusual to find hulking, intimidating alphas nearing 7’5, weighing in at 300lbs of pure deadly muscle. Since alphas tend to have knots proportionately sized to their height and weight, an alpha anywhere near that size would almost certainly be a death sentence for Peter.

Tony doesn’t choose one quite that big.

He does pick an impressive specimen though. He considered Steve, blond and gorgeous, 6’11 with a cock long and thick like a bat. Steve is sweet enough to deserve his prized Peter, but he lacks a certain...unique quality, that Tony’s after. A certain...animalistic trait.

He considered Thor, too, who is closer to his ideal mate: standing at an impressive 7’1 and 315lbs of biceps and abs, Thor is both kind and vicious, a warrior and a lover all at the same time. Sadly, though, he is truly too big; his massive cock, while impressive, swells up to the size of a football when he knots, and poor itty bitty Peter simply would not survive such a breeding.

But then he considers Bucky.

Bucky is beautiful. A truly breathtaking animal. He’s merely 6’9, the lower end of average height for an alpha, but he’s thick in all the right places. He has the muscle, the strength. He exudes the animalistic qualities Tony’s after. Bucky, simply put, is a beast. Cold and hard and difficult to break. He doesn’t have the gentle disposition, the sweet nature Tony wants Peter to be showered with, but his massive pair of balls hangs heavy and foreboding between his legs, and the sight of them always makes Tony’s mouth water. Oh, how he’s waited so long to watch Bucky empty that massive set of balls inside a terrified, trembling omega.

Peter deserves the sweet, compassionate embrace of a caring alpha afterwards, however, and Bucky has shown zero sign of being able to provide such a service.

Oh well. Tony will just have to comfort his little pet himself.

Peter scrambles away from him when Tony enters his cell. The little thing is skittish like a stray cat and it’s ceaselessly adorable. Using the chain fastened to the wall, Tony reins Peter in like a cowboy lassoing a bull, pulling Peter from his nest until he surrenders and crawls towards Tony on his own to spare his aching throat.

Tony smiles and showers him in pets as a reward. He easily presses the whimpering, thrashing boy to the floor, face down, and slips his special pill inside Peter’s naked backside. Peter whines and tries to dig it out, but as a beta, Tony is larger and his fingers are much longer than Peter’s; he buries the heat inducer far inside Peter’s pretty pink hole, soon to be wet and gaping like a female omega’s pussy, and withdraws his fingers.

While he waits for the drug to take effect, Tony pulls a struggling Peter into his lap and gently works him open. Bucky is a brute and will doubtfully take the time to spread his poor pet open at all, let alone prep him, before he succumbs to the tempting aroma of Peter’s heat. His long, thick, intimidating alpha cock will definitely hurt Peter’s untouched little pussy, especially when he pops that fat baseball of a knot inside his little body and empties those massive balls inside Peter’s heat-slick hole like it’s his own personal come-sock.

Tony’s a good pet owner, so he takes his time and slowly stretches Peter’s tight, twitching rim until the drug has fully kicked in and Peter is trying to ride his fist like a desperate slut. “Don’t worry, little one,” Tony soothes him, withdrawing his hand from Peter’s slick-soaked ass, “Your alpha will be here soon to make it all better.”

He leaves Peter curled up, sobbing in his bed, desperately trying to fuck himself on his own fingers to make the aching stop. Tony wastes no time heading to the sub-basement, where he stops at Bucky’s similar, but much less homey cell. Its shape is identical to Peter’s - three grey cement walls, one made of glass to allow Tony to see inside, two doors, a bed, a table, a box full of entertainment. Bucky’s kennel is colorless and lacks the loving, personal touches Peter’s has, but he doubts Bucky minds. If he does, the alpha’s never complained.

Not about the decor, at least.

Tony smiles. Bucky’s been here long enough to know not to fight the blindfold or the cuffs, even though he’s clearly confused. He scents the honey-sweet aroma of Peter’s heat clinging to the fabric of Tony’s suit and almost nuzzles against Tony’s chest, which makes him laugh. Bucky is exactly a foot taller than him and broad enough to snap Tony like a twig if he isn’t careful, but he always is.

By the time they get back up to the penthouse, Bucky is increasingly restless. Tony grins as the alpha’s massive, eager cock fills out, bobbing between his legs, red and wet and ready. His balls hang swollen and heavy, swinging with every shambling step the alpha takes, looking perfectly full of hot alpha come that Tony can’t wait to see pumped inside of his favorite pet.

Bucky groans like a dying man when Tony shoves him inside of Peter’s kennel. He hits the floor, kneeling obediently while Tony attaches his chain to the ring beside Peter’s own. He shakes with need and desperation as his cuffs are removed, Tony not fearing for his own safety as biology runs its course, as instincts take over. He removes Bucky’s blindfold and steps back.

Bucky looks up. Sees Peter, in his pretty princess bed, whining and fucking himself on his tiny fingers.

Tony ceases to exist in the alpha’s mind, along with everything else.

Smirking, Tony leaves the cell, locking the door behind him. He walks around the corner into the living room, drawing the tall curtains shut so he can watch the show unimpeded by the setting sun’s glare. He takes a seat in his favorite armchair, lifts his glass of scotch, and settles in to watch the show as Bucky approaches his pretty new mate.

It really is a sight to behold. The sheer difference in stature is enough to have shivers running up his spine as he swirls the scotch at the bottom of his glass. Bucky knows better than to walk on two legs. The beast crawls with the gait of a predator, long smooth strides that show off the muscles beneath that taunt skin. Maybe it’s dangerous keeping such strong beings around, but Tony has enough experience to twist it back on them. His alphas don’t fight back, not anymore. He treats them well, taking no pleasure in their suffering. They obey because the rewards are always sweet and his hand gentle if they show him the same. 

Brought out of his thoughts by the fearful little noise of his sweet princess, he pulls himself up a little straighter. A groan escapes from his own mouth as he watches the massive, ripe globes of Bucky’s balls swing and slam across the inner thigh of their owner. Prize winners right there, not even Thor could compare to them. A selfish favorite of Tony’s. 

Peter has taken off from his bed, the little thing so fearful even in his heat. Tony has to remind himself that his pet is young, likely hasn’t ever seen a mature alpha let alone one as perfectly designed as Bucky. The chase is normal, healthy even. Peter is a baby in practically every way, about to be fucked by a prized stud and taken as his mate, the anxiety is bound to be there. 

He watches as they begin their little dance. Sensing a chase coming on, Bucky has lowered onto his haunches and sprung up on his toes, coiled to pounce even as it slows him down. Peter is nimble, small and light, able to maneuver around the space with more efficiency. He watches as Peter makes a few little kitten pounces, pulling a chuckle from him. Such a darling his Peter is, maybe ‘kitten’ would have been a more apt nickname. 

Dancing out of his way, Peter keeps a surprisingly good lead for an omega clearly burdened by heat. But Bucky is older and, even unmated, knows instinctively how to wait out the feisty little morsel before him. It doesn’t take long. Only a few minutes pass before the heat starts to overtake the adrenaline rush. 

Tony, blessed by whatever gods may be out there, has the perfect view of Peter’s delicate little rear. Watches as a fresh spurt of slick splashes out of his hole and onto the floor. A messy puddle forms between those trembling knees. Peter’s hole looks delectable, the rim drooping into a pout as it hungrily mouths at the air. The boy needs to be stuffed, badly, and Bucky has clearly picked up on that, even without the stunning visual Tony has been provided. 

A high, panting whine escapes Peter. It is heart-wrenching, even on the ears of a beta. Bucky seems to agree as he lets out a soothing rumble, a move that surprises Tony. 

Peter’s body loosens for a split second and that’s all the alpha needs. Two-hundred-some pounds are flying through the air and before he can blink, Peter is pinned to the floor. Tony is blessed with a perfect shot of the action, Peter’s thighs pinned between Bucky’s as his balls kiss the glass. 

The crying is expected; it isn’t from pain, but fear. His princess is mounted like a bitch. A few messy humps smear precome all over the boy’s cheeks before sinking deep into his body in one smooth glide. 

Tony has to pop the button on his slacks, needing the room as his cock hardens like a rock. Peter is stuffed so full of cock that even from the porn-shot angle Tony is getting, he can see a little pouch form from the rod inside him rearranging his insides. 

His pussy is stretched so tight it clings to Bucky as he pulls his hips back. There are moments Tony worries the omega is going to be turned inside out, but his body is resilient and he takes it like a champ. Specks of slick and precome stain the glass as the wild thrusts throw fluid everywhere. The slapping of Bucky’s balls across Peter’s ass is loud and vulgar to listen to, the jingling of Peter’s bell nearly drowned out by the sound. The boy jumps as the heavy sack overwhelms his own and gives him a nice solid surface to grind on. 

It doesn’t take long for Peter to get on board. He can hear little, “Alpha! Alpha!!”’s from him as he grinds back. With no name, his pet is forced to refer to Bucky as some faceless brute, there to ravage his pussy and claim him. 

Tony knows the second Bucky attempts a bite and when the next one is successful. Peter trembles and twitches like he’s been shocked. Annoyed that he’s missing out, he gets up and leans on the glass. Bucky, threatened by the presence, moves them to where he can keep an eye on Tony. Sitting back down, he now has a perfect view of that little angel face as his insides are mixed and turned to goo. 

Peter makes some of the best faces he’s seen in a long time. Slack-jawed and cock hungry but still maintaining its innocence, Peter looks like a wet dream. Perfect cock-sucking lips, coated in his own drool and eyes glazed over with heat, he can’t help himself. 

“JARVIS, take a close up shot. Several angles, include the face.” 

The clicking of the camera lets him know the job is being done. A lovely little photo to add to his collection. 

He can sense things coming to a close as Peter is suddenly more awake, the press of Bucky’s knot surely now providing additional stimulation. Peter can’t seem to make up his mind if he wants to beg for it or beg for mercy, clearly torn between the two. He doesn’t get much of a choice as the now-rutting alpha above him jackhammers his hips down. 

The exact moment his pet is claimed, taking his first knot, is something Tony will never forget. 

Eyes rolling back, head bowing as the boy’s spine curls. His little cocklet shooting as Bucky’s whole form jerks and shudders, emptying gallons of come into that tight little body. 

“Bucky, present.” All the alphas were trained to do it, but now more than ever is he glad he’s pounded it into Bucky’s head as well. 

Bucky swivels, dragging Peter with him, still attached via the knot. He lifts his hips high, high enough that it takes Peter’s knees off the ground. 

He gets a few snapshots on his phone. Trembling, shaking legs hover over the marble as the cock holds him suspended off the ground. The boy is thoroughly fucked, his pussy, having swollen, now pulses a bright red color from blood and arousal. Come is streaming down his thighs, streams running races down his delicate calves and dripping down his feet. Drops of come dribble off his toes and onto the floor. Bucky’s balls, often so swollen Tony has forgotten that isn’t their natural state, are slightly smaller. Now deprived of their load, the skin goes from taut, glossy, and flaming red, to relaxed, slightly wrinkled, and a softer tan color. It is a sight.

Tony almost doesn’t want to let Peter down, but this won’t be the last time he’s graced with such a sight. Bucky is still placing bites across the boy’s shoulders, clearly intending to claim and keep him. 

And well, if Bucky likes him so much, why not let him keep the sweet little doll?

He watches Bucky carry his little omega to Peter’s spacious bed, curling up with him amongst the nest of blankets, the alpha’s knot still tying them together. He pumps his hips a few more times, compulsively emptying every drop of his seed inside his mate’s pliant body, repeating the action now and then.

Peter has gone limp, seemingly unconscious, except for the way he shyly nuzzles Bucky’s face whenever the alpha bends down to lick at his mating bite. It’s sweet. The two of them are endlessly adorable, and Tony is more than pleasantly surprised at how gentle Bucky’s being with his prized pet.

They’ve earned the right to spend the night together. Tony’s not heartless; he wouldn’t separate a newly-bonded pair the moment they’re no longer tied together. He drains the last of his scotch, turns out the lights, and heads to his own room to take care of the ache still tenting the front of his slacks.

He swipes through photos of Peter’s gorgeous face being bred by a bigger, stronger creature as he touches himself, comes at the scared-happy expression the boy made when Bucky started pumping him full, and falls asleep to the live footage of Bucky quietly gentling his scared new mate, cradling him like the treasure he is and softly fucking him all night long.

[elizabear]

body language will do the trick

OK, so I know this is going to be fully AU in about five seconds when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs, but those couples counseling scenes in the trailer got me WAY TOO EXCITED and I really couldn't help myself.

Title: body language will do the trick

Rating: Explicit

Category: M/M

Relationship: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes (background Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff)

Additional tags: frenemies to lovers, coworkers to lovers, couples counseling, because sam and bucky can’t stop flirting at work, post-avengers endgame, but it’s au because, steve rogers isn’t old, and natasha romanoff lives, captain america sam wilson, shield agent bucky barnes, past steve rogers/bucky barnes, but it’s minor, bucky and sam fall in love, but COMPETITIVELY, oral sex, anal sex, tender railing, idiots in love, praise kink

Words: 12,598

Link to AO3: here

Summary:

“There’s no way you’re going to win this,” Bucky tells Sam. “I am going to love language the shit out of you.”

Sam gives him a considering look. “You do seem like you’d be really good at that.”

Bucky’s cheeks flush with heat. “Thanks, pal, I—”

Sam smirks, and Bucky’s eyes narrow. He shoves his elbow into Sam’s side and stalks off, leaving Sam cackling behind him.

“Your ass looks great today!” Sam yells.

Bucky reaches up to flip Sam the bird, and he definitely does not feel grateful that he wore his good jeans today. Bucky’s ass looks great every day.

Bucky Barnes is pretty sure that these counseling sessions—supposedly for Bucky and Sam’s “interpersonal issues”—are Director Fury’s revenge for that whole fake assassination situation. Which, to be fair to Fury, came about as the result of Bucky’s very real assassination attempt, even if the subsequent “assassination” was fake, so Bucky can’t exactly blame Fury there. What Bucky doesn’t understand is why their possibly-fake counselor—is she a real counselor, or just another one of Fury’s spies?—chooses to conduct her “therapy” sessions in the unlikely and frankly suspicious location of an underground bunker.

Dr. Carson’s therapy bunker is probably just a temporary location, since usable office facilities with running water and electricity are still pretty limited after the Blip, but Bucky was definitely under the impression that modern American therapists’ offices were supposed to be more soothing than this. He’d expected a bland but tasteful space filled with a cushy sofa and watercolor paintings and the calming sounds of nature recordings. Instead, Bucky and Sam are sitting in uncomfortable chairs in a dim room with bare cement walls and unflattering fluorescent lighting. Is Fury even trying to sell this fake counseling op?

Bucky and Sam’s counselor/interrogator is most definitely hostile. Although Dr. Carson looks lovely in her delicate green silk blouse and expensive silk scarf, her expression is stern and sour. She’s styled her glossy dark hair neatly, in gentle waves that summon a distant memory of the way women used to wear their hair in the 1940s, and Bucky wonders if this is Dr. Carson’s authentic style or if it’s just part of another SHIELD spy game, meant to trick or manipulate Bucky into confiding in Dr. Carson because she looks familiar and nonthreatening.

Bucky considers it an insult to the memory of Peggy Carter if Fury thinks he could’ve worked with Carter for two years in the SSR and still underestimate a woman just because she has nice hair and a pretty outfit.

Also, if Dr. Carson’s trying to lull Bucky into a false sense of security, why is she doing it in this weird basement?

Honestly this whole counseling thing really does seem like it’s secretly just a poorly planned interrogation.

Like right now. Dr. Carson asks, “Are you having a staring contest?” and Bucky isn’t going to disclose valuable intel by admitting that while Sam is definitely having a staring contest with him, Bucky is just using this as an excuse to look into Sam’s eyes, which are warm and brown and make Bucky feel all sorts of confusing things. Bucky is trained to resist interrogation, and that piece of information definitely falls under the category of “unexpected and alarming potential weaknesses.”

Also Bucky’s still sort of figuring out how he feels about Sam’s whole eye and face and shoulder situation, so the staring contest is actually a pretty great cover for whatever the fuck is really going on with him. Half of successfully surviving an interrogation is letting your captors fill in the blanks themselves and then pretending like their waterboarding is the worst thing you’ve ever endured.

Unfortunately, while Bucky is congratulating himself on successfully maintaining operations security—and winning their staring contest, no reason he can’t do both at once—Dr. Carson seems to reach her limit for the amount of shit she’s willing to endure from them today.

“You’re not taking this seriously.” Dr. Carson shoots them with a hard glare. “I’m giving you a five minute break, and if you’re not ready to open up and work on your communication and compatibility issues, I’m going to have to advise Fury to put you both on leave.”

Bucky’s fine with being put on leave, and he’s fully prepared to wait out SHIELD, Fury, and Dr. Carson. It took HYDRA fifteen years to break him down enough to send him out on missions, and no matter how much they tortured him Bucky didn’t shed so much as a single tear until they showed him newspaper headlines about what a bad pilot Steve turned out to be.

Also, Bucky’s not entirely sure that he’s not actually immortal, so he figures his patience will probably far outlast Fury’s determination to punish him for shooting him a few times when he didn’t even die. Actually, now that Bucky thinks about it, Fury’s probably less mad about the whole fake assassination thing than he is about Steve forcing him to offer Bucky a job and then grit out the most begrudging apology Bucky has ever heard in his life for SHIELDRA holding Bucky hostage as a brainwashed assassin while Fury was the Director of SHIELD. Right in front of Captain Marvel, too, Fury’s favorite Avenger, who had looked very disappointed in him. Apparently Danvers had her own history as a superpowered amnesiac brainwashed into working for the bad guys? Bucky’s unclear on the details, but when Danvers’s mouth tightened and her head shook in dismay, Nick Fury’s shoulders had slumped like a chastened schoolboy.

God, Steve is such a dick sometimes. Bucky loves him so much.

Dr. Carson’s high heels make clipped little clicking noises that speak volumes about her frustration with them as she strides purposefully out of the room. As soon as she closes the door, so firmly that Bucky can just tell that she had to have put conscious, controlled effort into not slamming it behind her, Bucky turns to Sam with a satisfied grin.

“Well, I think we’re doing great,” Bucky says. “SHIELD’s going to have to work a lot harder to get any real intel out of us, and I was definitely promised that they wouldn’t be using any drugs or brainwashing techniques this time so I think we’re going to nail this whole interrogation.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “This is therapy, man, not an interrogation. We’re supposed to be, like, opening up and becoming a better team.”

“Yeah, well, if this is real therapy then where are the goats?” Bucky says, raising an eyebrow toward the most likely location of the nearest camera as if to say gotcha, Fury, your goatless fake therapy interrogation tactic isn’t fooling me.

