#like Nathan Brown can be dramatic

[anandrettisimp]

So when it comes to IndyCar we have a ‘big three’ when it comes to journalists

Marshall Pruett from RACER magazine

Nathan Brown from the IndyStar

Jenna Fryer from Associate Press

And, in all honesty, this whole Penske P2P situation shows everyone’s strengths.

Pruett is one of those motorsport journalists that were previously a mechanic so not only has that technical knowledge to give a different insight and expand on the information we have so far but has sources amongst the engineering and technical sides that’s others often don’t have.

Brown will ask questions, having gone to Tim Cindric several times since this all came to light and do his own investigations.

And Fryer, throws shade and stirs shit on twitter hoping it will somehow convince someone to give a tell all on her fainting couch.

Like, I wish I was joking. The woman has been attacking Josef since this began of all this happening.

Fun fact: Josef was always scheduled for Friday media, even before it was announced that he would be doing a mini conference in the morning.

And it’s not the first time she’s pulled shit like this.

She spent the “Daytona 23 hours and 58 minutes” acting like a gossip channel about what had happened to Devlin’s puppy as if to justify why she was at the track cause she talked more about blocking people than she did the race itself.

Then we have her basically bashing David Malukas for being upset that he didn’t win the Indy 500 rookie of the year over Jimmie Johnson, falsely claiming that he had abandoned another AP Journalist when he hadn’t and giving a half hearted back pedal before calling him and Dale Coyne Racing unsporting.

There’s also when she reported on Fernando Alonso’s announcement to be doing the 500, which was full of misinformation (highlights being that IndyCar and F1 totally use the same Honda engine and Fernando wasn’t going to have to do the rookie runs). When people including Mario and Michael fucking Andretti were calling her out on her bullshit, what did she do?

Compared herself to a journalist who had been murdered in Russia for speaking out against Putin and then used Billy Monger’s fund raiser as further deflection.

She acts like this, knowing that because she works for AP, people will still come to her with stories.

We’ve literally had Zak and Chip fight over her fainting couch throughout the Palou Contract saga.

And it’s fucking infuriating.

[silvvermst]

ATTENTION

SYNOPSIS :: you saw your ex once again in a party thrown by the vortex club

NOTE :: all characters are 18 and above

TYPE :: fluff / a tinge of sexual tension

Maybe it's the strong mix of the cocktail that Courtney brewed up to this party, but somehow it turned into a liquid courage. Because you can see him shiver under your gaze hiding from a bunch of friends he made when you parted ways. As much as how toxic it may sound, you hated the fact that you’re not beside him anymore and these… strangers are now hanging with him. He shouldn’t be here, everyone can tell with one look that a guy with an angelic place doesn’t suit to be in a place filled with hard liquor, drugs, and the faint smell of sex in the corner. The scent of this place is not fit for an angel like him because in your mind, the only perfume he should wear is yours, You like it that way. Who the fuck even invited him in this party. Well, probaby Dina, just to piss you off since you ditched her last week.

You swirled the red solo cup in your hand, rethinking your life choices and shit. Keeping a clear mind, which is already futile since the flashing lights inside the club were hitting your eyes in different places that just made you frown and sunken lower on the fluffy couch with one of your friends passed out, drunk. Therefore, you took another gulp from the cup whether to take your mind off of that brown haired boy, or maybe it just made memories of you, together overflowing your brain.

Though, maybe the final straw was when a girl approached him, her touch lingering on his arms, hair, face. Fuuuuck, you rolled your eyes from the obvious cheap flirting that girl can muster. You might just stand up from the couch and show it how to properly make that guy drop to his knees, since, well, you already know what buttons to push and make him beg for it.

You couldn’t help but scoff at the fact that you can see him blush and a shy smile begins to appear in his face. Though, when he felt your stare on him he caught your eyes filled with envy. His flushed face turns into a surprise as he stares back at you, but that girl really has to wave her hands in front of him, making his eye contact with you break.

“You know, if you were so pissy about it just approach him.”

“No fucking way. I don’t chase.” You bite back from Prescott’s snappy tone.

“Yeah, but from just your look you might chase away that girl all over Graham.” He took your red solo cup and sat down next to you while he sipped down the liquor on the cup.

“I don’t fucking care about them. I mind my own business, unlike you.” You didn’t even complain about him taking your drink, maybe it’s better that he takes it because if you get more drunk later you might take that girl’s hair with your fists.

“Well, you can continue to be a jealous bitch, because one way or another…” He paused for dramatic effect as usual. “There are a lot of girls here who want to approach him, I mean, everyone can tell he’s a fresh face. Anyone would be happy to try something new.”

You grumbled from his statement, scooting closer to Nathan and pressing your head against his shoulders as you watch Warren interact with the same girl.

“Why did the both of you even break up?” He asks, though his attention was in his flip phone.

Right, it was late at night when you both had an argument. It was something stupid, it wasn’t even worth fighting about, but you couldn’t help but cause chaos. Pushing him away from you was the right thing to do, is what you say to yourself every time you type his number on your cell and stare at it for hours deciding whether to call him back or not.

“Jesus, can you stop with the questions? Not helping, Nate.” You huffed, pushing your face further on his arm. Blocking the air of the club and inhaling his cologne instead.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m just making you realize your dumb mistakes.” He smirked, because now, the girl that was all over Warren walked away in annoyance. “You never know, he might be in the same position.”

By the time you were practically cuddling with Nathan, Warren’s mood immediately turned sour. From his scrunched up eyebrows and annoyed eyes, what was worse is that Nathan was taunting him with a smirk. Aleina, the girl he met earlier, already walked out when you were taking too much of his attention, unintentionally. If you hated the girl, then he fucking loathes the fact Nathan’s arm was around you.

The dimmed light of the club and the loud music only adds fuel when Nathan invites you to the dance floor. Of course you accepted, he was just trying to make you feel better. But for Warren, it comes off different because now he gets to stare at you and the way you dance with another guy.

“Look at Graham.” You were surprised you even heard Nathan through the loudspeakers the DJ has been blasting. But you did, and the moment your eyes saw him, his features softened. The soft smile gracing his face was definitely not helping you from relapsing.

Then, he broke eye contact once again. He was saying something to one of his friends before he stood up from the stool and walked away to the restrooms.

“I need to go.” You tiptoed and said it next to Nathan’s ear so he can clearly hear.

“Fucking finally, I thought I have to drag you.” Was the last thing you heard from him before you got off the dance floor and followed Warren.

This part of the club wasn’t much dimmed unlike in the bar with the dance floor, and the music from it grew quiet through the hallway. With no sight of him, you walked through the hallways until a door was open ajar.

“What are you doing here?” His voice echoed when he opened the door of the bathroom, the drunkenness in your system seemed to fade away just from his voice.

“Should be the one asking that, what the fuck are you doing here?” Your tone was much harsher than you intended, maybe it was the alcohol talking.

“So, what? I can’t attend parties now?” His voice was much lower showing that he wouldn’t put down a fight against you.

“Don’t start, Graham.”

“I’m not starting anything, you’re the one who followed me here.” He’s right, why the fuck did you even followed him here. But, you crossed your arms and huffed trying to think of an excuse to save yourself from embarrassment.

“Oh, shut the fuck up. I own this club, remember?”

“You mean, your dad owns this.” He gagged you with that, and the worst part is when he tilts his head and smiles.

“Fucking hate you so much, you’re just so irritating. You are soooo fucking childish!” Your patience was on thin ice, his smile was just pushing it much, much worse. If he continues with that attitude, you might just push him against the wall and bite his lower lip.

