#last round just made me realize i put a lot of work into these guys 😭💔 SO I HOPE IT ISNT A LOT | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hellfirenacht · 10 months ago

Text

Candygram

Summary: It's Valentine's day and you shoot your shot with Eddie by sending him a Candygram.

Tags: Eddie Munson x Reader, fluff, sfw

4.8k Words Master List

“Just do it.” Robin said, following your line of sight to the booth in the corner of the Hawkins cafeteria. It was a simple table with a red cloth thrown over it and a handmade banner that read ‘CANDYGRAMS $1’ and was decorated with tacky hearts.

Every time you glanced over at the booth, your heart would start pounding and your stomach would twist in knots. You had never considered yourself to be shy before, when you first moved to Hawkins a few years ago, Robin had joked that you didn’t need a welcome wagon because you had thrown yourself into band and had introduced yourself to everyone with ease.

You had masked your anxiety over being the new kid with an overinflated sense of confidence and it had worked out really well for you until you caught feelings for the freak who sat next to you in remedial science.

“I think... I would rather chug formaldehyde.” you said slowly, staring so hard at the offensively pink and red booth that Robin was sure it was going to catch flames.

“Either go up there and buy a candygram or I’m going to do it for you.” Robin said. “If I have to hear you waffle about this for one more day I’m gonna rip my hair out.”

“But if I send him one, then he might actually acknowledge me and realize I might have something resembling a feeling for him, and that’s just not really cool, you know? Goes against my chill and mysterious personality.” you said, leaning back on your chair with a cocky grin.

“Last night I saw you and Steve cry over Bambi.” Robin deadpans.

“Okay, so we were drunk and also shut up.” you snorted, rubbing your face.

“How are you going to know if there’s anything there if you don’t even take the chance?” Robin scolds. “Come one, I’ve seen the way you look at him. I’m surprised the whole school doesn’t know-”

“Again, cool and mysterious personality.” you tried again.

“Plus I know he’s just as weird as you.” Robin continued, ignoring you. “I mean, last week I saw him get Jason Carver to back off one of the freshmen by pretending to exercise a demon out of him!”

You stared at Robin for a beat before thunking your head on the lunch table. “I’m going to marry him. Holy shit, he actually tried to expel the demon lurking in Carver?” You were laughing at the thought.

During your first senior year and his second, Eddie Munson had caught your eye when you had the same lunch period. He was loud and energetic and so fucking weird you couldn’t help but to be drawn to him. Had your parents not forced you to stick with band, you would have considered joining Hellfire. Unfortunately even with this last go-round as a super senior, they still made you stick with it despite your senioritis reaching terminal levels.

You never had a good opportunity to talk to him, and the more time passed the harder it became to justify just randomly approaching him. This semester you finally had your opportunity when you’d been put in the same class and sitting next to each other no less. Still, the most you’d been able to say was “yeah, sure” when he’d asked you for a pencil once.

Four weeks sitting next to Eddie, and you had barely spoken to him while noticing every little thing about him. He read a lot in class when he could get away with it, and doodled in his notebooks constantly, especially dice and dragons seemed to be the biggest theme. His school notebook wasn’t nearly as filled in as his Hellfire notebook, and he was always fidgeting in class. He also didn’t talk much, and at least once a week he’d end up falling asleep in class with his head in his hand.

“There’s not gonna be a wedding if you can’t even talk to the guy.” Robin said. “He’s not even scary! Dustin comes in to talk to Steve all the time about Hellfire. He’s just a dork.”

“I know and that’s the problem.” your voice was a strangled laugh mixed with a groan.

“You showed up the first day of band and introduced yourself to everyone, even if they weren’t in your section. What is the hold up with you talking to Eddie?” Robin pried.

“Because back then, it didn’t matter.” You looked over at Robin, poking at your mystery meat. “When I first got here it didn’t matter if anyone liked me or not. I was only supposed to be in this school for a few months and then graduate. Then I didn’t. I could handle it if someone didn’t like me. None of you were really supposed to matter to me. No offense.”

Thankfully, Robin didn’t seem offended. “You were just making nice with the inmates until parole.” she joked and you nodded.

“Yup, and then when I realized that I was going to have to actually have a full other year of school, that meant that I was going to have to care if I was ever gonna graduate.” You continued. “Luckily you saw through all my bullshit bravado and started dragging me to movie nights with you and Steve.”

“Yeah yeah, we love friendship. So what does any of this have to do with Eddie?” Robin said, not needing you to explain the backstory that she had been present for.

“It means that with Mr. Munson, I unfortunately, care so fucking much what he thinks of me.” you relented. “He’s the biggest freak in school, and the dorkiest loser, and if I try and talk to him and he’s not interested in talking back I won’t be able to take it. Robin, I will simply lay down and be dead for the rest of my life.”

“That’s not how that works, you can’t be dead for the rest of your life.” She shook her head, her brows furrowed. “Because if you’re dead then... you’re not alive”

“Schrodinger's corpse then. Alive and dead at the same time.”

“Look, just send him the stupid candygram. The worst he can do is say no.” She stood up from the table and grabbed your hand. “Let’s go.”

And that’s how you ended up at the booth, jotting down Eddie’s name on a piece of paper and shoving a few quarters in the till with Robin looking smug. “I doubt he’s ever gotten one anyway, if anything he should be thrilled that someone wanted to send him one.”

“If this kills me, Steve’s in charge of the music at my funeral.” you sighed.

---

Candygrams were being handed out and delivered through the week. You weren’t paying attention to what period they were supposed to be handed out, and so when two students in obnoxious heart shirts and fake wings burst into your science class with Eddie right next to you, you were about ready to throw yourself out a window.

No one was surprised when Janet and Charlie were tossed a few candygrams, but everyone’s head whipped around when the red heart shaped lollipop and card was set on Eddie Munson’s desk. Eddie himself seemed more surprised than anyone.

He had the lollipop in his mouth before he even opened the note attached and you were seconds away from bolting out the door. With any luck, maybe he didn’t know your name even after weeks of sitting next to each other.

“Who’s it from, freak?” asked Patrick, the basketball jock who sat a few rows ahead. That earned a few snickers from the class.

“It’s from your mom.” Eddie said without missing a beat and taking out the lollipop. “Tell her I say thanks.”

More laughter from the class as Patrick stood up as if ready to fight, but the teacher quickly told him to sit down.

Shit, this wasn’t supposed to happen. You felt a bit guilty that your candygram had kicked up a fuss, but at least Eddie didn’t out you as the person who sent it to him. In fact he wasn’t looking over at you at all.

You watched him out of the corner of your eye as he flipped the card around, as if looking for something. All that was written was his name and “YOU’RE SWEET!” written in cheesy font and his name scribbled in your handwriting.

And nothing else.

You didn’t know if you should laugh or cry at your stupidity. You’d been so jumbled and nervous that you’d forgotten to sign the damn thing. Robin was gonna have a field day with this one.

Eddie kept fidgeting with the card through the rest of class, twisting it and bending it until it was as crumpled and torn as your heart felt. He shoved it in his pocket and didn’t even glance at you as the bell rang and he stood up and tossed the eaten lollipop stick in the trash.

It’s not personal. You told yourself. He has no idea who sent it to him.

That’s when you had a horrible idea, so stupid it might actually work.

---

“Explain how this is going to work again?” Robin asked. “You’re going to keep sending him lollipops this week until he notices you?”

“Sort of.” you said, buying another candygram. “I’ll just send him a few joke ones as a feeler and if he responds positively I’ll come clean. If not, I keep my dignity. It’s a win-win.”

“Since when do you care about your dignity?” Robin sorted.

“Since I caught feelings for the least dignified guy in school, I guess.” You knew it was stupid, you knew it was ridiculous, but you already messed up once so you might as well lean into it. You scribbled his name down, this time signing it with a satisfied giggle. “This is so dumb.”

Oh, but it was so worth it. You had bought it before school started, guaranteeing that it’d be delivered the same day, handing over a crisp dollar to Nancy Wheeler who had volunteered for the booth. If Eddie had been surprised the first time, he looked almost shocked now.

Eddie, sorry I forgot to sign the first one! This card said, once again not giving away any sign of who it was actually from. You saw his eye sparkle in amusement as he ate his lollipop, and this time the card was read over a few times before being carefully tucked into his dungeon master notebook.

By the third day, the novelty of Eddie Munson getting candygrams had worn off with the rest of your class, but Eddie’s grin only grew wider each time.

“Anything for me, Cupid?” Eddie asked as the student council members walked back in to hand out more lollipops.

He whooped as another one was dropped on his desk and he snatched up the card quickly and you had to cover your face and bite your lip to stop yourself from giggling at his excitement.

Eddie, sorry I’m so bad at remembering to sign these things! I just get way too excited about sending them out that I lose focus. So anyway this card is actually from-

You had carefully spaced out your writing on the small rectangle of paper so that it left absolutely no room for you to sign your name. Eddie looked downright giddy as he read the note over and over. Seeing him so happy made your stomach burst into butterflies and even if he decided after this he wasn’t interested, this was enough. Knowing that he was smiling because of you was enough.

Someone said your name and you looked up, surprised to see one of the student council members standing next to you and handing you a candygram. Your eyebrows shot up as you took it with a thanks and opened up the card.

Who had sent one to you? You’d been so wrapped up in your little scheme you didn’t even consider that someone would try and send you one either.

A smile tugged at your lips as you saw your name and a small drawing of what looked like an egg in a nest as the sender. Robin, of course. Probably making fun of you for sending candygrams to Eddie without signing either.

You tucked the candygram in your own notebook safely and dared a glance over at Eddie again. You hadn’t expected for him to be looking back at you, and your heart jumped in your chest. He unwrapped his lollipop and lifted it slightly as if he was trying to toast. You held yours up as well to him, an off sense of camaraderie between two people who had their day temporarily disturbed for commercialized love.

Thursday came around, Valentine's day proper, but they’d be doing one last day of candygrams on Friday as well. This was a fundraiser after all, and capitalism trumps any semblance of real sincerity. Well, you said that but that wasn’t exactly going to stop you from continuing your little plan.

Today was the day you were going to pull out the big guns. You handed over a full $5 to have a carnation sent to Eddie, as well as a return to sender card to Robin for being a good friend.

“Shouldn’t he be the one sending you a flower?” Nancy asked, handing you the card to write on. You wondered how Nancy had time for all of the extracurricular activities she had going on, working with the student council and the school newspaper.

You just shrugged at the question, not realizing how wide you were smiling or how obviously warm your cheeks were. To anyone with two eyes, you were glowing and to anyone with one eye, you were phosphorescent.

The disinterest that your classmates had from the last two rounds perked back up with a flower was delivered to Eddie that afternoon.

“For little old me?” Eddie said, batting his eyelashes at the delivery boy as he took the carnation. You giggled to yourself as he opened the card again.

Man, I’m bad at this aren’t I? Don’t worry, this time I’m writing very small so I have room to sign this card. Seeing you light up when these get delivered has made my whole week, and totally worth it. Anyway this is from-

To be fair, you had actually signed your name this time. However this time you had made an attempt to erase it with one of those erasers. The horrible stiff ones that only made big smudges and made the mistake worse and nearly tore through the paper. You had carefully looked at your smudged signature for a long time before deciding it was illegible enough to send.

Eddie faked a swoon in his seat, nearly toppling over onto the floor. “Come on!” he laughed, pushing himself back upright, smiling with his whole face. He looked over the note again, something clicking in his brain and you quickly looked down at the book you were currently pretending to read.

“It’s someone in here.” you heard him mutter to himself and your heart started pounding in your chest. You focused on your breathing to try and stop yourself from giggling and giving yourself away.

“Stop sending yourself stuff, Munson. It’s pathetic.” Patrick called out.

“If you wanted me to be your Valentine, sweetheart, all you had to do was ask nicely.” Eddie said, but he sounded distracted as his eyes scanned the room for any hint of who this mysterious person is. “And next time, I’m more than happy with just the lollipop, it’s saving me on smokes.”

You didn’t even notice the lollipop on your desk until class had started back up. Unfolding the card you smiled to yourself, seeing that it was from Robin again. This time the egg in the nest had a crack in it and seemed to be hatching. You’d ask her about it later.

Nothing said during the rest of class even registered with you, every word was in one ear and out the other. This had been a fun week sending Eddie all the lollipops and flowers but tomorrow was the last day to have something sent to him.

Were you going to sign your name? That’s the million dollar question. You had told Robin that you would if Eddie seemed interested, and he had made it clear he was enjoying the attention.

But would he still enjoy the attention if he learned it was from you? You two weren’t exactly friends, but not complete strangers either. He didn’t seem to dislike you, after all he’d raised a toast with you with your lollipops the other day.

Well, if you were gonna put yourself out there, you were gonna do it on your own terms.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Robin said that Friday morning as you dropped a handful of ones on the table for one last hurrah.

“Nope, I’ve committed.” you said, taking the small stack of cards and getting to work.

“I’m going to have you committed.” Robin shook her head. “I mean, this is actually insane, you know that right? There’s no reason to go through all this trouble, when you could just talk to him.”

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that, Buckley?” you asked, as you added one letter of your name to each of the cards. “Gotta make him work for it.”

“So you’re gonna give him a Valentine's themed word jumble as your big sign off?”

“Yup.” you confirmed, adding his name to each of the cards. He’d get them all in one go and then it’s up to him to unscramble your name and figure it out.

After that... well, the ball is in his court.

Besides, if he liked the lollipops enough that he’d reach for one instead of a cigarette then that’s good enough.

“You’re such a weirdo. You deserve each other.” Robin went on. “The Weirdo and the Freak. It’s like Beauty and the Beast except.. Not.”

“Robin, don’t you know three languages?” you snorted finishing up your stack and handing them over to be sent. “You are so much smarter than me, but this is where you lose words?”

“It’s Friday and I haven’t had coffee.” she pointed out. “Oh, thanks for sending me one by the way.”

“Yeah, of course. I mean you sent me one so I wasn’t gonna leave you hanging.” you nudged her playfully.

“I didn’t send you one.” Robin looked at you, confused.

“What?” You reached into your backpack and pulled out the notebook where you had placed the card and handed it to her. “But that’s a robin’s egg...?”

“It’s an egg, probably.” Robin agreed. “But I’m broke. I didn’t send any out.”

You stared at the card with new eyes. If she didn’t send it, then who did?

---

“Holy shit.” Eddie muttered as a bag of lollipops was dumped on his desk with no rhyme or reason, earning a round of laughter and snickers from the class. The teacher had long since given up on trying to keep the class’s attention when the Cupid’s showed up.

He sorted through the cards, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at the different letters on the cards until he found one that had real words on it.

Figure it out, Sucker <3 Eddie’s face was a wonderful mixture of amusement, bewilderment, and mild offense.

One of the Cupid’s handed you another two lollipops as well. One was actually signed by one of your friends in band, and the other had another doodle of an egg. This time the egg was completely hatched and there was some sort of weird bird flying off.

Not a robin. You decided, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be.

You barely paid attention in class for the rest of the hour, your attention split between the three egg Valentines you received and the man next to you. Eddie had pulled out his Dungeon Master notebook to try and decode your message. You felt flattered that he was using his favored notebook to try and figure out your puzzle.

Eddie was sucking on one of the lollipops diligently as he scribbled down random letters. Now that you thought about it, you’d never seen him look so studious in class before. You wondered if this is what he looked like when he was working on his campaigns and your brain decided to give you a treat of a daydream where the two of you were sitting around in your room while he explained his campaign and how he’d love to have someone like you join Hellfire-

It was three minutes before the bell, and that meant just a few minutes until your last period and the weekend. With Valentine’s day falling in the middle of the week, most of your friends were going to be off doing things with their partners. Maybe you, Robin, and Steve- no wait, Steve actually got dates. Robin worked on the weekend.

Maybe Eddie- NOPE. Not going there, you were not about to get your hopes up for this.

You glanced over at him again, looking at his notebook to see if he was anywhere close to decoding your name. Eddie had the worst handwriting you’d ever seen and so you would be surprised if he could even figure out his own notes. Between unjumbling your letters, he had started doodling in the margins. You assumed that they were D&D monsters from the look of it, since none of them looked like actual animals except for the bats in the corner.

The only other thing you recognized was a dragon, drawn in a larger scale on the side of the page. It’s wings were expanded and it was flying off, and from this angle it looked like a weird...

It looked like some bird

Some sort of weird bird

Your head snapped back down to the card in front of you. This wasn’t a weird bird. It was a dragon. A dragon hatching from an egg. An egg that hatched a dragon. A dragon that was drawn with the same pose as the one in Eddie’s notebook. Eddie’s notebook had your dragon no wait, your card had his dragon-

Eddie Munson had sent you the cards.

Eddie had-

“Oh.” You said out loud. You were nearly fighting back hysterical laughter at this, and you pressed your hands against your face, with your shoulder shaking with repressed laughter.

Why the hell had Eddie sent you those cards? The two of you had barely spoken to each other!

You did the same damn thing, dipshit. You reminded yourself. In fact you had gone way harder than he had. But what did this MEAN?

The bell rang and everyone scrambled to get out of the classroom, and before you could say anything, Eddie was off and running out of the classroom at the speed of light.

What was that about?

Robin was right. If you were ever going to have a chance with him, you were going to suck it up and talk to him, even if it meant possibly embarrassing yourself. Plus, finding out why he sent you three candygrams was currently trumping any fear of rejection. Curiosity killed the cat, but at least he died satisfied. You’re pretty sure how that saying went at least.

You knew that Eddie had Hellfire today, it was Friday and he and all of his friends had been running around in their club shirts. With a deep breath you...realized you had no idea where the hell they actually met.

This whole thing could have been planned better, actually.

You started walking around the school blindly for any sign of the signature baseball tee that they all wore. If you found one of them, they were sure to lead you to Eddie. God, you felt like a stalker.

There. Long dark curls against a stark white shirt with black sleeves. Your heart leapt in your chest, and you had to make the choice now.

“E... Eddie! Wait up!” you called out, walking quickly towards him.

When he turned around to look at you, you felt the air disappear from your lungs. How was it possible for him to be so beautiful and why the fuck did no one in this school seem to notice?

Eddie pulled the lollipop he’d been sucking on out of his mouth, surprised to see you.

“Hey.” he said. “Uh... you sit next to me in class.”

He was either playing dumb, or you were about to make an ass of yourself. But, like Robin asked, since when do you care about dignity?

You reached into your bag and pulled out the candygrams that had been sent to you and holding them out.

To your relief he gave you a bashful smile. “Guess you caught me, huh?” he asked. “You solved my Valentine’s puzzle.”

“I have a pretty high intelligence when I apply myself.” you said, which only made him grin wide. “But I gotta say, Munson. I’m actually a little disappointed. I mean, sadistic and scary dungeon master of the Hellfire club, and this is the best puzzle you could come up with?”