“I’m sorry, goats? Why would there be goats?”

Bucky leans back in his chair and folds his hands behind his head. “I’m just saying, in Wakanda I always got to hang out with animals when I did therapy. And look how great that turned out! I hardly ever kill anyone anymore, and when I do it’s on purpose because I decided to. Anyway, I really feel like this is all just a plot by SHIELD to find out why we—”

Bucky and Sam bicker for a while about whether or not this is real therapy until they’re interrupted by Dr. Carson’s return, her face looking a little damp now, like maybe she spent her time away from them splashing water on it and doing some deep breathing exercises in the bathroom.

“OK,” says Dr. Carson, visibly relaxing her spine. “We’re going to take a new approach. Have you heard of the five love languages?”

Sam’s eyes widen in horror. “No, we are not doing the five love languages.”

Bucky hasn’t heard of the five love languages, but he can tell from the look on Sam’s face that they definitely don’t want to do this, and Bucky’s pretty good at improvising when he needs to. “Oh, you know, I think HYDRA already implanted the five love languages in my brain when they were doing the rest of the Romance languages. So we can just skip those, I already know them.”

Bucky offers Dr. Carson his blandest and most innocent smile, the same one that sometimes worked on Sister Mary Angela back at old St. Charles Borromeo, but Dr. Carson’s face remains as stony and unmoved as the church itself, still standing in Brooklyn Heights in the year of our Lord 2023. Instead she says, “I think we need to take a couples therapy approach.”

“Couples therapy,” Sam repeats, sinking lower in his chair. Bucky winces as Sam’s knee starts to crush his balls.

“According to this file,” Dr. Carson says, opening it up to read aloud, “the two of you are here because your colleagues have complained about your, quote, romantically-charged bickering, your constant flirting, and your unnecessarily sexual sparring.”

Dr. Carson punctuates these damning statements with some truly savage air quotes.

“Listen, when I slap Sam’s bare ass in the locker room after a good sparring session it’s with purely collegial respect for a worthy opponent,” Bucky says, folding his arms across his chest. “I only ever treat Sam with the same level of professional respect I give Steve and Natasha.”

Sam nods in support. “Steve and Natasha never have a problem getting sweaty and physical with us, and I’ve personally witnessed Steve and Natasha slap Bucky’s ass dozens of times.”

Dr. Carson raises a single judgmental eyebrow. “Don’t you think there might be a reason why Fury’s banned the four of you from using the gym at the same time?”

“Uh, yeah,” Bucky says, rolling his eyes. “The other SHIELD agents get intimidated by Sam’s shredded abs and Steve’s and my super strength. Plus everyone’s scared of Natasha.”

Dr. Carson closes her eyes and visibly counts to ten. Bucky can see her mouth forming the words.

“All right, we’re just going to move on here, because I’m really only able to deal with just the one dysfunctional relationship at a time.” Dr. Carson passes them some worksheets and pencils. “I want you to fill these out, honestly, and then hand them back to me when you’re done.”

Bucky reads over the worksheets, which are filled with questions like, “Do you like it more when your partner reacts positively to something you’ve accomplished or when they do something for you that you know they don’t particularly enjoy?” There are a lot of questions about hugging, and holding hands, and Bucky gets distracted trying to picture holding hands with Sam, who has big hands, strong and capable and—

“Stop trying to copy my answers,” Sam says, when he notices Bucky glancing over at the way Sam grips his pen as he fills out his worksheet. Sam shoves his knee harder into Bucky’s crotch and Bucky stifles a gasp.

“I’m not!”

“Bucky, stop cheating.” Dr. Carson presses her lips together in a severe frown.

Bucky scowls and scooches his chair back several inches. It makes a loud scraping sound as it drags against the cement floor. But before going back to filling out his form, Bucky gives Sam’s ankle a sharp kick for getting him in trouble with Dr. Carson, and the two of them engage in a brief but brutal silent kicking war below the front of the desk where Dr. Carson can’t see.

When Bucky and Sam finish their kicking war and their quizzes, they hand their worksheets back to Dr. Carson for grading and rub their shins as they wait.

“Bucky, your primary love language is words of affirmation, and your secondary love language is physical touch,” Dr. Carson announces. “And Sam, your primary love language is acts of service, while your secondary love language is quality time.”

Bucky frowns. On the one hand, he feels like he’s received some pretty valuable intel about Sam that he could use to his benefit. But on the other hand, he’s probably given up some valuable intel of his own. He wishes there hadn’t been so many questions that made him think about hugging and touching Sam—somehow those made him so distracted that he forgot to respond with lies.

Bucky’s stomach knots up a bit at the thought of Sam learning his potential weaknesses, but really, how much of a psyop could Sam possibly launch with the results from a couples counseling questionnaire? (Natasha could probably execute a successful psyop based on the information from a Buzzfeed quiz meant to reveal your “celebrity mom,” so Bucky really hopes Sam doesn’t talk to Natasha about this.)

“Your homework is to try to learn to speak each other’s language.” Dr. Carson stands up and walks around the desk to touch Bucky’s shoulder. “Good job today, Bucky.”

Bucky smiles, and the knot in his stomach releases a bit. He is so nailing this therapy thing, he knew he’d be better at it than Sam.

Dr. Carson helps Sam back into his coat as she ushers them toward the door, and Bucky’s pretty sure she’s meant to be modeling an act of service except that mostly it seems like she’s just trying to rush them out of the office.

“See you next week.” Dr. Carson smiles stiffly, like she is not at all looking forward to seeing them next week. Her expression is full of determined professionalism right up until the click of the door latch, and then Bucky hears a dull thudding noise that is pretty unmistakably the sound of Dr. Carson hitting her head against the doorframe.

“There’s no way you’re going to win this,” Bucky tells Sam. “I am going to love language the shit out of you.”

Sam gives him a considering look. “You do seem like you’d be really good at that.”

Bucky’s cheeks flush with heat. “Thanks, pal, I—”

Sam smirks, and Bucky’s eyes narrow. He shoves his elbow into Sam’s side and stalks off, leaving Sam cackling behind him.

“Your ass looks great today!” Sam yells.

Bucky reaches up to flip Sam the bird, and he definitely does not feel grateful that he wore his good jeans today. Bucky’s ass looks great every day.

***

They’re on a mission together the next day, battling some Doombots in New Jersey, and wow is Sam committed to this whole words of affirmation thing.

When Bucky deflects a punch aimed straight for Sam’s head with his vibranium arm, Sam whistles and says, “Nice save, man, you’re killing it today.” Warmth rises up in Bucky’s chest at Sam’s praise, and Bucky is filled with panic and dismay when he realizes that the fight to squash it back down is honestly more taxing than their battle against Doombots. There’s absolutely no reason Bucky should be having such a physical reaction to basic battle camaraderie.

When Bucky stretches his leg up above his head to nail one of the bots with a vicious kick, Sam smirks and gives him a distinct how-you-doing sort of nod. “That was—seriously hot, man. Have you been doing yoga or something?”

So apparently Sam is choosing to interpret words of affirmation as “wild flirtation,” and Bucky’s cheeks are choosing to betray him by radiating at Sam’s attention. Bucky knows there’s a flush spreading down his neck, and he’s hoping Sam will attribute it to exertion from the fight, because there’s no way Bucky can let Sam know that Sam’s sort of winning at their therapy homework—not when Bucky’s entire mental health journey and, like, the honor of the Wakandan animal-assisted therapy program is at stake.

But after they board the Quinjet and set the autopilot on a course back to New York, Sam gives Bucky a slow up-and-down perusal with his eyes, and Bucky feels Sam’s gaze like a physical touch. “You look really good after a fight, Buck. That messed up hair and pretty pink blush are giving me all kinds of ideas.”

Bucky’s cock twitches at that, and huh. Bucky blinks and looks down at his crotch.

So that’s working again.

A dirty smirk spreads across Sam’s face, like maybe Sam knows exactly what just happened inside Bucky’s pants, and fuck, this whole situation is spiraling rapidly out of Bucky’s control. Like, yeah, Bucky kept Sam from getting a pretty gnarly concussion, and that was probably an act of service, right? But it’s pretty clear, to both of them, that Sam is winning this competition, and Bucky is not about to go down without a fight.

Which is—an idea.

Bucky drops to his knees in front of Sam and bites his lip in a way that he knows, instinctively, will make him look hot. Sam inhales sharply in response, and Bucky reaches up to grasp Sam by the hips before he can take a step backwards. The material of Sam’s uniform bunches up and shifts under Bucky’s hands, and fuck, Bucky’s cock is aching now, throbbing and filling up in his tight uniform pants. Bucky forgot he could feel so good.

“What are you doing,” Sam protests in a half-assed sort of way.

“Servicing you,” Bucky replies with a wicked grin, sliding Sam’s zipper down slowly over his thickening cock. Bucky can’t remember if he’s done this before, but the way his mouth waters and his throat aches in anticipation makes him feel pretty fucking confident about how this is going to go down.

But before Bucky can pull Sam’s cock out of his briefs, Sam slides his fingers into Bucky’s hair and tips his head gently backward, using his other hand to tilt Bucky’s chin up to look into Sam’s face. Sam’s pretty brown eyes are already darkening with arousal, but his expression is serious.

“You don’t have to suck my dick for therapy, man.”

Bucky huffs. “Sam, this is the first time my dick’s been hard since 1945. Do you know how many times Steve’s let me watch him jerk off trying to heIp me get hard again? I am definitely not doing this only to win at therapy, pal.”

Sam’s hands freeze in Bucky’s hair and his cock swells visibly in his briefs. “I’m sorry, Steve let you do what now? Dude, I thought Steve was straight.”

“Oh, he’s definitely, like, straight-ish,” Bucky assures Sam, with a little so-so wave of his hand that hopefully conveys the correct amount of ambiguity there. “He’s mostly just a really great friend.”

Sam’s eyes close for a long moment, and then Bucky’s scalp stings when Sam clenches his fist in Bucky’s hair and pulls. “Jesus,” mutters Sam, his voice gruff and husky. “Yeah, OK, baby. Go ahead and suck my dick.”

Bucky’s heart pounds as he pulls Sam’s cock out of his briefs and licks a wet stripe up the length of it, groaning at the feel of Sam’s skin under his tongue. Sam tastes salty with sweat, and his scent is musky and thick after their fight with the Doombots. Bucky teases him for a while, the way he’s seen people do in porn, trailing wet kisses along the shaft and mouthing at the head, and Sam lets out a ragged moan when Bucky’s mouth finally engulfs him. Bucky’s feeling pretty cocky about this, loves the rush of power he feels as Sam’s hips twitch and jerk to keep from thrusting into Bucky’s mouth—but then Sam fucking escalates shit, because Sam is an asshole.

“Christ, you feel good,” Sam murmurs, reaching down to rub his thumb against Bucky’s mouth, stretched wide around Sam’s cock. “You look so pretty with my dick in your mouth.”

And then Bucky’s the one moaning, eyelids fluttering shut and heat coursing down his spine at the sound of Sam’s husky voice. Bucky should have expected Sam to counter his act of service with more words of affirmation, but somehow he wasn’t prepared for the unbearable ache he’d feel at Sam’s dirty talk. Bucky feels inexperienced, outclassed at this sort of sexual warfare, and the only way he can retaliate is by sinking as far down on Sam’s cock as his throat will allow him. He reaches up to grab Sam’s hips, urging him to fuck his mouth, and then he hums a little inside his head to try to tune out the sound of Sam’s praise.

“Fuck,” says Sam. “God, that’s it, baby. You take it so well, Buck. So fucking good for me.”

Bucky whines, his jaw aching, eyes filling with tears as Sam’s cock stretches his mouth open. Sam keeps offering him filthy praise as he slides his mouth up and down Sam’s thick cock, and Bucky doesn’t know why this is doing it for him when all of Steve’s pale skin and strong thighs and big dick couldn’t, but maybe seventy years of torture and captivity have left Bucky with a few new kinks. Or maybe Bucky’s just healing or whatever. Bucky honestly doesn’t care, as long as Sam keeps letting him fill his throat with Sam’s dick.

Sam’s voice is rough when he says, “God, you fucking love it, don’t you,” and Bucky pulls off Sam’s cock just long enough to nod eagerly and gasp for air before diving back in. “Take your dick out, baby. I want you to come sucking my cock.”

Bucky’s rhythm stutters at that, his hand reaching down to pull his cock out of his uniform pants. He wants to be so fucking good for Sam, wants to come just how Sam says, wants Sam to keep telling him how good he looks, how much he loves fucking Bucky’s mouth, how much he likes giving it to him.

Sam’s praise grows hotter and filthier as he gets closer, and Bucky whimpers as he feels his own orgasm approaching. God, he hasn’t come in so long, hasn’t felt that hot rush and that familiar ache in his balls in forever and he wants it, wants to come, he just needs—

“Come on, baby, come for me, I know you can do it, just keep sucking my cock, God, you look so good, baby, don’t stop, don’t stop—”

And Bucky spirals over the edge, cock pulsing and spilling over his fist. He lets out a choked moan around Sam’s dick before his mouth is flooded with bitter, salty fluid. And then Bucky feels so fucking full, like he could drown happily in Sam’s smell and his taste and his fucking words of affirmation.

Fuck.

Bucky definitely did not win that round.

***

The whole blow job thing was an outstanding idea, really, one of Bucky’s best. But fuck, he did not anticipate Sam using that as an opportunity to completely turn the tables and affirm the shit out of him. Bucky can’t help but privately acknowledge to himself that Sam is completely winning at love languages so far.

They’re in counseling the next week, still in Dr. Carson’s depressing therapy bunker, and honestly, Bucky can’t imagine that this setting is good for, like, anybody’s mental health. His therapy in Wakanda always took place outdoors, under the warm African sun, surrounded by the wild, earthy smells of mud and animals and Lake Turkana. It made him feel open and free and connected to nature or whatever. It was peaceful.

Therapy at SHIELD is not very peaceful, especially because Dr. Carson clearly hates them, and she isn’t at all impressed by what Bucky considers some very impressive progress by them. Bucky and Sam are getting along.

“So,” Dr. Carson begins, apparently deciding to just start right off with more hurtful accusations from their colleagues, “according to Carl from the gun range, the two of you have been subjecting your coworkers to your, quote, uncomfortable bickering-slash-foreplay, and Maria Hill reports that you’re still, quote, cluttering up comms during missions with the most embarrassing flirting I have ever heard, I hate it so much.”

Dr. Carson’s air quotes are fucking vicious.

Despite the fact that they’ve only just started their session, Dr. Carson looks tense and aggravated already. She’s wearing another pretty silk blouse today, but her earrings don’t seem to match and it looks like she didn’t bother to curl her hair today. Maybe she just realized that Bucky wasn’t fooled by those forties waves?

Also, even though it’s Friday, Dr. Carson’s giving off a very Monday sort of vibe.

“Sam and I are working on it, OK?” Bucky says, with a mulish set to his jaw. “Obviously I’m doing my best here, but it’s hard to do therapy in a cement basement that gives me flashbacks to 1970s HYDRA facilities where I was tortured. And there aren’t even any pets at all to comfort me. Didn’t you receive the note from my Wakandan therapist stating that I require animals during therapy?”

A blood vessel in Dr. Carson’s forehead throbs, and she raises her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I’ll see if I can get us a room upstairs for our next session, but I’m telling you for the last time that we don’t have any therapy goats.”

“Well, I don’t have any issues doing therapy without goats,” Sam says, like the worst sort of teacher’s pet. God, Sam’s teachers probably loved his charming smile and his quick wit and his stupid handsome face. “Maybe Bucky is using the goats as an emotional crutch.”

“Listen, goat therapy works, OK?” Bucky counts out on his fingers as he lists the many examples of real progress he’s made since his time as a goat farmer in Wakanda. “I started off as an amnesiac brainwashed assassin, and now I have a steady job, a haircut, an apartment leased under my own shell companies, and I only kill people when I want to kill people now. And I wash my hair regularly. And if I don’t wash my hair, I use dry shampoo. And I don’t turn into a mindless killing machine when people speak Russian at me.”

“Dude,” Sam says.

“Anyway, it’s fine if you’re not as good at therapy as me.”

“Not as—not as good at therapy as you? Man, I am a certified peer specialist. I was so good at my own therapy that they let me give other people therapy,” Sam says, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Yeah, in America, where they’re not even familiar with things like advanced goat therapy.” Bucky clucks his tongue and shakes his head. “Did you even keep up with your continuing education requirements while you were fugitives with Steve?”

Sam sinks lower in his seat and frowns. “No. But speaking of Steve,” Sam says, perking up a bit as he follows a new thread of argument. “Whose PTSD recovery was so complete and inspirational that Steve Rogers trusted them with the responsibility of carrying the Captain America shield, hm?”

“Listen, Steve is reckless as shit and he’s so irresponsible with that shield that he’s constantly losing it in rivers and getting it broken by alien supervillains,” Bucky points out. “I’m so recovered that the king of an entire country, a man so responsible that they put him in charge of running literally everything in the most advanced nation on the planet, trusted me with a prosthetic arm powerful enough to crush the skull of an ordinary man with a single blow. Probably even his skull, and he’s been enhanced by some weird plant that makes him even stronger than Steve.”

“Yeah, well, I’m so recovered that—”

Dr. Carson interrupts them here, pinching the bridge of her nose. “OK, listen, I think there’s actually something pretty interesting here in how you each relate your recovery to your ability to wield weapons. Why don’t we stop bickering and discuss that a little further?”

“Yeah, OK,” Bucky mumbles.

Sam sighs heavily. “Fine.”

***

So the blow job thing is working perfectly—like, so perfectly, God, Sam’s dick is amazing—except for the fact that Sam is able to talk the entire time. Words of affirmation spill from Sam’s pretty lips every time Bucky swallows his cock, and Bucky is still fucking losing the love languages competition.

It’s time to create a Pinterest strategy board to figure this thing out.

Bucky is a visual planner, and he believes in tactical flexibility. He might not remember a lot about sex, but there’s tons of porn on the Internet. He just needs to find a couple of ways to service Sam while Sam’s mouth is otherwise occupied. How hard could that be?

After a lot of research and the creation of several Pinterest mood boards, Bucky calls Steve down the hall to his apartment to help him out. They all live in the same building since it has the best security in the city—and Bucky and Natasha are very particular about security—and it makes sense for the four of them to basically live together when they already spend all their time together. When Steve arrives, they head right to Bucky’s bedroom, get undressed, and survey the porn board on Bucky’s laptop.

“OK, so what about sixty-nine,” Steve suggests. “Let’s try that.”

They get themselves into position, mouths hovering over each other’s flaccid dicks like totally normal best friends.

