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joequiinn · 4 months ago

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The Dos & Don'ts of Fake Dating | E.M. x reader | pt. 13

[chap twelve] | [all chapters here] | [chap fourteen]

Story Summary: You propose a crazy idea to the resident freak of Hawkins, Eddie Munson. But maybe he was even crazier for agreeing to it…

notes & tropes: fem reader, slooow burn, faking dating, opposites attract, bratty rich bitch reader, super minor revenge plot, dysfunctional family dynamics, idiots-to-lovers

a/n: We've got another chapter here that I absolutely love! Now that ice princess realizes what she's feeling, the shenanigans are that much more amusing~

wc: 7.2k

Chapter Thirteen

Come Monday morning, you were still struggling to grasp all the shit that had transpired over the weekend, the short two days of it feeling more like a lifetime. What should have just been a fun party led to a chaotic fight with your family, and that chaotic fight led you to realize that you had a god damn crush on Eddie that you had been trying to ignore for the past twelve fucking hours. And to top it all off, you still couldn’t remember most of Saturday night, leaving you with the sensation of lost time, with the vague feeling that you were forgetting something vital but not knowing what that could possibly be.

When you finally recognized what exactly you were feeling for Eddie - what you probably had been feeling the past week or so, despite your own obliviousness - you didn’t know what the hell to do with those feelings. You tried your best to play it cool as you and Eddie ate food and watched movies and shared his bed Sunday night, but you were certain he could see your hesitation, could feel your trepidation. It felt like a damn sitcom once you started thinking about it - you had to pretend you didn’t have a crush on the boy you were pretending to date. How much more ridiculous could it get?

You’d already decided there wasn’t a chance in hell you would tell Eddie about this. For starters, you weren’t sure if this was a real crush or if all the fake dating was getting to your head; you would be the person to start confusing fake feelings with real ones amidst all the shit you and Eddie had been through thus far.

And if that weren’t the case, you could simply be feeling this was because Eddie was nice to you - you’d never really felt this attracted to someone before, simply dating because it’s what was expected of you, so it could very well be due to Eddie’s kind nature. Niceties didn’t exactly come easy to you, your old friends, or any of your exes, so you couldn’t let yourself go and develop feelings for the first boy that was simply kind to you. You figured that’s just how he was, how he treated all his friends.

On top of that, you didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment of telling Eddie about this only for him to reject you. The two of you were such opposites, so very different, that it seemed unfathomable for Eddie to reciprocate your feelings - what interest would he have in you, a girl who was rude and impatient and bossy as all hell?

Sure, you’d caught him looking at your legs or your chest a couple of times, but considering that that’s how all boys have looked at you since puberty, you couldn’t take those moments into account - physical attractiveness was surely something Eddie wasn’t too concerned about, if his character was anything to go on.

And, shit, Eddie was so unlike anyone you’d previously been into, it almost felt crazy to even entertain the idea of liking him. This was nerdy, goofy, metalhead Eddie, the kid who was a terrible student, who dealt drugs, who spent hours playing silly board games that you couldn’t even begin to understand - how did all of that possibly come together to create a package that caught your attention? You hated to be shallow about it, but on paper this maybe-crush on Eddie shouldn’t have happened and couldn’t ever work.

So, no, you wouldn’t let him know about this ridiculous little crush of yours, because it would simply pass in time. You’d move on from it sooner or later, meaning there was no need to draw attention to it now. Give it a couple of weeks, and this whole silly thing would be forgotten - that was your mantra when you woke up far, far too early on Monday morning.

Why you were up before the fucking sun was beyond you - one minute, you were asleep like the dead, and then the next you were wide awake. You figured it must’ve been because you and Eddie spent the majority of Sunday sleeping, and now your body clock was completely out of whack. You begrudgingly sat up in bed - realizing with a blush that you and Eddie were practically on top of each other once again - and glanced over at the alarm clock. You groaned when you saw that it was just after five o’clock.

You rose to your feet and shuffled around the bed, remembering that you saw a pack of cigarettes somewhere on the nightstand. You felt around blindly until you had the box and a lighter in hand, tiptoeing to the door with a silent prayer that it wouldn’t creak and wake Eddie. As you closed it gently behind you, a deep exhale escaped you before you opened the door that led to the rickety little balcony attached to the house.

Of course, you weren’t expecting to see Wayne there with a cigarette of his own, his presence causing you to gasp and nearly jump. You seemed to have startled him a little as well, but he was much more calm in showing his surprise. For a couple awkward moments, you lingered in the open door, unsure of whether or not to give Eddie’s uncle space; but he nonchalantly waved his hand, a simple indicator to join him.

“He’s not up, is he?” Wayne asked, his voice gruff but kind. You shook your head, leaning on the arm of the worn-out couch while popping a cigarette between your lips, flicking the lighter until you could feel the nicotine in your mouth, “Nasty habit.”

Wayne’s eyes twinkled at his joke, the humor only emphasized by the deep drag he took from his cigarette. You couldn’t help but smile, amused by the fact that he could say that with a perfectly straight face - it was immediately obvious that he and Eddie were related.

You wrapped your arms around yourself while slowly blowing smoke between your lips - despite your sweater, you probably could have used at least one more layer to keep warm. October was always an unpredictable month for the weather in Hawkins - one day the sun would shine bright, the next you’d be freezing your ass off. Your eyes drifted across the quiet trailer park for a few beats before you looked at Wayne again.

“Not a habit I expected to pick up.” You answered conversationally, hoping he didn’t feel as awkward as you did - you weren’t really sure how to talk to the man who raised your fake boyfriend that you totally weren’t crushing on. Wayne hummed in response, allowing you to study him as he also looked around at the neighbor’s homes absentmindedly.

“Should we formally introduce ourselves, or would you prefer to stay strangers?” Again, you smiled at Wayne’s distinct personality, rough around the edges but so clearly kind at his core. Again, it reminded you of Eddie. His sense of humor was odd, but not off-putting to you - maybe that stemmed from your own habit of speaking plainly and from an emotional distance.

So, you gave Wayne your name and he returned the favor, nodding simply while dropping his cigarette butt in the nearby ashtray. He looked up at you with an expression that you’d seen on Eddie’s face before, which was nearly startling - his eyes were studious, as if he were trying to make sense of you, a stare that you were becoming all too familiar with. You could feel your neck warm a little as you waited for him to say something.

“Relax, kid,” He pointed lazily to the couch, which you still chose to lean against rather than sit on. So, you slowly settled yourself onto the cushion, trying to ignore the worn spring that poked at your back. Again, Wayne studied you for a moment longer, making you a little nervous under his stare, “You seem good for Ed.”

The simple statement took you aback, your brows going up in response, which must have amused Wayne if his faint smirk was anything to go on. You looked down while taking another deep drag, shaking your head a little, though not necessarily in disagreement. Really, you didn’t know why you shook your head. Maybe because you knew you and Eddie were bullshitting everyone, and getting a compliment of that sort from Wayne felt wrong; it made you all too aware of your deception.

He shrugged simply, looking back out at the horizon and the vague streams of sunlight that were just beginning to come up, “Suit yourself.”

“You’re probably the only person who sees it,” You responded smally, taking one last inhale from your cigarette. As if on cue, Wayne held the ashtray in your direction, and you put the cigarette out with a thankful look. It’s not as if you wanted to complain to Wayne, but the words just seemed to roll out of you with ease, “I knew people wouldn’t like me and Eddie dating, but I guess I never thought about just how terrible they’d all be… Or maybe it’s me, fuck if I know.”

You were tempted to grab another cigarette just so you could have something to do with your hands, but you settled for fidgeting with the lighter instead. Wayne turned his eyes back towards you for a brief moment, but the both of you continued to stare anywhere but at each other. It felt so damn odd to be here, sitting in silence with Eddie’s uncle with such ease - it should’ve been more awkward, you should’ve been more standoffish. But maybe after yesterday, your energy was too low to be worried about that sort of thing.

“So long as you’re not causing too much trouble, there’s no harm.” He answered simply, slouching a little in his fold out chair, crossing his arms over his chest comfortably, “You two’ll be just fine.”

“You’re sure about that?” You couldn’t help but counter, although not argumentatively; no, you asked it because you simply didn’t believe it.

Wayne shrugged again, meeting your eyes, “That’s up to you, isn’t it?”

You couldn’t argue with that, so you simply made a noncommittal face of agreement, biting the inside of your cheek as you watched more sun rays slowly shine in the sky. The two of you sat in a comfortable, companionable silence for a few minutes, although your mind was going a hundred miles an hour - you couldn’t help but find it odd how easy it was to exist in the same space as Wayne, a man that you literally just spoke to for the first time.

You were bombarded by thoughts of your own family and how damn different this was. Most days, it was impossible to even be in the same room as your father, whose domineering energy was oftentimes unbearable and irritating. Meanwhile the man who raised Eddie put you immediately at ease, had a relaxed energy that invited you to him. For a moment, you felt a flare of anger that you never got to have someone kind like this in your life, that your “idealistic family” was the exact opposite of such.

Wayne eventually rose to his feet, grunting a little as he looked down at you, “I got a long day ahead.”

You nodded, deciding to head back inside too; you’d been willing to fight the morning cold for the sake of sitting with Wayne, but if he was heading back inside you sure as hell weren’t going to stay out here. He held the door open for you, and you nodded in thanks while ducking back into the house, trying to make yourself small against the bedroom door so that you didn’t take up the cramped hallway space. As Wayne shut the door behind him, he gave you a kind little smile.

“Make sure he’s up at a decent time,” he pointed at Eddie’s closed door, “he can’t be missing any more school if he wants to graduate.”

You gave a short nod before opening the bedroom behind you, slipping inside as Wayne turned towards the restroom. Your eyes had to adjust to the darkness of the room, your feet sliding quietly across the floor to avoid tripping over anything and making more noise than necessary.

“Were you talking to Wayne?” Eddie’s voice startled you from the dark, a surprised sound escaping you as you shot a look in his direction. Your ears warmed as your heart beat just a little faster, something that made you immediately want to kick yourself - you don’t like Eddie, you reminded yourself on repeat.

Your eyes had adjusted enough that you could see the outline of Eddie’s silhouette propped up on one elbow in bed. Your voice was quiet with your response, “Yeah.”

Eddie hummed, much in that same way that you heard Wayne do earlier, which caused you to smile to yourself. You glanced at the alarm clock near him as you stood near the bed.

“He said you can’t miss school, so you should probably take me home.” Even without being able to see Eddie’s face, it’s as if you could feel the concern settling in there. Going out on a limb, you added, “Don’t give me that look.”

“You can’t even see my face!” Eddie’s ruffled voice was laced with humor.

“I don’t need to see it to know you’re pitying me.” You laughed a little, but were surprised by Eddie’s hand grabbing your forearm; you hadn’t realized you were close enough for him to touch you, and it sent a jolt through your body.

“I’m not,” You knew he was leveling you with a serious stare, “Just… worried, considering yesterday.”

Your brows turned down, “The longer I avoid them, the worse it’ll get; I wanna piss them off, but not so bad that they start plotting my murder.”

“Why not just wait? We’ll go to school, then you can deal with them later.” Eddie’s grip on your arm tightened for a brief moment before he released you.

You laughed smally, “Well, considering my outfit choices are either ‘teenage boy’s dirty pajamas’ or ‘Saturday night hooker,’ I’d rather go home and change first.”

Eddie scoffed but nonetheless laughed with you; you thought you heard him grumble “Saturday night hooker” to himself, but you couldn’t be sure, as at the same moment he kicked off the bedsheets and stumbled over to open the curtains. You both cringed a little, the sun now high enough in the sky for its light to come through the window. You watched as Eddie yawned and stretched, first twisting his back before raising his arms above his head. Seeing a sliver of skin at his waist, you quickly diverted your gaze, not wanting to be caught staring as your ears grew hot. In a measly effort to distract yourself, you began to collect what few belongings you had lying around the room.

“If it makes you feel better, my dad’ll already be gone by the time we get there,” You started, glancing back towards Eddie, your eyes briefly looking him up and down, “And you can come in with me - that’ll keep my mom from acting hysterical.”

A slight laugh escaped him, “You sure I won’t cause the hysterics?”

You shrugged as you two turned back towards one another, “I guess we’ll see.”

Eddie looked to be in consideration of something for a beat before accepting your response, “Right. Gimme ten minutes.”

The trek to your house was passed in relative ease - with how much he chauffeured you around these days, you figured you probably owed Eddie quite a lot of gas money.

At the house, you two didn’t even cross paths with your mother, who was cooped up in the master suite the entire time - she probably didn’t even know you and Eddie were there, too busy fussing with her extensive morning routine. You tried to freshen up as quickly as possible, fussing with your hair, reapplying makeup, choosing a new outfit.

All the while, Eddie studied your room, looking to be in total disbelief at how much space you had - your room was double the size of his, you had a walk-in closet, and your own en suite bathroom. You were beginning to feel self-conscious, guilty at how much excessive space you had compared to what little he had in his own home.

When you finally exited the bathroom, you found Eddie studying your VHS collection that lined nearly an entire bookshelf. You wondered if he was impressed by the assortment or if he was resentful of how much you had. Aside from the shelf of movies, little of your personality was truly conveyed in your bedroom - your mother was too fussy about the house to allow you to completely make the space your own. Yes, you had your trophies and medals on display, you had framed photos from your childhood placed sparingly about, you had pretty pastel throw pillows and decor, but otherwise the room was nearly clinical in appearance. Again, you felt sheepish about what Eddie’s impression of it might be.

You led Eddie back out of the house just as quickly as you’d led him in, unwilling to hang around longer than necessary. And, much to your surprise, you two actually made it to school with just a few minutes to spare. You nearly, impulsive leaned in to hug Eddie goodbye, but caught yourself mid-movement, awkwardly spinning around to rush off towards your first period class. You hoped he didn’t clock what you nearly did, and you also hoped the embarrassment didn’t alight your face once you caught yourself and ran off. You did not like Eddie, you reminded yourself yet again.

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As the lunch bell rang out, you quickly scooped your belongings off the lab table you shared with a fellow student, retreating from the classroom without stealing a glance back. All throughout fourth period, you caught Duncan shooting loathsome looks your way, and considering how your weekend had gone, you really weren’t in the mood to deal with him.

You figured he had one of two reasons to be pissy with you: the most likely reason was, of course, the fact that someone slashed his tires homecoming night. That someone was you, but you sure as hell weren’t about to confirm that for him.

The second, and less likely, reason was that you and Eddie actually won homecoming king and queen; apparently, everyone in this school had a shitty enough sense of humor to latch onto that miserable joke.

You found out during second period as you mindlessly streaked watercolors across paper, letting the paint bleed and puddle together. At the work station closest to you was Chrissy, who seemed to be just as mindlessly focusing on whatever she was doing; she was interrupted by a fellow cheerleader, who was being far from subtle when she asked “so, Chrissy, what do you think of the little ice princess over there beating you out for the crown?”

It was clear that the girl was trying to start something, so you simply shot her the coldest glare you could muster; you unintentionally caught Chrissy’s eyes a moment later, and to your surprise she appeared somewhat apologetic. As the second cheerleader walked away, you “accidentally” knocked over your cup of filthy paint water, trying not to relish in the way the girl squealed as it splashed down the length of her leg. You thought you may have seen Chrissy smirk, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking.

So, knowing that Duncan surely wanted to confront you about something, you hightailed it out of class, doing your best to try and avoid him. You’d had enough confrontation the past weekend to last you at least the next month.

Of course, your running off didn’t dissuade Duncan in the slightest; he caught up to you quickly and roughly grabbed your shoulder, trying to spin you around. Without a second thought, you aggressively smacked his hand, causing him to exclaim with pain while pulling back.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” You bite, turning your fiery glare onto Duncan, crossing your arms and jutting your hip with all the attitude you could muster. From the look on his face, you knew he was too worked up for something as simple as homecoming - this was most definitely about his car.

A mean scoff sounded in his throat, his tone accusatory as packs of students parted around you two in the migration to the cafeteria, “Were you the one that messed with my car?”

You gave Duncan an innocent look of confusion, although you weren’t overly concerned with it being all that convincing - if your eyes glittered with amusement, then so be it.

“What are you talking about?” You had to fight back the beguiled grin that dared to cross your lips - that would’ve been as good as admitting you were guilty, and you weren’t about to do that. No, you’d just mock him with your eyes, taunt him with your words.

Duncan gave you a mean, challenging glare, eyes narrowing as he took a step towards you. Squaring your shoulders, you refused to move an inch, planting yourself firmly - this boy didn’t scare you in the slightest, no matter how hard he tried, “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“No, I really don’t.” Your response was clipped as the both of you glared daggers, neither of you willing to back down to the other.

“So, your dumb boyfriend, then?” Duncan grinned cruelly, as if Eddie was just a joke to him; your jaw clenched harder, your heart skipping as the need to defend him arose. You took a moment to collect yourself, however, knowing that you couldn’t fly off the handle and accidentally say something you’d regret.

“I don’t know what you think Eddie did, but leave him the hell alone.” Your tone was low and serious as you took a couple slow, taunting steps back, preparing to end this face off before it could continue.

In the next moment, though, Amelia and a couple of Duncan’s friends appeared nearby, clearly en route to meet him; a part of you wondered if they knew he planned on confronting you like this. Seeing the intent in their faces, you rolled your mean eyes, turning to walk away because you just knew this shit was about to get worse.

“Hey, homecoming queen, where you running off to?” Amelia’s sing-song taunting grated at you, and you shot a vicious glare back over your shoulder.

“Anywhere but here, runner-up.” You gave her an impudent smile as you continued to walk away. But you could hear them following just a step behind you, which is exactly what you had expected of them; you used to be one of these kids, after all, so you knew all of their tricks.

“It’s rude to leave in the middle of a conversation.” Amelia’s voice trailed behind you as an annoyed sigh left your mouth. You continued forward, hoping that your posture appeared completely unbothered, even as the look on your face showed otherwise. The group continued to talk to your back, and you fought hard to keep your mouth wired shut, refusing to respond to their incessant taunting.

You rounded a corner as they determinedly followed after you, and when you nearly walked right into Eddie, a sense of relief washed over you; he must have been on his way to meet you, considering this direction was opposite of the cafeteria. He looked startled and then amused to bump into you, until the group of assholes rounded the corner as well, causing his expression to quickly falter. The two of you shared a tired, fed up look - yesterday was one problem, today was another, and it left you wondering if these annoyances would only continue.

“Would you look at that - just the guy I wanted to talk to.” Duncan greeted with cruel, false friendliness. Without ever having come to a full stop, you grabbed Eddie’s hand and yanked him along with you, forcing him to stumble over his feet before meeting your pace as you continued retreating from this bullshit confrontation, “Oh, come on, wait; I just wanna talk.”

“Piss off, he didn't do shit.” You responded harshly, staring ahead with a wicked glare, although you knew walking away wouldn’t stop them from taunting you. You've seen enough of these antagonistic conversations before to know exactly what to expect - they’d find a way to corner you, mock and belittle you, and then once they were satisfied with your misery, they’d laugh and leave as if nothing happened. You loathed to think that you were once friends with these people, that you were once as nasty as them, and so you were determined to not let this crap happen to you and Eddie.

“The hell are you running for?” Amelia continued with a hint of aggression in her tone. Her hand fell roughly onto your shoulder, manicured nails digging into your skin, “What, are you feeling guilty about something?”

Just like with Duncan, you swatted Amelia’s hand but refused to stop for her, your angered glare deepening as you resisted the temptation to look back at her. You couldn’t give her that satisfaction. But, as you expected, Amelia didn’t like being brushed off, so in retaliation she gave Eddie’s back an unexpected shove, causing you both to stumble a little.

And that was the exact switch that she needed to flip, because without a second thought you whipped around to confront her, tugging your hand out of Eddie’s so you could jab a finger at Amelia. As your energy boiled red hot, you could see her torn between satisfaction and fear.

“Don’t fucking start with me.” You threatened as she matched your glare with her own. All the boys stood back, creating a pseudo-fighting ring around you and Amelia as you both waited for the other’s next move.

“Or what?” She taunted as you arched your brow challengingly; your jaw was clenched so tight that your teeth nearly hurt. When you didn’t grace her with a response, Amelia rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion, “Geez, you’re so tempermental these days, it's ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous is the fact that you won’t just leave us alone.” You looked around the group harshly, your glower darkening on Duncan before you returned your cruel gaze to Amelia, “I’m not gonna take your shit, so stop trying to intimidate me.”

Again, she rolled her eyes, this time with a condescending smirk, “I don’t need to intimidate you; it’s more fun to get a rise out of you, anyway.” When your face tightened with annoyance, she added with satisfaction, “See? Even that got to you, you make it so easy.”

You resisted the urge to insult her or smack her, resisted the temptation to spew terrible things in her face - you couldn’t take anymore fighting right now, and you couldn’t give her any of the satisfaction that would come with your retaliating. So, you took a couple steady breaths through your nose, your eyes flaring with intensity before you calmed down.

“Whatever.” You huffed, rolling your eyes as you turned back towards Eddie, ready to lead him away from this group of bullies.

“Do you even realize how damn transparent you two are?” Amelia prodded again. You wished you were stubborn enough to just walk away, but you couldn’t help but look back over your shoulder; her expression was smug, arms crossed with a sassy attitude, “Some of us have started placing bets on when you’ll finally give this up.”

She got you going again whether you liked it or not, and so you mirrored Amelia’s posture as she looked cruelly between you and Eddie, “Give what up?”

“You’re clearly faking this whole thing.” Your surprised, affronted expression only seemed to amuse her, egging her on even as you tried to control the nervous beating of your heart, “You and Munson? Do you think any of us have been buying this? This whole thing between you too is so fake, it's almost sad.”

Putting on a brave, confident face, you bit back with malice, “Really, you think we’re faking all of this? Shows how much you know.”

“Please, I’ve known you since grade school.” Amelia took a challenging step towards you, eyes alight with spite, “You hate being touched, you’ve told me as much - wouldn’t even let Duncan hold your hand or hug you most of the time. But you cling to this freak as if you’re obsessed with him? It's performative.”

You were about to retaliate, but Amelia was just a little faster and a little louder as she continued over you, bulldozing through whatever you may have wanted to say.

“And don’t get me started on the stupid little face Munson makes at you, like he’s asking for permission to do something or that he needs approval of what he says. I don’t know why, but you put him up to this - I can read you better than anyone else.”

A worried part of you knew that, in some ways, Amelia was right - you two had spent so many years by each other’s sides, and had done just about everything together since you were five or six years old. The rapid dissolution of your friendship didn’t mean that you two would simply forget everything about one another - how could you forget the time Amelia stayed up late in the night to help you with a school project, how could she forget the time you instigated a fight with a boy who rejected her?

Hell, you and Amelia had spent more time with each other than either of you had spent with Janet, having sleepovers without her or going to movies and not telling her. At one time, you two were practically attached at the hip, doing nearly everything together from the ages of ten to thirteen.

So, if anyone was going to see through your lie, it would be Amelia - it didn’t matter just how good a liar you were, Amelia knew how you ticked. And, apparently, she’d been paying a lot of attention to you and Eddie, probably trying to catch you two in a lie.

But, then again, if she knew this was fake, why didn’t she say something about it sooner? Was she simply watching and waiting in amusement, anticipating when you’d give up the act? Or was she using this lie of yours to her advantage somehow? Better yet, was she the one lying to you right now, saying anything just to get a reaction from you?

As your angry eyes bounced around Amelia’s face in search of the truth, your expression only darkened, feeling fired up and eager to fight. When she simply raised a mocking eyebrow - daring you to prove her wrong - your stubbornness flared to the point that your fiery frustration boiled back down to icy contempt.

Without a moment of hesitation, you gave her a smart look, your tone condescending and cold, accentuated by a mean smirk, “Well, how about you try reading this, you jealous bitch.”

With a flip of your hair you marched back towards Eddie, completely blind to the potential repercussions of what you were about to do. Your determined eyes met his confused ones, but you didn’t take a moment to second guess yourself as you threw your arms around his neck, knotting your fingers into the curls at the nape of his neck. For a split second, you could see the alarmed realization in Eddie’s face, but just as quickly you were drawing that handsome face down towards yours.

Your lips crashed together like rocky waves, noses bumping and teeth practically clashing; the kiss was sloppy and haphazard, the farthest thing from hot, and yet your entire body pulsed along with the excited leap of your heart. Eddie went rigid against you as if in alarm, and so you kissed him encouragingly, as if silently insisting that he get it together. When you tightened your grip on his hair and pressed your body flush against his, you could feel Eddie’s shoulders relax, could feel the exact moment that he gave himself over to you.

Once Eddie’s lips moved wantonly against yours, sparks flew through your entire being, your heart drumming aggressively in your chest as heat pooled in your center. In sync, you and Eddie melted together, a lithe arm snaking around your waist and pressing firmly against the small of your back; the flex of his fingers along your spine sent another surge through your body, a satisfied sigh daring to escape you.

God, you felt fucking weak in the knees, like a melting puddle in Eddie’s arms; as if to keep yourself upright, you cling to him even tighter, your lips suddenly full of a hungry, desperate fervor. Eddie’s kiss was inexperienced and tentative, and yet you found him utterly intoxicating, his mouth tasting malted and smoky as if he’d recently had a cigarette.

You were consumed by the moment, forgetting yourself as your tongue teased at Eddie’s lower lip; perhaps for the best, it caused him to hesitate, even as you felt him gasp against your lips. For a moment, he pinned you tighter against him before bringing the heated kiss to an end, pulling back with a deep breath as he watched you through his lashes.

Short breaths caused your chest to press against Eddie’s in a way that you tried to ignore, your hooded eyes staring at the shiny tint of your gloss that had transferred to his full lips. Electricity coursed through you, your body sensitive and heated as you finally met Eddie’s attentive, fraught gaze; as you stared, your mind was too frazzled to even think straight.

As if he could tell you were reeling, Eddie composed himself to the best of his ability, taking a step back, but keeping his hand securely on your back as if to keep you upright. Coming back to yourself, you blinked and attempted to correct your expression, nearly too embarrassed to look back at the group that was surely ogling the two of you.

In an effort to appear entirely unaffected, you brushed your hair back from your face and huffed as you met Amelia’s eyes. Your cheeks were flushed and your eyes were still probably large with surprise, but you attempted to give her a smart, mean look; your voice was weaker than you would have liked as you asked accusatory, “You perverts enjoy that?”

Eddie, too, tried to put up a calm and collected front, using his hand on your back to guide you in the opposite direction of your former friends. While flipping the bird over his shoulder, he attempted to give them a self-satisfied grin, although to you it was so clearly false. Much like you, his tone wasn’t entirely convincing, “Go find someone else to torment.”

As the two of you continued down the hall, you found yourself momentarily hypnotized by Eddie’s features, mesmerized by each tiny detail of his eyes, his mouth, his skin. When he looked forward again, you quickly scrubbed away the look of uncertain elation on your face, forcing yourself to put on an impassive expression. As you stared mindlessly ahead, you had to resist the temptation to press your fingertips to your swollen lips, trying not to be so damn in awe of the fact that you kissed Eddie.

The trek to the cafeteria was passed in total silence, as if neither of you knew how to strike up a conversation after that; your cheeks were warm as you kept stealing glances up at Eddie, who faced forward as if determined not to meet your eyes. The kiss played in your head over and over again as if it were a goddamn movie, the reel on a loop as you thought about his musky scent engulfing you, his wild hair tickling your face, his dexterous hand holding you close.

You could feel heat rising all the way up your neck and ears now, causing you to nearly giggle as you suppressed a grin. You thought you may have caught Eddie glancing at you, but you couldn’t quite bring yourself to check in case you two met eyes - that would most certainly make you laugh like a schoolgirl, and you were not about to do that.

You were at odds with yourself - your silly, childish side was practically fawning over the damned kiss, meanwhile your colder, more adamant side tried to shove the giddiness down. You were supposed to be moving on from this crush on Eddie, not making it worse. You shouldn’t have been stupid, you shouldn’t have kissed him, but you got caught up in the heat of the moment, allowing your pride to outweigh your head.

But, shit, that kiss was too good, and you just knew you’d be thinking about it for the rest of the week. You were an absolute idiot for kissing Eddie like that, and you wanted to kick yourself for it. You had to wonder what the hell Eddie was thinking, what the hell he’d say about this later; you both clearly figured that now wasn’t the time, hence your silence, although you feared the inevitable discussion that would come from this.

With each glance you stole up at Eddie’s annoyingly attractive face, you grew more and more worried that maybe you upset him by doing that. Unfortunately for you, now was one of the few times he seemed guarded, because you couldn’t read his straight expression in the slightest. You figured he must’ve understood why you kissed him, but you also suspected that it made him uncomfortable, even as he kissed you back just to appease the onlookers.

You already knew Eddie was a good actor, always putting on a performance for whoever was around even if they were his friends, so his ability to seamlessly slide into the kiss was terribly convincing. In that way, you were lucky, because neither of you looked stupid in front of your attempted bullies. But not so luckily for you, that kiss was far too enticing, as your heart still beat rapidly in your chest and your head was still fuzzy with confusion.

