#just realized these snippets are mostly long ones

[bomberqueen17]

lurkey lurkey

so i had in my mind been like "when the farm season is over i'm gonna get so much done" and also in my mind been like "bitch be real i am going to be decompressing uncontrollably and will achieve nothing" and just as one might have predicted, i have split the difference, spinning wheels wildly and also achieving little.

i did do a final definitive trial of ADHD meds, long put-off because the season was too hectic, and decided that yes, my impression of July was correct, I suck at being medicated LOL

I did start publishing the 150k of incoherent fanfic I started writing in August while insane, and I might keep going on that; there's a small audience but a lovely one

and I really really did take the characters from that fanfic and shove them into a new story and I have written several tens of thousands of words of notes but in the last couple of days I actually think I have begun to write a draft. So.

If anyone is interested in possibly doing some beta-reading, even just cheer-reading, of a draft of an original novel about bisexual tall ship sailors in a solarpunk setting, I should mention that the stay-at-home wife is turning out to be the B-plot heroine (it might actually be the A plot) and the Admiral's sassy gay socialite husband is doing some heavy lifting I hadn't expected, but on the other hand, the children are less onscreen than I'd expected. And I'm not sure where the sex is going to fit in, if at all. But there is still an OT3.

So let me know about that. I'm not quite ready with a shareable draft but I'm two chapters in and cautiously optimistic that this is actually a story. Maybe?

But I'm about to head back to the farm for the turkey processing ordeal, which is a solid week of extremely hard work with a major holiday in the middle with family obligations and then more work immediately afterward, so I don't expect to have time to work on it for a bit. But it's ruminating in there, I promise.

I have a snippet, which is a first-- everything I've written so far I've hated upon rereading, so that's why I think I'm making progress. I've renamed everyone but kept the first names mostly, where I didn't swap genders. This is the opening of chapter 2, so we've already had Technology Backstory With Smart Wifey, and Action Sequence At Sea With Explosions, and now it's time for Character Backstories:

Someone shouted his name from down the street, and Tom laughed aloud, handed his datapad to the mildly alarmed merchant captain walking beside him, and turned, holding his arms out and bracing himself to receive the sudden arrival of thirteen stone or so of Yardley at full velocity. James always jumped and Tom always caught him, that was how it had worked since they were about thirteen, and he spun around to absorb some of the excess velocity and then kissed James soundly on the mouth before setting him down.  “Atkins, you fucker,” Yardley said. He’d knocked both their hats off. He was tan, straight off a run from around the Storms, and had been long-scheduled to meet them here. Constellation’s limping had slowed them down so much they were eight days overdue, so he’d likely been hanging around a while now. “I hear you have a good excuse for being late.” “I don’t know that it’s good,” Tom said, retrieving their hats and putting Yardley’s back on him. Then he realized it was the wrong hat, so he switched them. “But it couldn’t exactly have been avoided.”  James grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him again, and it could read as just friendly to a casual observer but Tom knew it was not, and smiled, curling his tongue wickedly but briefly behind James’s teeth before pulling back. James kept hold of his face and frowned. “You look like shit,” he said. “Thanks,” Tom said. “You look like you’ve been lying around Barka drinking and fu--” He rerouted the sentence, remembering they weren’t alone. “Making friends.” “Well,” James said modestly, preening, “naturally.”

[splashinkling]

Word Finder 30

another day, another word finder. all words @talesfromaurea gave at some point in time (over, under, scent, sun)!

we'll tag with no pressure: @moonluringfrost, @the-finch-address, @oh-no-another-idea, and anyone else who wants to join! (that means you!) your words are: eyes, hands, feet, and (as a fun challenge) "and" but from your longest sentence :)

Over |

“There weren’t tens of them.” I slung my arm over Alf’s shoulders. He stiffened awkwardly. “Alf didn’t even have to help. If I remember correctly, there were six goblins and a pack of wolves. Makes it at least 15, at most 30. I didn’t bother with the cottontails that I saw.” I rolled my head side to side. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”

(Remini)scent |

The sword reflected the moonlight. On the flat of its blade were markings reminiscent of flames.

Under(neath) |

A dusty old mattress sat in a cracked wooden bed frame in the corner of the room. A small, round bedside table leaned against the wall at the foot of the bed. The wallpaper cracked and peeled off the walls and not-so-small shards of glass were scattered atop, underneath, and around the windowsill. The cool nighttime breeze flowed in, stirring up the still dust on the floors. I coughed when I dropped my bags at my feet and more dust filled the air. I smacked the mattress with one hand while covering my mouth and nose with the other. The floor was definitely less dusty.

Sun |

Outside, the sun hovered over the treetops, holding on for a moment longer before it drops below the horizon. As I took care of the boar, skinning and gutting and dismantling it for usable parts, I realized I had nothing to do. Master had always given me something to do, even if it was just the chores that she stubbornly didn’t want to do herself. I decided to go to the town. She wouldn’t have mentioned the town if she didn’t want me to go there, I tried to justify.

[tibby-art]

i am straight up on my hands and knees BEGGING for more hitman au

crazy that you mention that actually because i did write another snippet a little while ago.. here’s a doodle i did to accompany it + the writing under the cut

=+=

Grian gazed out the window of the bus, soaking in the quiet evening of the city. It had been some time since he was out in public like this, since he had felt like a normal citizen going about her daily buisness. It was nice to be outside the NHO headquarters for once, free to do what she pleased. Well, sort of.

Grian wasn’t exactly free. He was allowed some free time out when there was no training, lab visits, or missions. However, she was only allowed outside the NHO with a bodyguard. Someone who could both protect him from the overstimulation of the outside world, as well as protect others from her… if he were to ever lose control of his powers, or something.

Yes, riding the bus with a former-criminal-turned-professional-hitman certainly made the whole experience feel less normal for Grian.

“It’s nice to take public transportation once in a while,” Scar mused, stretching his arms over his head. “Us vexes don’t get to do that much anymore, when we can just fly around wherever we need to go.”

“That must be so much better, though,” Grian pointed out. “You can fly wherever you want, and you don’t even have to pay the bus fare.”

“Let me tell you, Grian, flying can be so tiring,” Scar huffed. “Sometimes I’m so tired by the time we show up to a hit, we need to take a breather on the roof for a few minutes. The NHO should just let us have a car for the long missions, for goodness’ sake!”

Grian did a quick check of his surroundings. The bus was pretty empty this time of day, but she got no sense that any of the passengers were paying attention to Scar so casually talking about being a hitman. A brief tap into watcher vision didn’t show any movement from the passengers behind her, either.

“Cub’s in much better shape than me,” Scar rambled on. “Did you know that man was a professional basketball player once? Or was it golf…? Actually, I think it was both.”

The NHO didn’t deem it too urgent to send both their prized hitmen on Grian-watching duty, so Cub had stayed behind at the headquarters. Last time Grian had seen Cub, he was showing off a ring of keys to Scar, saying how he was going to get a lot of ‘research’ done that night.

“What are those keys for?” Grian asked.

“Don’t know yet,” Cub shrugged. “That’s part of the fun”.

“So… those aren’t your keys?”

Cub and Scar just grinned at her.

“….This is our stop,” Grian said.

The pair exited the bus. The Hermit City library stood before them.

“Library, huh?” Scar asked. “Do you have some overdue books from before you became a watcher or something?”

“Not so loud,” Grian scolded, glancing around a mostly empty city street. “But, no. Speaking of… that, I wanted to see if there were any books I could find on the subject.”

Scar raised an eyebrow. “Do you think a public library would have better information than what we have at the NHO?”

Grian shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

The library was pretty empty at this time of day. In fact, they probably closed in an hour or so. Grian had deliberately chosen a time of day where less people would be around, so that the trip was less overwhelming on his new senses. Scar had complained that he wasn’t a morning person, so they settled on the evening instead. Grian secretly was also glad she could sleep in a little.

“Geez, when’s the last time I’ve been in one of these?” Scar muttered, glancing at the countless shelves of books as they walked past.

“What, are you allergic to reading?” Grian teased.

“Well, I am dyslexic, so… sort of?”

Grian realized that for a trip to the library to do some research, she probably should have gotten Cub to come. The man literally has two science degrees, after all.

The two made their way to the front desk, where the librarian on duty appeared to be preoccupied… knitting a hand puppet of some kind?

“Well howdy there!” The librarian looked up from his work cheerfully. He had long, brown hair that was dyed neon green at the tips, matching perfectly with her pointed green glasses. “What can I help y’all with?”

“Uh, yes, um.” Grian tapped his fingers on the desk. “We were wondering if you had any books on Watchers, and where they might be?”

“Watchers, huh…” The librarian furrowed their brow. “Now that’s an obscure topic.” He swiveled his chair towards his computer to investigate further. Grian began to grow anxious with how obvious he felt they were being.

“I know, right?” Scar sighed, leaning on the desk casually. “It’s for some lame group project that’s like, a fourth of our final grade in the class.”

“Yikes! That sounds rough,” The librarian remarked as she typed on the computer. Grian tapped into his sixth sense and didn’t pick up on any feelings of suspicion from the librarian. Maybe bringing Scar was a good idea.

“Okay, well, most of these books that are coming up seem to be more on the… fantasy side,” The librarian explained after a moment of scrolling. “I know those guys are mythological beings, but you said you’re doing a research project, so I’m guessing you want something more factual…”

“Yeah, anything with information about where they came from, what they do, stuff like that.” Grian nodded. “Y’know, like if they were real.”

“Oh! Here’s something promising.” The librarian turned the monitor so that Grian and Scar could see. “This book right here seems to be a study of the tales of Watchers throughout history. Although… it looks like our only copy is checked out at the moment.”

“Really?” Grian asked. “By who?”

The librarian blinked. “Hm… y’know, I’m actually not sure if I’m supposed to like, give that information to people? Like, legally?”

“There’s another person in our group project, so we just want to know if they beat us to checking out this book,” Scar lied. “Communication in group projects, am I right?”

“Pff, yeah, that makes sense,” The librarian turned the computer back to face him. “It looks like this book is currently being borrowed by a Martyn. With a y! How fancy.”

“Ah, Martyn with a y, of course!” Scar exclaimed. “Well, now we know that Martyn has the book, right Grian?”

“Yup,” Grian agreed, mind racing.

“Hey, actually…” The librarian scrolled down on the computer some more. “You guys sure got the right person for this project. It looks like this Martyn fella has been checking this book out for a few months now?”

Grian’s eyes widened.

“Ohh, that Martyn,” Scar laughed. “Always getting the head start on things! Uh, did we need anything else, Grian?”

“Um…” Grian needed to think fast. Whoever this Martyn person was, he’s been checking the same book on Watchers out for months. Surely he has to know something about them. Grian had to speak to him. But how on earth were they going to find this person?

Grian focused on the back of the librarian’s computer monitor. For a brief moment, in her mind’s eye, he could see the content of computer screen, from the librarian’s eyes. There on the screen was a full name: Martyn Littlewood.

“Nope, that’s all,” Grian replied, blinking rapidly as he returned to his own vision.

“Great. Well, you two have a good one!” The librarian said cheerfully, and returned to their knitting.

Grian and Scar briskly made their way outside.

“Wow. So who’s this Martyn guy? I didn’t think anyone else cared about Watchers that much,” Scar began, turning to Grian. “Oh uh, Grian, you’ve got something there…” Scar pointed to his own nose, looking worried all of a sudden.

“Huh?” Grian wiped his nose on his sleeve instinctively, expecting snot. However, when he glanced at his arm he saw red.

“Ah.” At least her sweater was already red.

“What did you do in there?” Scar asked, his green eyes intense with a mix of curiosity and concern.

“I was able to get a better look at that computer, and see the guy’s last name,” Grian explained. “Martyn Littlewood. Whoever he is, he might have a ton of information about Watchers. I’ve got to find him and have a word with him.”

“Grian, you’re amazing!” Scar exclaimed, impressed. “Well, finding someone in this city should be easy enough for a Watcher.”

“Shush,” Grian glanced around the empty bus stop. “Or we could try, y’know, looking the name up online first…” Grian quickly pulled out her phone. “Ah. Found him.”

“What? You’re kidding.”