“See, I feel like this works, but is it really servicing Sam if he’s, like, servicing me at the same time?” Bucky flops over onto his back in frustration and worries at his lower lip with his teeth.

Steve nods and tilts his head in thought. “Yeah, I see what you mean. Depending on the grading rubric, the two acts might cancel each other out. How about rimming?”

“I feel like rimming is a great idea, and I definitely want to do that, but how do I shut him up while I do it?”

Steve frowns. “Can you reach up and cover his mouth with your hand? Hold on, let me bend over and we’ll see.” Steve gets on his hands and knees, tilting his ass up for Bucky to simulate a rim job.

“You know, your ass really is kind of amazing.” Bucky takes a moment to admire the jewel of Howard Stark’s empire. “I mean, it was cute as hell when you were little too, but Scott Lang definitely wasn’t wrong in that podcast episode about which superhero has America’s ass. Don’t tell Sam I said that, by the way.”

“Thanks, pal,” Steve says, flashing Bucky a quick grin. “Your ass is great too, Sam’s a lucky guy. Now bend over and pretend to rim me.”

Bucky leans down and uses his hand to cover Steve’s exposed hole, then presses his mouth against the back of his hand to simulate a rim job. He reaches forward with his other arm to see if he can put his vibranium hand over Steve’s mouth. He could—maybe? If he releases the catch on his shoulder?

“I don’t think this is going to work,” Bucky says with a frown. “Here, maybe try getting on your back and holding onto your legs?”

“Like this?” Steve asks, shifting gamely into position. Bucky folds him over and pretends to rim him while covering Steve’s mouth, which—works, actually. And this is probably the most erotic scene Bucky’s ever been a part of—Steve really does look incredible like this—so it’s kind of a shame that it does absolutely nothing whatsoever for Bucky’s dick.

Except then Bucky pictures Sam in Steve’s position, bent over and whining under Bucky’s vibranium hand, and Bucky’s cock gives a little twitch. Fuck.

Bucky sighs and releases Steve with a short nod. “Not bad, pal. I think this one’s gonna work. Let’s write it down.”

They test out a few more positions, taking careful notes on the comfort and degree of mouth coverage of each one. Bucky finds a few more pictures to add to his Pinterest board, and they sort through every image and assign them to the correct position number. Then Bucky and Steve print off their pictures and tape them to Bucky’s wall for inspiration, mapping out a sequence of actions that will lead to orgasms for both Sam and Bucky with a minimum amount of talking on Sam’s part.

Which is a shame, really. Sam’s dirty talk really does it for Bucky.

Still nude, Bucky and Steve stand in front of the vision board and assess the plan.

“I think position two is really going to work,” Steve says, stroking his chin, and Bucky’s brain flashes back to an image of Steve in pretty much this exact pose, assessing a map of HYDRA facilities in Western Europe with no less gravity and passion. God, Steve Rogers is a great fucking friend. “And if you really want to service the guy, I mean, you’ve already got him all loose and open. You might as well give him your dick too, right?”

Bucky nods in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, as long as I keep kissing him, he won’t be able to affirm me too much. I think this really is the winning scenario.”

“Great teamwork, pal,” Steve says, slapping Bucky’s bare ass. “This was fun! Just like the old days.”

Bucky smiles wistfully. “Yeah, there’s nothing like planning an op with The Man With the Plan. Hey, you want to grab dinner after this?”

“Nah,” Steve says, too-casually, angling his pelvis away from Bucky as he pulls his pants back on. “I think I’m gonna go see if Natasha’s busy.”

Bucky grins. “Give her my best.”

“Will do. Love you, pal,” Steve says, giving Bucky a quick kiss before he leaves.

Steve doesn’t bother putting a shirt on before he goes, and Bucky can hear him whistling cheerfully all the way down to Nat’s apartment.

***

Steve and Bucky’s plan was great, so naturally it goes to shit as soon as Sam gets involved.

Bucky’s sucking Sam’s dick, which OK, yeah, wasn’t technically in the plan, but God, Sam’s got such a great dick. How far behind can Bucky really fall in the standings from just one blow job?

“Your mouth feels so fucking good, baby,” Sam says, sliding his long fingers through Bucky’s hair—which Bucky washed before he came over, because he is killing it as a recovered assassin and also because this afternoon Sam grabbed his hips and leaned in, breath hot against Bucky’s ear, and murmured how much he wants to smell Bucky’s shampoo on his pillows tomorrow morning.

Which was both smooth as hell and very convincing. Bucky immediately bought like three more bottles of that shit and accepted Sam’s invitation over to his apartment that night.

So now they’re in Sam’s apartment, and Bucky’s sliding his mouth along Sam’s cock, and Sam’s telling him how much he loves the way Bucky sucks him, loves the way Bucky’s pretty face looks with Sam’s cock in his mouth, lips slick with spit and tears leaking out of his eyes. And then Sam says—

“Are you gonna let me fuck you tonight, baby? Gonna let me see how well you take it?”

And before Bucky knows it, he’s moaning around Sam’s cock and nodding his head, and Sam’s pulling a condom and lube out of the side drawer, and then Bucky’s face down on Sam’s bed, gasping and clenching around Sam’s long fingers.

When Sam finally turns him over and pushes inside him, Bucky feels his brain just—fully vacate his skull. Pleasure buzzes up and down Bucky’s spine like an electric current, and he’s only barely conscious of the wet-sounding gasp that comes out of his mouth when Sam finally slides all the way home.

Sam gives it to him slow and sweet, fucking into him at a dreamy, leisurely pace as Bucky grabs fistfuls of Sam’s sheets and scrabbles at any leverage he can get to try and push back against Sam’s cock. Bucky wants Sam to grab his hips and pound him hard, overwhelm him with stimulation and keep him from sinking under the gentle wave of that languid rhythm. It’s too intimate, too vulnerable, and Bucky’s chest is cracking wide open for Sam to look inside. He’s a little afraid of what Sam might see within him, but instead Sam’s expression is full of awe, his face open and tender as he runs a thumb over Bucky’s cheekbone.

“God, you’re so fucking gorgeous, so fucking sweet for me.”

There’s a lot of eye contact after that, and romantic face touching, and Sam telling Bucky how much he loves the way he feels, loves the way he looks and smells and tastes. Warmth pools deep in Bucky’s gut, spreading through his veins like the burn of whiskey, until Bucky feels like he’s going to burst into flames around Sam’s cock. Instead he comes, long and hard and messy, all over his stomach.

Sam’s eyes are hot as he looks down at the sight of Bucky’s abs covered in pearly fluid, and then he slams his hips into Bucky three more times, hard, before groaning and collapsing on top of him.

Fuck, Bucky thinks.

He takes a few minutes to catch his breath, and then suppresses a half-hearted sigh when he realizes that he completely blew the plan. Like, yes, that was some fucking amazing sex, Sam gave him the dicking of a lifetime, but somehow Bucky ended up even further behind in the love language competition. How does Sam keep winning?

It’s too late now to offer another act of service. Even if Bucky could get it up again, Sam definitely couldn’t.

Shit.

But wait, what was Sam’s secondary love language? Quality time? Perfect.

Bucky rolls over to give Sam a few open-mouthed kisses on his shoulder. Sam is sweaty from exertion, and he tastes salty and amazing. God, Sam is the best.

“You mind if I stay the night, sweetheart?” Bucky murmurs.

Sam’s lips curve up in a soft and pleased smile. “Yeah, baby, I was hoping you would.”

“C’mere, you can be the little spoon,” Bucky says, reaching around Sam’s waist to reel him in, and Sam huffs out a surprised grunt and then a happy sigh when Bucky wraps his arms and leg around him.

They fall asleep within minutes, and it turns out Sam really was into the smell of Bucky on his pillows because they fuck again in the morning, and this time Bucky forgets to keep track of who’s winning at therapy homework.

***

They fuck constantly after that, which is amazing, but unfortunately Bucky is still staying in this game only by the skin of his teeth. Like, yes, Bucky is performing acts of service for Sam on the regular, but somehow Bucky finds his self-control dissolving like sugar melting into caramel when Sam spreads him out under his dirty mouth and his clever hands.

So now when Sam collapses on top of him at night, fucked out and shaking, Bucky nuzzles his face into the back of Sam’s neck and wraps his arm around him to pull him close. Bucky stays the night, every night, and at work he sticks to Sam more tightly than one of Steve Rogers’s t-shirts. But the more quality time Bucky offers Sam, the more acts of service Bucky ends up performing—which, sure, sounds like a plan that would put Bucky pretty solidly in the lead, except for how Bucky always ends up a sobbing, needy mess dripping onto Sam’s sheets while Sam smirks and tells him how good Bucky is for him.

They fight together even better now, in sync in a way that Bucky hasn’t felt since he worked with the Howling Commandos, and when they finish a skirmish they turn to each other, flushed and grinning, flying high on adrenaline and oxytocin and arousal. They kiss savagely, mouths wet and open, and they don’t care who hears them pant and groan over the comms.

“God, you were so fucking hot—”

“Sam, yes, god, please—”

Bucky and Sam have died and come back to life already this year and somehow they’re still bringing each other back to life. Bucky swaggers through SHIELD headquarters with champagne flowing through his veins, bright and bubbly, and Fury yells at them twice for passing dirty notes to each other during briefings. They’re obnoxious about it, obvious and messy and shameless, and Bucky’s pretty sure that Maria Hill is going to resign in protest if she has to work surveillance for even one more of their ops.

Somehow they’re generating even more complaints to HR than before.

***

Dr. Carson has finally managed to find them a room with a window for their counseling sessions. They’re on the fifth floor, and there’s not much of a view—just the brick wall of the building next to them—but sunlight streams in through the sheer curtains and highlights the cut ridges of Sam’s frankly incredible cheekbones. God, Sam’s so fucking handsome.

Bucky and Sam are grinning broadly, but Dr. Carson looks stressed out and irritated today, even though they just started the appointment. Her hair is stringy and a little greasy at the roots, and Bucky wonders if Dr. Carson knows about dry shampoo. He isn’t sure how to ask, or if it would be rude to offer her a few sprays from the travel bottle he keeps in one of the pockets of his tactical pants? She’s still wearing a nice silk blouse, but it looks like she’s buttoned it incorrectly, and the tail is hanging out of the top of her slacks.

Are those even slacks? They kind of look like yoga pants.

Privately, Bucky thinks that an outsider might be hard pressed to figure out which of them was supposed to be the mental patient here. Are Bucky and Sam actually driving this woman insane?

“So you’re sleeping together.” Dr. Carson’s tone is flat and dismayed. “You know this is against SHIELD employee regulations, don’t you?”

She taps her pen against their folders in agitation, and Bucky wonders if those folders are their actual permanent records. Does Bucky’s folder still have all of the notes from Sister Mary Angela about his “distracting” and “unnaturally close” relationship with Steve? God, Sister Mary Angela hated Steve.

Sam waves a careless hand and props his ankle up on his other knee. “We’re independent contractors, and Steve and Natasha made sure that our contracts didn’t include any kind of anti-fraternization policies. They were extremely thorough about it.”

Dr. Carson sighs heavily, and it looks like she’s doing literally everything in her power not to roll her eyes. Instead, she tips her head back and looks at the ceiling, probably hoping to roll her eyes where Bucky and Sam can’t see them. “Nevertheless, the two of you are still required to be discreet and professional when you’re at work. We’ve received complaints from several of your coworkers about your behavior in the last week. According to Carl, you’ve been bringing, quote, unwanted and uncomfortable sexual energy to the workplace.”

Bucky scoffs. He knows how to handle this sort of situation. “Listen, I didn’t lose my life fighting Nazis so that a little homoerotic banter and ass grabbing would get me in trouble at work. And anyway, this is how Captain America and I behaved at work back when we were fighting fascism and defending the free world—in the 1940s, even!—so I can’t imagine that somehow you’re just not allowed to give each other friendly hand jobs in closets in 2023. If anything, I should be able to give Sam a friendly hand job outside of a closet. Those are exactly the kinds of freedoms I fought and died for.”

Sam nods in support and says, “That’s a great point, Buck,” and Bucky feels warmth curling in his belly before he realizes, fuck, Sam’s doing it again, and right in front of Dr. Carson too. Jesus, Sam is so good at therapy. “And it sounds like Carl might be just a tad bit homophobic. Maybe we should be complaining to HR about him. You know, I didn’t serve during the long years of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just to hear—”

“Carl is happily married to his male partner of thirty-seven years,” Dr. Carson states, clenching her jaw. Bucky has literally fought people to the death who look less bothered by his general existence. “Also, you didn’t actually die fighting Nazis, Agent Barnes.”

“It was a metaphorical death,” Bucky defends, because this is important to him. “The old Bucky Barnes died in that ravine. We went over it all in my therapy in Wakanda, the most scientifically advanced country in the world. What even are your credentials and where are your goats?”

“I have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard and doctorates in clinical psychology and neuroscience from Oxford. I was a Rhodes scholar, I’ve received a MacArthur Fellowship for my work in PTSD and polytrauma in returning veterans, and I literally wrote the textbook for most Introduction to Psychology courses.”

Bucky waves his dismissive hand at this. “Yeah, well, Sam did eighty hours of coursework and an eighty hour practicum to become a certified peer counselor. Plus he has experiential knowledge, which is more important than book learning. Also, Sam isn’t HYDRA. Are you HYDRA?”

The wood in Dr. Carson’s pencil cracks a bit under her hand. “I’m not HYDRA.”

“But, like, would Nick Fury know if you were HYDRA?” Bucky presses.

“That’s an excellent point, baby, you’re killing it in therapy today.” Sam pats Bucky on the thigh and then leaves his hand there, bare inches away from Bucky’s cock, and Bucky bites the inside of his cheek to keep from moving his hips or making any noises. “Nick Fury would definitely not know if Dr. Carson were HYDRA, his Nazi-finding track record is, like, dismal at best. I vote that we suspend therapy until there’s been an independent investigation into whether or not Dr. Carson is HYDRA.”

“You can’t suspend therapy,” Dr. Carson says, her expression pinched. “These counseling sessions are mandatory.”

“Look, we’ll keep doing the love languages thing as a show of good faith, and once the investigation’s concluded we’ll come back so you can decide which one of us is winning at therapy,” Bucky says. “In the meantime just, like, prepare to have all of your secrets uncovered and all of your loved ones and ex-boyfriends questioned extensively about your most private and intimate memories.”

Dr. Carson covers her face with her hands. Is she trying to muffle a scream?

“For the last time, no one wins at therapy,” she grits out.

“I mean, I think I’m pretty obviously winning,” Sam says. Bucky tips his head in reluctant agreement. “Anyway, we’ll talk to Natasha and Steve about the HYDRA thing since they actually know how to find Nazis. If Steve and Nat clear you, then Bucky and I will agree to let you judge which one of us is winning the love languages competition. In the meantime, it would be nice if you could get some therapy pets for Bucky. He likes animals. Goats might be a bit unreasonable for downtown D.C., but I’m sure you could rustle up some cats or something, right?”

Bucky hums. “I like dogs better.’

“All right, cool. Dr. C, get us some dogs.” Sam raps two knuckles against the desk. “Bucky and I are going to go to the gym to work out a bit. Bucky’s shoulders are looking really good lately.”

“Sam!” Bucky hisses, squirming a bit in his seat. “Not in front of Dr. Carson!”

“Sorry, baby,” Sam says, holding out a hand to pull Bucky up out of his chair. “See you next week, Dr. C!”

***

It hasn’t exactly escaped Bucky’s notice that Natasha has been avoiding him ever since Bucky and Sam started their love languages competition, so when Bucky sees Steve walking alone down the hallway toward his office, he reaches out from the broom closet where he’s hiding and yanks Steve inside.

“Is Natasha helping Sam win the love languages competition?” Bucky hisses.

There’s no real reason that they need to have this conversation in a broom closet instead of Steve’s office, but Bucky’s feeling nostalgic today, and Steve doesn’t seem at all bothered to suddenly find himself in a broom closet with Bucky.

“I mean, probably?” Steve says with a shrug. “It seems only fair, since I’m helping you. Also her dirty talk has really leveled up lately, and that’s probably not a coincidence. Why, what’s Sam doing?”

“He’s, like, constantly flirting with me. And the touching! God, Steve, I’m horny all the time now. And you wouldn’t believe the things he says to me in bed! Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on all the sex routines you and I’ve choreographed when Sam’s telling me how pretty I look with his cock in my mouth?”

“Natasha is definitely helping him then—she says that to me all the time when she’s using her strap on,” Steve says, chewing his lip thoughtfully. “Are you sure you can’t keep it together enough to service him without getting distracted by his words of affirmation?”

“Yes,” Bucky says, his cheeks growing hot. “You have no idea, Steve, like Sam just gets so filthy. I know my brain’s been fried like an egg and I don’t actually remember a lot about sex, but I don’t think people talked like this in the ‘40s, right?”

“I mean, you and I shared a bedroom in an apartment with paper thin walls and then spent a few years in a warzone. There’s not much opportunity for dirty talk when you’re just doing your best to get off without waking anybody up,” Steve says. “But that does give me an idea. Sam’s secondary love language is quality time, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“So date him! You may not have the sexual repertoire of someone who’s watched hundreds of hours of modern porn or even someone who remembers much about having sex before like three weeks ago, but you do know how to pull off a good old-fashioned wooing.”

Bucky’s forehead wrinkles. “Do I, though? Do I still know how to pull off a good old-fashioned wooing?”

“I believe in you, pal.” Steve claps him on the shoulder and then looks around the broom closet thoughtfully, taking in the dirty mop and the shelves of cleaning supplies and filthy rags. “You’re honestly not even doing a bad job of wooing me right now. Want to trade hand jobs for old time’s sake?”

Bucky shoots Steve a withering look. “I’m not wooing you right now, Steve, you’re just easy. Go find Natasha if you’re horny.”

Steve shrugs. “Eh, it was worth a shot.”

***

Two months later, once Steve and Natasha have completed Dr. Carson’s background check and confirmed that she isn’t HYDRA, Sam and Bucky return to therapy. Even though Dr. Carson hasn’t seen them in months, she looks pinched and irritated, and the deep wrinkles in her forehead and the sudden explosion of gray in her hair make her look as though she’s aged five years since she started giving them therapy.

Bucky frowns and squints in suspicion. “We haven’t gotten Blipped again, have we?”

“What?”

“You just look—” Bucky gestures toward her hair and the bags under her eyes.

Dr. Carson’s expression shifts from exhausted indifference to polite fury, and Bucky’s just about to apologize when Sam gestures toward the floor under the window and says, “Hey, look at that! It’s about time you got Bucky a therapy puppy, you know that his doctors in Wakanda strongly encouraged it.”

When Bucky follows the line of Sam’s arm, he sees the cutest puppy in the world sitting in a fuzzy little dog bed with pictures of bones on it. Bucky gasps in delight. “He’s so cute, Sam, look at his little face!”