As you two entered the cafeteria and Eddie threw up that easy, joyful smile that often rested across his lips, it reaffirmed that, yes, he was acting, doing exactly the thing you asked him to in this little game of make-believe. You were almost mesmerized by how easily he played his part, guiding you through the lunch line and then to your table, tugging your chair closer to his so he could rest his knee against yours or throw his arm over your shoulder.

It went from being mesmerizing to annoying, because how could he so seamlessly put on these fronts when you were still struggling to regain your composure? How could he laugh and tell stories while his hand was on your thigh and making your entire body feel static? God, it was almost pathetic how worked up you’d gotten, and you just prayed that no one drew attention to it.

As lunch went on and Eddie kept everyone entertained, something began to nag at you that you couldn’t quite place, like a pressure at the back of your skull trying to remind you of something. All throughout the hour, the nagging grew as the kiss played through your mind again and again, even as you tried to think about literally anything else.

While trying to place what was worrying at your mind, you traced your finger lightly along your lower lip, back and forth in an unconscious motion that you weren’t aware of until your gaze flicked over to Eddie. His eyes were locked onto your lips, even as he spoke to the rest of the group, though his speech seemed to slow a little. You quickly dropped your hand into your lap, your body tightening nervously.

You realized that what you felt was a sense of familiarity, that there was an incomplete memory in your head on the verge of coming back to the surface. It was almost as if… kissing Eddie reminded you of something else, recalled another moment in some way. As you lingered on this, it almost seemed as if you already knew his musky scent, his plush lips, his lingering touch. But that was crazy - why would any of those things be familiar to you?

Had the kiss with Eddie simply been similar to a kiss you’d had with someone in the past? Perhaps you were confusing moments, befuddling sensations, because you most certainly hadn’t kissed Eddie before. Nothing about this should have stirred some kind of half-remembered moment, yet, you couldn’t just shake off that peculiar feeling.

You’ve never kissed Eddie prior to today, that couldn’t have happened, so why were you somehow under the impression that you had? When would you have done something that ridiculous and bold and thoughtless?

And then it hit you like a ton of bricks - the hours lost to your mind, waking up in the van, Eddie’s nerves throughout the morning.

Did you kiss him at the party?

With an anxious skip of your heart, your apprehensive gaze flicked back over to Eddie, who was caught up in telling a new story that you hadn’t been listening to you. You drank in his features with a mixture of desire and dread, torn between the two parts of yourself. You couldn’t have kissed him at the party, right? Even if you were drunk off your ass, that seemed like the kind of thing you wouldn’t so easily forget. But you had forgotten so much of that night, had a gap in your memory the size of a canyon… anything could have happened in those however-many hours that slipped by you.

Staring at Eddie’s lips, a wave of nerves crashed over you, and you had to force yourself to look elsewhere. If you did kiss him, why wouldn’t he have brought it up? Why wouldn’t he have asked about it? You must have made him uncomfortable, must have done something that he didn’t like, and he’d rather ignore it than ever address it again. And like an idiot, you kissed him again today, which probably did nothing to make Eddie feel any easier around you.

That was all the confirmation you needed to decide that you could never tell Eddie about this crush of yours - if he liked you in that same way, you would have already known about it. He would have mentioned that supposed first kiss, right? But because he hadn’t, you knew it wasn’t a subject he wanted to address.

And, so, this kiss wouldn’t be discussed either, you decided. You could ignore the butterflies in your stomach for Eddie’s sake, you could go on pretending that everything was perfectly fine between the two of you. You had to pretend.

With a dejected slump of your shoulders, you crossed your arms and slouched; Eddie’s hand still rested easily atop your thigh, and the way you lulled in the seat caused his fingertips to brush under your skirt a little, sending a bawdy jolt up through your center. You stole a timid glance at him from the corner of your eyes, watching as he realized his hand was higher on your leg before he pulled it back with a start.

There was no way Eddie liked you back, and you sighed to yourself, already missing his warm skin against yours.

@3rd-conchord @a-queen-blr @adelalaaa @adversary713 @avalon-wolf

@cosmicdanielle @costellation-hunter @daisy-munson @daisyridleyss @damon-loves-pie

@damp4eddie @delilaaahhh @eddiernunson @em0220 @frogtape

@fromasgardandback @fckyeahlames @graciehams @kellsck @kthomps914

@littlexdeaths @lotrefcp @love-anonymous-writer @marrowfrog00 @maskofmirrors

@mewchiili @miaajaade @miss-celestial-being @mmmunson @moonisu

@munsonssweets @no-bueno-writer @nxrdamp @rach5ive @rcailleachcola

@sav12321 @seatbacksandtraytables @sheneedsrocknroll92 @sokkasimp101 @steeldaisies

@stormgrl19 @swiftsgirlfriend @welcometohellsock @whats-my-question @xxsxdghxstxx

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #stranger things #em #dos and donts

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violetsiren90 · 7 months ago

Text

The Light of Your Eyes

Pairing: best friend's younger brother!Changbin x f!Reader

Genre: one-shot; friends to lovers; smut and fluff; hurt/comfort

Summary: Can the gentle touch of an unexpected pair of hands on your body heal the wounds of your soul?

Sequel: Arms Around Me

Content warnings: 18+ (minors, dni), age gap romance (consenting adults); mentions of break-up and unhealthy past relationship dynamics; depression and anxiety symptoms (mild); MC has self esteem struggles, some are body-image related; the ex was low-key emotionally abusive tbh 😒; depictions of alcohol consumption (no drunkenness); depictions of food and eating (MC has a moment of negative thought patterns in regards to food consumption); gaming/watching movies; emotional breakdowns; kissing (so much kissing, guys); Fluffy fluffy FLUFF 💕; making out; interrupted shenanigans; cuddling; shirtless Binnie 👀; strong and gentle Binnie 🥺💘 ; working through FEELINGS 😅 ; breast play; nudity; oral sex (f. receiving); feedbag position; confessions and new beginnings.

Word Count: ~9300

Author's Note: Well, here it is - my first Binnie fic! I wanted to make it as sweet and sexy as he is...which, I know, is impossible, so I gave it my best shot! Hopefully, it's something worthy of his face-claim. I'm not going to make any judgements as to whether I feel it fits the bill, but rather like the man himself, tell you to be the judge of your own opinions! Jutdae!! 😂💗 But in all seriousness, if you decide to read this story, thank you! I hope it brings you something warm and fuzzy!

*The poem at the beginning is an original, and is what inspired this story!

Acknowledgements: I cannot thank @moni-logues enough for beta reading this for me, and for all her hype and humor and general human decency - this story wouldn't be what it is without her! 💖

As always, if no one has told you today, please know that you're loved, and worthy of love! 🧜‍♀️💜

the

Bright color of my laughter and the

Melody of the curve of my hips and the

Soft velvet of my irises

seemed

To have taken their first breath,

Opening gently - like flowers perfuming my soul

- When bathed in the light of your eyes.

"Changbin? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he says with a little smirk, whipping a dish towel over his shoulder as he shuffles back to let you in.

Fair enough, you suppose. You are showing up without notice. Not that you ever need to give his sister any notice - as your best friend, there's a key with all the others in your purse that unlocks the door you're closing behind you. You wouldn't have even knocked had his car not been parked in the driveway.

"Where's Nari?" you ask, glancing at the gaming console hooked up to the massive flat-screen, and a bullet blender cup half filled with something thick, pale and probably protein-packed sitting on the coffee table.

"She went out of town for the weekend," he calls, heading back toward the dining area. "Last minute work thing."

Damn.

Your apartment is boring and barren and lonely. You wanted to hang out. You've been coming around more than usual – almost as often as when you were in grad school together. But Nari had her own life, you understood. You had your own life too.

And then three months ago, on New Years Eve, your long-term boyfriend called it quits. It wasn't as if you were heartbroken. Not really. The relationship had been sick and slowly dying. But returning to a life lived in solitude was proving a difficult adjustment – especially navigating the new and constant stillness which left you the mental space and dexterity to run up against the shadows of wounds unhealed. And you didn't feel like growing into your EQ. You felt like distracting yourself. So you ended up at your bestie's place more often than not, these days.

You sigh, trailing toward the kitchen. You won't stay long - if her younger brother is house sitting, he'll probably have people coming over. It's Friday night, after all, and he's twenty-four years young.

The sound of running water, and music from a little speaker playing a catchy beat laced with fast-paced rap draws you into the warmly-lit, open kitchen. You recognize the voice on the track.

"This new?" you ask, dropping your bag on a barstool and rounding the island to where Changbin is up to his elbows in suds at the sink. He's in a black band tee and bright blue joggers, his curly dark hair unstyled.

He looks over his shoulder and nods.

"What do you think? Wait, no, lemme start it over..."

You smile to yourself as he hastily dries his hands and whips out his phone, pulling the track back to the beginning. He braces himself against the edge of the sink, gnawing on his bottom lip as he bobs his head with the lyrical punches and runs.

You smile to yourself, leaning your back against the counter beside him.

"This is good, Bin," you nod earnestly.

"Yeah?" he asks, returning to his soapy task.

"It really is. Hyunjin's pretty damn fast. Not as fast as you, but who is?"

You grin, bumping your hip into his side.

He smirks down into the bubbles.

He's wanted to make music for as long as you've known him, and even fifteen years ago he could spit out a diss track that would have you wetting yourself laughing. He and his buddy, Hyunjin, met in high school and started messing around with music senior year. They committed to the dream, and both worked full-time gigs - Hyunjin as a tattoo artist and Changbin as a personal trainer - while promoting their artistry in their spare time. Production was a tough road to take when they were counting on nothing but raw talent and guts, but you'd always been an unflinching supporter.

"We've got a gig next Saturday...at The Eight Ball," he remarks, looking over at you as a proud smile presses a tiny dimple into his bread cheek.

"What?!" you squeal, turning to smack him on the arm. "Dude, that's fantastic! Oh my god, congratulations!"

"Thanks, and ouch!" he replies, rubbing his arm with a pout that you ignore. It couldn't possibly have hurt him, not with those biceps.

He moves to the fridge, a grin still plastered on his face.

"You should come!" he urges over his shoulder as he appraises his sister's stash before grabbing an energy drink. "I know the boyfriend isn't into rap, but you could come with Nari..."

You scoff softly.

"Doesn't really matter what he likes anymore," you mumble bitterly.

Changbin freezes as he's about to crack open the beverage in his hand.

"Wait, what? Did you guys...is that over?"

You purse your lips and nod. Changbin looks completely taken off guard in a way that surprises you.

“When did that happen?”

You reach back to clutch at the cold tile of the countertop.

“Beginning of the year.”

He scratches his head.

“Nari didn’t…why didn’t you say something?”

You shrug, your eyes falling. For reasons you'd never considered, you’d rarely brought your ex around or even brought him up to Changbin.

He turns to the still open fridge and swaps out his energy drink for two beers, opening both and sliding one across the island between you.

"How you holding up?" he asks in earnest concern, a little furrow appearing between his dark brows.

You want to tell him that you're fine - it's what you've been telling everyone else - but from the way he holds your gaze before letting his eyes search your face, he's looking for a real answer. You pull your lip between your teeth. You're not ready to form the words that spell the truth. He sees it.

"Ah," he waves dismissively, "Fuck that guy. You're too good for him anyway. What an idiot."

You blink, a little smirk tugging at your lips.

"You don't have to hate on him just because we're-"

"I'm hating on him because I hate him," he stares at you unflinchingly, taking another swig of his beer. "He wasn't good to you, didn't make you happy. I'm glad he's gone. Seriously, fuck him."

You didn't expect that sort of reaction out of Changbin. Not that you expected anything, but the strong, certain tone he took in regards to your ex's unworthiness has a tiny little warmth glowing in your chest. It was like him to feel strongly and take a stand, but to have his conviction aimed at you...

"Thanks, Bin," you murmur softly, hiding your smile behind your beer.

The young man nods, and his lips part as if to speak when his phone buzzes in his pocket. As he answers the call - clearly, from the nature of his greeting, one of his buddies - you're reminded that you’re trespassing on his Friday night. Draining your beer, you grab your bag and slip out of the kitchen.

You huff a little sigh as you pull on your shoes, lingering listlessly for a moment before pulling open the door. The thought of going home has your stomach churning. You can't go back and be alone there.

You can't.

You have to.

How pathetic could you possibly get? you consider sickly, staring out into the darkness. Your self-loathing and mounting anxiety battle for dominance as you will yourself to take the step over the threshold that will carry you to your car…

Click.

The door swishes shut, and you blink in confusion before you note a bulky arm stretched over your shoulder, hand pressed to the wooden frame below the peephole.

You turn into Changbin's frame and he jostles backwards, hand dropping to your shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asks, a little smirk playing on his lips.

You try to get your bearings as you resurface from the flash flood of inner turmoil, blinking up at him in confusion.

"Uuhh...home?" you answer, jerking a thumb back toward your intended exit.

Changbin shakes his head.

"You just got here."

"Well...I came to see Nari but she's gone, so..."

When the faintest shadow of hurt seems to flicker over his features at your words, you stammer to clarify.

"Bin, it's Friday, I- you've got plans, right? I don't want to be in the way...Like, it's really nice seeing you don't get me wrong, but, it would suck to have one of your sister's random friends underfoot if you're...if..."

You trail off. He's watching you in amusement now, arms crossed and bottom lip pulled between his teeth, one eyebrow cocked just a little higher than the other.

"What?" you press him, now a bit self-conscious at your rambling and still on edge from the surging anxiety of moments ago.

Damn, what was with you? You'd been a mess lately, and now you couldn't even get your words out with Nari's kid brother?

"I do have plans."

Changbin's words interrupt your muddled self-assessment. You glance up at him.

What? Okay, that's what you had been trying to...

"I plan to kick your ass at Super Smash Bros Brawl," he quips, turning to round the couch and settle in front of it before reaching for the blue controller discarded on the coffee table.

Huh?

You watch him start up the game and move through selections. Shuffling toward the back of the couch, you place your hands on it. He wants to hang out? Now that he found out you'd been dumped. Nari's away, so he's falling into stride, you think to yourself. You sigh. You should be grateful. Instead, you feel like a burden.

"Um, Bin..." you murmur, "You don't have to do this..."

"Do what?" he asks without looking back. "I'm not going easy on you, if that's what you mean. And I'm using Kirby - nonnegotiable."

Your heart melts a little as your eyes rest on him. He's always been a good guy, and it was like him to do this sort of thing - look out for someone when they were feeling low. Leaving simply because you don't feel worthy of his care and attention risks hurting him more than you.

You slowly slip out of your shoes and cross into the living room, retrieving a red controller from atop the console before sinking onto the carpet beside him. You toggle through your choices before landing on Link. Changbin glances over at you disparagingly.

"Link sucks."

"Kirby sucks."

"Hey!" Changbin, practically shouts in your ear, "Don't insult my widdle cutie guy..."

You grimace theatrically at the baby talk.

"Don't ever do that again."

"Or what?" Changbin challenges as he immediately unleashes a combo move that has your character hurtling toward the edge of the battle stage.

You hop around, avoiding him and trying out different button combos. It's been forever since you played this game. Your ex had been a Halo enthusiast. You were never big on first person shooters, but you tried to get into it for his sake. He hadn't the patience to help you learn, though, and after a couple of sessions of grimaces and apologies on your behalf mumbled into his headset, he'd stopped taking you up on your offers to join him.

Kirby darts back and forth across the screen after you on stubby pink legs. Eventually you get the hang of things and are returning his attacks, though he easily bests you in an embarrassingly short sequence of moves.

"Sorry, I'm no good at video games," you mumble apologetically.

The smug look falls from Changbin's face.

"Why are you sorry?" he raises a brow, dropping his controller into his lap, a little smile still playing on his lips.

You shrug. His smile fades.

"Who says you're no good?"

Shit.

You shift your focus to the screen and toggle for a new character.

"Best two out of three."

You can feel his eyes still on you as you opt for Princess Peach.

Two out of three turns into five out of eight, and around eleven out of twenty, the doorbell rings. When Changbin turns in surprise toward the sound, you take the opportunity to deliver a critical blow, winning your first match of the night. He rolls his eyes as you giggle wickedly and moves to answer the door.

You pull your phone from your pocket reflexively to check the socials you've deleted, before sighing and tossing it across the room to land on the carpet with a thud.

"Did you just throw your phone?"

Glancing over your shoulder, you catch him shooting you a quizzical look over a stack of pizza boxes tall enough to feed a small army. Clambering to your feet you trail after him into the kitchen.

"You do have plans, you liar!" you elbow him as he opens the top box and pulls out a slice, hissing as the melted cheesy overflow burns the tips of his fingers.

"Ow!" he snaps up a napkin and cradles it under the steaming piece of pizza, shaking his other hand before holding up his fingers in front of you.

"Blow on 'em," he whines.

You raise your eyebrows.

"You're joking."

He pouts and you want to laugh. This big, grown man is seriously going to give you the lip right now?

"That's what you get for having no patience, Bin..." you tsk disapprovingly.

He lets out a little disappointed sigh.

"Meanie..." he grumbles, and lets his hand fall.

You return your focus to the obscene amount of food now stacked on Nari's kitchen table.

"So, I'm sure people are going to start showing up, so I'm just gonna..."

Changbin hands you a paper plate with two slices of pizza and heads to the fridge where he fishes out two more beers. You stare at the plate in your hand.

"I...Bin..."

"What, you don't like sweet potato?" he asks with a smirk, cracking open a can and handing it to you.

You blink at him in confusion.

"Please enjoy this meal compliments of Han Jisung, who never remembers to update the address on his delivery app. Now, load up on pizza and let’s get back to it because I'm not trying to let you act like you came out on top from winning that last match on a fluke."

You scoff at his last remark. Watching him pile several slices onto his plate, you take a bite of yours. It tastes good, and you realize as it hits your stomach that you haven't eaten all day. When was the last time you ate a real meal? When was the last time you wanted one?

"Noona?"

Changbin's voice makes you realize you had zoned out and when you blink up at him, there's just nine inches of disposable dinnerware between you. His lips are pursed and his eyes trace your features, their gaze gentle but searching.

"You alright?" he asks.

There it is again; the concern. He isn't just checking in. His voice is soft and low, like his eyes. As a rule, Changbin's voice is strong, resonant - saying everything from his chest without even trying. So when he's gentle, when he pulls himself back...

"Do you miss that guy?" he murmurs.

"No!"

You say it so quickly.

Changbin nods.

"I'm just..." Fuck, why are you suddenly so emotional? "I think I'm...adjusting. Y'know?"

He nods again slowly. Then he reaches up and touches your face, dragging his thumb over the side of your mouth and suddenly your brain waves flat-line. Your eyes widen and your lips part, but before you can even process what's happening, he drops his hand to swipe it on a napkin.

"Had sauce on your face," he mumbles, and you can't read his.

His mouth is tugged up in a small smile but somehow it looks sad, and his eyes look like they're still asking a question that was never really answered. Before you can consider any further, he picks up his plate and heads back toward the living room.

You follow him, still half in your head.

When you sit down next to him, there's something hanging unspoken in the foot and a half of space between your bodies. Something has shifted, gone taut.

Shit, had you made him uncomfortable? Why had you stared at him like a weirdo when he...wait, he touched you...

Your eyes shift over to where he sits beside you. He runs a hand through the wavy hair over his ear. Has he always been so beautiful? He turns quick enough to catch you staring and you put your plate out of your lap. The pizza smells so good but suddenly you can't touch it.

Changbin initiates another round, which you lose in record time. Your stomach grumbles.

"You better eat if you're going to have any hope of beating me again," he goads, finishing off his third slice to abandon the crust with the others on his plate before launching another game.

"I had enough," you deflect, pushing your plate toward him.

"You took two bites."

"I need to cut back."

"Like...go on a diet?"

"Yeah."

His brows furrow and his tongue slips between his lips as he sends Kirby into a hammer flip that lands as a critical hit and you wince.

"What have you eaten today?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I...I don't know. I..."

Your stomach twists. The hunger is there, but so is the anxiety. The fear of being judged for eating too much or too quickly or...

The game pauses. Your plate slides back toward you over the carpet.

"The rest of that piece. Or whatever else you want. But something."

His voice is gentle but firm. You sigh.

"Fine," you murmur, grabbing the half-eaten slice.

You take a bite, and slowly raise your eyes to his as they regard you patiently.

"Sorry," you mumble, covering your mouth, shifting away from him.

"Why now?"

"I make gross noises when I eat."

"What? No you d-"

A hand tugs at your elbow. When you look back toward him his handsome face holds so many things, and you watch as they take turns seizing his features. Horror...pity...anger.

"Who told you that?" he asks lowly, but it doesn't sound like a question. "Noona..."

He squeezes your elbow.

You feel everything you've been shoving down in your chest begin to well up.

Fuck, no!

Your lip trembles.

He's shifting to face you.

You shake your head and press your eyes shut.

Your hand is encompassed in a larger one.

"It's lies, all of it," Changbin whispers with desperate conviction...and your dam breaks.

He pulls you into his arms as you sob with abandon. One of his hands encircles your waist tugging you against his broad, warm chest, and the other slips to brush tenderly over your nape as you tuck your face into his neck.

"He's a liar...shhhh...he's a lying piece of shit," he insists earnestly, into your hair. "You're perfect. He's the one who needs to fix himself. You're so, so perfect."

Perfect? You let your heart hold the word in its palm for one precious moment before pushing it away. Your heart had never been one to accept gifts it didn't think it deserved.

You weep and weep in his strong arms until you run out of tears, and then he holds you while you breathe. As the catharsis of your breakdown begins to settle in, you wonder at the comedown - a softer, warmer one than you've ever known – and you consider the loveliness that has broken your fall.

Soft and firm, everywhere he touches you. And warm. So warm. Not just the heat radiating from his body like a furnace – the velvet rasp of his voice, the absolute and unfaltering nature of his embrace.

Your hands move tentatively against his back. Soft cotton stretches and bunches between your fingers over his sturdy frame. Where your face is pressed to his collar every breath draws in a comforting combination of detergent and cologne. When you close your eyes and sigh, letting your weight sink against him further, you feel his arms tighten in response.

"Sorry," you croak feebly.

"Stop," he implores you, "Every time you apologize, I want to sock that guy in the face."

"I...I'm so stupid, I didn't even really realize..."

"No," his arms squeeze you again, "He had your trust. It was his job to protect you."

Protected. That's how you feel right now. Safe. So, so safe. Letting him hold you and reassure you felt good...it felt right. But yet again, the voice in your mind that liked to remind you how much of a burden you always were speaks up in a sickly whisper.

You pull yourself slowly from his arms and off his lap. Drawing yourself up to stand, you wipe your hot cheeks, puffy red eyes finding his like the needle of a compass. Unprepared for what awaits you in his gaze, your knees nearly give out beneath you.

Changbin is looking up from where he kneels before you, the yearning in his eyes unchecked as they burn with an unasked question and an unspoken promise.

"I should go," you whisper, barely able to form the words.

"Don't," he says, standing.

"If I stay I'll just wreck your night," you mumble.

"You could never," he insists, lips tugging into a little smile. His eyes are still pleading.

"Changbin..." you breathe, suddenly drowning again in the fizzy serotonin his words ignite in your chest. "You don't want..."

"You let me be the judge of what I want."

His hands find your arms and he pulls you in. There are centimeters between you. His eyes rest on your lips. Your heart hammers in your ears as your brain begins to malfunction the way it had when he touched your face...

"D-do I have something on my-"

Mouth? His.

The whole of your being floods with something beautiful and ineffable at the touch of his lips and no voice, no doubt, no force in the world could be stronger than the one that pulls you into him. Your arms fly up to wrap around his neck and tug yourself impossibly closer. His hands drop to your waist, pressing desperately in kind, and your bodies mold together. You flush with heat, sparks igniting in your belly and skittering through your veins as his lips move against yours. He stumbles back, pulling you with him as his knees buckle at the edge of the couch, and your body spills over his lap.

Your fingers card into his hair.

His hands drop to the back of your hips.

Your tongue brushes his bottom lip.

He moans.

At the gorgeous, deep sound from his chest, you pull back, fighting the smile that pulls at the corners of your mouth. What the fuck is happening right now? You don't get much time to consider as his head falls against the backrest and his eyes flutter open.

"Sorry," he grins bashfully. The tips of his ears burn pink.

"Now who's apologizing for no reason?" you tease, pressing your hands to his chest.

He smiles so sweetly in return you feel you might physically melt. And then the smile fades and the lids of his eyes grow heavy and he leans up to claim your mouth.

His lips taste the same as a moment ago, but their press is slower, hungrier. His hands are powerful and assertive as they hook under your thighs and pull your hips flush against his own in a single tug. You gasp softly against his lips and you feel his smirk. You feel his smirk and something else - something beginning to press up into your ass through your jeans.

Licking into his mouth, you push down, grinding your hips over his in a slow, deliberate undulation. The groan that falls from his lips unlocks something inside of you that needs to know every sound he makes and how to elicit them. Your mouth drops to his neck.

Suddenly, he's gripping your waist and pivoting to lay you on the cushions, slotting himself between your legs. You're still dizzy from the sudden rush of movement, when your legs curl around his hips and over his ass and–

A loud buzzing from the coffee table has you mourning the press of Changbin's lips to your throat as he glances at the caller ID.

"Shit!" he scrambles to sit up, hand still gripping your thigh above your knee when he presses the phone to his ear.

"Hey," he runs a hand through his hair. "What? Nothing. No, I didn't forget. I will, I will."

You recognize his tone of voice. There could only be one person on the other end of the line. You sit up, your head beginning to clear as the reality of the situation washes over you.

"Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Be safe. Love you."

Changbin presses the end-call button and tosses the phone onto the cushion beside him. He leans back against the couch and claps his hand against your leg with a sigh.

"She really knows how to wreck a moment for me."

You crack a wry smile.

"I mean, it's probably for the best that we don't desecrate your sister's couch."

His eyes widen as horror, disgust, and amusement wage war across his features. You burst into a fit of giggles. He feigns a gag. You laugh so hard that you snort.

"S-sorry," you clap your hand over your mouth, still tittering while your ears heat in embarrassment.

Changbin's face softens again. He reaches for your hand and pulls it from your face, threading his fingers through yours.

"Cut it out."

"What? I can't be embarrassed about snorting like a pig?"

"No. It's cute," he smirks.

"It is not!"

"Mhm. Everything you do is cute."

He glances over at you, a lopsided smirk on his perfect lips, his eyes sparkling. He means it.

You fluster, gaze dropping to your enjoined hands, and concentrate on tracing little patterns on the back of his with your thumb. He sighs.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

The request takes you by surprise and your heart squeezes. If it was any other guy, the night would have been over. For the fourth time tonight, you had been about to head for the door, and for the fourth time, Changbin makes you feel wanted. So you stay.

You grab a big, fluffy blanket from the basket in Nari's room, and when you return, Changbin has the lights dimmed and Your Name ready to go on the TV. You smile as you settle in beside him, tossing half the blanket over his widespread legs.

"We don't have to watch this just because it's my favorite, you know," you insist, but he shakes his head.

"Taki's ma' boy," he smirks, shooting you a glance as he presses play on the remote.

You're not quite sure what it means, but you feel your heart skip a beat just the same.

You love this movie. You love that you've seen it enough times that you can talk through it. You love that Changbin is more than willing to talk over the film himself. You're not certain when it happened, but by halfway through the movie his arm is stretched out behind your shoulders and your head rests on his bicep.

"Do you remember seeing this together in the theater?" he asks suddenly, tilting his head toward yours.

You grin.

"You cried and Nari gave you shit about it," you recall.

"You bailed me out. Told her all the sniffling was you. Never even teased me about it either."

Changbin smiles down at you, his eyes sentimental.

Butterflies flutter their delicate wings in your ribcage. How does he make you feel this way?

Your eyes dip to his lips for a moment. Sighing, you nuzzle into his shoulder, hiding your face as much as seeking his warmth. His arm slips off the back of the couch to curl around your shoulders and pull you into his side. The movie plays on.

When the credits roll, Changbin stretches and yawns, and watching him it dawns on you that, working at a fitness center, he's an especially early riser.

"We should call it a night," you offer, standing and stretching yourself, but you're tugged back down into Changbin's lap, yelping as you topple onto him.

His arms encircle your hips as he regards you with a sleepy grin.

"What, do I live here now?" you tease.

"Stay the night," he urges, tightening his arms around you. "You really want to drive back now?"

You chew your lip, eyes tracing over his face. This is all more than a bit unreal, and you haven't given yourself even one second to process what's happening, lest you utterly panic. All you know right now is that your little ship had been sinking and he had hauled you into a lifeboat. Everything outside of him seems like a raging sea.

You nod.

"Okay," you whisper, combing his hair away from his forehead. “I’ll stay.”

His eyes dip shut at your touch and the butterflies flutter gently once more.

