#like it literally came up as a hypothetical before we moved in and i was like yeah that would be weird for me and my friend was like so rea

[normiewizard]

in a sawtrap designed to make me kill myself called my roommates are dating

[byproducts-of-my-imagination]

Everyone Hates Todo Except You

The best part about Todo is that you don’t have to put yandere in front of him because his normal behavior already screams delusional and obsessive.   You cannot convince me that he doesn’t sniff all your things as soon as you’re not looking.  He’s just so intense.  I love this man, need to catch up on jjk.

~1k words. Thank you to whoever requested this and I hope you enjoy!

At the Kyoto branch, nobody really bothers sticking their nose in Todo’s business.  But when there’s an enormous mound of trash bags outside his room that just keeps getting bigger, concerning glances and eyebrow raises no longer cut it.  Normally his antics earn a side eye or two, but lately it’s been a little much, even for him.  At the breakfast table the next day, the girls decide to draw straws to see who has to tell him to move his shit.

“It’s not fair!  Why do I have to do it?”  Miwa groans, cursing her bad luck for the thousandth time.  

“It is fair, you just happened to draw the short straw now go deal with it!  We'll back you up.”  Mai grins, knowing full well she rigged it.

Kasumi Miwa would rather be doing literally anything else at this moment.  She timidly knocks on the door, and says, “Todo?  Could you move all this stuff please?  You’re starting to block the hallway.”

“Yeah I’ll get to it whenever I get the rest of this junk cleaned up.  Don’t worry there’s no food waste so there shouldn’t be any smell.”

“B-but Todo…. It's been almost a week now…”  The only response was the muted sound of shuffling.

Miwa looks back in defeat at her so-called “back up” as they peek from behind the corner.  Their best bet now is to get one of the boys to convince him.  And if they fail it’s straight to Utahime-sensei.  

Todo looks at his room, emptier than it’s ever been.  He knew this was the likeliest outcome.  Takada-chan was a beloved idol, and even if she liked him back (which he thought she might have at some point) there was no way she could be with him.  He knew, but it doesn't mean it hurt any less.  There were years of carefully collected merch, thousands of dollars being stuffed into trash bags to be thrown away.  But instead of the despair he carefully denied for years, he didn’t feel any loss throwing away all the autographed posters and pictures.  No, he had something much better now, someone who could actually be with him in this wretched, boring world.  He had his wonderful, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect in every way girlfriend.  And while you weren’t aware that you were destined to be with him yet, he would make sure you’d know soon.  As soon as he finished purging his space of Takada-chan (it wouldn’t do to have pictures of an old flame) he’d confess.  

A few days later he was tying up the last trash bag, ready to enact his plan.  He asked you to meet him under the largest tree in the forest on the edge of the training field.  Several hypothetical scenarios floated through his mind, and he focused on the one where you’d enthusiastically said you loved him back and then he married you and had many children.  As he neared the confession site, Todo felt yet another arrow go through his heart as you came into view.  I’ll never get tired of seeing her.

“Todo, is everything okay?  What’s up?”  A shiver ran down Todo’s spine, goosebumps rising.  God, even your voice was perfect.

“I love you.  Promise me, y/n.  That we’ll spend the rest of our lives together.”  He got down on one knee like a proposal, looking up at you like a devout follower.

“Todo… I don’t know about the rest of our lives but why don’t we start with a date?  I like you too.”  While you were a bit taken aback by his forwardness, you brush it off as Todo being Todo.  You never disliked his honesty and unabashedness.

“My girlfriend!! I knew you felt the same!”  A single tear ran down Todo’s face.   

Back to the dorms, it wasn’t long before everyone found out and congregated at your room to badger you with questions.  

“Ugh that gorilla?  You guys are dating now?”  Nishimiya asked, firmly believing Todo to be an improper and inadequate boyfriend.  

“I thought he only had eyes for that idol Takado or whatever,” Miwa chimes.

“It’s Takada,” Mai corrects, not able to make eye contact with Nishimiya’s suspicious glance in her direction. 

“We’re dating now!  He just asked me out, and he’s really good to me.” you reply, thinking of how Todo insisted on carrying you back to the dorms, gently setting you down before running off saying he needed to ‘prepare’.  

“You can do way better than Todo, trust us.” The girls all nod in agreement.  However, Todo is outside your room balancing a tray of perfectly cooked lunch and a cold pitcher of water.  

“What are you guys talking about?”  he knows already, but wants to hear them say it to his face.  

“How y/n is too good for the likes of you.”  Mai minces no words for Todo.  With the uncomfortable tension rising, the Kyoto girls hastily make an exit.  

“My love, I made lunch for us.  I know I am not handsome, or come from wealth and a good sorcerer family like some of our classmates.  But I will be devoted.  I will never stray from you, I’d die if you asked me to.”  he says, as he sets the meal on your small desk, pulling out utensils and napkins.  His normal confidence seems to waver a bit, and it seems that not even Todo is immune to worrying about what other people think of him.  

“Todo, don’t worry about what they say and please don’t say you’ll die for me.  I like you a lot, I wouldn’t have accepted your confession if I didn’t.  I also think you’re quite handsome.”  

“You love me back?”  he whispers, kneeling at the edge of your bed, looking up at you.  While it’s a bit too early to tell, Todo’s hopeful, reverent look has you obliging him. 

“I do love you back.”  He embraces you, and you can hear his heartbeat in his bare chest.  It feels good to be loved so wholeheartedly, and you’ll give him all the love you have to repay him.  

[mbakuetshurisprincess]

Love for Duty’s Sake Part 5

AN: Hello loves! Wow when I tell y’all I was FIGHTING in the editing room with this fic because I couldn’t tell if I should split this in half or not. I ended up just keeping it as one because I felt bad for ignoring democracy (sorry lyric) and posting Anything But Love P2 before I posted this one. A couple of fun facts about this fic because I literally have nowhere else to put them lmfao. In the convo with Griot, the reason Y/N’s argument works on him is because it follows a valid rule within arguments/logic called Hypothetical Syllogism. Basically, If A leads to B and B leads to C then you can correctly assume that A should also lead to C. Google it if you’re interested! Also, in writing Shuri’s interactions (esp the “in my wife's name” parts) it's like very heavily inspired by the way Dracula talks about Lisa Tepes in the Castlevania show!! 

Holy fuck don’t know how I could ever forget this. As always, any of my fake dating stuff is dedicated to the lovely @pinkwright. This is my writer bae y’all have no idea, L4DS and ABL posts are always made with them in mind. 

Summary: As the only daughter of Genelia, there were things you just had to do, and marrying the Queen of Wakanda was one of those things.

Pairing: Shuri x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Cussing, violence, brief mentions of bad relationships with parents that’s it I think.

Word count: 6,213 (you see why I was thinking about splitting it up now??)

Part 1.  Part 2.  Part 3.  Part 4.  Masterlist.  Taglist.

Suggested listening: Glock Six (Bonus) - 6LACK 

“No need to state the obvi', I be close to your heart I know you looking for real love I got my hand on my Glock, posted on the block I might just let off a shot, at anyone tryin' to kill her”

The feeling of your body sliding off of your wife and onto the hospital pillow below you was the first hint that something was off. You knew Shuri didn’t mean to be so rough with you, even if you hadn’t been injured. She just hopped off of the bed quicker than her mind could remember that you were laying back on her. Only when you grimaced slightly did Shuri think enough to look back at you. 

“Ndicela uxolo sthandwa sam (I’m sorry my love).” She muttered to you softly, scanning your body just long enough to ensure that you weren’t really hurt before turning her attention to Aneka. “When was this posted?” 

“Ten minutes ago.” 

Shuri took a deep inhale, rereading the post. “How did she even know about the shooting to post?” 

The question was impossible for Aneka to answer, knowing something like that wasn’t necessarily in her job description. You, however? You were used to political moves like this. “She knows because the shooting happened in her city Shuri.” 

“What?” Shuri turned to face you.

“I’m just saying, if something goes down in the Golden City, you’re made aware right? The same thing goes for DC. Especially on a day like today, foreign powers come into town. I’m sure she was all over it.” As you spoke, wheels started turning in your head, the scenario surrounding the events of your shooting. Everything was almost too perfect like it had been orchestrated. 

“Listen to what you just said Y/N, I’m notified when something happens in the Golden City, not you. So why would she be the one posting about this instead of the President?” Shuri’s tone was harsher than you would have liked, posing the question to you as if you were a child misunderstanding basic math. 

You sat up in your bed. “Because President Carter isn’t leading the show, Mallory is.” 

“Why would you say that?” 

“Because I know it’s true.” You folded your arms across your chest, starting to get annoyed at Shuri’s refusal to see what was clearly right in front of her. “Do you not trust me?” 

The question was loaded and the Queen’s response came instinctually, “The question is not if I trust you, we are married of course I trust you. But you make it increasingly harder to trust you when you put forth ideas like that.” Shuri mimicked your position, crossing her arms over herself. 

Her response stung and the look on your face made Shuri regret saying it immediately. “I did not mean-” 

You cut Shuri off, not wanting to hear what she had to say. “Nope. You said it. What do I know anyway? Not like I come from a family of politicians who would make this exact same move given the chance.” You turned your attention from where Shuri and Aneka stood back to the tv, effectively disengaging from the conversation. 

Warning signals were going off in Shuri’s head and she knew she fucked up. Taking one more look at the screen she made her way back over to your bed. Kneeling next to you and taking your hand in hers. “I am sorry, sthandwa sam. (my love) I didn't mean to brush off your idea like that.  Your attention still faced forward but the Queen could feel the race in your heart rate when her thumb traced over the lines of your knuckles. 

The silent treatment you were giving Shuri was frustrating her, if she had just slowed down as Okoye said, she would've thought about what she was saying before she said it. “I promise I will make it up to you-”

The buzz of Shuri’s kimoyo beads pulled her attention away from you and her apology. 

Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

It was a message from Okoye letting her know that they had all made it back safely to Wakanda and that Liam Drockers was in the lower-level interrogation rooms. Aneka must’ve gotten a similar message from Ayo because when she made eye contact with Shuri, she gave her a knowing nod as she left the room. 

“I will make this up to you… when I am free again.” The end of the sentence tumbled slowly out of Shuri’s mouth, knowing it was going to garner a reaction from you. 

“What?” Instead of your voice sounding angry like the Queen had expected, it almost sounded more hurt or scared. This new tone pulled at Shuri’s heartstrings. “You’re leaving?” 

While yes, you were literally just ignoring Shuri ten seconds ago, you hadn’t expected her to just up and leave like that. Especially given how physically close you two had spent the last hour, part of you had grown attached to her in a way you never imagined possible. Addicted to the safe feeling that only seemed to come when you were in her arms. 

“I have some council business I have to take care of.” Her rubbing of your hands still hadn’t stopped, tracing every detail of your knuckles. 

You looked at her now, teeth biting at your bottom lip. “What do you have that’s so important?” 

“Just some time-sensitive stuff I need to handle. It should be quick, I don’t imagine it will be long.” Her eyes were averted, so you had no read on what possible clues they could be conveying. Something about this bothered you, normally she was so demanding of your eye contact and now she wasn’t even looking up. But you knew Shuri, whatever this was she wasn’t going to give up easily. You needed something to garner her attention first before you asked her what you needed to know. 

“I think I’m gonna call home.” Shuri’s eyes instantly flashed up to yours.

“Really?”

“I think so, I don’t want my family worrying about me, you know? I don’t want them thinking I’m dead or anything. Now that Mallory has so kindly let the world know about this.” 

Shuri hummed in response, debating asking the question at the forefront of her mind. “I thought- I mean, I didn’t know you had a way of contacting them.” 

This made you feel a little bit guilty since you had made it seem like you’d given Genelia up for good. “It's a direct line to my father's advisor, only for emergency purposes.” Your eyes flickered around her face. “I’ve never used it, I didn’t think I’d have to.” 

Shuri felt assured in hearing this, the slight worry that had slipped into her mind about you secretly planning to leave her dissipated. “Oh, okay.” She savored these last few minutes of her hand tracing yours, knowing that soon those same hands who held yours so delicately would be used in the complete opposite manner. 

“Shuri?” The way you called her name was soft, the same way you had in the restaurant before all of this had happened. It made her feel warm inside, lowering her guard just as you intended. 

Her response once again was just a hum, her eyes studying every detail of your face the way her hands did yours. 

“You wouldn’t lie to me right?” Your question caught her off guard but her rubbing never stopped. 

“Kakade hayi, sithandwa sam. (Of course, not my love)” Her eyes conveyed no sign of lying so you continued. 

“So it’s really council business that's so pressing you have to take care of it right now? Not anything to do with me?” You asked the question confidently, not taking your eyes off Shuri, searching for a tell. Anyone else would have missed it but you didn’t, the brief second when Shuri’s movements faltered. When her hand stopped rubbing yours. 

“Yes.” 

“Yes, what?” 

She stood up now, letting go of your hand. Being at eye level with you was too much right now, it felt too connected given the fact that she was literally lying to your face. “Yes, it’s council business like I told you before. Very time sensitive.” Before you could respond she spoke again. “Aneka!” 

The Dora appeared in the door frame with lightning speed, “Yes, ngangamsha (your majesty)?” 

“Guard Y/N’s side of the ward while I deal with this business, make sure no harm comes to her.” Shuri’s words were confident and her arms now crossed her chest signifying her demeanor change. 

“Shuri, I don't need a babysitter, I’m fine.” You protested. “Plus Aneka has yet to see Ayo, let them see each other.” 

“I am fine, my Queen. Thank you for your kindness but ensuring your safety is more important.” Aneka responded quickly, earning a nod of agreement from Shuri. 

Your wife looked down at her kimoyo beads. “I’ll be back in an hour, mfazi (wife).” Placing a kiss on your forehead, she looked down at you one more time before she left. “No trouble while I’m gone?” 

“I’ll try my hardest.” You replied as she walked out of the room, Aneka behind her taking her spot guarding your room. 

This left you alone with your thoughts and while a million things were running around your mind there were two prominent thoughts. One being, your wife was lying to you. 

You couldn't be a hundred percent sure about exactly what she was lying about but you knew it had something to do with you. While you wanted to snoop around and try and figure it out, the second of the thoughts found its way to the forefront of your mind. Having to call you family. 

Looking around you found your physical phone, the one that Shuri still referred to as ‘primitive technology’. Scrolling until you found the contact you didn’t think you’d ever have to press. Saying a prayer you pressed call and hoped for the best. 

The line rang only one time before the person picked up. “This isn’t some sick joke, you’re really calling me?” 

“Marcos, I told you I’d only call you in an emergency. I wouldn't play a joke like this.” 

You could hear him recite a prayer on the other end of the line. “Everyones worried sick about you Y/N, I mean your parents think you’re…” His voice trailed off and it made your heart hurt thinking about the stress this whole situation inadvertently caused your family. 

“I know, I know, that’s why I called. Can you just tell them that I’m alright? It’s nothing to worry about and I’ll be fine?” 

Marcos contemplated your words, “Y/N, your father will kill me if he finds out I spoke to you without giving him the opportunity.” 

The sound of movement from the other end of the line had you concerned. “Marcos wait, you know I don’t want to speak to them.” It was a useless plea and you knew it. As much as Marcos cared about you like you were his own daughter and wished to protect you as such. At the end of the day, he worked for your father. 

“I’m sorry mon papillon (my butterfly)” The term of endearment did little to quell the feeling of betrayal as Marcos moved to give the phone to your father. 

“Whoever it is Marcos, tell them they will need to call later, I am grieving my daughter.” 

“It is about Y/N, sir.”

Your father looked between his advisor and the phone before picking it up. 

“Yes?” This was the first time you had heard your father's voice in years. It had become too painful to go back and watch old home videos from before Yara’s death so part of you wondered if you’d forgotten what he sounded like. But as soon as his deep voice bellowed through the phone, you remembered. 

“Dad? It’s me.” You were scared to speak the words at first, questioning how he would react. 

“Y/N, is that you? Oh my god! Josiah, get your mother from the chapel, our baby is alive!” The outcry from your father made your heart hurt, had he been that concerned?

“Dad-” You tried to speak but his rambling cut you off. 

“When we saw the news honey we were so worried about you, I thought you had died. But you didn’t! God brought you back!”

“Dad-”

 “He’s bringing you back home to us!” He ended his rejoicing when you finally spoke up. 

“Babba! What are you talking about?” Your pain medication must have been making you delirious and mishear things. 

“What do you mean Y/N, this is a sign! You were almost taken from Genelia, from us. We need to come together and give thanks that you’re still with us.” Your father's words were confusing you, why was he saying that you were taken from them as if they weren't the same ones to send you away? 

“I’m not coming home Dad, I was just calling to let everyone know I was okay-”

“Nonsense!” Your mother spoke now, you weren't aware when she arrived in the room. “You must come home, we miss you. This was a wake-up call, don’t you think?” 

You paused now and took a deep breath. What they were asking was encroaching on a boundary you had set the day you left Genelia. To never come back. “I just, I don’t think it’s a good idea guys.”

It was now your parent's turn to pause while they thought about what they could say to change your mind. But it wasn’t them that spoke, instead it was a different voice. One that clearly held the tonal characteristics of a man but was still slightly squeaky signifying they hadn’t fully finished maturing. 

“So you’re just never gonna come back? Is that it then?” If it wasn’t for your father's words earlier you wouldn’t have even been able to guess who it was. But of course, it was your little shadow who spoke up now. Josiah. 

“Siah-”

“No, you don’t get to call me that anymore. My sister, who loved me and didn’t just get up and abandon her family for a fancy new life in France, called me that. I don’t know who you are.” 

Josiah’s words cut through you like the sharpest blade known to man, cutting deeper than any slick comment from Shuri. Is that really what he thought happened? That you left your family behind to go chase your dreams in a foreign country? 

You didn’t care about your parents, quite frankly fuck them. Any emotional ties you felt towards them had long left you, so saying no to them while it was hard; it didn’t hurt. Saying no to Josiah though? Hearing the disappointment in his voice? He didn’t deserve this. To be caught in the crosshairs of the relationship between you and your parents. 

“Fine!” 

“Fine?” Your mother and father's voice asked in unison. 

“Fine, I will come back to Genelia to visit.” 

“Tomorrow?” Josiah’s voice questioned.

“Tomorrow? Siah I just got shot.” You tried to reason with your brother, and while you didn’t feel any of the effects of the shooting at this exact moment you still didn’t know if traveling so soon would be wise. Plus you still needed to explain this all to Shuri. 

“You’re married to the smartest woman in the world and live in the most technologically advanced country. I’m sure they can figure something out.” Josiah left no room for argument in his sentence. 

“Fine Siah, I will come to Genelia for a few days, flying in tomorrow. Happy?” You didn’t even understand why you were agreeing to this. 

“Not in the slightest, I have no idea who you are anymore. I did that for Mom and Dad.” 

That hurt more than Josiah knew. You tried to tell yourself that he didn’t mean it, but something in you couldn't believe it. 

“Okay well, I’ve got to go. I’ll um talk to Marcos about arrival times and everything.” You needed this phone call done, the gravity of what you had just agreed to started to weigh on you. 

“Parfait! We can’t wait to see you soon Y/N. We love you!” You could hear the smile in your father's voice and felt guilt not only that you didn’t feel the same happiness but that you couldn’t reciprocate his “I love you” truthfully.  

“Yeah I um, I’ll see you guys soon.” With that you ended the call, throwing your head back against the pillow. 

As you sat in silence you digested what had just happened.

1. You called Marcos, just to let him know that you were alive. 

2. You ended up on a phone call with your parents, speaking to them for the first time in years. 

3. After declining to come to Genelia, you were guilt-tripped into returning by your little brother. Not because he wanted to see you but because he knew his parents wanted to.

All of this made your head reel and you longed for the peace and comfort that your wife provided. But she wasn’t here with you, her wife who had just been shot. Instead, she was dealing with council business.

“Griot.” 

“Ah your majesty, I am glad you are in good health again. What can I do for you?” 

You paused wondering if Griot was even able to give you this information. “Where is Shuri right now?” 

“Shuri has programmed me to not disclose her location to anyone unless it is an emergency, I am sorry your majesty.” 

Of course Shuri had done so, always wanting to keep tabs on everyone but not thinking anyone else needed to keep them on her. You wanted to give up before an idea popped into your head. “Griot, Shuri programmed me into your system as a Queen, correct?” 

“Yes your majesty, she has programmed you with the same clearance as she has.” 

Jackpot. 

“And Shuri has access to her location status I would assume?” 

“Yes, your majesty.” 

“Great, so she has access to her location status, and I have the same clearance level as her/  You can give me her location.” Your reasoning was solid, creating a logical path that the AI could follow. 

“Yes, your majesty, that does appear to be correct. One moment please.”Success. “Queen Shuri is in the basement, interrogation room one.” 

“Interrogation room one?” You asked Griot again, you didn’t even know the palace had a single interrogation room, let alone multiple. 

“Yes, the Queen has been in that room since she left you in the hospital wing.” 

So she had been lying to you. 

“Thank you, Griot, that will be all.” 

There was no doubt in your mind that this had something to do with your shooting and that Shuri thought she was doing good by you by keeping you away from all of it. Trying to shield you from more pain. But that wasn’t what you asked for, it was what she decided you needed. 

You touched your abdomen, trying to gauge your pain level. As Josiah had said, you were in the most technologically advanced country so truly your recovery wouldn’t take more than a few days. Right now, you felt good enough to hobble out of bed and make it out of your room. 

Shuri wanted to lie to you? Fine. But you were going to go down to the basement to figure out exactly what she was up to.  

You made it no more than five feet out of your room before a body in front of you haltered your progress. 

“What are you doing out of bed ngangamsha (your majesty)? You should be resting.” Aneka’s concerned look surprised you. While you knew it was her job to protect you, you saw a twinge of genuine concern in her eyes. 

“She lied to me Aneka.” You took a step to the side and then forward so she was no longer in your path. The dull twinge of pain let you know that this might be more difficult than your first few steps had made it appear, nonetheless you were going to make the journey. 

“Intoni? (What?)” 

“Shuri lied to me. She told me she had council business to take care of, but she didn’t. She’s downstairs in the basement right now. So I’m going down there to see what could be so important that she felt the need to lie to me.” You continued your walk towards the elevator pleasantly surprised that Aneka didn’t appear to try and stop you. 

You took a few more steps before suddenly something pressed against the back of both of your knees, causing you to lose your balance. Falling back right into… a chair? Aneka stood above you, her hands on the handle of the wheelchair that she had just gently gotten you into. “I am not condoning you doing this, however, I know I can not stop you.” 

You nodded, grateful to hear that. 

“But,” Of course there was something. “I will not let you rip your stitches hobbling down there.” 

A smile passed across your face and a similar one came to Ankea’s. 

“Plus, I can talk to you while we make our way down there. I should fill you in, it is for the best.” Aneka pushed you forward as she began to explain just who was awaiting you in the basement. 

While you two made your way down, Shuri, Ayo, Okoye, and your assailant were deep into their interrogation session. 

To Shuri’s credit, she tried to be diplomatic about the whole situation. When she first walked into the room and saw Liam Drockers sitting down with Ayo and Okoye on either side of him, she imagined what her brother would say to her. 

“Patience sisi.” He would say. “Regardless of what he has done, he is deserving of a fair questioning, the same as you and me.” 

And she tried to take T’Challa’s advice, asking Liam simple questions at first.

“Are you an employee of Judas’s Ice Cream shop?” 

No response.

“Are you working for the United States government?” 

No response. 

“Were you aware the person you shot was the Queen of Wakanda, Y/N Y/L/N Udaku?”

A small smile creeped up on Liam’s face after she finished speaking, but still, he said nothing. This infuriated her and she was about ready to cast this whole morally right thing to the side and get the information she needed through more direct means. 

But then her mother's voice came into her head. “Do not let him remove you from yourself intomba (daughter).”

The Queen calmed herself, “I asked you a question. Were you aware the person you shot was  Y/N Y/L/N Udaku, the Queen of Wakanda?” 

While Liam's eyes had largely remained on the floor he pulled them up to her now, showing off the bored look they held. “I didn’t miss, did I?” 

Shuri’s heartbeat increased, so he knew what he was doing. This was a planned attack on her wife? He knew who she was and still chose to take the shot?

“You still thinkin’ bout showin this fool mercy?” No. That was the one voice she didn’t want to listen to. 

Okoye saw the look and Shuri’s eyes and when their gaze finally met, a wave of concern washed over her. She was losing Shuri to this. 

Okoye’s suggestion for a break is what brought them outside, Shuri pacing up and down the hallway trying to decide how to move forward. 

“Is it really that hard of a decision little cuz?” 

“Shut up.” She spoke out loud. Ayo looked over to Okoye wondering if they should step in but Okoye shook her head, hoping that whoever Shuri was speaking to would provide the young girl some clarity. 

“I’m just saying what you’re really thinking here. I mean he shot ya wife, you really cool with letting that slide?” 

“I am not ‘letting it slide’, I’m going about it the diplomatic way N’Jadaka. Something I know you know nothing about.”

Erik laughed at that “Aww shit little panther got some bite to her huh? But you’re right I don’t know shit about the diplomatic way, what I do know however is how to get results, quickly. It’s cool though, give this mother fucker the time and respect he didn’t give to your wife. I’m sure that’s smart.” 

His last comment drew Shuri over the edge. Done with the conversation and confident in her decision, she made her way back over to the door where Ayo and Okoye awaited her. She knew the decision she had come to was harsh but the only thing on her mind was ensuring your safety and getting to the bottom of this. 

“If you do not want to stay for the next part of the interrogation, I am not ordering either of you too. This is the time now to back out of this, without any blood on your hands.” She thought for a moment about how literal her figure of speech was about to become. “Ngokunzulu (Seriously).” 

Okoye looked Shuri up and down. It was in moments like these that she no longer saw the young girl she had watched grow up over the past ten years. The youthful glow had faded over and now left Shuri with a hard exterior that seemed to be ever-present. “Are you sure this is what you want to do ikumkani wam (my queen)?” Okoye offered this out to Shuri now, one shot to think clearly about her decision.

“A hundred percent.” Was Shuri’s simple reply. 

That’s how they ended up here, Ayo holding Liam’s cuffed arms behind his back while Shuri issued blow after blow to his abdomen, turning him effectively into a human punching bag. 

“You done with the games now Liam?” A punch landed on his stomach. “Are you ready to say something and give me the information I need to know?” 

The whole ordeal hurt Okoye to watch but she understood why Shuri had shifted to such drastic means, it was only out of necessity. 

Liam gathered his breath as Shuri removed the jacket she’d been wearing, leaving her in a compression shirt. “No words Liam, really?” She cracked her knuckles and delivered two more blows, one after the other. “That’s okay I’m sure soon enough you will.” 

He shifted in Ayo’s arms for a few seconds for spitting the blood that had pooled in his mouth down at Shuris feet, giving her a defiant stare. 

A smirk rose to Shuri’s face as she looked at the few drops of blood that had gotten on her sneakers. “You know Liam, I had been holding back in the name of my wife. I’ll tell you a secret since, quite frankly, the likelihood of you making it out of Wakanda to repeat this is slim to none. I don’t know much about my wife, we do not have the most conventional marriage so the real things I can say I know about her are few and far in between. But what I do know about my lovely Y/N, she hates violence and views it as the very last play in the book. Convinced me not to kill a spider once just because she said it wasn’t necessary.” 