He crossed his arms and took a step towards you. “Well, I don’t know you as well as I’d like.” he said, and your stomach erupted into butterflies. “Had to start somewhere.”

“I guess I had to be sneaky and pay attention to you to figure it out. You’re hard not to notice, you know.” you admitted, crossing your arms as well to mimic him.

“Being The Freak means I fail most stealth checks.” he shrugged.

“High charisma though.” you threw out there, hoping that line would land and to your delight it did.

“It’s the Munson Magic. I come by it naturally.” Eddie’s smile was so wide it was cheesy but shit, it was working on you.

“Not great intelligence though.” you smirked at him.

“Oh? And how do you figure that?” He looked a little offended now, and you saw his shoulder stiffen as if he was waiting for this to suddenly go south.

“Spell my name, Eddie.”

You could see the lightbulb go off in his mind and his eyes widened.

“You- wait, you were the one who kept sending me the cards?” Eddie looked nothing short of bewildered and ecstatic. You had a feeling that if things went well, you wouldn’t have to worry about ever knowing what he was thinking as he wore every emotion on his sleeve.

“Surprise?” you asked, playing with the strap of your backpack.

Eddie licked his lips, chasing the last of the flavor of the sucker he’d been eating. He looked at you, as if searching for something, and you cut in before he had the chance to find it.

“Do you want to hang out sometime?” you asked, a little louder than you meant to. “Like, just us.”

“Do you think you can handle a date with The Freak?” Eddie asked, standing a little straighter. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, and I promise the worst of them are true.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Eddie, I’ve always wanted to join Hellfire.” you smirked. “I’m sure there are worse things for a first date than sacrificing someone to Satan, or summoning demons, or joining a cult.”

“I’m a gentleman, I would never ask a lady to summon demons on the first date. That’s at least a third date activity.” Eddie held his hand to his heart and raised a hand as if making an oath.

Oh yeah, you were going to marry him. You were already picturing proposing to him and taking him away from this town.

“Then how about dinner at Benny’s?” you suggested. “Burgers and shakes on me and you can tell me more about Hellfire and dragons and I can give you a spelling lesson.”

Eddie ran his ringed fingers through his hair and you giggled as the rings got snagged and he struggled to untangle them.

“It’s.. a date then.” he said, but it came out as more of a question, as if he was asking if this was really happening.

“A date.” You agreed, handing him your number, having come prepared.

As you began to walk away, he called out after you.

“Wait! You said you wanted to check out Hellfire, right?” Eddie said and you turned to look at him. “I’m... I’m actually running a one shot tonight. Kind of beginner friendly enough. I don’t often do this in the middle of the semester but one of our usuals dropped out because he had a date so... we have an open seat at the table. If you think you can handle it.”

Your smile widened as you walked over to him. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

Eddie offered his arm to you, as if he were a gentleman which you took eagerly.

“So... how do you actually spell your name?”

---

Dear Reader, I hope you have the easiest name to spell because that would make this fic at least 3% funnier. Also, I'm proud I got this done before Valentine's day because I never even finished my Halloween or Christmas fic. Be proud of me.

Please reblog if you enjoyed it <3

Tag List: @gagasbee, @ihaventgotaclue-really @tastefullyferal @anonymouskiwi @hellfiredarling

#nacht fic #eddie munson x reader

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f4nrir · 1 year ago

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hi!! miguel o'hara x male reader where one of you cums in the other and makes the other go to work right after so cum is leaking out during their shift/duty

do with this what you will i trust you (it can be short) :D

control

一 pairing; miguel o'hara x male reader

cw: unprotected anal, toys, slight humiliation, bottom!miguel.

word count: 964

“there you go, baby,” you cooed in his ear as you came inside of him, finally getting your fix after a few rounds.

miguel groaned in response as he shifted his position and you watched your cum leak out of him as he moved. you grabbed his hips and he landed back on the bed with a huff, accepting that you had your way with him. looking over at the drawer where you kept your toys, you took out the plug that has yet to be used.

“this should keep that from spilling out, hm? i’m sure you’ll like it,” you snickered and pushed miguel’s legs apart as you sat between them, positioning it in the right place.

you pushed it into his hole and miguel hissed at the temperature, especially since it had been left untouched in your drawer. once it was in, you helped him put his pants back up and make him look presentable for work.

“do i keep this in the whole day?” he asked as he sat down on the bed again, a small moan escaping his lips as he felt it bury back inside him.

you nodded and placed a kiss on his forehead, distracting him as your hand trailed down to his bulge. gently palming him, miguel whined as you touched him and you quickly withdrew your hand from his body.

“i just like teasing you. can’t wait to see you later at work, don’t be too obvious,” you said with a teasing tone as you left to make your way to the headquarters.

with every move miguel made, he couldn’t stop the plug from burying deeper inside of him. some movements caused it to almost slip out but most made it's way back into him. this was a reminder of what you have done to him, he loved being marked by you and the feeling of your cum leaking out of him made it more exciting. the stickiness and the warmth, along with the limited movement was torturous but he enjoyed it so much.

as he made his way to his office, he did his best to avoid his colleagues so that they wouldn’t question why he was acting in a peculiar way. however, that plan didn’t last long as peter called out for him along with you trailing close behind.

“miguel! hey, look at this!” he exclaimed as he caught up with him, showing him pictures of what you can assume, of mayday on his phone. you chuckled as you watched miguel twitch and unable to keep his composure, enjoying the scene that unfolded in front of you.

“hey guys, what’s going on here?” you innocently asked and shot miguel a look, only earning an eye roll from the other. peter patted your back as he shifted his phone so that you could see the pictures of his daughter and you smiled, admiring his enthusiasm as he spoke about her. miguel cleared his throat and both of your attention turned to him.

“you alright, man? you look constipated…” peter piped up as he put his phone away and miguel glared at you, his eyes signaling you to make your way to his office.

“yeah, i’m fine. just got a lot on my mind,” he softly spoke and peter nodded, knowing what it meant.

“okay pal, go work on your prototype. i’m sure your boyfriend has got some ideas too” he pointed at you as you made your way to his office. miguel’s breathing changed and peter looked at him confusingly, wondering if he had said something wrong. realizing that’s not what he meant, he mumbled an “i’m sorry” before quickly following you.

miguel quickly shut his door and found you leaning against his desk with your arms crossed, a smirk plastered across your face.

“please, i can’t focus with this inside of me,” he whined as he sat down on his chair, wincing at the feeling of the plug shifting inside of him.

“that’s too bad, huh?” you said as you sat down beside him, turning your attention to the blueprints in front of you.

“sir, pl–” miguel was interrupted by a knock on the door and you answered for him, saying “come in!” out loud. he balled up his fist and both of you turned around to be met by jessica along with ben. they were discussing the plans they had in mind, along with asking how the prototype was going. you let miguel do all the talking and pulled out your phone to act busy as if you had just gotten an email.

“so after that i– ah…” he covered his mouth as he felt vibrations from the plug and he looked back at you, his blood-red eyes showing anger and embarrassment.

“you okay?” you asked as you gently rubbed his back, increasing the setting on your phone. jessica and ben titled their heads in concern, oblivious to the sound of buzzing.

“sorry guys, just having a bad headache,” he murmured and turned around to face them both once again. after a few minutes had gone by, they left and miguel attempted to grab your phone but you stood up and pushed him down onto his knees.

“you’re going to do as i say, got it?” you ordered and he looked up at you, his cheeks flushed from the sensation he was getting along with the shame you were putting him through.

“yes, sir.” he complied and you helped him up, giving his ass a good grope and he moaned at the touch.

“now go. i forgot to tell you that you have a meeting…” you grinned and miguel sighed in defeat, struggling to keep his composure. it was going to be a long day and this was just the beginning of it.

#— zeppelin’s files 📁#miguel o'hara x male reader #miguel o’hara #miguel o'hara x m!reader #mlm smut #male reader smut #spiderman 2099 #spider man: across the spider verse

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logicbutton · 5 months ago

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Hey guys what's up I learned bookbinding to make @cindthia a physical copy of Synchronized Cardioversion for our anniversary :3

Pics and process documentation below!

I used the following resources:

How to Make a Book by ArmoredSuperHeavy

Bookbinding Resources Master List by Renegade Bindery

r/Fanbinding

the fanbinding tag on AO3 - shoutout to r3zuri's fanbinding of a FFVII fic for their extremely informative cliff's notes version of the process

the Intro to Hand Bookbinding class at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, an incredible resource for anyone in or near Minneapolis interested in learning how to bind their own books.

First, I typeset the fanfic. I did this by downloading it from AO3, trying to figure it out myself, checking How to Make a Book for help with a problem I was having, and realizing that I should have just used it from the beginning in the first place. I used Microsoft Word 2013.

Fonts: Palatino Linotype, Helvetica (for the characters' text messages), Beatline (for titles) Margins: .88" top, 1" bottom, .75" inside, .75" outside, .25" gutter Front matter: - Title page with only the title - "Praise for Synchronized Cardioversion" with comments from the fic - Title page with title, author name, and a colophon I made - Copyright page with fic copyright, fic URL, TLT series copyright, disclaimer, AO3 fic summary, first chapter author's notes, copyright for in-text art, book design credit, font info Back matter: - Acknowledgments (from the fic) - "Also by CindFourth" with all their TLT fic separated into Synchronized Cardioversion Extended Universe (might make another book of this at some point); Other Camgideon, Campal, and Team 69; and Other Locked Tomb

I set the page layout to "book fold" with 16-page signatures. As for the art, one of Cind's requests in last year's TLT Holiday Exchange was for art of this fic and they got not only a fantastic one-page comic from their assigned creator, our friend @anaeolist (who also did a sketch of Cam and Gideon kissing - we'll come back to that later), but also a lovely piece as a treat from our friend @kat-hikari. I got permission from both artists to include their work in the book.

The finished file was 408 pages, so I added four blank pages (two sheets) to the beginning and the end to make 26 signatures even.

Next, I printed the pages. I used my Brother DCP-L2550DW and Hammermill 11x8.5 24/60 lb. cream bookbinding paper from Church Paper. I'd read that sometimes using short-grain paper in a regular printer could cause it to jam, but it went fine. The cream color made the pages look so professional.

I folded the pages into signatures and then pressed them overnight. Since I don't have a book press, I sandwiched them between two sheets of bookboard and put a heavy box on top, and that worked well.

The next step, punching holes and sewing, was my favorite. I'd made a punching cradle using instructions I got in my bookbinding class. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and it only used bookboard and PVA glue, so I didn't even need to buy anything I hadn't already bought for the project.

I used three pieces of tape and sewed them on using a kettle stitch.

Then I went to MCBA to use their guillotine on the text block and their board shear to cut boards for the cover.

I chose orange cardstock for the endpaper, and because I am a novice making novice mistakes I unfortunately forgot to get a size of cardstock that would let me fold it on the grain, but anyway. I trimmed it to the exact size of the pages and glued it to the text block. Next I glued the spine of the text block, rounded it a bit (not the way an expert would; you learn that in Intermediate Hand Bookbinding), added a strip of super mull and headbands at either end, and sat it under a weight to dry while I made the cover.

The Bristol board I cut for the spine was probably 1/8" too wide, which makes a bigger difference than you would think. Next time I'm going to err on the side of slightly too narrow when I'm already giving myself three board widths of a buffer on either side.

Aside from that, the cover turned out great! I could have done a better job lining up the endpaper when I glued it in, but that's the kind of thing you practice I guess.

I love the way the navy blue bookcloth looks with the cream paper, the orange endpaper, and the red and white headbands.

Now that I had the exact dimensions of the book, I could finally design the dust jacket. Remember that sketch of Cam and Gideon kissing that anaeolist did for the holiday exchange? I commissioned them to turn it into a finished piece for the cover, and boy did they ever deliver. I also asked some of our other friends who had read the fic to give me blurbs for the back cover, and they delivered too. Cind's and my relationship wouldn't have been possible without the wonderful community we met in and I wanted this gift to reflect that.

I created the jacket in GIMP at a print resolution of 300ppi and saved it as a pdf. The final step was to get it printed, which I was nervous about because it was the only part of the process that I had no control over at all. Long story short, I ended up with something I was very happy with done by a small chain print shop where I had to go in and talk to a human about what I needed.

I also posted this to AO3!

#fanbinding #the locked tomb

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saskiahaggens · 2 years ago

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𝔍𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔰

Masterlist

Contains spoilers of season 2!!

Paring: Chishiya x blind!reader

Warnings: death, blood

Word count: 1161

Chishiya placed a hand on your back when you arrived to the game. He said that he only wanted to make sure you were following him since you never knew what may happen. Especially after you had to put on a collar.

You lost your ability to see as a child, but you were not helpless. You can navigate by making little noises like humming, and predict walls, stairs, distances, and much more. You could typically go around without assistance, but when there were a lot of people at a game or at the beach, you could get disoriented. You met Chishiya in a game and even saved his life thanks to your incredible hearing abilities and he hasn't left your side since.

"Do you hear this?", you inquired after coming to a halt.

You most likely arrived in the room where the game started. At the very least, Chishiya came to a stop. A strange noise was heard a few minutes later. Was it… skin slapping? Chishiya chuckled at your expression as you realized what it was.

More and more people entered the room, and with each one, you came closer to Chishiya. According to their steps, there are at least 21 people in here.

The rules were then explained, and your heart almost stopped beating. You couldn't help Chishiya. How was he going to survive? You couldn't tell him what his symbol was.

"Calm down," Chishiya said as he noticed you becoming anxious.

A girl approached you and invited you to join her group. Chishiya poked your arm, signaling that he was right and accepted her offer.

After a few rounds, nearly everyone was dead. Even Chishiyas' new friend died in the last round. He was a kind person, perhaps too kind for this world.

"Chishiya, I'm sorry.", you mumbled.

You sat down in the storeroom and drank a soda. A guy left just moments ago and he didn't want to tell Chishiya his symbol.

"It's not your fault.", he groaned as he rubbed his temple.

"You know something right? You need to know something. You always do."

"Not at the moment."

Chishiya stood up and walked away a few steps. You heard some rustling and a few moments later you felt something in your hand.

"What is this?" you questioned, attempting to guess the thing.

"My favorite snack in here," he grumbled.

Meanwhile, another person entered the room. It was the lady. The sound of her shoes was familiar to you.

"Would you mind telling me my symbol?"

Chishiya stood up to ask her, but all you could hear was rustling from the same direction Chishiya had been minutes before. Said man continued trying to convince her, but she turned around and headed straight toward you.

"Hey, could you please give me this?" she asked, undoubtedly pointing to the pack of cookies in your hand.

"They can't see what you're pointing at." Chishiya remarked instead.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize." The noises her clothes made and her silence meant she bowed, what made you chuckle.

"Just take it.", you said, perhaps a little harshly.

Did Chishiya knew that she was coming? Whatever his reasons were, the woman took the snacks and walked away quickly.

"She didn't even say thank you.", you muttered as Chishiya sat down for the third time.

"Maybe, but now I have a chance to win."

"What do you mean?", you asked confused, but still a bit happy.

"Sometimes it's annoying that you can't see, otherwise you would have noticed it too. I'll give you a hint: these cookies have four different flavors."

Four different flavors? What is the importance of this? After some thinking, you understood what he was talking about.

"She communicates with this other guy who was here earlier! I assumed they just ate a lot because they came here every round. So the bag cookies you handed me were the last of its kind?"

"Not exactly, I hid the rest, but it still worked. Matsushita, the guy who she cooperates with took the same one as her, even so she had hearts."

"So he is the jack of hearts!"

"Yes. So, based on Kotoko's response when I mentioned having clubs and the fact that Matsushita most likely lied. I must have diamonds or spades."

"At least you have a fifty-five chance now. Couldn't you just ask someone else?"

"That's not a good idea. The time is nearly over, and I'm not sure if they'll tell me the truth."

You both returned upstairs, but were interrupted by none other than the criminal himself.

"Hey you!" You stopped, but to your surprise Chishiya didn't.

"Who do you think is the jack of hearts?"

He caught you off guard, but you just brushed it off.

"Perhaps it's me."

"Than you would have a stupid strategy. Be honest."

"You're not dumb. Why don't you figure it out yourself? Must be easy with a partner like yours."

"Well then. This guy you're walking around with has a diamond. I hope you survive, the fun only starts now, would be a shame if you miss it."

🂡🂡🂡

You were eventually permitted to go after fourteen hours. Banda told Chishiya his symbol for the last round, and you thanked him excessively. He just laughed at you, but you didn't care.

"Hey, Y/n?", Chishiya asked when you walked away from the arena.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, listen, I'm not a man of great words, but I want you to know how much you mean to me. That's why I don't want you to play in the next game, alright?"

"I don't want you to risk your life alone, Chishiya."

"I understand, and I also understand that the king of spades is dangerous, which is why you will wait near the arena. Nobody is playing games to extend their visa anymore. They are well aware that the end is near and that playing games is the only way to avoid the king of spades."

"Are you trying to say that my visa doesn't matter anymore, because we will get home soon?"

"I will make sure of it."

"Chishiya, you've changed. To be honest, when I first met you, I hated you."

"I don't blame you. Back then, I was a jerk."

"Yes you were.", you mumbled before leaning closer to him.

You kissed his cheek lightly, and Chishiya was relieved that you couldn't see him blush.

"I might have hated you before, but I can tolerate you now."

"Looks like more than tolerating to me.", he joked, throwing his arm over your shoulder. "You're lucky, I like you. When this is all over, maybe we should go on a date."

When you started walking, you smiled like a child. Perhaps you should, and perhaps he was right. Maybe it'll all be over soon.

#alice in borderland #alice in borderland x reader #x reader #reader insert #imagine #aib #alice in boderland x reader #aib imaging #aib chishiya #chishiya x reader #chishiya imagine

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gretavanmoon · 4 months ago

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A Perfect Ten - Part 1

Josh x female reader - FWB

8.4k words

+ So this story started out as part of the Fidelity Series, but after a few asks for a part two, I figured why not, let's rebrand it a little bit ;) Story loosely based off of "Finish What Ya Started" by Van Halen

+ After befriending your coworker Josh at your new workplace, the both of you realize you need each other in more ways than one. Things might get a little cloudy as an ongoing judge of actions takes place, leaving the both of you wrapped up in a back and forth neither of you saw coming.

Warnings: Smoking, Drinking, Cursing, Drug Use, Mention of Breakups and Heartbreak, Sadness. Smut: Kissing, Touching, Dirty Talk, Praise, Heavy Flirting, Oral M!receiving

New town, new job, new life.

That’s always how things went in the movies, and every time, the girl always got her happy ending.

The idea is there, and you were beyond ready to do whatever it took to make it happen. How hard can it be, right?

After you’d managed to knock the first new off your list when you moved out of your ex’s house and to the next city over, the “job” part was next in line. After a week of filling out applications, you finally landed on the perfect selection, a serving job at Angelo’s Pizza.