A few minutes later, you take Nari's room and slip into a pair of her cotton shorts, which do basically nothing to contain your ass, and tug on a plain white tee that stretches snugly over your torso. How a big guy like Changbin could have emerged from the same genetic pool as his teeny tiny sister was beyond you. As you glance in the mirror, your heart sinks. You don't like how the tight fit is pressing you out everywhere you're most self-conscious. But, they are just pajamas, and they're all you have at your disposal.

As you're about to head into the master bathroom to finish your nightly routine, you remember that the toothbrush and toiletries you keep on hand at Nari's are in the little half-bath attached to the guest room. You groan, glancing at yourself again in the mirror, and pull a blanket around yourself before crossing the hall.

Hoping Changbin hasn’t yet fallen asleep, you knock hesitantly on the door. You hear the bed creak before the door opens to reveal a head of mussed hair and hands scrubbing over bleary eyes. But it's not what you notice. Your apology for rousing him dies on your lips as your eyes glue themselves to his bare chest. Blinking dumbly, your eyes climb from his soft stomach subtly rippling with the presence of strong abdominals up to a pair of impressive pecs with wide-set, dusky nipples. His flannel pajama pants settle at his hips, accentuating how his body broadens as it rises from his waist to his full chest and wide shoulders flanked by bulging biceps. Thick. He's so fucking thick you could bi-

"...Noona?" he rumbles, his voice husky from sleep. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing...sorry..." you rush out, ripping your gaze up to his. "My toothbrush is in your room – I mean! in your bathroom. That's where I usually stay, so...but I didn't think you'd be asleep. Sorry, I can just..."

He rubs over one of his eyes with his palm as he steps aside.

"You can grab it."

Right. You shuffle in awkwardly, trying not to step on the blanket dragging around your feet. As you cross the dark room, you try not to dwell on the rumpled sheets of the bed that speak of his body having lain between them, or the soft smell of his cologne hanging in the air. You quickly retrieve the little toiletry bag and, as you move to squeeze past Changbin at the door, he eyes the fluffy shroud you're clutching to your chest.

He raises a sleepy eyebrow.

"I'm sure Nari has pants you could..."

"I'm wearing pants!" you bluster, "They just...don't fit."

You move out of the doorway to make your way back to your room, but a hand cups the side of your face and turns it as soft lips meet your forehead.

"Good night, noona," he murmurs with a little smile before retreating back into his room.

You stand in the hall, staring at his door, the butterflies absolutely aflurry.

Despite your best efforts, you can't sleep. Your mind is full of the last five hours. Full of Changbin.

He had kissed you. You had kissed him back. And it had felt...

You roll from your side to your back, sighing up at the dark ceiling. You chew on your lip as you remember breaking down and his arms around you. You would usually feel regretful and ashamed after baring yourself like that to someone. You despised moments of weakness. But you couldn't bring yourself to hate the moments in his arms. You didn't regret them. In fact, you wanted him to hold you again. You wanted to feel vulnerable in his hands, and you wanted him to keep you safe.

You feel heat rush up from your neck as you recognize these feelings.

You must be absolutely shameless, you conclude in wonder. You should be freaking out right now - this was Changbin, for Christ's sake – Nari's brother! You should be wondering what happens next, and what all of it means...but even so you can’t bring yourself to care. All your mind can focus on is how his arms felt like waking up after a nightmare to song birds and soft sunlight.

After an hour or so of tossing and turning, the salty pizza from dinner has you parched and slipping out to the kitchen for a drink. You pull a glass from the cupboard and fill it at the fridge, gulping down the contents to refill it again. Suddenly, you feel two strong arms snake around your waist and you start, sloshing your water and smacking the back of your head into the man holding you. You hastily set your glass down and turn in his arms as he lets out a groan, one of his hands releasing you as it flies up to cup the front of his face in pain.

"Bin, oh my god! Are you okay? You scared me!" you chide with a chuckle as you reach up to push his hand away and brush the tips of your fingers across his nose.

He pouts down at you and you smile.

"Did I wake you?"

He huffs.

"Yeah. To get your toothbrush. Then I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Sorry," you groan, still stroking over where you had struck his face. "Does it hurt?"

He nods.

"Kiss it better," he mumbles cutely.

You roll your eyes, but lift your lips to comply when suddenly he interrupts the motion with the soft press of his mouth to yours. It's slow and sweet, and you're struck all over again with how quickly you melt at his touch - a sensation you cannot imagine ever growing accustomed to, but to which you are fairly certain you are in danger of growing entirely addicted.

"Bin..." you whisper against his lips, "Bin, what are we-"

"Liar," he murmurs, pulling back.

Your mouth parts in confusion as you stare up at him, still drunk on his lips.

"You said the clothes didn't fit. You should wear this all the time," he smirks as he squeezes low on your waist.

Your cheeks heat as you remember what you're wearing, but you don't have long to be anxious over it as he presses his lips to your nose...the corner of your mouth...your jaw. You tremble as you lean into him, fingers splaying over his warm, bare chest.

"Let me show you," he whispers against your skin.

"Sh-show me...what...?"

He draws back, pressing his forehead to yours.

"How perfect you are."

You still, eyes flicking up to his. They're dark and tender and pleading. You let out a little shuddering breath.

"I...you don't have t-"

His arms hold you closer, gentle but insistent.

"Let me," he whispers, the tip of his handsome nose brushing over the dip of your cupid's bow. "Please. I want to."

You swallow, eyes dropping to his lips. You want it too, you find. You want his hands and lips and eyes all over you, bringing warmth everywhere they meet your aching body. You nod and take his lips again with yours.

"Yeah?" he murmurs against them.

"Yeah," you breathe, slipping a hand up the back of his neck and into his hair.

He groans in response, deepening the kiss as he licks at your parted lips and when your tongues brush, sparks burst in your belly. You feel it all slipping, the masks, the walls - every barrier you hold up to shield yourself from not being enough. His arms are strong and his lips are tender and you can't focus on anything but the perfection of being so utterly held.

His mouth moves to caress your jaw, under your ear, down the column of your neck, and suddenly you feel the edge of the counter pressing into the small of your back. His hands grip your waist and he hitches you onto the tiled surface with ease. It's cold against your bare legs, but you don't have more than a second to register the discomfort as Changbin nudges his way between your knees. He runs his hands over your thighs as his eyes trail from your panting lips to your lightly heaving chest.

You feel your nipples pebble under his gaze and a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth, his eyes glinting with mischief as he runs a hand up your side, over your shirt, to rest under the swell of your breast. He flicks a thumb over the hardened bud and you whimper and jump. He laughs softly, his smirk spreading into a full smile as he squeezes your breast and brings his eyes to yours.

"Your pretty body likes me, noona," he puffs proudly, massaging you deftly through the soft cotton of the tee.

You don't have a witty retort. Your body likes him so much that it frightens you. And with the deep affection you already feel, have long felt, for him...

You reach to gently tangle your hand again in his coarse, dark curls. He glances up, a sweet little smirk tugging at his pretty lips again.

"Bin..." you sigh.

"Hmm?" he hums as he slips his hands to your bottom and tugs you forward so that you're flush against him.

You dip your head and your lips ghost his.

"Nothing," you whisper, and you kiss him again. Again and again.

His hands slide from your ass to slip beneath your shirt at your lower waist and he kneads the soft flesh above your hips.

"So soft. Feels so good," he groans into your mouth.

You moan as the walls of your pussy contract. You're beginning to ache, beginning to drip – and his words seem to affect you as intensely as his touch.

He moves his lips to latch onto the soft skin of your neck and suck, his hands bunching your shirt up and up until his mouth pops free from your skin and he's pulling the thin garment over your head and tossing it aside. The cool air pricks your skin and you become keenly aware, for the briefest moment, that you are sitting on your best friend's kitchen counter, stripped down to her sleep shorts, with her brother between your thighs. As your brain races to decide whether to find that incredibly arousing or absolutely panic-inducing, Changbin's cherry lips rewire your neurological pathways in favor of the former when they close around your right nipple. Your head lolls back, colliding with the cabinet door and it clatters.

"Shit..." you hiss softly, threading your hands into his hair and gripping it by the roots.

Your eyes slip shut and you focus on the sensation of his warm tongue slipping over the peaks of your breasts, his strong, smooth palms cupping and caressing. And then you feel his little puffs of breath and the nudge of his nose at the valley of your chest as he groans and smushes your tits up to meet his face.

"I fucking live here now," he mumbles into the globe of your breast, and despite the heat of the moment, you softly laugh. You laugh and you feel his smile pressed to your skin.

Then suddenly he's pulling you into his arms in a bridal carry. You know he's strong, as you wrap your arms around his neck, but can't push away a pang of self-consciousness as he bears your weight.

"Bin, I'm so heavy..."

"You're not."

"I don't want you to..."

"Stop it," comes his voice in a soft, deep command as he halts in his tracks to kiss you.

He kisses you and kisses you until you believe that he could carry you until the end of time, and then he takes you into the guest bedroom and sits you gently on the bed. The bed with the mussed sheets that smell like him. The sheets that he's leaning you into as you push yourself to the middle of the bed while he hovers over the top of your body, his lips never leaving yours.

As he sinks down over you, the weight of his body pressing you into the mattress has warmth licking through your veins. You move your hands to caress over his broad back, feeling his muscles ripple beneath your fingers as he shifts to prop himself up on his elbow. You use the free space to trace your hand down his chest and abdomen until you reach the waistband of his pants. If he'd just push himself a few inches up you could...

He pulls away, just barely breathless, and his eyes find yours. He reaches down with his right hand to pull yours gently from between your bodies and to his lips, before threading his fingers through yours and pressing your joined hands into the sheets beside your head.

"I want to eat you out."

He says it so simply, so confidently, and you can feel more arousal gush to join what's already begun to paint your inner thighs.

"Fuck..." you breathe, your fingers trembling in his grasp.

"Can I?" he asks, kissing your lips softly again.

For a moment you're afraid of what saying yes will mean, of the intimacy of it all, of the possibility that you won't measure up, someway, somehow, or maybe...that you will - and what in the world you would do with that level of acceptance...

You let out a shaky sigh, as you hold his gaze. It arrests you and washes over you. You remember his eyes as he knelt on the living room floor, and all they pleaded with you to disbelieve, to unlearn.

Yes. Yes...If it's him, you want it, whatever it means.

You surge forward, pressing your lips to his, your hands weaving through his hair, pulling him in. He lets out a tiny whimper as you devour him, kissing him with determined abandon until you have to come up for air.

"Yes, Bin, yes," you shudder into his mouth as he pants over you. “Yes I want you to.”

In answer, he presses one last tender kiss to your lips before moving to kiss down your body. He moves slowly, but with purpose, pressing an adoring mouth to every part of you that’s bared. He kisses your ear, your neck, your collarbones…he moves over your shoulders and down your right arm to the tip of each finger. He kisses your breasts and down your stomach. He kisses your belly button, and over your hips and down your left thigh. He kisses the inside of your knee, and bends your leg to kiss over your calf and down to your ankle.

You can barely watch him, as he brushes his lips over you, but he flicks his eyes up to yours so often you don’t dare look away. There is something flickering in his gaze, something like a challenge - daring you to contradict, to doubt what he seeks to impress upon you - and you begin to feel something strange and new. Something you’d never found at the touch of a lover, blooming in your chest and unfurling like a proud little flower under the sun: the strong, heady beauty of esteeming yourself worthy of his desire. It terrifies you a bit, and the ugly voice that has heckled you so often tries to cast doubt, but Changbin’s lips and hands are too persistent and assured for the harbinger in your mind to linger long. And the tidal wave of lovely feelings crashing over you threatens to destroy the shabby prison your heart has lingered in for so long.

Changbin lays his head on your thigh as he brings his hand off the other to cup your pussy over the softness of your shorts. His groan is nearly as loud as yours when he rubs over your mound, and it makes you impossibly wetter. He’s so unabashed and liberal with reacting to what he enjoys, and he is clearly enjoying you as much as he ever has anything.

He moves to bring his face to your clothed cunt, hovering over you for a nanosecond to catch your eyes as he mouths down over you. Your jaw drops open, and when his teeth scrape dully over your clit, your hips jerk and you fist the sheets. Changbin pulls back with a smirk, and sits back on his knees between your legs. He pulls one of your legs up to lean against his shoulder as his hands instinctively knead over the muscles of your calf and thigh.

“Do you trust me?” he asks, with a little smile.

You nod with one of your own.

“I’m gonna lift you, okay? You can hold onto my legs, but I’ll have you, so don’t worry.”

You bite your lip and nod, suddenly a little shy. Look at him. Where did he get all this confidence?

He drops your leg briefly to tug off your shorts and panties, cursing at how wet you are, and gently slipping two fingers to brush between your glistening lips and over your clit. You gasp at the sensation - his fingers deft, his touch soft but firm where you ache for him. And then, suddenly, he is sliding your legs back up to rest against his chest and shoulders. His hands slip down to your hips and he effortlessly tugs your ass over the incline of his thighs and flush with his abdomen. Your heart starts to thrum in your chest. His body is warm and sturdy against the soft plush of your ass. Heat floods your cheeks when you sense a slickness against him where your arousal has begun to smear against his stomach. He, however, is far less bashful. Widening the gap between your thighs, he dips his head down, inhaling deeply.

"Fuck…" he murmurs, squeezing your legs where he holds them.

When he raises his eyes to yours again, they’re unlike you’ve ever seen. They’re dark and hungry and hooded in a way that nearly intimidates you. His expression is full of heat, and manly in its sudden gravity. He watches you as he slips his thumbs under your waist and, slowly with strong hands, pulls your hips up beneath his chin. Your legs bend at the knees and drape around the crown of his head. Your spine curves where your upper back is flush with his thighs, your arm on either side of his kneeling form, and as he embraces you tightly around the hips and waist, you feel nearly every ounce of your weight suspended in his hold. The blood rushes to your head where it lays against the mattress, your neck curving just shy of his knees, offering a clear view of his gorgeous face as he wastes no time in pressing his open mouth to your labia.

Your core muscles flex in response, hips pressing higher against him as you feel ripples of exquisite pleasure trickle through your body from above. The smooth muscle of his tongue slips past your entrance and begins fucking into you. Your head swims, the slightest dizzying restriction of oxygen dampening your ability to focus on anything but the bliss of his hot, wet mouth. Being tasted has never felt this intense. You whimper, your hands reaching around his body to find purchase on his muscular ass. You feel the press of his throbbing erection into your back as his tongue fucks unhurriedly into you. He’s rock hard, and all for you. From the sight of your naked body, the feel of you in his hands, the taste of you on his tongue. From the sounds pouring off of your lips as he worships your sex.

Your legs begin to shake. You’re so totally in his hands. He holds you, lavishes you, consumes you. Nothing stands between you and ecstasy, and you can feel your climax fast approaching as pleasure ebbs and flows like a crashing tide on the rhythm of his firm, languid strokes.

"Ch-Changbin! Nhhh!" you mewl, you voice throaty and muffled from your position.

He growls against you and you nearly cum then. One of his hands drops to squeeze the soft mound of your right breast. Your cheeks burn, sweat beginning to bead on your forehead and neck. You can feel your pussy throbbing - hot and sticky and swollen with stimulation - as he devours it like the flesh of ripened fruit. His lips encircle your clit and suckle as the tip of his tongue flicks over the erect peak of your bud.

And then it all goes white. You lose all sense but feeling as you rock your hips up to meet him, the tension in your abdominals adding sinfully to the fluttering pulsating of your pussy. There’s nothing but you and him and his arms around you and his mouth against the most intimate parts of you as your orgasm washes over you in electrifying slow-motion, pulling you under a tidal wave of bliss for what seems like an eternity. Your lips part in a silent scream of his name, your eyes pressed shut, as he works you through the longest and most intense climax your body has ever experienced.

You feel him place one last sweet, gentle kiss to your cunt before moving the hand on your breast to one of your thighs as he guides you back down onto the bed. You’re panting and boneless as you watch him draw an arm over his cum-slicked chin and cheeks. For a moment he simply looks down at you, a victorious air about him as his eyes trace your sated features and his gorgeous chest heaves with labored breath, then he crawls forward on the bed, stretching himself out on his side next to you, his body flush with your own. He slips his hand over the soft skin of your belly and rubs it soothingly as he watches you with a little grin.

“You good?” he asks in a raspy murmur.

You reach for his face, bringing it to yours as you kiss him with what wherewithal you have. You pull away, still breathless.

“Am I good? Seo Changbin, I think I could fly.”

His answering smile is so filled with joy and pride and affection that you think you truly may have sprouted wings. You roll to your side to press yourself against him, your hand tugging at the waistband of his pajamas, but he takes your hand again in his.

“Not tonight.”

“Why?”

“Tonight is yours.”

“Bin…”

“I’m yours.”

You blink up at him, his head resting on his hand, his eyes sparkling and soft.

“If you’ll have me,” he raises your hand to his lips to kiss your knuckles. “You don’t have to answer right now. I know you’re going through a lot, and this is all…new.”

He smiles again, glancing down as his features take on a boyish shyness.

“But I care for you. And, however things work out,” his eyes lock with yours again, “I’ll always protect you.”

Your heart stands still. There are things that are too deeply lovely for words to be wasted on them. Any words but three - three that are already deeply true, but which have begun to mean something beautiful and different tonight, burying themselves like a little seed in your heart that needs time to grow. So for now you let yourself cry tears that fall like raindrops in the sunlight, and drift to sleep with the steady beat of Changbin’s heart.

“Ay!” Nari’s voice cuts through the din of chatter as her hand shoots out to narrowly prevent a fellow patron from snagging the chair beside her. “Sorry, seats are taken.”

She takes a sip of her beer and stretches her short legs as far as they will reach across the two empty chairs beside her.

“The guys are gonna have to hustle if they’re gonna sit with us,” she says reproachfully, dark brows rising as her eyes scan the venue for the bodies that belong in the seats you have been desperately attempting to reserve for the last hour.

The Eight Ball is crowded to bursting, and you scan the stage for signs of the evening’s openers. Checking your phone, you find that it’s nearly eight. You also find a text that brings a smirk to your lips.

“What?”

You glance up at Nari, who’s staring at you suspiciously.

“Nothing…” you mumble, flipping your phone back over onto the table. You sip your cocktail through a straw.

“Are you texting him?”

You nearly choke on your drink.

“What? Who?”

“You know who,” Nari mocks, narrowing her eyes at you. “The jerkwad.”

“Oh my god, Nari, no!” you sigh, as your phone buzzes again.

She glances at it.

“Then what was with the look? Who are you…”

“Are these for us?” a voice belonging to a smiling, dimpled young man in a black hoodie with a matching beanie pulled over his head saves you from further explanation.

“Jesus, Chris, finally,” Nari admonishes as he takes the seat next to you, pulling her legs off the remaining chairs to free them up for the other two men that follow behind him.

The freckled blond pulls Nari into a side hug which she returns, booping his nose before leaning across him to peer menacingly at his friend.

“Yo, Jisung,” she barks, “If you’re gonna order several hundred pizzas, how about taking some with you next time? My fridge is still stuffed.”

The young man blinks wide, surprised eyes at her before his brain catches up with her scolding.

“Sorry, but it wasn’t my fault!” he insists poutingly. “I ordered them because Changbin asked me to and then he canceled gaming weekend ‘cause he had a girl over.” he grumbles, causing the other two to snicker.

“Nice,” Chris giggles.

This time you do choke.

Your eyes fly to your best friend, watching the barrage of questions bubbling up on her face when a voice cuts through the din, silencing the crowd and unknowingly saving himself for the time being.

“Good evening, Eight Ballers!” Changbin rasps into his mic as Hyunjin waves, as ridiculously beautiful as ever, beside him.

You look at Changbin’s eyes.

They’re bright and confident and determined. You smile and cheer when he finishes introductions. As the band hits the first few notes of the opening number, his gaze finds yours, and it’s full of so many things.

His eyes sparkle with seven days worth of secrets – of waking up to your eyes and arms, of a weekend of nothing but bare bodies and hearts, of weeknight phone calls until the wee hours of the morning…of a new way of caring for each other that you’ll eventually tell the others, but that is just yours for now.

As you look at him, so full of adoration, you hope you can offer him even a fraction of the new world he’s only just begun to share with you – and the reflection you see a little more beautifully each day in the light of his eyes.

-Fin-

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reflections-in-a-critical-eye · 3 months ago

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Are You Sure?! Episode 4 observations

8.5/10 ☆

When will Army cancel Jimin and Jungkook? When will ot7 jikookers and vminers and vminkookers make call out posts for them? Jimin and Jungkook should express that all encompassing love for the entire members of their group all the time. Pointing out throughout the entire first day that Tedros is their guest or that they he should leave if he doesn't like it, that he's looking for attention or that AYS is their show, not for other people, was giving mean girls behavior. How is that nice? They love their guest but they're shading him. I think we should totally cancel Jikook!

But how the tables have turned once the kid that tagged along went to bed and the adults could play. Oh, we were back to Connecticut vibes once again. Which are basically the usual jikook vibes in where every little game needs to have a hint of flirtation (I wonder what Jimin would have done if Jungkook wouldn't have warned him about the glass part in the pool? Jimin was in slytherin mode the minute he took off his clothes).

From enganging in intricate rituals to touch each other (as always) to go through a long negotation over eating ramyeon or not (what's ppeuriri got to do with everything? I love their inside jokes and hate them at the same time. Let me in!!!! I was waiting for the bj brothers and when they deliver even some innuendos, it riles me up).

I'm not a BL fan of regular watcher, but this looks like the beginning of one of those steamy scenes where they show them fuck on some balcony or in the pool. Just sayin'.

Say yes and eat the damn ramyeon, Jungkook!

I like Jikook's nighttime routines. Although so far they have been quite tame, no drinking or other shenanigans. They do teeth brushing yoga or they cuddle up and talk about work and their schedules before bed. And there's no bed without Jimin's legs all over Jungkook (I'm sure he must be dreaming of those thighs at this point).

Can it get more domestic than Jungkook talking to his mother and her already knowing about their schedule?

I have a feeling she and Jimin text each other regularly. Oh, if only they had filmed just a bit during their Chuseok weekend in Busan (I do assume Jimin went too, but 🤷‍♀️). I need to see Jimin with Jungkook's mother. She would dot on him and Jimin would be so respectful but shy and oh, I get all giddy just thinking about him. Busan boys, please visit your home town one day and share that with the world!

I refuse to accept the existence of Jimkook, sounds ugly, forced, it doesn't roll off the tongue. But Jikook? Yeah, that works. And they were in full jikook mode on the boat. That embarrassing CPR manouver by Jimin is yet another sign that they will remain that cringe couple. How did Tedros survive on that boat? No wonder he took a step back from all that up until the end.

The entire afternoon on the boat really gave us a glimpse into their original plans and how once again, they just click. They never push it, they want to do the same things and they have fun. And we still got the cuddle and drawing whales out of clouds without that moment turning into something else.

When Jimin is in top shape, without any other illness looming over their vacation, then we know we're in for some entertainment. He's much more engaging and laughs at everything while Jungkook is right there next to him, ready to joint whatever Jimin wants to do.

(Who would have thought that Tedros headbanging the first day would make him take a step back and allow them to do their own thing how they originally planned? I have lots to say about him, but for another post, there's too many nice things that happened and I focus on that at first)

And now, a few more highlights:

What is this? Cutie Jiminie who can also get angry while stuffing his face with rice and noodles and chicken all at the same time? You are what you eat. Or whom 🤭

Jungkook has always been an expert at such lines, how can Jimin still be surprised after a decade? That's what you get. You have the tattoed guy who's really into bikes and Jimin who is clearly into all that, but he's gotta take the lame lines too.

#m thoughts #jikook #jikook travel show #jikook are you sure

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calibabii21 · 1 year ago

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|| sli(ck-p)up || l.jn

pairing: pervy bf!Jeno x gf!reader

genre: smut

warning(s): perv!jeno, sub!jeno, secret pic/videos taken, caught jerking off with reader's panties, sadist!reader, humiliation, edging, overstimulation, use of pet names "baby" and "pup/puppy"

wc: 1.8k

a/n: @jenosprincess requested pervert boyfriend!Jeno and it is officially September so I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone. let the shenanigans begin, hope you all enjoyyy~~~

also: (pre-established safe words, we use the standard green for "keep going" and yellow for "ease up" with "lighthouse" being "stop")

You noticed. It was small things. But you noticed. It isn't that he was acting particularly skittish, but he was even more primal acting. Like a feral pet.

It started with longer stares. I mean, he's your boyfriend, so, of course he's going to look- but no. He stares. Quite literally like you're a freshly butchered hunk of meat.

Next it was more aggressive touches. Fingers digging into your waist just to pass by you. Teeth sinking harsher into your lip when he kisses you. Very desperate. Very eager.

The oddest one, he began sniffing you. When he hugs you. When you walk by. The moment you most need a shower, right after you've worked out. That's when you noticed undergarments of yours going missing.

Little did you know, today would be the day the covers got pulled back.

Your day wrapped up early so you decided to head to your boyfriend's house. Just like you would any other weekend. It is when you approach his apartment that you feel that shit is about to hit the fan. Nevertheless, you enter his home with the spare key he gave you.

It's radio silence as you walk in. The television is off. No bustling action in the kitchen. Not even the blasting of the Naruto soundtrack. But you think nothing of it as you head toward his room. He's probably gaming with the guys.

"Ba-" but you're stopped short. There is nothing in the world that could prepare you for what you see. All the signs were there, but you brushed them off as his man period or something. Men go through things too. But this??

He couldn't see or hear you, but boy could you see and hear him. "F-Fuck M-Miss- please." You knew your boyfriend could be a little submissive sometimes, but never to the extent of begging and calling Mistress..or was it Miss? Either way, the scene before you was beyond your imagination.

Jeno in his gamer chair, a hand tightly wrapped around his cock and here's the kicker, your most recent loss; a baby blue lace thong, held up to his nose. And boy is he sniffing profusely. Not that you thought it could get any worse, but it did.

On his screen- his gaming pc screen, was you, fresh out of the shower, and naked. You didn't seem to be anything special, but baby boy was lapping it up. In the video you'd had on the same baby blue thong, he now had in his mouth as if to taste you, and were lathering your body in baby oil.

It seems to be getting near the climax seeing as, once it got to the part where you were spreading and rubbing it all over your bare breasts, you notice the video had been slowed down and zoomed in- still in 4k quality by the way. He edited it too?? This was all too crazy and had carried on for too long.

"Having fun?" His body instantly jerked and froze. He's still as you walk to him and turn his chair to face you. Eyes watering and face red with embarrassment as you've caught him in such a vulnerable position. Though he's scared for being caught, and your dominant aura has caused him to cower, it's clear he is enjoying the feeling.

His hard on is still raging and if anything, it seems even angrier. His breathing is deep, but shaky; and he has the nerve to still hold your panties in his mouth. You snatch them out, drawing a whimper from him and toss them aside.

"So this is what you do when I'm not around?" He looks down at his lap then closes his eyes, too ashamed to see how aroused he is by the situation. "This why you've been acting so fucking desperate lately?" His whine when you grip his face and make him look you in the eyes is indeed, desperate.

His eyes sneak a glance at the computer and your eyes follow his line of sight seeing the video is still playing, this time the frame zoomed onto your ass as you're bent over. You narrow your eyes as you bring them to meet his again and he tries to shrink into himself.

"You that horny to where you can't even focus on me right in front of you? Is it because I'm fully clothed?" He looks at you with wide eyes and shakes his head in denial. "No? You like it when you're exposed and I'm all covered up?" the words are spoken softly into his ear before you lay a faint lick on his earlobe and lightly tug on it with your teeth.

"You're not the only one that can bite." You'd be lying if you said the shudder that coursed through him didn't thrill you. You hadn't paid attention before, but you actually have quite the dominant streak. Then an idea pops into your head and you let him go before moving to his desktop and turning on the webcam.

"W-What are you-" but you show him no mercy, "I'd threaten to gag you with something but you would like that wouldn't you?" He lets out a series of whimpers as you get on your knees in front of him, "look at you. still brick hard even with the camera on you. Who knew you were such a perverted little pup."

His cock bobs as throws his head back and squeezes his eyes shut. "Oh look at thaaat. You like that don't you?" You coo at him, lightly tracing one of his more prominent veins and trailing your left hand up his torso to his right nipple and flicking it with his thumb. "P-Please Y/N," you shake your head tsking at him, "That's not what you called me earlier is it?"

He doesn't respond, only continues mewling and squirming in his seat. When you allow your flattened palm to fall sharply on his thigh, you notice a new wave of precum starting to bead at his tip. "Oh you really are a pervert aren't you. I expected this from someone like Haechan, but never my sweet puppy, Jeno."

You notice the split second his breath hitches once Haechan's name is mentioned before it speeds up at the pet name. "Oh? I see. I might have to punish him too." Your hand ghosts over his length before firmly gripping it, earning a sigh of relief paired with a string of pleading moans.

"Maybe I'll restrain the both of you and play this video back. Would you like that?" He only murmurs and looks at you with eyes begging for torturous mercy. Your hand grips his slicked cock tighter, your wrist now twisting in a gyratory stroke, "want to watch me edge you with one of your best friends? A little fleshpump constantly milking you both?"