But you weren’t able to continue your whining when he grabbed you by the shoulder and pulled you inside of the bathroom with him, slamming the door and locking it.

“Hey, Tori’s looking for you, dumbass!” Nathan’s voice echoed throughout the hallway outside of the bathroom.

Warren couldn’t even process why he pulled you in, he just wasn’t able to hand you over to Nathan because there was just no goddamn way he would. If he could, he just wants to hide you forever, if you let him.

His footsteps stopped right in front of the bathroom door, it was silent before there was a rattle on the locked doorknob that sent shivers down your spine, as your back was pressed against the door.

“Well, if Warren fucking Graham’s there with you, make sure to return her before midnight, Cinderella got a fuckin’ curfew.” Nathan snickered before he walked away.

When you both felt the coast was clear, he stepped away from you. It was evident to the both of you how his blush travelled down to his pale collarbones, while yours was dusting the tips of your ears. The silence between the two of you was excruciatingly painful, you bit down on your tongue to stop you from talking. Somehow the vents in the bathroom turned hot, as your breathing staggered.

“I should get going.” Finally, he was able to say a few words without stuttering, because how can he not when he smelled the perfume he bought for you. After all these months you were still wearing it. It was something that used to drive him crazy for you, this time it might just put him into an asylum if he was stuck with you in here much longer. He breathed in, though it was a bad idea because now his senses were filled by you, as he ran a hand on his hair trying to remain his composure.

Max was right, he should’ve stayed away from this party. It was bad fucking idea to go with Chloe.

You took a step to the side, waiting for him to take a step to leave you here alone. Though, at the back of your head you were wishing he wouldn’t. “Go, get out of here.”

He looked back at you, examining your features, from the curls in your hair, the black dress he so fucking loves, heels that he worked hard for months just to give it to you for your birthday, because he knows how much you love branded heels.

Nathan was right, I should’ve thrown all his gifts away. It was a bad fucking idea to wear these tonight.

“You look good.” It slipped out from his mouth. Fuck.

“Me? Seriously, take a look at yourself. You finally followed my advice to change your whole wardrobe.” You stared at him, a windbreaker over a grey hoodie with white sneakers. He seriously looks so different after these couple of months.

He smiled, a sincere one. As much as he missed your storms, he missed the calm before it. Your snappy tone with loving words was something only you can stir inside of him, he just misses everything about you. And being stuck inside with you makes it worse.

When the silence took too long, you decided to break it. “Well, are you gonna get going or not?”

Warren mustered up the courage to take a step towards the door, upon opening it the music started to seep inside the bathroom and that damning perfume just made him slam the door shut.

“Are you going to hit me if I kiss you?” He asks in a desperate tone, trapping you with his arms.

“Fuck, no.” You welcomed his warmth with open arms, letting yourself be wrapped by him. His hot kisses were so much better than the things you imagined at night when you miss his touch. While his hands were cupping your cheeks, you hugged him tighter.

“Miss you, so much.” He whispered between kisses, pushing you against the wall. It seems the closeness between you wasn’t enough, he wanted to make sure there was no gap between you. God, he misses your lips and the red, cherry lipstick that smudges the side of his mouth, he loves it more if you decorate his skin with your kiss marks. “Do you know how pretty you are? So gorgeous.”

You forgot how vocal he is when you two started making out that it made your body on fire as the blush continues to spread from your cheeks. “Warren, we…”

“Fuck, please.” He whined, if you miss him, just think about the nights when he physically had to stop himself from showing up to your dorm room and push you on your bed. He wants this, no, he actually needs this. Once he feels your touch again, he doesn’t want to go back to those months where he couldn’t have it.

Who are you to hold him back, you’d be a hypocrite if you say you didn’t need this as much as he does. Rational thoughts went out of the fucking window when he took the lead. The thin straps on your dress fell through your shoulders, and your hair was already a mess from tonight. He was awestruck. Well, who wouldn’t?

Although, your hands were on his shoulder giving little to no strength at actually stopping him from kissing your ears to your neck. And fuck, his hands just holds you in place by your waist but it inches towards the zipper of your dress. “I said, kissing, Warren. There is no way we’re going to fuck in a bathroom.”

“But I thought you liked it when we did it before.” His response was fast, which made your cheeks flare up more from what he was doing earlier.

“That’s not the point. Anyone can walk past here and hear us.” You reasoned out, maybe all the rational thoughts didn’t really leave your system. While he did take a minute to reconsider, he obliged to your request.

He stops for a second, seeing a set of dark, red bites littered all over your neck to your shoulders. “I told you before, I can handle your storms. I always have been, I want to handle you.” He kisses your shoulder, up to your neck, sucking that one spot.

“Fuck, Warren.” It was all you were able to say, tongue-tied from the feeling of his kisses. “If we go back to the things that we used to be, you’ll… fuck, can your mouth stop leaving hickeys all over me?”

“Mhm, don’t wanna. You can keep talking, can’t you?” He pulled away from you for a second to guide you towards the marbled sink. “Up, up.”

His whispers seem to put you under a spell since you were doing everything he says. Between your legs he stood in front of you, while his arms were on the counter instantly trapping you. “This is not fair.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s what I felt when you left.” He pouts, but he takes your hand and plants a soft kiss on your knuckles. “You left without a word, angel.”

Sonovabitch, he knows how to use his pretty face. “I… Warren, you know how I am. You’d be tired from my constant outbursts, or how I can be too possessive with you? What if I’m suffocating you within this relationship?”

“Who says I can’t handle your outbursts?” He plants a kiss on your wrist, then he intertwined your hands together. “I like it when you get possessive, but you really have nothing to worry about.” He says as he looks into your eyes, sincerity dripping from his voice that puts an ease in your heart. “And, being in a relationship with you is what made me able to breathe through this hellish world.” He closes the gap between you, and sweetly guides your face towards his. A kiss on the tip of your nose, forehead, and finally your lips that he missed so much.

You immediately melt through the kiss, his warm palms warms your cold ones as his kiss gets deeper, you start to feel the effects of the alcohol. But he quickly ended the kiss, and pulled away from you, “But, I want to know…if you still want to be in this relationship? Please, tell me I’m not the only one who's desperate here.” He begs, you can tell from his voice as he rests his forehead on your shoulder, afraid of the answer he burrows his head and calms himself with your scent. In his mind, the only perfume he should wear is yours. He likes it that way.

Your hand went through his brown locks, petting and softly combing it. “I wouldn’t have followed you here if trying to get back with you wasn’t on my mind, silly.” You cupped his cheeks and made him look at you.

“Are you sure?” His glassy eyes were filled with tears that were threatening to fall. “You won’t leave again, right? Because, I’d, I would be working so hard to change your mind, and reassure you that you are perfect for me. Your imperfections are the things that made you perfect. And, well, lastly, I’m not gonna be very happy about it if you did disappear again.”

“I won’t do it, ever, again. I’m sorry, I left without saying anything. And thank you for giving me a chance.” You kissed his puffy cheeks. “I won’t promise anything, but I want to prove to you that I’d stay as long as you let me.” You touched his forehead with yours, though, this sweet moment would’ve been nice if not for that interrupting cow.

“Heeeyy, lovebirds! I wanna make sure you’re not fucking in there, but Cinderella’s dad is fucking pissed. You seriously gotta go home.” Nathan’s voice echoed outside of the bathroom once again, slightly banging on the door.

You could hear Warren sigh and pull away, but he gave you a quick peck on the lips. “Let’s go?”