Shuri smiled at the silly memory of you cussing her out at home when she tried to kill a spider instead of releasing it outside. 

“So, in her name, I haven't been using any of my enhanced strength. This,” She points to the purple bruises that had started to form on the skin of his stomach. “It's all me. But, since you want to be disrespectful and spit blood on my shoes, we’re giving all that up.” Quicker than anyone in the room could have seen, Shuri put her hands up and delivered a devastatingly strong blow to his stomach. Providing enough force that even Ayo had to take a step back to steady herself and absorb some of the shock of the blow. 

You watched in horror from the other side of the glass in the interrogation room as Liam doubled over in pain, gasping for air. Aneka and yourself had been in the room just long enough to watch him spit blood on your wife's shoes. 

“Now, we’re going to try this again.” Shuri started with the same line of questions from before. “Are you working for the United States government?” 

Once Liam pulled himself together, he gave the Queen no answer, just continuing his stare of contempt. 

Shuri chuckled, “Again then? Okay.” She let out another punch, Ayo being more prepared this time held Liam’s body tight. 

“She’s gonna kill him Aneka.” You spoke quietly from the wheelchair as you watched the whole ordeal take place. “We can’t let her kill him, that’s not her.” 

Aneka nodded, “But there is nothing we can do right now my Queen. Ayo and Okoye are in there with her, they will not let it go too far.” 

“I need to get in there.” Shuri wasn’t going to listen to Ayo or Okoye, you didn’t even know if she was going to listen to you. But as far as you were concerned this had already gone far enough. You started moving your wheelchair towards the door but Aneka stopped you. 

“Your majesty I cannot let you in there, bringing you down here was a breach of protocol enough. To have you in there would just be a blatant disregard for the Queen’s wishes.” Aneka declared. 

Both of your attention was brought back to Shuri and Liam when she hit him in the same spot again, leading him to cough up more blood. 

“You go in there and bring my wife out to me or I go in there and bring her out myself. Two choices, you pick.” You folded your arms like a child, waiting for Aneka’s response. 

She looked into the interrogation room and back to you. “Bast you two are perfect for each other. Stubborn just alike.” 

With that she left you, walking out and knocking before entering the other room. 

“ikumkani wam,” She interjected, pulling Shuri’s attention from the man and onto the Dora. 

“What is it Aneka, I am busy.” Shuri looked at her impatiently. 

“uY/n ulapha kwaye angathanda ukuthetha nawe (Y/N is here and would like to talk to you).” Aneka switched to their mother tongue so Liam couldn’t understand what they were saying. 

Shuri’s face faltered for a second. You were here? How long had you been watching? How much had you seen? “I am in the middle of an inter-” 

The sound of you banging on the wall to indicate you didn’t care what she was doing cut Shuri off. She looked at Liam before speaking to Ayo and Okoye. “Put him down, I will be back shortly.” In a second Shuri was out of the room and opening the door to the other side of the interrogation room, meeting your icy gaze. 

“What are you doing out of bed sithandwa sam (my love)?” Shuri’s concern was real, raking her eyes over your body. 

“You lied to me.” You weren't wasting time tip-toeing around the subject, 

“I was protecting you.” Shuri’s justification came quickly, as she took a step closer to you. The light illuminated her face better now and you were able to see the small spots of blood that had splattered on her face. 

Against your better judgment, you called her closer to you “Come here.” She obliged kneeling so you two were at eye level, mimicking the position you two had been in this morning. You reached to hold her face in your hand, wiping the small dots of blood away with your thumb. “You lied to me,” You said again looking into her eyes. 

“I was trying to-” Shuri tried again to explain this to you but you cut her off with a gentle tap to her lips with your free hand. 

“I know you were trying to protect me Shuri, but I am your wife. You can’t lie to me.” The look in your eyes conveyed the seriousness of your comments. 

The excuses started to form in Shuri’s mouth but she stopped them. “I- I know and I’m sorry. I should have told you what I was doing.” She let her head rest in your hand and averted her eyes down, fiddling with the material from your hospital gown. 

“Yes, you should have.” While your words were harsh, the tone and way you caressed her face let her know you weren't really mad with her. 

“Let me make this right umfazi (wife).” Shuri declared sitting up so she looked you in the eyes once again. “The man, his name is Liam Drockers he-” 

“I already know Shuri.” You smiled at your wife who looked at you cluelessly. “Aneka filled me in on our way down here, I know everything. I want to speak with him.” 

Shuri pulled out of your grasp now, appalled you would even ask something like that. “Absolutely not Y/N, there is no logical reason to risk your life by putting you in there with him.”

“First there is no risk to my life, not only is he handcuffed but Ayo and Okoye will be in there with us. Second Shuri, you owe me. This has everything to do with me and you tried to keep it from me, I deserve at least one chance to speak with him. Alone.” You were confident in your rebuttal, Shuri tried to find a counterargument for every point you made but she couldn't. 

“Five minutes with Okoye, Ayo, and Aneka inside with you.” Shuri brought her demands to the table and you thought about it for a second. Was she seriously that worried for your safety that she thought you needed three Dora’s in there with you and a restrained and beaten man? 

“Deal.” 

With that Shuri wheeled you out of the viewing area and to the interrogation room. Aneka held the door open and your wife pushed you through the entryway, stopping at the frame per your request. 

“Oh yeah and pack a bag, we’re going to Genelia tomorrow.” You shut the door leaving your very confused wife on the other side. You two were going where? 

In front of you sat a very bruised Liam Drockers, Ayo, and Okoye on his sides You always found it so funny how no matter how big or bad someone seemed, at the end of the day they were made of flesh and bones just like you. 

Wheeling up to the table you sat and stared at your attacker for a moment. Trying to search for something you were never going to find, a reason or justification. 

“Alright, Liam I’m going to make this very easy for you.” You interlaced your fingers and let them sit on the table, this is where you shined. “In the other room, my wife is waiting with bated breath for me to tell her it's okay to come in here and continue to beat the living shit out of you. Now me personally, as you heard before, I’m not a fan of violence. I think it's an unnecessary evil of the world, something we really can function without.” You paused letting out a chuckle. “Not that I think that you believe the same,” You gestured down to your stomach. “You clearly favor my wife when it comes to that way of thinking.” 

Liam's eyes moved all over you, attempting to size you up as a threat. 

“So, now that you know that much about me, let me tell you how this is going to work. Either A. we can make this super simple, you answer every question I have and agree to the plan we have in place. Or, I call my wife back in here and she beats you to a pulp.” 

A wheezing breath came from your attacker and you couldn’t help but notice how weak he looked now, the beating from Shuri having done a good chunk of damage. “I’m not sayin shit, I know my rights.”

You smiled at this, leaning closer to him. “Your rights? You think your rights will protect you here?” The look on Liam’s face changed for a split second, his facade slipping. “You’re in the basement interrogation room of the most technologically advanced country in the world because you shot one of their Queens. You were flown in on a top-secret jet, there's no record of you ever even being in Wakanda. Nobody knows you’re here.” 

“That’s- that’s not true.” Liam stammered out. “There are people out there who know who I am, who are looking for me.” 

This got the heartiest laugh from you yet. “Mallory? Really? You think she’d save you?” The idea he was pushing was almost comical. “You were a gun for hire, you served your purpose and now there's nothing left for you to do, you were disposable from the beginning. Do you seriously believe she’d risk a national incident to save one measly hit man?” 

The truthfulness of your words hit Liam like a ton of bricks, there was no getting out of this. 

“So,” You began. “I’ll ask the question my wife has been trying to ask. What the fuck was your mission and who do you report to.” 

Liam shifted in his chair, looking around the room as he assessed his situation. “It all started with Mallory.” 

Taglist:  @shuriszn @sokkasbae25 @verachii @cuddl3s4shur1 @takeyaki @jinnie10101 @letitias-fav @sweetalittleselfish-honey @beautybyfire @6-noir @mocha-aya @yvxmpire @mysticalmarss @ziayamikaelson @youralphawolf72 @n7cje @inmyheadimobsessed @shurisjournal @shurisbigtoe @saintwrld @pinkwright @chatitajens @playhousedistee @motheroffae @injeolmiee @tchhairbandhere @._mrqs @msudaku @lppriceisright @bratydoll @blackqueengold @iheartsolo @cafehyunji @abenomeiiii @naomis-daydream @ilroachsworld @locoforshuri @nrc-06

[quintessencewrites]

King

queen! Ramonda x king! reader

“Your Highness-”

“King. Do not be afraid to say it.”

Warnings: ANGST, explicit language, implied homophobia, mentions of misogyny and sexism, character death, gore, mentions of blood, violence, etc, ends in fluff

Word Count: 8.5k+

Tags:

@percsanej @k3nn3dyxo @doms-fav @sweetalittleselfish-honeyy @g4yforu @widowmakker @becauseimswagman11 @zayswriting @inmyheadimobsessed @malltake12 @msudaku @faeriah-thvv @mbakuetshurisprincess @honey-teaaaaaaaaa @pinkcorns @takeyakii @yamsthoughtss @thethickersidee @shurisbathwaterr @shurismainbxtch @justariellovee @blackgirlfariyy @chocoflagcutiii @taiiunknownn @zhanylai @ziayamikaelson  @beautybyfire @pinkwrightt @jenlouvre @letitiasleftfoot @6-noir @kya-rosee @saintwrld @ilikegecos @shurismainbxtch @motheroffae @marsolgy @verachiii @shuriszn @playgurlxoxo @ashleighshaw @te-23 @iminlovewithdomandtish @limbozqueen @letitiamyevangeline @youralphawolf72 @biganimeweeb246 @vampzxi

Requested by: @mysteryofthe90s

A/N: Takes place in an AU where Ramonda marries reader instead of T'Chaka. Reader is of a royal bloodline and Wakanda is far less progressive than we see in our movies.

The request was literally just "reader gets kidnapped and Ramonda goes to any lengths to get her back", but of course I had to take that and run with it, but yall, I'm sooo freaking proud of this one and of the work I've been putting out recently. I hope you guys enjoy!

No greater love story exists than that of Wakanda’s rulers. 

King and Queen.

Bound together since childhood, she didn’t make a move without your hand intertwined with hers. 

She had a calculating young mind, moving about life like a chess piece in a game she was never to lose. 

Truly, Wakanda had no greater ruler than your queen. All the kingdom’s operations, all its policies were in her hands. Behind the scenes, nothing moved unless she did, not even you.

Her bronze eyes fluttered back and forth with apparent boredom. What others thought was her simply blending into the background, you recognized as profound observation. She stood, soaking in the fast-paced words of the elders far quicker than you could have imagined. 

Game plans came to play right before her with everything they tried to throw at you. 

This meeting was truly pointless, and it only called for you, but today was special, and you weren’t about to leave her out of any of the day’s events.

The elders were strategic. One fuck up on your behalf, that’s all it would take for the unforgiving geriatrics. 

“What do you foresee you are to do if the country is unsatisfied with a female as their sole protector?”

She saw the way your brows furrowed at the question. The corners of your mouth barely moved south, just a millimeter or two. You were growing frustrated with the hypotheticals. They’d been throwing them at you for over an hour now and it was taking the patience of a God to keep you respectful. 

You hadn’t ingested the heart-shaped herb yet, and you were sure telepathy wasn’t a power it would bestow on you, though you would see no use for it. King and Queen have been together so long, you’d become one- mind, soul, and body. 

Your pitch-black irises sparkled with fury, settling on her much softer ones. Her brown beauties extinguished the fire within you, even if only for a moment.

Words didn’t even need to be exchanged. You could hear her voice in your head loud and clear, though her lips remained sealed. “Control.”

Control yourself. Walk with grace. Handle your shit. 

The mantra flowed so smoothly through your mind. It was comical, how tired you’d grown of hearing it. She’d been repeating the same words, over and over and over again since you were adolescents. She found no other way to control your temper than that statement, so simple, yet so effective. 

“I do not believe my father left his throne for his daughter to be disrespected on, hm?”

Your distinguished voice led the elders to drop theirs to a mumble. What should have been complete silence at their King speaking were whispers instead. 

“Should’ve been a son-”

You couldn’t pinpoint who had said it. A disadvantage of not yet having the panther-like hearing. 

“And yet, it wasn’t; perks of being an only child. My father was proud to have a daughter, Elder. He brought me up as an heir, so that I may one day take over the mantle, both as king and as Black Panther, so with all due respect, hold your tongue.”

The smile may not have played across her face, but it danced behind her eyes. Your queen was proud; you so often attempted to ignore her when she vocalized what you did not want to hear, but clearly, you’d been listening. You spoke in such a way, the older aged Wakandans winced as though they’d been burned. 

“Your majesty, tradition states that you were to marry and-”

You did marry. She was right there in the room with you with the title of ‘Queen’ having been bestowed upon her for quite some time now.

“I did marry.”

And that was her cue.

With her head held high, the queen made her way across the board, past the onlooking pawns, through the bishops and rooks, not a knight in sight, straight to her place beside her King. 

What a handsome couple the two of you were. Her white dress contrasted deeply with your dark suit, creating a beautiful eyesore. Night and day, black and white, a menacing pair.

Though her head was absent of its crown, she stood beside you poised perfectly as though a line of string ran from her spine to the ceiling, holding it in the straightest of lines. 

“We mean no disrespect to the queen, however-”

They always mean disrespect, regardless of what they said. 

“Then I suggest you quit talking before I get disrespectful.” These closed-minded seniors could get your blood boiling like no other. Your voice wavered with anger, though your Queen’s steady words rang in your ears. “Control, my King.”

A deep breath was all it took for you to continue. “Our country is far more advanced than the small-minded council that attempts to run it. They reacted with enthusiasm when I took the throne after my father’s passing. They welcomed my Queen with open arms. I do not foresee them having a problem with my taking of the Black Panther mantle, just as my father did before me, and his father before him.”

Her hand rested on your shoulder before you could continue. To outside eyes, it was an empty gesture; to you, a hidden “well done.”

“Your Highness-”

“King. Do not be afraid to say it.”

Their hesitation proved that they were indeed, afraid to say it. The council continued to speak, your title not daring to utter from their lips. 

“What are you to do if they are not as welcoming to a female protector as they were to a woman King?”

All heads swiveled when it was not you to answer, but instead your Queen. “Do you see any reason why they would have a problem with it?”

What a funny sight, the view before you. Five ancient leaders, all mouths gaping like fish out of water. 

“Ramonda, the question was directed to the throne holder-”

Rage fueled you to your feet. “You dare speak her name, yet refuse to utter mine?”

Their cowardly forms sat silenced. Ramonda stood behind you, unfazed by your outburst, still standing straight and proud. 

“We are through here. Meeting adjourned.”

Hands intertwined as they always were, you and your Queen made for the door. You were through with this damn council, with these damn elders. How your father put up with it for so long, you had no idea. No wonder he’d rather the ancestors than this-

“Your Majesty, uh, King-” The word was spit from their lips like it hurt. “What are you to do if someone were to challenge you for the title?”

Truth be told, this question sounded more like a threat than a hypothetical. Your steps froze in place, your Queen standing just before you. “I shall fight for my title, council.”

They could hear your footsteps retreating from the room with an echo that could surely be heard across the country.

The giggle she let escape as soon as the throne room doors were closed was far too loud. The queen’s lips were pinned to your cheeks, pecking at your nose, your lips, your forehead.

It broke your hardened exterior, planting a too-wide grin across your cheeks. “Did I handle my shit, my love?”

“Yes, ukumkani wam (my King), you handled your shit.”

The waters rushing your feet were a good distraction from the loud chanting that came from the crowd of onlookers surrounding you. 

She stood at the front of it, baring a corset far too tight and a face of armor, both of which she’d expressed her hatred for. 

“Will this be long, sithandwa sam? This corset is very uncomfortable, and I’d like to get it off-”

“So long as nobody has the sense to challenge me, my love, this won’t be long, no. Then I can peel that corset off of you myself.”

You hadn't needed to see her cheeks redden to know your words caused her to blush. Even now, though she stood quite a bit away, you knew they burned with the wideness of her smile. 

The rocks beneath you were slick and admittedly hard to walk on. You truly prayed that this would be an unnecessary occasion, one that would go by uneventfully. 

The chanting ceases, producing an eerie silence. Zuri’s voice was booming, his royal purple robes being soaked at the hem due to the rushing waters. You stood, tall and ready, spear in one hand, shield in the other, with lightweight clothing adorning your figure. 

“Victory, in ritual combat, comes by yield, or death! If any tribe wishes to put forth a warrior, I now offer a path to the throne.”

“Yuh!” It was loud and resounding, coming from your furthest left. The members of the tribe ingested the call and threw it back into the crowd. “The Merchant Tribe will not challenge today.”

“Haye! The Border Tribe will not challenge today.”

“Ibombe! The River Tribe will not challenge today!”

Three tribes refused to challenge. Perhaps this would be easy after all.

“Aye! The Mining Tribe will not challenge today!”

Four down- one to go. 

“Mayafa!” His tribe doesn’t take the liberty of repeating him as the other tribes did. A silence passes over all Wakandans present. Your Queen is doing what she does best- observing. 

You can feel the uneasiness present in her bones as your eyes never leave the Jabari warrior. 

“Zakar, what are you doing?” Zuri’s usually thunderous voice is brought down to a whisper. He can’t hide the shock that rings in his words. 

“It is Challenge Day; and I, Zakar of the Jabari Tribe, wish to challenge for the throne.”

Gasps and murmurs sprinkle across the crowd. Between your pulled-together brows are anger and surprise as well. Even your calculating Queen seems thrown off. 

Zakar was nothing more than a muscle man with an ape-like brain to match his ape-like proportions. 

If it was a challenge he wanted, a challenge he would get. 

All eyes were on you as you stepped toward the brute. Shoulders squared and chest out, you stood as your father taught you to. “I accept.”

“My King-”

Bast-bless Zuri. His worry for you was not very well hidden beneath his aging features. He’d surely watched your father through his own Challenge Day, standing amongst him as a friend more than a mentor and it would be your will that he stand beside your own son or daughter for theirs as well.

“It is okay, Zuri.” His hands squeezed yours with a passing gesture as you stepped toward your newfound enemy. 

Nose-to-nose and eye-to-eye; Zakar showed no signs of intimidation. His breath was hot, his nostrils flared, and a disgusting grin plastered across his face. “Well, Princess?”

“King,” you corrected. “I am your King. And I accept.”

Ramonda’s breath caught in her throat. 

His facial armor was replaced and a weapon identical to yours was thrown into his hands. 

Your eyes wandered to his primate-like shape. He and you would have surely trained in different weight classes. His reach was much larger than yours and it would take quite a few hits to get him down. You didn’t want to have to impale him to get him to yield. 

You were sure, though, that he would not show you the same mercy. That spear of his weapon would pierce your flesh with no mercy and you’d be damned if you were to die in front of your Queen in such a brutal way. 

Someone grabbed her hand, but she wasn’t sure who. Everything around her went blurry, fading into a mess of colors. Ramonda’s only focus was you. 

How dare you accept such a challenge? The two of you hadn’t spoken of you fighting today and for you to just go and accept it- You were going to die. Zakar wouldn’t hold back; the larger man’s strength was what yours wished to be. He was going to kill you, for sure. 

How dare you take the chance to drop dead in front of your Queen?

The Dora Milaje and Jabari Warriors barely had time to take their stances before the blunt end of Zakar’s spear came swinging toward you. 

The ugliest sound echoed through the waterfall as your shield just barely saved your fate. His quick actions confirmed what you already knew- He would not be playing fair. 

Ramonda could feel every muscle in her body tense. She so badly wanted to jump in, to help you, save you, fight with you. You more often than not trained together; she was just as skilled as you were. 

And had it not been for the strange hand squeezing hers, she probably would have. 

Every swing, every jab, she followed. She waited, breathing ceased, for you to take the upper hand. His spear swung hard to your left, so you dodged right. He came at you with his shield, so you retreated. You couldn’t even pick up your own weapon, too busy escaping his. 

The edge of the waterfall grew closer and closer. The rocks beneath you held no grip and exhaustion filled your lungs. 

Zakar’s patience was dwindling. “Stop running, Princess.” 

Princess. That’s all you would be to them. A princess beneath her father, the true king. A princess who was handed the title and did not earn it. You were still that little girl adorned with bows and lace, and not Wakanda’s king who would bear the crown proudly. 

The elders saw it, Zakar and the Jabari saw it, hell you wondered if your people saw it as well. You didn’t have time to meet your Queen’s gaze, though you could feel it stuck on you. She was watching; she was always watching. 

Ramonda was watching, counting on you, rooting for you. She saw you as Princess and now she sees you as King. 

The flesh on your arm burned as Zakar’s spear sliced it open. The ivory color of your bone peeked through. It was the arm that gripped your weapon and it nearly buckled out of your hand. The breath was knocked straight out of your lungs when he followed up with a fist to your gut. Your scream pierced the air, fueling Ramonda’s body forward as yours fell to its knees. Several hands attached to several invisible bodies held her back, though they could not hold her tongue. “Sithandwa sam! Sithandwa sam-”

“I will give you a moment before I finish you, princess. Address your wife.”

Your eyes fluttered upward, vision blurry and hazed as it rested upon your Queen. “M-Mondie-”

Her loose curls bounced to and fro. No nicknames, no affection. Maybe later, but not now. 

“Zilawule, sithandwa sam!”

Control yourself, my love. 

Your gaze bore into her distressed features. Your lids were heavy and your arm hurt like hell, as did your ribs. 

“Hamba ngobabalo!”

Walk with grace.

Your head fell, eyes filling with tears that fell into the waters beneath you. 

“Ndijonge (Look at me) Y/n!”

“Ndijonge, sithandwa sam,” she begged, much softer. 

Your gaze was drawn away from the rushing waters and back onto your wife. 

“Phatha ikaka yakho.”

Handle your shit.

“I am your Queen, my love! That is an order.”

Every damn thing hurt when your injured arm moved to pierce the rocks under you. Your legs were shaky, barely able to hold your weight.

Zakar’s chuckle was booming. “You attempt to get up, girl? Fine, then. I’ll just knock you right back down.”

“Remind me to have you banished for the way you speak to your King, Zakar.”

“Banishment will not be possible when you are with the ancestors. Just ask your father-” 

Had he said it loud enough for everyone to hear, they’d surely react the same way you had. 

The roar that came from you was ugly, followed by the crumbling sound of Zakar’s mask as your spear came in contact with it. Your backhand swing had been too quick for him to foresee and the clay mask shielding his face broke into many pieces as it fell into the water. 

The headache that would plague him tonight would be one from hell. Your foot came in contact with his chest, barely knocking him back with the first kick, but succeeding on the second one. Thank Bast for the slippery rocks that you stood on; there was no way you’d have been able to get him down otherwise. 

His large body hit the ground hard and you could see the anger flickering behind his eyes. The blunt end of your spear almost broke with the force you used to shove it into his shoulder. You were prepared to pop the bone right out of its joint.

“Yield, Zakar.”

He stayed silent, stare never leaving you. Your weapon dug further into his aching body.

“Yield. I can not let you up unless you do, because I am certain you will not let me live, and if that is the case-”

Your spear flips, drawing the sharp end into his flesh instead. “If that is the case, Zakar, then I can not let you live.”

It feels as though the entire kingdom of Wakanda is holding its breath. Slowly, the sharp weapon sunk further and further, disappearing within his tissue. His face was contorted with pain, teeth-baring a grimace. “Yield, Zakar, before you bleed out!”

His eyes were animalistic, his voice low enough so only you could hear. “Is that not what you want?”

Zakar gave you no chance to answer. “I yield.”

In unison, everyone in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief. You felt a weight lift from your shoulders and nodded a ‘thank you’ to the warrior on the ground. “Take a deep breath.”

He did and in that same breath, remained silent as you pulled the spear from his shoulder. Zuri rushed over as the Jabari tribe picked their leader up from the ground. 

The pendant that your father wore on his challenge day, and his father before him was heavy, adorned with panther teeth as it hung around your neck. Your right hand was lifted into the air, fist up as Zuri’s deep voice declared “Y/N Y/L/N, King of Wakanda, and the Black Panther!”

Louder than any other screams and cheers was Ramonda, leading the chant, fist-pumping into the air. 

The chambers that held the heart-shaped herb were way too hot and way too dark. You wanted nothing more than to be in the presence of your Queen, your Mondie, promising that she’d be awaiting your return from the ancestral planes. 

You couldn’t ignore the impending feeling of doom as you lay down, arms crossed over your chest in a salute. The herbal drink had been prepared and it was your move as to what happened next. Zuri stood above you, placing the bowl to your lips as he spoke. 

“Allow the heart-shaped herb to bestow the powers of The Black Panther and take you to the ancestral plane.” The drink was bitter and burned like liquor as you swallowed. Convulsions wrecked your body as your system digested it.

“Azzuri, we call on you. Come here, to your daughter.”

The sand. That was the part you dreaded the most. It began to cover your body and you inhaled deep, thankful to breathe while you still could. Everything became muffled when the first grains hit your face. 

“Praise the ancestors,” Zuri’s voice was barely above a whisper. 

Everything was dark.

The gasp that came from you was desperate, as though you’d been drowning. Dirt surrounded you, and you willed your eyes to adjust to the low light. 

The garden you sat in was familiar. You hadn’t been in it in quite a while, but you’d never forgotten its layout. You stood, allowing the white garment you were clothed in to flow around you. 

It was instinctual, the way your feet led you to a bench in the far corner, concealed with desert roses and blue lilies. It wasn’t a surprise to see your usual place already occupied.

The gentleman wasn’t as old as he should have been to leave this life. He was dressed in white clothes of his own with a gentle smile greeting you as you approached.

“Baba-” You sat next to him, in disbelief that you could see him again, so alive, though he wasn’t.

“Uyenzile (You did it), intombazana yakho (my daughter).”

Your smile was bright, though your eyes were dull with the tears that threatened to spill. “I did it, Baba.”

“You are King.”

“I am King.” It hurt to get the words out. It was the only time you’d said it and truly fucking meant it. 

His shoulder pushed into yours, joy prevalent in his features. “Who did you have to fight, hmm? Who dared challenge the daughter of Azzuri?”

“Nobody at first. Then the Jabari made their entrance-”

Just as quickly as it came, his smile was gone. “The Jabari? Zakar?”

Your head bobbed. “Zakar.”

“Are you- were you hurt?”

You couldn’t look at him and tell him you’d gotten injured. You attempted to pivot the conversation instead. “I did it, baba.”

He wasn’t swayed. Your father was too smart a man. “Be careful, y/n/n.”

“Be careful? Of what? I won. I am King, I am The Black Panther; he can not challenge me again.”

His head hung, shaking slowly. “Tradition says he can not challenge you again.”

“As it says, then it shall be!”

“Ukususela nini, intomba (Since when, daughter)?”

Your silence failed to satisfy him. 

“Tradition says that when your mother and I had you, we were to conceive again, for a son, an heir.”

You didn’t want to hear him.