You speed up your hand and slacken your grip, "What do you think?" His head lolls back, brain fucked out and on autopilot, "Y-Yes Miss." "Divine." He sits up straight with heavy breaths, looking at you slightly cross-eyed and dazed as you bring him closer to the edge, "huh?" You can't help but chuckle at his cuteness as he tries to think through the oncoming orgasm.

At the last second you snatch your hand away, relishing in his pleading and fresh tears falling, but his self instructed obedience to keep his hands gripping the arms of the chair, where you've only just noticed they've been this entire time. "Divine. That is what you will refer to me as."

His eyes sparkle when your hand reconnects with his now painful erection, and he nods. "Since you've been such a good boy enduring this, I will reward you." He immediately perks up at that and nods eagerly. "I want you to give me two."

You see his eyes reflect a flicker of uncertainty so you soften your own and ask, "What color does the puppy give?" to which he perks up and smiles through a hooded gaze, "Green, Miss- Divine. Please, green." His smile is returned and you plant a soft wet kiss on the inside of his thigh, "Give me two."

Immediately he's thrown back into pleasure as your hand resumes its slow, spiral-like strokes. Just his sounds alone have you internally squirming yourself. "Baby you're twitching so much, are you close?" He bites his lip with furrowed brows and nods, "Okay puppy, cum for me."

It's when he feels your tongue on his balls that he looks back down at you and lets out a drawn out moan. "fffuuuuuuck Miss Divine- oh shit you make me feel so good." You moan against his balls before grazing your teeth along them, "What do you say?"

Tears roll down his cheeks from the overstimulation as he tries to catch his breath, "Th-Th-Thank you Miss Divine." You smile and reward him by now stroking him at a fast pace. "Come on puppy, you owe me one more. Be a good puppy for Miss Divine." Okay even you are beginning to cringe at the name, but watching him fall apart like this for you? For Miss Divine- it by far outranks the cringe.

"You're almost there baby, you can do it." His breathing is so quick you fear he may start hyperventilating, "M-May I please cum? Can I please?" And you, of course, grant him instant permission "Ooooh, look at the good puppy making a mess all over yourself." You'd continue to play with him, but his whimpers now sound hoarse and that softens your heart entirely.

You stand back to full height and cradle his face, bringing it closer to your own, "You did so good, and I'm so so proud of you for being a strong pup." His eyes flutter shut as you press a kiss to his forehead then flutter back open when you pull back, "I'm gonna go get the water ready for a shower. Will you be able to stand for that?"

He cutely nods back and gives your lips a gentle kiss, "I love you." Your heart still skips a beat when you hear those words, "I love you too baby." You grin and give him another kiss before going to the adjoined bathroom to set the shower to the perfect temperature.

"Ah shit!" you hear what sounds like scrambling, then typing and head out to the room to see Jeno shutting down his computer. "What happened? Are you okay?" He first sighs deeply, as if to gather his thoughts, "Haechan just texted me.." You hold your breath knowing you weren't going to like what comes out of his mouth next.

"He said..you know everything we just did? well..apparently we were on a live stream chat with him..." You gasp loudly and cover your mouth "..Was that all he said?" He grimaces and shakes his head, "He said he's on his way."

#subby!september #nct jeno #jeno smut #lee jeno smut #jeno hard hours #sub!idol #sub!idol x reader #sub!nct #sub!kpop #sub!jeno #perv!jeno #jeno x black reader #nct x black reader #kpop x black reader #z writes✍🏾

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pixelsandpins · 1 month ago

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Let's say you see the new Venom movie this weekend. Then you want to read the comics. Reading guides can be very overwhelming. So as a Venomaniac, let me give a broader approach discussing main storylines, what's worth your time, and where I think you should/could start.

80s-90s: Origin, First Villain Run, Transition to Hero

The Alien Suit Saga begins in Amazing Spider-Man #252 (1984) after Peter finds the goo in Secret Wars #8. Then more specific Eddie/Venom shenanigans start in 298-300. Venom's whole origin story can be found in a trade paperback (aka a TPB) called Spiderman: Birth of Venom which also includes issues from other series to fill out the story. Venom continues to be a villain in Spider-Man for awhile, so most of his story up through 1993 is found across Amazing Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man. There're couple of collections that cover parts of this, but the most complete is Spider-Man Vs Venom. From this era you can also get the trade paperback called Carnage: Born in Blood which covers the arrival and birth of Carnage. A more in depth reading guide will give you these individual issues, and you can find them all in Marvel Unlimited or other online source.

(I'm having a hard time finding what I feel is the optimal link, but these have the information, at least).

Birth of Venom individual issues.

Birth of Carnage individual issues.

These are all very 80s and 90s comics, however, so they require a little bit of fortitude if you've never read comics before. This theme will continue up through Venom's solo work through the 90s.

Venom's solo stuff begins with Venom: Lethal Protector in 1993 (available as a TPB). This is the arc where Eddie moves from villain to hero. It also introduces the first symbiote spawn and a few other major lore elements.

Up through the rest of the decade there are A LOT of 3-4 issue mini-runs starting with Venom: Funeral Pyre. You can knock each of them out in an evening, and they provide some details about character and story. You absolutely don't have to read most. There are some key ones, though, where the lore carries through:

Venom: The Madness brings value not in lore, but in narrative. It shows the way Eddie and the other physiologically affect each other. It's also just really good.

Venom: Separation Anxiety separates Eddie and the symbiote, exploring the changes in their relationship and deals with more spawn. This one is a major influence on the first movie.

Carnage: Unleashed gives more development to Carnage and sets a story beat up for later.

Go back to Spider-Man for Planet of the Symbiotes. This expands on symbiote lore and is a key element of Eddie and the others relationship. You can read it as individual issues or as a TPB. This one has a major influence on Venom 1 and 3.

Venom: Sinner Takes All introduces She-Venom, traumatizes Anne, and sets some later lore hooks for story.

Venom: The Hunger expands on the brain eating/addiction and introduces the chocolate substitute. They also hold hands at the movies, and I think that's super important, personally.

Venom: Seed of Darkness is one of the lesser priority ones but does provide some interesting Eddie backstory.

Venom: Finale the symbiote temporarily dies, and it sets up narrative for future comics.

If you've never read comics before, this whole era might be a difficult starting place. Mostly because the ethos of comics have changed, and it can be harder to connect with material from the 80s and 90s. It's not bad, it's just different. It's kind of essential narrative and lore establishment, however. So either accept the challenge or come back to it later and accept you'll have gaps in the lore. If you've read pre-2000s comics before, you'll be fine. Read from the beginning. It's a riot.

Venomnibus 1 and 2 covers this era.

2000-2010

There's a bit of a tricky transition here over the change in millennia as Venom goes back to being a villain for a bit, joining the Sinister Six. Because of this most of the story moves back to Spider-Man. The problem is: there's major story shit introduced, and there isn't a collected edition that covers this era properly. You'll require a reading guide or accept the lore gap.

In 2003 they get their shit together, and Venom becomes a hero again. The first solo run here is Venom Vol 1 by Daniel Way. This is collected into 4-5 trades, also appears in Venomnibus 3, and consists of 4 arcs. This one never got narratively resolved, but Wolverine is there. So that's something. This is probably the most skippable of the "big series" however you could use this as a starting place. It's early enough that you won't be missing the second phase of lore, and it's a more "modern" story. However, it's not the strongest of the runs, so it might set the wrong expectations.

Venom/Carnage is pretty good, introduces Toxin, and transitions us into the next narrative beat.

The Symbiote and Eddie Part Company, Scorpion!Venom Begins

Here is where Venom becomes a villain again!

Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #5-12 are often left off reading guides, but they transition the symbiote from Eddie to Angelo Fortunato to Mac Gargan.

Gargan, as Venom, then joins the Thunderbolts for a while. This is in Thunderbolts #110-127

Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man is the story of Mac Gargan fuckin' around as Venom/Dark Spider-Man

I'm of the opinion you can pretty much skip the entire Gargan era, and you won't lose much going forward.

Venomnibus 3 also collects much of this.

Also skip Venom: Dark Origin, for now. It sort of rewrites Eddie in a way that didn't really stick going forward.

Right at the end here, Carnage gets a few more series and Eddie as Anti-Venom is first introduced in Spider-Man. Anti-Venom barely shows up, at first, but he persists going forward. There's no dedicated collection of this.

2010->today

Flash Thompson/Agent Venom Begins

Here, the government strips the other from Mac and gives it to military vet Flash Thompson

After a bit of Spider-Man prologue, this kicks off properly in 2011 with Venom Vol 2 by Remender and Bunn. The Spider Island crossover as part of this run goes in tandem with Amazing Spider-Man. You can use a guide to sort these issues or get the TPB.

If you start here you're coming in right at the start of the next major phase of lore for Venom that covers all the Cool Space Shit. It's a fan favorite and objectively well-written run, but it's also thematically and narratively a bit of a turn from all the others. It will also be a really really long time before you see Eddie as Venom. So just keep that in mind going forward.

Flash Goes to Space

Agent Venom also joins the Thunderbolts from issue #1-23 (Way and Soule). This is skippable.

His story continues in the Guardians of the Galaxy run from 2014, joining in issue #14. The most important part of his tenure with Guardians, however is issue #21-23. This is where we see the symbiote/Klyntar homeworld.

He rejoins the Guardians for 20 issues in the next run starting in 2015, but it's skippable.

I can't find a collected edition that covers the Thunderbolt and Guardians eras, so it might require a reading guide.

Venom: Space Knight is sick as fuck and my favorite with Flash. A lot of good, juicy alien lore.

Eddie Becomes Venom, Again

Before Eddie goes back to his boyfriend, he spends some time as Toxin. The bulk of this is covered in the 2015 Carnage run by Conway.

Venom Vol 3 by Costa begins in 2016, and we see the transition from Flash to Lee Price briefly the finally back to Eddie. This is my personal favorite major run. It currently comes in 4 TPB. Starting here gives you street level Venom again but does drop you deep shit into the lore. You can one-hundred percent start here, though, extremely easily because they treat it as a soft reboot.

You'll see the start of the Venomverse and Venomized runs. You can skip those, for now.

Venom Inc. is available as a TPB and gathers a bunch of cross-issue comics. Lee becomes Maniac. Flash and Eddie duke it out.

Some more lore important stuff happens in Spider-Man, but isn't collected, again.

First Host is a really great mini-run in 2018 that talks about the true first host of the symbiote. It's available as a TPB.

The Cates run (vol 4) (also has Bunn on it) begins in 2018, and it's very very good. It's where the character of Knull comes from, as featured in the new movie. A lot of people start here and have a good time. The way it's narratively constructed, it's beginner friendly, but you're sort of coming in at the end of Eddie's arc.

This also involves the Absolute Carnage and King in Black crossover events which are collected in a TPB/Omni.

This is also all collected in the recent Cates and Stegman Venomnibus.

The current Ewing run (vol 5) ends literally next month (cries), but you CANNOT START HERE. Without the previous Cates run, the current run is missing vital story and lore information. You will be so lost, at first, that it simply won't be fun.

You'll note I've skipped a number of side runs including a few Carnage runs and Toxin. Slot them in if you want additional lore and story, but you can get by without them if it all becomes too much.

The lore drops that appear in Spider-Man in between solo runs might seize you up for a moment, but when necessary, the solo comics will catch you up as needed.

The past five years have also seen a handful of retro-runs that go back in time to tell stories from Eddie's early time with Venom. You could slot them in with the other 90s mini-runs, but I think they're more fun after you've been reading for awhile.

A new run is starting in December called All New Venom where Eddie will no longer be the host. Who will? We don't know! The way it's being advertised, I'm going to make a guess it ends up being a passable starting point for new readers. I'll know when I get my issue #1.

#venom #venom comics #venom reading guide #symbrock

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ladamedusoif · 24 days ago

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Rockford, P.I.

Or: the one where Tim Rockford is a ghost hunter

Inspired by the incredible PPCU AU moodboards by @almostfoxglove!

Pairing: Paranormal Investigator!Tim Rockford x F!Reader

Word Count: 5.6k

Content notes/warnings: 18+ MDNI; F!Reader; no physical description of Reader; Tim Rockford AU; Reader is Tim’s occasional partner in the business; established working relationship and friendship; friends to lovers; spooky shenanigans; implied smut; fluff; ghosts; references to death; references to alcohol use; references to drug use; strong language; cliches and most likely a lot of stuff that’s not correct about paranormal investigations.

Author's note: I loved @almostfoxglove's PPCU AU moodboards so much and I've been thinking about this story for a while, so when better to finish and post it than Halloween? I know I haven't written in a long time - since the summer, I think - and at the weekend certain discourse made me want to just give up completely and delete every word I'd ever posted. But this was nearly done, and I feel like at least some people might like to see it. So here you are. Happy Halloween, Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh.

And thank you to @mescalpascal for beta-ing this and not letting me get away with just giving up - with writing, fandom, everything.

To find more of my work and get alerts when I post new writing (which will hopefully be more frequently!), follow my writing blog @ladameecrit and turn on notifications.

Ghost divider by @wethairjoel

“Rockford, PI - Tim speaking. How can I be of assistance?”

Tim spins in his battered desk chair, phone tucked against his shoulder and box of leftover takeout still in hand as he listens to the person on the other end of the line, nodding and “uh huh”-ing every so often.

He stops spinning. He puts down the box of cold lo mein. He grabs a pen, and frantically begins taking notes. He asks the caller to send as much information as they can via email.

And then he calls you.

Other little girls at school wanted to be princesses or singers or models or movie stars. You? You wanted to be a Ghostbuster. Forget clean-cut TV stars or the latest cookie-cutter boyband member, your first love was Dr Egon Spengler.

Fast forward a few decades, and your dream had become reality - kind of. Your doctoral thesis on the interplay between reported paranormal activity and its representation in popular culture had produced a few well-received articles and earned you a positive reputation in the admittedly rather specialised world of paranormal and psychical research. It had not, unfortunately, led to a glittering academic career.

Instead, you made a living with a part-time teaching gig at a university combined with a little freelance consultancy work for movies and TV shows, almost all of which ditched your nuanced advice and produced yet another cliched depiction of “ghost hunters” screaming on camera.

And then there was Tim. You’d met a long time back, after a talk you’d given in the city about change and continuity in the concept of the “haunted house”. He was sitting in the front, diligently taking notes and nodding along as you spoke, eyes warm and encouraging - and he immediately made a beeline to ask you for coffee as soon as the Q&A wrapped up.

Before you parted that evening, he handed you his card.

”Rockford, PI. You’re a private investigator?”

Tim shook his head. “Paranormal investigator. Helps to have most people think it’s the other kind of PI, though.” He called you from time to time, asking for your help on specific cases, sometimes enlisting you as a partner for the duration of an investigation. You always welcomed the extra income, but in truth you helped him out for the sheer love of it - for the chance to feel like a real Ghostbuster, even if Tim worked in business attire instead of boiler suits, and to spend time with one of the few people in the world you felt really got you.

You peer out at the English countryside from the window of the car Tim hired at Heathrow, straining to see something of the allegedly “green and pleasant” land through the miserable grey haze and sheets of rain. The navigation on your phone announces the final turn for your destination. Tim, still getting used to driving on the other side of the road, approaches cautiously and takes the left turn onto the long driveway.

“Whoa.” His voice is awestruck as the car arrives at the enormous country house, now a luxury boutique hotel catering to the rich and famous in search of an exclusive retreat. “We’re a long way from poltergeists in Poughkeepsie.”

You shrug as Tim drives into the small, discreet parking lot to one side of the building. “I’ve done some work on a couple of Gilded Age mansions. This isn’t going to be all that different, right?”

“True,” he muses, climbing out of the car and setting to work unpacking your luggage: a suitcase each, plus several hard-sided cases of vital equipment for conducting the investigation, labelled ‘Scientific Instruments’. “And they did say they think it’s only one manifestation.”

You chuckle as you help him wheel the cases from the car towards the hotel entrance, where a man in elegant livery is already rushing to greet you with a brass luggage trolley. “One manifestation? Please. We got this, Rockford.”

That evening, unpacked, freshened up, and after a dinner meeting with the hotel owner, you and Tim decamp to the library - now a comfortably-appointed lounge with its own bar - to compare notes. The two of you are the only residents, the hotel having temporarily suspended operations in order to deal with the spectral guest.

He hands you a glass of whiskey and settles beside you on the Chesterfield sofa, hair still damp from his earlier shower and his customary attire replaced by a long-sleeved Henley shirt and a pair of jeans. He looks more boyish, the grey patches in his beard notwithstanding, and you find yourself smiling softly at him.

“So: first impressions?”

You take a sip of your drink and reach for your notebook. “First impressions: they must be pretty freaked out to temporarily close down a hotel over one spirit, don’t you think?”

He shrugs. “Maybe? Or maybe it’s unusually troublesome - they mentioned strange things appearing on bedroom walls, guests waking to the sound of a voice shouting for help, weird stuff turning up on TV channels... And they do pride themselves on the whole ‘idyllic rural retreat’ brand, which a ghost doesn’t exactly fit with.” He sips his whiskey and thinks. “Did you find out any more about the death here a couple of years ago?”

”I did - it was weirdly under-reported, given that a celebrity was involved, but I guess people had much bigger things to worry about during the pandemic.” You flip to a different page. “Nothing I found out seemed to contradict the owner’s version of events, though I’m sure they’d be careful to control the narrative if there was anything to hide.”

Tim sucks his cheek, deep in thought, and nods. “I guess we can’t proceed until we see how this thing is manifesting for ourselves. You have everything you need for the surveillance in your room overnight?”

You nod. “And we’ve got the kit set up in the other parts of the hotel the owner mentioned. I think we’re good to go, Timothy.”

He grins, eyes sparkling, and clinks your glass.

Jetlag doesn’t stop you waking as soon as the first rays of sunlight begin to peek around the heavy drapes that adorn the windows of your large bedroom. You’re checking the recordings and readings taken in the room overnight, looking for any indication of paranormal activity, when your phone buzzes with a message from Tim.

Nothing in my room overnight. Anything in yours?

Not that I can see. You want to check the other equipment before breakfast?

Sure thing. Race you to the Full English.

“Oh, it’s on, Rockford,” you murmur to yourself, reaching for leggings and an old hoodie. You slip on a pair of Crocs, already bracing yourself for Tim’s inevitable comments about your choice of footwear, grab your keycard, and slip out of the room.

It’s quiet in your absence, save for the gentle sound of birds singing outside, the wind occasionally rattling your windows - and the increasingly steady beeping now being emitted from a little device Tim had given you, designed to measure sudden shifts in psychical energy.

None of the other devices set up elsewhere in the hotel had registered anything out of the ordinary. Tim, typically, is philosophical.

“We just have to wait, do some more research in the meantime, speak to the staff. How’s that breakfast?” He sips his coffee, mug looking comically small in his large hand, and gives you a mischievous look.

“The bacon’s delicious, the mushrooms are great, the eggs are perfect… but I don’t think Cumberland sausages are for me.” You poke at the thick, half-eaten link sausage on the plate. “Not least because ‘Cumberland sausage’ sounds like a fuckin’ euphemism if ever I heard one.”

Tim laughs, the warm sound resonating in the empty dining room. He tops up his coffee and reaches for another slice of toast, and you realise that he seems…different.

“Rockford?” He looks up at you, toast crumbs in his moustache. “What’s going on with you? You aren’t normally this, uh, jolly on a job.”

He swallows his toast and drinks his coffee thoughtfully. “It’s a fascinating case, and I guess I’m just really happy that we’re working together again. Even if you’re wearing those.”

Tim gestures with mock scorn towards your brightly-coloured Crocs, before giving you a sly wink.

“Are you absolutely sure you want to comment on my sartorial choices, Rockford? Or do you want me to talk about your rotating selection of striped ties from Sears?”

After breakfast, Tim decides to take advantage of the on-site pool and you return to your room for a quick shower before beginning the first round of interviews with hotel staff. The beeping noise is audible before you’ve even reached the door.

You steel yourself and gently enter the room, slowly moving in the direction of the little device on its tripod, various alert lights flashing in sync with the rhythm of its insistent beeps. You transcribe the codes on its screen into your notebook and take a quick video, ready to show Tim as soon as possible. Cross-legged on the floor, you close your eyes for a moment, steadying your breathing.

“I can’t believe they let in someone else wearing Crocs. So much for their fuckin’ dress code.”

Your eyes snap wide open at the sound of the male voice behind you, on the other side of the room. American. West coast, you think. A little…affected?

In other words: that’s probably not a member of staff.

You get to your feet and turn, slowly, in the direction of the voice.

There, on the other side of the room, sprawled on the sofa, is a man you think must be in his early 40s. His hair is wild, wavy, dark; his eyes obscured by a pair of vintage Ray-Bans. He’s wearing a brown teddy coat, which has slipped open to reveal a shirtless torso and a flash of tummy. A pair of loose grey shorts, wooly socks, and fucking Crocs complete his outfit.

Definitely not staff.

Though your heart is pounding out of your chest, you find the strength to speak. “Are you a spirit?”

The man slips his glasses down his nose and gives you a withering look. “What the fuck else do you think I am? And while we’re here - why is that…thing making so much noise?”

“It’s to read changes in psychical activity,” you explain. “So it’s probably picking you up.”

The man thinks about this for a couple of moments, as if chewing it over. With a jolt, you realise two things: firstly, that in all your years of working with the paranormal, you’ve never actually seen a ghost, at least not in this form; and secondly, that you recognise this figure.

“So you do know who I am,” he drawls, pushing his glasses back up his nose and lying back on the couch. Shit, he’s more powerful than you suspected - he can pick up on what you’re thinking.

“It’s…it’s you. The dead guest.”

He exhales dramatically and flops his arm over the side of the sofa. “I have a name.”

You rack your brains, afraid to look away to grab your notebook in case he disappears.

“You’re…you’re Dieter Bravo.”

Tim Rockford is on his twentieth lap of the pool when a slow, steady buzzing noise catches his ear, coming from the direction of the tote bag he’d left poolside with towels, a t-shirt, and shorts. He hauls himself out of the water and roughly dries off his face, hair, and hands before rummaging in the bag. “Fuck!”

He’s half-wet and breathless when you open the door to your room, his fist still raised as if ready to continue the frantic hammering that had signalled his arrival.

“Jesus! You okay?”

He’s turning and twirling around the room, glasses on and fogged up from the residual humidity of his body, holding up one of his own psychical activity detectors. “You…fuck,” Tim hisses as he tries to catch his breath. “You saw it? Where is it?”

“So I’m an it now?”, Dieter drawls, now hovering - literally - in the area of the large bay window.

“He’s there,” you gesture, calmly, as if being in a room with the spectral manifestation of a dead Hollywood actor was an everyday occurrence. “By the window.”

Tim stares directly at Dieter, but doesn’t register anything. Dieter roars with laughter.

“Oh, babe! Looks like you’re special.”

“I’m special?”

Tim swivels at the sound of your voice, confusion written all over his face. Dieter sidles up to the other man, resting his head on Tim’s shoulder, and you’re struck by a kind of resemblance. Tim shivers.

“He can’t see or hear me. Most people can’t, which makes haunting the fuck out of this place hilarious,” the actor explains. He takes a seat on a vanity table near the window and looks a little wistful. “Annika was the last person who could see and hear me,” he sighs. “Kinda nice to be…” - he wiggles his hands in the air - “visible again.”

“He…he says I’m special because I can see and hear him, and you can’t. Most people can’t. Is this…normal? Am I normal?”

Tim crosses the room and puts a hand on your shoulder, gently caressing it in a gesture of reassurance. “I mean, none of what we do is normal. But yes, this is not unusual.”

Dieter immediately launches into a Tom Jones impersonation, gyrating in exaggerated fashion towards Tim, and you roll your eyes involuntarily. Tim looks hurt.

“Oh! Oh, Tim, no, I was rolling my eyes at him. Not you. Shit, this is going to be confusing, isn’t it?”

The crinkles that form around Tim’s eyes when he smiles make a welcome appearance, and his dark eyes twinkle behind his glasses. “I’m sure we can work out a system for keeping communication clear. Usually, when a manifestation is only visible to one or two people, it means they have some kind of need, or something unfulfilled. And, I guess, they think the witness can give it to them.”

You glance over at Dieter, who is still gyrating. He lowers his sunglasses and grins at you lasciviously.

Over the next couple of days, you and Tim interview hotel staff and examine some of the areas affected by the haunting, to establish a pattern for the manifestation’s - for Dieter’s - behaviour.

“The random murals appearing overnight aren’t that disturbing, I suppose,” you muse, noting down the details of the artwork Dieter had left in one guest bedroom.

“Depends on what you consider disturbing, though.” Tim rubs a finger against the paint, examining the powdery residue. “I wouldn’t like to wake up to an extra-large rendering of Hieronymus Bosch’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ on my hotel room wall.”

You giggle and nod in agreement. “Well, fair. Though it’s weirdly good, for a ghost.”

Your psychical activity detectors start to beep in unison and you turn to each other before you spy Dieter, lounging on top of a wardrobe. He’s clad differently, today, this time sporting a green robe, a baggy purple t-shirt, and striped lounge pants.

And the Crocs.

“I am good. Honestly, if they’d got my heart going again I think I’d have quit Hollywood, y’know? Jacked it all in, got clean, got into art properly. Make sculptures, paint, run a gallery or some shit.”

“He’s talking to me,” you explain to Tim, before turning back to Dieter. “So you’re hanging around here because you didn’t get to make the art you dreamed of?”

“Ugh. I don’t have to explain myself to you people.”

And he’s gone.

In the evenings, the hotel insists on serving you and Tim dinner as if you were ordinary guests, not paranormal investigators tasked with eradicating the ghost of an Oscar-winning Hollywood enfant terrible from the property. The lone waiter serves your five-course meal with the kind of exaggerated formality you had only ever seen in films or TV shows about royalty, respectfully pointing out the various cutlery and accoutrements needed for each course in a low, somewhat fawning voice.

“And voilà, Mr Rockford, your seabass.” He lifts the dome from Tim’s plate and does a little bow.

Tim is chewing the inside of his cheek and turning pink as the waiter leans closer to his ear.

“A reminder, sir, should you require it, that the fishknife is that delicate little marvel on the right. Bon appétit.”

Tim says nothing as the waiter makes his way across the vast, empty dining room, watching for the door to the kitchens to close properly before he lets out a belly laugh so huge it almost rocks the table you’re seated at. You raise an eyebrow and pour him a fresh glass of water.

“Are you quite well, Tim?”

He’s taken off his glasses and is rubbing tears from his eyes, unable to control his laughter. “Why did he say that about the fishknife? And the fucking dome? I shouldn’t laugh but…”

“You mean you didn’t need to be reminded that the fishknife is a delicate little marvel?”

Your attempt to replicate the waiter’s tone sets the two of you off this time, and you’re still laughing about it by the time you retreat to the lounge with a gin and tonic each.

This was the longest you’d ever spent in Tim’s company, you realised one night, sitting with your feet tucked under you on the large leather sofa. There was a lot that you didn’t know about each other, but being stuck in a haunted hotel is nothing if not an ideal opportunity for getting to know someone better.

You are listening to Tim animatedly telling you about one of his strangest cases. His face lights up when he talks about his work, big hands gesturing for emphasis, eyes bright and focused on you. He listens to you with the same commitment and interest, keenly asking questions and taking in your every word.

When you lean in for a goodnight hug before parting ways, he seems surprised - but pleased, somehow, as he returns your embrace.

Your TV is on when you return to your room. The tell-tale beeping from the psychical activity monitor gives him away immediately.

“Dieter.”

He’s lying on your bed, propped up on one arm, green robe wrapped around him. “Heyyyyyyy. Hope you don’t mind. Wanted some company and I’ve haunted the fuck out of everyone else around here.”

You shake your head and pour yourself a glass of water. “I don’t mind. But if I let you hang out with me you have to answer my questions.”

He groans and flops back onto the bed, though his body makes no indentation in the bedclothes. “FINE. But you have to answer mine.”

“Fair.” You settle beside him on the bed, trying not to overthink the fact that you were literally hanging out with a dead man. “What the fuck are you watching?”

He runs his fingers through his hair in irritation and points at the 90s sitcom he’s watching on some random-ass cable channel. “Allegedly this is a British remake of Who’s The Boss but like, it’s fucking shit. No Danza, no party.”

You pause for a moment. “Speaking of party…can you do drugs, if you’re a ghost? All the evidence would suggest you can’t, but I’ve never actually heard from someone with first-hand experience.”

“I tried.”

“And?”

Dieter grimaces. “I literally threw a couple of tabs of acid through my stupid fuckin’ ghost body, didn’t I. Just…whoosh.” He gestures with his hand. “I feel so real, y’know? All corporeal. But then you try to get high and bam. No can do. I can’t eat or drink, either.”

“You didn’t answer my question earlier.”

He stares at you. “Why do you get to ask two questions in a row? My turn.”

You roll your eyes and take a sip of your water, noticing Dieter staring longingly at the glass.