“Oh my god, Scar.”

“What?”

“Scar.” Grian held the phone out. “Martyn Littlewood is…”

“A youtuber?” Scar’s jaw dropped as he scrolled through the list of videos. “And he makes videos talking about-“

“Watchers.”

Scar stared at Grian, dumbfounded.

“Scar, I think we just found the world’s biggest, and perhaps only, Watcher fanatic,” Grian stated in disbelief. “And he lives right here in Hermit City.”

[pickingupmymercedes]

Ways to say "I love you" - Lewis Hamilton

I'm back with more Lew ❤️

warnings: mostly fluff, bit of angsty

wordcount: +3k

important: each drabble was writen as a snippet into different moments with Lewis. There's 10 more of those, but this was getting huge, so this is part 1.

With a hoarse voice, under the blankets

Life had been hectic, as it tended to be around the weeks before the final couple of races. You and Lewis had been on the road since mid October, not really going back to Europe since the US GP in Texas. The week off between São Paulo and Las Vegas the perfect opportunity to take a few days off in California with his friends. It was tiring, but you’d never complain of having a full passport as a down feature for your job.

The week of the Las Vegas GP was packed of events and promo for everyone, and to top it off a quick impromptu meeting with the board in the media day of the GP turned into a 5 hours long debate, that went well into the night.

You got back to your suite almost at midnight in serious need of a shower and some sleep. What you didn’t predict was Lewis already tucked into the bed, sound asleep.

You tiptoed around the room to try and find your things, not being lucky in the slightest you settled for a shirt Lewis had used in the road trip from LA to Vegas. The quick shower, only meant to decompress, had you engulfed in Lewis’ perfume, from both his shower products and shirt.

Lewis soft breathing guided you to the bed in the darkness of the room and when you got under the soft covers a pair of arms guided you to his chest, the one place sure to get you blacked out in minutes.

“They're in serious trouble for keeping you for so long” his horse voice an indication he had been in deep sleep already

“Sorry, took longer than we expected”

“Can’t wait to have you all to myself. Gonna have to lock you up at home during winter”

“No need, I’ll always find my way to you”. You mumbled into his neck, already nestling closer to him, ready to drift off.

A scream

“I love you” You screamed when you realized you’d never catch him, mid airport track, hoping the wind would somehow carry your words. His head turned abruptly, his face had confusion written all over his features, he was stuck in place, too stunned to comprehend the sudden confession you were hollering to the world but couldn’t say aloud to him just hours ago. You ran to him, security, people and restrictions be damned, that was your one chance.

“I love you, Lewis. I have loved you for longer than I care to admit, I have not stopped loving you even when I said I didn’t, even when hating you was all I wanted.” within arm’s reach you admitted breathlessly, doe eyes looking at you with such intensity you were sure he could see into your soul. His hands cautiously outstretching towards yours, waiting for you to take it, waiting for your mind to catch up to the feelings you had just admitted, waiting to see if you’d finally let your heart take over.

You didn’t take his hand though, going instead for the back of his neck, caressing the soft skin at the base of his hairline with your fingers, his overwhelming gaze waiting for your next move, for you to fully give in, looking from his eyes to his mouth until his scent and his touch were all that you felt. His hold on the lower of your back, the brush of his eyelashes on your cheeks and his taste on your lips were all you could ever want. The decision of a lifetime, one that after that day you would make every day, over and over.

On a random Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in your hair

The thing with Lewis was he was too much of an Capricorn for his own good, the earth in him urged for stability and trust, and in the familiarity and serenity of home he urged for security, not that he wanted a predictable life, but he wished that no matter what, he had someone he could fall back on.

“Move in with me” He blurred out of nowhere causing you to lightly laugh at him, scotching closer to his chest as if there was any space left between you, both laying comfortably tangled in each other in his house in London. Pillows and blankets around you on the floor, the late afternoon sunlight hitting the glass on the dining table and reflecting up at the ceiling, a movie on the tv neither were paying attention to.

“I mean it. I don’t see myself without you, I don’t want to anyway.” he almost whispered in your ears, the low volume to his voice amplifying the seriousness in his proposal. Turning your head to look at him you held your gaze into his for minutes, almost daring him to call off the offer, but he never did. His warm smile spreading onto his features when you crocked your head and smirked, specks of the late sunlight glowing where they hit your hair.

“I’d love to” you murmured, straddling him and pushing his chest so he’d lay back down on the blankets, hovering your face over his, leaving ghostly soft kisses on his lips, coming back up to look him in the eye, time and time again. Convincing yourself that it was okay to finally let your walls down for good.

“I love you; you know?!” a statement so surely presented to your, so pure. He didn’t wait to hear it back before pulling your to his chest and his lips, he didn’t have to.

When baking chocolate chip cookies

“We’re baking chocolate chip cookies!” You exclaimed as you entered his home gym in London mid-winter break, supplies in hand already anticipating half of the ingredients wouldn’t exist in his fridge.

“Excuse me?” He questioned as he set the weights down and reached for the towel to get the sweat dry from his forehead

“C’mom, vegan chocolate chip cookies” you rushedly told him already half way back inside, leaving a confused Lewis searching for any meaning to what had just happened.

As he approached his kitchen, he could hear the soft music playing in the speakers in the background while you danced around arranging the things you’d need.

“Care to explain, love?” He leaned at the stool just under the glistening spotlight and the couple of trays spread at the kitchen island.

“Your niece and nephew are coming over tomorrow” She retorted, almost a duh expression on her features as she chopped the vegan chocolate bar.

“Y/n, they know I’m preparing for the season” He lovingly replied, getting closer to you.

“Oh, they’re not exactly for you, Lew. I mean, they’re still vegan if you want to try them.” You turned into his embrace, leaving a kiss to the corner of his lips before wiggling back to where the many food items were.

“You show up at my house midafternoon, fully stacked, to bake vegan cookies for kids that aren’t coming until tomorrow and don’t really expect to eat anything but fruits ?!” He crocked his head, smirk fully on display as his eyes gleamed.

“That’s like half the reason I came. Apples and bananas are fine, but they are kids.” You shrugged as that was the most obvious thing.

“We’re really baking cookies then, I guess?!” He reached to you and grabbed the flour off of your hand, pouring it into a bowl.

“Chocolate chip cookies” You corrected him, laughing as he stole a few of the chopped chocolates still sitting on the chopping board 

 

Not said to me

You jolted up from your sleep when you heard a loud cry, frantically looking around the room you remembered you weren’t home when your eyes found the luggage in the corner, yours and Lewis’s belongings neatly tucked in the adjoining closet, a stark contrast to the baby clothes and toys scattered around the floor and armchairs. Slowly coming to your senses, you realized the crying was in your dreams when you heard a happy babble, followed by your husband’s low voice coming from the balcony of the hotel room.

“Sshh love, we don’t want to wake mamma up now do we? She’s taking a nap so we can go for a walk down the beach later.” The little girl instantly responding with a babble at the word she knew all too well.

Getting up you didn’t have the heart to interrupt the scene that played out when you peaked from the opened French doors of the room, deciding to quietly watch from the threshold as he kept blowing raspberries onto your daughter’s tummy, the chunky toddler in nothing but her diapers, in the hot afternoon summer breeze of Italy in July, excitedly clapping her hands for her dad while sitting on his legs.

“Oh, I miss her too baby, even when she’s just in the other room… I’ll tell you a secret though, even if momma tells the world we’re twins, every time I see your eyes, I see hers, the same one I’ve been in love with for a long time. Everyone says you are my hard carbon copy, but I love that I get to look into a piece of your mommy whenever I look at you".

When we lay together by the sun

The sun in your skin felt divine, a stark contrast to the wintery end of year you’d been having back in Europe, the heat and humidity in the air bringing to your senses the familiarity of northeast Brazilian weather in the hottest months of the year. His touch on your shoulder blades providing even more warmth, big hands massaging your whole back with sunscreen.

“By all means I’m the biggest fan of your back massages, but I put on sunscreen just a couple of hours ago” you giggled looking at him over your shoulders, sunglasses on the tip of your nose.

“Just making sure you’re protected, will you do mine?” He asked after tying the strings on the upper part of your bikini and giving your bum a checky light smack.

“Yeah… come here you Briton” grabbing him by the arms you sat up on the lounger and guided him to sit in between in your legs, his back already hot from the sun exposure.

“Thank you for coming here with me, I know we made it a 4 times header not going home to rest for a bit after Mexico.” You told him while spreading the white content of the Brazilian sunscreen you’d bought, throwing away the british one, not properly suited to sun in the tropics from your past experiences.

“Any time, love.” turning to face you he pulled you by the waist, his signature smirk and relaxed eyes scanning yours. “Especially when it includes this little paradise.”

“Have I told you I love you yet?” You questioned, the toothy grin he loved so much splattered on your face, his strong arms around you, the sounds of crashing waves in the background, white sand in your toes and his skin smelling just like your favorite childhood memories did.

“Not today, I don’t think so. Eu te amo” a questioning look as he tested his Portuguese around you, crushing his lips in yours while you giggled, raising you up to his body so he could hold you in his lap, his touch also how home felt to you. 

Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble

He felt the first little droplets of rain hit his skin as soon as she screamed “run”, laughing while holding her oversized hat to her head. He sprinted towards her, grabbing her waist, effortlessly stopping them both and turning her body to him, her eyes holding the warmth that lately he could only find there, his face adorned with adoration, her dimples fully showing as her lips plastered the sweetest of grins.

“I love you” He couldn’t help himself, those 3 little words coming out as easily as breath, the thought of how hard it’d been to get them out in the first place long forgotten. She held his gaze as if trying to eternalize those memories, the afternoon summer rain falling hard around them whilst rays of sunlight hit the concrete, their clothes drenched, drops of water running down their tangled bodies.

“I love you; I love you; I love you” senseless babbles that professed his utmost emotion, holding her up to him and kissing in the pouring rain like they were teenagers in a cheesy movie.

A whisper in the ear

Being back to Europe always took you some time to get acclimated, and it didn’t help that that particular winter had been the coldest in years, so much colder than what your body was used to, so you wrapped yourself up in blankets waiting for your boyfriend to get out of the shower and join you in bed, hopefully helping you to warm up.

His parents, siblings, niece and nephew were gathered for an impromptu 5 days getaway in the mountains, in the middle of wintery January, snow everywhere and days filled with winter sports, fireplaces and laughter from the people that had welcomed you as family. 

“Hey gorgeous, I thought you’d still be down there” he smirked his way to the open luggage on the little sofa by the bed, towel low on his hips and another in his hand for his face.

“Everyone went to bed, something about getting some sleep to beat you on the slopes tomorrow” You giggled the last part, knowing how competitive they could get. He chuckled and made his way towards you, getting under the blankets and bringing you over to his side, just his presence enough to soothe away the tight muscles from the cold.

“How come you’re always running so cold?” he whispered in your hair, wrapping his arms around your waist and hips and bringing you to his chest. His skin radiating warmth and the smell of your body wash, since he’d forgotten to pack his. Fingers absentmindedly tracing random patterns on your thighs, your eyes lazily trying to focus on the news on the tv but failing miserably, the world could wait until the next morning.

“I love you” was the last thing you heard he whisper, his hoarse voice heavy with sleep, his arms scooching your body closer to his while making sure the blankets covered you both before he let his own sleep take over.

As we huddle together, the storm raging outside

Sundays after races would always be busy for the both of you. The rain was falling hard as you entered the small RV as quietly as you could, founding Lewis ingulfed in his own thoughts and feelings when you finally cleared through your duties, way past the time you wish had.

Taking in how his arms and back looked tense while he rested his head on both his hands sitting in the small sofa, you brought yourself to stand right in front of him, softly running your finger on his neck until he looked up offering a sad side smile and tugged you to his lap. You hadn’t spoken to each other since before he got in his car, well over 4 hours prior, but you didn’t have to.

He needed time to process what happened, he always did. Lewis could always come to interviews looking like he had it all together, always with the right words, but you knew, from the crease in his forehead and the way his shoulders dropped whenever he breathed a little deeper, that his calculating-looking actions and words were just knee-jerk reactions.