You’d started this new job about about three months ago, and you finally felt like you were getting your footing with the flow of things. You’d been a server for as long as you could remember, but getting used to a new restaurant with new people and new menus and management could sometimes prove to be difficult. You were handling it with as much grace as you could, and the money was killer, so you stuck it out.

“You coming to the bar with me tonight?” your new favorite coworker, Josh asked as he stared into the kitchen from the expo window, rolling a pile of round coasters across the countertop.

“Mmmh…” You mumbled under your breath. “I dunno, I’ve been here since lunch and my feet are absolutely killing me.”

”Ugh don’t be such a prude, Y/N,” he responded, taking a pepperoni and cheese in one hand, and a supreme in the other. “We’ll be sitting down the whole time. Ya know. In barstools.”

“Shut the fuck up,” you teased, elbowing him in the ribs. “I guess so, but I can’t stay out late like last weekend. I open tomorrow.”

“Oooo, a clopen. That sucks. Well, I don’t. So I can get drunk, and you can watch me.” He flashed you a giant smile before taking off with the pizzas in hand, disappearing into the sea of people seated in the crowded restaurant.

Josh had befriended you on your very first day, comforting you after your manager harshly scolded you for ringing something in incorrectly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he’d said as you pouted in the chilly walk-in. “I still fuck my shit up all the time. The cooks don’t really care, plus if you mess somethin’ up, we get to eat the fucked up pizza.” That was the only thing he said to you the entire day, but it really stuck with you, immediately making you feel a lot better about your tiny mistake.

Now, after a few months of working side by side with Josh, you’d actually gotten to know each other fairly well, and you’d even go as far as calling him one of your good friends. You’d managed to get to know all your coworkers on a surface level, but Josh actually took the time to listen to you when you spoke, and showed real interest in the things you had to say, no matter how menial.

He was cute, and around the same age as you, but there was something about Josh that you couldn’t put your finger on. It was something that struck you, making him stand out from the rest of the guys you worked with. His aura pulled you in, and the way his eyes sparkled in the neon that covered the walls of the restaurant didn’t help the fact that he sometimes made your heart skip a beat. You decided that it was just his looks, though, catching you off guard every once in a while as you were around him more. Most importantly, he made you feel welcome. Like a good friend should.

The more you got to know Josh, the more open he became with you, and you quickly learned that his real personality outside of work was a little bit different than when you were on the clock. It’d become almost a habit, now, joining Josh at his favorite dive bar down the street when you’d both end up on the same closing schedule. It was like Groundhog Day, Josh would ask you to come out, you’d find an excuse to turn him down, but you always left Angelo’s with your hand in his as you tiredly dragged yourselves down the street. Sometimes other coworkers would join you, but it was always the two of you left shutting the bar down, joking and laughing with one another as you waited for your Ubers.

Josh was quickly becoming a norm for you. A fun, platonic norm. And though you were both flirty with one another, it never felt as though it would go past anything but that. Just friends. And you were very content with that.

So tonight, as things wound down and the patrons closed out their tabs, you felt as if you really could use a nightcap or two to reward yourself for not making even one mistake on your orders today.

As you tied the oversized trash bag closed, you met eyes with Josh as he skillfully swiped the mop across the sticky, sauce-covered floor.

He grinned when he saw you looking, making your stomach drop. “What?” He asked, biting his lower lip in as he staved off a full-on smile.

“Nothing. Just thinking about how you roped me into going out again tonight,” you said with faux aggravation.

Josh sucked in his teeth as he plopped the mop back into the big yellow bucket, rolling it over to where you stood. “Actually, I asked you out with me for another reason. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was gonna get absolutely shit hammered, tonight.” His tone was serious rather than silly, and you instantly felt like something was wrong.

“What’s the other reason?” You pressed, lifting the bag from the can. “Everything okay?”

He shook his head and swallowed, opening the double doors to the kitchen to go and dump his bucket. You followed closely behind him with your trash.

“Eh, not really. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there. Let’s lock this bitch up.” He flashed his eyes to the floor as he spoke, which was unlike him. He always spoke with such confidence and effortless ease that his dismissal of looking you in the eye struck you as strange.

The two of you finished up your closing tasks and said goodnight to the line cooks, grabbing up your things from your lockers and stuffing your aprons back inside. Josh was quiet the whole time, again striking you as out of the ordinary. You hadn’t known Josh long, but you did know him well enough to know that something was off, and he wasn’t handling it well.

“Think I’m going straight for liquor tonight,” he said as you walked arm in arm down the crowded sidewalk to the bar. He tilted his head back, blowing a puff of air above you as if he was trying his hardest not to cry.

“Damn,” you answered. “You must really be going through it, friend.” It was also unlike Josh to drink liquor; each time you were around him, he’d always chosen draft beer.

You both stepped inside the dimly-lit dive bar, letting the old smoky smell and sticky floors envelop you in their right-at-home feeling. You both took up camp on two stools at the end of the bar, closest to the back wall. The bartender Roy approached you, throwing down two bar napkins in front of you as you got comfortable in your seats.

“Evenin’, guys. Sex on the Beach andddd, Josh, we’ve got a Kolsch and a pale ale on tap, and also a—“

“Jack Daniel’s. Neat, please,” Josh interrupted Roy, causing him to contort his face with surprise.

“Been waiting on you almost five years and never known you to drink liquor. But, alright…” Roy responded as he left for a minute, returning and placing your drinks in front of you. “I’ll keep the tab goin’.”

It was silent between the two of you for the first couple of minutes, both of you sipping your drinks as you relaxed your muscles from the long workday. Finally, you decided you would have to be the one to speak first, for once.

“Okay, spill. What’s got you on the hard stuff tonight?” you asked, turning to face Josh in your stool.

He leaned on his elbow, his tight black t-shirt squeezing his toned arm just right. “I got dumped last night.”

You felt your eyebrows jump to your forehead. “What?! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Josh…I didn’t even know you had a—“

“Nah, it’s okay. I could kinda tell shit was going sideways, anyway, ya know? Almost expected it. But, still doesn’t make it hurt any less.” He disconnected his eye contact, tilting his glass back all the way and finishing off the last bit of his whiskey.

You were almost stunned speechless. You hadn’t seen Josh show any emotion that even came close to sadness before, and you struggled with how you were going to react.

Roy brought the bottle of Jack over, filling Josh’s glass with another two fingers. Roy gave you a quick look of intrigue, questioning Josh’s actions in the same way that you were.

“How long were you together?” you asked, tiptoeing with caution, given that he might not want to go into much detail.

“Four and a half years,” he said blankly.

“My god, are you serious?!” you choked out with disbelief.

He nodded hard as he kept his eyes trained on the bar in front of you, spinning his stool in tiny tight circles. “Yeah. Long time.” He sipped his drink again.

“I really am sorry, Josh. That’s a long time to be with someone for it to just...” you placed a hand on his arm as you spoke.

He crossed his arms in front of him. “Yeah, it’s fucked,” he growled, leaning back in his stool.

“You wanna talk about it?” you asked.

“No, that’s why we’re here.” He slammed his hands on the bar top, motioning for Roy to refill your already almost empty cocktail.

Roy brought your new drink over, stirring the drink with the tiny straw for you. Josh lifted his glass into the air, forcefully clinking it against yours. “To moving on!” He said, finishing the drink off once again.

——

An hour or so later, you and Josh had managed to find yourselves significantly intoxicated again, engaged in a deep passionate debate.

“Ever since they banned smoking indoors, the American bar scene has been fucked!” Josh drunkenly yelled overtop of the loud music and large crowd that had joined you inside the bar.

You had to laugh. “Josh, not everybody loves breathing that shit in! It makes some people really sick!” you challenged.

“Ah, hell. You come into a bar, you expect to be around smoke, all there is to it. All there is to it!” He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders in defiance of your argument.

“You can go outside and smoke, Josh. Easy as that. Just get over it!” The two of you were glassy-eyed and giggly, feeling your liquor take hold of you as you talked. Josh brought about a warmth in you that you’d never experienced before, and you’d be lying if you said your…attraction? to him wasn’t amplified when you were drunk.

No, not attraction.

Something else…

You had no idea what to label the feeling, because you’d never felt it ever before. You took it in stride, though, embracing the completely new emotion as it came. It was almost like you craved his attention, and fed off of him engaging with you. You wanted to please him, but not in such a way that was sexual.

…You didn’t think.

No. You just craved his recognition. Wanted his eyes on you and no one else. Wanted to make him laugh, be the one who made him forget about everything else. It wasn’t a jealousy thing, it was a matter of possessiveness. You wanted to protect him like a best friend. And anyone who dared cause him unhappiness would have to deal with you.

‘Is this insane thinking?! Am I crazy for this?’ You drunkenly asked yourself as you washed your hands in the bar bathroom sink, giving yourself a disapproving look in the mirror. Probably, maybe…but he seems to feel the same about you... You had noticed that the second you’d inadvertently struck up a conversation with another guy at the bar, Josh quickly stole your attention away again, bringing up a whole new topic of conversation that had nothing to do with the last.

He charmed you. Drew you in. Challenged your thoughts and opinions…made you talk like you’d never talked before. Laugh like you’d never laughed.

“You’re really smart, Y/N. I didn’t really notice that about you, before,” Josh smiled as he leaned over toward you on the bar. His cheeks were tinted the prettiest pink from the alcohol, his eyes twinkling from the flash of the old TV above you.

“Uhh, thanks, I guess?” you chortled, feigning being offended.

“No I mean, you surprise me. Keep me guessing, every time I turn around. Never had a friend like that before. I’m usually so bored with everyone I meet. You make me like, think. Ya know?” He explained as you nodded sweetly in understanding. You knew you were blushing.

“Last call!!” You heard Roy yell across the still-crowded room. You made blurry eye contact with Josh again.

“Damn, we didddit agin,” you stammered. “Let me pay, you’ve had a hard couple’a days.”

“No no no, no you don’t. I asked you here, my treat. Plus, my drinks were fuckin’ pricey tonight.”

“But Josh, let me treat you, for once...” You jutted your bottom lip out as you begged him. You watched as his eyes landed on your lips, stealing his attention again. Suddenly, you felt excited.

“Alright, alright. But I’m leavin’ the tip,” he agreed. “I just needed some sympathy…that’s all I wanted tonight.”

“And you got it, didn’t you? You forgot all about your messy breakup?”

“For the most part, yes,” he laughed. “But I like to look at the long run, ya know? Like to take each step, one by one. Let myself live in the sadness, as long as it helps me heal.”

You scoffed as you signed your name on the receipt and pulled your coat on. “Psh, Josh, didn’t you just cheers me and say ‘to moving on’?”

He stood from his stool, wrapping his right arm around your neck tightly. The smell of his cologne mixed with the remnants of pizza filled your senses, temporarily making you dizzy as he squeezed you in his grip.

“I did, Y/N, I did. But I’m also drunk, now. Sooo. And also, I don’t really wanna go home yet. ‘M gonna walk you to your Uber then hit up Chauncey’s…they stay open ‘til 2.”

You turned in his grasp, your face within inches of his as he still held you tightly. “Don’t go back out, Josh. No sense in drinkin’ your sorrows away by yourself.” It felt like you were outside of your own body; all you wanted was to go home and strip down and crawl into bed, but for some reason, your mouth told Josh that apparently you didn’t want to go home, either. “Come back to my place. We’ll have one more drink, and we can share the blunt that TJ gave me yesterday.”

“TJ? The line cook?” Josh seemed surprised. “You letting strangers give you drugs now, Y/N?”

“He’s hardly a stranger, Josh. Why, you jealous?” You teased, while also testing the waters of what the hell this feeling the two of you apparently shared could actually be.

“Fuck no, I’m not jealousss. I’m…I…” Josh opened his mouth, but nothing came out after that. “I don’t know, I just—“ You were still tightly wrapped up in the crook of his elbow, his face so close to yours that you could smell the liquor on his breath as he struggled to speak, his hooded eyes bouncing around the room as he slurred.

You decided to save him. “It’s alright Josh. You don’t have to come over. I’ll smoke it allllll by myself…” you sneakily wrapped your arm around his back, giving it a couple playful pats.

He looked down at you through his lashes, his jaw clenched tightly together as he pressed his mouth to your ear. “You really want me to come over?”

You nodded. “I do. Come on, it’ll be fun.” More than anything, you wanted him to know you were the reason he had such a good night, and the reason he was able to forget about his breakup.

“Okay, jackass. You talked me into it. Let’s go get high.” He released you from his grasp as you confirmed your Uber on your phone, and your overwhelming satisfaction of claiming his attention again propelled you out the door.

——

“Cute place. You decorate it yourself?” Josh teased as you both entered your apartment. It was only half-decorated and you hardly had any furniture, spending most of your days working and saving up money to finish furnishing it.

“Shut up, dick head!” You shoved him backwards as he laughed. “I haven’t finished making it cute yet.” You pulled the bottle of liquor from the cabinet, shaking the little bit that was left. “I know you’ve been drinking whiskey, but…vodka’s all I’ve got.”

“Ah, it’ll work.” Josh responded, plopping down on your couch. “M’already fucked with a hangover tomorrow, might as well do it up.” You caught sight of his pretty light brown curls sitting on top of his head, and you felt another rush of that strange excitement soar through you.

You made the two drinks and joined him on the couch, pulling the blunt up under your nose as you breathed in its earthy scent. Josh took the drink from your hand, raising his eyebrows as he watched you smell the rolled marijuana.

“TJ usually has good shit, I will say,” he winked, sipping his drink.

You pulled your feet up underneath you on the couch, scooting yourself closer to him. “Thought you said I shouldn’t take drugs from strangers…”

“I never said you shouldn’t, I just meant that next time you should get your weed from me.” He spoke without a care, taking the blunt from your hand and bringing it to his own nose.

“Ah, well I was unaware I could do that, Joshua.” You snatched it back from him, taking the lighter from the table in front of you and lighting the end of the blunt. You inhaled the smoke slowly, noticing that Josh hadn’t responded to you.

You glanced at him, finding the most devastating half smile on his face. You swore you felt your skin tingle.

“Did you just call me by my government name, Y/N?” He whispered, leaning his head down to you.

You exhaled the smoke you didn’t realize you were holding, nodding slowly. “Yeah, you mad about it?”

You passed him the blunt. “Nah, kinda liked the way it sounded, actually.” You watched as his lips made a perfect O around the tip of the blunt, and you found yourself wondering what kind of lip balm he used to get them to look…like that…

You felt your eyes grow heavy as your first hit found you, the THC entering your system quickly. Josh must have noticed, as he giggled at your appearance. “Told you TJ had good shit.”

“I swear to god I’m already fuckin’ high…” you laughed, taking another big hit.

“Mmm, no baby, you’re crossed. But not all the way. Yet.” Josh’s voice was gritty and buttery all at the same time. And the fact that he called you baby had you feeling that same feeling again. He calls everybody baby, though…all the girls at work…you’re not special.

The two of you sat and smoked until the blunt was a roach, and the air around you was thick with haziness. Your entire body was heavy and floaty, and you swore you could feel the blood pumping through your extremities. The conversation with Josh was so easy, so effortless, and the way the two of you held the complete attention of one another continued to astound you.

“So tell me about you. What’s your real story?” Josh asked, the both of you sitting facing one another completely, now.

You sipped your vodka drink. “What do you mean, real story?”

“I only know a little bit about you, where did you come from? What’s in your past?”

You took a deep breath. “Well, believe it or not, Josh, I kinda just got broken up with recently, too.”

“No way, you’re kidding. When? What happened?” He pressed.

“Ahh, about a month before I started at Angelo’s. I’m from about twenty miles away, up north a bit. Came here looking to start completely fresh. Still close enough to my family, if I need them. Ya know…” you trailed off. Josh’s eyes were telling you to continue.

“I got dumped, too. After a year of being with him. I thought we were serious, but apparently not. It didn’t hurt me too bad, I’m alright. Liking my new life pretty well, actually.”

Josh dramatically leaned back on the couch cushion, throwing his free hand over his face. “Ugh, god…how embarrassing. You handled bein’ dumped like a goddamned rockstar. I’m over here down in the dumps.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, Josh. Four and a half years is a lot longer than one…”

“You’re right, I guess.” He sat back up, bringing his attention back to you. “So what was his reason? What was his last straw?” He asked, moving his face closer to yours. Your body was vibrating from the alcohol and the weed, and the presence of Josh sitting so close to you on your couch. You were positively buzzing.

“He uh, didn’t really give me one. Just said it was over,” you whispered, feeling your emotions flying all over the place. Josh’s hand reached up, twirling a piece of your hair between his fingers. “He also said I was a bad kisser, or something stupid.”

Josh winced at your words. “A bad kisser? I highly doubt that, Y/N…”

“And why do you doubt that?” You giggled.

“Because. I have a hard time taking my eyes off your lips, I can only imagine how hard it would be to take my lips off of them…” he smirked a little, laughing through his nose.

“You’re fuckin’ stoned,” you laughed, leaning your face onto his hand.

“And? I speak nothing but the truth, baby.”

“Mmmhm, yeah. Shut up,” you complained.

“I’m serious. I bet you really are a good kisser. That guy was just…stupid.”

“Maybe I’m a horrible kisser, how would I ever know?” You shrugged, feeling your body about to jump out of your skin simply from having this conversation with Josh.

He held his first two fingers up, motioning for you to come here. “Come on. Show me how you like to kiss.”

“What?! No, I’m not gonna do that,” you blushed, pulling away from him with shyness.

“Baby, it’s me. I’m just trying to judge your kissing skills. I’ll be completely honest with you, tell you if that guy was right or not,” Josh said, holding his hands out to the sides.

You stopped, staring at him through your slit eyelids, trying to figure him out. He met you with sincere eyes, and though you were both extremely intoxicated, you didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least.

“I’m serious. Just kiss me,” he ordered matter of factly. “S’no big deal.”

You took a deep breath, feeling the air surrounding you heavy with normalcy, but also heavy with yearning.

You slowly pulled yourself in closer to him, gently wetting your lips as your mind went back and forth on whether or not to do this. Your breath became a little chopped, nerves bursting through the wall of your drunken carelessness.

Finally you were close enough to feel his breath on your lips, and your hands naturally shot up to cup his jaw. He clenched it, his eyes falling heavy again as his breath caught. Your heart was absolutely pounding from your chest being in this close proximity with him.

“Do it,” he whispered. “Show me.”

You finally let your lips press gently to his, your hands still cupping his jaw, as his hands sat comfortably in his lap. The feeling of them was exactly what you had imagined. Soft, supple, and sweet, with the tiniest bit of sting on them from the leftover liquor. You finally exhaled, pulling away a bit to gauge his reaction.

“You can get into it, baby,” he smiled, urging you to push through your nerves. “I’m just here to help, s’just me…” his voice was like honey, the sound of it tearing through your body as he motivated you.