You nodded and with his help you hopped off the sink, the banging continued but the moment you opened the door a smirking Prescott was right outside of the door. “Oohh, well, aren’t you guys disgusting. Now, you, we need you to go home because I’m pretty sure me and Victoria would be the ones who’ll get scolded for you since we used your club for the party.”

“Ok, I get it.” You gruntled, fixing your dress and hair.

He turns to face Warren. “Wipe your face, Graham, you look like you just ate a lipstick.” He quickly wiped it with his handkerchief as the color of his cheeks had the same shade of your lipstick that was smudged on the side of lips.

You took a step forward and before you walked away you turned to your heels to face him. “Call me, my number is the same.” You whispered to his ear, while he removed his windbreaker and handed it to you.

“Here. See you tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for you at our spot.” He whispered back before he kissed your cheeks.

[adverbally]

Bedtime Stories

Written for the @steddie-spooktober day sixteen prompt “‘Would you please stop trying to scare them?’” | wc: 783 | rated: T | cw: none | tags: kid fic, parenting, bedtime stories

Note: For reference, Zachary is 10, Nathan is 8 (almost 9), Cassidy is 6, and Allison is 3. It isn’t specified whether they are somehow Steve and Eddie’s bio kids or if they were adopted.

———

Watching Eddie become a father has been one of the greatest joys of Steve’s life. It all seems so natural to him— encouraging the kids’ curiosity and creativity, playing with them, channeling his dramatic skills to read bedtime stories.

That’s what Steve is watching now from his armchair in the corner. Eddie sits in the center of the couch with the four kids surrounding him, holding tonight’s book at a distance. It’s a spooky story in honor of Halloween, one that has everyone screeching in delighted, age-appropriate fear.

Looking over the top of his own book, Steve gently scolds, “Would you please stop trying to scare them?”

“We’re not scared, Daddy!” Nathan insists, excitedly bouncing where he sits on the cushion to Eddie’s right. “It’s just a book.”

Cassidy nods seriously next to him. “Yeah, it’s not real so it can’t get us.”

“It’s just for fun,” Eddie affirms. His eyes sparkle with humor as he meets Steve’s gaze.

Steve pushes his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. “All right, if you say so. Make sure to wake up Dad if you have bad dreams during the night.” He makes a show of returning his focus to his own book.

They get through a few more pages before another minor fright arises. Nathan grins as he shrieks, overjoyed. He’s so much like Eddie, from his big brown eyes to his love of all things creepy. Bugs, ghosts and monsters all fascinate him far more than the average second grader.

Cassidy, two years his junior, lacks Nathan’s passion for the subject but makes up for it in determination to be “grown up” like her older brothers. She beams now, pleased to be withstanding the scary story, even as her foot bounces at the suspense.

On Eddie’s other side, however, their eldest and youngest huddle together. At ten years old, Zachary is probably a little old for this story, but he leans against Eddie and listens nonetheless, eager to enjoy the closeness and time with the family. He keeps a watchful eye on Allison, the baby of the house at only three years old. She sits very still, her eyes wide in fascinated terror, beside Zach with his arm wrapped protectively around her.

“Dad,” Zach says quietly, nudging Eddie with an elbow.

Eddie follows Zach’s glance to his youngest sister, then turns to meet Steve’s eye in a silent request for assistance.

Steve sits his book aside and rises from his seat. To Ally, he asks, “Do you want to come read a different story with me? We can pick one that’s not so scary.”

Ally’s head nods rapidly. She holds her arms up, wanting to be carried.

“Okay, say goodnight to everybody,” Steve tells her as he picks her up with a groan. She’s getting so big, but Steve refuses to stop carrying his babies as long as they want to be carried, especially since Ally is almost certainly their last kid.

“Goodnight,” Ally says with a wave.

Steve carries her down the hallway towards her bedroom, the closest to his and Eddie’s room. Ally clings to him, as she tends to do these days even without a scary bedtime story, but he bribes her to get ready for bed with the promise of Daddy cuddles. Once her pajamas are on and her teeth are brushed (twice, since she’s practicing how to do it and Steve has to actually get her teeth clean), they curl up on her tiny bed to read Stellaluna. Ally watches Steve turn the pages between blinks that get slower and slower. Once the story ends, she stops fighting sleep and drifts off with her head on Steve’s shoulder.

It’s still amazing, the love and trust his kids put in him, even if he doesn’t feel worthy of it. Four little people who are learning and growing every day, forming their own personalities and talents and fears and passions under his guidance. It still hurts a little that they won’t have more, though the four of them are plenty. At least, for now, Steve has his baby asleep in his arms again, keeping her warm and safe and close to him.

He doesn’t want to try to leave and wake her accidentally, and he definitely doesn’t want to leave her to wake up alone if she has a nightmare about the first story of the evening. Instead, Steve settles himself as comfortably as he can, contorting himself to fit on the bed around his little girl, and falls asleep alongside her. His back will hate him for it in the morning, but he knows it’s worth it to hold onto these precious moments for just one more night.

[sunskate]

watching morning practice - competition ice starts early today, so juniors started earrrrrly

practice for the senior international started at 7:45

one team is skating Zorro. if Adrian noticed, can’t tell -is talking to his own team

Katarina del Camp-Akalin/Bert Akalin, representing Turkey, train in North Carolina but is with Pasquale at the boards, so maybe splitting time at Novi?

when a skater makes a mistake in practice other skaters on the ice, esp training mates, will loud clap to encourage them🥺

Ritter/Brykalov have the tallest lifts ever- it’s so dramatic. they have some beautiful elements in this free

makes you appreciate the rock solid lifters who are the majority at this level when you see lifts which look unstable with blades stuttering or precarious looking position changes - seeing a couple of those last night and this morning 😱 pls stay safe

Fournier/Zhu are coming along - he in particular looks like he really loves to perform

Alyssa/Jacob are skating a minor key song, and they feel connected and emotional

Nathan entrusts his medallion to the coaches at practice too, not just competitions 🥺

Leia and Pietro in Mahler white for the FD

omgggg Lily and Nathan making my epic classical dreams come true😭😭😭

i like the tradition of the teams bowing to their coaches to end a session- it feels gracious- some of them bow to or go to thank the announcer/music operator too

zamboni break before the last 2 groups for practice -

Kaitlyn Weaver was here at the event last night. Alper Ucar who’s also on the ISU ice dance tech committee w Kaitlyn also here, was here at practice this morning too. Shawn Rettstatt sat with the tech panel during the event, had the headphones on like they did - is he advising? overseeing?

so many times, teams are needing to pull up to avoid collisions or flying blades . maybe this is normal at schools with a lot of teams, bc nobody looks fazed

B/B’s choreo slide works better in person - it travels so far - ballroom Latin has a really open upper body, doesn’t it? it feels like she’s doing something different with her carriage which doesn’t quite fit?

i realize sometimes knowing a little is worse than knowing nothing- these are just opinions and observations- pls feel free to educate me on the technical points

they played the wrong music for Pate/Bye and i got excited for a sec bc it was out of the box for them. but nope, their music is firmly in the box, and the music was for the Browns

which, let’s gooooooo - i love it!!! no disadvantage in being a sibling team if you can do this- a little kid sitting in front of me stopped eating his bagel bites to watch and went Wow at their SlLi on the music

Lauriault/LeGac - the Wild West program - at this point, these character programs are so polished and smartly done - the acting points, the choreo, the music - this one doesn’t have that wow moment in that they’re repeating lifts, but they’re good lifts

I’m so happy they let us watch them practice❤️

[goblinsofdiscord]

Goblins of Discord 👹 Enneagram Type Database 🤓

All typings have a corresponding youtube video (linked). Many more on their way. Please note, that some of these are likely to change a bit in the future.