“I love you” you said into his neck, a consolation of sorts, huddling together, sitting on his lap with his head resting on your chest and his arms holding your waist tightly. At least in that small room, neither of you had to think about the storm brewing outside, not yet anyway.

Over the shoulder

The championship had, yet again, came down to the last race and the doom could be felt even from outsiders. The last time it happened Lewis wasn’t even a Ferrari driver, but everyone remembered.

You had tried to block the subject from your conversations with him, warned everyone he had enough of the comparisons, made sure he had all the space to breath, concentrate and shield all the noise from the outside. Yet, in the apparent serenity of the hotel bedroom, the quietness would scream back at him.

“What if it’s not meant to be?” He snapped you out of your thoughts as you finished some reports on your computer. His eyes a mix of something you couldn’t quite pint point, his walls up even for you.

“Then you’re still a 7 times world champion, a driver who’s won for McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, a trailblazer in the sport, entrepreneur over a variety of assets, founder of Mission 44, British knight, Brazilian honorary citizen, Anthony and Carmen’s son, Nicolas’ brother, my mom’s favorite son-in-law… oh and Roscoe’s dad, of course.” He smiled as you got to his family, scootching over to be by your side on the balcony sofa and laying his head on your lap.

“I would hate to be an almost champion… twice”   

“Yeah, we would all hate that too. And it’s okay to feel all kinds of way about possible results, but we’re not gonna known until we know, right?!”  You felt him humm in response, your fingertips going through his braids, trying to sooth the tensions away from him.

It wasn’t until the soft humming of a phone in the bedroom that you realized you had fallen asleep in the balcony, his body moving almost automatically to get him up while his features revealed how he too had dozed off.

“Will you still love an almost champion?” He prompted suddenly, almost like he had just remembered he had to know, eyes twinkling under the lights.

“Babe, I stayed even in the timbs phase, didn’t I?” You smirked back earning a full soundless chuckle, those that had him reach for his diaphragm and shake his head left to right.

“You’re lucky I love you; you really are.” You heard as he looked over his shoulders just as he got back inside.

[revelboo]

RAHHHHHH👹

The way you write is so fun and feels so natural I always find myself coming back to see if there’s more

Thank you for the divine snippets 🫶🫶take care :]

Thank you!

The Weakends Pt 4

TFP Ratchet x Reader

• “Can you not break everything you touch?!” Looking up at the outburst, you bite your lip to keep from smiling or laughing. It hadn’t taken you long to figure out that the gruff medic’s anger is mostly bluster. An act, albeit a convincing one. And it’s particularly effective on Bulkhead, the huge mech’s shoulders hunching like a little kid being scolded. “How many times have I told you not to touch my things?” You must have snorted or made a noise, because Ratchet turns the full power of that scowl your way. Even if you imagine his optics soften ever so slightly.

• Gritting his denta to keep from smiling as your little shoulders shake with silent laughter, Ratchet is aware of Bulkhead taking advantage of the distraction to escape. “You think wanton destruction is funny?” He grumbles, as your face reddens.

• “I think the act is funny,” you say, chin lifting defiantly as his temper sputters out. The act? Venting heavily, he stands and looms over where you’re perched on a cabinet sorting odds and ends small enough for you to lift. “That act,” you clarify, arms wrapping around a part to lift it and carry it over to a drawer. Completely unbothered as his optics narrow.

• Oh, he’s doubling down now. It’s obvious in the angry line of his mouth, the set of his jaw. “What do you know?” He growls in challenge. When you try to keep working, he lays his forearm in your way and you glare up at him.

• “I know you.” Shifting the part to balance it on your hip, you gesture with your other arm. “I’ve seen you stay up all night with someone hurt. Worrying. I know you like to act like everyone is bothering you so they leave you alone and stay away.”

• You’re angry. No, he realizes. Not just angry. Hurt and he hates it. Hates that he’s causing it. That you see right through him. How can he explain that the attitude is a defense to protect himself? That he’s so tired of getting close to other Autobots only to lose them to the war? It’s better to be unapproachable. You’re wrong about one thing, though, it’s not an act. The gruff, old medic has been his armor for so long, it is who he is. There’s nothing else left of the mech he’d been before. That knowledge burrows deep inside him, hurting even as he shifts his hand. Wanting to reach out a servo to you. But unable to.

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[deedeeznoots]

Can we please get some hcs of Sukuna and reader in the fairytale AU 🥹🥹

Absolutely amazing writing I loved every single thing of it!💖💖

Cottage Life

➺ Characters: Ryomen Sukuna, Fem!Reader  

➺ Word Count: 2.5k

➺ Genre: Fluff, Mentions of Smut  

➺ Content: MDNI, Established Relationship, True Form!Sukuna, Princess!Reader, Swearing, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Smut

➺ A/N: Hi Anon! Thank you for the kind words and the request, I’d love to do this. I’m so glad that people enjoyed my Sukuna Fairy Tale AU so I’m 100% going to explore the idea more. On another note, this is also my first ever request🥹 I’m giggling and kicking my feet at the thought of people enjoying my writing enough to want to request specific things for me to create so I just want to take the time to say if you have an idea for me to write anything specific please do not hesitate to ask! Thank you all very very much. :)

➺ Synopsis: Small glimpses into your daily life with Sukuna in the deep woods. While not fully necessary to understand these little snippets, reading the beginning of your story with Sukuna would certainly enhance the experience. <3 

ꨄ Pre-Relationship: Secret Meetings ꨄ

➼ When you first began meeting with him regularly he was pretty mean to you and ignored you most of the time when you tried to talk to him. Despite this, he always kept you by his side anyways and didn’t deter you from meeting him.

➼ One time you straight up asked him why and he said it was because you brought food to him. While you accepted that answer, you knew inside that wasn’t really the case because he would still keep you around even after you both ate. 

➼ After warming up to you one of the things that you two bonded over was the nature in the forest. Sukuna would explain the wildlife to you since you were unfamiliar for a long time and he was to your surprise, a really good teacher. 

➼ He was able to answer any questions you had and went over every detail that he knew about the woods and was able to keep things interesting.

➼ When you both spent that night under the stars he was serious when he tried flirting with you but quickly realized what he did so he tried to play it off as a joke (he couldn’t be caught being too soft, after all). 

➼ Since he’s so much stronger and bigger than you (and literally everyone lol) he makes sure to be extra cautious and gentle around you because despite what he seems like, he doesn’t want to genuinely scare people, especially you.

➼ Speaking of, he has no idea why you aren’t scared of him and doesn’t understand why you act like the way he looks is no big deal. He doesn’t complain though and never mentions it to you. 

➼ One of the reasons you’re not scared of him is because he has saved your life more times than you could count, and why would you be scared of someone who continually keeps you alive, most of the time at his own expense? 

➼ “No, don't eat those berries, they’re poisonous…wha-what do you mean you already had five?!”

➼ He had to do some poison control that day… and it wasn’t very fun. 

➼ Every time he saves your life he always tells you that he’ll just leave you next time but you know that’s not true at all.

➼ You would also always get injured for stupid reasons so he’d take care of your wounds like he did when you both first officially met (he’d laugh first though)

➼ One of the days you visited you realized you had a talent for making flower crowns so you would spend a lot of time with him doing it while you both talked and walked around the woods.

➼ You mostly gave yours to him as a gift 

➼ He would grumble and act like he hated it but he would keep them on anyway and he kept all of them. After a while it grew into a small collection that he secretly cherishes. 

➼ Sukuna secretly (though, it wasn’t a secret to you) loved these meetings, and your visits were the highlight of his day every time.

ꨄ Early Relationship: Locked Away ꨄ

➼ Sukuna was confused at first when you stopped visiting him after sleeping with him. 

➼ He thought he did something wrong and you didn’t have a good time, or that he hurt you in some way. 

➼ He tried to put on the tough guy act at first and tried to convince himself that he didn’t like you all that much anyways. 

➼ Obviously, it wasn’t true and he’s a big softy on the inside so he gave into his temptations to see you. 

➼ When he saw the guards by your bedroom window, he realized what happened, and remembered that you always had to sneak out to see him. 

➼ Once he realized what actually happened he chastised himself for being so pouty and feeling sorry for himself instead of going to see you sooner. 

➼ To make up for this he goes to look at you every day as you stand by your window.

➼ Eventually, you noticed him and you both would spend the whole day just sitting with each other from afar. 

➼ Sometimes he would see you cry when he visited and his heart would break because he couldn’t wipe your tears away. 

➼ He has resisted the urge to attempt to fight the guards by your window more than he can count.

➼ Only reason he didn’t was his fear of making things worse for you if he did.

➼ On the day of your wedding, he noticed that you weren’t by your window like usual. 

➼ He learned his lesson about giving up on you too soon, so he decided instead of leaving you be, that he would go around the castle and look for you to see if you were okay. 

➼ Too invested in finding you, he didn’t realize that he stood a tad too close to some of the guards of your castle, leading to him getting caught by them. 

➼ That turned out to be a happy accident however, as they led him directly to you and gave you both the chance to run away together. 

➼ He was secretly proud of you stabbing someone so easily, but he’ll never tell you that directly.

ꨄ Long-Term Relationship: Cottage Life ꨄ

➼ When you both first found the cottage in the woods, it was in very rough shape. 

➼ It was dirty, barely had a roof, and there were broken windows everywhere. It was obvious that no one had lived there for some time. 

➼ Well… one man’s trash is another one’s treasure, and you both worked day and night to fix the cottage after first finding it. 

➼ You weren’t used to any physical discomfort at all, so it took a while for you to get used to these types of conditions. However, Sukuna always made sure to help you feel better.

➼ For example, one time it rained and you two got super wet inside your home due to the roof not being 100% secure. 

➼ It was tough for you. Not only were the two of you wet, but the inside of the home you both spent tons of time fixing up was flooded now as well. 

➼ Thankfully, Sukuna always found a way to turn unfortunate situations upside down. 

➼ “Come on, let’s go play in the mud, you didn’t eat enough dirt as a kid”

➼ You both immediately felt better once you played in the rain together… especially when Sukuna would be ever the romantic and lift you up to kiss you as water droplets fell on both of you.

➼ After months of sweat and tears, the cottage was finally fixed and cleaned. 

➼ It quickly became the love of your life, second only to Sukuna, and you both quickly settled into your humble abode.  

➼ You would always wake up first which would give you a few moments where you could stare at Sukuna’s sleeping face

➼ This was your favorite thing to do every morning, because you loved his calm expression more than anything.

➼ Sometimes he catches you and as he opens his eyes he would sarcastically go “Don’t stare. It’s weird” and laugh at your blushing face. 

➼ When this happens you would just lightly hit his chest and jokingly tell him to fuck off. 

➼ You would always give him a nice long kiss first thing every morning though.

➼ Despite you no longer being a Princess, he always makes sure to pamper you like one anyways.

➼ For example, whenever you have a craving for something that can’t be found in the wild he would make sure to get it at any costs. 

➼ This includes traveling hours to the closest villages and sneaking in to take their stuff. 

➼ You always get mad at him for doing this because it could put him in serious danger, but he laughs and tells you it’s fine and that in all his time living near humans he was only caught once and it was because of you. 

➼ To this, you roll your eyes but you thank him anyways for caring so much about you that he’d work so hard to satisfy such a small craving. 

➼ Whenever you’re busy doing something, he makes it a point to catch you off guard and hug you from behind with his four arms. 

➼ You’re never actually caught off guard and can sense him from miles away (he has very loud footsteps), but you pretend anyway to get him to keep doing it. 

➼ Most days you both spend your time walking around and exploring the nature around you both. However, on particularly lazy days, you two spend most of the day just cuddling together.

➼ One thing that stays the same is that every night both of you look at the stars like the first night you two spent together. 

➼ Unlike that first night though, Sukuna would always make it a point to go down on you while outside. 

➼ Also unlike that first night, there was no pressure to rush home so you two would fall asleep outside under the stars.

➼ One time though, you woke up screaming when you found a giant bug crawling on you. Sukuna took the bug away but would always make fun of you for it whenever you both decided to sleep outside. 

➼ Sukuna would tell you he loved you in the most random of times: Walking around, eating dinner, anywhere really. He would just look you in the eyes and quietly say “I love you”.