You leaned in again, this time letting yourself be a little more brazen, a little more steadfast as you worked to prove your ex wrong. Worked to impress Josh. Worked to show him. You opened your mouth a little, letting your tongue skirt across his bottom lip. The flavor of him almost knocked you down.

You began to get into it some more, letting your high take over, and letting your guard down as you found yourself really, really enjoying kissing him. You perched up a little bit, moving to your knees to get a better stance.

“Mmmhmm… keep goin’ baby…” Josh mumbled when you broke away for a second. His words urged you on, and you felt brave enough to push your tongue further into his mouth, but only a little. You didn’t want to overwhelm, just experiment. His tongue met yours in the process, tasting each other for the very first time.

Your hands curled up in his hair, squeezing at the roots a bit. He let out a little whine, so quiet that you almost didn’t even hear it. It ignited something inside you again, and you knew you had to drive it home. Had to prove yourself. You pulled away for a second, hissing in air as you bit his bottom lip, pulling it out a little and making eye contact before pressing into him again, both of you moving in such unison that you were fully involved in the sultry kiss, now.

At this point you felt like you were teetering on the thin line of platonic kissing; you were still trying to prove yourself, but also…he tasted so good…

You felt the need to be touched. You reached down and grabbed Josh’s wrists, pulling them up to rest on you- one hand on your thigh, and the other around the back of your neck. You wanted reciprocation. He obliged, and as you licked into his mouth, his hand squeezed into your thigh, strong and needing. His fingers felt like burning embers on your leg, and you wished that you had changed into shorts when you got home.

His hand pulled at the back of your neck, burying your mouths further into one another for a few seconds as you watched his brow furrow, his eyes peeking open just a little to take you in.

“Fuck, baby…he was wrong, you proved him so wrong…” Josh said, smiling against your lips as he delved back in. Your mind was swimming from his words of praise, and you decided that though this was simply an act between friends, you knew that you could kiss him all day long, never tiring of the feeling of his lips on yours. You were completely surrounded by him, by his warming presence. His scent, his sounds, his touch… It was all too much. You felt like you were drowning in him, but you didn’t dare try to pull yourself from his waters.

Your hands squeezed at his hair one last time as you let them drift down his cheeks and neck, tickling the back of it before rolling across his shoulders. You slowly brought them down to his pecs, and finally rested them on his cheeks again, pulling his face away from yours for a split second before landing one last peck.

When you finally disconnected, you took in the sight of him…hair disheveled, eyes black and glazed, and his hands still rested gently in the places that you put them.

“Holy fuck…” he breathed.

“Oh my god, was it bad? It was bad, wasn’t it? He was right, I’m a horrible kis—“ you were completely cut off by Josh’s lips on yours again, this time forcefully pulling you into him. This kiss was pleading, unbridled, and wanting, and each time you pulled away, you both were panting with want.

“What the fuck are we doing?” You breathed when you broke away.

“Kissing contest,” he answered, his hand respectfully staying on the back of your neck. “I think I’m winning, though…”

“Mmm, I don’t know about that…” you said with a bit more confidence in yourself after seeing how you made him feel.

“Yeah you’re right,” he agreed through an inhale. “You’re kicking my ass at this experiment.” He drove his tongue into your mouth again, but it didn’t make you want to retract…it made you want to pull it in further. You began to feel the heat that the two of you were emanating, and the sweat that was forming on your skin.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t completely turned on, but you would never let him know that. You couldn’t. You’re just friends. One friend helping another get over his ex by having a kissing contest. Makes total sense.

Finally you pulled away again, covering your mouth with your hand. You laughed, making Josh in turn laugh with you. “Well? What’s the verdict? Was he right?” You asked.

“Fuck no, he wasn’t right. You’re a hell of a kisser, Y/N.” Josh’s smile stretched all the way across his face, completely blissed out in his high. His hand came up to shyly wipe at his eyes as he huffed a breath. “God damn, you left me a panting mess, baby.”

Your heart stopped at his words, feeling more confidence in yourself than you’d felt in a long, long time. Suddenly, the wildest idea to ever come across your mind escaped right through your lips.

“Josh, we’re just good friends, right?” you asked.

“Yeah, baby. Real good friends,” he wiped his hand across his mouth before extending both arms across the back of your couch.

“Do you—do you care if I finish what I started?” you asked in an absolute moment of weakness. The look on his face turned up into surprise, and you weren’t sure how he was going to react to your question.

“What uh, what do you mean, Y/N?”

You moved toward him again, wanting to feel him again. Feel his hands on you again. Be the center of all his attention again.

“Can you judge something else for me, Josh? I’ve always wondered how well I…performed…and who better to be the judge than my very good friend? Who will be completely honest with me?”

WHO even are you?! You felt like a person outside your own body. The confidence he was giving you was…

“This ain’t no way to treat the broken-hearted, baby…” he replied, his voice a soft breath of air as his head lulled backwards. You paused again, unsure how to take him. “But I’ll be your judge…”

“Really? You will?” You asked, feeling vulnerable, but also wanting to show out for him.

“Mhm. If that’s what you really want…” He bit his lower lip into his mouth, letting his eyes fall onto your lips like they had been doing all night.

“Just friends…” you reiterated.

“Just friends,” he parroted, lightly tapping your cheek with his hand.

This was absolutely something you never did, and definitely wasn’t something you could ever even see yourself doing with Josh, of all people. You were supposed to be making him forget about his ex, letting him talk through it… hell, he was just dumped twenty-four hours ago. But there was something other-worldly spurring you on, whispering in your ear to just do it. And he was letting you. Was it wrong? Maybe, probably… but honestly, where was the harm in it? You were both obviously into each other, and as long as you were just making each other happy, you didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Besides, this new need to make him think about nothing but you at every single second was making your head spin, and you wanted his focus completely on you, right now. You moved to press your lips to his again, letting things naturally heat up so that you could continue on with your intentions. You took a deep breath, confidently removing yourself from the couch, placing yourself in the floor in front of him. It was at this second that you were extremely thankful for your liquid courage, and the fact that you were too stoned to care about much else besides pleasing Josh. He almost made it easy.

“Ten,” Josh said out of nowhere.

“What?” you asked.

“I give your kissing a ten out of ten. Seriously,” he said, smiling from the corner of his mouth as he ran his hand along your arm, peering down at you as you kneeled on the floor.

You felt your face turn beet red, and you halfway didn’t really believe him.

“Stop playing, you don’t have to be nice,” you erred.

“M’not just being nice. Seriously, I rate it a ten,” he stated, and you knew by the sincerity in his voice that he was telling the truth.

“Wow. Didn’t expect that, honestly,” you pulled a few strands of hair behind your ear. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you gonna finish what ya started, or not?” There was a darkness in his tone that you hadn’t noticed yet, and it made your stomach turn over with nerves. But even more so, it lit a fuse in your chest that was slowly burning, ready to explode at any given second. And with each passing minute, you wanted to impress him even more.

You maneuvered yourself on your knees, gripping his thighs and pulling them apart so that you could place yourself between them. Your hands stayed there on his legs, squeezing and kneading at his muscles as you moved your hands closer and closer to where you both really wanted them to be. You could almost physically see him getting harder through his dark jeans, and you could hear his breathing picking up, too.

You let your hands drift to his groin, squeezing the muscles there as he leaned down in his seat, giving you extra space as his head fell back on the cushions. You found the button on his jeans, pulling the fabric sideways and undoing the button with one hand and unzipping the zipper.

“Damn, alright…” Josh laughed, holding his hands up. “Show off.”

You took that as a tiny win, and decided to keep it going, playing on his words from earlier. ‘You keep me guessing at every turn…’

You pushed your hair back behind your shoulders, and leaned yourself down, letting your mouth meet his boxer-covered dick. You nipped your teeth lightly at it, making him hiss. You could tell just from this little bit of contact that he was well-endowed, and you felt your mouth physically watering for him. You needed to taste him. Your lips bounced around, peppering little kisses all over… the indirect contact making his hips jut up a little.

You sat back, motioning with your hands. “Pull them down for me,” you demanded of him, and he gave you the sneakiest smirk, leaning back and pushing his pants and boxers down far enough to spring himself free.

You weren’t wrong. He was perfectly sized, and it reassured you that you were okay with going forward with this. What you did notice, though, was he wasn’t as hard as you wanted him to be. Your hands rested on his thighs again as you sized him up, licking your lips as you prepared yourself.

Josh had been the one urging you on all night, but suddenly, it felt like there had been a little bit of a shift. You finally brought your moistened lips to him, licking little circles around his tip, starting slowly at first, then picking up a little bit of speed. You swirled and gently suckled, and you felt him take in a big breath of air into his lungs. You glanced up at him, finding him looking up at the ceiling as he bit his lips.

“What’sa matter, Josh? You okay?” you pressed, knowing that you could stop at any second, if that was what he wanted.

“No, yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry, I just… this is the first time someone else…since…” he didn’t need to say anything more.

“God, yeah. I’m sorry, your breakup is so fresh, I’m sure this is more mental than anything, for you…” you agreed as you sat back. “We don’t have to–”

“No. Yes we do, Y/N. I’m just…” You could tell Josh was having a hard time with his words again, for the second time tonight.

“Just what? You can tell me…” you tried comforting him, placing your hands lower on his knees.

He swallowed, placing a sweet hand on the side of your face. “This is the first time I’ve um…been…with a woman…in a very long time.”

“Oh,” you muttered, his sentiment catching you off guard a little. You hadn’t realized you never even asked the name of his ex, let alone any details about the relationship.

“But it’s okay, Y/N,” he smiled, letting his thumb brush your cheek. “I may be wallowing in my sorrows, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want this, want you to do this. Just…in my head a little bit,” he admitted, putting a hole through your heart.

You sighed. “It doesn’t feel wrong?” Your voice was tiny as it escaped you.

He quickly shook his head side to side as he layed back on his elbow behind his head. “No. That’s what’s making me freak out a little, it doesn’t feel wrong in the least,” he swallowed. “Maybe I…Maybe I wasn’t as in love as I thought I was.”

You smiled a pitiful smile as you rested your elbows on his knees, taking a deep, recentering breath of your own as the heavy air fell silent around you.

“You’re really fuckin’ pretty, Y/N,” he complimented you out of the blue, his thumb still grazing your cheek. “And I’m really into you.”

“You are?” you asked.

“Yeah. I know we said we’re friends, but friends can do this. Right? Doesn’t stop the fact that I’m attracted to you.” His glossy words made your stomach do flips again as you realized maybe his feelings were the exact same as yours. Unexplainable, but still overwhelmingly good.

“Yeah. I really think friends can do this,” you agreed. And you were serious. If you were going to be this person for Josh, then he could also in turn be this person for you.

“Plus, the feeling of your lips on my cock just now…” He laughed through his nose. “Might be in competition with your ten out of ten kissing. And you hadn’t even shown me what they could do, yet.” He stopped there, biting both his lips into his mouth as he slid his hips down again, cocking an eyebrow.

Good god, you’d hoped he would have a little bit of a dirty mouth.

“You want me to keep going?” You asked.

“Fuck yeah, I do. I gotta judge your skill, don’t I?” He played, removing his hand from your cheek and running it through your hair. He gripped it a little, making you stiffen your neck. Your eyes flashed to his, and you didn’t even need to say anything, he knew what you meant. He nodded, giving you the go ahead, and you prayed that he wouldn’t remove his hand from tangling up in your hair.

You slowly leaned down to him again, starting things up just as you had before. Your tongue swirled on his tip, wetting it in circles as you let the saliva build up in your mouth. Around and around you took it, descending further and further onto him with every rotation. You heard him breathe out, his hips shaking a little beneath you. As you got as far as you could get, you pursed your lips down, tightening them around the base of his dick before sucking hard, pulling up and off of him completely. His hand tightened in your hair, showing you that he was liking it so far.

He let out a groan, followed by a little laugh. “Fuck yeah, Y/N…”

You quickly found a rhythm, letting your head begin to bob as you worked your tongue and cheeks, alternating forceful suction mixed with light little pops of your lips. His hips were jutting with every movement, and the sounds that were coming from him were enough to keep you going, keep you striving to impress him…

You took him in your hand, gripping at the base and using the saliva that had dripped down as lubrication to move your hand, twisting and pumping it. “Jesus Christ, you’re…”

You took a second to glance up at him, seeing his jaw tightly clenched and his chest heaving with labored breaths. He brought his other hand down, pulling the hair that had drifted down away from your face, pulling it all back to the nape of your neck and holding it tightly there. You nodded, letting him know you were okay with him guiding your movements.

“Mhm,” you hummed on him. “Show me how you like it.”

He let out a choke of breath and readjusted in his seat, spreading his legs wider for you. He gripped a little harder on your hair, pulling you up and across his stomach, your faces almost touching as he brought his mouth close. He didn’t say anything, just hissed through his teeth as he scanned over your face. He then used a little bit of force to push your head back down to where it was, and you resumed your work.

Fuck, what the hell is happening… your chemistry with Josh was absolutely off the chain. You felt like you would follow every command he would ever give you, let him use you in the worst ways, completely trusting him to do as he pleased. You were absolutely yearning to satisfy him.

“I’ll show you exactly how I like it baby, but this is your show, remember? You’re calling the shots…” he growled, his voice deeper and more grating than it was earlier. You shrugged one shoulder, replacing your hand around his base. You moved it up and down opposite of your mouth, making his whole body start to shake. Your tongue worked on him, as your mouth drifted down as far as it could possibly go, with the help of Josh’s light guidance.

The weed had contributed to your slow, languid movements while the alcohol made your inhibitions fly out the window… the beautiful combo of the crossfade sending you both into a blurry and slow-motioned entanglement. You swore you could listen to his noises and praises on repeat as they dripped from his lips, quiet and comforting, as devious as they were.

“So fuckin’ pretty, Y/N… so fuckin’ pretty…” he mumbled, lightly thrusting himself into your mouth as your neck began to ache a little. “Slow and steady, just like that…”

He puffed out a quick breath with a blow of his lips, and you could tell that he was enjoying himself just as much as you were. Normally, you would finish up the job, and expect repayment, but getting Josh to even feel the tiniest bit of pleasure at your hand was enough. It was that draw, that need to make him feel good. Keeping him and him only in the spotlight. And if you had to guess, you were doing a pretty good job at it.

After a few seconds, his movements became jostled, and his once slow grinding movements started to falter. You felt him start to throb in your mouth, and you knew it wouldn’t be long until he was crumbling beneath you, all at the mercy of your mouth.

“Hey, you want me to–” he said, suddenly shuddering.

You nodded again, pleading with him to let it all go. You wanted the whole thing, wanted him to have the full experience. You needed to see what he tasted like.

His breath started to pick up as he gripped your hair tighter, his hips pushing his dick further into your mouth as you let him graze the back of your throat, tears pouring from the sides of your eyes. “Come on baby, come on… just a little bit longer…fuck…”

Finally, he was letting it all go, filling up your mouth as you swallowed his bitter-sweetness down, savoring the taste of him on your tongue. His whole body went rigid as he came, shaking and jerking as you worked to make sure not a drop was left behind. You squeezed your hand around him, pulling him up into your mouth. His whines were like music to your ears, pathetic and pitiful as he worked to come back down to earth.

“Son of a bitch, Y/N… that was…” he said as you sat back up, wiping your mouth off with the back of your hand. He caught your jaw in his grasp, squeezing your cheeks together and forcing you to open your mouth. He pulled you closer, bringing you in for a heated kiss that left you smoldering for him.

When you finally pulled away, you met eyes with him, and you could tell he was completely blissed out. “S’been a long time since I’ve had anything like that.” He admitted, pulling your back up to sit by him on the couch again.

He tucked himself back in his boxers but decided to forgo buttoning back up. “Really? Even in a four and a half year long relationship?” you asked.

“Ah, I dunno. We were long distance, so… it was few and far between but. Really I meant being with someone who actually showed passion about making me feel good. You know what I mean?”

You couldn’t help but smile. That was exactly what you wanted out of this. For Josh to feel that you wanted to be there.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I just…wanted to make you feel good,” you admitted, shrugging one shoulder up as you brushed your disheveled hair back into place. “So, what’s my rating, huh? Give it to me straight.”

Josh closed one eye and looked up with the other as if he was thinking really hard. “Uh, nine and a half.”

Your mouth fell slack, and you felt the soreness in your jaw joints. “Ah! Why the half?!” you argued. “Not a ten?”

He chuckled. “Would be a ten, but I only took away the half because I know that I won’t be able to feel you like that all the time.” You both stared at one another as you let his words sink in.

Could you, though?

“And because I feel like you were holding back, a little. Weren’t you?” he pressed. His statement took you by surprise, because he was right.

“...Maybe…”

“You shouldn’t have. It’s just me, remember. Guess you’ll have to show up and show out next time. See if you can get a perfect ten,” he said with nonchalance.

“Next time?” you spat without a thought.

He shrugged, squeezing his hand around your thigh. “Sure, why not? If you want to, of course. Might be fun to have a little situation we’re both comfortable with… no strings attached type thing…”

You ran over the idea in your head, not really seeing anything wrong with it. You nodded, agreeing with his outlandish proposal.

“But, there is one thing, Y/N,” he swallowed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “Obviously I… um. I didn’t make you feel good, tonight. But, just give me some–”

You cupped your hand over Josh’s mouth. “Josh, honey, shut up. You don’t have to explain it to me. I understand, and it’s okay. If we’re gonna do this, it's all gonna be in good fun, right?”

He nodded from behind your hand. “Right,” he mumbled.

“And I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable with you, so. I’m pretty positive we could just sit here and look at each other and we would have a good time,” you laughed, pulling your hand from his face. He caught your hand in his, and gave it a sweet squeeze.

“Not sure I’d be able to sit by you for too long without something happening. You’re a fuckin’ treat, Y/N. I swear.” His eyes traveled down your body again, and you watched his gears turn as his gaze drifted over your breasts. “Thank you, for tonight.”

“Thank you,” you whispered. “We still friends?”

He took your chin between his fingers. “Yeah. Good friends.”

As the air between you finally started to settle and the intoxication turned into sobriety, you realized that the night was nearly about to turn into morning. You didn’t have to be at work until 11, so you were going to be able to get at least a little bit of sleep before your shift tomorrow.

“It’s too late to get an Uber, Josh. Just stay here,” you more demanded than suggested, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and tossing it overtop of his lap. You stood, stretching your body as you made your way toward your bedroom.

“What, you not gonna invite me to your bed?” He asked, throwing you off.

“Uhh, I mean, sure–”

“I’m kidding, Y/N. We’re friends. Friends don’t sleep in beds together. Friends sleep on couches.” You watched as he burrowed himself under the puffy blanket and made himself horizontal.

“Maybe one day you’ll end up in my bed.” You tossed the joke over your shoulder, walking down the short hallway.