The puppy’s face is perfect, with big brown eyes and a short little snout with a tiny black nose. When he wags his tail, his little butt wiggles and Bucky wants to die about it. He loves this puppy so much.

“I’m naming him Paddington after my favorite movie,” Bucky declares.

“I love it,” Sam says immediately, pulling out his phone. “Put him in your lap so I can get some pictures for Steve and Natasha. They’re going to be so jealous when they find out that we got to have a dog in our therapy.”

Sam and Bucky spend the next ten minutes playing with Paddington and taking photos of the two of them with their adorable new therapy dog while Dr. Carson rubs her forehead like she just fucking knew this puppy would be a distraction.

“I think we should get started,” Dr. Carson interrupts, glancing pointedly at her watch.

“Yes, perfect!” Bucky pulls a small notebook out of his back pocket. “OK, so let me catch you up on everything we’ve done to each other since our last meeting, and I especially want your input on the scoring system that Sam and I have developed—”

Bucky and Sam spend the next half hour recounting their every interaction over the past couple of months in explicit, pornographic detail while Dr. Carson repeatedly clenches and unclenches her fists. When they spend ten full minutes alone on the rim job Bucky gave Sam last Saturday, Dr. Carson’s eyes go distant and glassy like a shell shocked veteran of the Great War or something. Bucky has literally seen torture victims make less of an effort to dissociate from their surroundings than Dr. Carson right now.

Honestly, who would have expected a therapist with thirty years’ experience to be so faint of heart? It’s absolutely critical to Bucky and Sam’s scoring system to determine whether Sam let out a “choked moan” or a “strangled gasp” while Bucky ate him out, and Bucky doesn’t appreciate Dr. Carson’s frankly lackluster participation when they stage a reenactment of events to try and settle the matter. She doesn’t even seem very decisive when she finally renders her judgment, like maybe she just doesn’t care what kind of sound Sam made, even though it was the most erotic noise Bucky’s ever heard in a hundred years.

When Sam concludes his argument for why words of affirmation during sex should count for more points than praise at work, Dr. Carson sighs heavily, looks off into the distance for exactly ten seconds, and then states, “I think we should discuss how you two can erect boundaries between your work relationship and your sexual relationship.”

Sam raises a skeptical eyebrow at Dr. Carson’s audacity. “Do you really feel like you’re qualified to counsel us on that particular issue?”

Dr. Carson’s jaw clenches. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, after everything that went down between you and Dr. Fitzgerald back in Philadelphia, I hardly think—”

Dr. Carson’s face whitens like curdled milk. “How did you find out about that?”

“Remember Natasha’s background check? Anyway, I’m just saying that it’s a tad bit hypocritical of you to suggest that Bucky and I shouldn’t be fucking during work hours, I mean, Bucky isn’t even married—”

Dr. Carson bites her lip so ferociously that she draws blood. “Bucky may not be married, but he is technically your subordinate, and that means there’s an uneven power dynamic to consider here—”

Sam smirks like he’s fucking Benjamin Matlock and he knows he’s just one pointed question away from making the guilty party break down and confess right there on the witness stand. (Bucky makes a mental note to ask Sam later why he and Natasha always snicker when Bucky and Steve get together to play cribbage and watch Matlock on Sunday afternoons.) “You mean like the uneven power dynamic at play between you and that doctoral student whose dissertation committee you chaired at UPenn?”

Dr. Carson gasps, and her face turns as red and furious as Sister Mary Angela’s that time she caught Steve’s skinny arms nailing a copy of Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to the heavy wooden door of St. Charles Borromeo.

Bucky’s mind wanders a bit at that memory. God, Steve Rogers really was such a bad influence—maybe Sister Mary Angela was right about their distracting and unnaturally close relationship. Because of course Bucky couldn’t leave that stubborn asshole to face Sister Mary Angela’s wrath alone, so Bucky had ended up confessing to abusing his powers as editor of the student newspaper to let Steve use the school’s small printing press. Bucky emerged from the experience with an ass that burned for a week and a few uncomfortable new kinks.

Now, Bucky looks speculatively over at Sam’s strong hands and shifts in his chair.

“I just remembered, Sam and I have something really important to do,” Bucky announces. “So we’ll see you next week, right? OK, cool. C’mon, Paddington!”

Bucky grabs Paddington’s cute little dog bed and Paddington hops down from Sam’s lap to follow them out of the office, his tail wagging happily as he trots along beside them. God, Paddington is so fucking cute, Bucky cannot believe what a great dog he is.

Dr. Carson calls out after them through gritted teeth. “You’re not supposed to take the therapy dog with you!”

“Sorry, what?” Sam shouts back, cupping his hand around his ear. “I can’t hear you!”

“Bucky, I know you have super hearing!”.

“Sorry, I’m a hundred and six years old and I left my ear trumpet at home!” Bucky raises his hands in an exaggerated shrug to convey the hopelessness of trying to communicate at this great distance of about forty feet.

“God, I need a fucking vacation forever,” Dr. Carson mutters.

***

Later, after Bucky and Sam collapse against Sam’s sheets in sweaty exhaustion, Bucky mentally tallies their points and comes to the frustrating conclusion that Sam is still absolutely wiping the floor with him in this love languages competition. God, how is Sam so good at everything? He’s so fucking handsome and charming and athletic and just, like, absolute dynamite in the sack—

God, no wonder Bucky’s losing. There’s no way he can win this competition with his dick alone. Time to channel Tommy Dorsey and play it from the heart.

“Hey, Sam,” Bucky murmurs, leaning up to nuzzle his nose against Sam’s jaw. “Let me cook you dinner tonight, doll. Wanna treat you right.”

“‘M not your doll,” Sam grumbles. “But yeah, OK.”

Bucky kisses Sam’s shoulder and plots.

Three hours later, Bucky and Steve survey Bucky’s dining room with the smug satisfaction of Scarlett O’Hara stealing her sister’s fiancé to get her greedy hands on his general store and sawmill.

“I think we nailed it, pal,” Steve boasts. “This looks just like your date night mood board.”

“I mean, I feel like half the credit should go to Pinterest user donkeydick2004—who would’ve guessed that he’d have such a sensitive soul.”

Bucky’s dining room table is covered with rose petals sprinkled over Bucky’s mother’s best lace tablecloth, liberated from the archives of the Smithsonian along with the rest of the contents of Steve and Bucky’s old Brooklyn Heights apartment. Two lit candles rise proudly from the gleaming silver of Sarah Rogers’s candleholders—the only wedding gift she’d managed to save from the pawnbroker during those lean years of Steve’s childhood—and the Victrola crackles with the smooth tenor of Enrico Caruso singing an aria so romantic it once brought a tear to the clear, flinty eye of Bucky’s father. Bucky’s grateful now that the Barneses were a Victor Talking Machine Company family—those Edison wax cylinders decayed faster than American democracy after the invention of Facebook.

The first time Bucky saw the familiar red logo of that Caruso record again—faithful Nipper the dog, his head tipped toward the horn of a gramophone playing the sound of his dead master’s voice—Bucky drove straight out into the desert and screamed until he was hoarse.

And now tonight Bucky’s using that very record to romance the shit out of Sam Wilson, so Nick Fury and Dr. Carson can fuck off with their so-called “therapy” because Bucky Barnes is doing great.

Steve clears his throat and gives Bucky a meaningful look. “You know, if this is all just some competition between you and Sam, you didn’t have to drive out to Maryland to dig all of our most personal and intimate memories out of storage for this dinner.”

Flustered, Bucky replies, “You have no idea what a canny opponent Sam is! Every time that man talks, my heart flutters and my stomach’s all full of butterflies. Besides,” Bucky says, “my grandfather paid fifty extra dollars to get the Circassian walnut veneer put on that old Victrola—he would haunt me if I didn’t ever use it, Steve.”

“You know your Aunt Margaret spit on her own father’s grave when your grandfather left that Victrola to your dad instead of her?”

Bucky laughs. “Is that why they had that big falling out? I couldn’t remember.”

“Peggy said that your Aunt Margaret wrote Howard Stark a letter every month until the day she died demanding the return of that Victrola.”

“Well, I hope that greedy old hag is looking down at me right now,” Bucky says, shaking his head in disbelief. “She deserves to watch me seduce my gay lover with that Victrola, it serves her right. You know she called you a fairy once?”

Steve gestures toward the intimate tableau featuring all of Bucky’s most precious memories and dryly states, “Well, as long as you’re clear on spite as your motivation for all of this.”

Bucky bites his lip as a sudden fear strikes him. “Do you think Sam’s going to like the chicken? People still roast chicken, right? It’s not just, like, sushi and gluten free vegan desserts nowadays?”

Steve opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by a knock at the door. Paddington dives off the sofa like he’s responding to an Avengers Assemble alarm—which, oh my god, could Paddington wear a little outfit and come with the Avengers on ops? Bucky needs to look into this immediately—and dances around in elation when Bucky opens the door to reveal Sam, who is looking fine as hell in a lavender button-down and navy trousers.

And Bucky’s heart is—honestly not reacting much differently than Paddington right now.

“Aw, hi, baby!” Sam says, leaning down to pet Paddington and scratch him behind the ears. When Sam’s finished giving Paddington the attention he so richly deserves, Bucky’s pulled in for a long, heartbreakingly tender kiss that sends a shiver of want down the entire length of his spine. Sam and Steve exchange their own greetings while Bucky surreptitiously reaches up to rub at the goosebumps prickling at the sensitive skin at the back of his neck.

“Steve, you’re going to be OK watching Paddington tonight, right?” Bucky’s voice is threaded with the justifiable suspicion of someone who has known Steve Rogers for a lifetime.

Steve’s mouth drops open in offense. “Yes! Bucky, I know how to watch a dog.”

Bucky lifts Paddington’s tiny body and curls his arms protectively around him. “OK, well, Paddington is the most important thing in the world to me, and you are literally the least responsible person I know, so.”

“What? Bucky, I’m—that’s—I’m Captain America. I’m famously responsible.”

“Sam is Captain America, Steve. I feel like you’re not moving on. Also my brain might be a giant lump of small curd cottage cheese now, but I still remember that you’re a reckless idiot.”

Sam gives Steve a sharp look of his own and says, “Steve, Paddington is very important to Bucky’s therapy and also to our therapy as a couple—” Sam pauses, then adds, “of coworkers. So make sure you give him his favorite treats, but don’t give him too many treats, and make sure he doesn’t pull the squeaker out of his stuffed alligator—”

Bucky and Sam lead Steve to the door while Sam continues to debrief Steve on all of Paddington’s most important feelings and preferences. “You should really be writing all of this down, Steve,” Sam says with a frown.

Steve sighs. “I have an eidetic memory.”

“All right, well, if we pick him up in the morning and he has an upset tummy, I will literally kill you, and Sam—the trustworthy Captain America—will be my alibi,” Bucky says.

Sam nods in solemn agreement.

Bucky and Sam part from Paddington with identical expressions of worry as Steve walks him down the hall to his apartment.

As soon as Steve’s door closes, Bucky is all over Sam, pressing him against the wall and skimming his lips over the warm skin of Sam’s neck. God, Sam smells incredible, like tobacco and vanilla and oiled leather, and somehow the masculine scent of him travels down Bucky’s windpipe and directly to his cock.

“Hi,” Bucky breathes.

“Hey, baby,” Sam murmurs, tipping his head back to let Bucky’s lips trail along his throat to his jawline. Bucky’s just getting really into it, his hips pressing insistently against Sam’s, when the timer for the oven goes off.

Over dinner, Bucky and Sam talk and laugh about their coworkers as the candlelight does frankly amazing things for Sam’s bone structure. Bucky squirms in his chair and tries to will away the flush he can feel spreading up his neck when Sam compliments Bucky on the romantic lighting and the beautiful place settings. Fuck, he’s supposed to be giving Sam quality time here, and instead Sam’s using that quality time to offer Bucky more words of affirmation. Bucky’s not really ready to concede this battle just yet, but he’s definitely starting to craft a defeat narrative for himself about the lack of shame in being beaten by the best.

And Sam is definitely the best.

“That chicken was incredible.” Sam pats his stomach and groans in satisfaction. “You know that’s just how my mama always makes it?”

Bucky wonders if it would be weird to divulge that he actually broke into Sam’s mother’s house to sneak a look at her recipe cards. That’s normal intelligence gathering, right? Bucky made sure Sam’s mom was out of the house when he entered, and afterward he sent a team of security specialists to give her a better alarm system setup—”compliments of SHIELD, ma’am”—when he realized that her house was way too easy to break into. And Bucky’s dad always said to leave things better than you found them, so if anything Sam’s mom is probably safer now than she was before the world’s most legendary assassin crept into her house to rifle through her personal belongings.

He feels like Natasha would agree with him but he also feels like Natasha is probably just as batshit insane as Bucky and Steve are. Bucky has literally no normal friends and he should probably start spending more time with Sharon Carter.

After dinner, Sam looks relaxed and sated, his eyes warm and heavy-lidded as he watches Bucky shiver under his praise. “You know you have a praise kink, right?”

“Yes, Sam,” Bucky says, and tries to refrain from rolling his eyes. “Steve and I did a ton of research and watched, like, hours of porn together. We figured it out.”

“You and Steve have some serious boundary issues.” Sam shakes his head and grins in amusement. “But seriously, though, you’re not just hooking up with me because you imprinted on me after I made your dick hard or something, right? I mean, I remember the first time I got a boner after being deployed. I cried like a baby, so I get it, man, but—”

“Actually, I sort of wanted to talk to you about that,” Bucky says, his stomach swimming with nerves. This is the moment he’s been anticipating and dreading since he planned this whole date night op. “I was thinking—how would you feel about taking this competition to the next level?”

Sam’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just think we’d both have more time and energy to devote to this competition if we were competing, you know, exclusively.”

“Ah.” Sam’s expression clears and a slow smile spreads across his handsome face. “You want to be boyfriends.”

“I want to be boyfriends,” Bucky confirms with a decisive nod.

He may be losing this love language competition by about a hundred and fifty points, but Bucky still has some fight in him yet. And between work and sex and co-ownership of Paddington, Bucky’s already spending so much time with Sam that there’s no real way to increase the amount of time in “quality time”—but he can improve the quality of that time. If Bucky and Sam are boyfriends, Bucky figures, all that quality time should automatically count for more points than the quality time they spend together as coworkers with confusing feelings for each other, right?

Bucky’s lungs burn as he holds his breath held in anticipation of Sam’s response.

“Yeah, let’s be boyfriends,” Sam says, with a grin tugging at his lips.

Bucky’s heart soars in victory.

***

Bucky and Sam have decided not to bring Paddington with them to any future therapy appointments just in case Dr. Carson tries to take him away like Cruella de Vil.

This week, however, Dr. Carson shows up their session with a whole new vibe. Instead of striding imperiously into her office in her usual stern fashion, Dr. Carson blows in fifteen minutes late with the casual energy of a high school senior during the last week of school. She walks over to her desk, flip-flops slapping against her feet, and reclines back in her chair to prop her feet up onto the polished surface of her solid oak desk. She’s dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie like a suburban mom in an airport waiting to fly down to Miami for a Caribbean cruise.

“So how’s it going this week, boys?” Dr. Carson asks, slurping from the straw of her Big Gulp soda.

“Um, great.” Sam eyes her cautiously. “Bucky and I are boyfriends now.”

“No shit!” Dr. Carson says, and tilts her head back to squint down at them. “Huh. What do you know about that.” Then she shrugs. “Tell me how it happened.”

So Bucky and Sam tell her every detail of the last week, including the way they tenderly made love after Sam agreed to be Bucky’s boyfriend. Dr. Carson is clear-eyed and engaged the entire time, even during the five full minutes Sam devotes to the ripple of Bucky’s abdominal muscles as he strains toward orgasm, and Bucky’s just starting to think that maybe they can get some real therapy out of Dr. Carson when she says—

“So Fury’s transferring me to Hawaii.”

Bucky’s mouth drops open. “What?”

“Yup.” Dr. Carson burrows deeper into her chair and lets out a relaxed sigh before taking another loud sip of her soda. “This is our last session!”

“So do we have a new therapist after this, or?” Sam waves his hand uncertainly.

“Nah, I’m just gonna go ahead and tell Fury that you guys are doing great. You’ve officially graduated therapy.”

Bucky chokes on air. “Excuse me, what? We graduated therapy?”

“Sure, why not?” Dr. Carson says with a lazy shrug. “Despite literally all of my expectations to the contrary, it seems like you guys have actually formed a stable partnership. Just, you know, maybe stop fucking so much at work.”

Bucky scoffs. “Listen, I didn’t give my life fighting Nazis in World War II—” he begins.

***

After Bucky and Sam’s appointment with Dr. Carson, Sam receives a text asking him to meet Fury in his executive suite.

Bucky heads back to his own office—his real one, buried deep within the bowels of SHIELD in a secret interrogation room someone bricked up the entrance to and then forgot about years ago. Bucky discovered it while crawling through the air ducts to place surveillance equipment in the offices of Nick Fury and the major SHIELD department heads. Once Bucky disposed of the mummified body he found inside—which, wow, super gross—it made the perfect private office space and server room.

Bucky opens his surveillance software just in time to hear Fury tell Sam that Bucky broke his best therapist.

“Dr. Carson is a highly trained professional at the top of her field,” Fury says, his voice stern. “I had to offer her a fifty percent raise to lure her away from private practice, and now I’m sending her away from D.C., where all of my elite agents reside, to Honolulu, which is where I send all the useless nepotism agents I’m forced to hire by the World Security Council. I don’t know what Barnes did to that woman but he just cost me a very experienced and expensive mental health professional.”

“And what makes you think Agent Barnes is at fault?”

“Dr. Carson is obviously not at liberty to divulge any specifics about what was said during your therapy sessions, but she did note that your bickering was ‘maddening’ and that she, quote, hadn’t even realized it was possible to overshare during therapy. She also indicated that Barnes instigated an invasive and traumatizing background check that caused her a great deal of personal distress.’”

“Given Agent Barnes’s history with SHIELD, I think it’s perfectly understandable that he may have sought reassurance that Dr. Carson wasn’t an agent of HYDRA.” Sam’s voice is bland and pleasant. “It’s hardly Agent Barnes’s fault that Dr. Carson turned out to have a surprisingly messy personal life.”

“Be that as it may, I’m suspending Barnes from active duty until he passes a second psych eval from another therapist.”

“With all due respect, sir, Agent Barnes has been nothing but cooperative in this retaliatory investigation into his mental state. He’s a skilled and creative fighter, a selfless and generous partner, and a brilliant tactician. He deserves to be treated with the same respect as any other SHIELD agent who hasn’t shot you.”