I’ll probably update a handful of older ones soon, as my understanding of the Enneagram has evolved since some of them were made (and is still deepening). This obsession is all-consuming and I won’t stop until I can psychically intuit every single type + instinct combination on sight, within 10 seconds and am rebirthed into my next form as the 🧞‍♀️👁️ human pixie frequency diviner of the apocalypse. 😈 🔥

If you think you’ve found a weirdo type and might want to join a typing call, DM larissa on the goblinsofdiscord instagram, or post the type below in the comments.

🍄 👀 If you want to book a typing call or submit an introvert video (of you or someone you know) to be picked over, spitroasted, impression’ed on, click here.

Enneagram Type 1

John Waters 🗑️✝️ 1w2 7w6 4w3 so/sx 💖💧🧚‍♂️ The Pope of Trash

Jamie Lee Curtis 🎃 1w2 36 so/sx 👹 The Horny Karen

Nasim Aghdam 🐅 1w9 7w6 4w5 so/sp 💥 Triple Frustration Threat

Quentin Crisp 🎀 ✨ 1w9 4w3 7w6 so/sx 🦚 Trailblazing Peacock

Enneagram Type 2

Pamela Des Barres 🌼 2w3 7w6 9w1 so/sx ☀️ Flowerchild Supergroupie

Big Edie (Grey Gardens) ✝️🐈‍⬛ 2w1 6w7 8w9 sx/so 🍸 Mother Diva

Enneagram Type 3

Lucy Lawless ⚔️ 3w2 8w7 5w6 so/sx ⚔️ watch

Montel Williams 👄 3w2 6w7 8w7 so/sp ⚔️ watch

Jensen Ackles 👻 3w2 6w7 8w9 sp/so ⭐ watch

Corey Feldman 🎩 3w2 6w7 9w1 sp/sx ★Ascension Millennium

David Fincher 🎥 3w4 5w6 8w7 sp/so 📦 What's in his Box?

Bret Easton Ellis 😍🗡️ 3w4 5w6 8w9 so/sp 🖤🚬 American Psycho

Whitney Houston 🖤 3w4 6w7 9w1 sx/so 🥀 Queen of the Night

Gregg Araki 🚬 3w4 6w7 9w8 so/sx 👄 The Doomed Enneagram

Nicole Kidman 👠 3w4 6w7 1w9 👠 watch

Emma Roberts 🫖 3w4 6w7 1w2 so/sp 🍰 watch

Belinda Carlistle 🔥 3w4 1w9 7w8 🔥 sp/so watch

Caroline Calloway 💸 3w4 7w6 9w1 so/sx ✨ Happy Scammerversary

Enneagram 4

Vivien Leigh 🌹 4w3 6w7 9w1 so/sx 🥀 Making Fours Dramatic Again

Winona Ryder 🥀 Enneagram 4w3 6w7 9w1 sp/so 🥀 The OG Sadgirl

Jeff Buckley 🥀 4w5 6w7 9w1 sx/so 💔 watch

Enneagram Type 5

Anna Khachiyan 🧠🕳️ 5w4 9w8 4w3 so/sp 🚬 watch

Shirley Jackson 🥃 5w4 📓 livestream slop job

Sam Bankman-Fried 🤓 5w6 9w8 3w4 spso 💩 Gaslighting Nerd

Enneagram Type 6

Larry David 🍋 6w5 1w9 4w3 so/sp 😒 Miserable F*ck

Lauryn Hill 😇 6w5 8w9 2w1 so/sp 🎤 Gonna Find You..

Julia Ducournau 🚗 6w5 9w1 4w3 💋 Baby, I Like it Raw

Caroline Ellison 🧠 6w7 1w2 3w2 sp/so 🖖 Polycule Pick-Me

Robert Crumb 🤡 6w7 4w5 1w2 💦 The Sex Weasel

David Icke 🦎 6w7 9w1 3w2 so/sp 👁️👽 The Passion of 6

Daniel Clowes 👻 6w7 9w1 4w3 so/sp ✒️ Like a Velvet Glove

Phil Ochs 🎸 6w7 9w1 4w5 so/sp 💧 The Misunderstood Folk Hero

Dylan Moran ☘️ 6w7 9w1 4w3 sp/so 🤴 watch

Mia Goth 🍯 6w7 9w1 2w3 sp/sx 😇 Strange Angel

Sean Baker 🍊 6w7 9w1 3w2 so/sp ☀️ Red’s Rocket

Enneagram Type 7

Josephine Baker 💃🏽 7w6 28 so/sx 🎶 Shine on, Queen

Little Edie (Grey Gardens) 🧚‍♀️ 7w6 9w1 4w3 so/sx ⭐ 🩸 Fallen Star

Florence Welch ✨ 7w6 4w3 9w1 sp/so 🧚‍♀️ Chaotic Pixie Queen

Theo Von 🍆 7w6 9w8 4w5 sp/so 🐀 The Rat King

Danny Elfman 💀 7w6 9w1 4w5 so/sp 🎃 Dead Man’s Party

Johnette Napolitano 🩸 7w6 8w9 4w5 sp/sx 🐍 Concrete Blonde

Vincent Gallo 👹 7w6 4w5 8w9 sp/sx 😈 Horny Goblin

Heidi Fleiss 🐍🦜 7w8 1w9 3w4 spsx 🍑🚬 Hollywood Madam

Eartha Kitt 😻🐈‍⬛ 7w8 4w3 1w2 sx/so 🐈‍⬛😿 Cat Woman

Enneagram Type 8

Robin Quivers 😈😇 8w7 6w7 2w1 so/sp 💋 Glorious Narcissist

Ma Anand Sheela 😎 8w9 2w1 6w5 so/sp 💧 I Love B*tches

Glenn Danzig 🦇 8w9 6w7 4w5 sx/so ☠️ Prince of Darkness

Sylvia Brown 🔮 8w9 7w8 4w5 sp/so 🧿 watch

Enneagram Type 9

Rachel Dolezal 🐑 9w8 62 sp/so🌹 Mother Issues

Kathy Bates 🍯 9w8 62 sp/so 🩸 Sweet Misery

Shelley Duvall 🍯 9w1 6w7 2w3 sp/so 🐑 The Saccharine Sacrificial Lamb

Keith Moon 💥 9w8 7w6 3w4 sp/so 🌙 Wild Man

Sophie Thatcher 🩸 9w8 7w6 4w5 sx/sp🧚‍♀️ Grime Fairy

Dash Nekrasova 🕯 9w8 4w3 7w6 sx/so 🚬 watch

Nathan Fielder 🕳️ 9w8 5w6 3w2 sp/so 🤡 watch

Cazzie David 🦝 9w8 6w7 4w5 sp/so 🦝 Sad Sack

Charles Burns 🕳️ 9w1 5w6 3w4 so/sp 🕳️ watch

David Cronenberg 📺 9w1 5w4 3w4 so/sx 👄 Dream Daddy

Jessica Lange 🦢 9w1 63 so/sp 🦢 watch

John Galliano 🧵 9w1 4w3 7w6 sx/sp 🪡 Objet D'Art

Tyler Gaca 👻 9w1 7w6 4w3 so/sx 🍯 Ghosthoney

Chuck Palahniuk 🧞‍♂️ 9w1 7w6 4w3 so/sp 😈 All Hail the God

Corey Haim 🍍 9w1 7w6 3w2 sx/so 💔 Heartbreaker

Anna Biller ☠️🔮 9w1 4w3 7w6 so/sx 💖⚗️ The Love Witch

Frank James 💅 9w1 3w4 6w7 so/sp 🔪 watch

👯✨ Twins ✨👯

Lori & George (formerly Reba) 🤠 🤩

Lori: 6w7 9w1 3w2 sp/so

George (Reba): 9w1 3w4 6w7 so/sp

Carmen & Lupita 🦋🧙🏽

Carmen 6w7 9w1 3w2 sp/so

Lupita 9w8 7w6 3w4 sp/so

[adamwatchesmovies]