“And maybe one day you’ll get a perfect ten.”

xoxoxo jules

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mrshigurumasshop · 2 years ago

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You’re A Mean One | K. Sakusa ~ the one where he wasn’t into the Christmas spirit

➤ pairing: husband!sakusa kiyoomi x mom!reader w/ daughter Kami

➤ mentions of: a tiny bit of angst bc sakusa is a grumpy man, fluff/comfort

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Growing up, the holidays was something you and your family cherished together. It made you want to continue that tradition with your own family when the time came.

And that time is finally around after your five year old daughter, Sakusa Kami was old enough to want to participate in being festive this year.

Your little doppelgänger nearly jumped out of her seat during breakfast when you told her that you and your husband, Sakusa Kiyoomi will be taking her out to find a christmas tree.

So here you all are, outside in the snow looking for the perfect tree that you swore to your daughter that she would get to choose. “Mama! Do they come with the snow?” Kami called to you as she stopped in front of one of many trees.

“No, baby. The snow will melt off when we bring it home,” you smiled at her.

“And it’ll cause more of a mess that it will already do…”

Ah… You forgot that your husband wasn’t too fond of the idea of getting a real tree so he’s been in a mood. He uses the excuse that he wasn’t too into the holiday spirit growing up due to how busy he was with volleyball but…it didn’t hurt for him to at least try.

“Honey, can you not please?” you murmur to him so your daughter doesn’t hear, “She’s excited.”

Sakusa sighs as he shoves his gloved hands into his jacket. “I know,” he says, “But we could’ve easily gotten a fake one that wouldn’t make a mess in the house.”

You pierce your lips in a tight line to keep yourself from snapping at him. It irritated you how much he was in a negative mood especially when he was the one who agreed to look for a real tree. So you just opted to not say anything else and watch your daughter happily run around the lot of trees to choose.

“What ‘bout this one,” Kami pointed towards a rather…dead looking tree.

“It’s dead, Kami,” Sakusa said straight out.

“Babe!”

Kami pouted slightly as she looked at the tree. Even though it was dead, he didn’t have to bluntly point it out. “If we get that tree we won’t be able to put all your pretty ornaments you made for me and papa. Try looking for a greener one,” you encouraged her.

She nodded with a small pout on her face and continued to walk ahead of you and Sakusa. Once you see she’s far enough away from you guys, you look at Sakusa with a pleasing look.

“Why did you agree to this if you’re just going to ruin the experience for her?” you ask.

“The experience of looking for a tree?” he rolls his eyes. “Baby, this will be too much work to maintain and I’m not going to be the one to clean all that mess up.”

You took a deep breathe to prevent yourself from yelling at him in public and in front of your daughter. “I get that but you agreed to this so please keep it at a minimum,” you pleaded at him.

“Fine,” he mumbled.

It was quiet for a moment as the three of you continued to look for a tree but Kami just couldn’t find the perfect one. Just like you when you were little, she wanted to find the most festive looking tree just like the ones she sees in the movies.

After about 20 minutes of looking around, the three of you rounded a corner into the next aisle of trees and finally you heard a happy squeal.

“Mama! Papa! Look!” she pointed with a happy smile towards a green and full tree. The pine tree was so full that you could barely see through the branches so it was perfect to your eyes and your daughters.

But that happy moment didn’t last forever the moment you heard a scoff beside you. “No. Absolutely not. Do you realize how many bugs might be hiding in there. I’d rather you pick the dead tree than this,” he grumbles as he looks at you.

“Kiyoomi!” you snap. But before you could scold your husband you hear some sniffles. You and Kiyoomi nearly break your necks hearing the familiar sniffles coming from Kami. “Baby… Don’t cry…,” you pleaded.

Fat tears. All of the fat tears she could muster spilled out of her eyes. Kiyoomi’s dad instincts kicked in and went straight to comfort her but she shook her head with her hands out in front of her.

“You’re so mean, Papa!” she cries, almost making you want to cry, “Yur’ a grinch!”

Kiyoomi’s heart throbbed hearing Kami’s cries. He knew what she meant by being called a grinch. He watched to American movie with her for the first time a few weeks ago and it made it feel guilty.

“Hey, princess,” he said in a comforting tone as he slowly walked up to her again, “I didn’t mean it-,”

“NO!” she screamed. You knew she was on the verge of throwing a tantrum in public so you walked passed your husband to pick up your daughter who immediately wrapped her arms around your neck and legs around your torso.

“Shhhh, Kami it’s okay,” you comforted in a hushed tone as you rubbed her back. You turned back around with anger in your eyes as you looked at Kiyoomi. “Let’s just go home,” you said which only made Kami cry harder and Kiyoomi feel even worse.

“Baby-,” he pleaded, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“What else did you mean, Kiyoomi,” you snapped, “I ignored your ignorance while we were dating and before we had Kami but I’m tired of it.”

You then walked away from him towards the car as you tried to calm your crying daughter down. Sakusa was left in the aisle by himself standing in a pool of guilt covered snow.

Yes, he wasn’t looking forward to the mess and possible bugs a real tree would bring into the house but he knew it wasn’t right to let it get to his head. He felt even worse knowing that you sucked up his grinch like personality all these years and continued to have the holiday spirit so he walked behind you towards the car in silence.

The car ride and the rest of the day going into the night was quiet in the house. Kami calmed down during the drive back home because she ended up crying herself to sleep. She needed to get her nap in anyways so you were kind of relieved but it still made you sad that Kiyoomi didn’t even want to mask how much he didn’t want a damn tree.

So you ignored him throughout the day. You couldn’t even look at him either so you stayed with Kami in her room as she slept and left him to sit in guilt.

Kiyoomi stared at the ceiling in the living room in silence as he tried thinking of ways to make up for his grinch behavior but he knew a simple sorry wasn’t going to cut it. He stressfully rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands with a groan before looking at the time.

3:14 pm; he needed to go to practice soon but he didn’t want to leave you guys like that after what happened. So, he had an idea.

You didn’t realize that you fell asleep till you woke up with something poking your cheek. You hummed in question as you look over to your right and see your daughter with the same pout on her face.

“Hi, baby,” you smiled at her as your cupped her swollen cheek. She looks like Kiyoomi when she wakes up from her sleep, you thought. “Are you feeling better?” you ask.

She shook her head no and laid down on top of you. You could only say so much to console a child so you physically comforted her which seemed like something she wanted anyway.

You looked out her window to see that it wasn’t snowing anymore but it still stuck to the ground so you thought that maybe going to the park to play in the snow would lift her spirits. “Why don’t we go to the park? We can build a snowman,” you kissed her head.

Kami lifted her head with her sweet smile finally on her face with a nod. So you tell her to get ready while you left her room to let Kiyoomi know but he wasn’t home.

“Asshole left without saying anything,” you mumbled to yourself. You assumed that he went to practice since he doesn’t like driving in the snow too much so you brushed it off and got ready yourself.

After you and Kami got ready, you both left to house to walk to the park. Being there seemed to lift her spirits even more as she made snow family and snow angels. Kami also enjoyed you throwing into a pile of snow which what Kiyoomi would do in the backyard.

About an hour or so went by and it was starting to get colder so you and Kami decided to walk back home hand in hand. Kami kept giggling as she heard the crunch of her footsteps against the snow. You were lost in thought as you guys came up to the house to lost to notice that Kiyoomi’s car was in the driveway.

“Papa’s home!” Kami called out.

Your eyebrows scrunched together in confusion because he wasn’t gone as long as he usually is for practice. You brought your keys out to unlock the door and immediately went into shock.

Kami squealed in excitement as you were too stunned to speak. The whole inside of the house was covered in Christmas decorations galore. You almost couldn’t see your furniture because of how much lights and other decor was taking up every crevice in the house. And as if your daughter couldn’t scream any louder, there it was…the exact tree she pointed at earlier.

“Mama! It’s the tree!” Kami screamed as she ran towards the decorated plant as you remained at the front door too stunned to speak. Kami was too busy eye boggling the tree that was covered in the ornaments she made at preschool to notice how quiet you are.

“I had the team help me get it done,” a soothing voice said to you.

You looked over at Kiyoomi who you assumed came from the shower due to his wet curls. “Why,” you ask out of disbelief.

“Well,” he nervously laughs, “Hearing that your daughter called you a grinch is a good wake up call. And I found a cheap blanket to put the tree on top of to catch any of the dirt. I’m sorry about today… It was uncalled for…”

You couldn’t help but look at him in admiration despite how much you want to be mad at him. You couldn’t help it. You have seen you’re home decorated like this since you moved out of your parents house so many years ago. It felt like you were home again.

“Baby?” Kiyoomi calls to you due to your silence.

You instantly smile at him almost wanting to cry on the spot due to how happy you are. “It was uncalled for but I love it, ‘Omi,” you said to him.

You can see the stress leave his body as he let out a sigh of relief. It made you laugh a little bit seeing how hung over he was over the incident earlier. He walked over to you and wrapped his arms around your shoulders to put you into a tight hug. “Thank god,” he murmured into your head.

“Don’t get too relieved, my love. You still have your daughter to say sorry too,” you giggle.

“Ah…,” he smiled as he turned around to look at Kami who was still mesmerized by the tree with you still in his arms, “How does it look, princess?”

Kami turned around with her pretty smile — your smile, he thought. “It’s pwetty, Papa!” she said happily as she ran into his arms, “I love it so much!”

“Good,” he kissed her cheek, “Am I still a grinch?”

Kami giggled and shook her head no. “No more Grinch, papa. Pinky promise?” she held out her tiny pinky.

“Pinky promise,” he smiled as he locked his pinky with hers, “Now go get undressed, we’re having a movie night.”

Kami ran out of Kiyoomi’s arms with happiness radiating off of her. You couldn’t help but smile at the sight. You swear your cheeks were going to fall off.

“Hey…,” Kiyoomi whispered to you. You looked up at him with a soft smile silently answering him. “Look up,” he said as he pointed up wit his eyes.

You looked at him in question then up towards the ceiling to see a mistletoe attacked to the doorframe. Your cheeks flushed in red because even after all these years of being with him, you e never kissed Omi under a mistletoe. Kiyoomi smiled softly as he gently cupped your cheeks in his warm palms.

“I love you, Y/n,” he whispered against your lips before pressing a loving kiss on your lips.

You smiled into the kiss and even as he pulled away. “I love you too, Omi,” you said before he leaned his head down to give you another but longer kiss

“YUCK!!!” Kami gagged in the background.

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royjamierot · 1 year ago

Note

love love LOVE your headcanons for Roy and Jamie!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️💗💗💗💗✨✨✨please share moreeee 🤍

THANK YOUUUU this was so fun to think about i have a lot so they're going under the cut

- i think roy is more of a tv and movie guy than jamie. i think jamie is just one of those people who can't sit still during movies so they usually end up making out whenever they turn one on.

- jamie can do movies in theaters though, for some reason he can pay attention to those just fine. he and roy go like every week.

- roy's favorite movie is sound of music jamie's is star wars a new hope. i know this. please believe me.

- jamie likes sour candy and roy likes sweet candy

- if they got married jamie would want to take roy's last name. like that guy has been obsessed with roy for like a decade, and you're telling him he gets the chance to be jamie kent instead of jamie tartt?? instead of james tartt?? the name only associated with his father now? yeah. he'd want to be jamie kent. and also roy would love it because he's a possessive bitch.

- jamie does not know what pronouns are until keeley tells him to put his pronouns on his Instagram. then he has a gender crisis. (he puts his pronouns on he/him and figures out the gender stuff with the people he actually knows irl)

- if royjamie were t4t they would be even more into body worship. they trace over each other's scars and admire the self made people they are.

- roy only has a minor freak out about realizing he's bisexual (he's nearly 40 only just now realizing he's bi? he'd freak out) but it'd be worse when jamie is the reason he realizes

- roy and jamie are each other's bisexual awakening

- when jamie and roy start dating jamie has to fight himself from asking if the things in the tabloids are true. because jamie read a lot of tabloids and stories about roy when he was a horny teenager. (jamie does ask about the hip movement thing on their first date and roy just has to take him home to show him. obviously)

- jamie and roy's music taste clashes a lot but they still make playlists for each other and listen to them regularly

- jamie and roy both love concerts too so they go to them a lot. they definitely go to beyonce and stevie nicks together.

- jamie has his ears pierced and lets phoebe pick out silly earrings for him. he's worn all of these.

- jamie loves iced coffee and roy loves cappuccinos

- (i dont actually know what Halloween is like in england and i dont care bc i have headcanons) i just know that jamie gets really into halloween decorations. every october their house smells like pumpkin spice candles and there's fake cobwebs everywhere. roy is kind of surprised by it until they go back to manchester once during october and he sees georgie's house is the same way

- roy makes themed pancakes all year round. valentines? strawberry heart pancakes. halloween? pumpkin cinnamon. phoebe loves it and then jamie loves it.

- jamie is a passenger princess.

- jamie loves candles there's like a million around the house. he nearly sets the house on fire at least once a month.

- jamie thinks once they start dating that the training will get easier. it doesn't. it gets worse. (jamie tries to flirt his way out of it and that doesn't work out so he just ends up tired and turned on)

- roy starts complimenting him way more when they start dating and jamie goes very pink when that happens and brushes it off so that he doesn't do something inadvisable in public

- jamie loves roy's curly hair and begs him to grow it out and roy says it's too much maintenance and jamie says he will do everything for roy if he grows it out. this leads to roy growing it out and jamie washing and styling his hair for a month (roy likes the attention it brings him so eventually he just keeps it)

- they go to each other's hair appointments together

- jamie's favorite disney princess is rapunzel

- jamie and roy are both cat people i think. i think roy has had a secret cat for years that no one knows about until jamie comes over one time. it's a black cat that way the cat's hair doesn't stand out on roy's clothing. jamie has a not secret tabby cat.

- jamie has a teddy bear his mom gave him when he was little that goes with him everywhere. to every away game and everything.

- roy cooks, jamie does dishes, they do their own laundry.

- they watch garbage reality tv together (or really they goof off with reality tv in the background.)

okay thanks that's all my headcanons for now!! thank you for the ask.

#thank youuu sorry this took so long ive had a busy few days #royjamie #jamie tartt #roy kent #mine #asks

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crazyk-imagine · 2 years ago

Text

Big Time Crush

Pairing: James Diamond x Insecure!Plus size!reader Characters: Insecure!Plus size!reader, Katie Knight, Jennifer “Mama” Knight, James Diamond, Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, Hortense “Logan” Mitchell

Briefly mentioned: Camille Roberts, Gustavo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright, Snoop Dog, The Jennifer’s Warnings: Shenanigans, Katie being a sweetheart, the boys doing their best to help James, plans not going the way anyone planned, jerky teens, don’t mess with someone the boys, Katie, and Mama Knight like, the pool is a good place for jerky people to chill in, Mama Knight always manages to find the oddest recipes Word Count: 4,151

A/N: I honestly have no idea what happened to Dad Knight but we’re gonna pretend that Jennifer and he went through a divorce when the kids were young, and she kept her married last name

Late Christmas gift (fic) for requester @lilacprincessofrecovery

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You sit beside Katie, Kendall’s little sister, who’s currently working on earning a quick buck or two from the “pool jockies” as you and Camille like to call them. You glance over at her cards and see that she’s close to winning another round of go fish.

The jockies can’t grasp the basic rules of poker so you came up with a compromise and chose a classic game of go fish.

You lean over and whisper, “the one across from you has queens and the one to your left has seven.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m right about the queens. You just need one more than the one on your right and you’ll win.”

“Okay.”

Thanks to your little tip, she won which none of them liked.

“If you don’t want to lose, then don’t play,” you advise.

The one that sits across from Katie scoffs, heading back inside, most likely getting his luggage to go home for winter break.

“It’s been a while since you had something to eat. Do you want me to get you anything from the snack machine?”

“I think I’m gonna head inside and go play some video games. You can join me since Kendall’s at the studio, finishing up their latest album.”

You smile, “alright. Be prepared to lose to the master.”

“Oh, you’re on. Oh, actually can you get some candy. Mom wants to try this weird candy recipe and I was supposed to ask Kendall, but you know, I was in the zone before he left.”

You nod, “yeah, sure. Anything specific?”

“No gummies and no chocolate.”

“That leaves room for a lot of choices, doesn’t it?”

She raises her arms, “I’m not the one who made the recipe.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’ll wait with you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“You’re the only other person here besides my brother and his idiot friends who is actually nice to me. My mom also wouldn’t like it if I came up without you.”

“Aww, who’s a mama’s girl.” You pull out a dollar from your pocket, reaching for your bag when you realize you left it at the table. “Hey, can you do me a quick favor and grab my bag. I want to make sure I get enough for your mom. You’ve got me curious about her future creation.”

She nods.

You push the buttons for the candy when a shadow blocks the light, turning you find one of the guys from the game.

“Hey, chubbs.”

You furrow your brows, hoping he’ll go away before Katie comes back.

“Maybe if you didn’t eat all this junk, you’d lose a pound or two.”

“Just because I’m getting candy, doesn’t mean it’s for me.”

“Isn’t that what they all say.”

You furrow your brows, “you don’t have to be a jerk.”

“You don’t have to be a jerk, cry me a river. Quite eating this crap,” he smacks the item out of your hands. “It’s not for you.”

You don’t look up, keeping your eyes on the floor.

“Can’t even look away from it for a second. Pathetic.”

He walks away when one of his buddies calls him over.

Katie stands beside you, handing you your bag. “Are you okay?”

You put a brave face on and nod. “Yep, all good. Now, let’s get your mom the candy so she can get started on it.”

Katie overheard what the jerk said and wants to make you feel better, but she’s never been good at it. She’s not letting you go back to your apartment until you absolutely have to, no one should be sad or alone during the holidays. Her eyes widen at the amount of candy you got. “Okay. I think we’re more than okay. This is already a lot more than what I planned on getting.”

“You sure?”

She nods, “definitely.” She grabs the candy from you and holds it close to her chest. “Let’s go. If she gets started now, she can be done but the time the boys get back.”

“You guys don’t have any holiday plans?”

“We did but then everyone canceled so we’re stuck here but now you can hang out with us.”

“Oh, I can? I feel honored.”

“My mom loves you.”

“I’ve only met her once.”

“And she thought you really nice. Wait, until she hears about you helping me win.”

You push the elevator close door button, wanting to get to their apartment faster. “Don’t you dare.”

“She won’t believe me anyway.”

“Ha!”

The young girl shakes her head, smiling, feeling proud of herself for bed able to keep you happy… even if it’s only temporary. She has an idea that maybe you don’t actually like what you see. She sees the baggy clothes you wear to hide yourself; it makes more sense with what that jerk told you earlier. “You look nice by the way,” Katie tells you, keeping her attention on the elevator doors.

“Oh,” you whisper, not expecting her to say that. You glance down at your usual jean and sneaker combo followed by your cute festive, semi tight Christmas holiday shirt with a black jacket to keep you warm. “Thanks. I like your shoes.”

She smirks, you had given her Christmas shoes laces as a joke not expecting her to wear them of course but here you are. “I know.”