“Tradition says that when I died, you were to marry a man, and he was to be king.”

You didn’t want to listen.

“Tradition says that he- your husband- was to be the Black Panther.”

He knelt in front of you, grasping your hands in his own and squeezing tight. His hold on you caught you both off guard; neither of you could have fathomed a second chance at a moment like this. 

“You have broken tradition since you came out of the womb, y/n, my girl. And I am so proud of you for it. Wakanda needed to progress, and you-” His hand released yours, gently holding your cheek instead. “You are exactly what this country needs.”

Tears fall down your cheeks at your father’s hold. You embraced it, knowing that after this, you’d never feel it again. “Am I truly meant to be King, baba?”

“Have I not raised you so?”

Your bottom lip curled back into your mouth and your head nodded ever so slightly. “But heed my warning, my girl. Zakar will not take lightly being bested in front of the country, especially not by a woman. Especially not by my daughter.”

Your brows pulled together into a focused furrow. “I’ll be careful.”

His lips press to your forehead gently. “I know you will do wonderful things. You were born to do wonderful things.”

He stood and began to retreat. You panicked when his hand left yours, not ready to say goodbye again. “W-wait, Baba. Don’t go-”

“Eh? Y/n, what have I taught you?”

“Y-you said you’d never leave me, but-”

“And have I?”

Your hands outstretched to beckon the unfamiliar world around you. “What would you call this, Baba?”

His steps grew closer to you and his fingers lightly pierced your chest. “I have not left you. I am here.” His hands moved to your temple. “And here.” They moved once more to cup your face. “And here. You look just like me, you know.”

“Now go. Rule your kingdom.”

“Baba,” You hated the way your voice sounded, so whiny and helpless. “Ndiyakuthandana (I love you).”

He was fading away fast and you could feel yourself being pulled back to reality. His words were so faint, you thought you’d imagined hearing it. “Ndiyakuthandana, my girl.”

Zuri’s face was filled with worry when you shot up from beneath the sand, gasping in the dusty air that surrounded you. “Are you alright?”

You accepted the hand he was offering you, using it to stand. “Never bury me alive again.”

Night fall crept on the Wakandan horizon and Ramonda’s usually still mind was flooding with unease. The hem of her skirt swept the palace floors as she wandered aimlessly. 

It was such a large space for just the two of you and without you there, it was so quiet. Dora stood at every outbound door and while they shared her polite smiles, they didn’t speak. 

It had been hours since Zuri swept you away for the ancestral planes and while Ramonda was uncertain how long the private ceremony would take, something didn’t feel right about the seven hours you’d been gone. 

She was an hour into her mindless stroll down the same halls of the royal residence before it was abruptly interrupted. 

“My Queen, are you alright?”

Had they not spoken, Ramonda would have run them over. She blinked slowly, taking in the figure before her. She hated to admit she recognized neither the face nor the voice, yet she did recognize the armor; red and gold with beautiful neckplates and shoulder pads to match.

“General- I apologize, I didn’t see you there-” Her words are steady through the nerves that shake her being. 

“It’s alright. Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Are you alright, your Majesty?”

Hesitation almost silenced the Queen. How would it appear that she be so disheveled and muddled?

But she needed help. There were many royal customs that were foreign to her and she had no way to navigate them. 

“General, has my wife returned from the ancestral planes yet?”

The worry Ramonda tried so hard to shove down resurfaced when the General’s face contorted to a look of confusion. “She left the planes hours ago. She was making her way back toward the palace last I saw of her.”

Ramonda’s legs almost gave out underneath her, but the composure she held was truly that of a Queen. “S-she left-”

“Has she not returned, your Majesty?”

Ramonda’s head just swayed back and forth.

The General was quick to turn on her heel with a brisk walk that the Queen struggled to keep up with.

“Qokelela (Gather)!” 

A sea of red poured into the halls, all heading toward the throne room. Dora Milaje, all with their spears drawn and their steps nimble. They were surprised to see the white crown among the swarm of bobbing bald heads. 

The throne room scarcely seemed large enough for the bodies that rapidly filled it. In the forefront stood the General and their Queen, heads held high through the dread that sank to the pit of their stomachs like cement. 

The Dora General was silent, awaiting Ramond’s orders. All eyes were on her and it was a feeling she was unsure she’d ever get used to. 

A deep breath steadied the rapid drumming of her heartbeat. Control yourself.

“General, around what time did you see my wife returning home?”

“1300 hours, your Majesty.”

“It’s going on 2200 hours now, ladies. I’m hoping this is just an overreaction, but really, I’m not sure. Go to the grounds, the tribes, the herbal garden, search even the castle. Bring my King home, please.” Walk with grace.

With a harsh tap of their spears on the stone floor, the room empties just as quickly as it filled. Only the General and the Queen remain and Ramonda feels the deep breath she was holding finally release. 

“Your Majesty-”

Many coily curls frame the young royal’s face and they bounce when her head shaked to and fro. “I will have to grow used to being called that as well, hm?”

“I believe so.”

“You won’t just call me Ramonda if I asked you to, will you?”

The smile that plays on the General’s face is sympathetic and she can see the idea form in the Queen’s mind before she even says it. 

“General, I am just Ramonda. Call me Ramonda.”

Pearly white teeth shine behind her dark smile. “Queen Ramonda, I am Esi. Call me Esi.”

“Esi, are you the first friend I have made here?”

“If so, then I am honored to be.” With a bow of her head, she begins to walk off, but not before Ramonda calls her back.

“Esi, bring me Zuri, please. And keep me updated. Once I have finished speaking with him, I will be joining you and your army in the search.”

“We’ve got the search covered-”

“I have no doubt that you do. However, I will be joining you regardless. I’m bringing my wife home.”

Zuri hadn’t expected to be awoken in the dead of the night, nor was he expecting the Queen of Wakanda to be awaiting his arrival.

“Your Majesty,” both of her hands fit in his like a glove and his tight squeeze is full of compassion. “What is the matter?”

Ramonda doesn't appear to be a spouse in distress. Every feeling of fear, or doubt or dread was unreadable on her features. “Zuri, my friend. Where is my wife?”

“Y/n? Is she not here?”

“She is not. She never returned from the herbal gardens-”

The older gentleman’s head shakes in disbelief. “She did. She had to have returned; where else could she be?”

“That is what I am trying to find out.”

A beat of silence passes between the two, unspoken thoughts swarming their minds. 

“Zuri-” The Queen hesitates, knowing that what she is about to ask is such a personal question. “Do you know who she saw? When she went to the ancestral planes?”

His nod is slow and sad. He can never hide how much he misses his old friend and Ramonda knows the answer before he even speaks it. “Baba?”

“Azzuri, yes.”

“Was it- Did she say anything about it? Did anything happen that would cause her to run away for any reason?”

“Not that she mentioned. You know how that girl was with her father; I can not foresee it having been a bad encounter.”

Ramonda is silent. It was a stretch that you would have willingly not return to her, but your genius Queen had to dot all her I’s and cross all her T’s.

“She did repeat something he told her-”

Ramonda was all ears, focused in on every word Zuri spoke. “What did she say?”

“He told her to watch her back. That Zakar wouldn’t take too lightly to having been defeated by her.”

An insincere chuckle left Ramonda’s lips. It was an ugly sound as anger flooded her body. The corner of her lips curled into a grisly pucker and Zuri scanned her face, interpreting her reaction.

“You suspected Zakar, didn’t you?”

“I did, however, as Queen, I can not go throwing around false accusations.”

“Is it a false accusation if you know it to be true?”

A sad smile looks so out of place on Ramonda’s mouth. 

“Zuri, you know how this works even better than I. I have no proof to accuse Zakar and I can not start a civil war with the Jabari that she will have to clean up when she returns.”

“If she stays in the hands of Zakar, that when will become an if.”

The cloak covering the Queen’s shoulders floats to the floor with a slight shrug. The crown atop her head is removed and underneath, her bountiful curls are braided tightly against her scalp. She’s stood aside long enough, talked long enough. Thoughts of bringing you home were all that played through her mind and the mountainside home of the Jabari tribe was her destination.

“I will not let that when become an if, old friend.”

Handle your shit.

She’d never stepped foot in the land of the Jabari before and was illprepared for the snow that coated the ground and the below zero temperatures. She realized it foolish to have come alone, and had she been in her right headspace, she would have realized it sooner. 

Eyes of the Jabari watched her from every direction and the entrance to a cave drew closer and closer. It was guarded well, by bulky men whose faces were concealed by gorilla masks. The opening of the cavern was blocked off as she approached.

“I need to see Zakar.” Though her body shivered from the cold temperatures, her voice remained steady and firm. The men didn’t budge. 

“Zakar is not taking any visitors. He is healing.”

Had smoke been able to come out of her ears in a cartoonish fashion, Ramonda was sure it would have. Her composure did not sway, nor did her expression change. “I need to see Zakar.”

One of the men bent to the Queen’s height, meeting her eye-to-eye. Her knees didn’t buckle and her gaze didn’t dare look away. “What did I just tell you?”

Ramonda’s set to respond, hell, she���s set to exile the whole damn tribe. A faceless voice breaks the tension between the two; the voice she’s there to see. 

“Let her in.”

It would have been a childish thing had she stuck her tongue out at the bruly warrior as he stepped aside to let her in, so she refrained. Instead, she walked through the wall of broad men, straight to the wide throne that held their awful leader. 

His thick brows were deep set on his eyes, weighing heavy on his face and his left arm and midsection sported a collection of white bandages. 

He didn’t look thrilled to see her and she mirrored the feeling. “My Queen,” 

How disgusting it sounded coming from his mouth. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Your calculating Queen stood silent for a moment, scanning the room around her. It was cold, so fucking cold, with icy stares to match. Every corner held a warrior, equipt with armor and weapons. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was the norm or if it was only due to her company.

“Zakar-” She hated how his name tasted, rolling across her tongue. “I think thanks are in order.”

“For what?”

“For giving us quite the eventful day. My wife couldn’t just take the throne that was rightfully hers and go about her way, hm? You had to step in and give us a challenge.”

“You are thanking me for getting my ass beat in front of the entire kingdom? And by a princess?”

Ramonda’s jaw was hardset and it took every ounce of control within her body to respond respectfully. “King. Your King.”

When Zakar stood, Ramonda couldn’t help the slight intimidation she felt at the way he towered over her. Her body took a step back without her permission and she cursed herself for it. 

“My king would have balls, your majesty-”

“It is common to want in a leader what we cannot have ourselves-”

Zakar laughed at her rebuttal and it angered the Queen. He continued as though she hadn’t even spoken. “You see me as the villain in your little happily ever after, but that is not the case. It is the other way around, honestly. You and your wife come in and shake up tradition, age old tradition. Excuse me for trying to put things back the way they should be.”

“Who is to say that is the right way and my way is wrong?”

Hmm, Zakar’s deep voice rumbles the entire cave. “Why have you come here, your Majesty?”

“I have reason to believe you have something that belongs to me.”

“Are you accusing me of thievery?” At his words, the Jabari soldiers in the room draw their weapons across their chests, armed and ready.

Your wife is quiet, choosing her next words carefully. Before she can get them off her tongue, Zakar speaks once more. “Let’s say I do have something of yours; I suggest you act tactically. You want this thing back in the same condition that I received it, do you not?”

That’s all she needed. That was enough proof, hell, it was a whole fucking confession. 

Ramonda stepped toward the gorilla-like man, not caring of the weapons that were pointed at her. 

“Unlike my wife, Zakar, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Her words were so low, the brutish man barely even caught them. His eyes were dark and angry when the Queen pulled away and began to retreat further into the snow, toward the cave entrance once more. 

“Leaving so soon, your Majesty?”

Ramonda’s middle finger was pointed to the sky, directed straight to the Jabari leader as her back stayed turned to him.

“Ramonda!”

The sound of her name bouncing off the stone palace walls caught her off guard. She hadn’t heard it be called in such a way since childhood. 

Her entire body swiveled to see Esi running straight toward her, anger dancing across her features.

“You’ve finally referred to me by my name-”

“You went to the Jabari tribe, alone?”

Ramonda winced at the General’s tone of voice. Her scolding was loud enough for outside listeners to pick up. “I did-”

“What were you thinking? They could have killed you-”

“They have her, Esi.”

Esi’s sigh was annoyed, her eye roll expectant. “Yes, your Majesty, we know that.”

The Queen didn’t have time to focus on the formal terms she and the General seemed to be back on. “You know?”

“We know. We have dozens of Dora surrounding their borders as we speak. We’re trying to find an in without jeapordizing her safety. We still do not know where in the land they are keeping her, though we assume its close to Zakar so that he may keep tabs-”

“Let me take lead on this-”

It would not have been possible for Esi to control the surprise that overtook her at the Queen’s declaration. “Let you what? No! Absolutely not-”

“She’s my wife, Esi-”

“And she is our King-”

“She’s my wife! Damned with your king, she is my wife, and I need her home.”

Ramonda was becoming emotional. The day’s events were catching up with her, as was the reality that you were laying cold somewhere in his midst, hurt or worse.

“Ramonda,” Esi’s voice was soft, her gentle hands grazing the Queen’s forearms. “We are trained for this; willing to die for this. We can not let you-”

“Esi, I hope you can still consider us friends after this.”

“After what-?”

“I am stripping you of your title as General. Step down. That is a direct order-”

“Ramonda-!”

“I am appointing myself General and-”

Tears swam behind Esi’s lids. “Your Majesty-”

Ramonda grabbed Esi’s hands and held them. She needed a deep breath to continue, fighting back tears of her own. “I will reinstate you, my friend. I am sorry, but I-” Her voice broke, and with the grace of a true Queen, she continued. “I must bring my wife home.”

The Dora Milaje stood in salute, awaiting instructions from their new General. Ramonda stood before them, silent with Esi on her right, face set hard with an emotion impossible to read. 

“The Jabari have Y/n.” This wasn’t new information to anyone in the room; they didn’t stir. Ramonda continued.

“We’re bringing her home, by any means necessary. We have suspicions she is being kept either in or just outside Zakar’s throne room. It is a cave covered in snow and ice and flooded with Jabari warriors who are just as willing to die for this as we are.”

Her eyes searched through the crowd. Staring back at her were various hues of brown, all armed, all ready. 

“We’ve already got the border surrounded; they know we’re coming and what we’re coming for. Get her out, alive.” The stress she put on that last word didn’t do justice for how much she meant it. Alive was the only option.

“Get me as close to Zakar as you can. I do not care if he gets out of this alive or dead; I will distract the ape man while you locate and retrieve the king. Understood?”

“My Queen,” Esi’s voice is quiet and still holds the authority it did before her title was stripped from her. “Aren’t we to get you out alive as well?”

The words were hard to get out, but Ramonda knew she meant them. “Get her out, alive,” she repeated. “If the King has been located and retrieved, then retreat.”

“Your Majesty-”

Ramonda’s clenched teeth were bared, displaying the force it took for her to echo herself. “Retreat.”

Nobody dared question her again and with a quick nod and cross of her arms, the Queen was satisfied. “Masihambe (Let’s go).”

It seemed as though the mountainside had grown colder since Ramonda was last there just hours ago. The Dora Milaje marched in step behind her, Esi at her side. The cave entrance was just before them, and it was blocked off completely. Jabari men and women stood, shutting off the cavern to the outside world and they didn’t budge when Ramonda approached. 

Nobody spoke, not a single word uttered. Their curved staff mirrored that of their leaders and they seemed angsty, ready for a good fight. 

“Shukuma (Move).” Ramonda’s voice was loud and declarative and still, they stayed. 

A voice even louder boomed over the brigade of bodies. “Let the woman through.”

Zakar’s men move at his command, but not before one of them tries to be ballsy. His staff swings for Ramonda’s head, just missing clipping her scalp before his weapon falls to the ground with a clank. The Queen turns just in time to see the spear of a young Dora fly through his thigh.

She can’t hold back her gasp when the large body drops to the ground, crying out in pain. Everyone is frozen, awaiting the move of another. The Jabari warriors let the weight of what just happened sit on their shoulders for a moment before preparing to attack. Another readies his staff to swing, preparing to rip the girl’s head straight off her body, but Zakar’s words keep him in place.

“Yibambe simile (Hold off).”

His men recollect themselves, reestablishing their blockage of entry to the cave. 

“Yiza,” His command is directed at Ramonda now, and she continues her trek to his throne. 

“Your Majesty, I was trying very hard to be nice. But you align your army at my borders, push your way into my home, and injur one of my men.” He rises from the wooden seat, staff ready in his uninjured hand. “I do not take very kindly to that.”

Ramonda doesn’t speak. Her eyes are on his movements, his actions. He’s slower to move on his injured side, which makes sense. It’s the side you impaled and he hadn’t allowed himself enough time to heal before starting shit with your kingdom. 

His right side, however, is much stronger; she has to guess it’s his dominant side. And though he may be damaged on the left, he had a room full of people to make up for his handicap. 

Realistically, it’s too many people. She’s unsure if the large army is due to the impending threat looming over everyone present, but it still wouldn’t make sense. They’re all huddled around his throne, not spread about where they could be more useful.

She takes a closer look at the large seat that Zakar refused to leave unattended. It was wide and tall, which wasn’t unusual, because of his size and stature. But why leave a wooden chair guarded?

Your Queen truly was a genius. It didn’t take her long to figure it out and when she did, it took everything she had to remain expressionless. 

“I do not take very kindly to kidnapping, Zakar.”

“There you go, making empty accusations again-”

The spear in Ramonda’s hand is itching to take out the gorilla man’s other shoulder. “I am not willing to play mind games with you, indoda embi (ugly man). Is this really something you wish to do? Cut the Jabari off from Wakandan resources and protection? Risk the greatest country in the world turning against you?”

“What good is the greatest country in the world if it is run by imbecils whom are incapable of-”

“What makes me incapable? What makes my wife incapable?”

The brute man is silenced.

“You and the elders of this country are so focused on what we have between our legs, more so than the minds we have. We have shown you no reason to doubt us, and yet you do because we are women? I thought we were supposed to be more progressive as a nation than that.”

Zakar is flustered, unable to find the right words and vocalize them.

“Tradition states-”

“To hell with tradition!”

“That is your problem, your Majesty-”

“Thula (Be quiet), Zakar.”

Silence once again. Zakar is frozen in place as Ramonda takes timid steps toward him and his throne. 

“To hell with your misogynistic, sexist, homophobic traditions. This is my kingdom now.”

She gets closer, ignoring the staffs drawn and pointing at her from every direction. 

“This is our kingdom now.”

The sharp end of her spear is pointed to the wooden throne. Ramonda has no doubt that the thick wood will give way with a stab or two of her vibranium weapon, but she’s worried. She doesn’t know how far underneath the piece you are and she doesn’t want to risk stabbing you. 

It’s a chance she’s going to have to take.

“This is our kingdom now!”

The first hit cracks the wood and debris fly back at her. The Jabari warriors surrounding the piece prepare themselves to swing at the Queen, but their hesitation is their downfall. The Dora outnumber them by hundreds and it only takes a second for their staffs to be pressed against their windpipes, holding them in place and out of Ramonda’s way. 

“This is our kingdom now, and we shall make new traditions!”

The second swing of the sharp object shatters the wood and splinters take the air. Zakar wasn’t expecting the throne to breakaway. His thick staff coming in contact with your Queen’s thigh release the gut-wrenching sound of bones crunching. 

Just as quick as he was able to get his hands on her, they hit the flood with a disgusting squelch. The bright crimson of his blood shines on the fresh white snow and his scream causes the entire cave to shake on its foundation. 

Where his hands once were are gorey blood and flesh. Esi’s spear is covered in the same blood that spurts from his body. 

You’re curled up in a hole underneath the space where Zakar’s throne once sat. Ramonda’s heart breaks to see you in the fetal position, unconscious and unresponsive. 

Her breath catches in her chest as she watches, waiting for yours to rise and fall. It does, but it’s so slow, that she worries it won’t continue for long.

It’s an agonizing pain, one that travels through her very being, trying to stand on her now broken leg. Her spear is used more as a crutch as she hobbled over to the giant, brought to his knees. 

“W-What did you do to her?”

He doesn’t respond. 

“Answer me, Zakar!”

Silence.

Esi’s still-bloody spear digs into the side of his neck, just enough to draw a fresh cut. “Unless you want your head to roll with your hands, I suggest you answer your Queen.”

His voice is strained when it finally speaks. “I did nothi-”

“Lies! She is lying here, unconscious! What did you do?” Esi’s anger mirrors Ramonda’s.

She turns back to your body, lying so still and quiet and the hole full of ice that you lay in. Her calculating mind goes to work once more. “Wait, Esi. Zakar, did she take the heart-shaped herb before you took her?”

“Took sounds so harsh-”

Esi’s spear presses deeper, drawing a steady flow of blood, causing the big man to change his words. “Y-yes, she had already taken it.”

“So she already had the powers of the Black Panther?”

“Yes.”

Ramonda nods, a sigh of relief escaping her. “She’s in hibernation.”

“Hibernation? Your Majesty, you’re telling me that if our protector experienced too-cold temperatures, then she’s down for the count?”

“No, Esi, not usually, but she’s been buried in a box full of ice.”

“Is she okay?”

“She will be,” Ramonda’s head points to you, her beloved, still curled into yourself. “Yiza,” she commands. 

While your army come and retrieve you from your frozen slumber, Ramonda hops over to a still-kneeling Zakar. She drops until they’re face-to-face, thankful to relieve some of the pain radiating through her leg. 

“I should have had them kill you.”

“Then why don’t you?”

Ramonda is hushed. Why doesn’t she? He shattered her leg, took you prisoner-

“I don’t know, to be honest.”

Zakar’s eyes are filled with surprise as he drags them upward to gaze at the Queen sitting before him. He’s even more surprised to see hers full of empathy. 

“Come back to the palace with us. We have a lab, filled with doctors who can fix you and your injured men-”

“Why should I accept your help?”

“What other choice do you have?”

The sound of your voice is truly melodious to Ramonda. Her head spins and if her leg weren’t shattered, she would have run right to you. 

Your words were shaky as your body tried to regulate its temperatures. Dora surrounded you, wrapping you in the garments of their winter wear and as you stood on unsteady legs, they moved with you, every step. 

“You ought to be thankful of my wife, for showing you mercy. Had it been the other way around, I would have let Esi behead you.”

Her snicker could be heard from her place behind the Jabari leader. Ramonda’s eyes were on you and they refused to leave, too afraid you’d leave her presence again. 

“If you do not accept her offer to be patched up, you’ll surely bleed out here, will you not?”

He didn’t respond and you bent beside your Queen, lowering yourself to his level.

“Zakar, as beautiful as this red looks, contrasting with the white snow, I believe it best you accept.”

Silence.

“Well, unlucky for you, to have a stubborn King. Aye,” You called out to your army, awaiting their attention. “Mthathe (Take him), and his injured men too. Esi, notify the lab that we’re on our way.”

Ramonda was all too grateful when you scooped her into your arms, bridal style. Her arms fell into place wrapped around your neck and you held her close, tight, too afraid to let her go. 

“My Queen,” you greeted softly, rubbing the tip of your nose to hers. 

“My love,” the tears she’d been holding back for far too long finally spilled over and her hands moved to cup your face, pulling you close. 

“I see you handled your shit, sithandwa.”

Ramonda’s chuckle was full of relief and my god, it was such a beautiful sound to hear. 

“Yes, my love. I handled my shit.”

[hymemena]

100 Gecs (2023 Album) 10,000 Gecs Sentence Starters

Feel free to change pronouns as necessary, and remember to specify muse for multimuse blogs.

CW: Drug use, drugs, death, religious themes, smoking, mental health, food, sensory problems, guns, weapons, threats, death threats, stalking, murder, abuse, injury, violence, insomnia, cursing

—

Dumbest Girl Alive

"If you think I'm stupid now, you should see me when I'm high."

"I'm smarter than I look."

"I'm the dumbest girl alive."

"Never ask me what I think."

"Money coming from my eyes."

"I'm so happy I could die!"

"Put emojis on my grave."

"Yeah, I'll fuckin' text you back."

757

"Yeah, I'll never go to Heaven."

"I've been smokin' since eleven."

"I got problems with my spending."

"Doing eight in a thirty."

"I'm never in a hurry."

"Everybody wanna party!"

"Wish that I was more discerning."

"Where's the water?"

"Today I'm feeling pitiful."

"I'm taking things too literal when it was hypothetical."

"Now, I'm whining over nothing."

Hollywood Baby

"What you crying about, Baby?"

"Did you get the payment?"

"We had an arrangement."

"Do you wanna party?"

"So go pitch your fit, no one gives a shit."

"I'm going crazy."

"Do you buckle under pressure?"

"You'll never make it in Hollywood, Baby."

Frog On The Floor

"Where'd he come from?"

"Nobody knows."

"He's been chillin' in the basement for a minute."

"It's time we move into the kitchen."

"Make him feel safe."

"Frog on the floor."

"Hey, yeah, I heard you met my friend the other weekend."

"He got on his front legs and did a keg stand."

"The party got real."

"He was chasing flies around."

"Give him some space, he's still workin' it out."

"He doesn't know what people think about."

"He gets the party jumping."

Doritos & Fritos

"Okay, I went to France."

"I went to Greece to get something to eat."

"I'm hard to please."

"Okay, I saw the beach."

"It's one hundred degrees."

"I'll swim in the ocean."

"The TV's tuned to cable."

"I'm sleeping when I'm able."

"The TV's on so loud it hurts my brain."

"I'm eating burritos."

"Jeez Louise, I'm weak in the knees."

"I'm joining the circus."

"I'm lying to strangers."

"I'm looking for danger!"

Billy Knows Jamie

"-Muse- got a gun."

"-Muse-'s gonna kill me, think I need to run."

"-Muse- is kinda scary when he's lookin' at you."

"Run!"

"I've heard it all before."

"He's like a movie star."

"They say he's so deranged."

"Bought mace to keep me safe."

"It's not enough to stay away."

"He knows my house and he knows my name."

"I'm in the closet scared."

"He's kicking down the door."

One Million Dollars

"One million dollars."

"I'm a marijuana addict."

"Fuck you!"

The Most Wanted Person In The United States

"I turned on the news."

"I turned on the news and it said that I was the number one most wanted person in the United States."

"Yeah, I'm a real killer."

"I just killed -muse- and then I ate his dinner."

"I took his car."

"I took his car and I crashed it in the river."

"I was born in the winter."

"Hot like the summer."

"Don't cry to me."

"Don't cry to me, I'm not your mother."

"Everybody shuts the fuck up when I'm passing."

"I'm laughing 'cause shit's so funny."

"Oh, is it hot like that?"

"Yeah, it's hot like that."

"Don't need to ask me."

I Got My Tooth Removed

"You were tough."

"You were unforgiving."

"Made me cry all the time."

"You were mean, such an asshole."

"I had to say goodbye."

"I don't wanna talk about it ever again."

"My head's like a ton of bricks."

"This dumb bitch still learns new tricks."

"I woke up and was down horrendous."

"I think I need to see a dentist."

"Praying to a fuckin' God I'll never be."

"If it's gonna fix itself, I guess it's just as well."

"It doesn't hurt me every day so I just let it get away."

"I'll deal with it another day."