➼ This is always paired with small kisses all over your face that make you giggle because of how ticklish they are. 

➼ Sometimes when you two are cuddling in bed he would randomly lick your back with his stomach mouth to make you jump. 

➼ “What the hell Ryomen!?” 

➼ “Hehe, sorry” 

➼ You both discovered your hidden talents while living together, and Sukuna realized his talent happened to be dress making. He realized this after he made a little makeshift dress out of your wedding attire when he carelessly ripped it away. 

➼ He was able to make you some pretty good dresses with the most random of cloth that he found around the woods. They weren’t the most formal, but they were certainly the best dresses you’ve ever had, being handmade by someone you loved.

➼ You once again tell him he doesn’t have to do all this but he makes you stuff anyway. 

➼ “Who said it was about you? This shit is fun as hell!” which made you laugh.

➼ He now has to pay extra mind to not completely rip your clothes off during bed because you two no longer had an infinite void of clothing choices. 

➼ In fact, he actually swung a little too far in the opposite direction…

➼ “Wait. Take it off carefully, I worked hard on this one. I SAID BE CAREFUL IDIOT–”

➼ Despite this, accidents still happen and sometimes he would rip them off in the heat of the moment anyways.

➼ Living together, you had to learn to do a lot of things related to maintaining a home like cleaning since you weren’t used to doing this stuff yourself.

➼ Sukuna told you that it’s fine and that he’d do it but you insisted that you should learn how to do things on your own now that you’re independent. 

➼ Being the good teacher that he is,  Sukuna would go on to teach you basic chores. 

➼ He would still tease you sometimes while teaching you though. Such as one time when you accidentally burned yourself by the fire trying to make dinner and he laughed when you kept flailing your hand everywhere. 

➼ He didn’t bully you for too long though, he was still worried of course. So, he made sure to heal the burns and help kiss them better. 

➼ You’re still able to make those flower crowns like before, so you guys would make flower crowns for each other all the time, and this time Sukuna didn’t hide how proud he was of them. 

➼ Everytime he gave you yours he’d give you a small kiss on the forehead before placing the crown on your head.

➼ You would try to do the same and would go on your tippy toes trying to reach him, but he’s hella tall so it doesn’t work. 

➼ “Jesus, you are 9 ft tall” 

➼ “Is that what they tell people? That’s not true at all” He would smile, crossing his arms as you attempted to jump up to place the crown on him. 

➼ “Well whatever you are I can’t fucking reach you”

➼ He eventually lifts you up by your hips and lets you place the crown on him and give him his little forehead kiss. 

➼ Whenever you two are together, he always has his hands on you (he has four of course, and he needs to put them to good use). Whether it’s placing your hand on his, or having an arm around your waist, one hand always had to be on you. 

➼ You both have every meal together, from breakfast to dinner. They’re mostly quiet and you both just take the time to bask in each other’s presence. 

➼ From this, you learned just how much Sukuna LOVES to eat.

➼ You noticed this already before of course, since your relationship started with you bringing him food, but you really notice it once you begin eating together 

➼ Sometimes when he’s eating his food too quickly you tell him to take it easy in order to not upset his stomach 

➼ In response, he’d point to his smiling stomach mouth and go “Does he look upset to you?” 

➼ You’d just laugh at this point lol and leave him be with one last comment about how he seriously shouldn’t eat so fast 

➼ He listens for a bit and takes smaller bites, but he goes right back into it after a few minutes.

➼ You weren’t great at cooking at first, but Sukuna didn’t really care and ate your food anyways

➼ “Don’t worry I eat anything, this is trash though” he’d say with food in his mouth, only half joking.

➼ Once you got better at the skill, he always insisted for you to cook or for the two of you to cook together since it tasted better when you did it (when you knew what you were doing, of course). 

➼ Speaking of together… At first, you two tried to take baths together at the nearby river.

➼ Emphasis on tried, because Sukuna always got too excited seeing your naked body and you two weren’t able to get clean at all. 

➼ Due to this, you decided it was best to bathe separately, to Sukuna’s dismay. 

➼ Occasionally you still allowed him to join you, of course. 

➼ Sukuna made love with you every time like it would be the last time. 

➼ In the back of his head, he always remembers the time you were taken away from him right after you both spent a night together.

➼ With this in mind, he always makes sure to make each session one you’d never forget, and he always delivered on this promise, of course. 

➼ He would always take care of you after of course, and always made sure you were okay. 

➼ You were fine, but you passed out 99% of the time so he would wipe you down and make sure to cuddle you. 

➼ He’s always worried about you being in danger again, but whenever he sees you asleep next to him he can’t help but think of anything but what he ever did to deserve you 

➼ Of course, from the moment you wake up to see his sleeping face, you can’t help but think the same thing about him.  

➼ Your life is a lot different now. Not only do you no longer have the title of Princess, but you’ve traded in your castle for a tiny cottage, and a crown for dirt-covered feet. Yet, you wouldn’t change it for the world… because for every painful burn and disgusting bug on you, is his smile, and that smile is worth more than any title.

-

A/N: Enjoyed seeing Fairy Tale!Sukuna? Just a reminder that if you haven’t read it yet, please feel free to read the story that these headcanons are based on!

[lyzelky]

The Crate

*Walks into room, collapses on face* It's been 3000 years but I finally finished it. Here you go! (If you noticed the artstyle changed halfway through, no you didn't, lmao) A comic featuring Astarion shooting his shot, and Tav missing the point entirely. Also a bonus snippet of my long fic where this comic is inspired by!

Local asshole already smitten, just doesn't realize it yet.

"Come on,” She says brightly to Astarion, “I think I saw some crates this way.” She half expects the elf to whine and request to rest alongside the others, but surprisingly he does as she asks. “So…what exactly, are we looking for?” He asks as she navigates her way towards a small pile of boxes. “Food, water… medicine, hopefully a bedroll or two.” She shrugs and opens one eagerly, only to wilt in disappointment when all she finds is rags. "Are you going to help or just stand there, by the way?” Astarion has not moved to actually assist with any of the actual searching; instead he’s chosen to lean against a nearby wall and observe. “I’m not just…standing here,” He scoffs, “I’m keeping watch.” “On what?” She asks flatly, “Afraid that there’s going to be some more gnomes with knives in these boxes?” This actually pulls a small huff of laughter from him. “No darling, but I am keeping an eye on you.” She opens another box and scowls down at it’s junk contents before what he’s said hits her. Tav looks up at him, mostly confused and honestly a little hurt. “I… Do you think I’m going to steal supplies, or something?” He’s still wearing that smirk— but at her question something in it falters, one sculpted brow quirking as he considers her. “…No, darling. I don’t think you’ve got that in you.” His tone is for once quite matter-of-fact, and tinged with the barest hint of amusement. Coupled with the strange way he continues to stare at her, it becomes increasingly apparent that some type of social cue has soared clear over her head.

Thank you all for reading!! So glad to have this done with, it was literally keeping me up at night. I've got some more stuffed planned, though maybe not as long as this, lol.

[devildom-drabbles]

Snippet - Last Name

How would each of the demon brothers react to MC saying that they’ll give him their last name?

“There aren’t any demons or angels that have last names, right?” MC randomly questioned the demon brother they were spending time with.  “Why is that?”

The demon explained how the beings in the Devildom and Celestial Realm were given one-of-a-kind names to distinguish them from others, unlike how many humans can share the same (first) name.  As such, having a second name was unnecessary.  Titles were more common to further establish their individuality, such as “Morning Star” for Lucifer and “Jewel of the Heavens” for Asmodeus when the two of them were angels.

“Do you wish you had a last name?” MC inquired.

The demon was mostly indifferent on the matter, but he did mention how he particularly liked MC’s last name. 

“In that case, I’ll give you my last name someday,” MC remarked in a casual manner.

He opened his mouth to reply but paused upon realizing what MC might’ve been implying.  A human typically would only share their last name with someone else when they were getting married to that individual.

Lucifer felt a surge of pride in his chest at the notion that MC intended to offer their last name (and their hand in marriage) to him alone.  Still, from how nonchalantly they had presented the notion, he had to make sure that both of them understood it in the same way. “You’re aware of what that would mean for us, right?” he asked them.  “It’s not something to take lightly, even if I’m not human.”  After watching MC nod their head confidently, a small grin tugged at Lucifer’s lips.  “Good.  Seeing as how you already belong to me, MC, it’s only natural that your last name would become mine, as well.  I look forward to when that day officially comes.”  (Time to start planning a real marriage proposal, Lucifer thought to himself.)

Mammon managed to choke on his saliva when he pieced together what MC likely was implying, which, on the bright side, provided him with an excuse as to why his cheeks were flushed.  All the money and rare treasures in the Devildom could never compare to the value of having MC’s last name all to himself.  “Th-The Great Mammon accepts your gift!” he declared once he finished coughing.  “If you’re gonna give your last name to anyone, obviously it’s gonna be me.  That means no one else can have it, got it?  No changin’ your mind, either!  A-And...don’t take too long to hand it over to me, ‘cause I’m ready to take it anytime.”  (Well, first, Mammon just needed to narrow down the best ring to give MC from his secret growing collection.)

Leviathan could've probably rattled off the long title of a human world anime that had a scene similar to this—that is, if he wasn’t currently short-circuiting in front of MC.  “Y-Y-Y-You’d give your l-l-last name to a gross shut-in otaku like m-me?!” he asked incredulously.  “You mean it?!  Are you sure?!”  Once MC reaffirmed their promise, Levi was certain he could die happy (but not right now!).  “Oh man, it feels like I just unlocked the highest ranking class in an RPG!  MC, I’ll wear your last name proudly and do everything I can to make sure you won’t regret choosing me to have it!  ...Uh, when I do get your last name, I mean.”  (Levi started focusing more on anime and game content that included marriage as references for how to be a good husband for MC in the future.)

Satan was left dumbfounded for a moment as he processed what MC was telling him.  “So then, you’re saying...you want to marry me at some point, correct?” he bluntly questioned them.  MC confirmed his suspicion, which brought a light blush to his face coupled with a pleased smile.  Although there was no record of a demon and human ever marrying each other, he couldn’t deny that he also wanted this with MC.  “All right.  I’ll make your dream a reality, and in return, you’ll share your last name with me.  This means we’ll spend the rest of your days together, too.  Let’s build a love so strong it’ll be the envy of all romance novels and poetry.”  (Afterward, while he was researching human marriage customs, he suddenly wondered if the cats he wanted to adopt with MC would also acquire their last name.)

Asmodeus squealed and bounced cheerfully in place before wrapping his arms around MC in a tight embrace.  Normally the concept of being permanently tied to someone would be unappealing to Asmo, but those qualms became nonexistent when it involved MC.  “I love you so much, MC!  I’ll make you the happiest human in all the three realms as Asmodeus [Last Name]!  Oh wow, my name was already gorgeous by itself, but with your last name added to it, it’s even better!  Come on, let’s get a pre-engagement photo together.  I can’t wait to brag to everyone on Devilgram about this.”  (Since MC already offered him their last name, Asmo decided that he’d be the one to get them an engagement ring.  But if MC buys him one, too, he certainly won’t complain.)

Beelzebub’s eyes twinkled with pure joy at MC’s promise.  “Really?  I’d like that a lot, MC,” he told them.  His words may have been a bit of an understatement, considering MC’s declaration filled him with so much glee that it was enough to satisfy the seemingly endless void in his stomach.  He couldn’t hold back his wide grin as he took their hands in his own and continued, “When I have your last name, we can finally be our own family.  We’ll wake up together, make breakfast together, go out for lunch together, eat dinner together...  Oh, yeah, I guess we mostly do that already, but it’ll be even more special than it is now.  Hehe, I can’t wait.”  (Despite the frequent distractions of thinking about wedding cake, Beel did take active steps to ensure that he’d be able to actually receive their last name.)