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

I might’ve been a little starved for blockbusters the first time I saw Godzilla vs. Kong and rated it. In my defense, it was during the pandemic and the other movies I was able to see during lockdown were mostly disappointments. Reviewing the film again, I recognize that the human’s plot is undercooked while everything with the monsters is spectacular. Well, at least the movie knows where its priorities stand and considering what its audience wants to see…

When Godzilla suddenly attacks Apex Cybernetics’ Pensacola facility, conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) becomes convinced they somehow provoked the titan. Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) - an avid fan of his podcast - shares his suspicions. They rope her friend Josh (Julian Dennison) into investigating and confirm their fears aren't entirely unfounded. After the attack, Apex insists mankind needs to develop a weapon against Godzilla and asks Monarch to give them access to Kong. They believe the titan ape can lead them inside the vast caverns below our world to a power source formidable enough to take down the king of the monsters.

Though Godzilla’s name appears first in the title, this film is about Kong much more than the radioactive dinosaur. It’s a good choice, as the ape is resourceful, an underdog in this fight and intelligent enough to communicate with Monarch via sign language. Godzilla might’ve protected the Earth/humanity in the previous movies, but was it really a heroic character, or was the nuclear reptile just killing its rivals? Kong, on the other hand, has actual human friends. Even though the Iwis we met during Kong: Skull Island have been wiped out (seems like a missed opportunity), Kong still has a link to them in the form of Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a deaf-mute Iwi survivor adopted by Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). Nonetheless, his situation gives him a very relatable quest: he wants to know if there is a new family for him out there.

One-half of the human's story fares fairly well. With the help of Apex Cybernetics, Dr. Ilene Andrews, along with Jia and hollow-earth scientist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) follow Kong into this hidden world beneath our feet that houses all sorts of monsters and an ancient rivalry between Kong and Godzilla (seems wacky, but it does lead to some fun developments). These characters are following Kong on his journey so when the 8th wonder of the world is put in danger, they are too. The other humans, however, feel like they only appear to deliver exposition or to give us some familiar faces. You could easily re-jig this story to remove them.

But of course, you didn't come to this film for the human element. Yes, kaiju films are better when the "tiny" protagonists are compelling, but if there's one aspect of this movie director Adam Wingard had to get right, it was the Godzilla and Kong stuff. I'm happy to say you won't be disappointed. The Titan battles are varied, clearly shot, tense and action-packed. You get three rounds between Kong and Godzilla, with a clear winner at the end that will leave fans of either camp satisfied. I know a lot of purists will say a Godzilla film isn't the same without rubber suits, but this picture does so much with modern special effects. Varied locations, varied angles, moves no human could do, etc. That last brawl in the neon-lit Hong Kong will make you say "wow!".

There have been a lot of Godzilla films since the character appeared. Some have been dramatic, others comedic or somewhere in the middle with an emphasis on dumb fun. None have featured action scenes as good as the ones in Godzilla vs. Kong. Even if you only have a passing interest in the characters, the highlights are strong, strong enough to make you forgive the parts that could've been strengthened. It's not even a guilty pleasure; it's gargantuan fun. (On Blu-ray, March 27, 2024)

[adrienschat]

About Me Tagged

So, I’ve been tagged in a few posts by @summerfrwrks @lady-de-mon-coeur @sub-text & @rosie-b (ily guys thank you for being patient), and I decided to put them all together lmfaoo 

WIPs Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Ongoing:

The Wall Between Us (miraculous fic)

Golden (3rd edit - mysterious demon comes to town, a girl confronts her grief)

Stitches (poetry book)

Winterville School for the Talented and Gifted (paranormal romance)

Random music & animations

Barely Seen the Light of Day:

I have it kinda planned out but my alt-marinette au lmfao

Strikes at Midnight (fantasy novel I’ll never finish, but it has like 100k words)

Open Caged Bird (Webtoon I started like a year ago...)

Shipping

three ships:

adrien/marinette (in ANY FORM)

....... Drarry (dont block me i know hp is problematic etc etc)

those silly gays from our flag means death

first ship:

Probably percabeth? 

last song:

Cannibal (Nathan Apollo)

last movie:

M3GAN (SOOOO FUNNY)

currently reading:

The Dark Prince (i’m on like page 30 because i’m a dumb slow reader)

my Python textbook

the picture of dorian grey

random fanfics i love

currently watching:

Orange is the new black

Barry

currently consuming:

right now i’m having a smoothie

water

wish i was having DIET COKE

currently craving:

DIET COKE! 

rules: list five things you never get tired of writing. it can be tropes, themes, characters, phrases, whatever brings you joy. then tag five people!

1. LESBIANS!!!!!!

2. BISEXUALS!!!!!!!!!!

3. slightly spooky

4. PINING! PINIING! PINING!!! 

5. Dramatic irony

About Me

1. Are you named after anyone?

I actually named myself! I was 7, getting adopted, and i hated my birth name so i switched it to Julia (not named after anyone)

2. When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday during my singing lesson (i’m sorry K, i hope you read this and know i’m sorry lmfao). I cry a lot

3. Do you have kids?

nooooooooooo but i love kids and i love my niece and nephews.  someday i’d like to be a mom! 

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yeah but tbh i think it’s more like a teasing sarcasm. i don’t like to make people think they’re stupid 

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

How they’re feeling in a situation

sense of humor

6. What’s your eye colour?

Dark blue! Some people have asked me if I have brown eyes but only in dimly lit rooms lol.  

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies with happy endings my beloved. Finding love despite the horrors. etc etc 

8. Any special talents?

Projecting myself onto characters

i’m not good at most things i do, but i have a talent for doing what makes me happy

9. Where were you born?

Germany!

10. What are your hobbies?

Writing music, novels, fanfic, and poetry

singing

gym

guitar

languages <3 (I speak Spanish fluently, ASL & French pretty okay, and a bit of german)

video games

crafty stuff (i used to crochet and knit a lot)

sewing! 

11. Have you any pets?

two kitties hehe. they’re under my “thea” and “dorito” tags. thea’s legal name is cool ranch. 

12. What sports do you play/have played?

just gym, no sport 

but also i did do cross country back in high school 

13. How tall are you?

I’m 6′ lmfao. I love being tall, it calls forth the short lesbians (this is a message to short lesbians to talk to me)

14. Favorite subject in school?

i liked math, which is ironic since i’m an editor/writer for work

15. Dream job?

I’m getting a master’s in software development rn, so i reeeeally want to create beautiful video games. 

Who I’m Tagging

Don’t feel any pressure to answer all or any of the questions! Love you guys <3

@castles-in-the-eyre @keyboardnonsense @asukiess @lesbitorte @fantasybuff3186 @juliuli @fragileizy @everythingisubtext @dorkylovespepsi @chatdc @talkstoself @doksangs 

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

OUTER BANKS/ONE TREE HILL/DAWSON'S CREEK SPOILERS

I've been watching Outer Banks and I'm currently halfway though 3x09 and can I say that I adore John B and Sarah.