Jesus Christ, is Sam offering Bucky words of affirmation even when he’s not there to hear them? What kind of love language master is Sam? God, how can Bucky possibly compete with this?

Fury’s voice is strangled. “Retaliatory?”

“Yes,” Sam says firmly. “As far as I’m aware, Agent Barnes has cleared all mandatory psychological evaluations and then some. If you have a problem with his—or my—behavior in the workplace, I suggest you carefully review our employment contracts and initiate the appropriate disciplinary proceedings. In the meantime, I will be continuing with Agent Barnes as my partner. There will be no suspension.”

The sound of Fury’s office door slamming shut is unexpectedly erotic.

By the time Sam slides through the secret passageway into Bucky’s office, Sam looks calm and collected, like he hasn’t just returned from facing down a man with the power and authority to send him to one of a half-dozen black sites so secret they probably exist on other planets.

“So how’d the meeting go?” Bucky asks, suppressing a grin.

“Oh, it was fine,” Sam says with a nonchalant wave of his hand. “We don’t have to do therapy anymore.”

Bucky lets his smile spread across his face. “Oh, yeah? No more retaliatory investigations into my mental state?”

When Sam realizes how Bucky must have overheard that remark, his eyes widen in delight. “I’m sorry, did you bug Fury’s office? Bucky Barnes, you crazy asshole, I love you so fucking much.”

Bucky freezes. Sam loves him? Adrenaline and exhilaration race through Bucky’s veins, spreading through his entire circulatory system until he feels like he’s going to buzz right out of his skin. For the second time in Bucky’s life, he’s been flung straight over the side of a cliff, except this time Sam has wings to catch him. God, this is why they call it falling, isn’t it?

Bucky is feeling so fucking affirmed right now. He has never felt so affirmed in his entire life.

And Bucky’s lost that stupid competition now, hasn’t he. There’s no way Bucky can compete with that declaration, no way he can pull off a victory after Sam just earned himself, like, fifty million points—but when Bucky looks at Sam’s gap-toothed grin, he thinks maybe, just maybe, he’s secretly won after all.

And he does have one last, best card to play.

“Hey, Sam,” Bucky says, with a wide grin, “how do you feel about moving in together?”

[realmonstersrus]

INTRODUCING JANG DANBI, OUR NEWEST HELLION STUDENT WITH THE POWER OF INTANGIBILITY.

WELCOME TO GUMI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOR THE POWERED.

WHO ARE THEY?

PERSONALITY

(+) clever, charming, daring (–) pretty and she knows it

BACKGROUND

jang danbi is destined to be spoiled. nothing else about it. the sole child of the jang family, not to mention the most adorable baby, grew up coddled, cared for, loved, by all members of the family (from mother, to father, to uncle and auntie). thrived like a budding camellia under the warm rays of affection. like this, she blossomed into a somewhat spoiled variation of disarming girls her age, girls with disarming charms and disarming smiles but behind glossed lips and flushed cheeks lies a barbed tongue and sharp canines.

it’s not to say that she’s cruel. vile. or downright wicked. because she’s not. because she grew up going to church on sundays and volunteered to teach its youths on her weekends. because she would fall on the metaphorical sword for anyone held dear to her heart. of course, it didn’t mean that she was good either. that she wasn’t prideful. wasn’t petty. wasn’t selfish. wasn’t a flower soiled by love and attention—poisoned. it fills her head, the want to be, the need to be seen, heard, loved. makes her something akin to cruel. something twisted. though, that’s life.

the early years breeze by without much trouble. but that is the norm for a pretty thing that lives such a disillusioned life. our jang danbi, among the prettiest flowers in class each and every year, lives blind to the fate of her family—the true identity of her father, the two wedding rings he holds in his fist, the role she and her mother plays in another family’s ruin.

instead, our prettiest flower fixates on the superficial, on the school cubby on valentines day overflowing with treats and cards. chocolate kisses and candy hearts she’d share with friends on the path home, sun on their backs, laughter in the air. simple days she’ll never get back again.

by thirteen, a lovely spectacle for all, danbi’s mother pressed to enter her daughter into the local pageant. plunged her into a whole new world of beauty and wickedness. see, to win in life (and this, danbi later better understand), it’s not enough to just be pretty. instead it is dependent on the highest heels, best walk, flawless hair, memorable ‘talent’, and most “moving” answers. a load of bullshit, her peer would mutter. i know, she would readily agreed. but i still want to win.

seventeen, nay, the moon of her sixteen birthday—exactly, one first place trophy, two academic certificates and one piano championship trophy later—life, as minuscule and superficial as she knew it, ceased to be the same ever again. it starts with a bump in the night. the sound of danbi’s head colliding with the cold cement of the basement is what jolted her from her slumber, leaving her more perplexed than anything. how the hell did she get here?

it didn’t take long to figure out the whys and hows. nothing is more apparent than the way her hand phases straight through the bathroom door—and continues to be intangible for a good hour. and danbi knew then, life as she knew it, picture perfect and pristine—was over.

to her credit, she did try her best to hide it. driven by the fear of her parents reaction and desperation to hold their love and affection (what would she have without it? absolutely nothing), danbi spent days at end hiding the fact that she could no longer hold anything with her right hand or that her left leg had the tendency to flicker in and out of tangibility. and nights dedicated to figuring how to make it stop. it never stops, however, waves of intangibility often sends her falling through her bedroom and onto the basement in her sleep. and then comes the pain. when her mom catches her. the relief on her features is almost foreign, the grip on her arms, the glee in her voice when she says ‘you’re just like your dad’. what?

turns out daddy dearest is a mutant, danbi isn’t sure as to when that fact seemed to have slip her — but the news brought nothing but good fortune to the likes of her (rendering her a bit silly for the teen angst freakout). talks of moving from big city seoul to incheon for her father’s alma mater (multiple talks and arguments as danbi did not take lightly to the fact that she would have to move), a new car for new college student (bribe, it’s a bribe) — and before she knew it, she had entered the gates of gumi. accepted into lotus within her first year.

and, truth be told, she hated it. jang danbi, our flower, our beauty, to place so much interest in succeeding, to sacrifice beauty sleep for grades, to conform for the sake of prestige. it isn’t that danbi was stupid (she scored above average on the norm) nor was it the fact that she wasn’t a team player. but to waste time fretting and fawning over a frigid legacy—who even has the time for that? by her second year, she was gone, finding new home in hellion’s open arms.

WHAT CAN THEY DO?

INTANGIBILITY — the ability to phase through matter. be it flesh or metal or even brick. this is done through the rearrangement of her atomic particles to pass through the atoms of the object she’s phasing though, also know as quantum tunneling—it renders her intangible to physical touch should she will it. given the nature of her ability, usage also interferes with any electric system she phases through as it disrupts the flow of electrons between atoms—this can also pertains to bio-electric systems in animate objects (humans, pets, monsters, etc) if she concentrates right. meaning she is able to cause electronics to malfunction or even destroy them as well as inducing shock and unconsciousness to living things. once in a full “phasing mode”, danbi retains an partially translucent image of herself, but is utterly intangible.

at her current level, she is able to phase anything from limbs or her entire body. although she struggles to fully control phasing with her entire body (though generally possible, she does have a few “flukes” here and there) as well as phasing specific body parts on its own. in theory, it is also possible for her to “phase” with another, but danbi has yet to  fully master that particular front. recently, however, she is fixated on “air-walking”, interacting with the molecules of air over surfaces which should allow her to ascend/descend. her power also tends to phase in and out without her consent, meaning her hand or leg or anything else could just easily turn intangible without her meaning to.

WEAKNESSES

for phasing through solid matter via her entire body, the estimation duration is for however long she could hold her breath as she’s moving through the matter.

her power tends to phase in and out without her consent, meaning her hand or leg or anything else could just easily turn intangible without her meaning to.

in some cases, if she is not fully intangible to begin with, it is possible to bridge the molecules via electricity or various energy sources — rendering her unable to phase for a good hour after.

as it is not entirely a particularly stressing power (as it is more passive than not), overusage will encourage bad side-effects. such as rendering herself to stay in a naturally “phased” state and having to consciously will herself to be solid. fatigue is not frequent, but if danbi is not careful, she may phase through the earth right to the center.

though untested, the longest danbi can fully move between solid matter in her phased state is only a good two or three minutes.

moving phasing another person with her, she can manage about thirty seconds or so.

[exoticcal]

Michael x Reader: Totally? Totally.

michael mell x reader where michael and reader are best friends and are mutually pining and one day michael word vomits his feelings after they get high af

A/N: I didn’t know if there was any specific gender put to the reader so I’m making the pronouns so it can be read for anyone! :) also, warning of marijuana talk lol

“(Y/N), are you doing anything tonigh?” Michael asked, poking at his best friends side as they ate at a cafe after school.

“Michael it’s Friday, there’s parties going on tonight.” (Y/N) said, taking a bite of their food.

“Oh.. So you’re going to a party tonight.. you?” He snorts, playing with the food on his little plate. 

“Depends on if you were wanting to do anything. The party that Christine and Jeremy want to go to is at someone who I don’t even knows house AND it’s apparently going to be a big party.. You know, big crowds and unfamiliar places are so not my cup of tea.” They turned towards Michael, raising their eyebrow at him waiting to hear what he’d want to do.

“Wanna get stoned in my basement and play video games or watch movies?” He questioned, meeting their eyes and earning an eager nod.

“Hell yeah, that sounds so much better than a party.” (Y/N) said while pulling out their phone, typing out a message to send to Christine apologizing for not being able to make it to the party. “When would you want to start our plan tonight? Will this be a sleepover?”

Michael's cheeks slowly started to heat up, thinking about it being a sleepover. This shouldn’t be a big deal, they’ve had many sleepovers before. Just not that many alone. Michael nodded, taking a drink of his slightly over priced coffee. “I-I mean if you want it to be a sleepover th-that could totally be a think.” 

“Yeah! I’d like it to be a sleepover. Do you think you could drop me off at my house after this so I can pack a bag?” (Y/N) quietly asked, drinking their own pricey drink while looking over at Michael as he gave them a nod. 

“’Course.” He smiled as he gets up to throw away the trash that they both had, grabbing their now empty plates and putting them in a little dish bin. “Are you ready to go?” He asks, picking up his bag and taking out his keys.

(Y/N) nods, grabbing their stuff after standing up and pushing the chairs in. They followed after Michael as he left the cafe and went towards his car. The could help but look him over, admiring his messy hair and that old jacket that somehow still in one piece. He unlocked the car and both of them climbed in and set off towards (Y/N)’s house.

(Y/N)’s POV:

The car ride was quiet but the faint sound of Michaels music playing through the speakers filled up the empty air between us. It wasn’t an uncomfortable awkward silence between us, it was calm and comfortable. I smiled to myself after recognizing the calmness we naturally have with each other.

“What’s got you smiling?” Michael asks me, glancing over at me. “Ooo did you get a cute message from a guy?” He asks teasingly. I blush and shake my head in response, looking out the window. 

“That’s totally what happened! Who??” He asks, not fully sounding excited about the topic. I look at him and show him my phone which was blank.

“No one.” I laugh and push his face back towards the road. “Now pay attention dummy.” He quietly grumbles about how he was paying attention and how he’s an amazing drive which makes me laugh quietly to myself.

After another 5 minutes of driving he pulls up into my drive away. “Alright, get your ass outta here.” He jokes, shooing me away with his hands.

“Fine, fine!” I climb out of his car, grabbing my stuff. “What time do you want me to come over?” 

He looks at the time before looking back at me, “Maybe in like an hour? Does that give you enough time?” I smile and nod before walking towards my front door. As I go to walk in, I hear Michael honk his horn and look back at him confused.

“I-I didn’t get to tell you earlier but you look good today!” Michael calls out, giving me a thumbs up.

“Thank you, Mike!” I call back, turning back to walk inside and shut the door behind me. My face flushing pink as I eagerly running up to my room

He just complimented me!! 

Relax, (Y/N). He’s probably meaning it in a best friend way.. Yeah. That’s totally it. He’d never be into you.. 

I make my way to my bathroom and start to prep to take a shower so I’m not gross and smelly when I go over to Michaels later. I hop into the shower and quickly clean myself an my hair and get out of the shower after about 15 minutes. I dry off and get dressed in my pjs so I don’t have to awkwardly change at Michaels house at some point in the night. I pack a small over night bag and lay on my bed and sit on my phone.

I look at my phone and notice that time passed pretty quickly so I grab all my stuff and go downstairs. I grab the spare car keys for the car that my parents let me borrow for weekends but refuse to let me drive it school and throw everything inside it before driving away towards Michaels house.

I pull up to his house and get out my car, snagging all my stuff as I make my way to his front door and knock. There’s an awkward couple seconds before the door swings open, revealing Michael in his pjs. 

“Heey!” He cheers, grabbing my bag from me and setting in down by the living room couch. “C’mon in!” 

I walk into his house, shutting the door behind me. “No parents tonight?” I look around, walking further into the house moving toward the door leading to his basement.

“Are they ever home..?” He mumbles, following after me. “D-Do you want to play some games first then watch movies?” 

I hear him stutter slightly, but shrug it off before opening the door and walking down the carpeted cement steps, inhaling the weed scent of his little hang out spot. “Yeah. Movies make me kinda tired after watching them for too long ya feel?” I plop onto one of the worn out bean bags. 

“Oh, I feel ya.” I look over at him and notice his face turn red. “Not like actual feel but like metaphorically feel.” 

“I got it, Michael.” I calm him down, rubbing his arm. He’s cute when he gets flustered, but why was he getting flustered over that? “Let’s smoke!” I quickly change the subject, knowing weed is something that calms him down better than anything else.

He leans over and holds up joints and a bong, “Which one?” I point at the bong, knowing that it gets you high quicker than a joint will. Michael smokes more Indica strands of weed because it helps him relax and sleep, while sometimes he smoke stavia strands before a long day at school or before a party so it gets him energized. How do I know all of this? He’s legitimately lectured me on weed. I watch him organize the bong and take a hit then he moves it over to me, I put my mouth against it and he lights it for me and holds the whole unit too. I pull away after I take a hit and he smiles, taking another one himself. 

“Can I do it alone next time?” He’s never let me do it by myself because the first time we smoked together I was too nervous to actually hold it up right. He nods, mid hit and blows the smoke towards me, handing the bong over.

I slowly but surely do it by myself and cheer after I successfully do it by myself. “I did it!” I throw my hands it the air and I hear Michael mumble something under his breath. “What was that?”

“Oh, I-I want another hit.” He quickly takes the bong back from me and takes a hit, and then another.

“Okay, slow down big boy.” I laugh, placing my hand on his own which is going to light another hit. He nods, placing it down. “You can have another hit after I kick your ass in Mario Kart.” 

“Ha. You wish.” He scoffs, turning on the console and handing me a remotely before plopping back on his bean bag. We start a game up and the whole race is filled with us jokingly insulting each other as we are both struggling to get 1st place from one another. At the final lap, I finally surpass him as the finish line approaches. 

“YES! Suck on that Michael!!” I cheer, standing up and dancing around. I hear the sound of him taking another hit off the bong, and sit back down.

“I totally let you win” 

“Suure you did baby boy.” I laugh and take the bong from him, take another strong hit.

“I totally did, sweetheart.” My face flushes pink at that nickname. 

“And why did you do that?” I question, cockily. I turn towards him and see him sprawled onto his bean bag, theres a long pause between my question and I go to speak again.

“Totallybecauseifuckingloveyoududeandhavelovedyouforpastcouplemonthandlikenotjustasafriendbutaslikeloveloveyouknow?Iwouldneverletjustanyonebeatmyassatmariokartbutiddefinitelyletyoubeatmyassat itanytimeandanyday.” I blink at him, processing everything he had just vomitted out. Did he just.. confess his love to me? 

He quickly stands up, rushing out an apology. “Itotallyshouldnothavesaidanything.pleaseforgeteverythignthatijustsaid,youcantotallystoptalkingtomeifyoutoeventhoughthatwouldfuckingruinme” I found myself, standing up and moving towards him. “Ijustruinedthiswholenightwithmystupidfeelingshuh?IknewineverhadachancewithyousowhydidIevenbothertellingyouinthefirstplace?godimsuchanidiot.”

He covers his face with him hands and I reach up, gently prying them away from him. “Hey, Mikey, hey its okay.” I coo softly, placing my hand on the side of his face. His eyes never leaving my own. “I totally love you too.” 

“Wh-What? You do?” He blinks rapidly, his facial expression showing clear confusion.

“Yes.”

“Totally?” He murmurs, his arms encircling themselves around my waist.

“Totally.” I murmur back, pulling his face towards mine.

“Can I kiss you?” He anxiously asks.

“I was hoping you would.” He cuts me off, locking lips with mine. The taste of weed very evident in both our mouths, he pulls away breathless and smiles widely. 

“Can I do that again?” I laugh and nod, allowing him to kiss me again and again through out the night

[passionforfascism]

10 Pinterest Accounts to Follow About concrete decorative balls

This concrete planter out of doors/indoor, light-weight give simplicity and convey pure beauty to the Unique Place with this particular good decorative accent. Minimalist touch.

Your own data will be used to support your experience in the course of this Site, to manage access to your account, and for other applications explained inside our privateness coverage.

Complete the form underneath to get a Rapid Quotation for the challenge. We're going to call to follow up to reply any concerns and make sure all of your questions are answered. Rates will contain goods in your town, we ship goods closest to you for max savings!

These are typically rated for indoors or out, and feature cork pads on the bottom for placement on even quite possibly the most delicate furniture.

He and his really hard-Doing the job workforce concluded The task in only every day, and they left the internet site in immaculate shape. The function ethic of the entire crew is actually a priceless locate. And I'm thrilled with the beautiful end result."

We don't cost a dime! Our estimate services is a hundred% cost-free. We do not ask for ANY financial details and you may use us as again and again as you want. You do not have any obligations. We find you capable concrete execs that very best meet up with the requires of your challenge, but when you are not fully content with the estimates offered, You're not obligated to move ahead. We function with a huge selection of concrete companies to supply top rated provider... The Masonry Professionals in our community specialize in all sorts of concrete projects for example foundation, patio, driveway, pathway, and many other home renovation and home improvement assignments.

How swiftly it is put in – some materials take for a longer time to put in than Many others, but stamped concrete is comparatively fast to set up, which can be also certainly one of the reasons it's so reasonably priced.

This Cement Urn Planter includes a regal pot stand shape with antique gold and natural cement colored finish. Bring a new ingredient into your Room with this ceramic piece and let it total the appear within your home or office.

This ‘rug’ impact is great for kitchens and bathrooms. They increase colour as well as look of texture. They also choose a lot less time and price fewer than painting a complete ground. You can paint an intricate piece much like the rug higher than or develop a uncomplicated outline much like the rug below.