Belphegor perked up in surprise from MC’s words, the constant nagging urge to sleep vanishing in an instant.  He feared he may have accidentally dozed off mid-conversation and only dreamed of MC wanting him to have their last name.  Fortunately, the look on their face assured him that he had been awake, so his expression softened into genuine delight as he replied, “Okay, I like the sound of that.”  Rather than ending it there, his mischief (and inner excitement) got the better of him, causing him to add, “Although, if you’re planning to give your last name to me, then that also means I can take it anytime I want, right?  Even if it’s sooner than you expect?  Because I might just do that.”  (Belphie now had an unusually high level of motivation to take the next step in his relationship with MC.)

[dadvans]

STIEPPER AUUUUUU AU UAUAUAU UAU AU (thats me making wolf noises)

this is one i have fully fleshed out and am excited about, but it's also suffering from the "i've re-written every scene three times until perfect," so i don't have a great, long snippet to share.

the premise is essentially that instead of moving to peru from oregon--where let me just remind everyone, portland is one of the few places in the US where you can get full nude and drinks without a crazy amount of legal maneuvering or being grandfathered from an older age--buck met several strippers and followed them down to los angeles instead. he works second string at a bar that does magic mike/thunder from down under-esque revues, but every other week has a gay night, where he takes extra shifts because the money is good, and it's the best night for tips, since the usual headliners aren't performing. working as a stripper for gay men makes buck realize he's into guys much earlier in this universe. he meets tommy on thanksgiving while working a private party for a divorced CEO who wanted to celebrate the holidays with some costumed strippers (thanks for that one, robert downey jr!)

tommy, still mostly closeted and with the 118, ends up getting flirted with, going to a gay night where buck recognizes him, and they start having a secret romance, which includes tommy flying him and some stripper friends to palm springs for some extra events, and them going to desert parties. but no dates in public.

their relationship comes to a cross-roads when the same week where buck suggests they go on a date for valentines, tommy runs into one of buck's stripper friends in another, non-stripper related emergency, and gets spooked. dun dun dun!

[cuubism]

made a massive amount of progress on this Teen AU this weekend so here's a snippet in the hopes that I can finish it soon. I have such a list of projects to try to finish by the end of the year... and this one's gotten very long

-

He did not realize how much time passed until they stumbled free of the woods again, the trees ceding suddenly to fields and bridle paths, the town in sight. Unbeknownst to Dream, they’d circled around, and were near where they’d started. The sight of the road shot a jolt of panic through him. He’d been so happy, letting Hob lead him through the trees, listening as Hob pointed out the insects and told him about each and every plant, regaled him with stories about England’s ancient old growth forests, now mostly gone. He liked listening to Hob talk. He liked that he did not have to talk, that no behavior was expected of him. Being with Hob was easy. He forgot everything else. It all shattered when he reached the road again, heart lurching in his throat as he whipped out his phone to check the time. Ten minutes. He let out a huge breath of relief. He still had ten minutes to get back to where he was pretending to be on this afternoon. He would have to rush, but he would probably not be late, he would not be caught. Hob was looking at him with concern when Dream shoved his phone back into his pocket. “I have to go,” Dream told him, with regret. “I’m sorry.” “You could stay a little longer,” Hob suggested, “I’m sure it’s—” “No!” Hob’s eyes widened at his sudden increase in volume. Dream tried to stop himself from twisting his hands together nervously, but was not entirely successful at stilling the movement. “No,” he said again, quieter. “I. I will get in trouble.” It sounded so stupid. A small child’s excuse. “Hey, it won’t be so bad,” Hob said. The words weren’t meant dismissively, Dream didn’t think. Hob just didn’t get it. “I have been breaking too many rules already,” Dream said, keeping his voice softer this time. It occurred to him, belatedly, that Hob hadn’t flinched. Dream had yelled at him, and Hob had been startled, but he hadn’t been afraid Dream would hurt him somehow. Dream, meanwhile, could not seem to stop himself from flinching, and flinching, and flinching. He wished he did not have to go back. Let him stay in the woods, become part of the moss and loam, if only he didn’t have to go back. “You can’t live your whole life by rules, Dream,” Hob said. His voice was gentle, but it made Dream’s frustration spike. Hob didn’t get it. The rules were the only thing that kept Dream safe. “Not if you want to be free.” Free? Dream thought. There was no freedom for Dream. Even this, what he was eking out here in the margins of his life, was a privilege he hadn’t fathomed. Free? And yet. Hob’s words caught at the base of his throat. And he knew them to be true. “You do not understand,” he said. Except Hob wouldn’t understand, not unless Dream explained. And Dream did not want to explain. “Tell me, then?” Hob said. But Dream couldn’t. The words would not form. Instead, he hugged Hob. Hob made a startled sound, perhaps surprised that Dream had initiated, but hugged him back. Dream pressed his nose into Hob’s shoulder, breathing in the scent of the woods on his skin. “Thank you,” he said. “Dream—” Dream pulled away reluctantly. “I— I must go, I will be late—” “Okay,” Hob said, more gently this time. “I’ll see you next time?” “Next time,” Dream agreed. And then forced himself to turn and hurry up the road before he could be drawn back. He made it back to his ride just in time to avoid arousing suspicion. He left Hob at the edge of the woods.

[spacedace]

Snippet/prolog thing from a DP x DC fic that lives almost entirely inside my head outside of this & a few other bits.

Please feel free to take this as an overly long prompt haha

If anyone wants context to this let me know and I'll be happy to info dump at you lol

-

The kid had been eleven the first time John Constantine met her.

A little ghost girl, too small for the crowns and dominions that were rightfully hers, wandering the world alone and unattended because to stay in one place would drive her mad - or worse. He didn’t think himself as having a particularly soft heart, but there was something about little Stella Phantom that grew on him - a bit like a mold, he liked to explain. Maybe it was the way she swore like a sailor and kicked a demon in the low hangers with a feral grin the first time he met her. Maybe it was just how lonely she looked, small and slight in the large world she was so obsessed with exploring.

She had a family. A Grave of her own that worried about her, but who couldn’t follow her on her constant travels no matter how much they wanted to. Proof that being some of the most powerful beings in existence wasn’t enough to prepare you for parenthood.

Somewhere along the lines she started following John around. Interested in what he was doing, where he was going, who he worked with. It hadn’t taken long to get her folded into JL Dark. Zantanna had blanched when he’d shown up with little Elle, pulling in the big wigs from JL Light to argue about the ethics of involving a child in their work. As if Supes and the Bat had legs to stand on with their own brood so often in the thick of danger. Elle was safer under his watch than she’d be under the loose oversight the Titans had or whatever fresh hell was going on with Young Justice but hell if anyone would listen to him on that front.

He lost the war when she met Superboy Jr. and Robin V.

She’d adored them from the start, delighted at having children her own age around to spend time with. They formed a little team, working together here and there, then more often as they got older. She still worked mostly with JL Dark, but she was growing up. Spreading her wings a bit.

Elle was seventeen when the Bonds first formed. The spider-silk thin threads finally winding themselves into the heavy binds that spilled out of her Core and reached out for anchoring in the boys. It was sickeningly sweet, in the way puppy love always was. She was too young for Core Bonds like that to settle, of course, in the way children were always too young when they fell in love the first time. It was normal though. Ghost children the Realms over made Bonds only for them to fade or change as they grew, almost never anchoring to anyone til they were full grown.

She’d blushed as red as Marvel’s suit when she realized John could see them, stuttering and embarrassed. He’d teased her about it for a long time, about how much she’d grown up, how much trouble she was going to cause, how he was going to have to fight the big bad Bat and his pet boy scout when she inevitably dishonored their poor, innocent sons. It was entertaining, endearing.

He waited for the Bonds to fade or shift. Weeks. Months. Years. As she turned nineteen, he started to wonder if they would stick around. If in another few years they might strengthen, begin the slow process of anchoring.

She was twenty-one when her boys - calling themselves Flamebird and Phoenix now - started dating each other.

The Bonds remained, steady and solid and painfully unanchored.

John stopped teasing her about them.

They hadn’t changed to accommodate platonic bonds, nor had they faded any. Their tendency to tangle around her like snare was another point of concern. Core Bonds weren’t meant to cause difficulty for the ghost they were born from, and they certainly weren’t meant to wrap around the ghost’s limbs and body in painful loops like that. They weren’t supposed to hurt.

When she was twenty three he started suggesting it might be time for intervention. The irony that he of all people would be trying to get someone to take steps to cut out the thing harming them was not lost on him. Nor was the way the fond feelings he had for the girl had skewed decisively paternal over the years in a way that his younger self would have mocked him for endlessly.

He felt better about broaching the subject knowing that her Grave had been suggesting the same thing. That he wasn’t overstepping the bounds of whatever odd partnership they’d developed over the years. John was, he had very reluctantly come to accept, the girl’s mentor if nothing else. His job was to teach her and guide her, not be her parent.

No matter what his old, battered heart might try and suggest.

Even still, he couldn’t help but be concerned.

She was twenty-five when they got temporarily launched into that broken, bleak world. When they met the Elle and Flamebird and Phoenix of that horrible dimension.

The three alternates’ bonds were anchored completely, tying the triad together in threads of silver and green. Not even Other-Elle’s complete, sickening deterioration into something cannibalistic and feral had been enough to break them. He can’t imagine how much it must have hurt to see that, for his girl to glimpse a world where something she’d longed for for so long happened, only for it to seemingly be at the expense of reality itself.

He helped cover for her, after their two groups had been mixed up and separated for the night - or what might be called night in a world that no longer had any light to make those kinds of distinctions in time. When she came back with the Flamebird and Phoenix of that world, after their little separation from the larger group he kept her two boys misdirected. Distracted Nightwing and Zantanna so they didn’t go asking too many questions he knew Elle wouldn’t want answered. The Bat John was helpless to do much about, but thankfully the big brooder seemed too intent on the desolate, lightless world itself to notice the way Elle’s gaze was going distant, bittersweet at the edges.

He didn’t know what, exactly had happened in the hours she was gone. He could guess, from the way the Other-Phoenix and Other-Flamebird looked at her, the way she avoided her boys. Loneliness and desperation made for an easy slide into bad decisions. John might just have to admit that Zantanna had been correct, all the times she’d said he was a bad influence on the girl. Not that there was any surprise there.

Elle’s Bonds were even more of a knotted mess than before. Offered something so close to anchoring only to find no purchase. They twisted about her throat like a noose now, ready to strangle the life out of her one day.

He signed off on her leave of absence when they finally made it back to their home dimension.

Anyone else would want details to write down. Would want to know the specifics of why and for how long and a whole mess of other details she either wouldn’t or couldn’t answer. He’d get his ass roasted over the fire for the mess the paperwork was in, but that was fine. He’d endured far worse for far less important reasons.

Personal leave, he’d written.

Duration of leave: indefinite.

Reason for leave: None of your fucking business, Bats.

They shared a cigarette on one of the high catwalks in the Watchtower watching dawn break on the world below. Grateful to see the sun and stars again after those two days in utter blackness. They didn’t talk about her Bonds. About what happened. About how she hadn’t talked to her Boys since coming back. Just stood and smoked. He pretended not to notice her tears. She pretended not to notice his. Neither of them had ever been any good at goodbyes.

When the time came she bumped his shoulder in thanks - for the cigarette, for the company, for the years of friendship and family - before turning and stepping through the bright purple door standing impossibly in the middle of the walkway.

He glimpsed the green of the Infinite Realms and the distant shape of her Lair beyond. A world of worlds, paradise to one that never stopped, always off to find something new, something never seen before. It was against all odds that she’d even stumbled upon this one in the first place. A small speck in the crushing infinite.

When the door closed it did so slowly, a painful whine and a soft, mournful click all that marked her leaving.

John watched it bleed out of existence, and wondered if he’d ever see her again.

Six months later, the stars started to disappear.

[f1writingbyme]

I'm so excited for your Xmas calendar fic!!!! Can you share a snippet? 👀

I'm so happy to hear you're excited about the Christmas Calendar fic! @lestappenforever and I are just as excited to write and share it with you once it's done! 🧑🏻‍🎄🧑🏻‍🎄

Mona and I had a long talk about which part of the 30K+ (and counting) words we would share, and we have decided to stay true to our style, and make you laugh.

Snippet under the cut 👀

“This is a terrible idea,” the Dutchman insists even as he sits down on his own disc. “You know that, right?”