"I guess that day just never came."

"I don't know what to do."

"My cheek swelled up twice its size."

"Playing Operation with a safety pin."

"Looking up home remedies."

"I'm staring at the ceiling, counting seconds 'til I get to sleep."

"That shit didn't work."

"I promised you, honest, tried my hardest."

mememe

"Back once again."

"You'll never really know."

"You'll never really know anything about me."

"No, you'll never really know anything."

"When we were together I tried to tell you."

"I used to tap dance when I was in choir."

"I broke my arm when my -parent- crashed a go-kart."

"I tried on your lipstick, I thought I looked pretty."

"You're always so busy."

"You're always so busy so you never hear me."

"Do I sound like a joke when I'm talking to you?"

"I take it back."

"You say so many things."

"I'll laugh too fucking hard."

"You probably think I'm so mean."

"I don't even know you."

"I guess it's such an easy game."

"Could you explain it all away?"

"OK, bet, I forget."

"I don't think I'll pretend it's cool."

[lisalay00]

Secret Crush 6- Billy Hargrove

‘Billy?’

I tipped my toe to see beyond the window well to the living room. His dad was standing in front of the kitchen counter and back-facing towards me. Billy was directly looking at him with no expression face. I was pretty far away from the kitchen. I just hoped he came to the living room.

A couple of minutes later, Max appeared from the stairs handling her skateboard. I tried to straighten myself as high as possible at least she could see my fluffy hair.

Finally, she noticed me; her eyes widened in shock, and pointed to the backyard. My head got down on my screamed SOS feet. I took a deep breath and untied my hands from the window sill.

‘Hey!’ Max cheered in silence causing me to bounce off, and covered my mouth with my hands. She lightly chuckled at my freaked-out face, which literally made me reconsider my thoughts.

‘You scared me, god!’ I mumbled as landed my hand on my chest, not forgetting to check around. She shrugged her shoulder and took a quick gaze at my dress slowly her smile turned into a questioning one like I know the answer.

‘You are going somewhere?’ I rolled my eyes when she folded her arms as taking a rhythm with his foot.

‘Max, can you help me to talk Billy?’ I just wanted to cut to the chase because I know her, she was so ready for creating theories about why I came here at this hour.

‘As you see, His dad is pretty busy scolding him but if I find a time, promise!’ the way she crossed hands was fascinating, not more than his brother. Sometimes I think about how they look like each other, it’s intriguing to ponder how El and I share the same roots, yet we have such different sides on display. But if I were to bring up, even hypothetically, probably they would do anything to make me believe that is not true. It would take hours, or forever.

'El told me she's with Mike's basement and Lucas there too…' tried to convince her, she sometimes had annoying hard mood swings, though it would be taking something easier, nonetheless.

‘I don’t care about him.’ She shrugged her shoulder when my eyebrow arched in suspiciously. I had a couple of information about these teenagers' love life according to my sister but seems like the love triangle between Dustin-Lucas-Max were going somewhere.

‘Alright, I just wanted to say.’ I shrugged my shoulders before her lips could even part and were about to defend herself for death, but a shattered sound caused us both to flinch, Max stepped closer to me unconsciously and our eyes met momentarily. I could see the concern in her eyes. Summer was about to start but still, nights were pretty cold, I felt my arms getting cold showered in the tendency to spread my body.

Then the door opened and someone slammed it behind it. Max turned back to me and put me back like she wanted to protect me. Then Billy’s leather jacket went into my frame, I sighed in relief. I tapped Max's shoulder and pointed to the basement door.

‘You have to go now, don’t worry.’ I whispered, she nodded and hastily paced to the door before turning back to me.

‘Good luck to you too.’

I heard to door closed sound, raised my thumb to her, and rushed to his car. I saw his blonde hair drop on the wheel. He wasn’t moving.

Perhaps, I would do the stupidest thing, but anyway, I knocked on the glass and suddenly opened the door. I jumped on the seat when he frantically raised his head and shockingly widened his eyes and landed on me I smiled. I know how awkward the situation was. Moments later he sighed in relief and bounced back his head.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Are you okay?’

I literally screamed in the inch of the car. A chuckle escaped his mouth, forcefully.

‘fine as possible as it should be.’ He talked first. I hesitantly turned to my lap, I felt like it was freaking wrong time to ask a favor, but here I was sitting there and if I didn’t say it, he would get it. I huffed the thick air and turned his blue orbs that were lightened in curiosity.

‘I know it is not the right time but…’ I was literally selfish.

‘I need your help, tonight.’ I mumbled. I hate the words I said because it was quite out of the script I wrote on the road.

His eyes turned to the street for a moment wanting to distract himself from the thoughts or the situation I had no idea, but he slightly turned back to me.

‘I am yours tonight.’ He chuckled with a deep sigh and rubbed the back of his head, his hair softly moving on his shoulders, in the dim light brightened from its waves.

‘Can you come…umm… party with me, tonight?’

He frowned and slowly leaned forward to the wheel causing the fold to form on his brows, his naughty expression faded away, and the look of genuine concern replaced it. And of course, he was because we both know it was so a silly, dangerous idea. The air was getting thicker seems like for him too she swiped the window open. I took a deep breath from the fresh air as he broke the silence.

‘You are joking right?’ I shook my head reluctantly as his jaw clenched. His hands roughly landed on his hair, run through his fingers, and turned his body full towards me.

‘Billy we have to go there, I heard them. They have plans for me!’ I mumbled, widening my eyes to search a hope crumbling in his gaze, but literally a wall that I saw.

‘So, if they have what’s the point of going there, seriously?’ His tone was getting rough, leaned back to the seat and folded his arms.

‘I want you to come here with me because I don’t want to be alone when I break their plans on me.’ I harshly opened the door, and let the cold wind hit my face. I closed my eyes and turned to his shocking gaze.

‘I’ll go by myself, good night.’ I slammed the door, my pace falling uncontrolled with feverish anger. I continued to walk when I heard my name as the sound of his steps echoed on the empty street, I noticed Max on the window couple of steps away.

Distracted by the firm grip of his hands on my elbow, I turned to face him, only to find his pounding rough chest heaving from the short run. I lifted my chin to his darkened gaze, which was slightly opened. I attempted to jerk to swing his tightly grabbed on my arm, yet he just narrowed his eyes and pulled me closer.

‘You are coming with me.’ He bounced back slightly for another attempt to yank his grab, his eyes landed on the light in Max’s room.  He dragged me to his car.

‘I don’t need you Hargrove!’ he stopped when we reached his car again.  I looked at his well-built shoulders under his leather jacket and continued.

‘I can show who he is trying to mess with, by myself! I don’t need you!’ I yelled when he frantically turned to me, in a brief moment his finger landed on my lips. I bounced off in shock, avoiding it with a soft grim on my waist.

When the street lights blinked, he didn’t hesitate to turn there right exactly looking at my face.

‘Please be quiet.’ He closed his eyes slightly his hands and arms unwrapped my waist. I felt cold with the sudden absence.

‘Let's not waken crazy Neil here.’ I nodded my head when the light got back to normal. I watched him slowly open the car door and turned back to me.

‘Hop in!’ demanding to point to the door, slammed the door.

When he pressed the break suddenly, I leaned forward thanks to the seatbelt I bounced back to the seat.

‘Can you be a little slower!’ I mumbled, swirling to the side of him as he was already looking at me.  His one hand on his leg was tapping on his knee while it was shaking rapidly. He rummaged his pockets, sat up from the seat, and leaned forward to ease his job. When he felt the cigarette box in his pocket, he pulled it and sat back on the seat causing a small shaking in the car.

Only watched when he landed it between his lips, following the light and smoke, inhaling to cause more fume in the car. I waved my hand around to disperse.

He pointed to the crowd and music-filled house with his cigarette.

‘Are you sure to do this?’

‘Never better!’ I held the door he swiftly stopped me, contemplating the sentence.

‘Don’t fall apart me!’ He warned me when I rolled my eyes to turn back to the lump of teenagers group that went out of the house in the loudest way. I hopped out of the car and headed to the house, I could catch my steps. I felt his soft and warm hand on my hands, our shoulders hit one another.

I turned his encouraging smile as we went inside. colorful lights were dazzling and everyone was so drunk. I inhaled the alcohol-filled room relentlessly falling my steps forward, stepping on cans and cigarettes.

Joshua was sitting on the couch while scrunching his face at someone no other than Jason. He turned his head to the side when we got the girls' attention who were sitting in front of him. Their face slightly turned white color like sheets. He mumbled something, reluctantly putting a fake smile on his face.

‘Hey there!’ He cheered while the whole room right exactly watching us like waiting for fire. Billy’s hands were grabbed firmly on hand. His eyes were falling on our hands his eyes widened, and his head spun towards Jason whose jaws clenched sitting like a statue without moving, forcing him to look at our hands.

‘Here I am!’ I forced myself to smile. He pointed to the couch with his cup-filled hand.

‘What bout joining us?’ obviously a reluctant recommendation.

 Billy stepped front and stood in front of Joshua like a statue, his upright gesture stood like a shot across the bow.

‘Thanks, honey!’ he hit his shoulder harshly as swaying back. My eyes widened, looked at Billy’s curls that caused aired a couple of hair strands, couldn’t resist pulling towards me. He could stumble back, Surprisingly he had been caught off guard., but he quickly regained his footing. I intertwined our hands, not giving my attention to his gaze.

I pointed to the beer stand in the kitchen which caused all the cheap scent to spread around the room without waiting for his answer, and dragged him aside of the room.

He headed to the kitchen behind me in silence I sighed to find an empty place finally, and the beer stand might be distracted people from. Momentarily our hands parted, I lay on the counter, folded my arms on my chest gave him a questioning look, waiting for an answer.

‘Want me to start or you?’ I mumbled not forgetting to check the closed kitchen door. Shadows stumbled past in front of the door’s window, casting fleeting shadows, probably drunk partiers.

‘Ladies first.’ He opened his arms to the side rolling his eyes walked to the fridge.

‘We planned to just show off and that’s all probably they’d given up, you are creating a scene.’ He opened the fridge door and rummaged through it as the leather jacket moved joyfully from his shoulders. He landed two beer cans.

‘I am talking to you!’ I paced to his nonchalant figure, fully fixated on the can in his hand as he plugged the lit with one hand and took a large gulp.

I stood beside him; he vaguely nodded before flinging the can in my direction. I looked at the can in disbelief, in a brief moment it met with the ground.

‘I didn’t call you for drinking you stupid.’ I pushed him Couse his back to collide with the open fringe door that closing beneath his back. His eyes widened as I continued to walk, and raised my finger to his chest until it touched his.

‘You are so annoying, why don’t you listen to me and walk like a normal two people…’ He grabbed my shoulder, and frantically we relocated our position. Now I was the one trapped between the fridge and him.  As He took another sip of the beer, his Adam’s apple moved roughly, due to the intense flavor, later on throwing the can aside from the room, and a little beer was dripping from the corner of his lips due to the harsh drink.

He was looking at me without saying anything, his chest moving rapidly. Only our chests touched as his hands slowly landed on my shoulder.

‘Don’t look at me like that, please.’ He mumbled while caressing my shoulders softly. I trembled with the feeling on my bare skin. I shook my head, and attempt to walk passed his shoulder when he pressed his hands, my back bounced off the fridge demanding me to say something.

‘I told you to stay silent, I could handle it.’ When someone hit the door we both turned to the side, dragging me to the door beside the fridge. I hadn’t even noticed there was a door there. I found myself in the dark room. He pressed his finger on my lips and whispered shush.

Joshua's voice echoed in the kitchen he threw something to the counter soon other footsteps attached. Billy landed his hands on the wall leaner closer, and now his mint scent was dangerously closer. I inhaled the sharp aroma of his breath. My heart started pondering in my chest.

‘Dude I didn’t know she brought Hargrove, damn I had no idea they were dating!’ He cried out when the other one threw the glass that I thought was glass or something, following the shattered sound Joshua was thrown to the fridge, he groaned in pain as he spoke.

‘This little bitch played with you!’ He hysterically hissed. Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision when I realized he was Jason. Billy hummed lightly his hand went down on my cheek and caressed reassuringly.

‘Find a way to bring her your room!’ He roared following another shattered sound. Billy leaned on my ear when Jason scolded him like a little kid.

‘Do you trust me?’ He whispered in my shell, I tried to hide the trembling feeling taking over the control. Do I trust him? Since my stupid game in front of the library and Do I still angry at him, hell yeah but I had to keep it for now. I nodded slowly, and then everything happened so fast. He grabbed my hips and took my feet off the ground.

‘Wrap your legs around me!’ I will probably regret the obedience, even for me it was so surprising, listening to him without question. He kicked the spice cabinet when the sound of footsteps stopped and got closer to us. The door slammed open when he smashed his lips on mine. His hands leisurely reached to the back of my head.

When he pulled back in need of breath our lips parted. I didn’t even care about the stares at us at that moment. It was so weird to say, differently.

I turned my head to the crowd that was already looking at us. I noticed the familiar hair and shocking gazes were looking at us.

As Billy's quick kiss landed on my cheek I turned, he was looking at me he didn’t even care about the moment or position we were in.

‘I guess we are in trouble.’

✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧

[monoposting]

Replaying the LN1 dlc chapters again because I love to suffer!! Time for some thoughts and observations on the Lady and the Residence chapter as a whole.

(Please keep in mind that I am only making observations about what I see as I play the game! I missed a lot of external content and fandom activity so please don’t be rude if I say things that are considered obvious.)

I like how it’s immediately obvious that this area is much more lived in, and despite the mess of books on the floor it seems otherwise very clean compared to the rest of the maw! The hearth is still glowing with embers, and clearly sees frequent use. Books are left open near comfy chairs, or set aside for later reading and sorting as if someone got halfway through picking up the mess when a book caught her eye.

About that hearth: it’s goddamn COLD in the Residence. Despite the luxury here compared to the rest of the Maw, RK’s breath fogs up in the air in several areas. I’m not sure if that’s meant to be a side effect of the Lady’s presence or just an unfortunate reality of living in a big metal boat?

The ladders and stepstools are perfectly sized to allow kids like RK to get around with relative ease. Same for the stairs. There’s no real struggle to use them as intended. The Lady is more petite than many of the Adults in this world, but not THAT small. It’s almost like this place was designed with children in mind, to an extent.

Similarly, there’s places that are intentionally difficult for kids to get to on their own. The secret room behind the bookcase for one, or the hall of broken mirrors. It feels like there’s a defined “safe area” where those hypothetical children can roam, and as long as they don’t touch anything they shouldn’t it’s actually VERY safe???

Which brings me to the Lady herself.

I’d forgotten that when we first pass her, she’s playing her song on a music box. That detail certainly feels different after playing LN2

Dolls. There’s SO many dolls! Shelves full of them, carefully lined up in rows. More on that in a bit

The Shadow Children. God I have so many thoughts about them but no idea where to start??? I forgot about their dash move, which is a) annoying, and b) really cool! I’m not sure if it’s more like a temporary speed boost, or a baby-steps version of the way the Lady can appear out of nowhere. Plus they sound like they’re having a good time, and a lot of the time they don’t even really attack until you point the flashlight at them (or provoke a different Shadow Kid near them). They just kinda stand there menacingly until you get too close? I have to wonder how they came to be. Might make another post on this later with more details about their behavior and some thoughts I’ve had about them.

The above two points plus some other environmental clues lead me to believe that the Lady might actually want to be a mother? Which is a fucked up desire in the LN world already, before you even think about the fact that she feeds children to the Guests on a regular basis. But… the dolls treated with such care, and the way the Shadow Children are given porcelain masks to match her own and allowed to roam her Residence, and the fact that many of the library shelves are made accessible to someone RK’s size even though the books are LITERALLY their height…

It’s possible that the Lady’s problem with mirrors (and her appearance) is about more than just vanity. Like, it’s one thing to be upset that you aren’t beautiful and can’t regain your lost youth. It’s another thing to resent your appearance and age because you wanted to do more? If you wanted to start a family, and raise children of your own in as much luxury and warmth as you could offer, and now that you’re at the end of your life you have nothing to show for it but corpses and shadows and sagging skin…?

I think this adds another layer of complexity to her character. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still definitely not a great person (and who would be, surviving in this world?) and I like Evil Women as much as the next guy, but… vanity and greed and a genuine desire for companionship or family are NOT mutually exclusive. She can be self-obsessed and okay with doing terrible things and STILL be upset that she doesn’t have any children of her own to pass her Fucked Up Cannibalism Boat down to.

Of course there’s also the idea that she DID have children and none of them lived, but that’s another concept entirely.

On a lighter note! She likes tea :]

She also seems rather forgetful, at least with her belongings? She’s the type to sit down with tea and a book, then just kind of get up and leave the teapot on the bookshelf if something else captures her attention.

That being said her security measures are SIGNIFICANTLY more refined and clever than any of the others in the Maw. She’s pretty damn intelligent! She might just also be scatterbrained at times.

It probably isn’t meant to be funny but. The big portrait over the stairs. She’s just doing the Mona Lisa pose but backwards. Babe?

Side note. There’s SO many paintings around and WHERE are the artists? Did the Lady paint them herself? Is there some wandering Painter that goes around making dozens upon dozens of portraits for the monsters of this world? Has someone made that oc? I want to see them

Globe :]

The huge grandfather clock ALSO feels very different after playing LN2. I doubt that one was as much of an intentional callback when they were making LN2 tho? Clocks are just always sort of ominous

Never noticed before but the decoy book doesn’t have a big eye design on the cover! I never bothered to look at the decoy much before

Why does the secret bookcase door have skid marks in FRONT of it? You push it BACK to open it. What

I really like how RK will carefully set a Flotsam bottle down so it doesn’t fall over, but if they’re carrying one of the Lady statuettes they just. Open their arms and watch it drop directly to the floor.

I could definitely read into the idea that the Lady made a mechanism where the only way to enter one of the wings is to BLIND THE WATCHFUL EYE. I could read a lot into it. I could also find meaning in the fact that the wing hidden behind this puzzle has several statues of faceless children in it. Maybe a post for another day but probably not <3

Spiders :] in all seriousness! The presence of spiders and cobwebs generally means this wing has gone untouched for quite a while. That’s in pretty sharp contrast to the way the rest of the Residence feels like a home. A weird home, but still.

I am currently assuming that there are bedrooms behind those green doors we pass at the very start of the Residence chapter? Because we only really explore the huge library and gallery areas.

Might replay that part of Six’s route later to knit together a mental map.

Forgot about the little shrine of lady statues inside the wall. Who’s leaving offerings? The Lady herself definitely can’t fit in there. Is it the Shadow Children?

Speaking of them again. They kill you by rushing INTO your body and seemingly possessing you??? I want to know more about them PLEASE

May or may not be a child or doll in a birdcage near the end of the Shadow Kid section. The cage is open but the figure inside sits motionless. Reminds me of the end of Six’s route, where she’s ripped open the doors of her prison but can’t actually go anywhere. She’s forced to sit and wait for some outside force to act on her again.

Piano :]

That fucked up little moment where the Lady herds RK into a room where there’s a mirror waiting, just the right size for them to pick it up and fight her like Six does… except it’s already shattered. They never had a fighting chance. All the doors were already closed and locked before they could see the sun.

That’s all for now! Leave a little like if you read this far <3 I appreciate it!!

[kosmic-arts]

An Unhinged KH Rant That I Needed To Get Out of My Brain

here i am, once again, tortured by hypotheticals like- "what if kingdom hearts didn't suck?" and, "if i could rewrite kh, how and what would i cut or add?"

honestly,, my ideal kingdom hearts timeline is kh1, com, kh2, and days. that's literally it. games extending backwards or forwards from the end of kh2 (bbs & ddd kh3 unioncrossfuckinghell) really sapped the life from the series imo. in a better world, square and disney would've put kingdom hearts to rest by 2, and we would've all grown up and moved on with happy memories :))))

lol. but is it possible to extend the story of kh without draining it of all the magic, mystery, and charm established since kh1? by now i think we can all agree that here at the tailend of the timeline (kh3), this game has reduced itself to a fake deep shitpost soulless disney ad. :) -so, how could it be done anyway? ultimately, bbs would have to exist. you would need something to expand on the story's lore, and the lore of the keyblade and it's wielders is a prime target. i love and hate bbs; but i do think it really takes away from the charm of the keyblade itself and the mystery surrounding it. explains too much, if you will. lets not get into how the wayfinder trio spends their entire time talking about how much they gotta train and how their entire lives revolve around training and how wooden and stiff a vast majority of their interactions are eraqus dont even get me started he is so boring do not talk to me about the shitty gacha paytowin mobile game god help me also their shitty mark of mastery exam is with the fucking flying balls its so lame are you telling me this is what keyblade masters are capable of; what fucking happened to lingering will in kh2fm??? why cant we do any of that shit in bbs? wheres the fuckin keyblade transformations and capes in that game-

ok. bbs would have to exist… but it should've revived kh1's way of integrating disney plots into the main story. ALL the games shouldve revived that trick post kh2. whats the point of disney being a major half of these games if you dont use them. like- ven goes to fucking cinderella world and meets cinderella (NOT AS A RAT), and ven is sad and lost an looking for his friends and cinderella convinces her stepmother to hire ven as a stableboy or a peasent servant or some shit. something to get a roof over his head. ventus learns from cinderella about her dreams and it gets him thinking about what he wants out of life… maybe he wants to see his friends succeed and become masters but thats mainly just a pretty excuse hes been using to mask his true feelings. truthfully hes scared of getting left behind. maybe he discovers that he feels inadequate in comparison to his friends, and fears for the inevitable future where they leave home to lead their own lives/search for their own apprentices. fuck idk. 1 talk with cinderella could unlock all of that. easy. imagine writing. what a concept.

WHAT im saying is. disney shouldn't exist in kh just to be an ad. the reason why sora in kh1 came to the conclusion that MY FRIENDS ARE MY POWER, is because of the lessons he learned in each of the disney worlds up until his confrontation with riku. he literally explains his entire reasoning before he says the line- the disney plots mattered to sora's character development! by the end of the game, he became so much more wisened and was capable of butting heads with ansem who had studied all the esoteric makings of the universe and thought he knew where life began and eneded: darkness lol. but sora had come to a different conclusion: kingdom hearts is light!!! lmao!! it was an asspull, but shit. i could follow the line of logic well enough and it was cool and dramatic without insulting my intelligence.

what am i talking about? disney? i think the timeline extending backwards as far as bbs is serviceable, but nothing in this world will convince me otherwise from the belief that unioncross is hot garbage and needlessly complicates the plot to an insane degree. its literally star wars prequel movies but even shittier, but this time, theres a casino for the little kids!!! yay!! :))

aanyway. what about ddd..? the resurrection of org 13 needs to not fucking happen. and if it does, only like, 4 of the 13 and half of them arent even enemies. i dont want to kill guys i already slaughtered 2 games ago. theyre not threatening anymore GOD. what if kingdom hearts established new villians starting from ddd that would lead into kh3 being a whole new story? pretty epic right? it would be just like how com introduced the org13 the first time after ansem was beaten to lead into kh2! woww! but, like, who would this hypothetical new ddd-introduced villian be? we all know the kh team cant design characters for shit who aren't walking talking black coats. MoM? lol? i like the guy, but hes an overpowered omnipotent all knowing god that is too strong to feasibly be beaten by anyone without a humongeous ass pull deus ex machina to solve the problem. like c'mon, dont act surprised when sora inevitably walks up to him, goes- "light light friendship heart. the future can be changed!" and then MoM is like, "ah fuck i guess you're right. i suppose i, the master of masters, the most powerful keyblade wielder ever, maybe even the progenitor and also seer of all time and existance who knows everything you're going to do before you're going to do it-- knows less than you. i was wrong all along. guess ill die!". don't act like it wont happen like that :))). you really think the kh writers are competent enough to handle a character as difficult to manage as MoM? he's a cool guy, but they fucked up trapping him in this garbage game.

lmao. but anyway, who knows who this hypothetical new ddd villian would be. but it would have to be some other dumbfuck obsessed with the (((power of kingdom hearts))). thats the name of the game after all. so really, what im actually saying is- kh3 shouldve been a whole new storyline with new villians and plot, rather than dredging up closed plotlines from the previous games. we shouldnt have to be waiting till mf kh4 just for a new story. im not playing that game btw. not unless square figures out how to make a game fun to play like its literal 20 yr old predecessors of kh1&2, while also not selling me the fixes to the game in a 40$ dlc. fuck you. REMIND me not to ever play this shitty game ever again.

ok. i think im ok… i got everything out my system. bbs shouldn't have been garbage where you cant even be like lingering will by the end of the game. also disney worlds need to serve a purpose in kh beyond serving merely as ads… ddd shouldve introduced a new villian for a new plotline continued in kh3, rather than retconning and resurrecting everything from the previous games… and MoM is a cool guy trapped in a shit game that will inevitably get botched. yup.

ok i feel better now.

[thosearentcrimes]

Perhaps, this time, Lucy will indeed hold the football long enough for us to kick it. Personally I've had a very tough time figuring out how long this "filtering in" thing is supposed to take.

I think it is unreasonable to suggest that the housing supply post-reduction but pre-"filtering in" is somehow the natural housing supply against which we should be evaluating the impact of new luxury units. For starters because in at least some cases those lower-income units that are leaving the market are being very literally replaced by these luxury flats, and would not leave the market (or would be refurbished into their old income brackets) if not for luxury flat construction. Luxury residential construction also obviously competes for land labor and materials with (to be honest nearly entirely hypothetical) non-luxury residential construction, so strictly speaking aside from counting just the number of people who would have moved out into the non-constructed luxury flats we should also try to predict the effects of lower construction prices etc. I agree that it is obviously not possible to make easy calls based off raw increases or decreases (or even inflation-adjusted ones), but I think you're being far too kind to the theory here, lauding effects while neglecting costs.

Precisely these easy calls, though, are exactly what I was objecting to. A couple months ago I repeatedly had the factoid that (raw) rents were declining thrown into my face. It is in objection to this premise that I present the validation that, in fact, when the new supply and fall in rents is concentrated at the top of the income ladder, an aggregate fall in rents is entirely compatible with continued rent increases at the bottom of the ladder and, consequently, a worsening or at least maintenance of the housing crisis.

As regards the Intelligencer article, its argument that market-rate housing cannot solve the housing crisis is correct. It doesn't explain that argument particularly thoroughly, but it doesn't really need to. Likewise, its argument for direct involvement over subsidy is valid, and is roughly similar to one I made in a different branch of this thread. Though personally I favor a level of state involvement that allows it to retain effective control, which it seems like a financing-based approach might not do. I think that private-public partnerships are basically always a scam, because if there were private profits to be made they'd already have done it, so the only way the private interests can profit in the partnership is if the public loses, but hey.

When the Intelligencer article makes the case for luxury construction, well, it's the same argument I've seen over and over before. It also uses the same handful of journal articles that all cite each other I've seen over and over before. I've read all of them, as part of the argument several months ago. I find most of them unimpressive, for reasons nobody ever seems willing to put in the work to dispute. Some of them lend support to individual premises of a theory for the explanation of a phenomenon that none of the others seem able to adequately demonstrate exists. I am sympathetic to the frustrations of advocates for social policies that you cannot collect data to prove work because nobody will let you try them, and US zoning (and fire code) reform is absolutely one of those, but these papers really are quite weak.