They are up there as one of my favorite teen drama couples... up there with Nathan/Haley and Pacey/Joey.

They are so Naley coded. All three of them are so similar in a lot of ways. But they are so Naley in that they got married really young. John B and Sarah unofficially got married when they were about 16 or 17. TBH I really don't care when children get married in real life or in fiction. I've always been one of those people who just believes in minding my own business. As long as the two people marrying are both consenting minors or both consenting adults then I have no problemo about it. So watching Naley get married at 16 or Jarah at 17 really doesn't bother me. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. It's just too sweet and romantic for me to muster any judgement. But I must admit at first it was hard for me to take Jarah's marriage seriously because it wasn't official. The more I think about it the more I realized that this is the best that Jarah could do. Nathan was emancipated and Haley had hippy dippy parents who allowed it but Jarah doesn't have that. I believe that John B has a mom... I think they said that she left them when he was 3 but I believe that she's still alive. And even if she isn't alive, I doubt that John B would have much success getting a marriage license as an unemancipated teen with no parents around. Sarah would certainly never get approval from her trash father. So really the best that Jarah can do is look at each other and say I take you as my husband/wife. Since thinking about this I realize that their marriage is true and real from the beginning because they are ultimately dedicated to each other and they are soulmates.

Pacey and Joey truly are the mold that created so many great teen drama couples. Like you can watch any teen drama and just be on the lookout for the top tier Jacey style couple. If you find that couple you are truly lucky and if they become your favorite couple on the show then you are among the smartest TV viewers in the world 😀❤️

These couples are all highly intense... like they get married young or they ride off into the sunset on a boat together alone. They usually have to deal with a lot of adversity when it comes to people accepting their relationships. Jacey has Dawson to contend with. Naley has his parents trying to destroy their relationship. And Jarah has her parents and Topper against them. They are dramatic but they also have a playful and fun loving side (for instance they may have a whole plotline or episode where they're just on a fun/funny caper like Jacey with "Castaways", Jarah with "Spy Games", or even Naley's plot in 6x17). The guys are the brown haired protonists or protagonist adjacent. The actors either dated for real life or were great friends for real life. They support their characters endgame. And they have an intense chemistry that never diminishes. Be on the lookout for these couples... believe me you will not regret it 😀💜

Edit: I keep thinking of things to add on to this post but they also all have Taylor Swift songs that match up so perfectly that they could have been written for them. Jacey has "Mine", Naley has "Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince" or "So Highscool" and Jarah has "Love Story" (Yes Jarah is very Romeo and Juliet-esque for those who haven't seen Outer Banks) ❤️

[enmuslullaby]

Reposting this with a different ending because apparently the old one was problematic

Ilia Malinin and the Sprouting Peas

Ilia Malinin was bored. So so bored. He started a Twitch livestream to get ideas from his fans on what to do.

None of the suggestions really appealed to him though. Until he read a message from Twitch user YH-4Aismine that said “You should try inhaling some peas.” That caught ilia’s attention.

“What?” Ilia questioned. “What kind of suggestion is that?”

“Inhaling peas gives you the ability to do helicopter jumps.” YH-4Aismine stated in the Twitch chat. “Basically a way to have infinite air time.”

Ilia was skeptical. “Really? Never heard of that.”

But ilia really wanted to be the first person to jump an Infinity axel. “Alright I’ll do it!”

“I sent you a bag of peas already.” YH-4Aismine said.

Ilia frowned. “Wait what? How do you know my address? Are you a stalker?”

YH-4Aismine replied, “Shoma Uno told me.”

“You know Shoma-“ Ilia started, then paused. “Actually, never mind, I don’t want to know.”

Ilia went downstairs to get the pack of peas that this mysterious Twitch user had delivered to his doorstep. He opened the front door and found a pack of 300 peas waiting for him.

“Huh, weird.” Ilia muttered as he brought the peas upstairs, along with a bowl.

Ilia set the bowl down and tried to pour all the peas into it. Unfortunately, some of the peas fell out of the bowl and he had to toss them away due to the 5 second rule. Upon counting every single pea in the bowl like a madman, Ilia found that he had 284 peas left.

“Oh well. Better than nothing.” Ilia shrugged and sat down in front of the camera.

Then he began inhaling peas. It felt a bit weird at first, but after a while it became really addicting, and before he knew it, all 284 peas had gone down Ilia’s nostrils.

“It’s better than drugs!” Ilia exclaimed, high off inhaling half-frozen peas. He then proceeded to continue the stream as normal with some gaming, losing badly at Fortnite as usual and even making some terrible outfits in Dress to Impress. All seemed well…

Until 2 weeks before Worlds. Ilia was just warming up with some quintuple axel + quadruple toeloop + quintuple flip combination jumps when he started coughing and hacking violently.

“You okay?” Alysa Liu asked, skating over to her countrymate.

“Yeah I’m totally—“ Ilia cuts himself off by another series of violent coughs. He puts his hand to his mouth, and when he pulls it away… he sees blood.

“Oh no. That’s not good.” Amber Glenn commented from afar.

Ilia tries to respond but he coughs for the third time, and… a leaf flutters out of his throat?

“ILIA’S GOT HANAHAKI DISEASE!” Yelled Jason Brown.

“What? What even is that?” asked Alysa.

“It’s a fictional disease.” Jason explains.

Roman Sadovsky frowns. “If it’s fictional then why does Ilia have it?”

Amber Glenn shrugs. “Then maybe it isn’t Hana-ha- whatever it is.” She pauses. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in Canada?”

Ilia doesn’t really listen to them. All he can think about is the peas. Maybe he shouldn’t have listened to that random guy on his Twitch stream and inhaled 284 peas in one night.

“Then what is it?!” Jason exclaimed.

Ilia finally speaks. “Pea—“

“Eww, TMI! We don’t need to know that you gotta urinate.” Alysa made a puking noise.

“No, I meant pea as in the vegetable.” Ilia said hoarsely. “I inhaled like, 284 peas a few months ago.”

“Why the heck would you do that?” Roman questioned, bewildered.

“I was bored okay?” Ilia protested, but then starts coughing again.

“Oh em gee, we need to ring up Nathan Chen quick. This is an emergency!” Jason yells dramatically, flailing his arms.

“Okay, got it!” Amber nods, whipping her phone out and dialing the Olympic Chenpion at lighting speed. “Nate, Nate, come quick! There’s something wrong with your idiot successor!”

“Hey, I’m not an idiot- wait I kinda am.” Ilia backtracks after thinking about it for a moment.

“What, really?” Nathan exclaims over phone. “I’ll be right there!”

5 seconds later Nathan Chen crashes through the roof of the ice rink.

“Well that was quick. How did you even get here so fast?” Alysa asked.

“Backflip.” Nathan said nonchalantly, then wandered over to Ilia. “Hey kid, you okay?”

“No.” Ilia grumbled.

“That’s not good.” Nathan replied, stating the obvious. “So, what’s the situation?”

“Ilia’s violently coughing and hacking up blood and random pea leaves.” Jason told him. “He thinks it’s because he inhaled a heck ton of peas a few months ago.”

Roman nodded. “At this rate he’ll probably not be able to do all those sextuple jumps that he should be doing and then I might have an actual chance at getting on the podium again.”

“Yeah that’s not gonna happen no matter what, buddy.” Amber rolled her eyes.

“I think I know what’s happening.” Nathan stated.

“You do?!” Everyone gasped. Or, most of them gasped. Ilia just coughed like a wet kitten caught in the rain.

“Yeah. I think the peas that Ilia inhaled have sprouted in his lungs.”