“Probably,” Charles agrees with a grin so wide Max imagines it must make his cheeks hurt. And Max is almost overwhelmed with the urge to lean in and kiss one of them. Or bite it. 

“But we’re doing it anyway?” Max goes on, hoping Charles will see the out for what it is and take it. 

He’s not surprised when Charles absolutely does not. 

“Yep!” the Monégasque says with excitement, and reaches between them to grab a hold of Max’s hand. “It’s lights out and away we go!”

With a bit of wiggling, Charles pushes his disc over the edge and, thanks to the hold on his hand, pulls Max on his disc with him. 

The children they’d watched go down the hill just a few minutes before didn’t move as fast as they do, but then again, Max and Charles also have significantly more weight giving the discs momentum to slide down the slippery hill. It’s surprisingly exhilarating and when Charles laughs and grips onto his hand tighter, Max can’t resist doing the same. And for a short, glorious moment, he feels nothing but pure joy and elation. 

Until the realization that Arthur is standing entirely too close at the bottom of the hill hits him at the exact same time as they both go barrelling into the man, knocking him off his feet.

Arthur lets out a shriek while Charles yells in surprise. Max, for his part, doesn’t get the chance to make much noise at all before he’s lying on his back with Arthur sprawled halfway across his torso and stomach. And Charles, thanks to his outright refusal to let go of Max’s hand throughout the entire ordeal, somehow ends up partially in Max’s lap, partially on top of his brother.

It’s an absolute mess of limbs and curses from the three of them, and laughter from the people watching on, as Max tries and fails to understand how he ever agreed to something that would eventually lead to him having not one, but two Leclercs sprawled on top of him. 

It doesn’t take long before Charles manages to stagger to his feet and helps pull Arthur up from Max and the ground. 

“Are you okay?” Charles asks once Arthur is out of the way, offering a hand for Max to take. 

His face is flushed red, and Max isn’t sure if it’s mostly because of embarrassment, or their crash landing into the youngest Leclerc brother. But there’s amusement shining in his eyes, bright even in the dim lights surrounding them in the Monte Carlo night. And Max so desperately wants to be annoyed because his back aches and there’s a painful twinge in his right knee, but it’s fucking impossible when Charles is looking at him like that, all delighted and beautiful and Charles. So, against his better judgment, Max takes the offered hand with a grunt. 

“I’m fine,” he mutters, allowing Charles to help pull him to his feet. Max glances at Arthur, who is scrambling to pick up the phone he dropped in the crash from the ground next to Max’s feet. “Are you okay?”

Arthur ignores him, frantically fumbling with his phone and muttering something in French under his breath. A few moments later, he holds his phone up in triumph, beaming at them. “Thank God, it kept filming!”

Max blinks, looking from Arthur to Charles, who is glaring daggers at his brother and looking like he’s plotting a very slow, very painful way to kill him in his sleep. Then his attention moves to the other side of the barrier, where Lorenzo is laughing so hard there are actual tears streaming down his face.

[spdrvyn]

anxiety & arachnids — MIGUEL O'HARA

(( this is going to be a lengthier one than my usual one-shots / snippets / fics / whatever you wanna call them since it has more plot !!! what is the plot? read the fic and find out motherfucker !!!!!! this is also mostly spoiler-free as per usual i think ))

The intensity of your job, the late-nights to the point where you've had to stay back at the precinct, and your overbearing coworkers really wanted you to find a way to travel back in time to prevent yourself from enrolling into police academy.

Were you the best detective out there? God, no. Definitely not. Though even if you weren't, you'd like to think that you excelled most of your acquaintances and fellow investigators in your job. Although among the long web of cases that you have solved over the years, there was a particular file that haunted your desk.

To most, large files were someone's nightmare. So overwhelming and rife with information but that was what you and other detectives just loved about them, you barely even had to lift a finger at times to catch perps or criminals because the file did most of the work for you.

However, the one that you'd been trying to crack for months was only one page thick, the only recent addition being a small sticky note that adds a witness's testimony of events.

You didn't have much of a problem with Spider-Man, you understood that he was just trying to do his job and save lives whatnot even if his methods were rather precarious—

But to find out that there are multiple Spider-People out there? The idea gave you migraines by just thinking about it.

Even for how many that might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for trouble to strike so that they could swoop in and save the day, this file only gave you less than a fraction of what you needed.

At least, you had one picture but it was low in quality. Captured by a civilian's cellphone, one of the older models judging from the camera, they were trying to get away from the commotion as well resulting the subject in the photograph to appear blurred.

Under closer inspection though, you could make out some details but you definitely knew that this wasn't your Spider-Man. Whoever it was, they were wearing a navy suit highlighted with red. A muscular build, blades sticking out of their suit. There was also a big circle behind them; a dizzying array of colors, which was safe to assume that it was a portal.

Spider-People, odd creatures, possible other-worldy travel.

Was this really what you had signed up for?

You curse under your breath, bringing your half-empty cup of coffee to the edge of your lips before it's quickly taken from your grasp. You're prepared to lecture whoever even dared to lay a hand on your drink before you realize that your captain is the one with the mug in their hands, whatever unholy grail of swear words you were about to unleash was now silenced.

Your captain let out a defeated utterance of your name, "Working until you die again?" They stare disappointedly into your mug. "Is the coffee supposed to speed up the process?"

With a harsh bite to your tongue, you fight back the urge to roll your eyes. It's not like they were as pesky as the people you've come to known over the years of working in this place, far from it but their demands for "self-care" and "work-life balance" made your head spin a lot more times than you'd like to admit.

"Go home. I don't mean to discourage you but why work on this case still? It's so cold that it's practically freezing."

"If nobody is going to work on it then I will."

"Of course, it's good to take responsibility but the only thing that's been added to this file over the last two months is a sticky note. A sticky note. I appreciate your persistence more than anything but above it all, I appreciate self-respect more."

Clueless. You felt so damn clueless, with this situation, with the nonsense advice that your captain was giving you. All you could do is look back at down at the folder, staring at it with such an intensity, secretly hoping that an entirely new page would appear.

The dismay that emanated from their sigh practically pierced you straight through your heart.

"It's clear to me now. I hope it's clear to you soon that working yourself to the bone over something like this isn't what we do. Get yourself together and get some rest."

The click-clack of their dress shoes drove you to near madness as you heard them leave the precinct. Maybe rest was what you needed, not like you had much of a choice anyway as the morning shift was about to come in soon.

You pack your bag, slinging it over your shoulder. It would probably be better to take the stairs at least to get rid of the energy you got from drinking an ungodly amount of caffeine tonight.

Speaking of caffeine, that was possibly the only edible item that you've consumed during your whole shift. Starving yourself was a habit that you were guilty of, getting so wrapped up in your work that even eating slipped your mind.

However let it not be said that you were picky, you opted to just pass by a fast food restaurant on the way back to your apartment.

It was the dead of night once you actually got your hands on some food, originally you were going to take it back to your apartment but the growling in your stomach told you that dinner was more of an urgent matter in the more.

You open the small box, taking the burger you ordered in your hands and about to take one juicy, delicious bite until—

"Incoming!"

Your delicious meal interrupted as someone was slammed through the windows of the establishment; gasps echoed the walls of the place as people didn't even hesitate to bring their phones out. All the employees run into the backroom.

Instinct just kicks in as you reach for the badge attached to your belt, as you attempt to reassure the innocent customers who were probably having just as much of a tiring night as you are.

You're about to approach the person that was slumped against the counter of the cashier until you register the robotic tentacles sticking out of a machine stuck to their back. Immediately, you pull your gun out.

This was all so confusing, you were so sure that your colleagues had arrested Doctor Octopus so many moons ago. Yet, why was he laying before you? He looked so different. Did he break out of prison and get a magic makeover or something?

Your heart rate skyrocketed through the roof as you catch a faint glow of red from the corner of your eye.

Without hesitation, you turn around and point to the figure behind you; who looked like they were about to continue whatever shenanigans they were engaging with Doc Octopus before stopping dead in their tracks at the sight of your weapon.

"Freeze! Don't move an inch,"

As the figure freezes, you are finally able to get a good glimpse at them. The suit matches the one you saw in your case file, it's never really processed in your head how tall they might actually be. This Spider-Man could easily tower over you, perhaps pointing a gun at him wasn't really the best choice.

That idea was really hammered into your skull as the Spider-Man 'raises an eyebrow' (at least, signalled by his mask) and looks up slowly, you've nearly forgotten that there's a real criminal right behind you.

Your gun is snatched immediately out of your hands as you turn your head once more, it's effortlessly crushed under the grasp of one of the Doctor's tentacles. They scowl at you through tinted goggles.

Shit.

Akin to the way that they were thrown into the eatery, your back harshly hit the area where they deep fry their food. The small basket tips over and spills hot oil onto the floor, the impact spits some of the substance onto your face and hands causing you to wince in pain.

Thankfully before you're about to lose your face, as one of the tentacles reach for you, your hand reaches for the same basket and smacks it hard. Some of the oil melts the coating of the robotic appendage.

You take a peek from below the counter and the people that you saw a while ago had disappeared, they all ran away. You wanted to die, there went your witnesses...

The Doctor yelps at the damage done to it's attachments, about to send yet another attack to your disheveled body, it's cut off (quite literally) by the slice of a blade.

The Spider-Man that you familiarized yourself with a while ago had sliced it off completely only angering the enemy further.

You want to help, even if you won't be able to catch whoever this guy is, there was a bigger threat right now.

Unfortunately as you try to stand, your legs give up on you from how brutally you were thrown and you fall back onto your behind once more. Though you weren't completely rendered useless, you attempt to crawl to the back. Telling one of the staff to call the authorities but once you got a glimpse, there was nobody there either. Were you the only one with any form of responsibility here?!

You reach for your own cellphone, only to find it unable to function from— once again— the impact of how you were thrown. Perfect. This was perfect.

It got even more perfect as the Doctor practically came in sliding into the back walls of the building, you panic and quickly move backwards until you realize that they're wrapped in some form of webbing.

The Spider-Man breezes past you, holding down the seemingly now unconscious criminal. Your ragged breath hitches as his gaze meets yours, you were defenseless. Besides some kitchen items that were littered across the floor from the scuffle but none of them could prove useful to you.

Your head was actually spinning now, you brought a fist to your forehead in a sad attempt to quaell the throbbing but no use. Your eyes begun getting droopier and droopier.

Your heart spiked more as a portal opened to the left of you, came in swinging in another Spiderman.

He seemed to be wearing a worn-down jacket and a regular spider suit but replace the pants with sweatpants. He had an empty baby carrier strapped to his chest.

"You're late."

"Fashionably so! Now, where is he?"

"Right here."

The one in navy kicks the body over to the more musty looking Spider-Man, he takes a step back. "Are you kidding me?! You dealt with him already? I put Mayday down for a nap like ten minutes later than I'm supposed to and you just—"

The less well-dressed Spider-Man catches sight of you, eyes as wide as saucers as he points. "Who's that?"

"Detective."

Not even two seconds later, he's kneeled down before you. Holding, only God knows how many fingers up, their whole conversation is going one ear out the other with you.

"Seems like they have a concussion and a couple of burns. Did anyone call an ambulance or somethin'?"

"No, they got chased out like squirrels by the anomaly."

"You know that we should probably deal with them, right?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

You can't even care enough to listen in to their interaction anymore, your head falls forward. The aching in your ribs, the stinging on your hands, it's too much to bare as you slip into the hold of unconsciousness.

[chdarling]

Snape slipping Lily the Felix potion OH MY GOD. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. BRILLIANT!!!!

I was absolutely floored. The foreshadowing is amazing. The last chapter got me thinking. I'm curious how much outlining have you done for TLE? Do you outline every chapter or just vague overarching themes? You may have answered this before, and if so, I'm sorry! I'm just more or less curious about your writing process since your work is so good.

I just wanted to send you all the good vibes and fairy dust. Thank you for sharing this story. I hope you're doing well and resting when you can. Burn out sucks.

Hi! Thank you!! And sorry I’m responding to this like months after you sent it!

I do a LOT of outlining. As a matter of fact, plotting is one of my favorite parts of writing. I just love taking two random, completely unrelated scenes that occurred to me separately and then trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B.