I contrast public housing construction against private housing construction because they do fundamentally conflict, not totally but significantly.

Last time this came up someone also claimed that this wasn't an either-or situation, and evilsoup pointed out that given a particular plot of land free for building, it will necessarily have either one or the other built on it. This is correct, because plots of land for building in a city are in fact scarce and non-substitutable (and this is the case regardless of zoning). In addition to competing for land, private and public construction compete for labor and materials. Either kind of construction drives up the cost of the other, and only one of them is set up with taking that hit in mind.

But rather more importantly, the bulk of private construction under standard US and European financing rules seems functionally untenable under falling housing prices (just for starters, any delay in construction, and there are always delays in construction, eats massively into your margin, where if prices are rising faster than your interest you might even profit on the difference), and falling prices are an objective of any public housing program aiming at anything other than confining undesirables in the projects. If the state is willing to eat losses to provide housing and private companies aren't, then those private companies will be partially, if not completely, driven out of the sector. Yes, they might still have high-end construction available to them but they will probably face significantly reduced demand as upper-middle class people decide moving up (as they now do into 'luxury' flats) is less urgent.

It is not just the case that private housing construction will not solve (on its own) the housing crisis, but in fact private housing construction as it is set up is economically incompatible with solving the housing crisis. That's not to say it couldn't be reconstructed and set up differently, like it is in Japan (a country in which housing is notably a depreciating asset) for example, but that's a very different situation from happy public private coexistence.

STANDPOINT EPISTEMOLOGY VINDICATED ONCE AGAIN

Perhaps around now would be the time for those of the YIMBYs who genuinely care about truth and social welfare and solving the housing crisis to join the rest of us in demanding one of the few policies that can actually achieve our shared goals of giving the people tolerable housing at a reasonable cost, that is, massive state (or municipal, that works too) social housing construction projects, yes there will be corruption it's worth it anyway. The best time was when interest rates were like 0%. The second best time is now.

[love-toxin]

song of styx - eddie munson

plot: your boyfriend has a request for you, one that you never would've imagined he'd try to talk you into--Eddie Munson, the satanic freak of Hawkins, wants a baby.

cws: fem reader, pregnancy talk, eddie's got baby fever, angel airs her insecurities, mentions of postpartum, dryhumping, breeding kink, implied post-s4, fluff

word count: 2.8k

spice level: 1/5

"I want a baby."

Eddie has his head laid out on your chest when he finally pipes up, his arms around your midsection, his voice clear and loud in your ears and in the otherwise quiet hum of the trailer. He'd invited you over for snuggles, and pizza, and conversation–but not that kind of conversation, at least not that you were expecting when you came over.

"You want a what? A baby?" You repeat it incredulously, trying to give your brain time to catch up. But it's really no use, you have no idea how to process that, so you just stare wide-eyed at your boyfriend until he hums his answer.

"Mhm." Eddie nods. You break out in a laugh, partly in shock and partly in disbelief.

"Uhh, this is kinda coming out of nowhere, honey. What do you-" He cuts you off by squeezing you tighter, reminding you of the stiffness in his pants that he's worked up by nuzzling into your side for the last hour. He's always been pretty easy to please, but a kid? That's not something you're so sure you can pop out easily.

"I just want a baby. Your baby." He mumbles into your chest, his eyes glazed over and doe-like when he looks at you over the bunched up fabric of the old band shirt of his you're wearing. If it were literally anything else, that would be enough for you to say yes, of course, anything he wants you'll give him. You really can't resist those big, brown eyes, most of the time.

"You do realize we're both broke, right? And Hawkins has a history of psycho Russian scientists and alternate dimension monsters and mind-controlling sorcerers popping up at random?" Eddie kisses you so gently, his lips soft like the cotton fluff of your pillow and warm like the spoonful of honey he stirs into your tea when you have an icky tummy. It's kisses like that that help you forget about everything, that help you deal with whatever else you have that lies ahead. It softens you, even just a little bit, and you can't help but keep an open ear to him for a while longer.

"Yeah. Still wanna knock you up, though." He starts rubbing your belly over your shirt, before getting a little more antsy and slipping it under the hem so there's nothing between his palm and your soft skin. He touches you like you're already pregnant, like this dream of his is a reality already and it's just a matter of time before you give him what he wants.

"D..Don't say it like that, Eddie.." You shift a little bit underneath him, your panties a bit wetter than they were before because of how low his voice just got. It's embarrassing how easily he can unravel you into a needy, greedy mess for him.

"Why?" He moves in closer, hips starting to roll against you for him to slowly start humping your thigh. "You getting bothered, pretty girl? Likin' the idea of me being your baby daddy?"

"We're broke," You repeat, a soft gasp escaping you when his fingers ghost over your clit, covered only by a thin layer of cotton from your panties–and while your first instinct is to clamp your legs shut, Eddie's looped his legs around one of yours and clamped it firmly between them, so you can only squirm in his hold. Plus, it only makes you more intimately aware of how much his cock is straining against his boxers, waistband pulling away just the smallest bit from the weight leaning against the front of them.

"We can figure it out. I'll get a job at the garage, sell a little extra on the side. Make some money for a crib, and bottles, and blankies." He smiles at the thought, head tilting and his tongue darting out to wet his lips in a hunger-fueled way.

"You're making it seem so simple. And what will I do, in this hypothetical scenario?"

"You'll grow our baby in that belly of yours. Be all cute and cranky and pregnant." You slap his arm, but it just makes him move in closer to your ear, murmuring all low and soft because he can tell that it's getting you all hot between the legs. Eddie knows it all, and it's frustrating…at least in the sexual way. "Get all needy when you can't touch yourself, cause you can't reach. I'll have to take care of you every single night. Hafta fuck you to sleep." As he speaks, his hand moves from above your shorts to beneath them, pushing the waist of your panties to crest over his knuckles and the rings he still has on as he slides one right in that crevice where he swears all the magic happens. He nudges the tip of his finger against your clit, staring down your underwear in wonder as he runs two of them through your slit to slick them up–but when he starts pushing them inside you and moaning quietly at the view, you press on his wrist and he draws them back, but doesn't take his hand out of your panties.

"S-So I'm gonna be a stay at home mom, then?"

"Don't have to be. But you could, if you wanted. I could make that happen." He presses another kiss to your jaw, offering a little comfort in the form of a sweet smile. He rubs the heel of his hand gently against your clit, just to remind you he's still there and for the pressure to curl your toes in your socks.

"Edward Munson, you can barely take care of yourself. How are you gonna take care of a baby?"

"I'll learn. We both will. And my uncle's pretty good with babies–he'd be happy to teach us. And babysit." He winks, like he's got this all figured out already. And in his mind, you're sure he's probably certain of that. His confidence is something to be admired, even when it is severely misguided.

"I dunno, Eddie…I don't want you to get all excited just to be disappointed when it's not fun anymore." He cocks his head, and you let out a sigh before elaborating a little more. Hard conversations really aren't your forte. "Babies are hard work. And staying together with a kid is hard, too, and I…"

"...You think I might leave you after the baby comes?"

Well, there it is. Sometimes you wish your insecurities weren't so transparent, your mind like a fishbowl for Eddie to peer inside and stick his fingers into to swirl it up. "I don't think you would, but it's a possibility. I'm not gonna look the same, and we'll be taking care of it constantly. It's…stressful." Eddie's eyes turn downcast. He's gentle in pulling his fingers from your panties, and plays with your hands absentmindedly. "I don't wanna disappoint you, honey. But I don't want to go along with something that you might not really want, either."

There's a few beats of radio silence then. The soft music from his stereo is barely audible over the sound of his fan weakly blowing slightly cooler air throughout his room, and neither of you have anything to break it. Until Eddie pipes up with a question you weren't expecting.

"Will you still love me after we have a baby?" He doesn't even turn his eyes up to meet yours until you tilt your head down at him, but when he does, they're so big and brown and soft. So sincere and lovely. You can't resist those–how could you?

"What? Of course I will. I always will. And seeing you with a baby would be…really sweet. Watching you feed them, and bounce them, and play your music for them, I think…" All four of your fingers curl around two of his, and you rub your thumb over his stubby nail before you pull his hand up to kiss his fingertips. "...it would probably make me fall in love with you all over again."

"Then why would you be any different?"

"I…I don't know. I guess…" You're struck a little dumb by that query, bumbling and averting your gaze from him until Eddie climbs over you, looms above you with his brown eyes filled with something akin to passion. Very, very heated passion.

"Pushing out our son would be a fucking miracle, angel, and you think I'd just say 'seeya' cause you look different?" While the serious tone he has makes your heart skip a beat, your first reaction is still to deny it. Eddie romanticizes things a lot, and it's easy for him to say that when he has no clue what it actually entails. He hasn't ever stayed up to feed a newborn or endured hours of screaming and soothing attempts.

But it's Eddie. You can feel the sincerity in his eyes, the love in everything he does, even in something as simple as breathing. When he looks at you, he loses air so easily–he just can't help but be mesmerized, even when he's being tough.

"I don't care what you look like–if I did, I'd be too much of an asshole to ever deserve you. And I already am."

"Eddie-" You raise a hand to cup his face, but he grabs your wrist and pins it back to the bed, his dark gaze never leaving yours.

"But you're my girl. I won't run away from you, and not from our little boy either." From here, the tent in his boxers is painfully obvious. But he pays his own discomfort very little mind, too caught up in the doe-like shimmer of your pretty eyes and the soft curve of your lips as they sit half-parted. "I would fuck you into absolute bliss. I'd make you forget all about the labour pain just so you beg me to put another baby in your belly."

His breathing fills the space between you, heavy and hot against your skin, giving off the image that he's only moments away from pouncing on you. He is. But he would never do so if he wasn't sure you wanted it, and until you finally speak up, he isn't.

"Our boy..?" Eddie's lips split into a smirk. The fingers he has twined tightly around your wrist venture down your arm, ghosting light touches over the delicate skin until he reaches the end and slides them absentmindedly over your ribcage.

"Munsons always have boys. And you'll be a Munson soon, if I have anything to say about it–with a little Munson inside you, too." His hand darts sideways to the hem of his shirt you're wearing, and he slides it up high enough to see that belly he's been talking about putting a baby into. That mention of making you into a Munson rings in your head and moves your focus away though, because while you love Eddie and you're sure you always will, neither of you have ever really brought up the idea of marriage. Babies neither, but a wedding with Eddie…that's a visual you're not sure you'll get out of your head anytime soon.

"Do you…really want a baby, Eddie? That badly?"

"Yes." He breathes instantly, without an ounce of hesitation. His hand hovers no longer, and he rubs over your bellybutton with a warm palm. "I want proof of our love. I want to show off to the whole town that you're mine, that you're having my baby, and that you're so happy with the freak of Hawkins that you'll let him be the father of your child."

"You're not a freak, Eddie. You're perfect." The words escape you just as swiftly, let out in a single breath that he swallows up in a kiss as warm as his hand on your belly.

"I'm a freak for you, baby." You can't help breaking out into laughter, and it makes Eddie's smile even wider. Sometimes you don't realize how much love is in his gaze when he looks at you, how much of you bubbles up in his mind and comes out in the most tender lyrics of the songs he writes and the ones he blasts in his ears when he's high. How much more of you he wants, to the point of asking you for something he once swore he'd never want, for fear of fucking something up he can't take back. But he could never mess something up if it's part of you. "There's my beautiful mama. He's gonna have your laugh, I can feel it."

"I hope he has your eyes." You caress his cheek, and he nuzzles into your touch, turning his head to kiss your fingertips. If you could feel how much his heart soars when he hears that, you might think he's having a heart attack. But he's just so in love it aches in his chest, makes him want to collapse into you and never pull himself out of your embrace. He takes your hand in his, and squeezes it like he's trying to convey how much he wants the same thing. "You'll be a fucking amazing mom. And I'll be a better dad than mine ever was. I'll play ball, and give him snuggles, and teach him how to sing."

Eddie's lips steal away everything else that you want to say, every thought that your mind is running wild with now that he's pried open those floodgates. You can imagine the afternoons spent out in the yard, watching Eddie chase your son through the sprinkler with laughter filling the summer air. The glint of the ring on his left hand as he snatches your toddler up and bounces him in his arms, his shirt soaked through and his shorts covered in grass stains. The squeal of your little boy as his daddy tickles him before rushing back through the spray of cool water to hurry towards you, your arms outstretched to capture both of them in a wet, giggly hug with Eddie's arm sliding around your waist to pull you close and kiss you. The need for that fantasy to be your reality isn't something you've felt before, but it's not something you want to push away. You don't think you can.

"He'll be so damn cute. We'll take a million pictures and annoy the hell out of everyone when he's born." Especially not when Eddie's so giddy about it in the same way, your giggles sparking an even more passionate exchange of kisses that quickly grow more heated, his tongue making way past your lips to find a home against yours.

"Now c'mon, this baby isn't gonna make himself. You in?" He whispers against your lips when he finally manages to extract himself from you, sitting back a bit on your legs to let both hands roam down to your waist. You raise your hips with a smirk, and grind against him through his boxers, drawing his nails down your sides and a groan from his throat.

"You want one so bad, then breed me like you want it." Eddie growls at that, really growls, the rumble deep in his chest and his eyes screwing shut like just looking at you will make him bust a load in his pants. You've never pegged him as having a breeding kink, he's never brought it up–but if you can expect more of that possessive grabbing at your hips by saying stuff like that, you know you're gonna do it.

"Can't wait to make you a mom. You're gonna be the hottest little milf in Hawkins," He paws at the waist of your bottoms, fumbling with the buttons and the zipper to get at what lies underneath–but he stops when you sit up on your elbows and distract him with a kiss, your hand on his chin as you whisper back into his mouth.

"And you're gonna be the coolest, bestest, most metal daddy ever." You giggle, and Eddie groans as you start rubbing up against him again, your hands sliding up around his shoulders before they clasp around the nape of his neck.

"That's right," He sighs with pleasure, and lowers himself until you're laid back against his sheets again. "M'gonna be a daddy. A real one."

It seems like he's lost himself a little in that fantasy, until he looks down at you with an intensity the likes of which you've never seen, passion burning behind his eyes like a river of flames. Like Styx.

"I can't fucking wait. Gonna fuck the baby fever into you til you can't get enough." Finally, he manages to get those wretched shorts off your hips, and rips them down your legs like he's tearing the wrapping off a long-awaited present. He moves himself aside only to get them off your ankles and throw them somewhere into the mess of his room, your bare legs caressed with a cool breeze from the fan until he's on top of you again. Eyes spelling out his need like words never could. "Now, show me just how much you wanna be a mommy, angel, and spread those pretty legs for me."

[stratossphere]

cheater cheater | j.k

*disclaimer: i in no way support cheating, and do not see johnny as a cheater! this is just a hypothetical scenario :)*

you and johnny have been broken up for months now, and he’s started to ‘move on’, but you’re not done yet.

warnings: mentions of smoking and drinking, very slight angst, cheating, smut, extremely irresponsible sex, unprotected sex, slapping, choking, Knoxville’s Dirty Mouth

word count: 6.9k

— —

You and Knoxville had been…in a funk. You had been broken up for months now, and up until this point, you’d been almost 100% sure that there was no chance of reconciliation. But tonight, something felt different.

You’d been trying your best to avoid him, because you knew that if you let yourself slip up even a little bit you were going to do something you would really regret, but you couldn’t avoid him forever. Especially with your friends’ love for partying.

You had all finished filming for the day, and had all been invited out to a set producer’s house to party for the night seeing as no one really wanted to deal with the laws and charges that came with partying in public places. So, once again, against your will, you found yourself looking for him as soon as you walked into the house.

As a result of the privacy freedom and all of the booze and drugs flowing throughout the house, everyone was acting like a fucking idiot in someone’s half-dark living room with shitty music blasting so loudly that the walls felt as if they were vibrating. And Bam, who you had somehow ended up next to, had decided that it would be hilarious to start pestering you with questions and ‘concerns’ about Johnny.

“You’re lying.” He was singing in your ear after you had been very adamant that you and Johnny weren’t still fucking. You shoved his face away in irritation, only for him to gleefully continue to talk despite your palm shoved against his cheek. “Who cares, dude? Just fuck him and get it over with so you stop being such a pissy bitch.”

“Will you put a fucking cock in it? Why do you want me to fuck Knoxville so bad?” You complained, taking a long drink of your beer after you spoke in an attempt to relax yourself a little bit. You were pretty drunk already, but he was still finding a way to stress you out regardless. You did, in fact, kind of want to fuck Knoxville, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Because you two are so annoying when you’re not fucking. He’s literally just sitting in the bathroom drinking by himself like a goddamn loser right now.” Bam groaned, motioning vaguely towards where you knew there was a bathroom around the corner. You raised your eyebrows in surprise. To be fair, there were a lot of people crammed into a house that wasn’t built for it, and not everyone could be expected to shove themselves into the living room like you and Bam had done, but the bathroom? Alone? Seriously?

“Why? Is he okay?” As soon as the words were out of your mouth, you winced at how ‘I wanna fuck Johnny Knoxville’ they sounded. Bam clearly didn’t miss it either, because he smirked.

“I don’t know. You should probably go find out.” He nudged your shoulder, and you took another long drink whilst staring him down.

“If we fuck, you can’t judge me. Like, at all.” You said with finality, raising your eyebrows at him because you knew it was going to be a monumental task for him. Bam, for some reason, was the nosiest person on the planet, but then had the nerve to judge you and act grossed out about anything involving sex if you actually told him. He made a face at your proposal.

“Fine. But don’t do anything super disgusting.” He caved, suddenly reaching back and pulling out a long strip of condoms. When you deadpanned, he pressed the entire thing into your hand before you could get a word in edgewise. “Would you like to add pregnancy to the mix, you fucking idiot?”

“Okay! Jesus!” You accepted the condoms with an extremely dirty look, shoving him slightly as you got up off the floor that the both of you had been sitting on in the corner of the room and dropped your coat down towards him so that he could hold onto it. You had never actually been on a mission where the only clear objective was to get in Johnny Knoxville’s pants (usually it wasn’t really a mission, more of a ‘look at him and he’s already taking his pants off’ type of thing), but with a row of condoms in one hand and a beer bottle in the other, that’s exactly what you set out to do.

When you rounded the corner, you were met with a shut (and locked, as luck would have it) bathroom door. You paused for a second, because there was a chance that Johnny had just moved on to a different part of the house and you were about to fuck with some poor person who was just trying to take a piss, but then decided that who gave a fuck. Everyone was too drunk to be offended, anyway.

When you banged harshly on the door and then kicked it with your foot for good measure, you heard a deep sigh from the other end that sounded suspiciously like your ex-boyfriend. You caught yourself smiling for a second at the sound, and quickly reached into your back pocket to fish out a cigarette to stop yourself from doing it again.

“What?” Oh yeah. He was pissed. You sighed softly as you lit the cigarette now perched between your lips, resting your head against the door momentarily as you puffed small clouds of smoke out through your nose as mentally prepared yourself for what was on the other side of the door.

“Let me in! I gotta pee!” You lied, banging on the door a couple more times just to urge him on. There was a pause, which was clearly him grappling with the fact that it was you on the other side of the door, before you heard footsteps and then PJ Clapp himself was standing in front of you with his hand on the doorknob as he pulled the door open. You grinned, pushing past him and then pulling the door shut behind the both of you before he could get a chance to escape. “Hey! Whatcha doing in here?”

“What are you—” He made a face when you didn’t let him past you and out the now-closed door, looking between you and the door momentarily before sighing. “What do you usually do in bathrooms, Y/n?”

“Coke? Drink, apparently.” You said wryly, motioning to the large collection of beer cans that were on the floor by his feet. You knew he probably hadn’t done coke, but that’s what most of the Jackass crew were up to if they were in the bathroom for more than five minutes at a time.

“I thought you had to pee.” He sounded suspicious, and you could see that he was glancing towards the door like he was getting ready to leave. You shrugged, taking your cigarette out of your mouth and offering it over to him.

“I will have to pee. At some point.” You couldn’t keep the hint of a laugh out of your voice as you spoke. You were drunk, okay? You could tell that he could tell, and judging by the number of cans on the floor. He couldn’t have been much better. He seemed to be in a sulky drunk kind of mood tonight. “In the meantime, whatcha up to?”

“Trying to get out of here. You’re blocking the door.” He said uninterestedly as he puffed on your cigarette, motioning to the fact that your back was pressed up against his only escape. You pretended to pout, not moving from where you were standing despite his clear attempt to end your conversation and then taking your cigarette when he handed it back.

“Come on. Just hang out with me for a little bit.” You whined, reaching out and taking his hand in an attempt to entice him into giving you the time of day. He looked down, sighed, and then made a face when he looked at your hand.

“What the hell do you have these for?” He removed his hand from yours so that he could peel your fingers open, revealing the bunched up strip of condoms that you had fisted in your hand. You waved them in front of him enticingly, a smirk on your face.

“Propositions. Just in case I need them.” You said vaguely, winking at him like he was in on your joke. He just stared at you, letting go of your wrist and then taking a step back from you. Collecting them back up so that they were stacked in your palm, you took a sip of your beer. “Bam ‘gifted’ them to me. You can use them on that bitchass blonde chick, if you want.”

God, you sounded drunk and jealous. ‘That bitchass blonde chick’ you were referring to was a girl that had been half-tagging-along to a lot of parties as of late, and had seemed almost attached to Johnny’s hip every time you’d seen her in the past few weeks. Johnny sucked on his teeth.

“My girlfriend?” He corrected, narrowing his eyes at you as he spoke in a tone that basically spat in your face. Your jaw dropped slightly despite your best attempts to control your reaction, and the cigarette you had been holding between your lips fell right down onto the ground. It would’ve been almost comical had it not felt like he had just punched you right in the chest. What. The. Fuck.

“What?” You couldn’t even form a coherent thought to respond to his news. A fucking girlfriend. After all of the long stares and the extra touching that had made you think you still had him even when you weren’t sure you could want him. Once again, what the fuck.

“Stop.” He clearly read your reaction clear as day, because he spoke before you could even give him an idea of what you were thinking. “Don’t get like that.”

“I didn’t say anything. I’m just…surprised.” Suddenly you were desperately wishing that you were anywhere but trapped in that bathroom with him. You hated the fact that you felt so crushed by his news when you’d been so sure that you didn’t even want to be with him anymore. You toed the cigarette that you’d dropped out on the tile floor to cover the fact that you’d dropped it by accident, not moving your eyes back up once they landed on your feet.

“Why did you come in here?” His words just crushed you more. You were starting to silently wish that you’d accepted the molly that Ehren had offered you when you’d showed up for the night.

Maybe you did hate him.

“I just wanted to check on you.” You hated the way your voice had gone quiet, and you just added fuel to the fire when you tossed the condoms towards him and turned to open the bathroom door. “You’re clearly fine, so…”

“Y/n.” Suddenly a hand slammed onto the door above your head, stopping you from being able to open it and essentially blocking you in just as you had been him no less than a couple minutes before. You clenched your jaw.

“What.” Deep breaths. As soon as he let you out, you were going straight for Ehren. You didn’t want to remember this interaction by the time that morning came. Especially because you knew that Johnny was reading you like a fucking book; scrutinizing page by page with every second that went by.

“You can stay in here for a while.” He was fucking serious. And motioning to a pack of beer that he had apparently stolen and hid on the floor by the trash can. “This party kind of fucking blows, anyway.”

Suddenly, something in your mind clicked. He was clearly unbothered by the fact that he was in a very small bathroom with his ex while he was (apparently) dating someone else, and he was inviting you to stay. He didn’t give a fuck about that girl. And if he didn’t give a fuck, you were starting to realize that you didn’t give a fuck either. If he wanted to make bad decisions and ruin another relationship, by god if you weren’t going to help him towards his demise.

“Yeah? Why?” You crossed your arms, meeting his eyes when he didn’t move his hand from the door behind you. “I gave you condoms to get out of here and fuck her, didn’t I?”

“Will you stop? I’m trying to talk to you.” His eyes searched yours, and you wondered if he could see the lack of care that you were slowly falling into. So, based on his close proximity and the liquor in your system, you took a leap.

“I don’t want to talk.” You moved your hands to rest your fingers on his belt buckle, fingertips brushing the soft skin under his shirt just like you knew he liked. It had worked every single time when you’d been together, and you could tell by the way his breath caught in his throat that it was close to working now. “Why do you think I came into this small-ass bathroom with you with a handful of condoms, PJ? To fucking hang out?”

“I don’t know if…” He spluttered over his words as his hand pushed yours away, eyes wide and demeanor completely stiff as he struggled to swallow the medicine that he had fed you so many times before. Serves him fucking right. “Y/n, I’m not sure if…”

“You know, all these times that we’ve been around each other lately, I thought we were going to fuck again.” You put your hand right back where it had been, because you knew his limits, and he knew yours. If he was really against what you were proposing, he would’ve been out of that bathroom long ago. And he wouldn’t be staring at you the way he was.

“You said you never wanted me to fuck you again.” He breathed unevenly as he spoke, your hand slowly starting to peel his belt open as he watched with hooded eyes. It was the stupid ‘Knoxville’ belt that was becoming more and more of a staple in his wardrobe as the days went on. Hell, he’d even let you wear it a couple times before…well, before.

“I lied. I miss you.” More missed his dick than anything else, but that wasn’t in great taste to say at the present moment. Especially when you could tell that he was still teetering between feeling guilty for what he was doing and helping you pull his belt from each loop of his jeans.

“Don’t say that.” He muttered, pulling his lip between his teeth and looking down at you like it pained him to listen to you talk. You just gave him a sour look, dropping his belt onto the floor and listening to the satisfying sound of the buckle hitting tile.

“Is she here?” You asked boldly after a second of letting him look at you. You weren’t sure whether or not you were going to be annoyed if he said yes or slightly disappointed if he said no. Maybe a little bit of both. His jaw clenched, and you started to undo the zipper of his pants to add fuel to the fire that was what you suspected his answer was going to be.

“Yes she’s here. Would you–would you slow down, please?” He said, sounding slightly agitated as his hand stilled your fingers at the zipper of his Dickies. You clenched your jaw in an attempt to control your temper, starting to get irritated with his indecisiveness over your current situation. “She’s…she’s waiting for me.”

“Yeah? Then why the fuck have you been sitting in a bathroom with a case of beer and a bitchy look on your face all night?” You asked critically, letting your lack of patience bleed through your voice for a moment. He looked a little taken aback by your observation, and he spluttered momentarily before he cleared his throat to respond.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” That’s what he came up with. That was his lame-ass fucking excuse while he forced you to stand there and wait for him to make up his mind about some stupid girl you had never even heard speak before. You were sure he cared about her just as much as he cared about everyone else he was supposed to be showing an ounce of respect towards. You threw a hand in the air, starting to put space between the two of you. You weren’t going to stand in the bathroom with him all night while he decided on whether or not he was going to commit. God knows how he did with committing to things.