“We’re back,” the child announces, walking into the apartment.

“Who’s we exactly?” Her mom asks, the last time she tried to get Katie a friend it turned out to be an adult who then stole her car- or rental car, it was a blur after realizing it was a car that was in her possession was stolen. “Oh,” she notices you, standing in the doorway and smiles. “Come on in. I’m so happy it’s you. How are you?” She hugs you, you weakly hug her back.

The negative thoughts try to enter your mind again. ‘She pities you. Forever the fat pitied girl.’ You give her a weak smile. “We got the last ingredient you needed for your latest creation.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet but I’m pretty sure my daughter was supposed to tell her brother to get it.”

“She mentioned something like that, but I figured why not try the vending machine first. Save a few bucks, you know.”

“I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“We’re gonna play games.” Katie tries to pull you towards the couch when her mom stops her.

“Oh no. You promised to help me.”

“But-”

“It could be fun.”

“Don’t side with her, please.”

“You two could make Christmas cookies.”

“Oh, yay. I’ve been waiting make some myself but-” ‘She’s gonna think your fat, talking about cookies.’ “I- uh- never found the time.”

“Let’s make the cookies… from scratch.”

“I don’t like the look you have on your face, Katie,” you tell the young girl.

The smile never leaving her face.

“How about Mrs. Knight and I switch places?”

“First, it’s Ms. Knight. And no, you two can make the cookies.” She turns to you, “I have faith that you’ll make sure the cookies come out right. Katie just wants to throw flour on you.”

You nod, “I figured as much.”

The older woman smiles, patting your arm, “you’re gonna have fun.”

A nervous chuckle escapes you, “I don’t know.”

“You will and while you do, I’ll be over there on the couch reading a book.”

“Fabio?”

The mother of the apartment says nothing.

“Have fun with your book.”

She nods and heads over to the couch, getting comfortable.

“Alright,” you turn to Katie, “what flavor are we making?”

“Chocolate chip.”

“Excellent choice.” You order her to get all of the items and ingredients you’ll need and remind her of the sweet outcome whenever she huffs and puffs.

“Now can we make the cookies?”

“Yep, let’s get started.” You tell her which ingredients you need while you do the mixing.

You two sit and play hangman while you two wait for the cookies to finish cooking. “Seriously? You used the word ambrosia. How was I supposed to guess that?”

She smirks, “don’t order me around.”

“Oh,” you shake your head, “you’re evil.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Of course, you don’t.” The timer on the microwave dings. “I’ll check on the cookies.”

The boys enter the apartment and slump against the couch, two on each side of Kendall and Katie’s mom. “I smell cookies,” says Carlos, with a confused expression.

“I do too,” Logan and James add.

“Mom?”

“Ask your sister,” she flips another page of her book.

“Okay, Katie. I-” You scream, almost dropping the hot tray of cookies. “Geez.” You grab a towel and set it on the counter before setting the tray down.

The boys stare at the tray of heavenly smelling cookies... all except for James, who’s jaw is open as he stares at you.

Katie sits beside Logan who sits beside her brother, watching this whole thing with amusement.

‘They think your fat for making cookies... even though they look like they want one.’ You purse your lips at this next thought. ‘They can eat them without the sugar going to their hips.’ You avoid her gaze and turn towards the sink, washing the dishes so Ms. Knight doesn’t have to.

Carlos and Logan glance at one another, eyes switching between each other and the cookies.

The brainiac shakes his head, the helmet lover nods; this goes on for a couple of minutes until Carlos reaches for a cookie and hisses.

“The cookies just came out. You saw her take them out,” Katie points out.

“But- it’s cookies,” the corndog lover weakly argues.

“They have to cool.”

“But I want cookies.”

You dry your hands on a napkin and slowly turn around. “If I,” you pause when the five turn to give you, their attention. “If I get you some cookies, will you stop trying to grab them off the hot cookie sheet?”

The boys nod.

Katie gets out of the chair before you asked her to get you plates.

You scoop a couple of cookies onto each plate and slide them in front of each boy, not forgetting to give a plate to Katie and her mom.

A small smile tugs at the corner of your lips.

“Don’t you want to try some?” You shake your head with a polite smile, “no, thanks for offering though Katie.”

She furrows her brows. “But you said-”

“I- I decided that I’m gonna stop eating so much candy.”

She knows where you’re going with this and what thoughts are running around your mind.

“Oh, okay. Well. I’m sure I can whip up something else,” Ms. Knight offers, collecting the boys’ plates.

You shake your head, “it's- its fine. I should go back to my place.” You walk around the counter, grabbing your bag off the table. “Thank you so much for letting me hangout here.”

“Do you h-ave to go?” asks James, voice cracking halfway through. “You could- we could hang- hang out?”

An uncomfortable smile stretches across your lips. “I- I would but, I have to go. Maybe some other time?” You add even though you don’t really mean it, thinking he was just being nice to the “fat” girl.

“Oh, yeah. Okay, next time.”

A quiet, “bye” slips past your lips before the door closes shut.

The boys or Katie’s mom didn’t see you much after that day. They couldn’t find you when it was only everyone in the apartment, Kelly, Gustavo, and Snoop Dog who were stuck at the studio.

Katie wanted to invite you to stay and hangout with them since she knows your family always have plans, leaving you here alone. She was lucky to have found you a few days after everyone came back from break.

“How was your guy’s Christmas?” you ask her, sitting in the cabana.

“Not better than yours.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that.”

Just because the boys haven’t talked to you since you made cookies, doesn’t mean they haven’t seen you.

Every time James sees you, he forgets everything he was doing or thinking.

The others always encourage him to try and ask you out (not just because they’re tired of hearing him go on and on about you) but he always gives them some sort of excuse as to why he can’t or shouldn’t making it even weirder because... it’s James. But they see how he is whenever he’s near you and know that he has a big time crush on you.

Kendall pulls together an idea, knowing that you and Katie are hanging out by the pool as usual so naturally he calls, more like yanks, Carlos and Logan with him.

“Operation: Get James a date is happening today.”

“Today? Like today-today? We’re not ready,” Logan tells him.

“It happens and he will get a date with the one person who can get him to use less of his body spray.”

“How are we gonna do that?” asks Carlos.

“I’m glad you asked.”

They rope James into coming over and helping them with their fake plan.

“Okay, James. I’m gonna be honest with you right now,” Kendall starts.

“We lied!” Logan blurts out.

“That’s not what we agreed to do.” The leader smacks the brainiacs shoulder, who whines as he holds his arm.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. He should know. He needs to know what we’re doing here.”

“What exactly are we doing here?” The pretty boy chimes in.

“We’re helping you ask out the only nice girl here.” Carlos glances over at the offended duo and sighs, correcting himself. “Who isn’t dating anyone.”

“What?” James eyes widen. “You’re trying to get me to ask her out?! No. No. No.”

“You can do it,” Carlos encourages him.

“It’s all going to be fine,” Kendall pats his shoulder.

“Take these flowers,” Logan shoves the bundle of flowers into his friends’ hand, “and go find her.”

James trips, using his hands to put some distance between his face and the floor, not wanting to damage his face; the flowers are a now mess on the floor.

No one stops to help, only glancing over at him and continuing with their day.

Luckily for you, you didn’t hear it, the music blasting through your headphones blocking out all and any sounds around you.

He sighs and pushes himself off the ground with sad and slow movements.

The other three reach out to comfort him but he continues walking past them and into the pool area since the kids from class were having fun first day of summer pool party.

“She’s still there,” Logan weakly adds. “This is good.”

“Let’s go before he floats in the pool, staring into the sun,” Carlos taps his helmet before running outside.

You hide in the cabana, not wanting to see anyone or have anyone see you in the jean shorts, you haven’t worn in what feels like a millennium. You don’t even know why you’re here; you should be in your apartment watching some old romance movie that you find stupid because you haven’t been in love or in a relationship.

You don’t even know why you left the cabana flap open, maybe it was some kind of subconscious self-torture because all you see when you look at the pool is everyone from class which consist of skinny girls in bikinis.

Just as you pointed them out to yourself, the Jennifer’s give you a polite wave, something not everyone could get which made your harsh thoughts about yourself make you feel bad for thinking these kinds of things when they’ve been nice to you for almost as long as you’ve known them. Sure, they were a bit rough around the edges when you first met the girls but after helping them when they needed it, they’ve been nothing but kind to you.

The smile falls from your face as you watch them settle onto the pool lounge chairs. ‘They didn’t need to buy new bathing suits. They didn’t gain anything during the holidays.’ You shake your head, sighing. ‘Don’t focus on that. You look cute too. Your shorts are perfect for your shirt.’ You tug your jacket closer around your torso, half tempted to zip it but deciding not to prevent yourself from overheating. You noticed James lazily floating on one of the bed floaties, staring up at the sky.

Almost as if he could feel eyes on him, his head rolls to the side; he glances over at you.

You both freeze, keeping eye contact with one another. You didn’t realize it at first but, you offer a small wave in his direction.

He returns the slow wave.

You quickly lower your head, trying to focus on your book. ‘Why’d you even accept their invite to this?’ You bite the inside of your cheek, letting go when the flavor of copper hits your tastebuds. ‘They probably invited you out of the pity. The fat girl friends with a child. They want something to laugh at.’

Katie draws James’s attention away from you.

“What?” He asks, with an annoyed tone.

“Get out of the pool and talk to her. She needs someone to talk to and I can’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“My mom wants to me to do something that other kids my age do.” She notices the raised brow and disbelief expression he has on his face. “Whatever that means. Go and talk to her. I’m tired of you not saying anything.”

“I can’t talk to her,” he stresses the second word as if that would help.

“You can. It’s easy. She likes music, you’re in a band. Find common ground.”

“You make it sound like I’m going into battle... I’m not, right?”

“You are and oh look, we’re here.” She shoves him in front of the cabana, hiding behind one of the oddly placed plants.

James catches himself before he could trip, glancing back of his shoulder only to find no Katie. He sighs.

“Hi James.”

His shoulders tense up, eyes quickly moving onto you.

“You know my name?”

‘This isn’t awkward.’ You nod, “kind of hard not to when you’re the newest artist around here.” You purse your lips, since when did talking to others get to be so hard. ‘Have I always sounded like this?’

He chuckles, “that- uh- yeah, that makes sense.”

You gulp before you ask him if he wants to sit in here with you.

His eyes widen in surprise making you feel bad.

Did you make him think you hated him because if so, that was not your intentions.

“Yeah, okay.” He’s quick to walk over towards the unoccupied seat near you.

Kendall and the other two exit the Palm Woods lobby with Carlos munching on whatever caught his interest in the vending machine today.

“Where could he be?” Logan questions with his hands on his lips.

This was not like their friend to just disappear for hours on end (even though it had been ten minutes. The debate between snacks Carlos had with himself was absolute hell).

The boy with the extra accessory points to something in front of him, unable to respond as he continues to munch on his snack of the day.

“Looks like he doesn’t need any help,” Kendall comments.

“We can get rid of these costumes then, right?” Logan starts itching his collar bone.

“After we-”

“Nope,” the brainiac shakes his head. “Nope, besides Carlos already stained his so, we can’t use these.”

“Are you gonna go into the pool at any point today?” James asks, with an innocent tone.

“Uh- n- I don’t think I will.”

“Why not?”

You say the first thing that pops into your head. “I’m not a big fan of splashing.”

“We could hangout near a corner... or something.”

“We?” You turn your head to him.

He scratches the back of his neck, a nervous chuckle slipping through the small smile he has on his lips. “Uh- yeah. I mean or we could- we could just stay here, if that’s what you want. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

‘If only he knew.’ “Maybe when there’s less people,” you grip the edge of your jacket, further curling it around you. “We could go for a swim,” your voice wavers at the word.

Almost as if he knows what you’re thinking he offers something else. “Nah, I’ve already been in the sun for too long. I definitely don’t want to become one of those overly tan people, you know.”

You chuckle, knowing exactly who he’s talking about and sadly, it’s usually the parents of the other kids that live here at the Palm Woods. “Yeah, smart move on your part,” you joke with him.

The corner of his lip’s twitches, he got you to make a joke. He didn’t think he’d be able to make you smile much less make a joke, the butterflies in his stomach start fluttering faster than ever.

“Have any of you beaten BTF yet?”

He furrows his brows, “how do you know about that?”

“It’s me. Katie gets bored when she beats the pool jockies and we’ve been practicing your guys’ video games so we can beat you.”

He chuckles, “now that I know that you’re so going down.”

“I’d like to see you try,” you playfully shove his arm.

“How can you stand to be near it?” The pool jocky who was being a jerk before Christmas snickers.

“What?” James asks, not understanding why this guy is being such a jerk to such a nice person. “Just don’t feed her, she’ll never leave if you do.” He turns around, heading towards the pool area feeling very highly of himself.

Your brows knit together, a sad pout on your lips. “Let’s just go, James.”

“What?” He spins around, standing in front of you. “No. He doesn’t get to talk to you like that and pretend like he didn’t.”

“It’s fine. This isn’t something new.”

“And I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

You didn’t see anything because Logan and Carlos stop you from following him. “Would you let me at least-”

“Nope,” the former shakes his head. “Not happening. Kendall and James have got this handled.”

Carlos nods, “yeah. We just gotta trust them-”

And then the quick screams of the Jennifer’s and pool splashing causes all of your eyes to widen.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Logan says, turning you around so your back is to the facing the front desk of the lobby as he avoids your gaze.

James walks through the open doors, stopping in the doorway, smiling when he sees you and tries to slick his hair back.

Kendall rolls his eyes, Katie walking up behind the two. “Please stop.”

The two jump up, hugging one another as they let out a quick scream until they realize who it is and immediately push the other one away from them.

“You’re fine, she won’t care if your hair is messed up-”

“It’s messed up?” He asks, reaching for hair.

“What? No. That’s not important. If I hear you did something to make her cry or anything to hurt, her feelings. You won’t know revenge until it happens to you.”

A short chuckle slips past your lips as you place a hand on James’s shoulder. “Let’s not threaten people today, Katie.”

“I’m not, just implying what could happen if he isn’t nice,” she says, a fake smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Yeah, I’m not buying that.” You start to push James into the direction of the elevators. You two stare at the doors, unsure of how to talk to one another knowing that he did- whatever it is he did because he cares about you. ‘My stomach feels weird, but I don’t have an upset stomach?’ “Thank you.”

“It was fun.”

“Not as much as it’ll be when I kick your butt.”

“Oh, you’re on.”

Carlos tilts his head, “does anyone smell cookies?”

“As long as you don’t smell toast, we’re good,” Logan adds.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

“Could you two walk any slower,” Katie whines. She opens the door, shaking her head watching the two having fun. She wanders over, leaning over the back of the couch. “Any more BTF?”

“You know it.”

“Cookies are done,” Ms. Knight announces, scooping the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto a plate.

Everyone runs over to the counter, wincing at the temperature.

“What does BTF mean?” asks James as he breaks a cookie in half offering you the other half.

You accept, “oh, that.” You chuckle, “it was actually something I use to make fun of Katie but when I tell you, I… will painfully admit that I’m a fan of your guy’s music because it means… big time fan.”

He leans in. “Can I assume someone here is your favorite member?”

“Nope, let’s go play some more. I’m so close to getting the scoreboard to be all BTF.”

#big time rush #Big Time Rush fanfic #Big Time Rush Fanfiction #big time rush imagine #big time rush imagines #james diamond #james diamond imagine #james diamond imagines #james diamond fanfic #james diamond fanfiction #james diamond x reader #james diamond x plus size reader #james diamond x plus size!reader #james diamond x insecure reader #james diamond x insecure!reader #james diamond x insecure plus size reader #james diamond x insecure!plus size!reader #crazyk-imagine

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catcas22 · 1 year ago

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Millicent's Sisters Theory(?)

Obligatory "this is 10% theory and 90% headcanon."

This started as a discussion with @thatboreddrake about the Egyptian concept of the soul. By my surface-level understanding, there are five parts: Ren is your name, your true name which encapsulates your identity, Ka is your living essence, your life force, Ib is the heart or the seat of the soul, the part of you that is judged upon death, Ba is the thing that makes you "you," your personality and reputation, and Sheut is your shadow, or the mark that you leave on the world.

Drake suggested that Millicent carries Malenia's Ba, her pride, her sense of self, the thing that made her herself. Meanwhile Malenia has been left with only her Ren, her name. Hence why she repeats her "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella" mantra with every battle. It's the last part of herself she has left.

However, that presents a problem -- only the Ka, the Ib, and the Sheut remain, but there are four sisters to account for.

Although we don't know much about the sisters, I'm going to take my best guess based on their only real differentiating characteristics -- their weapons.

Amy bears the same blade as Malenia's teacher, the blind swordsman. I think the Sheut would fit her best. Just as the shadow the swordsman cast upon the world lives on in Malenia, Malenia's shadow lives on in Amy. I was also thinking about their names. While three out of five have "M" names like Malenia, Amy and Polyanna stick out. Then I realized that "Amy" might be a reference to "Aeonia," as in the Aeonian Bloom, the most obvious and ever-present shadow that Malenia cast upon the world.

Although there's less of a solid connection here, I'd link Mary (wields a Cleanrot Commander's Halo Scythe) with the Ka (living essence), as her weapon represents Malenia's life's work as the defender of the Haligtree. And I'd associate Maureen (wields a Golden Order Treespear) with the Ib (the heart which carries the weight of one's sins and is judged upon death).

By just about every metric, Polyanna is the odd man out. Her name doesn't fit with the others at all. She is the only one we can interact with as an ally. And she's specifically referred to as an "adopted daughter."

At first I just assumed this to mean that she's Gowry's adopted daughter, drawn from the swamp and raised like the rest. But when the sisters all show up together, they're labeled by birth order. And given that Gowry is a representative of the pest hivemind, a race born entirely from the Scarlet Rot, it could be argued that he's the closest thing the sisters will ever have to a biological father.

So here's where I abandon all pretense of evidence and dip into pure headcanon.

What if Polyanna is not Millicent's (or the others') biological sister? Sure, they all look similar, but could she be a different relation?

Is it just me, or does Malenia look a lot like her dad? Not just the hair, but her lips, her cheekbones, and her nose.

So the sisters (including Polyanna) take after Malenia. But it's fair to say they also take after Radagon a bit. Maybe Polyanna isn't their biological sister. Maybe she's their cousin, via another of Radagon's children.

Put yourself in Radahn's shoes for a moment. You go soft no-contact with your toxic family. You move to the furthest reaches of the Caelid Wilds to start your own fiefdom. As the family feud seems to be getting ready for another round, you meet someone and get married. Would you maybe be reluctant to tell your scheming siblings, your genocidal stepmother, your backstabbing father, and your dubiously trustworthy half-siblings that you now have a wife and a baby on the way?