For the case of the Felix, I always knew there would be an attack on Hogsmeade at the end of TLE2, but I didn’t have a lot of the details worked out. It wasn’t until much later in the plotting process that I was working on a scene that I was 100% writing for the jily tension (their first potions class together) and I decided to go the Felix Felicis lesson route, mostly because coming up with new potions is hard and I figured Slughorn seems like a dude who loved his little traditions. It wasn’t until I got to the end of that scene that I realized I didn’t want Lily to win the potion because it would add too many variables, but SOMEONE had to win it….and then 💥bam flash pow 💥 I gave the Felix to Snape and suddenly alllllll these other plots went spiraling out of control hahaha.

So I guess I would summarize my process as:

1. Hoard snippets and scenes in my notes app for a long time

2. Put them all in a semi chronological timeline

3. Let the imagination go wild as I try to make it make sense

I also redo my plots more times than I can count. Things are always moving about because sometimes a scene will logically make sense at x point in the timeline, but then when I get to writing the actual scene, emotionally and narratively it doesn’t work.

But that’s part of the fun!!! Yay problem solving lol

Anyway! That was rambly and a bit inarticulate, but thanks for the ask and thanks for the kind words ❤️

[peachhcs]

how it all began -> podcast episode

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

a small podcast snippet where samy and will talk about how they got together

1.9k words

here are the small draft blurbs i wrote way back when i started this series that i told y’all i would share. i have a lot of them, so i’ll post them periodically :) this is from where i imagined will and samy talking about each other on podcast episodes they've invited to

au masterlist

"alright, so give me all the juicy details. how did this next step in your relationship come to be?" samy laughed mostly to herself as she fidgeted with the ends of her shirt.

"i mean..i feel like will and i are like..the exact of every best friends to lover trope right now..like i feel like we fit all the stereotypes," the brunette began making the interviewer laugh.

"i don't know..i mean something in our brains just flipped. we only ever saw each other as like..siblings. like we had a brother and sister relationship with one another, but the more i think about it, the more i think it might've just been us suppressing those feelings and playing it off as a family dynamic instead," the girl giggled.

"were your close friends and family ever like..why the hell aren't they together?"

"looking back on it, there was one night when i was like..sixteen maybe? will had just moved to michigan for his development program and he hung out at our house with some of his friends and like..we all had a great time. we just talked and caught up and i got to know his teammates, but after, when they left, my mom..she had this look on her face. i didn't know what look it was at the time and so i was like why are you looking at me like that? she didn't say anything, but she just smiled and shook her head and now, i'm pretty sure it was her seeing the connection will and i had that we didn't even know we had yet," samy explained.

"i feel like there's such a beautiful thing about that though. it's like you guys weren't even trying to be in a relationship, but everyone around you two knew how special of a connection you two have and they were just like..oh yeah they're definitely gonna be together one day," the interviewer nodded.

"i know. i know. it is beautiful because we weren't even really looking for a relationship and..one thing led to another. i always see those posts that say relationships come from the most unexpected person in the most unexpected time," samy smiled.

"i mean you can tell us whatever you want, you don't have to say anything, but if you want, can you talk about like how it happened and what changed?"

"it was this past summer..will was finishing up his dev program and he was like in a different place every weekend so we hardly got to see one another, but he still texted me and called me whenever he could to talk about his game like we always did, so that wasn't unusual..but like i don't know..there was this thought in the back of my head like..i don't even know how to explain it, but it was like i got this feeling in my chest every time will texted or called me and i started realizing that he didn't do this with everyone. really only like me and his sisters. anyways, the draft rolled around and obviously i was gonna be there. my family sat with his family and we were all dressed to the nines. will was locked in, nervous about his pick, all of that. it wasn't until after where we just found ourselves just with each other in the arena and like..we looked at each other and i think that's just when we knew something was changing between us."

"you both felt that change right in that moment?"

"i mean yeah. he looked at me like..a little too long and i was like..oh shit, this is..this is a way different feeling than i'm used to. it wasn't until his draft party in boston when everything sort of..like came out. i can't give too many details, but we ended up talking that night and like..the rest just went from there," the girl laughed a little.

"and i mean, you two have the same collegiate number absolutely coincidentally."

"yeah, i think that was our final tipping point when we found out we got the same number. it was like the universe telling us, okay yeah, you guys definitely belong together," the brunette grinned.

"so is it hard being long distance and like finding out all of this stuff right as you leave for college?"

"yeah, a bit. it was kind of like a punch in the face. we get something good, but it doesn't last for long because will's now states away in boston and i'm still in michigan, but we're making it work. we call everyday and we text everyday. it's also easy because we know how one another works, so we like skipped all the awkward parts of getting to know one another and figuring out each other's quirks because we already know it."

"i think that definitely makes things easier like you said. you don't have to spend time in the awkward stage because you guys already had that growing up."

"yeah, exactly, but yeah, it's been fun opening this side of one another and delving into it more. he's always been there for me and i mean it's like we danced around one another until the time was finally right for our lives to mix together in that way."

—

"so i don't know if you've seen the clips of sam talking about your relationship or not?" will smiled a bit, nodding to say he has seen it.

"i have and i mean everything she said was pretty spot on and i probably couldn't have said it better myself," the blonde chuckled.

"i don't wanna exhaust the subject too much, but i'd love to sort of hear your take on about the change and sort of realization about your relationship with her."

"yeah, just this past summer was when things just changed for us. she was at the draft in nashville with all of us and just like..it was really special having all of my close friends and family there watching me take on another big milestone in my life. samy's always been there for me, so having her there was really great. i think she said after i got picked we ended up in the arena with just us and we were talking briefly and like..yeah it just changed for us in that moment. i realized how lucky i was to have her there and that she took time out of her busy schedule to be there and support me and i was just thinking how no one else would do that for me but her," will said, his smile still painting his features.

"did you like ever have any past feelings for her in that way that you pushed away thinking it'd never be like that?"

"i think maybe when we were like..12 or something. it was like..peak puberty years so i had this thought in the back of my mind like..what if samy and i ended up as something more, but she never seemed into that ever. we were like siblings, so i kind of just let the idea go knowing we wouldn't ever be like that until it started just resurfacing this past year with her."

"i think i asked sam this, but were your close friends or family ever like..why the hell aren't they together?"

"well definitely my teammates knew way before i did. the first time they met her and hung around us and we went back to our places they looked at me and they were like: are you sure you've never thought about her in that way before? so they even knew before i had an idea. my mom at times was definitely suspicious and surprised that we never got together because i think she was secretly rooting we would at some point," the hockey player laughed.

"moms and friends always know. always trust what they say," the interviewer also laughed.

"i know, i should've listened to them more. even at sixteen where samy and i still saw each other as siblings they were skeptical. especially ryan. he was giving us eyes and anytime we hung out with her he was giving me these looks like you're for real right now? you have zero feelings for her? and i mean i thought our interactions were normal and i guess i brushed off a lot of them that looked flirty or came off that way and samy did too so that's probably why it took us so long to catch on."

"even though you guys are long distance right now, how are you two working through that while taking on this new territory of your relationship?"

"well, it's definitely easier because we know one another so well. it helps that we didn't have an awkward stage because we kind of already went through that when we were kids. plus, samy just makes it easy. we're very alike so we know why we are the way we are. she's always been there for me and i've always been there for her. we're constantly supporting one another and we call everyday just like talking about our days or games if we have them. if we can't call, we send like 10 voice messages explains our days. it's just easy because we know each other so well, so nothing has to be misread or miscommunicated because we already know. it definitely sucks we're not together like we were for two years, but it just makes seeing one another that more special when it comes around."

"that's really special. your relationship has always been really special to the fans who've been following you two for while now, so i know they love seeing you guys finally together. i'm sure they knew way before you guys did too," will and the interviewer shared a laugh.

"i'm sure they did. samy and i aren't the best at picking up clues like that," will chuckled.

view all comments

user1 OH MY GOD I CANT??? THEYRE BOTH SO ADORABLE AWWW

user2 IGE BEEN WAITING FIR THIS ONE!!!! i knew i knew i knew they'd finally end up together

user3 the best friends to lovers pipeline is so incredibly real

user4 WILL'S FRIENDS KNOWING BEFORE HE DID!!! god they must've been so painfully obvious back then to everyone but themselves

user5 golden retriever and golden retriever fr

user6 stop i love these two sm they truly did grow up together and seeing them try out a relationship is so cute i hope they work out!!!

user7 MY roman empire

user8 oh they're in love love

user9 them calling everyday is so cute oh my god

user10 THEM HAVING THE SAME NUMBERS UNPLANNED IS LITERALLY FATE AND DESTINY

user11 samy hughes and will smith make so much sense in my head

user12 THE WAY HE CALLS HER SAMY IS SO CUTE

user13 we need them in an interview together next!!!

user14 samy saying how will looked at her for a little too long and she just knew is so fucking real on god like i get you girl so bad if will looked at me the way he looks at her i'd fold immediately

user15 i love that they're so willing to share this with us bc we basically grew up with them too

user16 i'm actually obsessed with them

user17 THEYVE BEEN SOFT LAUNCHING EACH OTHER THUS ENTIRE TIME??!

user18 im definitely betting it was some sort of like drunk confession at will's draft party because samy said she couldn't get into the details meaning she couldn't tell the interviewer they were underage drinking GOD i love them sm

[selfindulgentpixies]

The hands that hold you ch8: Learning to trust

Satosugu x gn!reader

Ahhhh I'm so sorry this took so long. Health struggles slowed my ass way down and I had to figure out how to stitch this chapter together. chapters 8-10 will likely be snippets of events between hidden inventory and premature death. I actually have so many things i would like to put in but it's hard figuring out what's relevant enough and maintains a good flow for the story. I really want to include the exchange event next chapter so let me know if that's a thing you guys want to see.

Master list

____

It’s the previous week and Satoru and Suguru are preparing for their day while you’re asleep in your own room for the first time since your recovery began instead of one of their rooms or the infirmary. Neither is particularly thrilled to get back to ‘business as usual’ as it were but with it being summer a pair of sorcerers as strong as them couldn’t  be spared for long. Truthfully they’d much rather stay at your side for your recovery. On the second day you’d spent in bed with them watching movies they’d caught you stretching and saw how your whole torso was essentially one massive bruise. It was only a glance considering how you’d aborted the movement out of pain and had immediately brushed off any worry they’d expressed. The injuries may have been mostly healed by Shoko but the blood beneath the skin still needed to break down along with her mainly only healing the life threatening parts of your injuries. 

 Suguru rests his chin on Satoru’s shoulder and wraps his arms around his slim waist to watch him type away at his phone. He was leaving you a text explaining that they’d both be out today for missions. “Don’t want them to worry,” he says even though an explanation isn’t really needed. Suguru makes a small sound of agreement. They both already knew you had a tendency to worry. Satoru closes out of his conversation with you, putting him back on his phone’s main screen. 

Suguru’s lips quirk into a small smile seeing Satoru had a new wallpaper even if it also made his chest tighten. It’s you blanketed in the red hoodie Satoru had bought for the trip to the beach, curled up and sleeping with rice flour lightly smudged on your cheek from the mochi you and Satoru had shared that night when things were still okay. “Do they even know you took that picture?” 

“Not a clue since they don’t get nosy when I’m on my phone unlike you,” he says teasingly. He holds the phone so Suguru can get a better look at the picture of you. 

“I’m surprised this is the picture you picked, all things considered.”

“I know..” he sighs. “That night is still a good memory though. It was the first time I thought ‘oh, they might actually like me too.’ they looked at me how they looked at you all the time.” 

This gives Suguru pause before he squeezes Satoru lightly. “I think they liked you before either of you realized it. They were just intimidated by you.” 

Satoru snorts. “And why would they have been-”

“Satoru, this goes back to me telling you to be more humble around our under classmen. While I doubt ___ would have you any other way now since they know you better, when you first met it was pretty obvious that they withdrew into themself when you started going on about being the strongest.” This makes Satoru pout as he slips his phone into his pocket. 

“Yeah yeah…”  

Suguru chuckles at Satoru’s pouting before brushing his lips along his jaw and releasing him.