“Fine.”

He cackles and claps his hands together. They make no sound.

“Are you and Magnum P.I. fucking? You’re fucking, right?”

“Um, no?” You take another sip of water and swallow hard. “No, we are not fucking. We’re colleagues.”

Dieter mimics you, note-perfect, and cackles again. “Bullshit. He’s down so fuckin’ bad for you.”

“Tim is not ‘down bad’ for me, as you put it.”

He sits up, moving into a kind of lotus position. “He is.”

“He’s not.”

“He is, and I know he is because I can literally sense this shit. And I can definitely sense that you’ve got a crush on ol’ Columbo down the hall. Which is fair, I guess. He’s pretty hot.”

You can feel the heat rising to your face, but maintain what you hope is a neutral expression.

“Oh, Scully is trying so hard not to let her crush on Mulder show.” He smiles a smug, satisfied grin.

“Is he Magnum, Columbo, or Mulder, Dieter?”

“All three, baby.” He hovers about a foot above the bed, pointing at you accusingly. “And you should put him out of his misery. Want me to go check on him for you, see if he’s thinking about you right now?” Dieter wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“If you don’t shut up I’m going to get a ghost trap and put you in it.”

“Like in Ghostbusters?!” Dieter seems unreasonably excited.

“Do you want to be sealed up in a little trap, or would you prefer to continue having free rein?”

He sighs and descends back to the bed. “Ugh. Okay. I’m sorry. But I’m not wrong.”

Dieter fucking Bravo. He was haunting your brain, as well as this hotel.

His insistence that Tim had a thing for you - and vice versa - now coloured every interaction, every conversation between you and your colleague as you tried to discern any evidence that Dieter was right, or that disproved his theory. To your horror, you began to unconsciously hope that he wasn’t just winding you up.

He quickly got in the habit of appearing in your room just before bedtime: staying for a little chat, dodging any of your questions that veered too close to the essential truth of why he hadn’t completely passed over to the great beyond, and asking repeatedly if you and Tim had “got around to fucking” yet.

“It would be kinda hard for us to get around to fucking with a fucking ghost in my room, don’t you think?”

He laughs his wheezy rasp of a laugh and crosses his hands over his tummy. “Listen, the more the merrier, babe.”

A few moments pass before you break the silence. “Why are you so obsessed with us, with me and Tim, with us getting together?”

He pouts and stares into the middle distance. “I guess…hmm. I want people to get what they want, love-wise.” Dieter discerns your incredulous glance. “What? I mean it! I’m a big fan of romance and happy endings.”

“You can’t blame me for being sceptical, Dieter.”

Tension crackles in the air. When he speaks again, he’s very quiet.

“Just because I didn’t get a happy ending in life doesn’t mean I can’t believe in them.”

Dieter’s big, dark eyes - or the spectral impression of his big, dark eyes, now trapped in some in-between place, neither here nor there - look at you with absolute sincerity.

“Is that why you’re still here?”

He turns away.

“I don’t know why I can see you, Dieter, or what you need me for, but there’s got to be a reason for it. And I can’t help you until you talk to me.”

He huddles deeper into his green robe, and you exhale.

“Fine. You’re not wrong. You’re right, in fact.”

He doesn’t move, but you can almost feel his ghostly ears pricking up.

“I’m right?”

You close your eyes and bite your lip. “Fuck it. You’re right, I… I think I do have a crush on him.”

This time, you swear you can hear Dieter smile.

“On who?”

“You know who.”

“Say it.” He chuckles to himself.

“Oh, fuck.” You bury your head in your hands. “Why do I need to say it, when you can sense what I’m thinking?”

Dieter rolls over and props himself up, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Because it’s very fucking satisfying. For me.”

“Fuck you, Dieter Bravo. Fine. I - I have a crush on Tim. Happy?”

He nods, and points in the direction of Tim’s room, down the hall. “Mmm. And now you need to tell Timmy so that he can tell you he has a crush on you and then you can go off and have lots of weirdo paranormal-obsessed babies. If that’s a thing you want, of course.”

“Okay.”

Dieter’s eyes widen. “Okay? So, you’re just gonna tell him?”

“I’ll tell him… but only if you let me help you.”

“No deal. Fuck you two, keep on being idiots.”

“I thought you loved happy endings, romance, all that?”

“Nope.”

You shift on the mattress to face Dieter, and speak more gently this time. “Do you want to be stuck here forever, Dieter?”

He hesitates. “Nope.”

“So, should we make a deal?”

He talks and talks all night, floating around the room, resting on the vanity, on the armchair, on the bed, and at one point drifting in and out of the bathroom - even with the door closed.

And you listen. You listen like Tim listens to you: engaged, curious, open, kind, even, trying to get to the root of what’s keeping this man trapped in between worlds in a luxury hotel in the English countryside.

Unfinished business is a common explanation for why ghosts hang around, you’ve realised. A desire for vengeance, too. Sometimes spirits just want to stay around their families and friends. Once, a long time ago, a client of Tim’s described the work as being like a kind of doula, for ghosts.

“You help them get out of the in-between,” the lady had said, after Tim had solved the ongoing hauntings in her family’s ranch house. “They just need someone to hold their hand, I guess. Well, maybe not literally.”

Watching and listening as Dieter talks about his life, his death, his successes, his failures, you become ever more keenly aware of how right she was, and more focused on getting him to where he needs to be. To peace.

He descends gently to the ground in front of the TV set. “I can’t deny that the whole Beetlejuice shtick has been fun, most of the time,” he says, sadly. “But you’re right, I don’t wanna be stuck here for the rest of my life. I mean, the rest of my death. I mean -”

“The rest of your afterlife.”

He grins. “Exactly.”

“Dieter… do you think you might just be afraid?”

“Afraid?” His eyes are wide and frightened, giving you his answer without a word.

“Afraid to let go. Afraid to move to the next stage, whatever that is.”

“But that’s just it.” Dieter stares at his Crocs. “You said it. ‘Whatever that is.’ I don’t know what’s there.”

“No one does, though. And most spirits don’t end up haunting entire hotels, they just…pass through.”

He nods. “I guess I always had to stand out, huh?”

“Nothing wrong with that,” you agree.

He takes a couple of moments to compose himself. “I… I saw whatever the fuck comes next when my heart stopped. Bright light, all that shit. Fuckin’ near-death experience, except I was actually dead.”

“But you didn’t pass through?”

“I feel like my entire self just went ‘fuck this, I’m not done’. But I couldn’t come back, y’know?” He tugs at an errant curl. “I guess…fuck. I didn’t want to be forgotten. Wanted to know I could live on, maybe.”

“You don’t have to stay in the in-between to live on, Dieter. The work speaks for itself.”

He groans. “Some of it does. Never got to rebuild properly, though. Whole lotta shlock in there and one fuckin’ Oscar.”

You bring yourself to the ground beside the spectre. “That’s one Oscar more than most of us will ever have. And plenty of people who died before their time still live on in their work.”

“If you mention the 27 Club to me I will actually haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“Noted.” You smile at him, cheered by the sight of a little grin on Dieter’s lips. “But you know it’s true.”

“I just never got the happy ending.”

He looks so sorrowful in that moment that you wish, more than anything, that you could hug him - make him flesh and blood, just for an instant again, so he could know the comfort of a warm embrace.

“Maybe the happy ending is off there in the hereafter.”

Dieter arches an eyebrow. “Do you actually believe that?”

You grin and chuckle. “Honestly? Fuck knows what’s after all this. I think I’d rather not know. But even if it’s just a bright light and bam, that’s it - you’ll live forever, Dieter Bravo.”

Tim is bed-headed and bleary-eyed when he opens his door to you at 6.30am, but he smiles widely when his vision focuses and he recognises your face.

“Have a seat, have a seat,” he gestures to the bed, before blushing a little. “Or I can move my clothes off the armchair, if you’d prefer.”

You perch on the edge of the mattress and shake your head. “It’s perfect here, thank you. I just wanted to tell you that I think Dieter’s…”

Funny how, in spite of doing this job and researching these phenomena for so many years, some cases just get to you. A sob catches in your throat as you try to find the words.

“I think the haunting problem is solved, I guess.”

Tim’s eyes widen in amazement and he sits beside you on the edge of the bed. “Your doula skills, right?”

You nod, tears still threatening to fall at any moment. His strong arms wrap around you and hold you close, keeping you safe as you cry against his broad chest.

“Please do feel free to stay for the next couple of days, of course.” The hotel manager is effusive and grateful as you wrap up the debriefing session later that morning, standing up to shake your and Tim’s hands in turn. “The rooms are booked, we won’t be reopening to other guests until we can redecorate the affected bedrooms. It’s on us, an extra little thank you for dealing with our, uh, friend.”

After lunch, the two of you walk through the property’s walled gardens and admire the various topiaries and water features. All the while, your promise to Dieter lingers at the forefront of your mind.

You said you would tell Tim how you felt, if Dieter let you help him. And he did. And now…

Fuck. And you wouldn’t put it past Dieter Bravo to somehow find his way back from the hereafter, just to haunt you out of spite.

You look over at Tim, who’s taking a photo of the hotel buildings from the gardens, and feel a surge of affection, mingled with anxiety. What if Dieter had got you right, but Tim wrong?

He catches your eye and grins at you. “Hey, come in for a photo?”

You pose beside an ornamental fountain, Tim concentrating as he sets up the shot. He beckons to you.

“How about a selfie, maybe?”

His arm snakes around your shoulders as he angles the phone towards the two of you and captures the moment: he, suit on but tie loosened, eyes twinkling; you, smiling broadly into the lens.

He brings you a gin and tonic, settling in beside you on the Chesterfield sofa and clinking his glass of whiskey to yours. In the last few days the ritual has become familiar and comforting; and with a jolt you worry that this might be the last time you enjoy it together.

Tim sips his drink in contented silence, watching the flames of the large, open fire.

“You’re quiet. Is everything okay?”

His dark eyes meet yours as you turn to face him. “I’m…”

Dieter Bravo is going to haunt you if you don’t do this.

What if this is your happy ending?

A large swig of G&T, to fortify your resolve.

“Um, I’ve really enjoyed this whole case, working with…being with you.”

Tim smiles softly. “Me too. It was nice to get the chance to get to know each other better.”

Another fortifying sip.

“I was wondering…uh. Shit. Maybe, when we get back, would you -”

Your voice dries up in your throat. The next words are barely more than a whisper.

“Would you maybe like to get a drink or dinner sometime? With me?”

For an instant, you can see that Tim is on the verge of brushing it off, of asking why you're being so strange about this, of saying that you regularly meet for coffee if you’re both free, talking about that diner you sometimes go to.

And then the realisation sinks in, and his face softens into a huge smile.

“I would love to take you for dinner. And drinks. Whenever you want, wherever you want.”

He puts his glass down and moves closer to you. Your fingers reach for the end of his tie as your bodies shift ever closer, until he’s holding your face in his hands and his mouth is on yours, kissing you with warm intent.

You’re about to pull him down to the couch, his hands already snaking up under your blouse, when a stern cough makes the two of you jump.

The hotel’s only waiter casts a disapproving glance in your direction and shakes his head as he processes through the lounge to the main bar.

Your hand reaches for Tim’s and you lead him towards the hallway and the main staircase leading to the bedrooms.

The morning is grey and dreary, rain already pelting against the windowpanes as the dawn light struggles to break through the dark clouds. You press a kiss to Tim’s bare chest as you slip out of bed to use the bathroom, padding swiftly across the deep-pile carpet so as not to wake him.

The green robe hanging from the hook on the tiled wall of your bathroom is unmistakable, but even so you have to pause for a moment to be sure it’s real. You run your fingers over the textured weave and fabric, noting how (surprisingly) good it smells - faint whiff of weed notwithstanding.

Tim stirs as you close the bathroom door and walk back to the bed, blinking awake and greeting you with a delighted smile.

“Good morning. Nice robe.”

“A movie star gave it to me,” you explain, shedding the soft green garment and pulling Tim’s naked body to yours before he can ask any further questions.

(Sorry, Dieter. Love you.)

#rockford pi fic #tim rockford fanfiction #tim rockford AU #tim rockford #ppcu fanfiction #ppcu crack!fic #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal #pedrostories #ladamedusoif writes #ladameecrit

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vodika-vibes · 2 months ago

Note

Congrats on 800 followers 🥳 You deserve all of them and so many more. I know I've been a little MIA, but I still love you and watch your success from afar 🫂

You don't have to do my request, but if you feel so inclined, could I request Tup x Fem!Reader with apple picking? And maybe some apple pie making shenanigans along with it?

Please and thank you 💚💚💚

@the-bad-batch-baroness

Apple Pie Weekend

Summary: While it’s not cheaper to pick apples at the orchard, you still love doing it. Especially since, this year, you can convince Tup to come with you.

Pairing: Clone Trooper Tup x F!Reader

Word Count: 1043

Warnings: Tup is an unrepentant thief

A/N: Of course I'm going to write your request! Because I love you and I love writing for you! Anyway, I'm five sheets passed tired but I did my best! I hope you like it. Also, I went over my word limit by 43 words. That's not terrible.

Click HERE to be added to my taglist!

“Are you sure you’re going to be warm enough?” Tup asks as he critically eyes the thin jacket you’re wearing over your equally thin tee shirt, “You look like you’re going to freeze.” You're surprised that he waited until now to bring it up, honestly. After all, you just arrived at the orchard.

You grin at him, “I’ll be fine, Tup. Really.”

The look he shoots you is doubtful, and you can’t help the amused laugh as you lean over the center console of your speeder and quickly kiss his cheek. “If you get cold I’m not going to let you use my sweatshirt,” Tup warns.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Busy place,” Tup notes as he pushes his door open to get out of the speeder, his sharp gaze already sweeping the parking lot with a critical eye.

“Well, it is opening day,” You reply as you walk around the speeder and wrap your arms around his waist. You release a happy hum as he drapes an arm over your shoulder and tugs you closer to his side, “So naturally it will be busy.”

“And why are we here?”

“To pick apples,”

“Obviously,” Tup rolls his eyes dramatically and you grin and push him slightly, not that he moves at all. “You can buy apples at the store. Why do we need to pick them?”

“Because they taste better that way.”

“I doubt that.”

“Oh, come on Tup! Everything tastes better if you have to gather it with your own hands!”

“As someone who’s had to hunt for food before, I can promise that that’s not the case.”

You tighten your grip around him and rest your cheek against his shoulder, “Just two bags, Tup? And then we can go home and make apple pie!”

“Why do you need so many apples?”

You pull away from him and look up into his eyes, “To keep the doctors away.” You reply solemnly.

Tup presses his hands against your cheeks, “If you’re planning on throwing apples at Kix, please don’t. It’ll just make him angry.”

You laugh and drop your forehead to his chest, “I’m going to make a couple of pies and some tarts, and maybe some jams. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, if you’re going to make me treats—” Tup muses.

“Who says that they’re for you? Maybe I’m making them for Rex.”

He shoots you an amused look, even as he takes your hand and tugs you towards the stand where people are getting bags, “Then you can call Rex here to pick apples for you.”

You squeeze his hand gently, “Well, I perfect spending time with you anyway.”

“Good, I prefer spending time with you too.” Tup murmurs in reply as you drop a couple of credits in the hand of the girl manning the booth, and accept a couple of bags as well as a map.

45 minutes later, the pair of you are deep in the orchard, and Tup is sitting on a tree branch tossing apples down to you. One of your bags is already full of shiny red apples and the other is half full, but you’re beginning to think that maybe the pair of you should dip out early.

Mainly because the temperature is dropping and you’re starting to get cold. But you’re not going to admit that to Tup because then he’d toss his sweatshirt to you and you’d feel guilty.

You catch another few apples and set them in the bag, before you kneel and peer at the apples.

“Everything good, mesh’la?”

“Yeah, I think we’re all set though.” You call up to him, only to jump when you see him standing only a few feet away from you, “Don’t do that!”

“Not my fault you didn’t hear me,” He shrugs, “You sure you don’t want a few more apples?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” You grab the handles of one of the bags, only to have your hand swatted away as Tup picks them both up. “I can carry one.”

“Nope. I already have them.”

You huff out an amused breath, “I didn’t bring you here to be my pack mule, Tup.”

“Keep up, mesh’la, or you’re going to get left behind!” Tup calls from where he’s walking away from you.

You sputter and then chase after him, “Hey! Wait for me!”

It’s later, much later after you’ve gotten home and the both of you changed into comfortable lounge clothes, and you’ve taken the time to wash the apples, that you start to prep to make an apple pie.

Just the one, at first.

If you make too many at the same time, Tup will just make himself sick by eating them.

You hum a happy tune as you start making the dough for the pie crust (something you should have started hours ago, but Tup’s a menace sometimes and he distracted you), and you jump when strong arms slide around your waist.

“You sound happy,” Tup mumbles as his warm lips trail against your jaw.

“I am happy,” You reply, “I got to spend all day with you, and I get to spend all day tomorrow with you. Nothing could make me happier.”

He releases a deeply contented noise, “If I tell Rex that I’m sick, you can have two more days with me.” Tup’s lips drift across your cheek, and you just know that he’s trying to distract you again.

And, curse him, it’s working.

“If you don’t stop distracting me, this pie will never get made and the apples will start to go brown.” You warn him.

“Oh no,” He doesn’t sound the least bit bothered about it, though.

“You’re a menace.” You add, without any heat.

“And yet you love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do.”

His fingers are gentle against the sides of your neck as he tilts your head back slightly, “I love you too.” And then he grabs an apple slice, dips it into the cinnamon sugar mix you prepared earlier, and pops the apple slice into his mouth.

You release an indignant noise, “Thief! Get out of my kitchen!”

Tup steals a kiss, and another apple slice, and then retreats from the kitchen laughing. And your heart swells at the sound. You really love him so much.

@imabeautifulbutterfly

@n0vqni

@bad4amficideas

@justiceandwar98

@Mira-Loves-Star-Wars

@tiredbi-peach

@dukeoftheblackstar

@trixie2023

@kimiheartblade

@padawancat97

@falconfeather23435

@etod

@bb8-99

@kiss-anon

@continous-mistakes

@yoitsjay

@liz-stat

@cc--2224

@adriennelenoir

@cdblake1565

@sweater-sloot

#star wars #tcw #800 follower event #clone trooper tup x reader #tup x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #f!reader fic #answered asks

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spicymushroomz · 10 months ago

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Baby, I’m Jealous

Sebastian Sallow x Ravenclaw!GN!Reader

Synopsis: You get asked out by a guy from Ravenclaw and a certain brunette is not happy at all

Not Proofread

All Characters aged up to 18.

Word Count: 1056

Warnings: Jealousy, not historically accurate, Sebastian is aware of readers feelings, no use of y/n, use of an oc love rival, rushed pacing, making out, probably bad writing.

Author’s Note: Omg im so sorry for not posting. Ive been rlly stressed and dealing with #issues lately so im so very sorry. Please enjoy this little sebastian sallow fic (p.s. I might make this into an actual fleshed out fic if y’all enjoy this!)

——————————————————————————

Well, this was certainly an unusual day.

You sat down at the Slytherin table to eat with Ominis and Sebastian like usual, talking about various gossip going around lately, and discussing what shenanigans you might get up to later.

“No Sebastian, I am not sneaking into Scribner’s desk to find her weird demented romance books.” Said Ominis sternly.

“But Ominis! It’s for the greater good!” Pleaded Sebastian as you giggled at the two of their antics.

You had started hanging out with them after Sebastian showed you the Undercroft. 2 years back, even after all you went through, you stuck by each other. After these 2 years, it was no surprise you were in love with Sebastian. Even from the beginning you thought he was gorgeous, and Sebastian wouldn’t have it any other way.

You see, Sebastian had been aware of your little crush since the day he showed you the undercroft. He saw the blush on your face as he taught you confringo. He thought you looked great when you were flustered. It’s why for the past few weeks he’s been teasing you, whispering softly in your ear, fleeting touches, and sometimes you could’ve sworn you caught him staring at you. (Not that he would admit that anyways)

You desperately hoped he would ask you out, but as the days went by that hope dwindled. You couldn’t really blame him though, especially because he was trying so hard to look for a cure for his Sister, Anne.

You silently resigned yourself to a quiet, single life forever. Or at least, until you got over Sebastian. (Which might as well be forever)

Which is what leads us to this very strange, peculiar day. As Sebastian continued to plead with Ominis to go steal Scribner’s weird romance books, they failed to notice Dmitri Lockhart, another 7th year in Ravenclaw.

You met him on your first day, he was kind, if not a little cocky, and mostly everyone liked him. Apparently, he was the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team’s beater. You thought he was fairly handsome, with his toned body, fluffy blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. However you didn’t think he held a candle to Sebastian in terms of looks.

He sauntered over to the Slytherin Table, sliding in next to you.

“Hey there, [name].” He greeted.

“Hey Dmitri.” You greeted back. Sebastian clenched his jaw, his eyes lingering on how Dmitri’s arm was touching yours.

“So listen, I was thinking that maybe we could-well maybe we could go to Hogsmeade sometime this weekend?” He asked, stuttering a little bit. You were impressed by his straightforwardness but you wanted to refuse. As sweet as the boy was, you would rather hang out with Sebastian.

Which speaking of, was seething with jealousy. How dare Dmitri think he can just saunter over here and ask you out, especially because that’s what Sebastian was planning to do.

Sebastian looked at you, the faint blush on your cheeks made you look ravishing. What he wouldn’t give to kiss you there and then. But then this guy had to come over and make everything difficult. Sebastian knew that in the end it was your decision, so he just had to sit there and take it.

You smiled softly at Dmitri, and let him down gently. “I’m sorry Dmitri, but I’m afraid I already have feelings for someone else.” You said, glancing at Sebastian.

Dmitri nodded. “That can’t be helped then, sorry [name] see you later.” He said, getting up and walking back to the Ravenclaw table.

Sebastian smirked smugly. Of course you chose him over Dmitri, you were smart after all. He looked at you with dark eyes, like at any moment he would gobble you up.

“Excuse us Ominis, me and [name] need to go have a private discussion.” said Sebastian, leaving the table and gesturing for you to come with him.

Ominis sighed, hoping that whatever you guys were going to do, you would at least save some space for Jesus.

Sebastian dragged you out of the great hall and into a small corridor nearby.

“Where are we going?” You asked, excited. Sebastian looked at you with hungry eyes.

“[Name], I’m in love with you.” You turned red. This was not what you were expecting. You had no time to process before he hit you with a blunt question. “May I kiss you?” He asked frantically, his eyes fleeting from your lips to your eyes.

You were even more shocked, your brain short circuiting but still managing a small nod.

Sebastian wasted no time. Hungrily, he dove for a taste of your lips. He was like a starved man, having a meal for the first time in a month. He couldn’t get enough. He ravished you, not letting you come up for air for what felt like hours. His hands had wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

He needed you closer to him. You drove him crazy, everything about you. From your lips, to your eyes, to the perfect shape of your body, everything. Everything about you was perfect for him.

When you finally looked at eachother, out of breath from the kissing, you were an utter mess. Dazed, and in a state of bliss you had no idea if this was real or the best dream you’ve ever had.

“I love you.” said Sebastian softly, “I always have.”

Realizing this was all real, and not some strange dream, you replied. “I love you too, I always will.”

——————————————————————————

Author: I know this is cringy, but I have been craving just a cringy little fic lately. It’s also nice to ease me back into writing after a short break.

#hogwarts legacy #literature #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x reader #oc #fanfic

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coldflashevents · 9 months ago

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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello, all!

I'd like to thank everyone for submitting and voting on their favourite prompts for our Coldflash Mini Weekend Event in April. Voting is now closed, and I’m pleased to announce our prompts for the event based on the most popular suggestions.

The winning prompts are…

Day 1:

I thought I lost you

Secret relationship

Day 2:

Time travel shenanigans

Accidental dating/didn’t know they were dating

Bonus Prompt (post on either day):

Alternate Earths

The dates for the event are April 27th and 28th.

You can write fanfiction, draw fan art, create a mood board or a playlist, a fan video, or any other form of creative work. All contributions are welcome!

This is a pretty casual, lowkey event, with no commitments or sign-ups. The only rules are as follows:

1. Remember not to start posting until the event begins! You can start sharing your contributions on April 27th. If you’re a little behind schedule, don’t worry—the mods will continue to monitor the tag for a short time after the event is over in case anyone misses the deadline!

2. Make sure your work includes the prompts! There’s plenty of room for creative freedom, so hopefully these suggestions will spark something for you… pun intended. And if not, free day will allow you to post whatever your heart desires. Time to dust off those plot bunnies!

3. The tag for this weekend will be cfsw2024, so remember to tag all your contributions! When we get a little closer to the time, I’ll also start an AO3 collection where you can share your works with the world!

4. Please use appropriate tags. If your work is nsfw, or contains themes that might be upsetting or triggering, please make sure to tag it as such. We want everyone to be safe and enjoy themselves during this event, so be mindful of your fellow users and make sure to leave warnings if necessary!

5. Have fun!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me a message!

Thank you everyone, and let the coldflashing commence!

#coldflash #barry allen #leonard snart #coldflash fanfiction #coldflash fan art #coldflash events

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beomie3 · 1 year ago

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to the mountains - huening kai

pairing: best friend! hueningkai x reader

summary: your friend group decides to take a weekend getaway trip to the mountains, but it isn't until you stay in a cabin in the woods that your crush on one of them begins to make itself known. mutually :)

wc: 5k

content: best friends to lovers, cozy woods fluff, the rest of txt is mentioned, light cursing, handholding, cuddles <3, and smooches ^3^

♬🌲soundtrack:

to the mountains - lizzy mcalpine

meet me in the woods - lord huron

let’s go outside - far caspian

apple cider - beabadoobee

evergreen - richy & the coal miners

home - edith whiskers

calico - haux

alps - novo amor

sparks - coldplay

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

you trailed your fingers along the soft wind; feeling it grow colder as you watched rows and rows of pine trees line the road, ears popping as the car climbed elevation.

you looked over at the dark-haired boy next to you; your best friend kai who was in the driver's seat, both hands clutching the wheel. a laugh erupted from your mouths when his voice horrendously cracked as he attempted the high note to a song playing on the radio, his contagious dolphin laugh echoing through the car as you both laughed your asses off.

“maybe i should've taken taehyun up on the vocal lessons," he says once he catches his breath, mentioning your guys’ other friend, who also happens to be the best singer you'd both ever met.

you snorted, patting him on the shoulder. "i mean you could right now, he's in the backseat," you motioned to the back where your friend taehyun lay sound asleep, headphones snug as he leaned on the window.

kai muffled a laugh with his hand, looking at the sleeping tae through the rear-view mirror. "oops! i totally forgot he was here," he giggled quieter now, trying to forget how he was once screaming the lyrics to a song.

"kai- we planned that taehyun would come with us and that the choi's would all follow us in yeonjun's caravan. actually- i wonder if they're there yet." you leaned against the window, checking the “six lo$ers” group chat to see if your other friends had arrived to the cabin.

"oh, no, we're definitely getting there first, i need to make sure i get dibs on the room with the comfiest bed," kai stepped on the gas, determined to reach the destination before the other three boys who would surely compete for the same thing. you laughed, rolling your eyes. this is going to be fun.

with a minute to spare, kai pulled into the gravel next to a large pine tree in front of the cabin you’ll be staying in, quickly opening your doors and running out of the car once he took the key out of the ignition.

“crap where’s the key?!” he patted his baby blue hoodie frantically, seemingly unable to locate the key to the cabin’s front door. your heart nearly stopped when you heard the familiar honk of a black caravan pulling into the driveway as well. shit! it’s our competition.

"kai hurry!" you held his arm, pulling at his hoodie impatiently as he was starting to panic and screaming his loud, usual screams you were long used to. you stuck your tongue out at beomgyu as he was quickly unfastening his seatbelt and went to open the car door but it was locked, turning to yell at yeonjun which was silent from where you stood.

“quick get in!” at the last second kai found the key in his jean pocket, quickly unlocking the door and shutting it behind the two of you before beomgyu could reach it as he was sprinting towards you. all you heard was his pounding fist and yells on the other side, telling you to open the stupid door!

you and kai stood shoulder to shoulder, backs to the door huffing and laughing as you made it inside first. you didn’t think the shenanigans would start this early on in the trip. but all six of you together? it's certainly bound to happen.

you give kai one look before he grabs your hand, pulling you into the cabin which is quite larger than what you expected. you didn’t quite get the chance to take it all in since you were being pulled down the hallway by your best friend, but it’s warm, wooden interior and cozy ambiance certainly made you feel right at home.