“I’m not asking you to talk about it, for fuck’s sake. I’m asking you to make up your fucking mind and stop acting like a mopey little bitch while you sit here and whine.” You spoke a little harsher than you intended, but you knew deep down that he could handle it. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it, anyway. “Fuck me or don’t. You’ve got ten seconds.”

And, of course, he chose to use those ten seconds to stare at you, lips parted in a look that you had seen so many times before. He was giving you your answer without making a sound. Despite how macho and composed Johnny Knoxville wanted to seem, he would fold at your feet if you raised your voice at him even a little.

Just as you were opening your mouth to give some smart-ass retort about his weak resolve in that very department, he was suddenly reaching out and pulling you back from where you’d stepped away from him, his lips finding yours as soon as your chest pressed up against his. You could taste the beer on his breath, and you couldn’t help but smile into the kiss at the triumph of getting what you had secretly known you wanted so fucking badly ever since you’d gotten over the initial anger of your breakup. You knew it was hypocritical to tease him for his weak resolve when you didn’t even have a resolve when it came to him. He was your Kryptonite.

Johnny broke the kiss after a second, his demeanor now completely relaxed as he kept one hand on your arm and the other on your cheek. “God, you make me miss you so fucking much.”

You didn’t respond, just kissed him again. You weren’t ready for the whole ‘I miss you every waking moment that I’m not around you and it physically pains me that you’re not mine anymore’ conversation in the middle of someone you barely knew’s bathroom, and you had grown sick of talking anyway. Johnny didn’t complain, and this time he allowed you to get his zipper the rest of the day down without a word as his lips trailed down your neck.

“Fuck me. Right now. I don’t want to wait.” You said as soon as you had his zipper undone, your hands already pushing his pants down his hips as you leaned away so that he was forced to look at you. You’d been staring at him for too long with no outlet over the past few weeks to go through even more waiting when you had him right there and ready in front of you.

“Yeah. Okay.” He was breathless, and seemed to be stuck in limbo as he watched you push his Dickies the rest of the day down before hooking your fingers in the waistband of his boxers and doing the same. He was already haard, just as you had anticipated despite his protesting about his so-called ‘girlfriend’. It made you feel a small, spiteful surge of accomplishment as he returned the favor, pulling the dress that you were wearing up over your hips before ripping the fishnets you were wearing right at the crotch. You huffed at him.

“Seriously? I just got these.” You couldn’t decide whether or not to be mad that he’d just wasted ten dollars of your hard-earned money or deeply aroused that he was being so careless with you. It was like he was reading your mind. He scoffed, showing that he clearly didn’t care as he pulled your underwear to the side through the crude hole in your tights.

“Good.” He breathed, pushing you back slightly so that your ass was up against the sink as he pulled one of your legs up so that he had a grip on the bottom of your thigh and your legs spread wide open for him. Your mouth dropped open as your body quickly decided on the deeply aroused option, and you wrapped an arm around his shoulders as you stared at him.

“Can you go rough?” Your voice had suddenly lost its force, and you sounded like a little kid begging for ten extra minutes after bedtime as he lined the head of his cock up with your entrance with the hand that wasn’t holding your leg up. You were already dripping wet (who could blame you?), and you knew he could tell by the way his eyes darted up to yours with a small smirk on his face.

“Stop fuckin’ begging me for things.” He said after a second, his lips dropping down to your neck as he pushed into you. Every back-of-your-mind warning about how bad of an idea this was immediately dissipated at the feeling of his cock sliding fully into you, a sensation that made you gasp out at the same time that he let out a little groan right in your ear. If you had been fucked before, you definitely were now (no pun intended).

“Fuck, baby–”

“Stop.” The moment that he stopped you from calling him baby, which was more of an accident and a reflex than an actual formed thought, would’ve been awkward at any other time, but you were too turned on and distracted by the feeling of him pulling out and then slamming back into you to care. “I’m not in the mood, Y/n.”

“Yeah? Then fuck me like it.” You were so clearly instigating as you mumbled into his ear, and you could tell that you hit him right where you were aiming for when his lips stilled on your neck and then his head pulled away from you. Then, in a moment that nothing was ever going to compare to for the rest of your life, he slapped you right across the face and then grabbed your jaw between his fingers while he continued to fuck you.

“Shut the fuck up.” He said through his teeth, a moment of something you didn’t see in him often taking over as the hand that had just made contact with your cheek moved to your throat instead. He didn’t grip tight, but he didn’t have to. Despite the fact that he’d literally just told you to shut the fuck up, you moaned loudly, one hand coming up to circle his wrist where his hand was at your throat. You couldn’t help yourself. You had no reserves when it came to erotic violence.

“PJ.” That definitely hadn’t been on purpose, and you almost blushed at how loudly his name had just fallen from your lips. At that moment he seemed to realize what he’d just done, and even though he didn’t stop thrusting his cock into you hard enough to guarantee that you were going to be extremely sore by the time you left the bathroom, he grimaced and took his hand off of your throat to brush his fingers across your probably-red cheek.

“You okay?” He mumbled, clearly not taking a good enough hint by the unbroken stream of gasps and whimpers that were coming out of your mouth as he continued to fuck you like his life depended on it. Every thrust of his hips seemed to hit you deeper and deeper, and it didn’t help that it felt like he was subconsciously pulling your leg up higher every few seconds to make sure that he had you as open as possible for the cock that was currently splitting you open.

“Again.” You begged, voice coming out strained and broken as you tried to form coherent sentences through the waves of pleasure that were making your heart race and your legs shake. No one knew how to fuck you like Johnny did. You had to shut your mind off when you started to wonder how many girls thought that same exact thing when he was fucking them. That was not a place you wanted to go when he was currently so intimately close to you. He let out a chuckle of disbelief.

“You’re fucking crazy.” He shook his head as he let you take his hand and bring it back to your throat from where it had been at your cheek. You couldn’t call him baby, but he could cradle your face like he did when you’d been deeply in love and having sex way nicer than what you were having now. Typical.

“Ple–” You had just been about to give up your pride and beg, when suddenly he cut your voice off by doing exactly what you’d asked, hitting you just as hard as he had before at the same time that the tip of his cock hit that sweet spot inside of you for the first time that night. If what the two of you were holed up in the bathroom doing together had been a secret before, it definitely wasn’t after that, because the sound that came out of your mouth was not one that could’ve been mistaken for anything other than proof that you were definitely getting the attitude fucked out of you. You secretly hoped his stupid girlfriend was in earshot.

“Good fucking girl. Show me how much you love taking cock.” Johnny crooned his words like it was the sweetest thing he’d ever said despite how filthy what he was saying really was. You were a little surprised, because you’d assumed that he was going to want you to be as quiet as possible, but with your orgasm getting closer and closer, you didn’t really stop and think long enough for you to actually care.

Despite how much control he’d been displaying so far, you could tell that Johnny’s resolve was starting to crack. He was fucking you so hard that your head and shoulders were hitting the cheap mirror/medicine cabinet behind you, which was making aloud slamming sound, and every break of his voice was villed with a grunt or a groan that got louder with each second that passed.

“Shit, PJ. I’m gonna cum. Fucking…keep going.” You moaned, the hand that was gripping his shoulder starting to dig your fingernails in a little deeper than what was probably comfortable for him as he picked up his pace up in lieu of what you had just said to him. This was what you loved. Ridiculously loud sex where everyone around you could probably easily figure out what you were doing while the two of you were so entrance with each other that neither one cared.

“You gonna cream on my cock? Mark what’s fucking yours?” God, he was just making it worse and worse. It’s like he wanted you to make you fall in love with him all over again…because you’d totally stopped doing that. You really hoped he didn’t notice the heart-eyes stare you were giving him. There was a thin sheen of sweat coating his forehead, and his eyes were slammed shut in pleasure, which was when he was at his hottest in your opinion.

I love you. I love you. I love you. You couldn’t help it. It was all you could do not to let those words make it past your lips as he hit that sweet spot once more, pushing you into spilling over the edge as you did exactly what he had just asked of you. You dropped your forehead to his shoulder as you cried out, your whole body jerking as your orgasm was pushed further by the fact that his thrusts didn’t cease their harsh pace.

“Fuck, sweetheart. This pussy was fucking made for me.” Johnny groaned, pulling your leg up just a little more than what you could handle in his fucked out haze. You gasped slightly, half because you were bordering on overstimulation and half because he had for sure just pulled multiple muscles in your leg. Suddenly, his eyes shot back open. “Damn it. We forgot a condom.”

Fuck. So much for Bam’s present.

“Pull out.” You panicked, hoping that he was actually listening to you and not just going into ‘fuck until I can’t anymore’ mode, which was a frequent habit of his. He managed to chuckle through the increasingly frequent moans making their way out of his mouth, an idea clearly forming on his face as he looked down between the two of you where his cock was still dragging in and out of you over and over again.

“Look.” He demanded, clearly requesting that you let your eyes drop down to where his were focused. You grimaced, because he didn’t always have the best ideas, but did as he asked, looking down where his hips were starting to stutter. Sometimes you were really shocked by how impressive his stamina was even after as many beers as he had gone through in such a short period of time. “M’ not gonna cum in you. Just gonna make sure you’re not fuckin’ anyone else tonight.”

“What the fuck does that m–” Before you could even fully get your sentence out, he let out a loud, stuttered groan, and then he was cumming directly onto your pussy, stroking himself through his orgasm as he took his turn to drop his head onto your shoulder. He was insane. Actually. Fucking. Insane. You just stared at him for a second, in shock that he had actually just done that. Johnny Knoxville, who had started the night out trying to get away from you so that he wouldn’t have to talk to you.

“Wish I had a camera.” He said breathlessly, loosening his harsh grip on your leg a little once he realized how high he’d been holding it, and in the weird position that he had been holding it in. If you hadn’t known fully well that the girl he had shown up with was probably actively looking for him by now, you would’ve immediately pushed him down to his knees and made him clean you up with his mouth. But, instead, you were forced to let him pull your underwear right back into place, watching as he pressed his palm directly into place to smooth the fabric in while he grinned like a fucking idiot.

“Come here.” If he was going to do that shit, you were getting payback before you made your exit from the bathroom that was starting to reek of sex. You didn’t know how he fell for it, but he did, immediately accepting your request and letting you wrap your arms around his waist. You began to press kisses to his neck, which earned you a lot of responsive gasps and shaky breathing as he was distracted by the fact that you were hitting all of his sweet spots. What he didn’t notice was that you were sucking the biggest, darkest hickeys you could possibly muster on every inch of his throat and jaw, leaving him looking like an overzealous teenager in their first real romance.

However, when you broke away from him and handed him his boxers, he happened to glance up at the mirror, and immediately went pale at the sight of his dark and purple-spotted neck.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He deadpanned, a hand running over the expanse of his throat as he stared at his reflection with a look that had rivaled your own when you’d watched him cum on you only a couple minutes before. You weren’t much better off, with two decently-red handprints on your cheek and a couple of faint hickeys on your neck, but you still laughed at him.

“Payback’s a bitch, Knoxville.” You blew him a kiss over his shoulder as you pulled your dress back down, hoping that you looked at least half-presentable so that you didn’t have everyone eyeing you up suspiciously for the rest of the night. You really didn’t mind the post-fuck look, but you did mind the crude comments that came from space-invading men with a little too much booze in their system. It was a good thing you were starting to get a craving for a joint, because you knew Bam would go outside to smoke with you even if he didn’t want to hear about the sex you’d just been having. You looked back at Johnny once more as your hand made contact with the door handle. “Give your girlfriend a kiss for me. And tell me what she thinks of my decorations when you get the chance.”

You made sure to slip out of the bathroom before he could get a word in, because you knew that you had just royally pissed him off, only to run almost directly into the back of a loudly-shouting Bam Margera. He whipped around as soon as you made contact, evidently about to lay into the douche party-goer that had just spilled a little bit of his beer, only to have a look of concern flood his face instead when he got a good look at you.

“Did that motherfucker slap you?” His eyes immediately darted towards the door as his face changed like he was going to storm towards it, and you grabbed his arm before he could go rushing in there to berate a probably still-pantsless Johnny Knoxville inside.

“Consensual! Don’t worry!” You said with a playful grin, watching his face screw up in disgust as soon as the words were out of your mouth just like you thought it would. He looked you over, his eyes clearly catching the hickeys and the rips of your fishnets that were just visible below the hem of your dress with an extremely judgemental look on his face.

“You two sounded like you were fucking killing each other in there. Did you use all of those condoms?” You couldn’t tell if he sounded impressed or disgusted. Probably a little bit of both. Your playful grin turned into a sheepish one, and you made sure to take a step away from the rest of the people around you so that everyone else wasn’t getting more of an earful about what you had just been doing than they already had.

“Uh…actually none of them.” You admitted, wincing when you saw the look that quickly set on his face. You put your hands up in defense, mentally reminding yourself that you were blaming it on alcohol consumption and definitely not the fact that you might’ve been a little obsessed with the feeling of Johnny cumming in you. Bam certainly didn’t need to know that. “It was an accident! And he didn’t even really cum in me, anyway.”

“Dude. What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” Bam groaned, throwing a hand in the air like an exasperated parent of irresponsible teenagers. “I gave you condoms for a reason.”

“Did you know that he has a girlfriend?” You ignored his lecturing, making a face at how quickly alcohol pushed that admission right out of your mouth. Bam looked bewildered as he handed you a new beer.

“And you two…fucked?” Bam, of all people, was giving you a judgemental stare. You shrugged aggressively, popping your beer tap with one of the rings on your fingers and then taking a big swig.

“Don’t give me that look. Have you ever actually seen those two within five feet of each other?” You defended yourself, pulling a joint out of the pocket of your coat that he was still holding before motioning towards the side door that led outside.

“No, but…damn, dude. I didn’t know you could just openly admit that he’s cheating.” Bam muttered, opening the door for you and then sliding it closed behind himself once the two of you stepped outside.

“You’re making me feel guilty.” You complained as he handed you a lighter to spark up the joint that you had just put between your lips. Surprisingly, there was no one outside except for a couple who looked like there were a couple seconds from fucking in the pool, so the two of you just turned your backs and faced the other way for decency’s sake.

“Sorry, man. You two are just some weird-ass people.” He shook his head to himself, side-eyeing you like he hadn’t told you some seriously fucked-up shit that he’d done with and for significant others. Hypocrisy at its finest.

“Don’t care.” You took the first hit off the spliff, savoring the burn in your throat that cleared the fog out of your head a little bit of the mess that had been this night. “On the bright side, that was like, the best fucking sex ever.”

“I don’t understand how you like being hit. On purpose.” Bam judged, motioning to the handprints on your cheek before accepting the spliff when you handed it over. You wrinkled your nose at him, taking another sip of your beer and glancing through the window of the house to see if you could make out Johnny. You kind of wanted to see the aftermath of what his girlfriend seeing all the hickeys on his neck was going to be.

“Will you just let me exist? God. You don’t know what it’s like until you’ve done it, asshole.” You groaned, running a hand over your face and silently wishing that he wouldn’t take so long deepthroating your joint.

“I’ve been slapped by Knoxville like, a million times. Never made me jizz my pants.” Bam said crudely as he handed the joint back over, shrugging like it couldn’t have concerned him less.

“Well good for you. Can’t say the same.” You grinned at the disgusted look that quickly formed on his face at your words. Suddenly, as if the two of you had spoken it into existence, the side door slammed open, and then shut, and then you both turned and watched a suspiciously familiar blonde girl stomping her way across the lawn and then out of sight towards the side street behind the house.

“No fucking way that’s her.” Bam snickered, looking back towards you with a look of pure enjoyment on his face that rivaled your own as you both broke into a fit of laughter at the sight of Johnny’s girlfriend clearly running away from him. And then, just to make it ten times better, suddenly the side door was behind pulled open again, and then out came the man of the hour.

“Knoxville, you are one stupid fucker.” Bam whooped in Johnny’s direction, flipping him off while Johnny just, as always, grinned like an idiot. And, of course, things could never go well for you, because then Johnny was diverting off of his path to come straight in your direction.

“Why thank you.” He said, sounding completely good-natured despite the fact that his girlfriend had just vacated the party for reasons that everyone could easily guess. The hickeys on his neck had only deepened in color since you’d left him in the bathroom, and you could so clearly see that he didn’t care. He jutted his thumb back in the direction that his girlfriend had gone. “Probably fucked that up, though.”

“Can tell you’re really torn up about it.” You said dryly, taking a long hit in an attempt to keep yourself calm and collected. If only he could take things seriously for once in his life instead of turning everything into one big joke.

“Yeah, and I have you to thank for that, don’t I?” Suddenly he was way too up close and personal in your space, and then he was towering over you as he used his height as an advantage that he didn’t often take. “Don’t go switching up on me, now.”

“Okay. You should probably go chase after Melissa or Courtney, or whatever.” You pushed him back a little bit by his shoulders, consciously aware of the fact that Bam was watching every second of your interaction with an entertained grin on his face.

“Whaddya mean? I got the only girl I need right here.” It’s like he wanted to be punched. Or slapped, at the very least. And then, to add the sickly sweet cherry on top, he looked right at the dirty look on your face and then pressed a kiss to your lips. Right in front of Bam.

“PJ.” You snapped, giving him a warning look with your hand now permanently pushing him back by his shoulder. Deep down you knew that if Bam hadn’t been there, the two of you would’ve been making out by now, and you could tell that Johnny was thinking the same thing, but for the time being he just put up his hands in surrender.

“I’m going! I’m going.” And then he was walking off in the direction that his girlfriend had run off in, whistling to himself as he went. You slowly looked towards Bam, who was already staring at you, and jabbed a finger at him when he opened his mouth to speak.

“Don’t say anything. Not. A. Fucking. Word.”

[psychogirlfriendandsupervillain]

Leading Question

One shot (ish)

Benny Watts x Reader*

(* Reader wears a skirt, has hair long enough to pull (like anything longer than a buzzcut) and a vagina, so anyone who identifies with that: it’s free real estate. I am considering writing a copy that is fully gender-neutral, so if anyone wants that let me know (although I’m likely to do it anyway).)

Content/warning tags: NSFW, 18+, Smut (but it’s the slowest pacing smut, talking slow-burn but they’re both already in the bed, no joke), fluff?, friends to lovers, mention of alcohol, swearing, oral (male receiving), making out, heavy petting, really a whole lotta kissing, porn with no plot?, the porn is the plot, foreplay more like half the fucking play, hair pulling kink, mention of knife kink, sex, plotted during a figurative and literal fever, edited during a figurative and literal heat wave, we love it here.

Summary: Benny half-confesses to his attraction to the reader during a night at the bar and reader takes his clumsily put question and turns it into a homerun.

Word Count: 7k (this is what happens when you give me THAT and then take it away)

A/N: Entirely self-indulgent piece of smut thought out during two hours at 4 AM (and then throughout the rest of the day) the day after watching Fork, because I was frustrated and Benny is hot, whoopsie.

@go-catch-a-chickn showed some interest in what I was writing, but I bet you regret that now! Nonetheless, here’s your tag, have fun!

I’m open to criticism, just shoot me a message or an ask. Let me know if I’ve got errors or missed a warning.

--------

You and Benny were friends since high school. Not because you also played chess, but because you had been making out with your boyfriend in the back of the library and Benny had come looking for a chess book that was on the shelf you were leaning on. You two paused, moved to the side so that he could pull out the book and then he was on his way.

A few days later Benny was in the cafeteria and came up a few cents short, when a voice next to him told the woman at the register that they would pay for his meal as well as their own. He looked over at you as the cashier added your things to the total and you smiled.

“Now you have money over for other things.”

It continued like that for the rest of both of your high school stays. You would catch him in the corridor and strike up conversations before heading off for you next class. When your relationship with your boyfriend ended (mutually, it should be said; he was interested in another girl, you felt the spark wasn’t there anymore), you told Benny after he asked why you looked a little glum. He was supportive but didn’t bring it up again.

Now the two of you are sat at a bar counter, a bottle in front of each of you, as the day is winding down. You meet up like this between his tournaments and whatever else is going on your lives, touchdowns in the well-known amidst it all. The buzz of patrons has calmed down and outside the curtained windows the street is black, broken up by spots of the streetlights.

“Do you-“ Benny stops. He’s half turned towards you, left hand around his beer on the counter, legs facing you, but his eyes are currently at the bottles lined up against the back wall where the bartender is pouring a drink for someone down the line.

You put down your bottle after a sip, resting your hand on it just like he is. Benny starts again.

“What do you do when your dick tells you to sleep with your friend, but your brain tells you it’s not a good idea?” He’s still not looking at you. It’s almost a hypothetical, almost a thought about someone else.

You shrug, taking a last sip before turning forward.

“I don’t know, I follow what my pussy says.” With that you get up and put money on the counter to close your tab, seeing Benny jump in the corner of your eye at your answer. You’re pulling on your coat as you start for the door, slow enough that he’ll catch up no problem.

“Wait.” He’s at your side in no time. “I’ll walk you to your place.” Even in the slight shade of his hat you can see that he’s a bit flustered.

“You sure?” Benny nods. “Otherwise I could walk you to yours. It’s farther.” You push up the inner set of doors and Benny follows you into the dark airlock entryway.

“Why would you want to walk where it’s farther?” He asks behind you,  a frown audible in his voice, and you hold up your hand to signal for him to wait as you push up the second set of doors.

The air rushes against you and the hum of a road somewhere off campus reaches your ears. There’s no one on the walk path running between fields of grass and lines of trees. It’s still too early for the streets to be filled with people getting home from the bars, too late for any overtime workers dragging their feet.

“Honestly?” You turn to Benny, who’s standing with his coat still unbuttoned and arms hanging at his sides, like he isn’t sure what to do with them. “Because I’m hoping to get invited up, and if I’m going to get fucked, I want to be in your bed, surrounded by the scent of you.”

It takes a second. Then he’s a little bit closer. Not that he was far away before, but he’s close enough that when he leans a little forward you don’t have to take a step to close the gap. Your lips run against his, soft and slow, with the slight scratch of his mustache against your skin, warm cotton and leather so close now, and then you step back, absentmindedly swiping your tongue over your own lips to chase his taste. His eyes flicker between your eyes and your lips.

“Your place or mine?” Benny’s voice is a little rough; maybe it’s the drinking, maybe it’s the kiss.

“Again, yours.” You quirk your lip and reach to catch Benny’s hand, warm in yours. Pulling him into motion you start walking in the direction of his apartment, shoes echoing against the asphalt.  

“I’m not sure I will make it that far.” He sounds a bit tortured, and you laugh, squeezing his hand.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you make it. And if you don’t, I’ll help you clean up and wait for you.”

Benny makes a noise.

“Tell me about Open Sicilian.” You look forward at the empty road as you walk.

“What?” He looks at you.

“To distract you, explain Open Sicilian to me.” He has explained that particular tactic to you several times before, not that it necessarily stuck too well.

“That’s not going to help!” Benny throws head back with a frustrated laugh. The sound makes your stomach flutter. “You’re going to make me tell you about chess, and then ask questions, to keep me distracted? Like you showing sincere interest in it isn’t going to just make it harder to focus.” He shakes his head, looking out over the empty street. “You’re gonna kill me.”

You would have gotten there quicker if Benny hadn’t stopped at every tree, stone wall, and doorway to push you against it and kiss you. He even sat down on a bench when you were halfway and pulled you down into his lap. You let yourself be pulled down but wouldn’t go along with his attempts to make you straddle him, despite his hand on your inner thigh through your skirt and his insistent, chasing kisses.

As you reach the building you let go off Benny’s hand so he can punch in the code for the door. He leads you up the hollow stairwell to his door, noisily unlocks it and lets you in before him.

It’s a short hallway with doors leading off to the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, lit by some cool light falling in from the open doorway to the kitchen. There are hooks for jackets with a pile of shoes beneath it to one side, and a table holding a phone and newspapers further in.

The lock clicks behind you and Benny turns around, dropping his keys back down in his coat pocket. Just as he faces you, you push him back against the door. Shock flashes in his eyes and his lips part but when you place your against his he quickly responds, pushing back against you, his tongue running against your bottom lip, inviting you to taste it. It’s with difficulty that you pull back.

“Okay, I lied.” You admit as you get onto your knees, looking back up at him. “Can I?”

Benny’s breaths are unsteady, and you have to ask him to repeat it before you can clearly hear him consent.

You hum, pushing aside his leather coat to hold his hips back against the door, pulling his belt out from its loops so you can undo the buckle. Benny closes his eyes and groans as you let the belt with his knife still attached fall back against his legs and undo his button and zipper.

“Don’t be too loud, you don’t want the neighbors to hear you, do you? Even solid wood doors are thinner than walls.” You wink up at him and he repeats the sound, head leaning back against the door and hips pushing forward. If you didn’t believe Benny before, you definitely would now, as you feel how hard he is through the barriers of fabric. He’s solid and warm against your hands.

Pushing his jeans down, you move his boxers carefully until you can pull them down as well. Precum is leaking down the underside of his erect cock and his hips push forward again, impatiently this time. You circle your hand around him, the other resting against his hip so that maybe he’ll stay in place, not having the patience to start stroking before you take him in your mouth.

The sound Benny makes when your lips close around his cock is far too loud and not loud enough. His breathing audibly speeds up, encouraging you to run your tongue along the underside each time you pull back. Sucking down his cock, you match your movements with those of your hand, creating just the perfect rhythm that has his hips pushing against your other hand. You look up at him, meeting his eyes as you circle his tip with your tongue and he pinches his eyes closed, turning his head back up and cutting off the whine escaping his throat. You swallow around him, and the whine comes back, ending in a high pitch. You do it again. His hand pushes lightly against your shoulder, and you pull off him, sitting back and licking your lips as he meets your eyes.

“I don’t want to finish before we’ve even started.” His words are low, his hand falling back against the side of his coat. You shift your legs on the floor.

“Shame, I want you to.” You smile and bite your lip. “I told you I’d help clean you up and wait after. I’m in no rush.” Benny’s hips jerk forward again.

“Fuck” His eyes flutter shut.

“Can I?” You wait for the sound of his yes before you lick a line from the base to the head, reveling in how little he is holding back this time. Pushing his hips back a little rougher against the door to keep him in his place you earn a moan of your name which has your stomach fluttering and head spinning. One of his hands rest on your shoulder again but isn’t pushing away this time. He lets you decide the speed, albeit with the occasional jerk of his hips as he hisses and braces against the door.

“Fuck, I’-” You feel Benny tensing and look up to see him looking down on you, breathing heavily and clenching his jaw. “Fuck” He slams his head back against the door, hips pushing him further in, and you can feel the vibrations emitting from his chest all the way in the back of your throat as he releases into your mouth. You swallow it down, catching the whimper Benny makes at the feeling it gives his cock.

When you get to your feet, Benny head is hanging so the brim of his hat casts his face in shadow and he’s leaning so heavily against the door you’re not sure he’ll be standing much longer. His breathing is loud in the quiet apartment, and you can’t help the pride growing in the back of your mind. Still breathing heavily, Benny finally lifts his head enough to look at you. You meet his eyes and swipe your tongue over your lips.

His eyes flicker down to follow the movement and he groans, slumping back against the door. You smile triumphantly.