“Ah. There was a thing I wanted to bring up about ___.” He says while turning to face Suguru who was now buttoning his uniform. 

“Oh? What about?” He raises a brow, Satoru’s change in tone grabbing his attention more than the statement itself. 

“I think we should recommend them for promotion.” 

This causes Suguru to pause and makes his brows furrow in concern. “They’re not ready to be a first grade, Satoru-” 

“To second grade. I think they’re ready for it.” 

The clarification on grade only soothes Suguru’s nerves slightly, the memory of you broken in his arms still vivid.  “I’m not so sure, you saw how close to death they were.” 

“So were we. The circumstances weren't exactly typical. They managed to survive a mission that was way above their grade. It’s not the sort of mission they’ll be getting sent out on solo or even with someone else. They wouldn’t have even been there if we hadn’t brought them.” Satoru’s tone is serious and Suguru’s sure he can hear regret in his voice as well. “But I also saw them fight more than once during the mission. Once against Q and then against that bastard. If they’d been fighting anyone else they would have done well.” Suguru wrinkles his nose, not looking pleased. 

“I still don’t think they’re ready. We should wait, let them gain more experience first.”

“Are you not willing to recommend them because you really don’t think they’re ready or is it because you’re being over protective?” 

Suguru bristles. “I don’t think you’re being protective enough-” 

“Is that our call to make? If they have the skills to advance in rank we’re doing them a disservice by holding them back. They’re strong, Suguru, they can handle it.” 

The air in the small dorm room feels charged as the two young men stand at odds. 

It’s several tense moments later that Suguru sighs. “I’ll think about it. I don’t like it but I’ll think about it.” Both Satoru and him know that he’ll likely end up saying yes to recommending you once he’s had the time to sit on Satoru’s words. With all the time Suguru spent training you he knew how much you’d grown and how capable you were it just pained him to think of you being sent on harder missions, especially solo. 

__

Back at present Suguru grumbles and cracks open an eye at you as you try to carefully scoot out from between Satoru and himself. It’s early, the morning sky just starting to lighten. He re-secures his hold around you and pulls you back up the bed and sticks his face in the mess of your bed head. He smiles at the sound of surprise you make. “And where do you think you’re going?” 

“I was going to go back to my room so I could start getting ready for today.” You give a half hearted huff before turning to wrap your arms around Suguru. “I didn’t want to wake the two of you up if you didn’t need to be up yet.”

“Mm too bad, woke up as soon as you tried to run away.” He squeezes you tighter and kisses the top of your head.

You stifle a giggle against his sleep shirt at his wording. “Isn’t being dramatic Satoru’s job?”

“Is what my job?” Those words and large yawn are all the warning you and Suguru get before Satoru is slinging one of his arms across the two of you as well as hooking a leg across to drag the three of you close together in the middle of the bed. 

Now securely trapped between them you whine. “Guys, it’s too hot out for this.” Really both of them were like furnaces which will probably be great in winter but wasn’t so great right now. “And I do need to get up and get ready.” 

Satoru whines. “But it’s still so early.”

“I’d like to be on time.”

“You’re not on time to things you’re always early to them,” he grumbles against your hair, nearly nose to nose with Suguru. 

“Being early is being on time!” 

“The fact that you’re the future principle’s kid is showing.” Satoru laments.

Suguru groans. “If the two of you are going back and forth you should just get up already.” 

You look at Suguru apologetically. “Sorry, Suguru..” You give him a peck on the nose before wiggling free from both boys. 

“Wait, don't I get a kiss too?” 

You stick your tongue out at Satoru before leaving the room. And several moments of silence follow where Sugru raises an expectant eyebrow at Satoru. He groans and rolls out of bed to follow you, and later that morning Suguru is amused to see Satoru already in class when he enters the room. Apparently you might actually be able to instill good habits in Satoru. 

Satoru only looks mildly annoyed to be here so early. Suguru figures it’s because he probably got the kiss he’d wanted from you. He was still so sensitive about getting just as much affection as he did. 

It’s when the two boys are packing up to leave that Yaga approaches them, two sheets of paper in hand. “Before you go I have missions for each of you.” He holds out the pages and Suguru notices there’s actually a third paper clinging close to the one passed to him. “Geto your mission will actually be with ___, it’s a way to ease them into more dangerous missions after their recovery.” 

Suguru nods and only half listens as Satoru is given a solo mission. It’s while they’re leaving the classroom that Satoru huffs and waves his hand in front of Suguru’s face, snapping him out of it. “Oi! Earth to Suguruuu,” he draws out his name, a pout pulling at his lips. “You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.” 

He clears his throat. “Sorry, what were you saying?” He gives the taller boy an apologetic smile. 

“I said you’re lucky that you get to go on a mission with ___. I’m probably gonna be gone for several days all alone,” he laments. 

“Yeah.. lucky..” 

His tone catches Satoru’s attention. “What don’t you want them with you?”

“It’s classified as a first grade mission.” Suguru says plainly. 

Satoru’s expression softens a bit, “Yeah and they’re sending them with you, a special grade sorcerer. I think a special grade and second grade can handle it. Yaga said it was to ease them into harder missions by sending them with you.” 

Suguru doesn’t look entirely convinced. 

“You know, for someone who vouched for them with me for their promotion you sure don’t act like you have a lot of confidence in them.” 

That makes an annoyed look cross his features. “It’s not about-”  he pauses and takes a breath “-I do. I wouldn’t have agreed to recommend them for promotion otherwise.” 

Satoru looks at him, glasses sliding down his nose. Suguru wonders what he’s looking for but Satoru apparently finds it when he claps him on the shoulder and allows the topic to drop. 

“Come on, lets see if they want to join us for lunch.”

___

A plume of smoke passes Suguru’s lips as the two of you sit on a low, crumbling, old wall. The mission the two of you had gone on had gone well enough. More curses than either of you had expected but nothing that you couldn’t handle. Honestly you think Suguru could have handled it without you but you were happy to be there with him. The hand that isn’t holding his cigarette slides over your own, giving it a squeeze and returning some warmth that the chill evening had taken from your fingers. You turn your hand so you can return the gesture and you see a ghost of a smile turn his lips from the corner of your eye. 

You’d watched him choke down a curse a few minutes prior, throat bobbing and his pretty face twisting though he’d tried to hide it after. You think it’s strange how you’d never actually asked him much about his technique and how it’s different from your own. Both were curse manipulation but the methods were different.  

“You look like you have something on your mind.” Suguru’s voice breaks you from your thoughts. 

“Is it okay if I ask you something?”

He looks at you fully then. “Always.” He looks tired, he’s looked tired a lot lately though that’s not surprising. There’s an openness there too though, something that felt more and more reserved for only the people the very closest to him. 

“I’ve noticed you usually smoke after consuming curses… or is it just an after battle habit…” you trail off allowing the space for him to fill in. 

He’s not surprised by your question, perhaps a lil surprised that it’s taken you this long to ask though. “It’s to cover up the taste.” He loosens his grip on your hand and plays with your fingers. 

“Guess you know what I’m gonna ask next? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, I'm sure it’s nothing pleasant.” 

He surprises you with a laugh. “If it’s you it’s fine.” His words make your heart skip a beat. He loosely laces your fingers together. “I honestly thought you would have asked sooner. You’re always so worried about making others uncomfortable.” 

You can feel your cheeks heat up at that. He wasn’t wrong but… “I just felt like it might be rude.. I normally dodge the topic about my own technique if someone I’m not close to get’s nosy about it.”

He hums. “But we are close.” 

You nod, a comforting warmth settling in your chest at the affirmation of your bond that had started to take form back on that first mission together. “We are.” You look at your linked hands with a small yet warm smile.

“They taste like literal shit and vomit.” His words are matter of fact and cut through the gentle sentiment that had only been shared moments before. He laughs at the look that crosses your features before you can stop it. 

“Sorry-” you begin to choke out.

“Don’t apologize. I like how honest your expressions always are. Though perhaps you should work on controlling them a bit better for your own sake. But yes, it’s terrible. I normally keep either gum or cigarettes on hand to help cover the taste until I can rinse out my mouth.” 

You nod. “That’s.. Yeah.” you say lamely. The corner of his mouth quirks upward in amusement.

He finishes his cigarette and stubs it out. “Since we’re sharing, how about you tell me about your own technique?” He tilts his head, his bangs flopping to the side. “I can tell it’s unpleasant for you,” his voice is gentle.  

You glance again at your joined hands, looking at the black ink-like veins that had formed when you’d absorbed a curse earlier during the mission. You raise your eyes to meet Suguru’s. “It depends on the curse. It’s abilities, and how strong it is. The stronger the curse is the more difficult it is to absorb it even after it’s been subdued.” He’s watching your face but where your hands are joined you can feel him gently running a finger over one of those dark veins. It creates a strange sensation that makes you twitch.  “I’ve absorbed curses before where it felt like I was taking liquid fire directly into my veins, or like my arm is being shredded from the inside. The only thing that keeps me from rejecting some of the curses is looking at my arm and seeing that it’s still whole even if it is covered in a web of dark veins. Other curses are easier, still unpleasant but not so bad that I want to detach my own arms. More like a bad case of pins and needles…” You trail off and with your hand not being held by Suguru you rub your arm you’d absorbed a curse with.

Suguru is focused on you intently as you speak. He knew that absorbing curses was painful for you, that much was easy to see, though he hadn’t realized the range of sensation it could cause. “And even going through that you were the one who apologized to me on that first mission while you were bent over your arm in pain,” his tone is both gentle and admonishing. 

You shift slightly. “..My timing was bad and I became too transfixed on the pain, if you hadn’t been there I would have gotten myself-” 

He grips your hand and lifts it so he’s able to slide further into your space. “But that’s what I’m here for right? To look out for you and protect you, it was true on that first mission just as it’s true now.” The softness is still in his voice but his eyes have a new intensity to them as he looks at you that makes you squirm a little.

Reaching up a hand you brush back his bangs before cupping his cheek. “I gotta be able to stand on my own too though. For the times I’m alone.” Your response doesn’t seem to soothe him at all. 

“That was my biggest concern when Satoru and I  recommended you for promotion. He‘s convinced you’ll be okay but I can’t help but-” 

“Suguru… Do you regret vouching for my promotion?” There’s nothing accusatory in your tone, just honest curiosity. “I’ll be honest I had my own doubts when I found out I was getting promoted..” Your hand falls from his cheek and you look away from him. 

Something like guilt eats at Suguru in that moment, seeing you suddenly look unsure and withdrawing from him even the slightest bit. He lets out a slow breath, he thinks back on his conversation with Satoru. “No.. I don’t regret it. You’re capable and deserve to be recognized for your skills.” Using your hand that he’s still holding he pulls you against his chest suddenly his other arm coming up to wrap around your back. “I’m just.. I care about you and the idea of anything happening to you just…” 

You melt against him instantly and you nuzzle your cheek against his chest. ”It scares you right?” 

He swallows “It does,” he admits and squeezes you tighter.

“I wish I could tell you that I’ll always be okay but… I can’t know that. But what I do know is i’ll always fight my hardest to make it back to you and Satoru, okay?” 

He huffs a small laugh. “Won’t even tell me a pretty lie huh?”

“Would it actually help if I did?’

A beat of silence and then a sigh ruffles your hair. 

“No. It wouldn’t. I’ll just have to trust you then to fight like hell.” 

You pull back slightly and smile up at him and it’s full of so much warmth Suguru thinks it could burn him up and he’d gladly let it. “Didn’t make it this far by not being a fighter.” He can’t help but smile back at you, even if he’s not entirely comforted.  He’d have to trust you to be capable, he can do that even if the unpredictable nature of being a sorcerer means there’s no guarantees.

___

And that's that for this chapter. I'll try to not take too long for next update but I have a few halloween event fics i need to put some focus on. Like I said above let me know if you guys are interested in seeing the exchange event.

Tag list: @strawberrystepmom @nanamikentoseyebags @gojoest @icy-spicy @sleezzsister @moonsua1 @yuuuumii @yokaimoon @chibiizzy @porridgesblog @suhmie @defacatestenderly @agentdedf1sh

I hope that's everyone! I tend to base my tags based off who tagged on the previous chapter and whoever asks on the latest update.