“quick! we need to find the room with the comfiest bed. they have a spare key and they’ll get in soon,” kai whisper-yelled as he pulled you into the nearest room, adrenaline pumping, jumping onto the bed together and rolling around in it before moving to the next.

the next room was a bit bigger, but the moment you hit the mattress, you felt as you had just fallen face down on a rock. “solid no!” you jumped up laughing and the two of you moved to the next room excitedly.

soon enough, you heard the front door rattle and you both jumped on the last bed, immediately hitting jackpot. before you knew it, beomgyu ran into the room with a mischievous look on his face, grimacing at kai. “they’re in here!” he motioned to the other two boys, immediately sprinting over to the bed.

beomgyu jumped right on top of kai, wresting one another and you helped kai by pushing gyu’s arm off, failing miserably when yeonjun also piled on top. soobin just watched from the doorway, shaking his head. “you realize there are other beds right? and where is taehyun?” soobin’s question made everyone stop in their tracks and look at one another.

“he’s still asleep in the car.” kai laughed and you all ran out to wake the poor boy up.

the warmth of delicious soup soothed your vocal chords after hours of karaoke in the living room with the boys, eating it on the back patio with kai as the rest of them were either inside napping or doing silly little things in their own world.

the two of you lounged on folding chairs like a storybook elderly couple on a sunday morning, basking in the crisp forest air as you observed the vibrant green trees. occasionally spotting an exuberant looking bird and excitedly pointing it out to one another.

“shh!” kai quickly shushed you as you were in the midst of slurping your soup, stopping abruptly with wide eyes.

“do you hear that?” he leaned in closer, pretty eyebrows furrowed as he cupped a hand to his ear. you shook your head, quietly setting down your soup.

“i think it’s…running water?” he looked over at you quizzically and you really tuned into the noise, at first only hearing the occasional chirp of a bird or wind through the pines, but then you began to faintly hear it. like white noise. water trickling down upon rocks in the distance.

your eyes lit up and kai was quick to notice, his bright smile spreading from cheek to cheek. “wanna go look for it?” he nudged your foot with his, both sporting mismatched fuzzy socks.

“what kind of question is that?” you scoffed, raising a brow; you didn’t even have to explain yourself for him to know it was a solid yes.

kai had a habit of grabbing your hand and pulling you along with him, that’s how your friendship separated itself from the rest of the boys since long ago. he was known to be the closest to you out of everyone, considering you were always practically attached at the hip.

and so he did his usual; grabbed your hand and pulled you into the cabin to get on shoes before heading out in search of this mystery body of water.

beomgyu lay asleep on the floor like an old watchdog, missing his opportunity to tag along when you and kai soundlessly slipped out of the front door.

you followed right behind him, quick footsteps in the gravel and then onto dried leaves and twigs snapping beneath you once you reached the forest. you both swiveled your heads all around and above you, infatuated with the way the tall evergreens and pines tower up into the sky, nearly disappearing into the foggy clouds.

the fresh, pine-scented afternoon air tickled your nose as it was much colder than what you were used to down in the city, but it was more refreshing than anything. it felt good to get away. to be in silence. especially getting to see all these amazing sights with kai.

you only whispered to one another, needing to be extra quiet to be able to hear in which direction the water was coming from. the sound did indeed grow louder, signifying you were getting closer.

kai beckoned you over to where he stood, eyes wide. you jogged over, crunching leaves under your feet as you reached him. low and behold, you had stumbled upon a tall, but gentle waterfall, it’s water cascading down upon large rocks.

your head reached his shoulder when you stood next to him, always a perfect place to rest it as you both looked up at the shimmering water, astonished smiles on your faces.

you made your way over to the body of water surrounded by rocks at the waterfall’s base, occasionally getting splashed by cold droplets that ricochet off of the large boulders.

“kai? what are you-” you shot him a confused glance as he bent down to take off his shoes and socks, slightly rolling up his shorts.

“we’re getting in silly!” he threw his leg over one of the rocks bordering the edge, screaming when his feet were submerged in the ice cold water.

“we’re?” you crossed your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow at him as he held his hands out to you. you knew kai pretty well— he wouldn’t sabotage you by throwing you into the water like the others would. you trusted him to be gentle and civil with you, as he was more sincere than anything. of course, he loved to joke around but he knew you would despise getting thrown into ice cold water.

you removed your shoes and rolled your pants up before taking his soft and warm hands in yours, feeling his attentive eyes on you as you carefully dipped your foot in, the breath leaving your chest at how freaking ice cold it was. of course, your penguin-like friend was able to get in effortlessly.

“this is impossible ningning!” you grabbed his shoulder for support as you clenched your jaw and stepped all the way into the ice-cold water. he hid the small blush on his cheeks of the endearment of his name he so loved hearing you say.

the two of you waded over to the waterfall, hands occasionally brushing as you were careful not to slip over the moss and small pebbles under your feet.

your necks swiveled to look up at the waterfall, cold water pelting you as you stood mere inches from the cascading water. mesmerized, your hand drew out to run your fingers under the cold stream; kai following as he smiled at the icy sensation.

you watched your hands under the falling water, the only sound in your ears of it plunging in front of you, too loud to hear anything the happy boy next to you had said. you wiggled your fingers under the cold stream, numb by now that you didn’t notice the tips of your fingers had trailed onto huening’s under the water.

he stood there, a bit surprised, but subconsciously moved his fingers slightly closer to yours, hand nearly on top of yours. it wasn’t until he turned to look at you that you felt the need to hide your face, feeling your cheeks grow red and afraid he would notice.

something about the air. about being alone with kai in the forest. you had always found him pretty but right now— right now his beauty struck you in a way you felt your heart beat in your chest. sunshine radiating behind him like a golden halo over his dark locks, dreamy eyes and a smile to melt over. what is happening?

with a shy smile he interlaced his fingers with yours, opening his mouth to say something but not even bothering because what he had to say would be drowned out by the waterfall. so he began to pull you under the waterfall with him, your eyes widening when you realized what he was doing, but your heart took over and inevitably followed.

it was like ice, drenching your right shoulder and then your head and down your hair, then your left shoulder and you were completely submerged, mouth open at the sheer shock as it took the breath from you.

your best friend’s hair had matted down completely to his forehead, covering his eyes completely which drew a hysterical laugh from you. he reached up with your conjoined hands to sweep the hair over his forehead.

he showed you a toothy grin and you couldn’t help but examine his face through the sheen of water, beginning to fawn over droplets scurrying down his pretty nose.

you thought maybe you’d been staring for too long, darting your eyes away from him and over to the rocks around you, curious about the small flowers growing between the cracks.

yet, you caught him staring at you from out of the corner of your eye, small smile on his lips as his eyes darted around your face. you couldn’t avoid the small flutter in your chest.

you and kai were usually on the silly side. prolonged eye contact and blush on one another’s cheeks not exactly what you two usually share.

“whatttt?” you yelled over the roar of water, tilting your head to one side, noticing his apparent nervousness when he shyly looked down at your hands.

taking a small step forward, leaning in close so you could hear him over the roar of water around you, chest nearly pressed to yours.

he opened his mouth to say something and nothing came out but a small laugh, apparently nervous to say whatever it was. you cupped his cheek as to comfort him, suddenly aware of your gesture and shocked as to what you were doing. you’d never touched kai in such an affectionate way.

“you can say it, kai.” you assured him, your voice loud enough for him to hear. how couldn’t he hear you anyway? his face was a mere 3 inches from yours. you felt slightly uneasy at this proximity but you also kinda really liked it? your emotions buzzing all over the place at this unprecedented tension.

but kai didn’t say anything, he just stood there, looking at you like you were the beautiful waterfall in the forest, taking in all of your natural beauty.

out of no where, you leaned closer, standing on your tip toes and pressed your lips to his cute nose. what a stupid, stupid idea. what the hell am i doing?

but he found it absolutely adorable, face scrunching and high pitched laugh exiting his lips.

“you like my nose?” he asked you quizzically, and you nodded, having to look away with a slight tinge of embarrassment, squeezing your eyes shut.

then grabbing your chin to angle your face back to his, still flustered, he musters up the courage to look you in the eyes, flicking them down to your lips and back up to admire you.

you were simply overtaken by his dark brown eyes; noticing the way his pupils dilated as he focused nearly into your soul, sinking into the dreamy trance that you never knew your best friend was capable of pulling you into in this way.

in a million years, you never thought you'd share a kiss under a freezing cold waterfall in the middle of the forest with kai kamal huening. but here you were, leaning into him, the nearest proximity you ever had since knowing him, not paying any mind to the occasional shivers and goosebumps pelting your body.

he closed the small gap that was left between your lips and you stayed there, slightly squeezing his hand as your heart felt it would beat out of your chest. the kiss was short and sweet and you almost wished it had been a little longer. but kai pulled away slowly, his cheeks the reddest you had ever seen them.

“and i like your lips.” he giggled, eyes nearly shut with how big he was smiling. you never knew kai felt the same way about you until now, dropping small hints along your friendship that you didn’t quite pick up on until now, only now getting his message with a sweet peck to your lips.

by now, your body was frozen and you pulled kai out of the heavy stream with you, not able to withstand it any longer since the adrenaline was wearing off and you could now begin to realize just how cold you were.

you wrapped your arms around your body to withhold as much body heat as you could, violently shivering with how cold you were. kai was cold too, but he made warming you his priority, wrapping his arms around you to hopefully try and help.

“here, stand on my feet,” he requested and you did just that, balancing on the tops of his feet as he walked the two of you over to the exit, helping you over the rocks and getting your shoes and socks for you.

you smiled, the only warmth in your body provided by his kind gestures that would melt anyone’s heart.

“race you back?” you looked down at him as he tied your shoe for you, his eyes flicking up quickly at the sound of those words. and before you knew it you were sprinting after kai in the woods; feet numb but heart warm and racing just as fast as you were after him.

“never seen that hoodie on you, is it new?” yeonjun asks as he stirs his hot cocoa, gazing at him from your spot in front of the fire place.

“oh it’s kai’s, actually!” you sip your apple cider, snuggling into the oversized baby blue hoodie that kai lent you a couple days ago once you returned from your freezing cold adventure.

“oh so now you’re wearing his hoodies hmm?” beomgyu nudged you, a mischievous grin on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows at you suggestively, exaggeratedly winking at yeonjun from where he stood in the kitchen.

the boys had began to notice your closeness with hueningkai especially recently on this trip, due to the fact you two would sneak out at random times and leave them without a clue as to where you two were.

of course, they knew you were always close in comparison to everyone else, but recently, they hadn’t even seen you two much because of how much time you were spending together out who knows where.

they made conspiracies that you guys were secretly dating and would go out on little cute dates everyday, that’s why you wouldn’t tell them. yet they secretly cheered kai on because he was so happy lately. and when kai was extra happy, everyone was extra happy.

and to be honest, that conspiracy didn’t sound too completely far from the truth. ever since you and kai had kissed at the waterfall, you had grown even closer; your bond deepening and tangling so much that it was almost confusing. you hadn’t felt this way for anyone before and it confused you that it was your best friend; you didn’t want to ruin what you had.

but you wanted to be with kai every second of every day. and he wanted to be with you.

and at sunset, you and kai escaped again. hand in hand running into the woods as it was now your favorite place to go.

each time you ran off into the forest, you found something new about each other that you hadn’t known before. hell, you had even discovered what each other’s lips feel like the very first time you even ran off.

you spent your time climbing trees and sharing snacks amidst a deep talk and of course laughter, then carving both of your initials in whichever tree it was, marking it yours.

when you got too tired of walking, kai would carry you on his back, not minding at all. he enjoyed it actually, always offering to give you piggyback rides no matter how tired he got.

you would occasionally go back to the waterfall, sitting on the rocks or skipping stones across the water to see who’s would go further.

today kai wore a loose, earth-toned wool jacket with nothing under but a dainty silver necklace, zipped up enough to expose a bit of his chest. it drew your eyes like a magnet to his pretty collarbones glowing in the setting sunrays.

“i like this jacket on you,” you gingerly traced your fingers along the woven material, a shy smile on your lips. your compliment made his heart skip.

of course, you two were still bestest of friends, doing goofy things and blabbing about anything and everything. but when you caught his eye or exchanged a small compliment, you both got so shy and quiet and blushy around each other.

you were both aware of another option you had now, completely new and foreign to your relationship; the small kiss from a couple days ago. you held the memory fondly since the moment it happened, warmth spreading across your chest at the thought.

your head rested on his shoulder, watching the waterfall together as you decided to look up at him, eyeing the plush of his lips.

“can we..try it again?” you sort of beat around the bush, hoping kai would pick up on what you were throwing down. you felt too shy to ask your best friend directly if you could kiss him.

“what, race to the cabin?” he furrowed his brows and you laughed, head falling back onto his shoulder.

“i meant-”

“i know y/n, just messing with you,” he nudged you, a sweet smile on his lips.

somehow, it felt natural, like this had been something you had both long wanted to do. like something you were made to do. you kept the comfort of your head on his shoulder and he leaned down to place his lips on yours, slowly melting into the kiss with your eyes fluttered closed.

you could sense everything better now; the warmth of his soft lips, the subtle taste of the watermelon you had snacked on earlier whilst sitting atop a tree, the subtle cool breeze blowing pieces of your hair astray. you enjoyed it even more now, since the first was a bit interrupted by the freezing cold waterfall.

after a few moments, you broke the kiss with an interrupted thought, staring into his eyes and then trailing your gaze to the water where you stared at your reflections. his broad shoulders like a large blob in the water, then yours a smaller blob. it was always like this; next to one another for as long as you could remember. you love kai. and you don't want to ruin what you have.

“this…this won’t ruin our friendship, right?” you were hesitant to look up at him in the eye as you slowly look back up at him, almost worried he would regret it.

but he only smiled, shaking his head.

“never, y/n. you’ll always be riiight here,” he pointed to his chest, at the spot right over his heart. you warmly smiled, finding him the absolute most adorable boy in the world. how could you not have the biggest crush on him?

it all made sense now. kai was everything you wanted and needed in a partner, in a friend, in a lover. but you always pushed away any sort of feeling in fear of losing him. but how could you lose him- how could you lose him if he's always been by your side through it all.

“forever.”

the front door creaks as you both sneak back into the cabin, completely pitch black as the boys had gone to sleep, considering it was half past midnight.

you both tip-toe down the dark hallway, finding every room was closed and in use except for the one at the end of the hall; the one you and kai had claimed on the first day.

you could see his pearly smile faintly in the dark, silently cheering that they didn't all steal the room with the comfiest bed. you held onto his arm as you blindly walked down the hallway and into the room, flicking on the dim night light to provide just enough light to see his soft facial features, hair slightly tossed by the breeze seeping through the window.

you two were long past the i'll sleep on the floor so you can have the bed phase of your friendship, so you shared the bed as it was normal for the two of you. and through all these years, never once had it felt uncomfortable even in the slightest. all you ever did was look up at whoever's bedroom ceiling in deep conversation and occasionally kick at each other's feet under the covers.

tonight, a certain tension blanketed the two of you as you lay next to one another, pinkies interlaced under the sheets as you stare up at the high ceiling of the cabin, listening to the subtle whir of wind through the trees.

you felt cozy here, in this little cabin tucked away in the wilderness with your best friend(s). you almost wanted to snuggle into him, but that had yet to be established.

“i like you, kai.” your voice suddenly emerges lowly from the still room, the sound of his rustle under the blanket apparent as he tightened his pinky around yours. turning to face you, you did the same, facing one another with cheeks squished to the pillows.

"a lot." you whisper with a growing smile, just inches from his lips as you stare into the chocolate glimmer of his eyes. you could feel your heart pounding in your chest and drumming into your ears.

with a gentle finger, he lightly tucks away a stray piece of hair behind your ear, bringing intense warmth to blanket your cheeks. you couldn't quite see in the dark, but his were dusted with a rosy tinge as well.

“does this mean we can cuddle now?” his voice comes out shyly, smiling and red in the face at his own question.

you giggle, nodding and smiling so big that your eyes are nearly shut, slowly scooching closer to kai. almost unsure as to go about this, considering it's your best friend you're cuddling.

but you just go for it; pressing your chest to his, wrapping your arms around his torso, snuggling your head into him, cheek pressed to his warm neck and filling the space under his chin perfectly.

he wraps his arms around you and pulls you close, silence filling the room again once you both find the spot you are most comfortable in. you can hear his heartbeat as you breathe him in; warm calico fabric like fresh laundry. the closest you've been to this comforting scent that you wanted to be engulfed in eternally.

"i'm glad we agree, but i like you more," he adds. you giggle, burying your face into his warm chest and you can feel his smile grow with the way his voice flows like it always does when he's brimming with happiness, picturing his cute face in your mind and what he looks like right now.

"at the waterfall i did what i've wanted to for so long." his voice vibrates on the crown of your head, feeling his chest sink as he exhales, relaxing into you; relieved to confess what always weighed on him. eyes fluttering shut as he enjoys your warmth and the scent of your hair curling into his nose, tracing light circles into your back.

you pull your head away to the beautiful sight of his face, looking up at him and finding his eyes shut but then flutter open to look down at you, his lips curled into a pretty smile and slightly parted, looking too good not to kiss.

and so you lean up slowly, inviting him to lean down and close the gap for your third kiss, feeling his heart pound against yours. you're infatuated with the way his hand always comes up to cup your cheek, savoring every moment he had with you. in this moment, your love grew for your special boy, falling for him evermore.

"kai over here look!" your feet patter against the snow as you run towards familiar rock formations, sprinkled with snow as you point at it, covered in white.

he runs up, giving you a large hug from behind, his large wool jacket engulfing you in its warmth, a kiss to your cheek; now a normal thing.

summer and autumn had passed twice and your souls had intertwined more than you could even fathom; ever since your best friend had become your boyfriend, your life became filled with so much pure happiness that you could easily mistake any day for a fairytale.

with the help of his grasp, kai hoists you up so that you sit on the rock he had brushed the the light dusting of snow off of, threading his arms through yours to hold your waist as he places his chin in the crook of your neck.

it just felt so natural, like this was what the two of you were born to do. always destined to be together and never, ever apart.

the bitter winter breeze wasn't so bad with his warmth seeping into you, cradling you so good and you swear you'd never felt comfort until you fell in love with this boy.

after a few moments of enjoying the view of the frozen waterfall, kai pulls his arms away from you and instead dangles his dainty necklace around your neck, the same one you noticed two years ago in this same place.

the small bead at its end weighed down onto your sweater, drawing your eyes down to the sparkling jewel; noticing it was the shape of a heart. a token of his diamond love for you.

"i wanted to give this to you then," he whispered, a sweet smile on his lips when you turned to face him.

your eyes said it all, holding the words i’ll love you forever in them without having to say a word. he just knew.

“my heart is yours.” he says as he embraces you, hardly able to contain your emotions as you hug him even harder, as hard as you could, for that fact.

his love felt like warm blankets on a cold morning, a crackling fireplace as you sip warm apple cider, cuddles during a midnight storm, the much-needed hug after a long day. he felt like home.

"race you back?" he tilted his head with a sly smile, helping you down before disappearing off into the woods. you chased right behind, sure to beat him this time.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

a/n: this is a very late hueningkai bday fic!! i share an august birthday with him so i wanted to write a comforting fic for our bdays lol :) hope everyone enjoys and happy late bday to anyone who had one in august or having one soon (yeonjun fic coming soon)!! 🥳 love u all <3

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myladyjanecentral · 3 months ago

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Weekend Watch Party!

Is this weekend looking a little drab for you? Do you need to carve out some me time? Need a reason to hide from the heat or avoid a family engagement? Well, plop your behinds on the couch, queue up your mobile devices, gather the gaggle of friends for a viewing brunch or for a dinner party of roast dolphin and join the fandom for our next watch party!

On Saturday, Episodes 5 & 6 are on the agenda, while Sunday is for Episode 7. Shenanigans begin at 6pm BST/ 1pm EST/ 10am PST and we will be over on Instagram and Twitter sharing our favorite moments. Be sure to use #SaveMyLadyJane, #MyLadyJane, and #MyLadyJaneWatchParty.

Let’s make sure our forgotten lady from history gets to finish out her alternate ending!

#my lady jane #save my lady jane #mod post #signal boost

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bladekindeyewear · 2 months ago

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HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-09-14

(Previous post - current page 666)

Section 4 (now 5 since they added an hourglass to replay the intro, gee that's not symbolic of the time being spent here) of page 666 is now upd8'd, let's dive in! I had a busy weekend and visited a relative's place for a party I didn't know had cats for hours (super double allergic) that will probably knock me the fuck out for a day or two starting tomorrow so I'd better finish this post tonight before that happens!

Another aside before we begin, I haven't looked at much of the commentary stuff but on twitter I saw this particular bit from the past art commentary on the main account:

"...but I think it made a lot of sense to us that a character tucked away in the Candy timeline (even guided by mysterious visions and borrowed intuitions [borrowed from whom, I wonder...?]) wouldn't necessarily be able to wrap their head around the pure, potent purpose of The Plot Point[...]"

I thought this may have meant something even more significant when I was skimming and glanced at it, but it seems pretty clear to me now that I'm actually paying attention and not at all surprising, in line with our existing guesses but still important. To quote the page in question they're referencing, its dialoguelog:

CALLIOPE: yoU remember how we got so wrapped Up in the initial excitement of finding the singUlarity and the rUined jUjU arch, and sUbseqUently stabilizing it with oUr sUper cool cherUbic-lalondian tech... ROXY: its true our tech really is so fkn cool... CALLIOPE: and then, well... it felt like we were on sUch a roll when we came to the conclUsion that we needed to leverage vriska's hyperrelevance to scUrry oUt of here... ROXY: we did have a whole bunch of high fives about that... CALLIOPE: it was an exhilarating breakthroUgh! CALLIOPE: and an eqUally exhilarating high-five session! CALLIOPE: bUt then the conflict began to ramp Up, and yoUr son got into all those shenanigans, and i wanted yoU to feel like i had everything Under control down here so yoU could attend to it! CALLIOPE: and all that notwithstanding, we really DID need to hUrry Up and do SOMETHING. CALLIOPE: i worried that perhaps yoU'd be a bit relUctant to pUll the trigger on this if it felt like all the details weren't lined Up. CALLIOPE: and so i... CALLIOPE: well, i sUppose i might have implied a more complete knowledge of the a to zed of all this then i actUally... possessed. CALLIOPE: and continUe to possess.

In other words, Calliope and Roxy came to some startling breakthroughs and were guided to this course of action -- as if by a muse! -- through ideas that came together as if it hadn't quite been THEIR OWN plan all along. They were... inspired. And Callie and Roxy over in the CANON timeline were working on a plan for victory apart from alt!Callie which was cut off and unsaid, and we already had reason to believe that the entire SHAPE of the events of Candy had been essentially "written" as fanfiction by canon Calliope all over her as-of-yet unseen walls. Meaning that even though alt!Calliope doesn't act very happy about this plan of theirs, it was never HER plan-- it was a plan that spanned two different instances of Calliope and Roxy, across space and time and the canon barrier, possibly even across their shared Hearts, their not-yet-accessed Ultimate Selves which connect all instances of Roxy with Roxy and all instances of Calliope with Calliope. Their use of the plot point falls in line with Calliope and Roxy's plan across both stories... quite likely the most important plan at all, especially when alt!Callie keeps wanting to discount it. A plan where Roxy looks at the tumor-like growth of the House representing the shape of Homestuck and doesn't consider it too messy to be worth keeping around or in need of a total pruning/reset. A plan where everything they experienced in both places has value.

Alright, on to the update! Ooh, the others are numbered and this is labelled with chapter numbers 1 thru 4 but this one is "Chapter X", wonder if that's meaningful or a typo since we're getting some kind of Davepetasprite interlude. Honestly, I think a large part of what Vriska has been experiencing, this therapy, has been guided not just by Light or by Davepeta and the other squareds and the ghosts trapped here, but also by Vriska's Ultimate Soul/Self, ie the broader Heart of Vriska which has spanned all Vriskas and perhaps has the ability and knowledge to learn all her best lessons, instead of falling into Ultimate Dirk's trap of self as would normally seem most likely for Vriska. Let me just stop listening to the Murder Drones OST and get on with liveblogging, don't listen to the OST yourself it's too easy to spoil yourself seriously just watch the series from ep 1 (try even ONE MINUTE OR TWO of it) and know it gets increasingly better per episode. (Ahem... Shilling my interests aside...) *Clicking.*

Oh, no wonder it's "Chapter X", huh. so 5 is going to be the last? Or 6(66)?

Holy shit, that's some trepidation in their cool enby ass's expression. Is Davepeta embarrassed to be talking to Erisolsprite? I mean I don't know any other sprite squareds who could be here except... oh no, she couldn't be here, could she?? Not Jasprose?!

Some Dave-like riffing about the ringtone (which might be a meta joke about the new banging little ditty in the background music they used so the music wouldn't be the same), let's see...

Yeah it's Erisolsprite^2.

ERISOLSPRITE: dude.

hahahaha gosh talk about someone both sides of you have every reason to be sort of annoyed with but there's few others to talk to. Also technically, if Sprite^2s get a folding-in of all their other selves like an Ultimate Self as was implied repeatedly, this Erisolsprite includes all the Eridans who DIDN'T go on a genocidal rampage nad did better, and Solluxes who DIDN'T keep the same counterproductive outlook despite some crucial awesome actions, so perhaps he's not so ba- (EDIT FROM A FEW PARAGRAPHS DOWN: never mind I forgot it was one sprite prototyped by two corpses, there's no squared next to his name, he's not a squared sprite at all so not ultimate and very instanced, my misconceptions continue for a few sentences--) oh pff they're pinging him on his phone despite them being right next to them, I get it. XD

Oh, Erisol was calling THEM and THEY were hesitant to PICK UP the phone. Which he was calling despite being right next to them.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < hahaha yeah i will, sorry man

Aww, gosh you're cool.

SDFJKLHLSDJKF

OH MY GOD I WAS WRONG I WAS RIGHT EARLIER OMFG THERE AREN'T EVEN TWO OF THEM THIS IS THE SAME ONE WHO IS OVER HELPING MEAT/CANON JANE PROBABLY LOSE THE ELECTION TO A TROLL RESIDENT OF HER WORLD AND REALIZE SHE HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO CEDE CONTROL OF THEIR CREATION TO ITS INHABITANTS AAAAAAAAAA did that bonus material continue when HS2 resumed i havent even CHECKED since ages ago!?!?? don't answer that i don't even remember if iw as fully caught up on it ill browse thru the material and figure it out without spioling myself lather dsfjlk can't type JASPROSE IS HERE (ON THE PHONE (FROM A DIFFERENT PLANE)) AAAAAA

Dammit, you ascended ultimate Seer of Light plus cat, yes Davepeta WAS doing that thing where they started roleplaying outloud to themselves instead of picking up. Rose has always had uncanny guesses as to how someone was answering or avoiding answering her all throughout Homestuck from Act 1 onwards, and it was always a Seer of Light thing. Jasprose is obviously even better at it and also YEAH THESE TWO HAVE SOME BAGGAGE MAYBE between them even as ultimate selves!! No wonder Davepeta gets nervous about starting a conversation with her. Wait. Waitwaitwait.

Rose was a WANNABE PSYCHOTHERAPIST.

An Ultimate Rose instance like Jasprose might be a REAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST DOING EFFECTIVE THERAPY from parts of Rose within her who followed the non-amateur path due to her interests, and helping guide this entire Plot Point hyperbolic therapy chamber that seems so conveniently super on point for what Vriska psychologically needs!!!!!

...Davepeta did you just do a "nipah" is that a weeaboo thing

my google searching comes up with nothing but a zoonotic virus for the word, someone context me plz (EDIT: Good context has been provided here! That's a damned good point with the ultimate selves playing chess outside of canon with the inside of canon, that's very Umineko from what I've seen of it.)

Oh my god I still love her so fucking much. (Also I was right that this is "canon" Jasprose, in the bonus material, and her using the dubious canonicity of the setting she's ginned up for Jane and crew is awesome for an excuse to let her reach here, that's superb.)

Reading more into that line, The Plot Point's "hyperconcentrated essentiality field"... that sure sounds like Light, like a concentration of Light that simply cannot escape from its black hole container? *click...*

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i hate that i understand what youre saying when you speak like this

LOL

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Isn't it delightful?

SHE'S HAVING A BLAST I LOVE HER LOOK AT HER LAUGH SPRITE I'M NOT SCREENSHOTTING

okay Davepeta has shortened it to The Point (again)

JASPROSESPRITE^2: How delightfully quirky! Let's get to ours, shall we?

JASPROSE LOOKS SO COY BUT I'M TOO EXHAUSTED TO SCREENSHOT HOW MUCH I LOVE HER

She's been having an incredible time? Theraputically scenario-driving Jane and crew, or helping here from the background?

EMBRACE the ship of the Dad Crocker and whichever midnight crew carapace he was working with i forget exactly if it was Slick or DD was it Slick? ship. EMBRACE THE SHIP and the silliness of them tracking after you-- wait wasn't there some hubbub they'd caused the main Jane crew after we last left off that bonus before the HS2 gigapause / team change? Fuck I forget. I'll refresh myself on all this some other time, I promise, I'm regaining my health and energy and there's tons of other stuff (including rereading my own liveblog of the bonus material before catching up on it) I have to get to if I don't want to lose track of whatever the fuck I might have thought was going on before seeing if there's more I missed.

They've been on your tails, I see what you did there.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Eugh!