“Sprouted!” Amber exclaimed in horror. “Ew!”

Nathan nodded solemnly. “You need to go to surgery to get the peas out, Ilia. Let’s go—“

“No! I don’t wanna have surgery! Worlds is in like 2 weeks and I don’t wanna miss—“ Ilia started coughing again.

“Either way you’re probably gonna miss Worlds anyways. Say goodbye to the gold medal.” Nathan shook his head.

“But I don’t want surgery! Pleaseeeee?”

Nathan frowned. “We need to take you to the hospital so you can get well again for other competitions.”

“But—“

“Look, do you want to go to the Olympics in 2026 or not?” Nathan challenged.

“Yeah but I’m so scared of surgery! Pretty please with a 5Lz+4T+6A sequence on top?” Ilia pleaded pathetically.

Nathan sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it another way.”

“Yay!” Ilia beamed, but then starts coughing again.

Nathan pulls up his phone and dialed a number.

“Who are you calling?” Jason Brown asked.

“Ghostbusters.”

Amber frowned. “How are they gonna help?”

“It was a joke.”

“Oh.”

“I’m actually calling Yuzuru Hany—“

“Noo! Not him!” Ilia pleads again. “He’s been after me ever since I made that Instagram Live comment!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have made that comment then?” Alysa shook her head.

Nathan sighs. “I need Yuzuru to bring his premium Japanese garden scissors to cut out the pea shoots.”

“What! That sounds dangerous!” Ilia protested.

“And inhaling 284 peas isn’t?” Amber retorted.

“Touché.”

1 second later Yuzuru Hanyu crashed through the roof of the ice rink.

“Holy— did you backflip here too?” Roman exclaimed in shock.

“No, I bounced off Pooh-bear’s stomach.” Yuzuru corrected.

The ice prince walked over to Ilia, brandishing a formidable looking pair of garden scissors.

Nathan cleared his throat. “Okay, we’re about to conduct a surgical procedure here. Can we have some privacy?”

Jason, Roman, Amber, and Alysa nodded and exited the rink.

Yuzuru proceeded to stick his entire hand and scissors inside Ilia’s throat.

“Um… Yuzu, are you qualified for this?!” Nathan asked worriedly.

“I did surgery on a grape when I was 5.” Yuzuru shrugged. “He’ll be fine.”

Yuzuru started snipping all the pea shoots in Ilia’s throat.

“You’re actually doing it! Oh my god!” Nathan exclaimed. “You’re a genius!”

“I’m not the Ice Prince for nothing!” Yuzuru flashed a charming smile.

Meanwhile, Ilia’s face goes purple from asphyxiation.

“What’s wrong with his face?” Nathan questioned.

“Don’t worry! It just means he’s really happy.” Yuzuru continued snipping the peas away.

Ilia fainted.

“Oh my god! Is he okay?” Nathan shouted.

“He just fell asleep, nothing to worry about!” Yuzuru said as he pulled a bunch of bloodied pea shoots out of Ilia’s throat. “He will be fine.”

Ilia did not seem fine. The poor guy did not wake up for a long time. Junhwan Cha had to be called in to insert a tube to feed Ilia because Yuzuru had trouble putting it in himself. But even then the situation did not seem good. Well, to Junhwan and Nathan, at least. Jun had to convince Yuzuru to send his patient to the hospital.

Ilia awoke weeks later in a tiny hospital bed with a IV drip hanging out of his arm. He immediately panicked. “What day is it?” Upon checking, it was the day of the men’s free program at Worlds. “OH NO! I gotta go!”

Meanwhile at the ice rink the final warmup group was about to take to the ice… when Ilia crashed through the roof in hospital pyjamas.

“Did I make it?” Panted Ilia.

Junhwan was in shock. “Ilia? How’d you get here? Weren’t you in the hospital?”

“I got Ronnie Radke to break me out because I’m so cool and I raspberry twisted all the way here.” Ilia smiled sweetly.

Yuma Kagiyama stared at Ilia before shaking his head. “No matter. Japanese will win.”

Ilia laughed, waving his hand around, IV drip still dangling from his veins. “Nah fam. I gotta lock in.”

And lock in he did. Ilia made history by being the first to land an ♾️axel, despite spraying blood on the audience members during the program. “It was intentional.” Ilia stated in his interview later. “The blood I mean. Not the ♾️axel.”

As Ilia stood on the top of the podium with his fancy new gold medal, he muttered to himself, “Man. Snorting peas really did help me with my jumps. Maybe I should do it again next season.”

Months later, Ilia Malinin opened the Olympic season by snorting 2 bags of peas. “What could go wrong?”

[foxilayde]

LUNA I CANT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS. You obviously need to start sharing more “self indulgent” pieces with us because this had me blushing and kicking my feet the entire tiiiiime. Probably one of my favorite Nathan things ever written ever.

The dialogue is chef’s kiss perfect as fucking always, as are your descriptions:

The details add a little flair beyond his usual attire, a subtle sheen on the lapels, and the fabric cut in the deepest midnight blue, complementing his golden brown skin perfectly. It sits just right too with his metallic silver frames, as well as the few grey hairs which sneak through his dense raven beard, glinting like solder and circuitry. He looks like the night sky, welcoming and deep and dense and alluring as all hell, his eyes hooded, enthralling planets.

GOR-GEOUS. I can picture it thoroughly. Wearing Tom Ford, a few spritz’s of Fucking Fabulous 😫 the greeeeeyyyyy beard hairs. Slay the house boots down Houston I’m deceased. I know his fine ass broke the internet that night. The only reason Getty hadn’t uploaded the images was because the photographers were incapacitated.

Oh ALSO

This will be the only thing on my Christmas list this year. Just. This.

Fuck him for waiting till the last minute (dramaaaa I tell you! Dramatic!) but I LOVE that he still would go if reader WAS in sweats only. He totally WOULD. And ykw? Having a team of 20 ready to go?? Boutique called? I mean… he’s a tiny bit forgiven.

HES GOING TO TAKE SO MANY ASS SQUEEZING LIBERTIES ON THE CARPET omg 🤦‍♀️

My mind is just going NUTS now thinking about how the rest of the night would go and I LOVE it. Thank you for sharing this with us 💚💚

Uninvited: Nathan Bateman x fem!reader

Summary: Nathan attends the Met Gala, but there’s something missing. That’s you. (If you’re literally Elon Musk please don’t read this 😂.)

Genre: mainly fluff, getting together fic.

Warnings / rating: mature for implied smut but that’s not the focus. Swearing, alcohol mentions (Nathan has a beer). Boss / employee relationship. Some reader self-esteem issues. OOC Nathan, probably (I’m writing him older and a bit more mellow here).

Author’s note: it’s not that deep and it’s not that clever. I just want Nathan to take me to the Met Gala, okay? So, welcome to my self-indulgent drivel 😝 Probably typos, this was only ever meant to exist for me so I didn’t spend a ton of time on it, but hopefully it’s coherent enough?!

You startle when you hear the door to Nathan’s apartment click open, feeling only a little relieved when you see the familiar silhouette of Nathan by the door.

Shit.

He’s not supposed to be back yet! And you’re not supposed to be here at all! He should still be out at the Met Gala, and you -his long-suffering assistant- should very clearly be in your own home on your night off. Certainly not stretched out on your boss’ couch in sweats, eagerly shovelling this snaffled, bougie ice cream into your mouth.