“Let’s get your clothes back on and then I’ll get water.” You help Benny get his pants back on, refastening the buckle. He’s not standing entirely stable, but enough that you can slide his coat down his arms and hang it up, followed by his hat, before you sit him down on a stool right by the door. Having hung up your own coat and switched on the lights you gesture to the kitchen door. “Do you mind?” Benny shakes his head, blond hair falling in his eyes.

You fill two glasses from the tap, throwing a glance at your watch, before returning to him. Handing one to Benny you drink the other, both of you listening to him regaining control over his breathing while you empty the glasses. As you take your last sip you place both on the hallway table and toe off your shoes.

“Want to move out of the hallway?” You hold your hand out to Benny and he’s standing before you’ve had a chance to blink.

You get precisely two steps into Benny’s bedroom before he’s kissing you again. His tongue runs softly against yours, contrasting with the scratch of his beard. He won’t even let you move forward, blocking you with his body until his hands have found their place on your hips, and even then standing stronger than you’d expect from how he looked a minute ago.

Every kiss he chases after you, when you move to the side so does he, when your tongue touches his lips his tongue comes to greet it. It’s overwhelming and intoxicating, his body heat rising and seeping through his button up and your shirt, the warm scent of leather still lingering in the air around him.

Then Benny moves backwards, pulling you with him three quick steps, refusing to let your lips part for even a second, and lets you fall on top of him on his bed.

You pull back, insisting despite his protests. He managed to switch some light on before getting lost in you, letting you full appreciate the shine in his dark eyes when he looks up at you as you brush blond strands out of his eyes. Flittering over you above him, they keep coming back to meet yours, a playful smile on his lips. You lean back down and let him capture your lips again, his hands splaying one on your back, one running up and down your side. Chasing his smile you kiss the corners of his mouth, dipping your tongue in to meet his. It’s like you’ll never run out of places to taste him.

Straightening back up and moving so you’re straddling him, you undo the first buttons of your shirt, but Benny’s hands stop yours, taking over their work with slow precision. He pulls you back down so he can continue kissing you even if it makes it harder for him to get the buttons undone, not that that seems his top priority. Sitting up and sliding the fabric down your arms Benny throws it in some corner of the room, pulling you closer against him by your hips.

“Easy, tiger.” You hum against his lips and Benny laughs a little, shifting further back on the bed and letting you both fall back against the mattress again, arms wrapped securely around your waist.

His necklaces are cool against your skin, but his hands are on fire. They run over your back and sides, up one down the other, and leave nothing but further fires under your skin. Even his rings don’t feel cold as Benny brushes his fingers up your arm to cup your head, tongue skimming your lip but withdrawing whenever you try to catch it.

Pulling back for the first time, Benny looks up at you with a mischievous smile.

“If I had known telling you I like you would lead to this, I would’ve told you already five years ago.”

Not that you’d really been open to anything at that time. Five years ago, and the five that followed, you had been entirely focused on your academics, and the only person you really hung out with had been Benny. He brought his chess books and sat with you in the library while you read up for exams. You’d chat about everything while trying to cram every bit of knowledge into your tired brains. That really only slowed down once you graduated, the hyper-focus on reading every book and spending hours writing notes over bad coffee.

“Do you want to like” You look up at the head pillows laying vertically to your bodies, and Benny starts laughing, luring you into doing the same. “move up?”

“Sure” He lets go of you so you can both get higher on the bed, but the second you’re close enough Benny pulls you back over him. “Better?”

“Much, thank you.” You smile and lean down halfway. Amused you watch Benny push up to meet you, hungry lips convincing you to push him back down into the mattress.

You can’t help the occasional shifting of your hips against his, underwear pushing against the friction of jeans below your skirt. His hands skim the hem of it, but never ventures below it, favoring to run up to your hips and draw you closer.

Running his hands up your back to hold you against him, Benny rolls you over onto your back. Settling between your legs, he braces one arm above you while the other cups the side of your head, lifting just enough for your lips to reach his.

“You know, for later, we’re still on your bed.” You remind him before kissing the corner of his mouth. Benny’s lips quirk and he follows you back down against the pillow.

“I know.” He runs his nose along the side of your neck, the chains around his sliding against your skin. Warm cotton and leather surround you, and this might actually be heaven.

Pushing back a bit Benny reaches up to undo his green button up but stops when you give him a look.

“Isn’t it my turn now?”

Benny lets go off the button and shows his hands, dropping them to your hips as you reach up, undoing the first button before pulling him down by his collar. His smile meets yours, and it only gets bigger for every button, as the release of each is met with the same celebration.

When there are no more buttons to open you slide the fabric out from his pants and down his bare arms. Holding the shirt out in one hand you look at Benny, whose eyes are locked on yours, his lips kiss-bruised.

“Does this have to be folded on a chair” You tilt your head. “or can I just throw it?”

“Throw it.” His eyes sparkle, his voice hitting a little lower and sending vibrations where your body is touching his.

The green fabric flutters to rest at the far end corner of the bed in your peripheral vision. You weren’t really looking where you were throwing.

“It didn’t even get off the bed.” You speak very seriously, as if it was a grave matter, but you’re absorbed by Benny, whose eyes are as stuck in yours as yours are in his. “If you want it off, you’ll have to throw it yourself.”

His arms shift above you, and without moving away from you or breaking eye contact Benny kicks the shirt, sending it tumbling of the edge with a soft thud as it hits the floor. You push your hips up against his, the hilt of the knife at his belt pressing against the inside of your thigh. Benny’s hips thrust back against yours and he lowers down to brush his lips against yours before devouring you again. Your thighs slide against his bare skin, and he reaches back to hook them further over his hips, swiping his tongue along yours. When Benny pulls back slightly the sound he makes fills the room, bouncing off the walls. The end of it mixes with the sigh of his name pulled from your lips as he dips the tip of his tongue into the corner of your mouth.

“Think we’ll wake the neighbors?” You lift off the bed to chase after him, not giving him a chance to reply, pushing him over onto his back. His hips shift against yours as he settles into the mattress.

“The walls are thicker than the door.” He looks up at you straddling him, his lips quirking up into a smile, blond hair falling over his eyes again. Satisfied with his answer you lower your body back down over his, occupying his mouth with yours again.

From slow, insistent kisses where Benny’s tongue runs against yours, you move to kiss the corners of his lips, his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, his forehead, and his eyelids as he closes his eyes. Continuing down his chin, alternatingly placing kisses on either side of his neck, and one at the dip at the base of his throat, passing over his chains, you shift back to trail down the right side of his chest. As your lips touch between navel and the top of his jeans, brushing along the fabric, Benny touches the side of your head.

“Don’t you dare do it again.” His tone is light and teasing, with just an edge of breathlessness and seriousness.

You move up to kiss his left hip and his hand falls back onto the mattress.

“I won’t.”

You trail back up Benny’s irregularly moving chest, out his right upper arm, and lift his hand. Pressing two more soft kisses to his inner forearm, you place one in the middle of his palm and one to the tip of each finger, before beginning again at his sternum and doing the same to his left arm.

Raising back up you push Benny’s hair from his eyes, inviting the light to dance with the sparks already in them.

“Benny Watts, you are a drug.” You smile a little breathlessly and shake your head down at him. The corners of Benny’s mouth start to raise, and he quickly swipes his tongue up to pull down his upper lip and bites down on his lower.

His attempts fail and when you kiss Benny, he’s beaming, a satisfied sound emitting from the chest pressed against yours. His heartbeats translate through your ribcage and your sentiment is repeated in your mind with a flutter in your stomach.

Ringed hands shift from your hips to your back to hold you closer against him. Somehow, you’ve forgotten Benny’s knife because you can’t even feel it at this point. You only feel the friction of his body against your, the pull of his lips.

“You should be in prison.” His tongue swipes into your mouth at that, stalling your continuation with a dizzying taste. “You should be in jail, and I should be in the same cell with you.” The vibrations of Benny’s laugh and twist of his lips reach your senses at the same time as the push of his hips. Combined they’re enough to make you say his name against his lips, repeating it when he does it again.

Lifting off the mattress Benny’s hands holds your hips down against his as he sits up, lips running down the side of your neck when they slip from yours. The scratches against your skin turn into fire running through your veins, out into your arms and fingertips as you run them over his bare shoulders, along the chains around his neck. You barely hear the sound of your name slip from his tongue against the crook of your shoulder, before Benny turns to make you fall first back into the mattress.

Benny’s hands run from your hips to the hem of your skirt, warm fingers tracing bare skin. You lift your hips against his and he pulls back, but only after sucking your lip into his mouth, swiping it with his tongue.

“Want me to get it off?”

“It’s mostly in the way at this point.” Having gotten his answer, Benny eases the skirt down, letting you lift your hips and moving so he’s not in the way. When it’s all the way off he throws the fabric the same way as your shirt, or maybe the opposite. You can’t remember.

Leaning back over you Benny brushes his lips against yours, meeting you when you arch up against him, then lets himself kiss you fully again. His hips push yours down into the mattress before he pulls them back up towards him. You roll back against him, crossing your legs behind Benny’s back, and he hisses against your lips. The sound of you saying his name causes the grind of his hips to stutter, restart, a low sound resonating in his chest, sending its aftershocks through your body as his hands squeeze your thighs a little harder.

One moves to skim the inside of your knee, hot fingers with warm rings running over equally heated skin. When it reaches the junction of your thigh and hip it slides up along the edge of your underwear and then drops beside your side to support his weight as Benny brings his other hand to hover between your legs and pulls away from your lips.

“Can I?” His dark eyes shimmer.

“Yes.” Since you can’t hear your own voice over the increased speed of your heartbeat you repeat it twice, catching the way Benny’s tongue darts out over his bottom lip as his eyes flicker down.

He runs his knuckles down the slick, wet fabric. You think you hear a breathed-out curse but are distracted when fingertips retrace the same path with just enough pressure to make your hips roll against them. The feeling is dizzying, your breathing skips. Benny’s dark eyes flick back up to yours. Then he does it again, sending sparks where the pads of his fingers almost touch you. Your eyes almost flutter at the way he looks at you when your breathing stops again to become what might have been a curse, or his name, or the curse of his name. The last one in particular feels likely as the sound twists and grows louder, and Benny’s eyes are locked on yours.

Pressing back into his bed you roll your hips against his, his hands planted back on either side of you as he lowers back down to press starved kisses to your mouth. Hips lift off yours, only to change their mind and push back down, accompanied by a curse against the corner of your lips. When Benny’s bottom lip slides against yours, you pull it into your mouth and lightly push down your teeth into it. His left arm buckles as you swallow the sound of his groan.

With little effort you coax Benny onto his back. He willingly falls down onto the pillow, rings sliding against your back as he tries to entice you into press against him. His fingers trail down, skimming along the edge of your underwear until they reach the front, barely touching the waistband, eyes flicking up to yours.

You give permission before Benny even has a chance to open his mouth.

The pads of his fingers push past the fabric, running softly your body until your breathing hitches as they lightly slip over your clit. You resist the urge to close your legs around his hand but can’t help the way your breathing audibly increases when it moves further down. Bare skin slides against your wet folds, stroking up and down; the movement slow and deliberate, and far too good for you hold it out for much longer.

You make a sound.

“Explain Closed Sicilian to me.” Your voice is strained, and you are trying very hard to not focus on every slight change in pressure Benny is subjecting you to right now. Another noise slips out and you bury your face against his chest, rolling your hips involuntarily against his hand. “Please, please explain it to me.”

“Now?” Benny’s other hand pushes against your hip.

“If you don’t, I’m going to come, and I’ve waited this long so I’d rather you didn’t do that before you’re actually inside me.” You lift your head to look up at him, quickly adding “Then again, you talking about that is just going to make it worse, so maybe don’t.” You did not need his eyes lighting up and his confidence going thrice its size because he was talking about something he really, really liked. That was bound to make your situation become much better and much worse really quick.

Benny looks like he’s about to protest before making a face and withdrawing his hand.

“Alright, fine.” He rolls you onto your back and kisses you hard, raising his hips as much as possible but keeping you down with his chest.

Letting you up to breathe Benny’s hands go to his belt, pulling it fully out of the loops this time. He catches the handle off his knife as it slides off the leather and off-handedly places it down on your stomach so he can roll the leather around his hand.

You must have done something as the sheath fell flat or as your eyes shifted up and back down again because Benny’s eyes flick from the belt in his hands to your eyes and then he smiles.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got a thing for knives too.” He teases.

“Listen” You’re a little too breathless for any type of denying being at all believable and it’s visible in Benny’s eyes how little he would actually believe you if you tried. “Messing with that takes practice and discussions, so let’s put a pin in that. I like seeing you get off, let’s leave it at that for now.”

He tilts his head like ‘fair enough’, finishes rolling up his belt and puts both that and the knife out of view to your left.

You reach up to brush Benny’s hair to the side where it’s over his eyes again, letting your fingers linger just above his ear. There’s something very recognizable about the slight way his eyes move at the gesture.

“Do you- like having your hair pulled?” You ask tentatively, and when Benny doesn’t answer right away you continue “You don’t have to say yes.”

It takes a second longer, and you start to pull your hand away before he shifts his eyes away and rolls his shoulders.

“So what if I do?” Benny glances back at you.

“I’ll tell you what” You smile encouraging, guiding the topic to focus on yourself instead to make him more comfortable. “you’d be in good hands; I like it both ways.” Benny visibly relaxes but you don’t move your hand back, favoring to slide it along his jaw to stop below his lower lip.

Softly tilting his head down, you give the slightest pressure.  He follows down to peck your lips before drawing back to meet look at you again, hands rubbing reassuringly over your thighs. The pad of your thumb rests against Benny’s bottom lip, and you tilt your head, trying to read out the thoughts that form and disperse behind his eyes. The corner of his lip quirks up and he dips his head down to catch the finger in his mouth. The flat of his tongue maps your fingerprint, a teasing glint in his eyes.

You make a noise, shooting him a glare as he looks far too smug when you pull your hand back to press it against his back instead. The expression doesn’t leave his lips when you push his side to get him down, as a matter of fact he looks offensively at home against his pillow, shuffling further into it before beaming up at you again. Unable to stop yourself you scoff, trying to look annoyed but failing spectacularly.

“Think you’re ready to go again, if you want to?” You look at your watch, pinching the face of the clock to keep it so you can read the time. “It’s been an hour.”

“You still have your watch on?” Benny reaches up to pull your arm down so he can look at it.

You laugh.

“Well, you didn’t take it off me.” You let him turn your hand over, undoing the watch and looking at it for a second before handing it to you. Leaning over him you put it on the empty nightstand to your left.

“I’m so glad you’ve got two nightstands.” You hum, leaning back to resettle over his hips.

Thinking for a second, Benny makes a face, a mixture between a frown and scrunching up his face.

“It doesn’t make sense to only have one nightstand.” He states, eyes flicking back to yours. Smiling at his answer you bend down to peck his lips.

“That’s what I like about you, Benny Watts. Things can’t just be for you; they have to make sense.” Continuing in the same light tone you add “I might even go as far as to say I love you.”

“Woah, you’re just gonna show your hand like that?” Benny mimics shock, before smiling, his hands rubbing your hips reassuringly. “Throw the whole game?” You snort a little, moving your eyes to the wall, schooling your expression to be serious.

“As if you didn’t show your hand back at the bar.” You tilt your head exaggerated, pretend thought.  “And earlier, now that you mention it.”

“I said liked.” Just like you, Benny is pressing his lips together to prevent himself from laughing, and even then, a smile cracks through.

“I’ll give you that, you did say like.”

Benny pulls you down, kissing you with a smile. Letting yourself sink into it you push down against him, swallowing the sound he makes and feeling his heart beating through his chest. His hands pull your hips closer to his to repeat the motion. His breathing increases as you do it infinitely slower this time, feeling you press against him, although you can’t say you are doing any better.

“Ready?” You laugh breathlessly and Benny groans, pushing his head back into the pillows.

“I was ready half an hour ago.”

“Well, good sex takes preparation. And this is going to be good.” Straightening up you putting the base of your hand on Benny’s chest, holding your index in front of his face to shush him. “No, no, it’s going to be, because I’ll make it so.”

Instead of arguing, with sparkling eyes Benny favors to bend his head forward and close his mouth around your finger, sucking while you talk. His tongue swirls around the digit and the corner of his lips quirk up when you make a sound, mind drifting before you catch it.

“Asshole.” Benny’s eyes light up mischievously at that, and when you pull your hand back, he raises his eyebrows.

“Oh you wan-?”

You cut him off.

“Shut up.” The bed shakes with Benny’s laughter, and you roll your eyes, shaking your head at him. He’s really having too much fun.

When his laughter calms down, Benny looks at you for a second before sitting up.

“Come on”

He nudges you sideways until you get the hint and get off him, letting him get off the bed. Benny offers his hand to pull you up after him. When you’re both on your feet he turns back and in one quick motion rips off the covers, throwing the corner to the middle so the bed is folded half-open diagonally but not all the way down.

You’re just letting your underwear drop onto the floor when Benny turns back around, and he catches up with you in the time it takes you to blink. He holds his hand out again, pulling you with him backwards.

Jut before his legs hit the bed Benny sidesteps, pulling you down first onto the bed and following, catching himself on his arm so he doesn’t fall directly on top of you.

Settling between your legs, Benny tilts his head with a cheeky smile.

“Comfortable now?”

You make a show of settling into the pillow, trying to divert his attention from the way you pull air deep into your lungs. It’s in the pillow, the sheets, the air vibrating around you with tension, but most of all it’s above you, radiating from him. The warm, slightly sweet, smell of clean cotton shirts pulled from the tumbler, a bed slept in until well past noon, and sun-heated leather in the first days of summer.

“Yes.” You smile up at him.

“Good.” Benny lowers down over you and presses his lips to yours, tongue running over your lip once before slipping into your mouth. You hum while he pulls protection from a drawer of one of the nightstands above your field of vision and pulls it on.

Fingers skim lightly over the wetness gathered between your legs, and then Benny pushes into you. It sends lightning through your stomach, sliding slowly, almost torturously, against sensitive nerve endings. His breath is slow and controlled, albeit a bit wavering. Solid warmth spreads from his body into yours and your body clenches involuntarily around him when he stills, breath warming the side of your neck. Your hands run up his sides to find purchase.

“You’re gonna mark me?” You ask the ceiling and Benny shifts, running his nose against your throat and giving you chills.

“You want me to?” His hips pull back slightly, and you close your eyes at the slow drag of his cock against your inner walls. As Benny pushes back in, one hand disappears from beside you, moving your hand from his back to his hair. Sparks dance up your spine when he thrusts a little quicker, igniting you both like a match against a striking surface. Benny makes a sound in the back of his throat before kissing you again.

Carding your fingers through his hair near his scalp you pull lightly. The way his hips jerk forward has you arching against him, moan mixing with his. Tension builds in your stomach and if the room was hot before it is blazing now. Benny presses against you, overwhelming and perfect, filling you. Your hips lift off the bed to meet his, legs crossed behind his back to pull him closer. The drag of his abdomen against you in just the right place has you whining against his lips. His next thrust is faster, causing your body to clench down, approaching the edge fast.

“I’ve waited this long to fuck a master; you better not make this be over quick.” Your hips arch against his despite your breathless words.

“You call an hour and a half quick?” Benny asks in disbelief, but the roll of his hips slows to delightfully slow, burning pulls. He closes his eyes, breathing becomes deliberately slowed. “I’m not going to last long no matter how slow I go.”

“That’s okay, neither am I.” You quirk the corner of your lip as Benny opens his eyes again and pull him back down to your lips. Trying to starve of your orgasm you focus on tasting every corner of his mouth. It seems to have the opposite effect on Benny, as he whines and his hips stutter. One of his arms buckle and you pull your hand free to direct his to your hair before going back to his.

The first slow drag releases a satisfied noise from you, and the slight sting of the next sends a thrill down your body, connecting with where Benny’s cock pushes into you. He slides his tongue against yours, pulling your head close to his.

“Fuck” The word falls from both of your mouths as your fingers pulls the blond strands they’re tangled in, and Benny’s hips jerk forward. You push your hand against his lower back to push him down, deeper, and he pulls your hips up with his free hand, grinding against you. His eyes glitter with pride when you arch, pressing your head into the pillow, mouth falling open.

Unsatisfied, Benny slows even further, changing thrusts for slow grinds, watching you trying to make a sound with a smile, heels pressing into his lower back. Your eyes flutter, trying desperately to stay open, pleasure coursing through you in unrelenting waves. Meeting his eyes, you jerk your hand a little harder in Benny’s hair, and the sound he produces almost has you falling.

His hand pushes between your bodies as he moves faster again. The pleasure is hot and fast, and as Benny pulls your lips to his it explodes, fire shooting through your veins in search of oxygen and shaking your entire body. He swallows the cries of his name falling from your lips, but then his hips stutter and slipping from your lips he repays the praise. It’s loud, it’s messy, and it’s so fucking hot.

Benny drops his head in the crook of your neck, weakly trying to hold himself up. Your chest pushes against his until both your accelerated breathing reaches the same rhythm. There is pleasant ache starting to make itself known, one you’re sure you’ll be feeling tomorrow, and perhaps the day after that.

Softly you push Benny over and he lets himself be rolled onto his back, still inside you. Head landing on the pillow he takes a few more breaths before his eyes pop open. When they meet yours there is a content smile on his lips, with only a hint of unsedated hunger still visible in his dark eyes. He reaches forward to meet your smiling kiss and lets you pull off him and roll onto the mattress beside him.

After a few seconds of just the sound for your breathing your voice comes alive again.

“I hope we didn’t wake anyone.”

Benny starts laughing, breathlessly and beautifully, and you scrunch your nose playfully at him.

“I hope we did.” He looks at you, eyes brilliant, and adds in a more serious tone. “I think they’re all asleep so they can get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow.”

You reach over and pull your watch from the nightstand.

“Two isn’t a reasonable hour to be up?” Benny snorts a laugh at your fake naiveté as you settle back into the bed.

There’s a few more seconds of silence before he talks again.

“I still only made you come once.” Benny looks at you, eyes flicking down to your lips and back up; the hunger more than unsated now.

“That’s okay” You smile teasingly. “I wouldn’t expect you to, you did all the hard work.”

Benny doesn’t find an answer to that, but you have a feeling neither of you think two is very late at all.

[lovxrslane]

Being back in the relative safety of the Wexley was a hard adjustment after the weeks spent in the city and Lane found themselves consumed with an anxious energy. They'd been trying to find a suitable outlet for their energy all morning and had hoped being in the diner with others would help. Lane had lost track of how long they'd been sitting at the bar scribbling aggressively into their journal. Doodles of what they saw in the city, faces of people she watched getting torn limb from limb, thoughts that trailed off before they could lead anywhere sensible. There was an occasional comment spoken aloud to themself or lyric suddenly hummed to as they worked.

They sighed loudly and dropped the pencil from their aching hand. All this was doing was getting them worked up again. Looking around the diner they spotted a familiar head deeply entranced in the screen in front of him. Lane took one last sip of her tea--making a face at the bitterness of it. She'd rather have coffee but figured it was best to avoid that much caffeine least she go from figuratively bouncing off the walls to literally bouncing off the walls.

Lane's face scrunched in thought at the question. "Hmm. Hot tea, melting flesh. Maybe a stamina debuff?" Because zombies didn't feel pain right? But if your skin was melting from your face and hands and feet you'd probably be struggling to move. Was hot flesh sticky? Their head quirked slightly. Maybe?

"We could always test it out. No time like the present." Their world was now a game programmer's sandbox. They could find answers to all those weird little hypothetical questions about realism in games with zombies and demons and whatever other little freaks people came up with.

Lane slid into the booth opppsite Zach and put their hands on the table, moving them absentmindedly through the air as they shared their idea. "Okay, so. Y'know how in zombie games there's zombie dogs or zombie bears, yeah? I think there's untapped potential with zombie raccoons. Y'know how fucking fast those things could just," They dazzled their fingers in the air, "climb up you and shred your face?"

//Rosie's Diner. Nov 24, noon.

@lovxrslane

It was the first time since the power died that he decided to use an old laptop and risk emptying the battery and having no way to recharge it. The urge to check the pendrives they'd brought from the ship won, and Zach wanted to see if there was anything useful there. Plugging an unknown flash drive wasn't an easy decision, even if he used his old device and even though he doubted there could be malware of any kind on them. He took a moment to see what he had on the HD, browse his old files, sipping on the coffee Charlie was so kind to have brought him to the booth. Old pictures he didn't want to see right now, many, many files for his games that he had backup copies for both on his PC and new laptop. There was something so ironic about him being so adamant about making survival games and now living it out.

Doom was sleeping on the floor, kicking his owner's leg whenever he started chasing something in a dream, but at some point, Zach had started feeling light taps at regular intervals against his feet. A clear sign that someone was coming in their direction, and Doom was wagging his tail to say hi, so Zach looked up from the screen to see who it was.

"What do you think; should zombies get extra damage from hot tea, or Ria lied to me, and it won't be realistic?"

[thatonegaytheaterkid]

Up the Mountain

 Pairing- Albedo x male reader

⚠️Warnings⚠️- cracked vision

Requests are: OPEN

A/n: we👏believe👏in👏Albedo👏supremacy👏

-

-

How?

How was this even possible?!

 How in Teyvat did you manage to crack your vision?! Weren’t visions supposed to be practically unbreakable? For crying out loud, they were made by literal gods, so how was it even possible that you cracked yours?

The worst part part was that you didn’t even know when it even happened, you only noticed that it was cracked when you had to move around your clothes to make yourself more comfortable and that’s when you noticed the crack on it in the corner of your eye when it glimmered in the sunlight.

When could it have even happened? During battle? while you were asleep? Hell, you didn’t even how long it had been since it had cracked, it could’ve been weeks and you were only just now noticing.

It was true that you were a bit reckless when you were fighting, but not enough to crack your own vision, plus it had been a quite a while since you had a big fight with anyone or anything so you would’ve noticed sooner right? Well it definitely didn’t seem like it to you

How were you even going to get it fixed? It’s not like there were any blacksmiths who specialized in fixing cracked visions, at least to your knowledge there weren’t. You had so many questions and wanted answers, so sitting around an asking yourself wasn’t going to do any good, you needed to get it fixed as soon as possible before it cracked more.

The first place you thought of going was to Wagner, surely since he was the best blacksmith in Mondstadt he’d probably know some sort of way to get it fixed right? So that’s where you were headed.

When you finally got to Wagner’s shop he greeted you saying, ’’Ah, greetings (Y/n), good to see you again, now what must I do for you today?” He was usually a bit nicer towards you since you frequented coming to his stall.

“Hey again Wagner, I, um, have a bit of a question” you asked in a nervous tone. “Hm, sure, ask away” he had a confused look on his face. “Right, sooooo, hypothetically speaking, how would someone be able to fix their vision if they, uh, managed to crack it?” you said as you rushed the last few words.

Wagner looked up at you stopping what he was doing, “You cracked your vision?!” he exclaimed with wide eyes catching the attention of a few people who were nearby. 

“Hey, hey, not so loud!” “And how did you manage to do that?” he asked as he gestured at your vision. “I genuinely have no clue, I don’t even know when it happened” you said in a defeated tone.

“Let me take a look at it, i’ll see what I can do” “Right, here you go!” you said as you handed over the vision. “B-be careful” “I know, I know” he said while examining it. 