In addition, this flexible style and design is often put outdoor to complete an existing backyard garden arrangement or enhance a porch Screen. A h2o drainage hole is involved.

Hello! Like your site! I used to be considering painting my basement concrete ground. At this time We've pulled up the previous carpet and found adhere on wood flooring that is extremely hideous and aged.

The feel on the concrete may be built beautifully easy throughout the set up procedure. Alternatively, decorative textural patterns can be molded in the surface while it continues to be location.

Things dropped on these surfaces are prone to shatter or crack. That is certainly why these floors are not encouraged for spots which is able to be employed by little ones or elderly people, or in kitchens where by slipping dishes are likely.

Although a single sound colour might be the fastest technique to paint your flooring, it could possibly typically search flat and uninteresting.

[mccarranhandymanservices-blog]

Best Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing Company Las Vegas Nevada | McCarran Handyman Services

More information is at: http://www.handymanlasvegasnv.com/terrazzo-flooring-refinishing-near-me.html

 Youtube link:  https://youtu.be/gJzZXp4AekA

 Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/292645991337522/videos/401965047346587/

 Are you looking for Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing Service near Las Vegas Nevada? McCarran Handyman Services is the premier Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing Service in the Las Vegas Nevada. Terrazzo is a unique surface, primarily found as flooring, that traditionally contains marble chips of different sizes and colors held together with a cement base or, in newer applications, with a resin or epoxy base. Best Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing Service in Las Vegas Nevada. Cost? Free estimates! Call now or Send a quick message for an estimate.

REQUEST A FREE QUOTE NOW

 TERRAZZO FLOORING REFINISHING SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS NEVADA

The Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing will At McCarran Handyman Services, our experienced flooring experts can provide the best Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing

in Las Vegas Nevada at a very reasonable price. We take pride in offering the best Terrazzo Flooring Refinishing. Our McCarran Handyman Services experts take pride in providing the best service in the Las Vegas Nevada area.

Terrazzo is a unique surface, primarily found as flooring, that traditionally contains marble chips of different sizes and colors held together with a cement base or, in newer applications, with a resin or epoxy base. Aggregates other than marble may also be used. It is often the practice to wax terrazzo to achieve shine, but waxes yellow and collect dirt over time and therefore must be repeatedly stripped and reapplied. This process to be not only time-consuming and costly, but also unnecessary. With our professional terrazzo services, we can give your terrazzo floors a natural polish that eliminates the need for continuous stripping and waxing. If your circumstances require it, such as a hospital or high traffic environment, McCarran Handyman Services offer solutions that include increasing slip resistance, and providing anti-microbial properties to minimize the risk of spreading secondary infection.

What is terrazzo flooring?

Terrazzo flooring is a beautiful flooring system that is created by embedding aggregates of stone, glass, and marble, among other things, in cement or a resin base to achieve a beautifully artful and highly durable surface.

Why choose a terrazzo floor?

Terrazzo floors are popular for being both aesthetically and pragmatically superior. Because of the wide range of aggregates and resin or cement tinting options, the floor can be installed in a design that is unique to the specific sight – the design options are often said to be limitless, which is quite accurate; any design can be achieved with a specialized flooring company. Meanwhile, cement and resin floors are among the most durable floors in existence. The combination of strength and beauty makes terrazzo floors a truly brilliant flooring solution.

Further than both aesthetic beauty and pragmatic strength, a terrazzo floor can be highly cost-effective. Because it weighs significantly less than other cement-based options, it is simpler and quicker to install professionally. This results in less downtime for businesses and a great expense is saved via lower maintenance and cleaning costs as the floor lasts year after year, still looking great.

Why choose to work with us?

Terrazzo floors are hand-crafted and the contractors who specialize in them take great pride in their work – rightly so, as these floors are an art form and need to be installed precisely right to achieve their ultimate level of beauty and strength. McCarran Handyman Services  has been in the flooring industry for the last fifteen years, and in the last decade we have been installing terrazzo floors with great success and unmatched customer satisfaction. We are available to meet with architects, builders, and homeowners alike to walk them through from the first stage of planning all the way to the installation of their heart and mind’s vision. We recognize that each client has different needs, expectations and ideas, and we are here to recognize these and provide them with their own ultimate flooring solution. Call us today to schedule a free quote.

Terrazzo Refinishing

To an extent terrazzo can be restored to near perfect condition as long as the chosen restorer knows the intricacies of the ins and outs of what has to be prepared and done to the old terrazzo flooring.  In many instances too, terrazzo floors that can be restored are usually turned down by companies because these companies lack the needed experience and knowledge to find and fix the problems. Equally so, some of the terrazzo floor restoration projects that are taken on by companies get in over their heads or they do not fully understand the problems they are faced when they try restoring the old terrazzo. The years of experience and expert craftsmanship and dedication of the tradesmen are truthfully a must in restoring terrazzo to its near perfect condition like the day it was turned over to the owner.  

Our Terrazzo services include the following:

●     Terrazzo restoration

●     Terrazzo honing

●     Terrazzo polishing

●     Terrazzo repair

This service is ideal for any area including:

●     Residential Entrances

●     Interior floors

●     Commercial Kitchens

●     Hotels

●     Universities

●     Hospitals

●     Government buildings

●     Shopping centers

●     Community venues

Terrazzo Floor Restoration, Polishing

Terrazzo is made using marble, quartz, granite and glass chips. A wide variety of colors, looks, patterns and designs can be achieved. Terrazzo offers the attractiveness of natural stone without the associated cost.

One advantage of using Terrazzo tiles or Terrazzo seamless flooring is that the floor is extremely sturdy and strong. They are one of the most resilient tiles available in the market and are far stronger than stone and ceramic styles.

At  McCarran Handyman Services we can restore your Terrazzo floor to look as good as new. Our Restoration service involves mechanically grinding to level and smooth the surface, followed by polishing with diamond resin pads up to the level of gloss desired.

We at McCarran Handyman Services have the finest Terrazzo flooring refinishing services available at the most affordable prices! Ask for a free quote today!

Call us for :

·         Refinishing Terrazzo Floors Diy

·         Refinishing Terrazzo Floors Cost

·         How To Clean Terrazzo Floors

·         Terrazzo Floors

·         How To Strip Terrazzo Floors

·         Terrazzo Flooring Process

·         Terrazzo Floor Restoration Near Las Vegas Nevada

·         Sealing Terrazzo Floors

 BEST TERRAZZO FLOORING REFINISHING SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS NEVADA

MCCARRAN HANDYMAN SERVICES

REQUEST MORE INFORMATION. CONTACT US!

CONTACT:

McCarran Handyman Services

#1 Handyman Service in Las Vegas Henderson Nevada!

CALL (702) 570-4279 HANDYMAN 1, http://www.handymanlasvegasnv.com/

CALL (702) 514-3052 HANDYMAN 2, http://www.service-vegas.com/

CALL (702) 530-7597 CLEANING 1, http://www.mgmhouseholdservices.com/

CALL (702) 551-2023 CLEANING 2, http://www.cleaningserviceslasvegasnv.com/

CALL (702) 329-9729 JUNK REMOVAL, http://www.mgmjunkremoval.com/

Located in Las Vegas Nevada

Monday to Sunday 6:00 am – 11:00 pm

WEB: www.handymanlasvegasnv.com

EMAIL:mccarranhs@gmail.com

http://www.handymanlasvegasnv.com/

 HANDYMAN SERVICES:

·         Bathroom Kitchen Basement Remodeling, Interior and Exterior Painting

·         Cabinetry and Carpentry, Commercial Residential Painting

·         Concrete & Masonry, Damage Restoration

·         Decks & Railing, Demolition Services, Deck Staining

·         Door Repair Installation Services, Drywall Repair and Installer

·         Fences & Gates, Flooring and Foundation Services

·         Gutter Cleaning Services

·         Heating & Air Conditioning/HVAC

·         Landscaping Services, Lawn Care, Hardscaping Services

·         Painting, Plaster & Drywall Services

·         Plumbing Services, Roofing and Room Additions and Siding

·         Swimming Pool Maintenance and Cleaning

·         Waterproofing, Windows Repair Installation Services

·         Home Building and Home Remodeling

·         General Contracting, Hauling and Property Management

·         Solar Panel Services, Assembly and Installation Services

·         House Office Building Cleaning, Maintenance and Junk Removal

  SERVICE AREA: Las Vegas NV, Boulder City NV, Enterprise, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Paradise, Spring Valley, Summerlin, Sunrise Manor Nevada.

Las Vegas Neighborhoods:Aliante, Anthem/Anthem Country Club, Chinatown, Downtown Las Vegas, Green Valley, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Country Club, MacDonald Highlands, Mountain's Edge, Paradise Palms, Queensridge & One Queensridge Place, Seven Hills, Southern Highlands, Summerlin, Summerlin South, The Lakes, The Ridges, West Las Vegas Nevada.

Service Area Zip Codes: 88901, 88905, 89101, 89102, 89104, 89106, 89107, 89108, 89109, 89110, 89116, 89117, 89124, 89125, 89126, 89127, 89128, 89129, 89130, 89131, 89133, 89134, 89136, 89137, 89138, 89143, 89144, 89145, 89146, 89147, 89149, 89151, 89152, 89153, 89154, 89155, 89157, 89158, 89161, 89162, 89163, 89164, 89166, 89185.

[abqhouseholdservices]

Best Commercial Building Cleaning Company in Albuquerque New Mexico| ABQ Household Services More information is at: http://www.serviceabq.com/commercial-building-cleaning-company.html

Looking for a commercial building company in Albuquerque NM? Your building is the face of your company and keeping at its best will help you in making your brand popular. To keep the building at its best, ABQ Household Servicesis providing the commercial building cleaning company of the high standards supported by our experts who have expertise in understanding your unique needs. Cost of Commercial Building Cleaning Company? Free estimates! Call today or book a Commercial Building Cleaning online quickly!

REQUEST FREE ESTIMATES NOW!

COMMERCIAL BUILDING CLEANING COMPANY ALBUQUERQUE

The commercial building cleaning company of ABQ Household Serviceshas adopted the latest procedures accompanied by the latest technologies to provide a clean and healthy environment for your employees that too at fully satisfaction. Our commercial building cleaning company do care about the clean and hygienic environment and our concern for cleanliness is easily shown in our work. BUILDING CLEANING SERVICES Looking for the most efficient commercial building Cleaning Company & maintenance services in the Albuquerque, NE area? ABQ Household Services has the solution. We are Albuquerque`s favorite commercial building Cleaning company, office Cleaning Company, carpet Cleaning Company, apartment complex maintenance and Cleaning Company for senior care facilities. Low cost and dependable service.  We also do junk removal, Apartment cleanout, property clean out and hauling services such as furniture hauling and mattress removal. As the best commercial building cleaning company in Albuquerque, we are the masters of office cleaning. The moment people will step out from their car, they will begin to form a good opinion for your property. They will notice the sparkling clean front door, neat clean decorative in the hallway and so on. Our services as a commercial building cleaning company include: • Blind & Drapery Maintenance • Blind Re-taping and Re-cording • Mini and Vertical Blind Procurement • Periodic Blind Dusting and Washing • Carpet Care • Dry, Steam and Foam Shampooing • Spot Cleaning • Vacuuming • Fabric & Furniture Maintenance • Fabric Partition Cleaning • Fabric Shampooing, Dry Cleaning and Foam Cleaning • Leather Cleaning and Conditioning • Floor Care • Cleaning Beneath Raising Tile Flooring • Marble Restoration • Marble, Terrazzo, Cement, Wood, Vinyl Tile, Rubber and Ceramic Floor Care • Surface Cleaning of Raised Tile Flooring • General Cleaning • Conference Room Cleaning • Heavy Rubbish Removal • Kitchen and Break Room Maintenance • Lobbies and Common Areas • Office Cleaning • Porter/Matron Services • Post-Construction Cleanup • Pre/Post Move-In Cleanup • Restroom Cleaning and Supplies • Window Cleaning • Public Space Maintenance • Graffiti Removal • Landscaping • Litter Removal • Pressure Washing • Street Cleaning Leave all the dirty work for our team of experts. You won't get the better option that the ourcommercial building cleaning company. Contact us now; we are just a few seconds away!

BEST COMMERCIAL BUILDING CLEANING SERVICES ALBUQUERQUE NM ABQ HOUSEHOLD SERVICES REQUEST FREE ESTIMATES NOW

CONTACT: ABQ Household Services CALL (505) 225 3810 Best Cleaning Company in Albuquerque NM Open Monday to Sunday 6:00 am – 11:00 pm Located in Albuquerque NM 87120 WEB:  http://www.serviceabq.com/ EMAIL:  serviceabqnm@gmail.com http://www.serviceabq.com/

SERVICES: • Office Cleaning Service Albuquerque NM • Janitorial Services Albuquerque NM • House Cleaning Service Albuquerque NM • Carpet Cleaning Service Albuquerque NM • Junk Removal Service Albuquerque NM • Home Organization Services Albuquerque NM • Office Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Janitorial Services Albuquerque NM • Maid Services Albuquerque NM • Housekeeping Services Albuquerque NM • Move Out Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Deep Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Post Construction Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Presale Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • House Cleanout Services Albuquerque NM • Foreclosure Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Weekly Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Bi-Weekly Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Monthly Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • One Time Deep Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Same Day Services Albuquerque NM • Residential Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Commercial Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Bathroom Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Kitchen Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Window Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Pet Cleanup Services Albuquerque NM • Move In Move Out Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Attic Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Oven Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Basement Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Refrigerator Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Spring Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Summer Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Floor Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM • Dish Cleaning Services Albuquerque NM

SERVICE AREA:

Albuquerque Metropolitan Area: Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, ValenciaCounties NM, Albuquerque, Belen, Moriarty, Rio Communities, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Estancia, Mountainair, Peralta, Bosque Farms, Corrales, Cuba, Encino, Jemez Springs, Los Lunas, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, San Ysidro, Tijeras, Willard, Algodones, Carnuel, Casa Colorada, Cedar Crest, Chilili, Cochiti, El Cerro-Monterey Park, Isleta Village Proper, Jarales, Jemez Pueblo, La Jara, Los Chavez, Los Trujillos-Gabaldon, Manzano, Meadow Lake, North Valley, Paradise Hills, Pena Blanca, Placitas Ponderosa, Pueblo of Sandia Village, Regina, Rio Communities North, Rio Communities, San Felipe Pueblo, Santa Ana Pueblo, Santo Domingo Pueblo, South Valley, Tajique, Tome-Adelino, Torreon (Sandoval County), Torreon (Torrance County), Valencia, Zia Pueblo New Mexico

Zip Codes:87101, 87102, 87103, 87104, 87105, 87106, 87107, 87108, 87109, 87110, 87111, 87112, 87113, 87114, 87116, 87119, 87120, 87121, 87122, 87123, 87125, 87131, 87153, 87154, 87158, 87176, 87181, 87187, 87190, 87191, 87192, 87193, 87194, 87196, 87197, 87198, 87199.

[mrstevenbushus]

Finishing the Walls and Rendering

We’ve opted for a mix of timber cladding (we covered this in the September issue) and silicone render for the Education House’s external walls. They need to fulfil two key roles: prevent moisture ingress and provide an attractive finish.

Rendering involves fundamentally the same skillset as internal plastering – hence most plasterers do both types of work (and often floor screed, too). So, many self builders will engage the same team for these wet trade tasks.

In our case, however, we wanted to use a specialist to install the modern render we’ve selected. So alongside Drewett and Hunt’s plasterers, who are completing the internal tack and skim, we brought in silicone render specialist Prestige Energy, which has worked on a number of other projects at Graven Hill.

Benefits of silicone render

We’ve appointed K Rend as a partner to supply its silicone thin coat render, which has a fine textured finish, for the Build It Education House.

A cement-based system incorporating silicone, it offers a number of advantages over traditional solutions. Here are the key reasons we chose it:

1. It’s self-coloured Probably the biggest attraction of our silicone render is that the colour (there are 20 standard options) is embedded into the topcoat. So it doesn’t need painting, and there’s no redecoration to do over its lifetime.

2. It’s very flexible Properly applied and cared for, it has a long life expectancy of 30+ years. One reason for this is silicone render is more flexible than traditional products, so it accommodates movement and resists cracking.

3. It’s water repellent The silicone imparts a hydrophobic quality, which means it’s highly water (and dirt) resistant. So much so, that this type of render offers an element of self cleaning – the only regular maintenance that might be required is a light pressure wash every few years.

There’s no doubt that silicone render is a premium product. Depending on your project, it might come in at double the cost of a traditional finish.

But the speed of application should reduce the amount of skilled labour required for installation, while its dirt-resisting qualities will keep a lid on long-term maintenance. So it can represent very good value for money for a self builder looking to stay in their home for many years.

K Rend sent out a sample pack for us to evaluate, which helped narrow down the options. We were confident a shade of white would be the right fit, as per Lapd Architects’ original design. But we couldn’t decide between two tones.

K Rend again stepped in to help, providing a couple of tubs for us to trial. That helped us settle on Limestone White, which will give a crisp, characterful finish to complement the larch cladding, yellow-grey window frames and red/brown roof tile blend.

Silicone render isn’t the only modern option on the market. A wide range of alternatives is available, each with its own benefits and considerations.

Learn more

Applying the render

It’s best to have all the key elements of your home’s elevations done and dusted by the time the renderers get on site.

Ideally, the windows will be in, other external finishes (such as timber cladding) fitted, and the soffits and fascias installed. With those in place, getting a neat finish should be a doddle.

1. The ground floor part-way through tacking. The pink section in the ceiling is fire-rated plasterboard, which is required by Building Regs to protect structural steel

Prestige’s team, led by site foreman Darren, started by taping up the windows, doors and other joints with exterior finishes to protect them. Incidentally, because our timber windows have a microporous finish that needs to be allowed to breathe, they can only be covered for a short amount of time. All the more reason to use a quick-apply render solution!

With the prep done, the first step was to bed in the PVCu stop and angle beads where the render finishes or reaches internal/external corners (eg at the windows). This is the fiddliest bit of the job, and the team needed to build up a few corner beads to overcome thicker bits of silicone seal.

To keep up momentum, they set to work applying a base coat to the most straightforward elevations first. This was trowel-applied directly to the face of the insulating concrete formwork (ICF) walls, with an alkali-resistant fabric mesh embedded while the render was still wet. The mesh helps to smooth out any imperfections in the polystyrene, which reduces the risk of cracking even further and improves impact resistance.

2. We’ve packed Earthwool acoustic insulation into the first floor ceilings and all the stud walls

Silicone renders can be spray-applied, but Prestige tell me this is more common on commercial projects rather than one-off houses. When the work’s on different elevations, it’s actually quicker and easier to trowel on: by the time you’ve set up the sprayer, you’d be half-way done anyway.