It would add so much context to Radahn's impossible defense of Sellia and his oath of honorable death with Jerran if the big guy had a family of his own in Caelid. It would explain his half of the Aeonia clusterfrick -- Malenia refused to hold back because her twin senses told her Miquella was imprisoned in Caelid. Radahn refused to hold back because he was protecting his new family. As much as both may have hated to assume the worst of the other, neither felt that they could afford to take chances.

When the population of Caelid becomes afflicted with Scarlet Rot, Sellia becomes a ghost town, and Polyanna becomes one of many orphans left behind, Gowry takes her in because hey, you never know when a half-demigod might be useful.

It would explain why he sends her to help the Tarnished against O'Neill. While the other three sisters are potential vectors for a Bloom if Millicent fails, Polyanna would be essentially expendable to him.

#elden ring #elden ring theory #millicent’s sisters #malenia blade of miquella #general radahn #sage gowry #youngest sister polyanna

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angelasscribbles · 1 year ago

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Savage Love Chapter 35: Some Answers, More Questions

Series: Savage Love

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Liam, Riley x Drake

Word Count: 3,420

Rating: R

Warnings: Mature themes

My other stuff: Master List.

Drake

Working with Nick to infiltrate the Gladius Company wasn’t my favorite thing. The guy seemed competent enough at his job. It was his background with Riley that I could have lived without.

We were getting ready to meet with his contact in the Liberation Core.

“So, you and Juniper, huh?”

“You mean Riley?” I barely glanced at him as I strapped on my Hardwire vest, it was expensive as hell, but it was the thinnest and lightest body armor money could buy. No one would know I was wearing it.

“Yeah, Riley,” he gave me a look. I knew that look. He was sizing me up, trying to determine what kind of threat I was.

Guess I wanted to know the same, “So, engaged huh?”

“Is that surprising?”

“Kind of,” I glanced up at him then back down as I double-checked the rounds in my Baretta, “She doesn’t do relationships, right? It’s impressive that you made it that far.”

Nick snorted, “So I see you’ve encountered the ice queen side of her.”

I shook my head as I holstered the gun then pulled my shirt on over the vest, “Not how I would characterize her at all.”

“How would you characterize her?”

“Self-reliant, brilliant, brave, driven, talented, passionate,” I laced up my boots as I spoke, “I see fire, not ice.”

“Yeah, until you try to lock her down.”

“That what went wrong between you? You tried to ‘lock her down’?”

“She chose her career over me.”

“Huh.”

“What was the tone?”

“Nothing,” I shrugged as I closed my locker, “I’m just wondering why you made her feel like she had to choose.”

“I mean…that’s just the way the world works, it’s not me…”

“So, when you proposed to her, did you feel like you had to choose between her or your career?”

Nick scoffed, “Of course not!”

“Why is it of course not for you and that’s the way the world works for her?”

“Because it just is!” He insisted as he followed me toward the door, “Would you want your wife out running around risking her life while the kids are at home with a babysitter?”

That brought me to a stop, “She wants kids?”

“What?” He looked at me in confusion, “Who doesn’t want kids?”

“Wait! You didn’t have a conversation about whether or not she wants kids? You just assumed she did and then unilaterally decided she had to give up her career to have them?” I knew my mouth was hanging open, but this guy was the textbook definition of clueless and that’s saying a lot coming from me, the guy who doesn’t do commitments.

“I- Jesus!” Nick’s face reddened, “Who has to have a conversation about whether or not they want kids? Why else do you get married in the first place?”

“Uh, because you love someone and want to commit yourself to them?”

“Part of that commitment is kids!”

“No. That’s an entirely separate issue and conversation.”

“You don’t want kids?” he demanded incredulously.

“I’m not against the idea,” I told him as I pulled the door open and headed down the hallway, “but no, it’s not something that I actively wish for.”

“So, if you were married to her, you’d be okay with never having kids, her putting her life in jeopardy on the daily and often not knowing where she is for months at a time while she’s on a case?”

“Yes! You just described what she’s like right now! How could I ask her to change who she is when that’s literally who I fell in love with? If she loved me back, I’d count myself as the luckiest bastard on the planet and the last thing I would ever do is be stupid enough to make her choose between me and-“ I broke off midsentence as I realized how much of myself I was revealing to this jackass, “Shit!”

“I knew it! You’re in love with her!”

“And you’re an idiot. Sorry dude, I mean, I appreciate all your help with the case, but I’m beginning to see why she doesn’t do relationships.”

“What do you mean?”

We reached the conference room door, and I stopped in the hallway to ask him, “Has she been in a serious relationship since you?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

I nodded in understanding, “So, you’re the reason.”

“I don’t see how-“

“How do you not see it? You made her feel like she wasn’t enough for you the way she is… like she needed to change herself, shrink herself for you. That’s not love.” I shook my head and pushed the door open.

He followed me into the room still protesting, “No, that’s marriage, commitment. You make sacrifices-“

“I don’t think so. Not like that.”

“That’s easy for you to say now. You’re not even technically dating her.”

I stopped halfway across the room and spun to face him, lowering my voice so only he could hear, “I love the girl, okay? I don’t need her to marry me to prove that and I sure as hell don’t need her, or want her, to give up pieces of herself to fit into my life!”

“So, you’d really be okay with a relationship where you barely see her?”

“Asked and answered. Yes! Now let’s get geared up and on the road!”

Jason fitted us both with earpieces so our conversations with the target could be monitored. We ran through the details of the plan one more time then headed down to the garages.

I glanced over at Nick as we walked. He was being quiet and while I may have just met the guy, I knew that meant he was thinking about something, “What? Just say it, or ask it so we can get it out of the way and get our heads back in the mission.”

“I’m just wondering why you would be willing to settle for a relationship where you barely see her?”

A disbelieving huff escaped me, “Wow, you think that’s settling?”

“What would you call it?”

“I would call myself lucky beyond anything I actually deserve if I were the one she was coming back to, no matter how long she was gone. She’s worth waiting for. I understand what she does for a living, I understand what her career means to her, and I would never ask her to give it up.”

“But she could die doing this job!”

“I could die doing mine,” I jerked open the door to the extensive underground palace garages, “What’s your point?”

“That is my point! I don’t want to worry about my wife dying at work!”

“Were you planning to go into a different field after you got married?”

“Of course not.”

“So, it’s okay for your partner to not see you for months at a time, and to sit home with the knowledge that you could die on the job? Do you really not see the huge double standard there?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“It’s exactly the same thing.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“Yep,” I gritted through a clenched jaw. This fucking guy. No wonder she doesn’t want a relationship.

Leo

I shifted nervously as the car pulled up in front of the small, clapboard house on a quiet residential street in a working-class neighborhood. We had opted for a sedate sedan rather than drawing undue attention by pulling up in a limo.

If Max was right, she was here. If Riley’s intel was correct, she was in Hidar. But even if she wasn’t home, perhaps the woman that raised her would be and I could get some answers. If she was home, then I was about to meet my sister for the first time.

My sister.

I gulped in a few deep breaths at the idea.

“It’s okay, babe,” Olivia slipped her hand into mine and squeezed.

I glanced down into her face gratefully. To the outside world, Olivia Nevrakis was cold, harsh, mean even. But those were traits that were required to survive at court. And like me, she’d had to survive at court her whole life.

For those of us who grew up in the palace, the pressure was constant, but Livvie was more than the tough façade she presented to the outside world. She was the scared kid that was delivered to the palace by servants after her parent’s death. She was the fearless twelve-year-old who didn’t flinch in the dark woods when we got lost. She was the young woman who came of age under the scrutiny of an entire country. She was the confident woman who took over running a duchy at the age of sixteen and did it well. She was a stunning beauty with a strong personality and most of her peers saw her as a threat. Because she was one.

But she was also the only person I’d ever been able to talk to, I mean really talk to. She knew things about me no one else did. She could make me laugh when the weight of the crown was crushing in on me, and she could comfort me when all hope seemed lost. And she was the only woman I could see sharing my life with.

I lifted her hand to my mouth and laid a gentle kiss on the back of it, “Thank you, for everything.”

“Hush!” She brushed my gratitude aside, but a slight flush crept across her face as she turned away, “Now, let’s go meet your sister!”

Riley

The flight to Hidar had been uneventful. Madeleine and I had met Godfrey and Emmeline at the airport. Emmeline had seemed surprised to see me, but Godfrey hadn’t. Unfortunately, no new information had been forthcoming during the course of our flight.

Tonight was a formal dinner with someone high up in the Via Imperii and the secret heir to the Cordonian throne. I wondered how much Leo and Liam’s sister knew about any of it. Who she really was, what the Via Imperii was all about, and how she was tangled up with it in the first place.

She had left Auvernall as an infant with a woman that Eleanor had trusted. Drake’s father had allegedly delivered them to somewhere safe.

How had the Via Imperii found her? Was the woman that raised her part of the cabal, or had she been tricked? Or had they waited until she was grown to approach her?

If she knew who she was, why hadn’t she ever reached out to her brothers? Was she really ready to depose her own brother for a chance to rule a country she’d never even been to?

“Who’s going to be at this party?” I asked Madeleine as we prepared to enter the ballroom of the palatial estate we were staying at.

She turned toward me with a sparkle in her eye, “The king of Hidar, Eirik Midsommar for one.”

“Impressive,” I fawned, “So he’s one of us?”

“Oh yes, and he won’t be the only monarch here, Queen Sigrid Runarsdottir of Vallenheim will be here as well.”

“Really? Why? I mean, I’m always up for mingling with the upper crust, but I thought this meeting was specifically for the Cordonian branch to finally meet the secret heir.”

“You’ll see,” She giggled and it sent dread crawling down my spine. I’d never heard a giggle sound evil before. And I’ve taken down drug dealers, serial killers, and terrorists.

We entered the lavish ballroom and my eyes scanned the area discreetly, cataloging who was there. Emmeline and Godfrey, of course. Also, the duke whose estate we were staying at, Carlisle Edmonton. I mentally noted several heads of state and a couple of celebrities. It was a small gathering, but there was a lot of political and economic clout in the room.

I angled for introductions to every face that I didn’t recognize. I mingled and I listened. This was the elite of the European branch of the Via Imperii. I was standing in the room with the leaders of not just the Cordonian faction, but most of the continent. If my intel was correct, the leadership of the entire organization was based somewhere in this region. I was close. I could feel it.

A high-pitched voice sang out, “Is that little Riley Brooks?”

I turned with a smile, “Sigrid!”

“Oh! You know each other?” Madeleine’s expression was torn between surprised and impressed.

“Of course! She was a fixture at her aunt’s gala’s until she ran off to save endangered species in the rain forests or something.”

My smile broadened under Madeleine’s scrutiny. The endangered animal story was how my family explained my absence since they couldn’t very well tell the truth. However, saving endangered species wasn’t really something people who subscribed to the Via Imperii mentality would be into so my brain spun quickly to come up with a plausible explanation, “Yes, well, that’s certainly what my parents told everyone I was doing!”

“Oh! Mysterious!” Sigrid clapped her hands. Her face held a brilliant smile, but her eyes were sharp and accessing as she demanded, “And what were you actually doing, pray tell?”

“Fun things,” I responded flippantly, “Extravagant parties on the French Riveria, lots of champagne, drugs, men, women…” I let my eyes run suggestively down Madeleine’s curves as I drawled out the last word.

Madeleine’s eyes widened slightly as a noticeable shiver ran through her.

Sigrid laughed politely, “Are you ready to settle down now? I hear you’re one of the contenders for the hand of the Cordonian prince.”

“I’m ready to take my rightful place among the rule makers if that’s what you mean.”

“And you’re committed to the cause? Because your aunt has been intractable.”

The Via Imperii had reached out to my aunt? That was news to me, but not surprising. It also wasn’t surprising that she had turned them down. She would never give in to such an organization, she actually cared about her people. I couldn’t say any of that of course, so I settled for, “Well, my aunt is short-sighted. Perhaps once I move into a leadership role in the Via Imperii, I can bring her into the fold.”

Sigrid’s eyebrows shot up, “I never knew you had so much ambition!”

“Well, you haven’t seen me since I was a child,” I turned to Madeleine, “Could you be a dear and fetch me more champagne?”

“Oh- I…” Her eyes tracked from me to Sigrid then back again, “Sure.”

Sigrid gave me an appraising look, “Is there something you wish to discuss privately?”

I shifted my posture into business mode, “My future in this organization.”

She lifted her champagne flute slowly as she regarded me seriously. After a long sip, she asked, “And what makes you think I have any power here?”

“Call it a hunch,” I shrugged, “But you’re a powerful woman, a strong ruler, and a world leader. I don’t see you accepting a subservient role in any organization.”

She nodded in approval, the smile real, “Fair enough. If you are crowned queen-“

“When,” I corrected her.

“Oh, I like you!” Sigrid laughed, “That’s just the kind of confidence it takes to rule. Not everyone has that, you know.”

“I’m aware.”

“Take my cousin Constantine for instance. His dear wife Eleanor was simply not suited for the throne. Unfortunate action had to be taken.”

My spine prickled with certainty that her death had been no accident, “What are you saying?”

“I’m asking if you have what it takes to make the difficult decisions.”

My eyes hardened as I assured her, “I do. And having moved in royal circles all my life, I know things that would be of benefit to this organization.”

“I admire your ambition, my dear. Like I said, once the crown is on your head, we’ll talk. Not before.”

That certainly wasn’t a denial that she was placed high up within the cabal. But how high? Before I could make another pitch, Madeleine showed back up with my champagne.

I pasted on my fake happy-to-see-you smile and took the drink as I contemplated my next move.

Leo

The woman who answered the door was tall, with blond hair swept up on top of her head and eyes the color of the Mediterranean. She looked so familiar that I temporarily forgot to speak as my mind spun trying to place her.

“Leo!” Her hand flew to her chest as her eyes widened in surprise.

“So, we have met?”

“You….could say that.” She glanced up and down the sidewalk then gestured us in, “Come in!”

“You’re Cora Illiopolis, correct?” Olivia verified.

Liv and I entered the small, unassuming house and followed the woman to the living room as she confirmed her identity and nervously rambled about getting us some tea. I heard Liv tell her that would be lovely, but my attention was focused on the framed photographers on the console table against the far wall.

Glittering silver frames held pictures of a dark-haired girl who I assumed to be Lena throughout the years. My eyes ran across them in reverse chronological order. College graduation. Secondary school graduation. A winter formal where the girl stood next to a young man in a white tuxedo, both of them smiling out at the camera.

Lena at about twelve years old with Cora at an amusement park. Lena as a toddler, her chubby arms wrapped around the woman that had raised her, face alight with love. The younger the pictures of Cora got, the stronger the sense that I had met her became and then my eyes landed on one in the back row, and before my mind could register what I was seeing, my hand shot out and snatched the frame off the table.

I turned toward her as she entered the room, a tray with full tea service clutched in her hands. Thrusting the photograph toward her as the memory crashed over me, I said, “You’re the lady from the park!”

Her steps faltered a little, but she nodded with a weak smile, “The park, yes. You remember that?”

“What is it, Leo?” Olivia had stepped up behind me. Her hand on my arm grounded me and I turned to show her the picture of our hostess with Queen Eleanor, and myself as a small child on a playground in Stormholt City.

Liv spun on the woman, “Who are you? How did you know Queen Eleanor?”

“Please, sit,” she gestured to the couch as she placed the tray on the coffee table and took the chair across from it.

I made my way to the couch with the photograph still clutched in my hand, “You knew my mother?”

“You could say that.” Her hands shook as she poured the tea and Liv leaned forward and took over the task for her. Cora gave her a grateful smile, “Thank you, dear. You’re Olivia Nevrakis, aren’t you?”

“I am. How do you know that?”

“I keep up with the Cordonian news.” Shifting her attention to me she continued, “I suppose I owe you some answers, but first, why are you here?”

“Lena,” I pulled myself together. It was ridiculous. I’d been taken by surprise before, but I had never felt so shaken.

Cora nodded, “How did you find out about her?”

“Katherine Bodecker.”

“Of course. I always feared the day would come when someone would come looking for us. I’m glad it’s you and not Constantine.”

“Why?”

She sat the cup she’d been holding down to keep it from spilling. Nervousness was one thing, but she looked terrified, “So many reasons.”

“You did know my mother and you were with her when she gave birth? Lena is her child? My sister?”

“Half of that is right.”

Confusing poured through me, “Which part?”

“I knew Eleanor and I was with her when she gave birth. Lena is her child.”

“Which part isn’t true?”

“For starters, Eleanor wasn’t your mother.”

“Not my biological mother, I know that, but she raised me. She was my mother.”

Cora nodded, “She did. And for that I’m grateful.”

“Why would you be grateful for that?” I took in her face again then glanced back down at the framed photograph in my hand. The one where she was decades younger. I studied it for a long time as recognition dawned and a sudden realization washed over me, “Your name’s not really Cora Illiopolis, is it?”

“No, son, it’s not.”

“Wait,” Liv’s head swiveled between us, “Who is she?”

“Liv, this is Helena Samaras. My mother.”

#savage love #agent riley brooks #captain drake walker #prince liam rys #trr fanfic #trr au #angelasscribbles #trr poly #the royal romance #the royal romance fanfic #trr #choices #liam rys #drake walker #choices fanfiction #playchoices fanfic #choices stories you play #drake walker x mc #liam rys x mc

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feralandmoonstruck · 1 year ago

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Moonstruck Ch. 1 Coffee Shop Mix-up

18+ only this story contains explicit content

Decided to pick this wip up again. Changed the MC and everything is flowing so much better. I wrote over 20k words last month just for this.

“Ezra, Apollo, your orders are ready,” the barista called across the cafe.

Apollo pushed back from his table. Ahead of him a man with blue hair was making his way to the counter as well. The man glanced over at Apollo and quickly looked away. He grabbed his drink and hurried across the cafe to his table. Apollo picked up his order and began to sip on it while he made his way back to his seat.

His fingers began tapping out a beat on the tabletop.

“Um,” A voice said over his shoulder.

Apollo turned.

“I think I may have grabbed your drink by mistake.” The blue-haired man turned the cup in his hands to reveal Apollo’s name written on the side.

“Oh shit,” Apollo said, quickly putting down the drink in his hands. “I didn’t even notice. I already drank some of yours, sorry.”

“No big deal.”

“Let me buy you another since I stole yours.”

“No, no, it’s fine. They’re the same drink, right?”

“That is true, but still. I feel bad about it.”

“I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, but I’m Ezra.”

Apollo turned the cup towards him, showing his name. “Seems so. Seriously though, I’m buying you another drink. Wait right here.”

Before Ezra could say anything Apollo was on his feet and heading to the counter. Ezra remained standing there, at the edge of Apollo’s table, feeling awkward. He couldn’t help but smile when Apollo returned.

“Here, sit.” Apollo pulled out the chair across from where he was sitting.

Ezra gave him a nervous look as he sank into the chair. “Apollo huh? Like the Greek God?”

“One in the same.” He flashed Ezra an easy smile.