“Well it doesn’t look like I can fix it” “What?!” saying in an exasperated tone. “However” he continued as he gave it back to you, “I think there might be someone who can” “Really! Who is it? Where can I find them?” you asked excitedly knowing that there was actually someone who could help you with your issue.

“Calm down, calm down, his name is ‘Albedo’, he’s the chief alchemist of the knights of favonious, if there’s anyone who can fix your vision it’s him” “Perfect!” you exclaimed as your eyes sparkled in delight “So where can I find him?’ you asked.

“He’s often situated in the mountain in Dragonspine, give me your map and I can show you exactly where you can get to him” 

After giving him your map and letting him show you where you could find Albedo you thanked him for his help and headed on your way to the alchemist in the mountain. 

-

The trip took about one day in total to go into Dragonspine and scale the mountain.

When you finally arrived to where Albedo was, he wasn’t actually there. After panicking for a few minutes thinking that you came to the wrong place you calmed yourself down and decided to wait in his camp. It hadn’t looked like he was gone for long, after all, everything still seemed to be left out in the open, of course if he was planning on going for long he would’ve secured his resources and materials more safely to ensure that nothing would happen right? So then that would mean that he’d be back soon, which meant that while he was gone you could find a way to warm yourself up a bit more.

Naturally, you were quite impressed that someone could possibly stay in this sort of climate for long periods of time, after all, it always seemed like it was constantly having a blizzard. 

Luckily you didn’t have to wait long until you saw Albedo finally come back into his camp with a few materials in hand. 

You then got up to go greet the alchemist.

“Hey there! You’re Albedo right?” you tilted your head. “Yes, I’m Albedo, who are you?” he questioned. You could tell he got his guard up, I mean who wouldn’t, for all you knew, he probably thought you were a treasure hoarder or part of the fatui.

“The name’s (Y/n)!” you said as you shook his free hand. He looked at you in confusion as he when to put down the materials in his hand. “And why exactly are you here (Y/n)?” 

You almost forgot to tell him the one reason for why you were even here, “Right! So I have this teensie-weensie favour to ask of you” “And you came all this way...to ask me for a favour?” 

“Y-yes” 

At this point he was far too intrigued to not ask what it was, I mean, who travels all the way too Dragonspine and scales a mountain just to ask a favour, surely this had to be a big favour right? It was safe to say he was curious, plus it didn’t look like he had to worry about anything, if you were going to try to attack him you would’ve done it already.

“So what’s this favour you travelled so far just to ask?”

“Right, so I have this… issue, and I was told that you could help me” “I don’t exactly know when it happened exactly but I, um...somehow managed to crack my vision” you said while trying to play it off cool and scratching the back of your neck with a nervous smile.

His eyes widened in surprise by the words you have just uttered to him, did he even hear you correctly? You-you... cracked your vision? How?! How was that even possible?! What kind of power must you hold to be able to crack a vision?

It wasn’t often that Albedo would be at loss for words, nonetheless in shock. “You did what exactly?” he asked again to confirm that what he heard was true. 

“I-” you cleared your throat “I cracked my vision” 

“Right, I thought I misheard you the first time” he said with wide eyes. It took a lot to be able to surprise Albedo since he’s basically heard it all by now, but a cracked vision? That one was definitely new.

 “May I see it? Your vision I mean, may I have a look at it?” he asked while trying to regain his composure.

“I-, r-right, here you go!” you stuttered as you forked over the cracked vision. 

-

While examining the vision, you took the time to admire what the alchemist in front of you looked like, studying his softened face as he closely examined the vision. 

Huh, he was actually quite good looking, he didn’t really look like what you thought he’d look like though. I mean, after hearing the title ‘Chief Alchemist of The Knights of Favonious’ you’d thought he’s look more...like a chief. Not to say he didn’t exactly look like one per say, but he didn’t exactly... seem like one, he seemed more introverted, after all, he was secluded in a literal mountain. 

You were mesmerised as you looked at him, his eyes made you feel like you were hypnotised. They looked like crystals shaped from the hands of a god. His soft features didn’t help either, being around him made you feel safe, you didn’t even know why, all you really knew about him was his name and that he was an alchemist, 

Safe to say that you were absolutely smitten by someone you didn’t even know anything about. 

“Hmn” he started as you zoned back in to listen to what he had to say “So it seems as though I can fix it, but it’ll definitely take some time” 

“That’s fine, I just want it be be fixed is all, doesn’t matter how long it takes” you smiled. You were just happy that it was even possible to fix it and that the damage couldn’t get worse. 

“Speaking of which, since you’re fixing it, what do you want in return? I mean, you are fixing a literal vision, so most likely you’d want some good compensation” you said as you were preparing yourself mentally for how much mora this would probably be costing considering that you’ve never heard of anyone cracking their vision before.

“On the contrary, I don’t require any sort of compensation” Your eyes widened in surprise, you were expecting to have to empty all of pockets of mora. 

“Unless” he went on. 

“You can allow me to do a few tests on you” managing to crack your own vision had to mean to you had power rivaling that of the archons, which made him intrigued, who wouldn’t be? 

“I mean, as long as they aren’t gonna like, kill me, then sure” you were kind of confused, tests? What kind of tests? Guess you were gonna find out. 

“How long is all of this going to take anyway? Not to say that I don’t trust you or anything but I don’t really feel all too comfortable with leaving my vision with someone that I haven’t even know for more than a day”

Though you felt more at ease whenever you were near him, that didn’t really excuse the fact that he was still the one who was taking care of your vision, after all, a vision was practically a gift from the gods, if anything more were to happen to it you’d likely never forgive yourself.

Albedo hadn’t actually thought of where you’d be staying during this entire process. Obviously you’d have to be there to take the tests he wanted to give you but it’s not like you could just travel to Mondstadt and back every single day.

“Well, it wouldn’t be ideal to have to make a trip from Mondtadt and back everyday, and since you’re concerned about the wellbeing of your vision, it would be best to stay up in the mountain to make things easier, do you agree?” he asked.

Of course you were a bit hesitant at first, but he was right, it’d be a hassle to have to scale up a mountain everyday, not to mention how time consuming that would be, so you ended up agreeing, after all, he was the chief alchemist of the knights, so that would mean that even Jean trusted him to an extent.

Plus, if anything were to happen it’s not like you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself.

-

After talking for a bit, you both decided that you’d be staying with him at his camp for the time being.

You thought of the whole situation as if it were a little vacation away from Mondstadt and Liyue, trying not to stress over your vision.

-

The first couple of days went by pretty well. Each day Albedo would give you about three tests, two physical ones and then he’d just ask you a few questions, it didn’t take long for the two of you to start getting along, the two of you hit it off pretty well.

It only took until the second day for the two of you to start talking with one another, both of you then realised that you and him shared a lot in common.

Whenever Timeus and Sucrose would try to help out Albedo they both were extremely surprised to see how much Albedo had warmed up to you, of course, you never actually noticed since you were a bit oblivious o that type of thing.

-

Two months had passed by, by then Albedo had already fixed your vision, which you thanked him profusely for, and finished taking all the necessary tests. 

Even though he had already fixed your vision you still felt the need to visit him up in the mountain since you now considered him to be a friend of yours.

Sometimes you visit him in the evening and then end up leaving in the morning. Though it only been two months, the two of you had already became close friends to one another. 

After time went on Albedo eventually began to feel drawn towards you. Whenever you’d visit him he’d drop everything he was doing just to talk to you and whenever you’d offer to help him with whatever he was doing he’d always have this little blush on his face.

You weren’t like anyone else, you were special, you were always so accepting and you’d always be so interested in whatever he talked about with you. 

He could sit and talk about how much he loved alchemy for hours and you’d still be invested, always asking questions whenever you got confused or even adding onto something he was talking about, usually after a few minutes most people would get bored and want to change the subject, which made him a bit more introverted, but no matter what subject the two of you talked about it was always a real conversation and never got stale.

And it wasn’t just that, he’d even picked up on some of the smaller things you’d do. Like when you would scratch behind your neck whenever you were nervous or embarrassed, or when you would stop literally everything whenever you were heavily invested in something. 

He loved hearing about all of your adventures, like when you battled Dvalin or The Wolf of the North, he’d always just sit and listen in awe as you told him about everything.

It really didn’t take long for him to become smitten with you. 

He decided that he was going to ask you to go on a walk with him around the mountain with him during the daytime when it wasn’t constantly having a blizzard outside and then he’d ask you on a date, or at least he’d try, whenever he thought of asking you out he’d turn all red in the face and get embarrassed.

-

Today was the day, the weather was nice, it wasn’t too far into the day yet and you were already at the camp with him, the only that that could go wrong was that you just didn’t want to go on the walk, so he decided to shoot his shot.

“(Y/n), since the weather seems to be clear today, care to go on a stroll around the mountain?” he asked as was trying his absolute best to keep his composure.

“Sure, why not? Let’s go!” it wasn’t often that the weather in Dragonspine was clear so you thought it was a great idea to go for a stroll. 

-

As the both of you enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere around you Albedo made a sharp inhale and exhale indicating that he was about to ask you something, which grabbed your attention.

“(Y/n), I’ve been debating for a while whether to ask you this so soon or not, but I’ve been wondering” he took a deep breath in and out “Would you care, uhm, partake in an outing of sorts with me?” he asked whilst trying to hide his face.

You were a bit oblivious to these types of feelings when it came to people so you were a bit confused. You tilted your head at him to indicate to him that you wee confused.

At this point his face was already as red as a pyro slime. Trying to regain his composure, he tried asking you again being a tad more blunt. 

“(Y/n), would you like to go on a date with me?” he said as he was all red in the face. 

Hearing his words almost made you stop breathing as you became flustered and red all over. “O-of course!” You gained a bit more composure as you slightly tilted your head “I’d love too!”

-

After the both of you stopped turning more flustered and red, you both walked back up to the camp whilst holding eachothers hands and enjoying the presence of one another.

If you want to be tagged in this or any of my other works please feel free to send me a dm or ask indicating that you’d like to be tagged!~ 

[jiminrings]

yoongi grills stem koo’s ass <3

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

stem koo wants to explain himself and yoongi may not want to listen

"hyeji's never packed you a sandwich before?"

jungkook pales at the mention, mouth drying when he sees yoongi bring up the soft smile that doesn't comfort him at all

“the one that’s all knuckle?”

oh my god

IS THIS A RIDDLE????

yoongi tilts his head in amusement when this pathetic excuse for your past crush is calculating what he just said in his mind

what is a sandwich that’s all knuckle?? but it doesn’t even rhyme!!

aren’t riddles sUPPOSED to rhyme????

jungkook’s more than well-versed in stem-related problems that are just rephrased 237 times over and over so that it wouldn’t be as easy to solve

he can solve that!!!

but this!!! :O his mind is short-circuiting pls do not approach him

“hm?” yoongi’s smile patronizes him further and puts him on the spot, straightening his figure and jungkook’s quick to stop him from coming back inside your dorm

“i want to-“

“i asked you — have you ever had a knuckle sandwich?”

yoongi enunciates with so much clarity that kook finds his mind blanking, tripping over his words he hasn’t even formed yet

“i-is it-...” he stalls, trying to rack his mind for the bread he’s not sure he’s ever even heard of in his life, “i-is it like, a pork thing? uhm, t-the pig’s knuckle? and then you put it between, uhm, bread?”

,,,, laughable

jungkook’s supposed to be smart, isn’t he? or atleast that’s what yoongi thinks he’s supposed to be

lmao he would’ve laughed at the boy’s poor attempts if only he wasn’t furious at him

he’s dumb but not the endearing kind ://

“no,” yoongi drawls out, pretending to fish something out from his pocket

jungkook watches in intrigue, thinking that yoongi’s reaching for his phone to show him a picture of what it looks like

the hypothetical situation in jungkook’s mind is clearly not the one that happens

jungkook SHRIEKS as he stumbles on his heels backward — crystal clear to him that yoongi was not looking for his phone, but instead balling his fist and him being the receiving end

almost the receiving end

yoongi almost sucker-punches jungkook in a blink, fist literally a millimeter away from his nose and the only thing he could see at the moment is red

... red and jungkook’s wide eyes that have never carried this much fear up until now

“that’s a knuckle sandwich, kid. would’ve fed it to you if only y/n isn’t in the room right behind me.”

holy fuck

his heart is beating right against his ribcage and that shouldn’t be possible, fists closing upon themselves nervously as he tries to soothe his thumb so his mind relaxes

spoiler alert: it doesn’t work

jungkook’s mind is all over the place, even more rattled than it was when he takes a text without studying (he was so low he got a 98), but the only thing that’s clear is that you’re behind this door

“yoongi — mister yoongi, please. i-i need to explain myself, and if only you let me try, i can!! i swear. i’m not forcing you but-...”

there he is again

jungkook’s only been in his sight for like two minutes but his eyes are already sore

“why are you even here?” he scowls and even if the younger boy’s taller than him, every bit of his posture and demeanor at the bite of his words scream small, “why go all this length for someone you stomped on today, then have the gall to be a crybaby about it?”

he's speechless and it only serves him right, looking at his mudded-up converse and trying to focus on anything besides the guilt within

"m-my explanation," jungkook mutters, hands behind his back as if he's being scolded, “will you tell y/n?”

yoongi releases an agitated breath at him muttering your name

he dOESN'T get to say your name!! no!!! not after what he did to you

“i’m not concerned about you. what i decide to do or not, has nothing to do with whatever you say right now.”

kook solemnly nods, and even if yoongi's much harsher in your words compared to yours, the gravity of yours with him not being related to you cuts deeper

there's nothing else he could care about, actually

jungkook follows campus curfews to a T and would come home two hours earlier in the rare event that he goes somewhere

but now, he couldn't care less when the dorm master could just be there any second and he'd pass a hall monitor like usual

for the whole day, you were the only one that occupied his mind

"i know hyeji isn’t the one."

god, it was clear as day

he'll be the first one to admit that he can't read people very well, but he knew from the start that it's probably not hyeji who's been packing his lunchboxes

jungkook sometimes takes attendance in behalf of the professor because as much as he's shy, he's also a teacher's pet

the classes she shared with hyeji? she wasn't present everyday for the whole duration of two weeks, and how could it be that she still managed to make him a lunchbox if she wasn't present in the campus at all?

there was a probability that it could've been her, but it was so low that it sat right next to improbable

"i-i entertained the possibility briefly that she was, but then nothing was making sense the more i thought about it."

jungkook sometimes also checks papers because his professors trust him enough and he has perfect scores anyway, so he uses his own as his answer key

"i needed to interview y/n for an assignment, a-and a signature above a name was needed and it was just so familiar."

the moment he racks his head for hyeji's writing, it seemed fAR from the writing on the sticky notes on the lunchboxes

"then she seemed mad at me, but when i went to her on the field to try and confront her-" jungkook pauses and almost whispers the next part, the shame on his skin starting to seep into his bones, "she told me that we weren't related for me to feel hurt about it."

yoongi clenches his jaw, a pressure forming on the center of his eyebrows because he knows where this is leading

"a-and i thought it was hyeji again."

jungkook can't bring himself to be elated that it's been you the whole time because he might be a little too late; a little too late when he's already subjected you to the heartbreak you didn't deserve

"i-i didn’t know what clicked in my mind but i was just so hurt that-"

that's the fiNAL straw for yoongi

this has been him trying to keep his anger at bay the whole time, but this one!! this one he can't just accept

"you are a fucking asshole. honestly."

jungkook slightly winces with the sudden cussing, but it barely scratches the surface

"you think you’re the only one hurt? tell that to me who’s never seen y/n cry so hard before — or even cry at all."

his explanation wasn't an excuse and he knows it, but nonetheless, it tears him apart

"i’m sorry."

his lips quiver and he's trying sO hard not to cry in front of his senior, but yoongi doesn't feel even the slightest remorse for the kid

"i don’t care. you don’t apologize to me; you apologize to y/n. whether she forgives you or not, which for the record i don’t think she should, you cannot take back what you said."

if what jungkook said was eVER said to yoongi, given that he had the same circumstances as you did, he wouldn't know how to bounce back at all

it's a pain he doesn't wish to feel and he could only helplessly look at you who's trying to navigate it

perhaps you don't even plan to navigate it — knowing you, you're just gonna sail through it all to the point you're not giving yourself enough time to even realize that you already are

it was the same cycle of trying to move on without grieving through it properly that it hurts yoongi and seokjin and the tiny amount of people around you

"grovel at her feet. cry her an ocean. commit penitence. whatever you wanna come up with, no matter what, you do not make my y/n feel like she isn’t deserving of love."

you're family and yoongi goes above and beyond for family.

"i don’t care if you make up. i don’t care if you don’t. all i know is that in any other place besides outside the room she sleeps in, i’d hurt you like you hurt her."

jungkook almost wishes that yoongi punches him now and he won't even try to dodge it

"i deserve it."

"you do."

they whole-heartedly agree and it's the only time that yoongi can get behind jungkook's words

"i’m always gonna be on y/n’s side, kid."

there's no other way around it and as much as you know it or not, you've cemented your position in yoongi's heart unknowingly

"the only way that i’m gonna be on yours is when you’ve earned my utmost respect," he can't even see when that happens, crossing his arms across his chest, "and you don’t."

jungkook's tears are falling to the floor but they don't get on his cheeks, the sudden set of footsteps coming from his side making his head straighten and wipe his eyes immediately

he's the only one alarmed and he spares yoongi a glance, then to said person

yeah right that couldn't have been you :((

the guy who's approaching doesn't stop walking and he looks like.... he's uh,,, coming to where he's exactly standing????

he seems oddly familiar though

“oh, taehyung!"

where did he hear that name before??

taehyung stands at the same height as jungkook, maybe a centimeter or two taller, but he just couldn't stop looking at him from the corner of his eyes

yoongi's oblivious to jungkook's ongoing deduction, immediately engulfing taehyung in conversation

"y/n’s already asleep. i could do her part of the project-“

he offers because he recalls that right, you told him that taehyung's coming over to finish your shared project of a business plan late tonight

uhhhhh you're kinda zooted and going through it rOUGH so yoongi doesn't mind doing your contribution for you

“yoongi!! oh no man, it’s not what i came here for," he leans for a side hug, eyes landing on jungkook to drop a polite smile to acknowledge him

jungkook only slightly bows, confused but even more intrigued because he heard your name in the conversation

"i just uh, i just saw y/n crying while i was on my way home awhile ago, and i didn’t get to ask why, but i felt bad, so i came by to drop some cookies.”

oh

taehyung continues talking and it leaves yoongi and jungkook stunned, but he only focuses his attention on the former

“you looked like a hazelnut cookie kind of guy, so i baked some too!! is y/n allergic to peanuts? i put some too in a separate container in case she is.”

yoongi laughs and they go from there

IT'S LIKE JUNGKOOK ISN'T EVEN HERE!!!!

baby he's here he's nOT a hallucination!!!!

despite the fact that he's sticking out like and (unacknowledged) sore thumb, no one makes a move to take the conversation elsewhere

“thanks, tae. damn, you did all this yourself?”

yoongi whistles when he takes the tupperware opening it and almost watering at the sight

he doesn't mind baking cookies for you in case you wake up hungry, but taehyung really just did himself a nice favor without knowing it

he smiles softly, eyes narrowing in intrigue now that he realizes

"taehyung. no offense, but you’ve only interacted with y/n like once and it’s only for a project. why would you bake her uhhh 28 cookies?”

hehe

“35, actually :D”

tae interjects, waving him off when yoongi's jaw drops even further

“yeah, i know. i just felt so sorry for her — i’m not related to y/n but i just felt like i wanted to make her feel better.”

jungkook's jaw locks at this, his breathing becoming shaky all over again, fists balled this time

“it’s like,, economics!! i don’t actually know, maybe??? i’m in visual arts. y/n took over my part for me when i was sick-“

".... so you made her 30 cookies."

taehyung's the personification of a golden retriever and now that he thinks about it, jungkook reckons seeing him more than a handful of times

he laughs deeply at yoongi's rebutt and it may be in unfortunate timing that jungkook realizes he kNOWS him

he's in the same year!! he's the one that takes the portraits for the school paper and it's always his name in the credits

"good night, yoongs. hug y/n for me. tell her i'll take over her part, no questions asked."

taehyung walks away and he's perfectly content even if he didn't get to give you the cookies like jungkook thought he would

"night, taehyung."

yoongi looks at the retreating figure briefly, then looks at jungkook pointedly

he doesn't realize that he's still budging and listened on an entire conversation, dropping his head when yoongi points to the elevator

"bye, jungkook."

"good night, yoongi."

he feels hesitant to leave but it's probably for the better, putting his hands in his pockets still not enough to make his hands stop trembling

kook stops at the middle of his walking, turning his head to look back at yoongi whose mouth already has crumbs

"c-can i see y/n tomorrow?"

"i'm not her dad."

jungkook nods somberly, leaving it at that while his bulk of emotions consume him

he thinks all about the ways he could attempt to make it up to you, a million ideas in his head but his head doesn't hurt

his nose twitches at the lingering scent the cookies left, annoyed at the persistent smell and perhaps the boy that brought them

jungkook's never really liked cookies.

[homemade-ghosts]

Can you give your thoughts on the PW couch scene in Season 2, please? A lot of PWs try to make it out to seem that that scene had major communication in it and I wonder how they could think that? It was mostly EJ voicing his stresses like he usually does and Gina giving him her input on the situation. Even if they did communicate well in that scene hypothetically, that's just ONE scene out of so many other scenes that they haven't been able to actually communicate well in, in other scenarios.

Like most of 2b, I hadn't seen this scene since the episode dropped, so I had to go back into the dark (literally, no one paid their electric bills in s2, I swear) depths of s2 to watch it again. & truthfully? It’s not as bad as I remember.

I know you asked for my thoughts on the couch scene specifically, but I hope it’s okay if I have a little compare/contrast moment because, to me, the major significance of this scene is that it’s is in direct opposition to Gina’s scene with Ricky on Valentine’s Day. Gina seeks Ricky out, she shows up at his apartment for comfort because, despite the unspoken tension between them, Ricky is Gina’s person. He’s the one she, by her own admission, tells things she doesn’t tell anyone else. It’s a purposeful action, Gina came to see Ricky and only Ricky because he’s the one who understands her — but EJ coming to see Gina is completely accidental. He actually came to talk to Ashlyn and only settles for Gina when she tells him that Ash isn’t home at the moment. EJ even, weirdly enough, seemed to have forgotten Gina even lives with Ashlyn (the first thing he says when Gina opens the door is, “hey, what’re you doing here?” and she has to remind him that she does, in fact, live here). Whereas Gina knew exactly where to find Ricky because, even though he neglected to tell his own girlfriend that he had moved out of his childhood home and into a smaller apartment, he told Gina and gave her the address. 

I think what really stands out to Gina though, is that even though EJ didn’t show up specifically for her, he still showed up. The last time we saw Gina open that door, there was no one on the other side. Just a box of chocolates she mistakenly thought were from the guy who gets her. & every other time before that, Gina was always knocking on Ricky’s door. I think it felt good for her to be on the other side for once, the one answering the door to a friendly face. 

Now, onto the actual “couch” part of the couch scene. I think there’s a genuine attempt at understanding each other here, but the keyword is “attempt.” Gina can guess that EJ turned down the Duke offer because he didn’t earn it, but they lack any sense of commonality to go deeper than that. Gina doesn’t know what it’s like to be that privileged, to be rewarded based on status and not merit. She’s the girl who never quits, who keeps pushing, when she gets something it’s always because she’s earned it. When EJ tells Gina, “…my entire life has been mapped out for me for as long as I can remember, you know?” She smiles, but replies, “Not really. I’m always one natural disaster away from landing in a new place.” and there it is again, that lack of commonality. EJ doesn’t know what it’s like to crave stability because that’s all he’s ever known. To EJ’s credit, he does ask what that’s like for her, but when she tells him that it’s both stressful and freeing, that she doesn’t “worry about the future because she can’t control it” (hearing her say that knowing she would tell EJ she was trying to build a future with him almost a full season later kind of broke my heart. EJ truly has no concept of how much of a breakthrough it is for Gina to be able to think about the future because his whole life has been about his family planning his future). After he asks though, it never goes deeper than that. He brushes it off (maybe because he doesn’t understand?) and instead, turns the conversation in a different direction with, “Well, you always seem to know what you want.” Which had nothing to do with what Gina just told him and everything to do with himself. He came here to talk things out, to try to figure out what he wants and he was projecting onto Gina, effectively saying that he wished he knew what he wanted. Gina opens up to him, or tries to, and he trivializes it, turns the conversation back to him and what he’s thinking.

Their back-and-forth, on the surface, can seem mutual — but in retrospect, it feels like a small preview of what’s to come. You have Gina supporting EJ, telling him that, when she looks at him, she sees the guy that bought her a plane ticket for Opening Night (EJ’s canonically rich so I still maintain that he’s the only one who could afford to buy her a last minute flight to SLC, not the only one who wanted to) and the guy who made a sweet birthday video for Carlos. Gina does her best to lift him up just like she will do at camp in s3 — but EJ doesn’t really give her anything back, except for telling her that she’s “one of the bravest people [he] knows” but it feels like a hollow complement because…honestly, what does he know? In s1, he basically only talked to her when it involved scheming and, at this point in s2, all he’s done is see her cry at Carlos’ party and pretend to be her boyfriend for 10 seconds when they went to North High. It’s a nice thing to say and it’s true, but it’s not personal or meaningful because what does he know about how brave she is? He doesn’t even really know her.

It reminded me a lot of Nini telling Gina that everyone is lucky to have her in their lives in the s2 finale, which, again, is absolutely true — but coming from someone who hasn’t really been in Gina’s life (she was at YAC & had spoken to Gina maybe once or twice since she got back) it just felt…empty. 

Ultimately, this scene makes two things very clear to me: 

1. Ricky & Gina need each other, specifically — EJ & Gina, however, both needed someone. In s2, Gina needed someone to show up for her in a way that Ricky couldn’t while he was with Nini and EJ needed someone to both reassure him about and distract him from his future. It didn’t have to be each other, but they happened to be in the same place and need someone at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, I believe EJ & Gina both developed genuine feelings for one another, but their entire relationship was born out of needing someone, anyone, to help them through a difficult personal time. Once they were both out of that vulnerable state, there was nothing left to connect them.

2. I can see how the couch scene seems like good communication on the surface: EJ & Gina engage with one another, they listen and they try to see where the other is coming from…but they don’t relate to each other in any way. They don’t understand each other. & can communication really mean anything if you don’t understand the person you’re trying to communicate with? I don’t think so. 

3. It’s very odd the amount of pws who turn to this scene when they want to talk about how “bad” s3’s writing is, claiming that they really connected here, that it makes no sense for them to have, among other things, severe communication issues in s3 because this scene exists. This is the closest pw ever gets to decent communication and it still lacks any kind of mutual understanding + literally four episodes later, instead of talking to Gina, EJ breaks off their plans & avoids her. The only reason they even end up kissing by the end of the ep is because Ashlyn tells Gina what was going on. There was absolutely no communication between the two of them. The couch scene is quite literally the only time they both make a sincere attempt at communicating with each other.