I've personally never met a lesbian that was too lesbian to appreciate a proper m/m relationship for solidarity's sake, but Jasprose IS sort of a self-loving lesbian singularity.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: But hey! Downing cold drinks and dodging hot lead, Midnight City certainly doesn't disappoint!

You're god damned right.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < jasprose... youve been drinking?

Oh nooooo. DD: Davepeta's worry hurts my soul, she had better respond she is functionally immune to alcoholism in this form or some shit

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Please. JASPROSESPRITE^2: You know it's only milk bars for me.

HAHAHAA DAMMIT

It took way too long to realize she wasn't talking about Mom Lalonde's martinis and was instead amusing herself by talking about COW MILK in the most disturbing way possible and also the way Jaspers would

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Speaking of, I've made fantastic progress with the enchanting, yet problematic Ms. Crocker.

(Oh you incorrigible flirt.) I wonder if we're about to get a summary-form hint of the most important bonus content's drive to conclusion if the team isn't planning on continuing it separately themselves, so we get to hear the major twist and results (that those of us who caught onto the direction) may have already deduced will happen from there (that one side troll running against Jane or convincing her to drop out and winning the election for Earth C president instead of Jane)?

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < "enchanting yet prowlblematic" DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < thats gotta be your favorite combination JASPROSESPRITE^2: Guilty as charged!

i love them, them Davepeta and them plural both sprites

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Sigh, it's almost a shame I'll have to pass her off soon!

Yes, it DOES seem we're getting hints to how that'll turn out, regardless if we ever see it live or not. But that's to be expected from a Seer of Light. I wonder if Jane and Jake ever had hope of a healthy relationship, or if there's some new pairing to be had that I've forgotten we were potentially driving towards?

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Her politics are still a little eye-brow raising, but they won't raise any torches and pitchforks yet.

Wait, I'd assumed that previous line of hers was talking about her relationship status, not the scenario itself. Either way, I've already covered in past bonus material liveblogging that Jasprose's efforts will ultimately correct Jane, regardless of her current (less Candy) political position (for the near future anyway), to be stood the fuck aside as Earth C wins dominion over itself and the Gods understand they don't run the place, just as Yiffy recently covered should have been the fucking case. I believe in Jasprose AND in Jane Crocker, they have this covered together. Jake specifically alluded very recently in Candy to himself that there exists a world where Jane wouldn't have turned out the way she did in Candy at all, and that that'll have to be enough for him, something only a Hope player very VERY committed to possibility and his aspect could use to justify his move forward away from and against her.

Ooh, now Jasprose is talking about developments regarding her timeline's Jake English and his "broken-hearted malaise" he's locked into, she's definitely trying to save him, too.

Yep, she's pointing the bat to the fences like Babe Ruth and saying we'll SEE Jake on the path to a fulfilling life before curtains are called on the story on the Canon side, and I certainly hope that's the case.

Pff, meta commentary on "how many w33ks of developments has this b33n" because those bonus materials were staaaalled. If Jasprose has half their temporal meta-awareness, their response will be...

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Oh Davepeta, we've only been out on the town for a single, sensual, enlightening night!

Impossible to tell whether she's aware of the metatemporal aspect she's utterly dunking on with this in-canon temporal truth, whether she's ignorant of it or dunking intentionally on the difference. XD

Ooh, the other Ultimate Seer of Light of the Meat timeline is disconnected enough from her other robotic self's Dirk-brainwashing and obsession with canon to tell how key what is being done in the Hyperbolic Therapy Chamber is for both timelines combined, however the fuck that's going to play out. *clicks*

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < well i mean DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < its going

GAHAHAH is she actually genuinely shocked that Vriska is making psychological progress?!?!? Because from a psychologist-like perspective YEAH THAT'S SUPER SHOCKING, but from a Seer of Light perspective i can't help but think she's playing it up for the lol(cat)s

"That bad?" Oh dear, yeah okay maybe she's expecting it wouldn't have taken... quite as long... but she might believe in her fellow Light player a little more than deserved, given her taste for the "enchanting yet problematic". Vriska NEEDED this much time to iron herself out, there wasn't any real option than this much ironing in the fire to work out anything close to the lifetime's worth of trauma she'd gone through. (Also punways and conceptually, VRISKA being the iron in the fire (of hell) is hilarious.)

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < JR were fucked

(translation: JaspRose, we're fucked)

I wonder if Vriska really is going to finish her therapy while in here or if she has to 8r8k break out before she's come to a satisfied conclusion after that last bit of trauma beyond overcoming enough to START moving on. Actually, you know, that might just be for the best. Allow her to get her final resolutions through the end of the plot even moreso than already planned, rather than finishing all of her necessary therapy from WITHIN the plot point.

Or maybe they, or we, just need to clap their hands and believe in Pupa Pan's fairy just that little tiny bit harder.

Pff, you tell 'em. (But, is your time REALLY so unlimited? And if it isn't, wouldn't you know? Also, nice hyperbolic time chamber reference yet again, since the first ones all the way back in Homestuck original, and considering we're literally in one.)

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but god daaaaaaaamn its 8 steps forward 7 leaps back every session

ahahahahah therapy. ahh therapy. therapy. :T look everyone should go to therapy i know it's frustrating but THERAPY HELPS when the therapist is good and you should shop around for a therapist you really feel gets and believes in y-- okay i'm too tired to get into THAT spiel moving on. I need to pick up the pace and keep reading so i can get this fucking DONE tonight and not do every quote in full detail

"this therapist shit is not easy" yeah you got that right

pffdsh NO DON'T GO FREUD WITH SMASHING 8-BALLS

wait she's smashing 8-balls now? again? more? I think she's finally perhaps meant to get the lesson those smashings are meant to represent, from the original comic run, if that last icon in the scenario is any indication... Kanaya's simple lesson that if she cleaned up her room, she wouldn't step on so many d8's and consider her luck so "bad" as the cause...

pff Davepeta can't map freudian parentage onto trolls lol

"youd probably be way better at this than me" well that confirms they're TRYING and perhaps being somewhat coy about not playing the therapist-- no they were never coy about that, Davepeta just said he had no idea how to do it which was true, so... who's guiding the scenario, like I asked before? From whence the self-confrontations, but the self?

"I would, yes." Are you still an untrained amateur though, even though you're a Seer of Light and suited to guide people onto the best path for themselves if you do your best anyway?

"im in hell and you dont even care" lolol its funny cause you should understand cats Davepeta

"it turns out hell is trying to get vriska serket to change her mind" LOLOLOL

NICE pun there because she is also literally trying to change her mind

Ooh Jasprose doesn't even know how long it's been. Davepeta says it's been an hour outside... and in "Centralized Point Time (CPT)" NO DAVE FUCKING STOP THAT'S A BAD RACIST JOKE YOU ASSHOLE YES I'M BLAMING THE DAVE SIDE OF YOU FOR THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND COASTING ON GOOD KARMA TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU WERE BEING IRONICALLY PSEUDORACIST THAT DOESN'T WORK PEOPLE HAVE TRIED IT

(I wonder if that was a genuine white-person accident and they'll re-edit and change that joke but i doubt it somehow, the accident part not the changing it part, though to be fair I don't even think they fixed the Jaspers funeral time discrepancy in early early HS2 i pointed out, i'd have to go back and look)

--(ahem, nvm that) oh god one hour to four years yeah that's a fucking time translation. I was wondering just how long things would have been progressing on the outside, I knew it would hopefully be quick from the others' perspective but... Yeah seeing the ratio is always stark.

Whoa, Jasprose is shocked/surprised?! (I guess the Point IS ensconced in void...) And yeah most would be shocked to hear.

"What have you even been doing there for 4 years?"

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < chilling

ahh, never change, the rest of Davepeta.

"That's all you've been doing? Chilling?" "p much" Yeah never change.

"Fucking incredible." AHAAHA JASPROSE GETS IT, I'd fistbunp her!

"I suppose it'd be in line with her particular brand to extend her stay another 4 years." Oh dear don't even 8-joke about that jasprose

"god can you imagine" okay PHEW looks like davepeta is laughing and understands it wont work out THAT badly

... the background went empty........ is this a unique dramatic pause for Davepeta to come back and say "oh fuck it probably will", or the end of the section?

Oh, clicking again made it go white and go back to the select screen.

...and the last icon is a whole 8-ball, which means the joke could be that FOUR MORE YEARS LATER could be the opening caption for the next section, oh god oh god oh GOD

...alright, phew, there wasn't too much content to blog about there. I'm free to relax for a bit. Probably will have other stuff going on because my weeks are getting busier, though even that tiny glimpse of relevant hint-dropping in earlier commentary at the start means I SHOULD PROBABLY GET ON THAT COMMENTARY but won't have energy or time............. ah well whatever, I won't beat myself up about it, you get the Boots that you get. or bladekindeyewear or right i have two screennames. Toodeloo! How the fuck do you spell that... Oh, I got it right the first time, it just red-underlined it because i'm American. Toodeloo, 'til next update or the next time I'm free and bored and have enough energy to think of doing blogwork!

Also it's possibly notable that even though we've only had 4-plus-X chapters, chapter 5 (the eight ball not done yet) is followed by the BOTTOM LINK for NEXT that could serve as a chapter 6 (for 666) or plunge us into just two more in a separate S-or-non-S thing until Chapter 8.

Maybe to fit with the Hell theme we'll have just TWO more years instead of four... making this a total of 6 years she's skipped. What timeframe catches her up with Candy John to start flirting, if she were to land at about the same age? Someone else do the math for me, I'm too exhausted tonight. Byeeeeeeee!

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albatmobile · 1 month ago

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Cardinal Sins Chapter 10

𓅪 Living with your vigilante boyfriends for the past year has been amazing, well, almost. Butting heads, old wounds resurfacing and a deadly threat still looming overhead could threaten the sanctity of everything you've ever fought for. Will you finally overcome your tainted past and survive the trials and tribulations, or will your relationships and your faith crumble under the pressure?

Rated: E | 10.5k | TW: violence | Contains: reconciliation, a new player enters the arena, court shenanigans, smut, praise kink, anal sex, oral fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist] Previous in Series: Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds

Chapter Ten: Ready to Let Go

A week later, you get a letter saying your parents want to see you this upcoming weekend. You can’t help but think that maybe things could be looking up after all.

While reading the letter, you suddenly feel eyes on you. Your eyes shoot up instantly, catching a brief glimpse of blonde hair. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear the person had been Samantha. You blink exaggeratedly before rubbing at your eyes to confirm that you’re 100% just sleep deprived and that it’d all been a mirage. After all, it’s not easy to get much sleep when every time you close your eyes, you just see him.

You don’t know what comes over you, but you don’t mention your parent’s letter to anyone. It’s for the best anyway, considering both men are more preoccupied with putting a cranky, sugar-crazed Lian to sleep than they are with the wrinkled paper in your hand.

“She get into the snack cabinet again?” you ask, highly amused with the entire situation.

Roy’s tired, light green eyes narrow. “What do you think?”

You snort, “When you’re tired, you sound just like, Jay, baby.”

Roy sticks out his tongue, which you quickly suck into your mouth. Your lips meet his chapped ones briefly before he’s forced to pull apart when Lian begins to wail.

“I’M NOT TIRED!”

“That’s exactly what someone who’s tired would say,” Roy responds tonelessly with a sigh.

“DAD, I’M NOT,” she cries. Seeing dad isn’t going to budge, she switches her tactics. “DADDY!”

Jason just shakes his head as he reaches down to scoop her up into his muscular arms. “You want me to read to you?”

The red, tear-faced little girl sniffles as she weighs her options. Her dark eyes move from Jason, to you, then to Roy before falling on Jason again. She gives a cute nod and cuddles into his neck while she pouts at her exhausted dad. As Jason carries Lian to her room, you hear the little girl mumble to her daddy, “Dad was mean to me.”

Jason laughs, “Dad gets mean when he’s tired, just like another Harper I know.”

With Lian finally being put down for a nap, Roy wastes no time in picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder.

“The fuck, Roy!” you exclaim as you grasp at his shirt. You know there’s no way he’d ever drop you, you know, considering he does the whole hero thing for a living and all, but still, being upside-down is never comforting.

Instead of responding, he drops you down on the bed before slinking over to you.

“Wanna makeout?” he asks.

You smirk lightly. “I thought you were tired.”

“Yeah,” he says as he straddles you. You quirk a questioning brow as he then leans down so that his lips are mere centimeters from yours. “That was until you fucked my tongue.”

Your nose wrinkles in distaste. “What a fucking gross way to describe what I did.”

“Just kiss me already, princess,” he murmurs before capturing your lips with his. His soft hands gently come up to cup your cheeks, deepening the kiss steadily as he does so until, eventually, he teasingly slips the tip of his tongue into your mouth. You flick at the appendage, chasing after it when it retreats to lewdly draw him back into your mouth.

Jason walks in to see Roy straddling your torso, grinding down into you while the two of you gasp dramatically into each other’s mouths. At the clearing of Jason’s throat, Roy breaks away but only briefly to throw his shirt off, then yours, before diving back in.

“Baby,” you whimper breathlessly. You feel the bed shift and easily break away to drag Jason in for an equally salacious kiss. “You guys should fuck and let me watch,” you say, the words rushing out from your saliva-covered lips before you can stop them.

Both men pull away from each other abruptly, looking from each other, to finally stare dumbfounded you.

“You wouldn’t be jealous?” Jason asks. The tone of his voice carries a hint of guilt, though why, you can’t place.

You shrug. “Of course not. You’ve both watched me fuck the other; why wouldn’t I want to see that, too?”

Roy just smirks devilishly. “Oh, you have no idea the dirty shit I’m thinking about right now, baby,” Roy purrs and makes to pull Jason back in, but the raven-haired man stops him gently.

“We should tell her,” Jason cautions quietly, as if the conversation is meant to stay between Roy and himself. “It doesn’t feel right.” Roy gulps inadvertently in response as the mood suddenly shifts. Jason exhales as he faces you again, “We fucked while you were in your coma.” The last part of his sentence comes out somewhat hesitantly, like he doesn’t want to beat around the bush but also doesn’t want to completely sour the mood.

You blink owlishly as you take in the news. “I feel like we’ve already been over this,” you start with a smile easily forming across your heated cheeks. “I don’t care who fucks who as long as it stays between the three of us,” you say, feeling your cheeks heat up even more as you do.

“We’re in the clear?” Roy asks impishly as he quickly looks between Jason and you. “You’re not mad?”

“I won’t be mad as long as you show me exactly what you two did,” you supply coquettishly.

Before either of them seems to process your demand, you’re already scooting back on the bed, undressing as you go. Once naked, you lean against your shared pile of pillows. The act seems to spur them into action as they giddily rid themselves of their clothes, too. They’re making out again as you slowly spread your thighs, gently trailing up and down the soft skin of your inner thighs to tease yourself for what’s to come.

They’re both entirely too eager and swiftly move on to the next step as you finally grant yourself some relief by delving between your wet lips. It’s then that Roy begins stretching Jason’s ass, his light green eyes flickering between Jason on his knees and you on your back with your legs spread. Jason seems to notice his divided attention and arches his ass to further present his twitching hole to your boyfriend. All the while, the doggy-style position means that Jason’s facing you head-on, which only serves to make you exaggerate your moans even further.

You finally tickle at your inner folds, dragging lewdly through your slick as you watch Roy’s thick mechanical fingers steadily bob in and out of Jason’s ass. You try to take your time and pace it so that you’re not too close by the time Roy finally pushes into Jason’s tight hole. From here, your eyes flicker greedily between your hot boyfriends, catching their sex-dazed eyes as you do.

“You’re shit’s so fucking tight,” Roy groans in appreciation as he places his hands on Jason’s cheeks to spread them. “Taking my cock so good, Jay,” the redhead praises breathily.

“Well,” you and Jason correct absentmindedly in unison, pause, then laugh.

“To think you guys call me a fucking loser,” Roy chides half-heartedly as he picks up his pace once again, earning a surprised moan from Jason’s supple lips.

It’s only been a few minutes into them fucking, but you find yourself shaking, leaving you embarrassed after having come so soon without any real stimulation. You move to close your blushing thighs when Jason suddenly stops you.

“When have we ever just let you come once, babe?”

You groan shakily in response to Jason’s rhetorical question and allow your thighs to ease back open. He’s close enough already to reach your slick-covered pussy and wastes no time in teasing your sensitive folds. Your whole body reacts to the first contact, arching lewdly with your chest bouncing as you do so as you let out a wobbly exhale.

“Never,” you breathe.

Jason’s tongue travels across all the familiar spots he knows drive you crazy, even going so far as to slow down his movements to achingly tease you further. If he’s going to play games, so are you. Though every moan is very much real, you turn up your reactions, feeling his ministrations below fervently speed up as you do so.

“Such a fucking slut for her pussy, aren’t you, Jay?” Roy teases Jason gruffly, followed by a smack on his ass that sends Jason surging forward into your cunt. The added pressure leaves you panting and pushing further against his mouth for greater friction. Jason only allows this for so long, though, before he goes back to playful flicks, light pressure and avoiding your throbbing clit.

“Mmm,” Jason moans against your slit. The vibrations are nearly too much and, if it weren’t for Roy’s next words, you know you’d probably be the one coming undone instead of Jason.

“Show her that’s our pussy, love,” Roy says, his half-lidded eyes never once leaving yours as the words leave his smirking, chapped lips.

“Please,” you beg, quaking when Jason doubles down and actually gives you the friction you’ve been so desperately chasing after. His heavenly tongue soon slinks in and out of your dripping hole, slurping up your want as he goes along. With one hand clenched like a lifeline in the sheets below, your other quickly moves to fist Jason’s inky locks to force his mouth exactly where you need it. “Yes! Right there, Jay. Don’t fucking move,” you breathlessly curse at him.

If your eyes hadn’t already rolled all the way to the back of your head, you’d probably notice the animalistic look behind Roy’s usually tame, verdant gaze at the erotic sight. Instead, all you can focus on is Jason’s unrelenting mouth and the intense pleasure it’s causing.

You think your pornstar-worthy moans will cause Roy to crumble first, but surprisingly, it’s Jason whose hips sputter out a large bout of come first. His breath catches hotly against your pulsating pussy and you inadvertently whine for more.

“Shit, babe,” Jason pants. When he pulls away, saliva and your want string from his mouth, connecting the two of you until he tiredly wipes away at it.

Without another word, Roy pulls out, looking mischievous as ever. “What?” the redhead questions cheekily you as soon as he sees your dubious look. “Really weren’t going to tell me how much you’ve been holding back on me and ol’ Jay here, now were you, princess?”

“Shut up,” you groan half-heartedly, wishing you had a free pillow to knock him over the head with. “It’s probably because neither one of you has ever eaten me out like that before,” you admit and blush profusely when Jason looks your way.

“Fair enough,” Roy continues the banter easily as he slinks across the mattress towards his panting lovers. “So,” he drawls, “we’re definitely going to have to do this again and we’re definitely going to have to soundproof these walls.” You snort and Jason chuckles tiredly, though you and Roy are still very much ready to go. Roy seems to realize this too and smirks wolfishly as he slinks over to take over Jason’s spot between your legs. “You know, I can’t lie, I’m kinda hurt over here, princess,” Roy says, though he sounds anything but. His soft hands trail up and down the mix of slick and saliva that covers your inner thighs. “Saying I haven’t been taking care of you right.” His verdant eyes flicker up at your expectant form as he forms his next question. “That can’t be right, now can it?”

With this, his impish tongue pokes out to trickle across your sensitive outer lips, spurring a light sigh from you.

“No,” you respond breathlessly once Roy stops his ministrations in anticipation of an answer.

“We can’t have our princess feeling unsatisfied, now can we?” he continues teasingly.

You both fully know that they’d never leave you unsatisfied with anything when it comes to the bedroom. It’s not at all what you’d meant at all when you said that they had never eaten you out like this before. It’s just never felt so intense.Them fucking, coupled with Jason’s expert tongue, left you with an orgasm you’d never experienced before. You can’t deny, however, that you’re ready for Roy to try and outdo him, though.

Having taken his spot, Jason moves to lay beside you, gently guiding your chin and, subsequently, your attention over to him as he gently and slowly captures your lips with his own. You find yourself melting against his body, but Roy’s swift to remind you of his promise.

The redhead pries your thighs back open as he achingly teases his way from above your clit all the way down to your twitching hole. If Jason’s tongue was heavenly, Roy’s is downright sinful. While both know exactly how to push you over the edge with their mouths alone, Roy’s definitely pulling out new tricks that leave you gasping and sighing against Jason’s lips. With Jason’s hand placed strategically over your lower stomach, all of Roy’s movements feel amplified and, having just come down from an orgasm, you’re already feeling overly sensitive in the best possible way.

With a strategic plunging of his tongue in and out of your wet pussy, coupled with his cool, metallic thumb flicking at your clit, you feel another orgasm steadily approaching. Before you’re completely pushed over the edge, however, Roy suddenly retreats from your aching cunt.

You pull off of Jason’s lips in an instant, turning to ask Roy what’s wrong only to have to stifle a laugh as he waddles over on his knees to come all over your abused pussy. The redhead comes with a shaky exhale and groan as his hips jerkily rock into fist while he empties out his entire load all over your slick folds.

“You get off on eating my pussy, baby?” you ask teasingly, channeling Roy’s usual cheekiness as you watch him come undone.

“Fuck yeah,” he replies through his panting, sounding completely fucked-out. “Always.”

You lose yourself in the redhead’s minute reactions that follow and miss how Jason’s hand trails down your lower stomach all the way down to your entrance. When his calloused fingers breach your entrance, you gasp. Your hips sputter against the filled feeling and friction he’s supplying and quickly meet his knowing thrusts with shaky ones of your own.

“Your turn,” Jason says suddenly against the sensitive shell of your ear.

“Fuck,” you curse as he swirls his fingers through Roy’s want before abruptly fucking it into your cunt. “I’m not gonna last much longer,” you admit breathily.

“Good girl,” Roy praises you with his voice leaving tantalizing vibrations across your cunt as he does.

Sure enough, with Jason fucking Roy’s come directly into your g-spot, you find release a few moments later. Your second orgasm is more intense than the first and you’d probably be embarrassed by your reaction if you hadn’t been met by your loves wanton eyes on you when you shakily focus back on them.

“So fucking good,” you admit, though suddenly, neither are looking at you. Well, not your face, at least. No, both men’s eyes are trained on your dripping pussy where your orgasm has lewdly pushed the sticky white substance back out and onto your slick folds.

Without warning, Jason swoops down and erotically slurps up the combination of saliva and come. You half prepare yourself for him to coax it between your lips, but he moves Roy’s way instead. Completely entranced by the entire interaction, Roy willingly presents his open mouth for Jason to spit inside, with Roy swallowing obediently. A small stream trickles out from the corner of Roy’s chapped mouth, something Jason notices and quickly corrects. He lewdly laps at the fluids before forcing it back into Roy’s mouth with his dutiful tongue.

The two of them lose themselves in each other’s lips for a moment before leaning down to press gentle, wet kisses against your blushing cheeks and lips.

Completely spent, the three of you collapse backward onto the mattress together, panting lightly as you do.

“So, which one of us is cooking dinner?” you ask. The remnants of your orgasms have left you entirely too tired to cook like you’d been planning to. Not to mention, you hardly feel like moving from your bed for the rest of the evening.

It’s quiet for a beat as the bed’s other inhabitants obviously are feeling much of the same.

“Pizza?” Roy tries.

“Pizza,” Jason agrees.

•••

Later that same day, you contemplate your options. You know visiting hours are only for another hour. You’ve sat on the decision all day, but you’re no where near being closer to having an answer. With Jason and Roy out picking up food, you know this may be your only chance to slip out undetected.

You need to know.

Before you lose the will to go, your feet start moving.

You know they’ll be back any second, so Lian will be fine and even go so far as to tell yourself that if you run into them, you won’t bother going.

When you call the elevator, you’re 90% sure it’ll open to reveal your partners, but the elevator car is empty.

What the fuck are you doing? You berate yourself as you step inside and hit the button for the lobby. Your breathing quickens as the realization of what you’re doing crashes over you. You make to hop off, to go back inside the apartment and go to Lian’s room to play with her, but ultimately, the doors slide shut, sealing your fate.

By the time you’re across the street, you watch as your loves walk into the building, holding hands. Your heart sinks at the sight. Logically, you know you should call out to them. You should call out to them right now, but you don’t. The last thing you need is for them to talk you out of it when you’re already seconds from bailing as it is.

With a heavy heart and unsure gate, you walk away from your family.

The prison is a decent ways away, luckily Gotham City taxi drivers are a different breed. You make it to Blackgate in under 20 minutes.

The whole sign-in ordeal takes another 30 or so minutes, leaving only 10 minutes to speak with them by the time you’re being escorted over to the visitation room. The guard who ends up walking you over to them has been giving you weird vibes the entire time, but you ultimately end up blaming his behavior on your uneasiness with the situation. It definitely doesn’t help your unease that the entire visiting section is completely empty.

As you sit down on the visitor side of the glass partition, you still can’t help but wonder just what’s made them change their minds. Why is this time different?

Before you can question their goodwill any further, the guard strikes.

It all happens so fast. One second, you’re waiting for your parents to join you and the next, you notice movement in the glass. Before you can react, you’re punched in the face and knocked to the ground. You scramble to get up and retaliate, but the guard, who’s now disguised by an owl mask, holds you down with a chokehold. Your face heats up as your blood floods to it, feeling as your eyes bulge out of your head before, ultimately, passing out.

•••

“LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!”

The wretched sound of scratching overtakes your senses as you watch a large group of disheveled people scratching at glass in front of you.

Their voices soon overtake each other, panicking as a putrid green fog overtakes your vision.

You laugh, but it comes out as his laugh.

“Let the fun begin,” you say, though your voice ends up coming out as Joker’s.

Suddenly, the dream halts, though your surroundings still feel hazy, as if the last few dregs of the dream, nightmare, are still overtaking your senses. You attempt to stir, but everything feels like you’re wading through water.

“That’s it,” a distorted voice encourages you.

Huh?

You try to open your eyes, but they feel heavy- like, way heavier than usual. Your mouth feels cottony, reminding you of the time in the library when you and… you and…

Your loves.

Your eyes slowly open to reveal a dark, cavernous room.

The Batcave? When did you get here? The last thing you remember was…

Oh.

You blink, attempting to clear the blurriness from your vision, but it doesn’t help any. If anything, it only causes you to fall back into the comfort of closing them, becoming instantly met with a large boat. It almost looks like the one Damian had…

Damian.

Your eyes flash open to see a dark outline of a man in front of you. All the while, your breathing picks up as you attempt to remember just what the fuck is going on, but the pounding in your temple becomes far too overwhelming.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” the voice jokes sinisterly. “I’ve been dying to introduce myself to a fine specimen such as yourself.”

“Sthpeth-imn?” you slur, then immediately shut your mouth. What the fuck did this dude do to you?

“You can call me Dr. Crane for now.” His voice suddenly becomes closer, causing you to flinch. “Oh, no. Don’t be worried. No,” he reassures you with a comforting voice, though you feel anything but comforted, “this is all a part of the plan, don’t you see?” He sounds somewhat giddy now. “You’re the perfect specimen. All the others failed me- failed my genius, but not you. No, your body accepts it. It accepts what everyone else’s should’ve. I was right all along and they tried to tell me-“ he cuts himself off, chuckling darkly. “Well, they tried to tell me I’d failed,” he guffaws before growing interested in you again. “But, you see, I don’t fail and you’re the proof. The unkempt man circles around you, eyes flitting across every inch of your body as he observes your every minute reaction. “You know,” he starts conversationally, “when they first told me you were special, I didn’t believe them, but now-."

“H-” you try to ask, 'who,' but the words aren’t coming out right. “Them,” you finally manage as you attempt to ask him who else is behind this.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he responds placatingly. “By now, you’ve inhaled a majority of the vapor. All that’s left to do is let it take over.”

Crane mentioned vapor; however, the man seems largely unaffected by the greenish smog that hangs in the room. He doesn’t appear to be wearing a gas mask of any kind, either. If you’d been in your right mind, you probably would’ve attempted to interrogate the doctor, but right now, you’re focused on escaping. You’re under the influence of an experimental concoction and you don’t want to give it any more time to take effect.

Your breathing quickens even more and you struggle against your rope restraints on the examination table. Through the haze of whatever concoction you’re breathing in, you notice a small table filled with medical equipment next to you. You fight the shivers that spread across your body as you eye a promising scalpel.

Pretending to be more out of it than you are leads to Crane dropping his guard. He turns around and presses play on an old radio. Classical music fills the muddled air as the doctor begins to rifle through a small closet off to the side, but you don’t wait to see what he produces as you make a grab for the sharp instrument and begin to saw haphazardly against your restraints. First, your left hand, then your right. You feign being restrained when he begins to dance to the crescendo of violins and rapidly cut through the ropes around your ankles the second he turns back around to grab… a rotten sack?

Yeah, you’re not sticking around to find out what the fuck that’s about.