Ezra fiddled with the drink that wasn’t his, turning the cup round and round in his hands. “Was that, uh, Unheavenly Creatures you were tapping out?”

“What? You recognized the song just from that?”

“It’s my favorite song.” Ezra looked away.

“Seems like it was fate that brought us together. Not that I believe in it, but y’know. Just a fun coincidence that we have the same taste in drinks and music.”

“Seems so.”

“What else do you like,” Apollo asked, relaxing into his chair as he sipped Ezra’s drink.

“Normal things, I guess? I like good food and stargazing and… I dunno normal things.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“And Greek Gods?” Apollo teased.

A smile spread over Ezra’s face. “You’ve got me there,” he laughed.

His name was called so he disappeared to the counter. When he came back, he slid back into his seat across from Apollo. “Now it’s your turn. What do you like?”

“Good food, running, working out, and,” Apollo tapped his lips, “watching the sunrise.”

“No Greek Gods?”

“They’re alright. That one guy, what was his name? The one with the sunlight stuff?”

Ezra chuckled. “You mean Apollo?”

Apollo snapped his fingers, “That’s the one! Never cared too much for that guy.”

Ezra hid his laugh in his drink. He glanced down to check his phone before his eyes darted back to Apollo.

“Shit! I’ve gotta go. I didn’t realize it was already so late.”

“Go, go! It was nice meeting you. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.

Ezra grinned. “I’d like that. You’re fun.” He pushed away from the table, drink in hand, and ran towards the door.

Apollo took a deep breath. Ezra’s scent washed over him. He hadn’t felt the calm easiness of talking up someone in a long time. Years. Ezra’s mixed up drink lay cooling on the table. He picked it up and swallowed the rest. He did the same with his own mixed up drink before leaving the shop. He needed to run.

Brentwood loop was too small for him. King’s gully lay a few miles out of town. That’s where his car steered him. The parking lot was tightly packed gravel. Before he had the car completely parked he was already opening his door. His sprint to the nature trail felt like freedom as he disappeared into the trees. It was another two hours before he got back in his car to head home.

#moonstruck #apollo and ezra

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jerkfacepink · 9 months ago

Photo

Periodically this posts nukes my notifs and I wonder if giving additional info would even be worth it, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to add, I’m not forcing anyone to read it. Maybe archivists will like it. The way things for the web were built are done differently due to the changes in technical limitations— details nobody would realize unless you were from that time. But, maybe fan motivations could be similar? Hah, idk. It was normal for anime fandom online to go to a lot of trouble for our content— as my best friend puts it, “We all fucking walked 15 miles uphill in the snow for anime fandom, that was standard!” and a lot of people who have been online as anime fans since the 90s know each other or at least know each others’ work. (Hey everyone— I’m PIMoSDL from the Ranma ML. Anyone still alive? Hahaha.)

This gif was inspired by an even older dancing Lum gif (transparent background, Lum facing forward, the dance from the Lum’s Love Song ending from Urusei Yatsura, I can’t seem to find that gif anywhere and have no idea who made it), which was on a buddy’s Ranma site that’s long gone. As a new webmaster I wanted an animated gif on my anime site too, because animated gifs were cutting edge, but it HAD to be one I made myself! From OUR fandom! It HAD to have a transparent background because that was more immersive, and I wanted everything on my anime site to be content I produced (it was the first English Ranma and Akane shipper shrine ever; even back then my first foray was into fandom because of ship wars, hahaha. I had a whole fucking career as a web designer because I shipped Ranma and Akane.)

I had to jam the card onto the motherboard with my foot (don’t do this) because it was too hard for me to push in. My boyfriend (who bought me the card after I asked how to get screencaps onto a computer “like those college kids do”) bought it at a computer show; we were still mostly limited to local options for many specialty purchases. Also, I married that guy and we have two kids now 🤍

The first adapter (A/V adapter) didn’t work, so he brought me a coax adapter (hence— static on the screen caps)

You could not just hit “print screen” to get screenshots of video back then. I had to export screen caps from the capture software and use the pause on my VCR if I wanted specific frames. I was lucky enough to have a frame-by-frame feature on my VCR but it left even more lines and static on the frames compared to just playing video and hitting the “capture” button in my software. There was no choice but to redraw everything.

The version of Photoshop that I had was 4.0. It didn’t even have a tool to make rounded corners or rounded corner vector paths, so it sure as hell didn’t have an animation panel/animated gif export 😆

The frames were made in Paint Shop Pro. It was saved to .gif in a separate program (forgot which) where I had to manually enter the hex values for the color palette because I didn’t understand why t f it was messing around with my colors and adding “dots.” I freaked out a bit and had to manually fix all the “dots” that were added from dithering

This was my first gif. I tried my best to make it as small as I knew how to (which was already a relevant professional skill back then, since most people downloaded graphics over a 14.4 modem; 14kb a second. A web page that took up 1mb was about the most you wanted to make— I was working as a fledgling web dev after school for a local company and was learning all this stuff at the time, using my Ranma site as a test grounds for any new tech I was learning. The site’s still up and the last time I edited it was when frames were still in vogue, it’s been a minute lol)

This gif helped make, and outlived, my entire career as a web designer. Companies always change their web presence, so it’s survived past anything I ever made professionally, and it’s loved more than any stupid corporate junk I made, hahaha

THANK YOU BING IMAGE SEARCH. Thought I lost this! 8D

I made this in 1996. To make it back then was a million times harder than it would have been today: screen capped each frame in the loop by hooking up my VCR to my TV capture card (it was this external monstrosity with a separate power cord XD). The screen caps had bad color, were blurry, and full of static so I redrew each frame pixel by pixel with a mouse (wasn’t so good at image editing programs back then). XD;;

Of course, it got lost over time because I made that thing like 203498203489 computers ago, so I’m glad people jacked it from my site back in the day. XD

#my gifs #ranma 1/2 #ranma ½ #akane tendo #diary

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bergeronprocess · 8 days ago

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My Favorites of the Year 2024: Favorite TV show/event

I want to write about some of the things I really enjoyed this year.

Favorite TV event of the year: The Summer Olympics and Paralympics

I don’t actually watch many TV shows. I’ve pretty much never watched any of the prestige TV shows that are all the talk on Twitter. On our TV, we tend to just watch the Samsung TV+ Top Gear channel or videos from the channels we follow on Youtube. However, there was one event this summer that captivated me for hours on end: the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

Especially on the weekend days, it was a lot of fun to just wake up at my normal time - 6 or 7 am Eastern - and immediately hop on Peacock to watch some competition. I think I watched at least some of every sport on the Olympic slate, thanks in great part to their absolutely genius Gold Zone whip-around coverage that was inspired by, and at times even hosted by the same host as, NFL Red Zone. Peacock also had a great way to find the events you wanted, although their rewind and fast forward functionality leaves something to be desired.

Some of the events I really enjoyed included: the picturesque equestrian events, archery because I am a Sagittarius, skateboarding, gymnastics and climbing. Interesting discoveries I made included: the fact that handball is super lit (it’s like ice hockey but on a court and with a ball) and that tempers tended to flare pretty easily in the fencing events.

I made sure to watch the Turkish guy in the shooting events after he became a meme while I was busy at work one day. The work-from-home contingent on social media was helping us office folks out by telling us what to check out when we got home. (I do tend to think there are too many swimming events, though.)

And, of course, we will not soon forget the notorious, the infamous, the one and only…Raygun the Australian breakdancer.

I even came back a couple of weeks later to watch the Paralympics, especially the ruthless wheelchair rugby featuring an American team that had a woman on it and the archery gold medalist who uses his feet to load and shoot the bow. It was great to see Peacock’s same level of dedication to organizing and showing Paralympic events, too. I remember we put on the Paralympic Gold Zone one day to serve as background noise - and occasionally “the crowd is loud, let’s stop and look up to see what’s happening” - while we built newly-purchased IKEA furniture.

I think the Paris Olympics were such a huge hit for a few different reasons. It was held in a more favorable time zone for American viewers compared to Tokyo. The end of covid restrictions helped because now there were cheering crowds adding even more excitement to the events. Peacock increased their round-the-clock coverage of the Games. People talking about it on social media helped, too. Just now, I’ve realized that the Olympics were probably the last big live event on Twitter before people really started migrating over to Bluesky en masse.

I know the Olympics are problematique and that they don’t always bring the financial benefits that are promised during bidding. I know how they contribute to gentrification and displacement. I know it firsthand, after all, because Atlanta hosted in 1996 and hosting came with its benefits and downsides. (They only just recently demolished the tennis venue after years of it being unused and falling into disrepair, and there are stories of how the unhoused population downtown was loaded onto buses and sent somewhere else as if they were just misdelivered mail and not human beings.) But I cannot act like I’m somehow above the excitement, spectacle and joy of it all. Insert that Seinfeld meme where Jerry is asking George if he’s crying and George answers that he is because the spirit of the Games got to him, all right.

I never did get around to trying to bake any copycat recipes for the chocolate muffins in the dining hall, though.

#writing practice

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pure-garbage · 3 months ago

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Convenient Proposition! Bracken And The Crimson Gull Pirates

The consequences of Alan's misadventure hounded the Avariyas far longer then Lana could have anticipated.

"This is just idiocy of the highest order!" Lana shouted as she and her brother fled from the battalion of marines pursuing them. They'd moored their boat to resupply, only to find the island on high alert. The navy, having learned that the straw hat's lockbreaker was in the area, had put the call out to apprehend them.

"I can't believe you drew so much heat to us so you could get laid!" Lana spat. Stone shattered as they rounded a corner, barely avoiding a rain of bullets.

"You've been wanted for like, six years! Aren't you used to it by now?!" Alan demanded.

"I usually keep a low profile, but you've made that impossible!" Lana accused him.

"You know, we could have left that last town quietly after we escaped!" Alan pointed out. "You didn't have to rampage like such a maniac!"

"Can it, kid, I could still ditch you!" Lana threatened.

"Fine, fine! Hey, is it just me, or do guns usually make a lot more noise than this?!" Alan observed.

"I've been stealing sound from them!"

"Oh right, with your devil fruit... why though?! To avoid attracting more attention?!" he puzzled.

"No, it's gonna help us shake the navy!" Lana explained.

"What?! How?!"

"Cover your ears!"

"Huh?"

Alan was rarely able to make sense of anything his sister said, but he'd long since learned to go along regardless. He did as she ordered.

"Now calm-calm secret technique! Decibel cannon!" Lana cried.

The release of stolen sound was strong enough to knock the marines off their feet, buying the siblings the head start they needed. They both high-tailed it while Alan grappled with his confusion and Lana grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"That was't calm at all!" Alan cried. "How does that work?! It doesn't even make sense!"

"It wasn't nearly as powerful that time!" Lana complained. "No one makes as much of a racket as my crew."

Unsurprisingly, the marines seized Old Man Morry's boat, leaving them with no immediate means of leaving the island.

"We could stow away on a ship," Alan suggested.

"Not any docked at port," Lana shook her head. "The navy's already set up checkpoints in town. We'd never make it unnoticed."

They were hiding out in the woods along the coast.

"Well what if we built a raft?" Alan suggested.

"Old Man Morry's little boat was bad enough! We almost died in three different storms!"

"Those storms weren't that bad," Alan scoffed.

"Says the guy who can still swim!"

"Oh, right..."

"Fact is, we might be here for some time," Lana grunted, tossing and catching a large rock repetitively. "Which is honestly fine by me. I need to spend anther year getting stronger and I can do that in the wilds of this island just as well as anywhere else."

"Aw, but I'm out for adventure and thrills!" Alan protested. "I want to explore the high seas, not camp out in the woods!"

"That's your problem, not mine, little brother," Lana grinned. "Life as an outlaw isn't always fun, you know."

"Bah."

Lana dropped the rock abruptly and drew a dagger.

"Someone's coming," she announced.

"Who?!" Alan demanded, head whipping around. "How can you tell?!"

"My haki warned me. They're about ten yards inland from us."

Lana recognized the presence.

"I've met this man before, actually," she realized.

"So is he a pirate? A marine?"

"All I know is he gambles and pays close attention to his surroundings," Lana shrugged.

"Uh... okay. So, do we run?"

"Let's see what he wants."

It took a few minutes for the man to emerge. Lana grew impatient by the time he crept into earshot.

"I know you're there. Come out or I'll make you."

"No need to get aggressive, love," he said, stepping into view easily.

"You didn't come out here alone," Lana observed, sensing the others trailing behind. "Are your friends shy?"

"I'm surprised I wasn't able to sneak up on you," the man chuckled. "What gave me away?"

"Bumbling," Lana lied. She wasn't about to tip her hand to someone who, like as not, didn't even know what haki was. "You followed us from the last island?"

"Not at all, the only thing we followed was our log pose," the man assured her. "But when I heard the marines were hunting for the straw hat's fabled lockbreaker... well, it felt like destiny was smiling down on me."

"So you know who I am. Care to introduce yourself?" Lana prompted.

"Don't mind if I do. The name's Bracken Petre... captain of the Crimson Gull pirates, maybe you've heard of us?"

"Can't say I have," Lana said, crushing his hopefulness. "Granted, I don't really follow the news."

"Admittedly, we've yet to gain ourselves any considerable notoriety," he sighed. "We haven't been sailing long."

"Uh-huh. And destiny's smile has what exactly to do with you tracking us down?" Lana pressed.

"I'll get right to the point, Miss Avariya. My crew is panning a job. A heist of legendary proportions, something that'll be sure to put all our names on the map when we pull it off. The one thing we're missing is an expert lockbreaker. I've come here to offer you a cut of our haul in return for helping obtain it."

'Yeah right. There's a double-cross here, I can see it from a mile away,' Lana thought derisively.

"Wow, cool!" Alan exclaimed, starry-eyed. "Lana, let's do it!"

"You dope!" Lana roared, smacking the back of his head. He cried out and rubbed his scalp dejectedly. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is working with pirates?! They'll use us, kill is and keep any loot to divide among themselves!"

"But Lana, you're a pirate too!" Alan protested. "Don't you guys have like, some kind of code of honor or something?"

"Yeah, the code is to get rich by any means necessary!" Lana seethed.

"Well not necessarily, love, but don't let me interrupt," Bracken put in. Lana ignored him while Alan tugged her arm.

"Mr. Brac- I mean, captain Bracken, would you excuse us for a minute?" he said.

"By all means."

Lana allowed Alan to pull her into a close huddle.

"So clearly, you don't trust these guys," Alan began.

"You mean this dodgy guy and his shady crew who won't even show their faces? Who definitely followed us here from the last island and refuse to cop to it? No, Alan, I have no reason to trust Bracken and like, five hundred good ones not to!"

"Okay, fair, but hear me out!"

"You just want another adventure!" Lana accused him. "You'd better make a damn good point with the next thing you say or I'm gonna hit you so hard-"

"Got it, I got it!" Alan snapped. "Geez! Look, I can think things through when I try, okay? And I thought this through."

"Lemme hear it then."

"Right, so the navy knows we're on this island. It's only a matter of time before they find us."

"I can handle the marines," Lana grumbled. She could feel him approaching a decent point.

"And how long before they send someone you can't handle?"

Lana's silence informed Alan that he was on the right track.

"Captain Bracken's offering us an easy way off the island," he went on. "If you won't do the heist with them, couldn't you at least make a deal that gets us out of this mess we're in?"

Lana consider his words.

"That's... a fair assessment," she commended him grudgingly. "Bracken!"

"Have you two made a decision, love?"

"I have."

"And?"

"I can't accept your offer. I'm not really interested in your treasure and if you promise me a share, you'll stab me in the back for sure."

"I'm hurt you'd assume such an ugly thing," Bracken pouted.

"That being said, I'm open to a different arrangement," Lana went on.

"Oh?"

"Something mutually beneficial. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

"Well I wasn't aware I had an itch, love, but I'm all ears regardless," Bracken shot back cattily.

"We need a ride off this island and I assume you have a ship. Get us out of this region of the sea and I'll help with your heist in return."

Bracken raised an eyebrow.

"You're telling me you don't want any of the loot?" he demanded.

"Yep."

"None at all?"

"Not even a little bit. I just want a ride out of here for me and my brother."

Behind Bracken, a girl with curly, powder blue hair fell out of a tree with a startled yelp.

"She doesn't want any of the loot?!" the girl demanded.

"Smooth, Ginger, really smooth," Bracken commented.

"What the hell kind of pirate are you anyway?!" Ginger howled, righting herself and regarding Lana with incredulity that bordered on rage.

"What's it to you?!" Lana shot back, hands hovering over her daggers as she felt the alarming intensity of Ginger's emotions. This girl harbored incredibly violent latent intent, thought it wasn't necessarily directed at Lana. It seemed to be an inherent personality trait.

'Here come the others!'

Two more pirates stepped into view, much more tactfully than Ginger.

"Don't be so surprised," sighed a thin man carrying an excess of pistols. "She's a straw hat. If you believe the stories, they're an eccentric bunch."

"Yeah, I hear their captain, Straw Hat Luffy, doesn't care about loot at all," the second man chipped in. He was an archer with shining yellow hair longer than Lana's. "He's only interested in chasing the one piece, hoping to become king of the pirates."

"That's stupid! Everyone cares about loot!" Ginger cried. She leveled an accusatory finger at Lana. "We can't trust her! She's talking about us double-crossing her, but this whole thing stinks to high heaven! I'd bet you anything she's secretly plotting to pull one over on us once the job is done! She'll make off with the loot! She's just acting like she doesn't want a share so we'll drop our guard!"

"What?! I'm gonna do all that, just me and my doofus kid brother?!" Lana roared back, incensed. "What kind of sad excuse for a pirate crew are you anyway?! Don't you have any confidence in your own abilities?! If you can't protect your precious loot from two passengers, you deserve to have it taken away!"

"SEE?! She just admitted it!" Ginger cried, gesturing animatedly while Bracken sighed heavily.

"Olaf, Ginger's getting too excited," he said wearily.

"On it, captain," the man with the pistols said. He stepped up to the still-yelling Ginger and started patting her shoulders gently.

"Shh, shh, shh," he intoned.

Ginger stood still, vibrating with fury that slowly dissipated while Olaf patted and shushed her.

Lana cocked an eyebrow at the quirky scene, but quickly turned her attention back to Bracken.

"If you don't trust us, we'll find our own way off this island," she declared.

"Think you could, love?" Bracken questioned. "The navy seems rather hellbent on capturing you."

"They're not, or they'd have sent out a vice-admiral by now," Lana reasoned. "And anyway, I've been in tighter spots before. So? Do you accept my offer or not?"

"Well despite Ginger's histrionics, I actually don't see much reason not to," Bracken grinned. "You've got yourself a deal, lockbreaker Lana."

Lana grinned back, but inwardly found herself hoping she hadn't made a terrible mistake.

___________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

#one piece #fanfic #oc #sandbox adventures #pure garbage

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