After 48 hours, the wall was ready for its next coat. Once that was cured, a primer was applied. To help streamline our build programme and enable us to get the scaffold down quicker, the team worked over a weekend to get this phase done.

Soon after, the walls were ready for the topcoat, which Prestige advised should be 1.5mm thick. This is enough to give a little bit of texture, while ensuring any imperfections in the substrate are completely hidden.

3. The main basement room, fully skimmed and complete with recessed ceiling

K Rend’s topcoats come in ready-to-go tubs with the colour already pre-mixed. The total build-up of silicone render is just 6mm-10mm, depending on how straight and plumb your walls are. That compares to around 25mm for a traditional cement render.

Add this up around the perimeter of a whole house, and this thinner finish can help maximise on precious internal space.

Internal walls & ceilings

Most self builders opt for plasterboard (sometimes known as drywall or tacking) and a skim plaster finish on the internal face of ICF walls. It’s quicker than traditional wet plastering, requires less skilled labour and avoids the usual 14-day drying time (a skim coat will dry in just two or three days).

As our Nudura system has fastening strips at 600mm centres, the boards can be screwed directly to the ICF wall (rather than battening out) to give a solid feel. The majority of our service runs are located in the ceiling voids, with hot-knifed channels in the polystyrene walls down to sockets and switches. We can also plasterboard directly onto the SIPs panels in zones with vaulted ceilings.

In the basement, we’ve glued stud walls to the floor to avoid screwing into the waterproofing membrane. So we need to batten out the load bearing block internal wall in the vaulted hallway, to ensure the boards are flush all the way up. We’re also creating a recessed ceiling with LED lighting in the media zone, achieved using two different batten sizes.

Tacking

Plasterers are busy people, and ideally want to tackle projects in one big push so they can get the job done and move onto the next. On a gantt chart, you’d plan for them to come in once all first fix works are done so they’re basically the only trade working internally.

In practice, however, there are bound to be delays and overlaps somewhere (the eagle eyed among you will have noticed some images of tacked walls in last month’s update). It’s up to you, if you’re self-project managing, or your main contractor to try to minimise the impact of any setbacks.

One trick is to focus your resource on getting works done in sections to stay ahead of the game. Our tackers started in the basement and worked their way up – giving the rest of Drewett and Hunt’s team time to finalise prep on the storeys above.

Plasterboarding is quick work. For example, with the exception of a few areas of boxing out, the walls and ceilings in the main basement zone were tacked in a couple of days.

In most areas, we’ve used conventional 12.5mm-thick plasterboard, which comes in 1,200mm x 2,400mm sheets. Different thicknesses are available, which can be handy if you need to correct any discrepancies.

We’ve used SoundBloc acoustic board at the main bathroom to reduce noise transfer, but reverted to standard gypsum sheets with Earthwool insulation in the stud walls and ceiling voids. In some places, such as where there are structural steels, there’s pink-hued fire-rated plasterboard to meet Building Regulations.

The main area we couldn’t tack until later on in the build was the vaulted hallway. The crew needed an internal scaffold tower for access here, but erecting this too early would have blocked other trades, such as the floor tilers. So we made the decision to hold back on this section and concentrate on the rest of the house.

As we send the mag off to print, this area is mostly tacked and due to be finished imminently.

Skimming

With the boards in place, your other trades can crack on with any remaining first fix works – for example, the electricians will cut out for light fittings and install back boxes for switches and sockets.

Getting this work done before the plasterers return to do the skim will ensure best results – but some small post-plaster tweaks are inevitable. Skimming is done in two coats: the first gets the wall near-perfect, and the second thinner layer gives that ultra-smooth finish.

Skimming underway in the ground floor living room. It’s best to do the ceilings first to avoid disturbing the wall finishes with any muck that drops off the trowel. The final stages involve ‘troweling out’ the skim multiple times to achieve a really smooth surface.

The main prep is fitting beading at window reveals etc, and covering any joints with scrim (a special mesh tape helps to prevent cracking). After that, it’s all guns blazing. Drewett & Hunt’s plasterers brought in a big crew for this phase – and most of the ground floor was done in a single day.

That’s partly necessity: once you’ve started applying plaster to a wall, you have to complete it. Seeing the process in action is pretty impressive.

There’s an art to achieving perfectly smooth walls and ceilings ready for decoration – and it’s not something I’d fancy tackling DIY (get it wrong and you’d have to start all over again). But it’s bread and butter to skilled trades who know all the tricks and do it day-in, day-out.

The post Finishing the Walls and Rendering appeared first on Build It.

Article reference Finishing the Walls and Rendering

[anneedmonsonus]

An Energy Efficient 1960s Renovation in Bayswater

Bayswater is one of my favourite suburbs in Perth. If you don’t know it; think old farmhouses, sleepy streets, old trees, character houses with tons of potential, and little pockets of former farming land that make you feel like you could have stepped back in time. It has so much perfectly unpolished charm, and it often strikes me as one of the few areas left in Perth where you can still pick up a really cute character home without breaking the bank (such as this house or this one).

It’s no wonder Bayswater attracts a lot of renovators, such as Pamela Medlen and Nathaniel Clarke, who renovated this 1960s Bayswater home a few years ago. While Baysie has numerous character homes with cute period features, their renovation shows how you can update and ADD character to a fairly plain older home – and what’s also interesting about their project is that it’s an example of how you can design and use materials to create a thermally efficient home (that does away with air-conditioning altogether!)

I LOVE the entry to the house – filled with century plants – and may have stolen this idea for our reno! Photoshoot styling: Anna Flanders. Photography: Dion Robeson.

NO AIR CON, NO WORRIES: Builder Drago Bacic of Bacic Group says one of the home’s biggest selling points is actually what the home doesn’t have, which is air-conditioning! Made using Bacic Group’s product bWalls, an insulated panel, it doesn’t need it. “Most people wouldn’t dream of building a home in this climate without air conditioning but Pamela and Nathaniel aren’t most people!” he laughs. “With clever selection of materials and a well-designed and oriented home, we were able to deliver on that brief and build a home that’s comfortable to live in all year round.” Despite a lack of sea breezes in Bayswater (which isn’t close to the beach) the home stays cool and comfy in summer. Photoshoot styling: Anna Flanders. Photography: Dion Robeson.

Previously living “across the tracks” with their beagles Chilli and Mustard, Pamela and Nathaniel had patiently house-hunted for two years, wanting a project in a beautiful quiet neighbourhood. “We would walk the dogs around the suburb because we loved the area, and we would choose our favourite streets,” says Pamela. “It took two years of dog walking searches before we found the place. When it went on the market we were on Rottnest… I had to phone the agent and tell him he wasn’t allowed to sell it until I’d seen it!”

The house had been built in the 1960s for an older single lady on the former tennis court of the big old house next door. “It was a very nondescript, rectangular box,” says Pamela. “The block slopes from the front street to the back lane, so you can barely see much of the house from the street. The house was solid and plain. The bathroom was tiny and had the old avocado-coloured pedestal basin and shell soap holder. The whole kitchen was avocado. The timber floors were nice and there was nice light inside… our previous house had been quite dark.” Althought it needed work, it was tidy, and Nathaniel and Pamela could see the potential in the 60s house.

Because of the sloping block, finding a builder willing to take on the project – let alone on their budget –  their budget was proving an arduous task. Pamela now says if she were to give other people renovating advice, it would be not to give up! “We had upward of ten builders come and look to give us a quote,” she says. “Half of them walked away when they saw the slope of the block and the retaining work. We were just about to give up hope of getting it built and getting it built for a reasonable price.”

Then Pamela caught up with an old work colleague, Elvira Nuic, from her days at the ABC. Elvira had since become the interior designer and client manager for Bacic Group, a Perth boutique building and design studio with a minimalist, mid-century modern-inspired aesthetic.

“Pamela and Elvira caught up over drinks and got chatting about the build and how much trouble they were having finding a builder who would take on the project and could build it on budget,” says Bacic Group builder Drago Bacic (Elivra’s partner). “We offered to help and it turned into an amazing journey.”

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

From the start, Drago says they worked closely with the Pamela and Nathaniel’s designers, The Colour Royale, to suggest changes to the design and materials to slice almost $200,000 off the build estimate and improve its energy efficiency. “We managed this with only small changes to the layout and kept the size of the build relatively unchanged,” he says. “One major cost saving was utilising our bWall insulated concrete walling system. This made constructing the basement easier, quicker and cheaper and gave the structure a well-insulated shell. Together with the Bondor refrigerated roof panels and low-e glazing, bWall helped eliminate the need for air conditioning altogether.”

Drago and his team designed and created their bWall system and they swear by it so much that they use it exclusively in all their homes. “Pamela and Nathaniel’s home is built on quite a steep site which scared away a lot of builders, but was the big selling point for us,” he says. “Challenging blocks are where our walling system shines. bWall arrives flat packed and the walls, including all the retaining, are erected very quickly and then poured with concrete.” The exterior of this renovation features wood-look fibre cement panels which have been painted black. The panels form part of the bWall system, eliminating the need for render or cladding.

According to Drago, one of the home’s biggest selling points now is actually what the home doesn’t have, which is air-conditioning! “Most people wouldn’t dream of building a home in this climate without air conditioning but Pamela and Nathaniel aren’t most people!” he laughs. “With clever selection of materials and a well-designed and oriented home, we were able to deliver on that brief and build a home that’s comfortable to live in all year round.”

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

BAR OR BEDROOM? “The enormous bar/bedroom door is more like a sliding wall than a door and was a genius inclusion by The Colour Royale,” says Drago of one of the home’s most attention-grabbing features. Photoshoot styling: Anna Flanders. Photography: Dion Robeson.

Inside, the interiors were done with the help of Ultimo Interiors and feature numerous artworks from Linton and Kay. Pamela and Nathaniel love entertaining and the house was designed for this, with an amazing giant sliding door to the bedroom that actually hides the bar, above. “It’s a pretty spectacular reveal when people don’t realise what it is!” says Pamela. “We love having people stop by for a cocktail or dinner. It’s the nicest thing in the evening to throw together some cheese and crackers while Nathaniel whips up a cocktail and go and sit on the deck as the sun goes down. Magic.”

The house now was worth the inevitable work that comes with living in a house during its renovation, which Pamela and Nathaniel did! “Our builders, Bacic Group, were a dream to work with,” says Pamela. “Honestly we couldn’t have worked with a better team of people and construction workers and we know because we lived through the whole thing! Our designers The Colour Royale have some very exciting ideas and new ways of looking at architecture. Janine Mendel from Cultivart designed the garden and she is probably the best small space designer in Australia.”

INTERIOR PIECES: “Most of the furniture is from Ultimo who have the most amazing selection of contemporary furniture!” says Pamela. “A lot of the art is from Linton & Kay.”

After two years of searching and almost a year for the build, Pamela and Nathaniel have been stoked to call their dream location home. “Bayswater’s a real hidden secret… the village has everything in walking distance, there are a few eateries now,” she says. “We’re close to the train and can cycle to work in 15 minutes along a cycle path. I don’t think people realise yet that the suburb is so close to everything.” Maya x

Pamela and Nathaniel have been together since they were very young. “Nathaniel’s dad was my high school English Literature teacher and his sister my school friend – I visited her over the holidays once when her big brother was home from university interstate,” remembers Pamela. “I was just 16! And that was that… we’ve been inseparable ever since.” Photoshoot styling: Anna Flanders. Photography: Dion Robeson.

HOME DETAILS

THE OWNERS Nathaniel Clarke and Pamela Medlen

THEIR HOME A fully renovated and extended energy efficient 1960s brick home

LOCATION Bayswater, Western Australia

COMPLETED 2016

THE HOME DESIGNER The Colour Royale

THE BUILDER Bacic Group

THE INTERIOR DESIGN Ultimo Interiors

PHOTOSHOOT STYLING Anna Flanders

PHOTOGRAPHY Dion Robeson

The post An Energy Efficient 1960s Renovation in Bayswater appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/06/02/energy-efficient-1960s-reno/

[charleswatson013-blog]

Planning A Great Home Improvement Project That Anyone Can Do As long as people have had homes, people have faced the challenge of home improvement. Everybody wants an attractive and comfortable home, and home improvement projects offer the opportunity to accomplish this goal. You can continue reading to find a few good home improvement tips for this modern age of technology and convenience. If you are planning something major in terms of a home renovation project, make sure you hire a professional to help with the plans. The ideal project or renovation takes into account multiple non-decorative factors, including safety, efficiency and function. However, having a professionally put together the plans will help avoid problems with safety regulations and codes later on. That saves money and time. Stained wood is almost always more appealing than painted wood on baseboards. This look is considered classic, and most homes can benefit from the more natural appeal. In addition, stained baseboards hide scuff marks and are easier to maintain than painted baseboards. Make sure that you choose the right color to match the style of your home. When you are considering home improvement, think about your surroundings so your improvements make sense. Avoid nonsensical or questionable improvements like leaving a sun room in a cold climate uninsulated. This will make your home much more difficult to sell. Try to choose projects that go with the surrounding area, and take climate into consideration. Bleach is a great tool for cleaning toilets. While the bleach may not smell great, taking the time to clean them this way will leave your toilet looking lovely, and will also disinfect it. You may want to use scented bleach if the odor is offensive. In order to attach PVC pipes, you need PVC primer and cement. You should always use products made for this type of material. On top of that, the pipe surfaces should not be wet with water. Use 2-liter bottles for storage in the kitchen. They are see-through and will protect practically any kind of dry goods such as corn meal, flour, or sugar. You can put them into a fridge, freezer or cabinet easily. When you need somethings, simply remove the cap to pour out the contents. Prior to purchasing hardwood flooring, ask a professional about the status of your existing floors. You may find gorgeous, natural hardwood buried beneath layers of old linoleum or carpet that can be refinished and restored to its original beauty. If this is the case, you'll just need to strip the old carpet or flooring and refinish the natural floor underneath. You should make a list of everything you need before heading out to a home improvement store. When you make a list, you ensure that you don't make a lot of trips to the store. It also keeps you organized. One way to add a little personality to an otherwise boring room is to use bold prints. Animal prints are a great way to add personality. Just add a small pillow, rug, or picture that features animal print and you are good to go. You can improve the look of a bathroom by giving it a new glaze. A glaze can brighten up a dingy bathroom, and can take it from looking worn to shiny and clean. Buying new fixtures and flooring can be expensive, but glazing can be done for just a couple hundred dollars. The value of a home can be increased at a bargain price through glazing. One good investment to make is finishing your basement. When your basement is finish, you've give your family a whole new room to enjoy. Purchase the materials needed from the different discount stores in your area. By putting in the work to finish your basement, you can increase the value of your home by as much as thirty percent. When you are remodeling in the bathroom, you should have good lights. Sometimes people focus more on the fixtures and don't consider the lighting until it is too late. Look for lights to include around the medicine cabinet or mirror, while putting up lights on the ceiling that can be simply replaced at any time. Are you planning on painting your home? Try no-VOC paints. These paints are friendly to the environment, and they lack the dangerous chemicals in other paints. They cost a little more, but they work just as well as traditional paint. Find a color scheme you like for your room. Complementary colors are especially great in formal rooms of the home, like dining rooms. If you look at a color wheel, the colors which oppose each other are considered complementary. This type of color palette looks good and works well. Select color schemes by using something that is already in the room to be painted. It could be a rug or a painting or just about anything that you want it to be. Look for a dominant color that creates the effect you want and create some patterns with secondary colors that go well with the primary color. Use the other two colors as secondary accent colors. If you are planning to do some home improvement, schedule plumbing and electrical work first. These types of repairs usually require access inside your walls, so it makes sense to do them before you have other work done. On the flip side, if you are planning to remodel, you should do these things first so that your remodel will not be ruined because one of these areas failed. Everyone knows the popular saying "plant trees for tomorrow." Planting a tree can also be an investment that will add value to your home as well. It has been said that a fully grown tree can raise the value of a property by $1,000 dollars. When you plan right, you can really do amazing things to improve your home. Proceed with caution; it can be much harder than it looks. Many a homeowner have found themselves deep into a project, only to find they are in over their head, increasing the time frame and expense of their project.

How To Make Your Home Improvement Project Divine

When it comes to the place you live, you want to make it as comfortable and beautiful as you can. The ideal way to ensure you that your home is as good as it can be is to learn as much as you can about home improvement and do it yourself. This article has advice that can help you improve your home.

Light-colored roofing is a great investment. Light-colored tiles will reflect sun rays rather than absorbing them, which will decrease the amount of built-up heat in your attic. This can lead to a significant savings on your monthly cooling and heating bills.

When you are going to be doing home improvements, make sure you do things that will be viable. Examples of nonsensical improvements include non-insulated sun rooms in Michigan, and uncovered decks in Arizona; basically anything that causes potential buyers to think about whether you have made other odd choices while maintaining the house. Be sure you stick with the improvements that are actually wanted and don't overdo it. Keep the actual climate in mind.

When buying furniture, stay away from couches, sofas, chairs and recliners with busy upholstery. These patterns will have to match other aspects of the room. Choose solid colors for your major furniture pieces, and add interest with your accessories. You can experiment with patterns to your heart's content with pillows and throws without making too much of a commitment.

As you start any type of home improvement project, remember not to underestimate the amount of work to be done. Sit down and take the time to figure out everything that needs to get done. You should also consider getting a second opinion to make sure you haven't missed important details. If you make sure you know exactly what must be done, it'll be easy to keep costs down.

Sealant strips and draft excluders can keep air from seeping out door cracks. A draft excluder is placed under the door and will prevent hot air from escaping out while preventing cold air from coming in. You will get the same functionality with sealants trips which fit around the door frame. You can easily find these things in most hardware stores.

It is important to use the highest quality supplies and tools when doing a home improvement project. This investment will pay dividends in the long run and is well worth the expenditure. Higher quality products last longer and survive general wear better. Tools aren't exactly cheap, so replacing them often isn't something you want to be doing.

Cut off, or tie up, the loops or extra cord on your blind cords. It is easy for a child or pet to get caught and strangled in these cords. Do not cut them too short, you will need enough length to still use the blinds. Prevent accidents by cutting it or tying it.

When you are thinking about tackling a paint job project in your house, it is crucial that you know how much paint will be needed to get everything done. Don't try to blindly tackle a job, or it might cost you more in the long run. Do some research and contact different stores to get prices on the supplies you are going to need.

Homeowners should avoid choosing unlicensed contractors to accomplish home improvement projects. All states require general contractors to have some kind of certification. Although having these requirements does not mean they are very skilled, they're still required by law. Unlicensed contractors usually lack insurance as well, meaning that you take a major risk in hiring them.