You can’t pretend you’re restrained any longer now that all the ropes are so obviously broken, so you gather every bit of sanity within yourself to slip from the metal bed to stumble over behind the man who’s too busy shoving his head inside the bag. You use the sack around his head as a weapon, quickly wrapping the remnants of rope around his neck and tugging hard, falling to the ground as he vehemently reacts. His skinny body ends up on top of you and you will yourself to follow your instincts, to follow your training, but you can hardly stay present in your mind as it is. Everything feels like a dream. The actions you make feel as if you’re wading through a mental flood to accomplish them and you know your strength isn’t anything like you’re used to, but it’s what you’ve got, so you use it anyway.

“AGH!” he exclaims as his bruised hands attempt to pry the rope off his throat. You feel him shift as he tries to turn around to grant you the same courtesy, but you shift your hips at the last second and end up on top of him. You’re panting with snot streaming from your nose as you use everything within yourself to choke him.

“Out, out,” you repeat, willing your crippling visions away as you beg him to just pass out already. After speaking, you feel droll leaking out of the corners of your mouth but you don’t dare to attempt to wipe it away. You’re giving everything into your power around the rope, screaming when your hands grow numb, whether from the white-knuckled grip you have on the hold or whatever he’s injected you with, but you can’t give up now.

All the while, his fists clash into your sides. It’s a relentless pain that only serves to keep you in the moment as you continue to drift in and out of reality.

Seconds pass, possibly minutes, before he stops struggling. The punches cease and soon, the noises spewing from his throat cease as well. Even though your hands are purple at this point, you keep the hold on him for as long as you can before you feel yourself falling to the side of Crane’s passed-out form. Upon landing on the stone ground below, you heave, effectively losing whatever’s in your stomach to the stone below.

Scratching.

You hear it as if it’s happening in this very lab- no, you can practically feel it against your skin as you gasp and shake on the ground.

You need to get up. You need to get up. Get up. Please, get up. With this mantra on repeat in your head, you force your head off the ground. Your head feels entirely too heavy for your neck and you end up failing it around like a newborn baby as you attempt to get a grip on your mind, but it’s nearly impossible.

You think about your family, but it only makes things worse. Instead of seeing Jason, Roy and Lian, you see flashes of your parents, then Bruce. You try to calm your breathing at the calming thought of your father figure, but your pulse continues to vibrate throughout your veins in a way that makes everything hard to focus.

SLAP!

“No,” you mumble incoherently. With your visions crashing down upon you, you finally manage to make headway in standing by tugging yourself back over to the examination table and using it to support your weight as you struggle to stand. Your legs feel like absolute noodles and any time you try to move away from the table, your knees give in.

It’s then that you notice two vials of liquid on the very tray you’d stolen the scalpel from. One a half-full, toxic green and the other a deep indigo. Half-delirious, you snatch them up as quickly as you can manage, realizing only then that you’re completely naked. You stumble over to pick up a lab coat off the hook by the door as you slowly inch out of the room, placing the vials in the pockets as carefully as you can in your state of mind.

You’re half expecting whatever building you’re in to be a maze in the way Cadmus had been, but the sight that meets you shocks you. Laid out before you is an actual maze. An absolutely gigantic one, in fact.

What the fuck.

Using the stone walls as support, you begin your arduous trek.

You catch flickers of your parents as you wander aimlessly, following their familiar forms, only to come to a halt just when you think you’ve caught up to them. You find yourself having run into a dead end what feels like hours later, though you figure it’s only been minutes.

You heave a sigh through your pants as you force yourself to turn around to find Bruce.

“Help,” you manage to wheeze out through your dry throat. “Safe-“

Bruce’s mirage cuts you off, “Follow.”

Though you know it’s only a figment of your imagination, the man moves quickly, like way too quickly for you to keep up with. You try to run but end up flailing and tripping over your own feet. You try to beg him to wait for you, to help you, but the man only gives you an unimpressed look. You soon realize that he’s not going to wait for you; he’s not going to budge. It’s his pace and it’s clear that you either need to catch up or find yourself left in the dust.

Dragging yourself across the stone floor, you ignore the way the porous material scratches and cuts at your skin. You need Bruce. He’s your lifeline and your only way out of here, you hazily reason. Regardless, he disappears around a corner to the left of you and, by the time you’ve dragged yourself over there, he’s disappeared completely.

“COME BACK,” you scream out as you desperately search around for him. “PLEASE!” you try again. “Don’t leave me…” you mumble, feeling out of your body as your head bobs lucidly while you continue on your search. Your breath huffs out against the stones and you allow yourself only a few seconds to rest your head on their cold surface before once again forcing yourself to stand.

At this point, you’re flitting in and out of reality nearly every other second. You can hardly keep track of what’s real and what’s not, but you continue to move your feet as fast as you can. You break into a drunken-looking run, crashing against the stone partition at the end of this section of the maze. Groaning in pain, you notice that the impact has wedged the wall slightly open, revealing a sliver of light through the crack.

Panting, you press against the stones, groaning in pain when the hidden entrance rumbles open, sending you tumbling inside.

“Agh!”

You think you pass out for a moment, but you’re not entirely sure. When you come to again, you find yourself in what appears to be another lab, though this one looks as if it was left in a haste.

There’s a sink to your right, so you stumble to get up and over to it to begin drinking from the tap. When the water hits your tongue, you feel slightly more awake, but end up choking on the liquid and find it hard to breathe while you try to swallow around it. Nonetheless, you force yourself to down more of the liquid, relishing in the way it clears your mind.

By the time you’ve gotten your fill, you feel more in control of your actions, enough to suddenly notice the partially covered glass box in the middle of the room. Curtains have been hastily drawn around it, but a portion of the glass behind it is still visible.

Thereupon the glass is…

No, it can’t be.

Scratching.

”STOP!” you beg, clutching your head as the visions flow freely once again. “No more, please! NO MORE!” Your voice is completely fucked. You can’t be sure if you were screaming while you were out earlier, but fuck if it doesn’t feel like you’ve screamed your throat raw.

Weighing out your options, you hobble closer to the glass, tugging the curtains back haphazardly only to find bloodied streaks covering the visible portion of glass. What’s worse? All the discarded files you’re currently stepping on. It’s hard to read; your brain can hardly focus on escape as it is, but you understand enough to know these are lab reports. Each report is adorned with a photo of an unkempt person, dead behind the eyes.

“No,” you mutter hazily. “NO!” With this, you use what little strength you have to tear down the curtains and end up taking the rods down with it as well to reveal the stolen microwave emitter. You sharply exhale, feeling your entire body shake as your mind attempts to shut down again. You won’t let it- you refuse. “FUCK!” you exclaim as you slap yourself across the face once, then twice, to keep yourself alert.

SLAP!

Waves of images flood your brain. Images of family in all its forms. Leaping from one broken home to another, creating your own version of safety only to have it all be threatened. Bruce- he…

You’re panting again as you slowly make your way back out into the labyrinth, catching a glance of a sticky-note on a bulletin board in the room as you get to the threshold. The yellow paper reads: Gotham Marina 4/1 REDEMPTION!

With newfound energy from your discoveries, you now notice the overwhelming feeling of being watched. If this is The Court you’re dealing with, you know the only way out in your state is to outwit them.

“You think you’re the first ones to drug me?” you call out shakily as you clumsily enter back into the stone maze. You manage to swallow down the lump in your throat as you address your watcher again, “YOU THINK YOU’RE THE FIRST ONES TO INVADE MY MIND?!”

Instead of a response, you’re met with a coolness at your ankles. Upon looking down, you notice that the same sickly fog in Crane’s lab trickling along the floor like a threat for what’s to come.

From here, your visions grow worse.

Water.

A ship.

Fog.

Scratching.

SLAP!

You let out a guttural scream, wishing it will somehow rid your brain of these crippling thoughts, but it only pains your strained throat further. You’re running out of gas. At this point, the whole labyrinth just seems like a cruel joke. You finally feel like you live up to your supposed purpose: a lab rat.

You watch yourself leap from one family to another as if they’re atop clouds, searching for, well, you’re not sure. Your parents reject you, sending you leaping again as the fluffy structure disappears out from under your feet. It’s then that you see Bruce, the manor, all the people you grew up with. It feels like home, but while Bruce doesn’t send you packing, your stay is merely temporary. Your distorted vision shows the man holding a scale, weighing out everything you’ve done. When one side outweighs the other, he suddenly casts you aside, sending you crashing through the now smog-filled sky. You see Bruce peering down over the edge of the cloud to watch you plummet without a care right before you hit the final cloud in the sky.

You’re panting as you sit up to see Jason, Roy and Lian having a tea party. You want to laugh. This whole situation is insane and the visions are unlike anything you’ve experienced before. You truly have no fucking idea what’s going on, let alone what’s real and what’s not.

Whatever is real and whatever is not is hardly relevant, however. What is relevant is the message behind it all. You realize that, no matter what you do, the fear of being disowned again cripples you to your core. Logically, you know you’re in too deep now- the point of no return. There’s no way to come out of this situation unscathed, you realize. Whether at the cost of your life, the city, or your family, these elements can’t all be saved without the destruction of another.

Something has to give.

Lian suddenly gets up from the table and you think she’ll invite you over, but she appears upset.

“You left me,” she says. Your mind goes blank. “You left me just like my other mommy.”

“I,” you start, then quickly trail off. She’s turning away, facing back to where Jason and Roy are now standing and looking at you with disgust. “I didn’t want to fuck this up,” you plead, grabbing her by the shoulders so she faces you again, but she easily brushes your hold away to round the nearest corner of the maze. You give a jerky gaze back to the table, but both your loves have disappeared as well. With nothing left, you chase after her. “LIAN! I DIDN’T WANT IT TO BE THIS WAY. I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO END UP LIKE THIS. I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO END UP LIKE THEM- PLEASE BELIEVE ME! My parents...” Your throat feels raw, but screaming feels like the only way to reach her. “I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE YOU,” you finally yell. The sound echoes emptily as it bounces across the cold stone surrounding you. You’re crying now, tears streaming down your face as you clumsily search for her. Finally, you round an unfamiliar corner to find her being comforted by Jason and Roy. “Lian!” you exclaim as you blearily scramble over to her.

“You’re not my real mom,” she says quietly, causing you to stop flailing. You brace yourself against one of the walls as you pant, head pounding, heart pounding uncontrollably as your vision tunnels around you. The only things you can clearly make out are Lian, Jason and Roy, but it only serves to make you more panicked. “And you did leave me,” her dark eyes stare you down hauntingly, “just like her.”

This time, she’s ushered away by your loves who treat you like you’re not even there. You don’t attempt to chase after them, fuck knows she’s better off without you... They all are.

You crash through the last cloud, finding yourself on the stone-cold ground as you catch your bearings.

You want to give up as you slink to the frigid floor below. Tears flow freely from your stinging, puffy eyes as you rock back and forth on the rough ground. “I’m sorry,” you mutter, hating how the sound of your voice plays on repeat all around you. “I made a mistake,” you sniffle wetly. “I made a fucking mistake. I can’t do this alone, I can’t-“ you choke. “I can’t be alone. Please, don’t leave me,” you brokenly whisper to the empty maze.

Through your blinding thoughts, you hear a semi-familiar voice. You’re unable to place it, but you can’t help but follow after it.

“Go right,” the voice says, echoing along the stone chasms surrounding you. Your legs jerk in the direction, staggering to follow after the sound. “Right.” Again, you clumsily chase after the voice. “Make a left at the opening.”

Upon taking the left, you lumber out into the center of the maze whilst mumbling the directions lucidly.

“There is no hope,” the voice suddenly booms, sounding as if it’s right behind you. However, when you turn around, you’re only met with more fog. “There is no savior.” At this point, you’re spinning around, looking erratically for the source. “Not this time.” From here, a familiar man emerges menacingly from the thick smog.

“Talon,” you hiss incoherently.

“That’s right,” he praises you. Similar to Dr. Crane, he begins to circle you as if studying your every movement. “We finally meet. I hear you have a penchant for ruining plans.” You have no idea what to say to that, so you remain silent. Your brain is thrumming in pain and delusion, but you fight to push past it, and you force yourself to circle around the killer. “You won’t mess up mine, though. You see, I have a penchant for pushing people to their limit,” he says. “I like peering between the cracks in a person’s psyche to see how I can melt it down, mold it to fit my wants and needs.” He suddenly surges forward, pinning you against the stone wall behind you. “I’m going to manipulate you in ways that haven’t been studied yet, but I’m guessing you’ll be a really good test subject. After all, that is your purpose, right?”

“Fuck you,” you spit, growling when his face comes within centimeters of yours. “You talk about control and yet you’re not even the one in charge.”

He presses you deeper against the cold, scratchy surface. The threat his strength alone brings is threat enough. Knowing you’re in his territory and he has weapons at his disposal while you’re just stuck with your hands is the even bigger threat.

“Do you feel in charge?” he asks, though you can tell he’s just teasing you. It’s as if he finds the whole situation largely amusing; as if he already knows how this is going to end.

Well, he doesn’t.

You technically don’t either, to be honest, but you refuse to let this be the way you go out.

“I’m in charge here,” you pant, whimpering when his thick, gloved hand comes up to choke you. Your hand immediately covers his in a lame attempt to pry it off, but it’s useless. “This is my mind,” you hiss through the abhorrent pressure. “You can’t hurt me in here.”

“Is that so?” Talon scoffs, backing off immediately. You gasp, drawing in as much tainted air as you can and regret it instantly when the woozy feeling the gas brings washes over you once again. “Let’s test that theory, then.” With this, he draws his swords and charges at you.

You roll yourself along the stone wall and quickly flee to the closest portion of the maze. Your movements are jerky, unstable, but it’s all you’ve got. At the very least, you’re just glad you’re able to move. This doesn’t mean, however, that you’re moving in any semblance of fast, meaning Talon’s able to catch up to you easily. The man, though he’s completely covered by his mask, is clearly enjoying the chase.

His sword crashes to the left of you, clanking against the stone as it makes abrupt contact. The sudden movement has you crashing into the opposite wall. You drop down to avoid another swing and stumble to get back up to run barefoot down a different section of the labyrinth.

It’s here that you manage to lose him for a second, though you soon hear his sword scraping menacingly against the walls as he searches for you. He’s rapidly approaching and you have no idea what to do. Your brain screams, begging for you to give in to the poison, but you know that if you give in now, you’ll be dead before the days up. You shake your head, pinching yourself wherever you can to keep yourself awake and alert as you search for the exit.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” he sing-songs. “How much longer can you keep this up?” he calls out tauntingly. “No, really, I want to know.” His dark, damning voice is close. With two options in front of you, you pick the one on the right, only to run into a dead end. “You know I can hear you.” He sounds like he’s talking through a smile. “I can end this any time I want.”

You don’t know what comes over you, but you’ve had enough. You’re not some owl’s fucking prey.

“Then, do it!” you scream. “DO IT!”

He’s on you in a second, but you’re already nearly out of the dead end. The man tackles you to the ground, chuckling darkly as he does.

You’re fucked. You’re absolutely fucking dead.

The sound of clanking glass draws your attention, but Talon’s too focused on subduing you to notice it. You’d completely forgotten that you have two vials of their shitty concoction in your stolen lab coat. If this is the only chance you have for a distraction, you know you’ve got to use it. You only hope some of the liquid will survive for analysis, but you’re mainly just focused on, you know, not fucking dying.

“I know you want me to kill you, that you want me to end the misery you’re experiencing,” he gibes as he presses his sword against the scar on your neck, “but I won’t.” With this, he uses his other hand to draw up the hanging cloth portion of the bottom of his mask to reveal a pleased smirk. “I have other plans in mind.”

He did say you have a penchant for fucking up plans, didn’t he?

With both his hands preoccupied, you shove yours into the pockets of the lab coat to produce the purple vial. Though he catches onto what you’re doing fast, it’s not fast enough. You break the vial against the floor, stabbing the sharp edges of the broken glass into his exposed neck.

“Taste of your own fucking medicine,” you manage to slur out as you wiggle out from under him.

While he continues to react to the substance, you make a break for it. Though you’re delirious, marks and blood along the stone labyrinth help you recognize ways you’ve been down and ways you haven’t. By sheer dumb luck, you stop to catch your breath right by, upon closer inspection, what appears to be a door. You can only hope it’s not another fucking lab.

You push with the rest of your strength, screaming in agony as you do so. The door whines and groans under your force until it’s forced open to reveal-

“Oh, no fucking way,” you mutter weakly as you stumble into the very room you’d been in a week prior.

The Court’s headquarters are hidden behind the fireplace you’d found at their secret meeting location. You hardly have time to think of how you’d been right as you stagger through the familiar space.

The hall you’d been in for the court meeting is eerily empty, allowing you to run out through the front door as if on autopilot. When you emerge, you keep running without stopping until you reach the law firm- safety. You don’t know what time it is, let alone what day it is, as you storm inside the dark office. Luckily, the place is empty. Though there's an abundance of cars and activity outside, the clock inside reads 1:03.

Panicked, you begin to rifle around the filing cabinet and soon find your discarded gown. You waste no time in pulling it on, quickly shifting into a fighting stance when you hear rustling from outside the building. Those owl fucks aren’t taking you back to that place. No. You won’t let them. You’ll die before you become someone’s experiment again.

Willing all the sanity you have left and gathering up the remnants of your depleted energy, you storm out of the building with rabid eyes, paperweight from one of the desks loosely in your right hand as you come face-to-face with Red Hood and Arsenal. Upon your entrance into the alley, you swear you see the familiar gleam of familiar sais, but it’s gone before you can question if you’ve imagined it or not.

“What happened?” You’re looking at them, but you’re far too out of it to tell which one of them is talking. “Who did this to you?”

You shake your head. They’re not fucking real. None of this is.

Panic swells over your entire being, feeling yourself begin to shake. You’re freezing, but it’s the only feeling keeping you grounded as you fight through the fog that’s overwhelming your mind. You’re shivering, your mouth wobbling as you try to think of something coherent to see if it’s really them, but nothing comes out.

You suppose it’s good that neither of them has tried to attack you just yet, but it doesn’t necessarily clarify that it’s not The Court. You know now from firsthand experience that they like to play games, so who’s to say this isn’t another one of their fucked up tests?

Were they going to leave again, just as they had in the maze?

“I-“ you say, attempting to catch your breath while you wonder if they’re actually real or not. “I’m the one in control of my mind,” you hiss at them. “I CONTROL ME!” you shout crazily, lifting your arm with the weighted weapon as if begging them to dispute your words. “Neither of you are real,” you whimper, shaking your head rapidly as you back away from their advancing forms. “NONE OF THIS IS FUCKING REAL!”

“Baby, we’re here to save you.”

You hear Roy’s voice as clear as day, but your vision is still too hazy to confirm if he’s merely a vision or not. You know you’re lucky to have made it as far as you have, though part of you worries that you’re still inside, that maybe you haven’t left that wretched hell at all.

You feel yourself slipping, wanting to believe so bad that it really is them.

“I don’t need anyone to save me,” you growl. Contrary to your words, however, seconds later your arm begins to shake and soon, your whole body follows suit. Without warning, you crumple to the pavement in front of them and begin to sob. Your hands clench around fistfuls of your hair as you begin to shake and rock back and forth. “I just want this to end. Please!”

“It’s over,” Jason’s voice assures you, whispering your name like a promise. “It’s over.”

Somehow, you believe him.

“It’s over,” you conceed before promptly passing out.

•••

This time, when you wake up, you find yourself in your bed.

You quickly snap your eyes shut again as you tune into the noises in your surroundings.

The shower’s running and you hear the TV on low. Upon listening closer, you realize that it’s on The Food Network, undoubtedly Jason’s choice. You battle internally with yourself: to open your eyes and trust that this is real, or play opossum and try to figure out how to actually get out of the maze- out of your head.

While you’re going back and forth, you suddenly hear Jason’s deep humming reverberating from the bathroom, meaning the weight you feel beside you must be Roy. Your heart beats fast, wanting so badly to believe that you escaped. You take a leap of faith and open your eyes. Roy’s light green ones latch onto yours immediately.

“Hey,” he greets your dazed form quietly. You close your eyes again, willing the scene to change, but it doesn’t. When you open them again, Roy’s still there, staring at you with concern. “Jay!” Roy calls out. Not even seconds later, a distressed Jason emerges in the doorway of the adjoining bathroom, completely wet and completely naked.

For some reason, all these little quirks somehow add up to let you know that this is actually real. You had managed to escape The Court of Owls all on your own.

“What happened?” Jason asks as he approaches you slowly. “Are you feeling alright?” Are you sane again? You open your mouth to speak, but your throat is too raw to speak. “I’ll make you some tea,” he says instead. You watch lazily as he grabs a towel and swiftly exits without another word.

“We were really worried,” Roy says. His voice is deep and gravelly. It feels entirely intimate and this is exactly what you need after the hell you just went through. “Did someone take you?” he asks as he cautiously curls around you. When you don’t tense, he allows himself to relax into you, drawing circles across your shoulders as he does. “When we came back, you were gone and Lian was playing alone in her room.”

You attempt to swallow around the lump in your throat, but it’s too dry to do so. Guilt floods every atom of your being, so much so that the shame visibly heats up your cheeks. As a cop-out, you motion to your throat and he seems to understand that you’re unable to speak. You watch as he frowns and turns toward the TV, though his eyes are glazed over as if deep in thought.

Jason returns minutes later with a tray containing a steaming kettle and a teacup filled with honey and a filled infuser.

“It’s chamomile,” he says as he shifts uncomfortably, awaiting your first sip.

You’ve only ever seen him act like this when he needs to apologize to you. Had you not already been feeling so guilty, you might actually kind of find it cute how nervous he was for you. However, all you can think about is how angry they’re both going to be with you when the truth comes out. You practically already know their reaction, having seen how they abandoned you in the maze after Lian had… It wasn’t real, you reassert to yourself.

“It’s good,” you manage to rasp out after a few sips. The hot liquid coats your throat, silencing the pain for a brief second as you swallow it down. After another cup, you gently clear your throat, grimacing lightly when sharp pain erupts from the action. “I’m sorry,” you whisper.

“Don’t be, baby,” Roy coos gently. “What happened to you wasn’t your fault at all.” While you’d like nothing more than to lie and shift the blame, you know you can’t. Regardless of what you saw in the labyrinth, you know you owe it to them to take the blame, to tell the truth.

“But it was,” you breathe. They both look at you curiously, leaving you to shrink into yourself. “I left here willingly.” You don’t bother to watch their expressions change as the weight of your admission hits them.

“So, you willingly left Lian alone?” Jason asks curtly. “What? To take down The Court on your own like that dumb shit you pulled at the dockyards?”

You hang your head in shame. “My parents,” you reply through a voice crack. You clear your throat again, taking another sip as you finally look at both of them again. Jason’s face is completely blank, while Roy’s is entirely betrayed.

Fuck.

Though you had to know this was coming, it still doesn’t make their reactions sting any less.

“You left our kid to go see some fucking deadbeats?” Jason hisses, brows furrowing as if you might’ve actually lost your goddamned mind. “The fuck is going on with you? This isn’t like you at all, so what the fuck is actually going on?”

“They sent me a letter. I wasn’t planning on going,” you admit. “Being alone in the house, though, all I could do was think on it. Time was running out and before I knew it, I was outside the building watching the two of you walk in.”

“And you didn’t say shit to us?”

“No,” you whimper, feeling tears coming on. It would’ve saved so much pain and so much misunderstanding had you just reached out to them. Now, well… “I fucked up. I really did,” you sob. “Maybe I’m tired of always making the right decisions,” you manage through a gross sniffle. “Maybe I’m tired of needing backup. Maybe I just want to do shit for myself and know I can take care of the aftermath without… I don’t need anyone,” you wail, “but I want to rely on the two of you and all this shit with the family, Bruce and now knowing that my parents are fucking through with me, it’s all too much. I think,” you cut off with a hiccup, “I think I broke down. Mentally, you know? Even if I hadn’t been abducted, I’d still feel bad for leaving how I did. It wasn’t right and it’s not what a mom does.” You hiccup again as you wipe away the stream of tears leaking from your eyes.

“So, what happened?” Roy asks. You can tell he’s still distraught that you left your daughter alone, but you know he feels some relief knowing she was alone for only a minute or two. Doesn’t make it any better, though, you know that as much as anyone in the room.

“I went there and they didn’t show up.” You shrug nonchalantly, but the words kill you inside. You’ve officially been discarded. There’s no making up with them, no redeeming any sense of the relationship with either of them. Dead. That’s all they want. They want you dead. And then Bruce… You sigh, “I just wanted to give them a chance, just like you’ve both done with your parents. Didn’t matter, anyway. The guard must’ve worked for The Court because he punched me.” You motion to the bruise that’s undoubtedly adorning your face before continuing, “It was all a trap, though. I woke up in some underground lab, completely drugged off my ass.”

From here, you tell them everything: from Crane to Talon, the maze, the sticky-note and even your vision and the subsequent glass container that followed.

“You should’ve let us come with you,” Jason insists irritably. You can tell both of them are still processing everything, so you try not to take his reaction to heart.

“What good would that have done?” you ask. “So we’d all get captured and experimented on? No,” you shake your head, “I don’t think so.”

“But you’re injured,” Roy says like it explains everything. “You should’ve told us, at the very least, so we could keep an eye on you.”

“You really shouldn’t be out in public with this threat looming without us, especially not while you’re still recovering,” Jason agrees.

“Excuse me?” You can hardly believe what you’re hearing. “In case you’re both forgetting, I didn’t need your help.” You think back to your issue with them the other night and decide to bring it up. “And I don’t fucking need you guys to do the dirty work without me either,” you snap.

“We just don’t want to lose you again,” Roy cries out suddenly, urging you to understand their perspective.

Regardless of all the facts, you’re still the love of their lives. You know they wouldn’t know what to do without you and you the same with them.

“It’s nothing to do with your abilities,” Jason adds sincerely.

“But it is,” you insist, “and you guys always say the same shit. How many times do I really need to prove myself before it gets through to your heads that I’m an asset, not a hindrance? You’re not doing me any favors by letting me tag along,” you say pointedly. “When are you guys going to realize that I’m doing this to put an end to what I started and that you two are just along for the ride.” You watch their faces for any tells, but both of them just appear to be taking in your words. Good, you need them to really fucking hear this. “You always tell me that I’m strong, but when are you guys actually going to realize that I am strong?”

It’s quiet and you watch as they turn to each other, having a silent back and forth before finally turning back your way.

“You’re right,” Jason says as he joins the two of you on the bed. Your stomach flips, finally feeling heard. You’ve finally proven yourself. There’s zero doubt left in anyone’s mind of what you’re capable of after a stunt like this. “We love you a lot and it’s hard not to get possessive over you. We just want to keep you safe but it’s clear you don’t need us to protect you at all.”

“I’m sorry for hiding shit again,” you breathe. “This whole day was completely fucked on my part and it’ll fucking haunt me forever how I handled this shit.” It’s quiet for a moment as the three of you come to terms with the past six hours. You sigh, “Seems like we can have all the conversations we want about our contentions, but it’s putting in the actual work that’s the hardest part.”

Roy shuffles up against your side quickly. Regardless of everything, you know all he wants is to support you after everything you’ve just been through. “Of course it is, baby,” he murmurs as his hands trickle lightly up and down your arm. “We know it as much as anyone. I’m nowhere near perfect either and, as much as I love him, neither is Jay over there either.”

Though you feel his eyes on you, you can’t quite bring yourself to look over at him yet. It’s a complete cop-out. One that you know both of you are completely aware of, though it doesn’t stop you from avoiding his reaction any less.

“I’m just glad we’re all able to talk about it instead of those huge blow-ups like before,” you say, feeling vulnerable as you finally force yourself to meet Jason’s emerald gaze.

“Definitely on the right track,” Roy agrees with a gentle kiss to your forehead.

The two of you both turn to Jason at the same time, who, in response, blushes and crosses his arms over his chest. He seems to catch the action and awkwardly uncrosses them, seemingly out of embarrassment. It’s really fucking cute. Instead of responding, he simply clears his throat. “You should rest,” Jason insists. “Whatever they poisoned you with will still probably working its way out of your system for another few hours.”

With the info from Poison Ivy and the Cadmus scientist, coupled with your visions and the now-placed microwave emitter, you attempt to piece together the puzzle, but you’re still missing big chunks of the bigger scheme.

Was Dr. Crane the other benefactor Grandmaster had been referring to in the meeting? What did the subway systems have to do with anything? And, what were the trials in the lab reports you’d found referencing?

There are still so many unanswered questions and time is clearly running out. April 1st is less than a week away, which barely leaves you enough time to prepare for a formidable attack that keeps looming closer and closer. With such doom eminent, you know you have to get as ahead of The Court as you can before April materializes.

After they’ve gone to sleep you get a text.

Possible Spam: Balcony

Without a word, you tiredly slip away from your sleeping lovers in hopes of answers.

A/N: next chap, the puzzle finally comes together. chap 12 is the boss battle where everything changes AGAIN rip lmao and chap 13 is a wrap-up / an epilogue of sort

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