It is a good idea to do home improvements soon after you notice there is an issue. Most damage that often happens to your home you may just forget about. This is a temptation that you have to resist. Systems within your home are connected, which means damage can often spread quickly. Small problems can quickly blow up into a big one.

Be sure to give your bathroom good lighting when you remodel. People tend to focus on fixtures when remodeling their bathroom and forget that lighting is important. If you add lights by the mirror and lights on the ceiling, be sure that the bulbs can be replaced easily.

When you are doing any painting, make sure it is VOC-free. These paints are free of many of the potentially-harmful chemicals contained in standard paints, and they're much better for the environment. The new paints work as well as traditional paints; however, they are a little bit more expensive.

You have to pay more for a renovation to be completed quickly. By talking to your contractor(s), you should discover that they will be more than happy to work harder. Just know that they are pleased because they will expect more money! So make sure both you and your workers will be happy with the job expected, and the money to be paid.

Add a fresh look to your kitchen with some flowers or fruit. Your kitchen will come to life with a beautiful flower arrangement or a generous bowl of fresh fruit. This fix is inexpensive and doesn't require a lot of effort to get great results in your kitchen. The sight of a bunch of fresh flowers can brighten even the dullest day, improving your mood as well as your kitchen.

Do you think your house is too hot or there is too much sun entering your rooms? You might want to consider window tinting. This is a simple process, and many people can do it themselves. Plus, the tinting will lower the temperature in your home, decreasing your cooling bills.

When you are looking for contractors, try to get comparable quotes from each company. Create a detailed list of what you want improved and make sure that list remains the same for each contractor. If you constantly alter the details, it will be very hard to find the best value for your money.

You should use the different tips you just read. Get your supplies together and begin improving your home's beauty and value. You'll have fun doing the work yourself, and you'll feel great admiring your handiwork afterwards.

High Power Cleaning Services

[stupendousbarbariancreation-blog]

Planning A Great Home Improvement Project That Anyone Can Do As long as people have had homes, people have faced the challenge of home improvement. Everybody wants an attractive and comfortable home, and home improvement projects offer the opportunity to accomplish this goal. You can continue reading to find a few good home improvement tips for this modern age of technology and convenience. If you are planning something major in terms of a home renovation project, make sure you hire a professional to help with the plans. The ideal project or renovation takes into account multiple non-decorative factors, including safety, efficiency and function. However, having a professionally put together the plans will help avoid problems with safety regulations and codes later on. That saves money and time. Stained wood is almost always more appealing than painted wood on baseboards. This look is considered classic, and most homes can benefit from the more natural appeal. In addition, stained baseboards hide scuff marks and are easier to maintain than painted baseboards. Make sure that you choose the right color to match the style of your home. When you are considering home improvement, think about your surroundings so your improvements make sense. Avoid nonsensical or questionable improvements like leaving a sun room in a cold climate uninsulated. This will make your home much more difficult to sell. Try to choose projects that go with the surrounding area, and take climate into consideration. Bleach is a great tool for cleaning toilets. While the bleach may not smell great, taking the time to clean them this way will leave your toilet looking lovely, and will also disinfect it. You may want to use scented bleach if the odor is offensive. In order to attach PVC pipes, you need PVC primer and cement. You should always use products made for this type of material. On top of that, the pipe surfaces should not be wet with water. Use 2-liter bottles for storage in the kitchen. They are see-through and will protect practically any kind of dry goods such as corn meal, flour, or sugar. You can put them into a fridge, freezer or cabinet easily. When you need somethings, simply remove the cap to pour out the contents. Prior to purchasing hardwood flooring, ask a professional about the status of your existing floors. You may find gorgeous, natural hardwood buried beneath layers of old linoleum or carpet that can be refinished and restored to its original beauty. If this is the case, you'll just need to strip the old carpet or flooring and refinish the natural floor underneath. You should make a list of everything you need before heading out to a home improvement store. When you make a list, you ensure that you don't make a lot of trips to the store. It also keeps you organized. One way to add a little personality to an otherwise boring room is to use bold prints. Animal prints are a great way to add personality. Just add a small pillow, rug, or picture that features animal print and you are good to go. You can improve the look of a bathroom by giving it a new glaze. A glaze can brighten up a dingy bathroom, and can take it from looking worn to shiny and clean. Buying new fixtures and flooring can be expensive, but glazing can be done for just a couple hundred dollars. The value of a home can be increased at a bargain price through glazing. One good investment to make is finishing your basement. When your basement is finish, you've give your family a whole new room to enjoy. Purchase the materials needed from the different discount stores in your area. By putting in the work to finish your basement, you can increase the value of your home by as much as thirty percent. When you are remodeling in the bathroom, you should have good lights. Sometimes people focus more on the fixtures and don't consider the lighting until it is too late. Look for lights to include around the medicine cabinet or mirror, while putting up lights on the ceiling that can be simply replaced at any time. Are you planning on painting your home? Try no-VOC paints. These paints are friendly to the environment, and they lack the dangerous chemicals in other paints. They cost a little more, but they work just as well as traditional paint. Find a color scheme you like for your room. Complementary colors are especially great in formal rooms of the home, like dining rooms. If you look at a color wheel, the colors which oppose each other are considered complementary. This type of color palette looks good and works well. Select color schemes by using something that is already in the room to be painted. It could be a rug or a painting or just about anything that you want it to be. Look for a dominant color that creates the effect you want and create some patterns with secondary colors that go well with the primary color. Use the other two colors as secondary accent colors. If you are planning to do some home improvement, schedule plumbing and electrical work first. These types of repairs usually require access inside your walls, so it makes sense to do them before you have other work done. On the flip side, if you are planning to remodel, you should do these things first so that your remodel will not be ruined because one of these areas failed. Everyone knows the popular saying "plant trees for tomorrow." Planting a tree can also be an investment that will add value to your home as well. It has been said that a fully grown tree can raise the value of a property by $1,000 dollars. When you plan right, you can really do amazing things to improve your home. Proceed with caution; it can be much harder than it looks. Many a homeowner have found themselves deep into a project, only to find they are in over their head, increasing the time frame and expense of their project.

How To Make Your Home Improvement Project Divine

When it comes to the place you live, you want to make it as comfortable and beautiful as you can. The ideal way to ensure you that your home is as good as it can be is to learn as much as you can about home improvement and do it yourself. This article has advice that can help you improve your home.

Light-colored roofing is a great investment. Light-colored tiles will reflect sun rays rather than absorbing them, which will decrease the amount of built-up heat in your attic. This can lead to a significant savings on your monthly cooling and heating bills.

When you are going to be doing home improvements, make sure you do things that will be viable. Examples of nonsensical improvements include non-insulated sun rooms in Michigan, and uncovered decks in Arizona; basically anything that causes potential buyers to think about whether you have made other odd choices while maintaining the house. Be sure you stick with the improvements that are actually wanted and don't overdo it. Keep the actual climate in mind.

When buying furniture, stay away from couches, sofas, chairs and recliners with busy upholstery. These patterns will have to match other aspects of the room. Choose solid colors for your major furniture pieces, and add interest with your accessories. You can experiment with patterns to your heart's content with pillows and throws without making too much of a commitment.

As you start any type of home improvement project, remember not to underestimate the amount of work to be done. Sit down and take the time to figure out everything that needs to get done. You should also consider getting a second opinion to make sure you haven't missed important details. If you make sure you know exactly what must be done, it'll be easy to keep costs down.

Sealant strips and draft excluders can keep air from seeping out door cracks. A draft excluder is placed under the door and will prevent hot air from escaping out while preventing cold air from coming in. You will get the same functionality with sealants trips which fit around the door frame. You can easily find these things in most hardware stores.

It is important to use the highest quality supplies and tools when doing a home improvement project. This investment will pay dividends in the long run and is well worth the expenditure. Higher quality products last longer and survive general wear better. Tools aren't exactly cheap, so replacing them often isn't something you want to be doing.

Cut off, or tie up, the loops or extra cord on your blind cords. It is easy for a child or pet to get caught and strangled in these cords. Do not cut them too short, you will need enough length to still use the blinds. Prevent accidents by cutting it or tying it.

When you are thinking about tackling a paint job project in your house, it is crucial that you know how much paint will be needed to get everything done. Don't try to blindly tackle a job, or it might cost you more in the long run. Do some research and contact different stores to get prices on the supplies you are going to need.

Homeowners should avoid choosing unlicensed contractors to accomplish home improvement projects. All states require general contractors to have some kind of certification. Although having these requirements does not mean they are very skilled, they're still required by law. Unlicensed contractors usually lack insurance as well, meaning that you take a major risk in hiring them.

It is a good idea to do home improvements soon after you notice there is an issue. Most damage that often happens to your home you may just forget about. This is a temptation that you have to resist. Systems within your home are connected, which means damage can often spread quickly. Small problems can quickly blow up into a big one.

Be sure to give your bathroom good lighting when you remodel. People tend to focus on fixtures when remodeling their bathroom and forget that lighting is important. If you add lights by the mirror and lights on the ceiling, be sure that the bulbs can be replaced easily.

When you are doing any painting, make sure it is VOC-free. These paints are free of many of the potentially-harmful chemicals contained in standard paints, and they're much better for the environment. The new paints work as well as traditional paints; however, they are a little bit more expensive.

You have to pay more for a renovation to be completed quickly. By talking to your contractor(s), you should discover that they will be more than happy to work harder. Just know that they are pleased because they will expect more money! So make sure both you and your workers will be happy with the job expected, and the money to be paid.

Add a fresh look to your kitchen with some flowers or fruit. Your kitchen will come to life with a beautiful flower arrangement or a generous bowl of fresh fruit. This fix is inexpensive and doesn't require a lot of effort to get great results in your kitchen. The sight of a bunch of fresh flowers can brighten even the dullest day, improving your mood as well as your kitchen.

Do you think your house is too hot or there is too much sun entering your rooms? You might want to consider window tinting. This is a simple process, and many people can do it themselves. Plus, the tinting will lower the temperature in your home, decreasing your cooling bills.

When you are looking for contractors, try to get comparable quotes from each company. Create a detailed list of what you want improved and make sure that list remains the same for each contractor. If you constantly alter the details, it will be very hard to find the best value for your money.

You should use the different tips you just read. Get your supplies together and begin improving your home's beauty and value. You'll have fun doing the work yourself, and you'll feel great admiring your handiwork afterwards.

High Power Cleaning Services

[learnwhatshotmail-blog]

Planning A Great Home Improvement Project That Anyone Can Do As long as people have had homes, people have faced the challenge of home improvement. Everybody wants an attractive and comfortable home, and home improvement projects offer the opportunity to accomplish this goal. You can continue reading to find a few good home improvement tips for this modern age of technology and convenience. If you are planning something major in terms of a home renovation project, make sure you hire a professional to help with the plans. The ideal project or renovation takes into account multiple non-decorative factors, including safety, efficiency and function. However, having a professionally put together the plans will help avoid problems with safety regulations and codes later on. That saves money and time. Stained wood is almost always more appealing than painted wood on baseboards. This look is considered classic, and most homes can benefit from the more natural appeal. In addition, stained baseboards hide scuff marks and are easier to maintain than painted baseboards. Make sure that you choose the right color to match the style of your home. When you are considering home improvement, think about your surroundings so your improvements make sense. Avoid nonsensical or questionable improvements like leaving a sun room in a cold climate uninsulated. This will make your home much more difficult to sell. Try to choose projects that go with the surrounding area, and take climate into consideration. Bleach is a great tool for cleaning toilets. While the bleach may not smell great, taking the time to clean them this way will leave your toilet looking lovely, and will also disinfect it. You may want to use scented bleach if the odor is offensive. In order to attach PVC pipes, you need PVC primer and cement. You should always use products made for this type of material. On top of that, the pipe surfaces should not be wet with water. Use 2-liter bottles for storage in the kitchen. They are see-through and will protect practically any kind of dry goods such as corn meal, flour, or sugar. You can put them into a fridge, freezer or cabinet easily. When you need somethings, simply remove the cap to pour out the contents. Prior to purchasing hardwood flooring, ask a professional about the status of your existing floors. You may find gorgeous, natural hardwood buried beneath layers of old linoleum or carpet that can be refinished and restored to its original beauty. If this is the case, you'll just need to strip the old carpet or flooring and refinish the natural floor underneath. You should make a list of everything you need before heading out to a home improvement store. When you make a list, you ensure that you don't make a lot of trips to the store. It also keeps you organized. One way to add a little personality to an otherwise boring room is to use bold prints. Animal prints are a great way to add personality. Just add a small pillow, rug, or picture that features animal print and you are good to go. You can improve the look of a bathroom by giving it a new glaze. A glaze can brighten up a dingy bathroom, and can take it from looking worn to shiny and clean. Buying new fixtures and flooring can be expensive, but glazing can be done for just a couple hundred dollars. The value of a home can be increased at a bargain price through glazing. One good investment to make is finishing your basement. When your basement is finish, you've give your family a whole new room to enjoy. Purchase the materials needed from the different discount stores in your area. By putting in the work to finish your basement, you can increase the value of your home by as much as thirty percent. When you are remodeling in the bathroom, you should have good lights. Sometimes people focus more on the fixtures and don't consider the lighting until it is too late. Look for lights to include around the medicine cabinet or mirror, while putting up lights on the ceiling that can be simply replaced at any time. Are you planning on painting your home? Try no-VOC paints. These paints are friendly to the environment, and they lack the dangerous chemicals in other paints. They cost a little more, but they work just as well as traditional paint. Find a color scheme you like for your room. Complementary colors are especially great in formal rooms of the home, like dining rooms. If you look at a color wheel, the colors which oppose each other are considered complementary. This type of color palette looks good and works well. Select color schemes by using something that is already in the room to be painted. It could be a rug or a painting or just about anything that you want it to be. Look for a dominant color that creates the effect you want and create some patterns with secondary colors that go well with the primary color. Use the other two colors as secondary accent colors. If you are planning to do some home improvement, schedule plumbing and electrical work first. These types of repairs usually require access inside your walls, so it makes sense to do them before you have other work done. On the flip side, if you are planning to remodel, you should do these things first so that your remodel will not be ruined because one of these areas failed. Everyone knows the popular saying "plant trees for tomorrow." Planting a tree can also be an investment that will add value to your home as well. It has been said that a fully grown tree can raise the value of a property by $1,000 dollars. When you plan right, you can really do amazing things to improve your home. Proceed with caution; it can be much harder than it looks. Many a homeowner have found themselves deep into a project, only to find they are in over their head, increasing the time frame and expense of their project.

How To Make Your Home Improvement Project Divine

When it comes to the place you live, you want to make it as comfortable and beautiful as you can. The ideal way to ensure you that your home is as good as it can be is to learn as much as you can about home improvement and do it yourself. This article has advice that can help you improve your home.

Light-colored roofing is a great investment. Light-colored tiles will reflect sun rays rather than absorbing them, which will decrease the amount of built-up heat in your attic. This can lead to a significant savings on your monthly cooling and heating bills.

When you are going to be doing home improvements, make sure you do things that will be viable. Examples of nonsensical improvements include non-insulated sun rooms in Michigan, and uncovered decks in Arizona; basically anything that causes potential buyers to think about whether you have made other odd choices while maintaining the house. Be sure you stick with the improvements that are actually wanted and don't overdo it. Keep the actual climate in mind.

When buying furniture, stay away from couches, sofas, chairs and recliners with busy upholstery. These patterns will have to match other aspects of the room. Choose solid colors for your major furniture pieces, and add interest with your accessories. You can experiment with patterns to your heart's content with pillows and throws without making too much of a commitment.

As you start any type of home improvement project, remember not to underestimate the amount of work to be done. Sit down and take the time to figure out everything that needs to get done. You should also consider getting a second opinion to make sure you haven't missed important details. If you make sure you know exactly what must be done, it'll be easy to keep costs down.

Sealant strips and draft excluders can keep air from seeping out door cracks. A draft excluder is placed under the door and will prevent hot air from escaping out while preventing cold air from coming in. You will get the same functionality with sealants trips which fit around the door frame. You can easily find these things in most hardware stores.

It is important to use the highest quality supplies and tools when doing a home improvement project. This investment will pay dividends in the long run and is well worth the expenditure. Higher quality products last longer and survive general wear better. Tools aren't exactly cheap, so replacing them often isn't something you want to be doing.

Cut off, or tie up, the loops or extra cord on your blind cords. It is easy for a child or pet to get caught and strangled in these cords. Do not cut them too short, you will need enough length to still use the blinds. Prevent accidents by cutting it or tying it.

When you are thinking about tackling a paint job project in your house, it is crucial that you know how much paint will be needed to get everything done. Don't try to blindly tackle a job, or it might cost you more in the long run. Do some research and contact different stores to get prices on the supplies you are going to need.

Homeowners should avoid choosing unlicensed contractors to accomplish home improvement projects. All states require general contractors to have some kind of certification. Although having these requirements does not mean they are very skilled, they're still required by law. Unlicensed contractors usually lack insurance as well, meaning that you take a major risk in hiring them.

It is a good idea to do home improvements soon after you notice there is an issue. Most damage that often happens to your home you may just forget about. This is a temptation that you have to resist. Systems within your home are connected, which means damage can often spread quickly. Small problems can quickly blow up into a big one.

Be sure to give your bathroom good lighting when you remodel. People tend to focus on fixtures when remodeling their bathroom and forget that lighting is important. If you add lights by the mirror and lights on the ceiling, be sure that the bulbs can be replaced easily.

When you are doing any painting, make sure it is VOC-free. These paints are free of many of the potentially-harmful chemicals contained in standard paints, and they're much better for the environment. The new paints work as well as traditional paints; however, they are a little bit more expensive.

You have to pay more for a renovation to be completed quickly. By talking to your contractor(s), you should discover that they will be more than happy to work harder. Just know that they are pleased because they will expect more money! So make sure both you and your workers will be happy with the job expected, and the money to be paid.

Add a fresh look to your kitchen with some flowers or fruit. Your kitchen will come to life with a beautiful flower arrangement or a generous bowl of fresh fruit. This fix is inexpensive and doesn't require a lot of effort to get great results in your kitchen. The sight of a bunch of fresh flowers can brighten even the dullest day, improving your mood as well as your kitchen.

Do you think your house is too hot or there is too much sun entering your rooms? You might want to consider window tinting. This is a simple process, and many people can do it themselves. Plus, the tinting will lower the temperature in your home, decreasing your cooling bills.

When you are looking for contractors, try to get comparable quotes from each company. Create a detailed list of what you want improved and make sure that list remains the same for each contractor. If you constantly alter the details, it will be very hard to find the best value for your money.

You should use the different tips you just read. Get your supplies together and begin improving your home's beauty and value. You'll have fun doing the work yourself, and you'll feel great admiring your handiwork afterwards.

High Power Cleaning Services