You spring into action immediately, slamming the lid of your laptop shut as first priority. The last thing you would want is for Nathan to realise you’ve been meticulously monitoring the socials, your prime objective to swoon hard over every photo and tik tok of him in that suit on that infamous red carpet - Getty Images be damned for their slowness. Next, you shove the tub of ice cream away from yourself, as though Nathan will be able to tell -somehow- that you have been near crying into it all evening. Your plight is quite a singular one, after all. Not only was your boss - who you are secretly crushing on, by the way - slated to attend the Met Gala without you (the audacity!) but he looks so good whilst doing it that you could easily form a puddle and seep between the cracks in his hardwood floors.

So, when he enters, you spring up from your seat guiltily, and a little too fast, swaying with an instant head rush. Or, perhaps, the sudden light-headedness is because you have finally gotten a good look at Nathan as he steps into the soft light, cast throughout the open plan apartment.

You drink him in and God, he looks even hotter in real-life in this formal get-up. The suit’s a little bland for the Met Gala, granted, even if you had begged his monochrome, minimalist ass to go all out for the occasion. Still, it is tailored to perfection. The details add a little flair beyond his usual attire, a subtle sheen on the lapels, and the fabric cut in the deepest midnight blue, complementing his golden brown skin perfectly. It sits just right too with his metallic silver frames, as well as the few grey hairs which sneak through his dense raven beard, glinting like solder and circuitry. He looks like the night sky, welcoming and deep and dense and alluring as all hell, his eyes hooded, enthralling planets.

To sum up, Nathan looks divine, especially given that he has now loosened off his bow tie - and a few buttons on that crisp white shirt. Given that he has his hands shoved in his pockets, tugging the luxe material tight over his hips and thighs - and ass, no doubt. You bet he looks damn good from behind too.

As he stands there, looking up at you from beneath his lenses in that singular way which turns you into putty, you will your face to contort in any one of the accepted formations - a smile in greeting, perhaps - but, instead, you get the feeling that’s not quite what you’re pulling off. Not at all. In fact, you get the distinct impression that you’re looking at him like a goldfish butting its head up against the side of a tank.

For a moment you feel slightly sick at the thought that he might have returned early because he brought someone home, and you manage to tear your eyes away from his deep, dark allure long enough to scan the place, satisfied to find out that he is indeed alone.

Nathan’s thick brows knit in concern as he surveys you, yet you can detect the faint hint of amusement in his tone when he speaks. You know him well enough to catch the subtle smirk beneath that glorious beard. “You okay, honey, or are you having some kind of aneurism?”

Well. Something is certainly happening to you. He is having an… effect, that’s for sure.

“Sorry. I’m…” You clear the sudden frog in your throat. “I’m not at my apartment. I’m… here.”

Wow. You’re not doing too well, are you?

Meanwhile, Nathan looks at you like you’re stupid, and you decide you’d probably have to pay a lot of dollar to your therapist to figure out why that makes you even hotter for him. Better left alone, you wager. “Yeah. I noticed, sweet cheeks.”

“Sarcasm. That’s a new one,” you say sarcastically, your cheek finally tugging on a smile.

He looks handsome. Beautiful. And, you slouch despondently as you all too suddenly recall your own sloppy sweats situation. He wasn’t supposed to see you like this. Especially not after spending the whole evening rubbing shoulders with the most beautiful people, donned in the most dazzling finery imaginable. He definitely wasn’t supposed to have that unfavourable comparison rattling around in his big fat genius brain, now was he? You already felt like you weren’t good enough for the likes of him.

Regardless, in the next moment, you trip over a million words, wanting to offer up some explanation for your presence, and yet all you manage to say is… precisely nothing. Therefore, to distract yourself from him - and to distract him from wondering what you’re doing here - you sidle over to the fridge, grabbing him a beer and you a mineral water. He looks grateful when you pop the cap, crossing the space to hand it to him, condensation pooling on your fingers.

Instantly, he takes a casual swig, and while he does, you finally manage to compose yourself. At least, halfway there.

“Nathan,” you say plainly. “You do know the Met Gala is happening now, right? I know I put it in your calendar.” You toss your thumb over your shoulder, gesturing towards the humongous TV. “Also, you were there. I saw you on E.”

His eyes crinkle subtly at the corners, with a fondness and a familiarity which -honestly- takes you aback. He doesn’t even seem to mind that you’re in his apartment. This is all… very unexpected.

After all. He’s not supposed to be here! Then again… neither are you.

“What are you doing here?” you both ask at the same time.

Nathan huffs out a breath, impatiently. “You first.”

Well, that’s fair, you suppose. You are in his house uninvited.

As your brain trips over excuses, you barely register when Nathan’s warm hand grips you by the elbow, seamlessly guiding you back towards the couch. Once arrived, he nods for you to take a seat alongside him, plonking his ample ass down.

You bite your thumb nail. “I’m so sorry. I thought I’d finish up some work while you were out.” It sounds plausible, right? No. It doesn’t sound plausible at all, you realise, as Nathan openly surveys the scene on the coffee table before you. He delivers a knowing quirk of his eyebrow. Your palms start to sweat. Your game is all the way up, it looks like. “And then, okay. I ended up watching E, ordering take-out, and eating all your ice cream.” You opt to leave out the part about foaming at the mouth over every snap of him to have graced the internet this evening. Nathan’s ego is huge enough, right, to forego that detail? “It’s just so much nicer here than my shitty place. And I didn’t think you’d be back for ages.” Well, it’s not a lie. However: the whole truth is that you’d simply wanted to be with him tonight, and this -sad as it might be- was as close as you could get. “And I.. God. I just looove the Met Gala, okay?”

“You do?” Nathan’s mouth twitches into an amused smirk as he witnesses your combo of panicked excuses and excited gushing.

“Not that I’d know, obviously. But hey! Clearly I love it more than you do! Why in the hell are you doing back so early anyway?” Nathan simply regards you stoically, and you clap your hands to your cheeks, suddenly imagining the worst. “Oh god. Nathan. What did you do?”

Nathan all but rolls his eyes. “Calm down, honey. Calm down? Well. That’s a nice notion, but you can’t. You can’t quite manage to calm down when he’s looking at you so attentively, long lashes fanning intermittently over his big brown eyes, blown-out and obsidian in this dim light. Not when he’s dressed in that tux jacket and crisp white shirt, the top few buttons loosened off. When the scent of his expensive, intoxicating cologne is wafting over you. “I managed to behave myself. More or less,” he reassures.

“First time for everything.”

“Uh huh.”

“Though it is only like 9pm.”

“Still plenty of time to be naughty, huh?”

Shit. That hits different. You’re used to his flirting by now. His crude comments. His explicit banter. Of course. But you could swear he injected a touch more grit into his deep, robust voice this time. Could swear he looked at you some kind of way, his eyes hooded, animated by a languidly catching spark. And, thinking of what being “naughty” might possibly involve? Well, it has your brain short-circuiting all over again.

That system failure is the only reason you fail to protest as Nathan shifts to the edge of the couch and reaches towards your laptop. It all feels a little blurry and unreal. You can barely even hear the words he’s saying anymore over your loud thoughts. Your thoughts of the bare patch of skin at his neck. His warm, veined hands peeking from beneath those white cuffs. The way his suit jacket tugs taut over his cultivated shoulders as he moves.

“You know who was on my fucking table?” Nathan begins casually, another indicator of his familiarity and comfort with you. “Royce Whistler’s Mother-Broadbean, or whatever the shit his name is. Do you remember - that blonde prick? The guy who called himself a businessman because he played Rollercoaster Tycoon 5 one time or whatever?” You look at him blankly, and Nathan takes that as a sign to continue sharing. “I played him at squash one time - and he got so pissed off at losing he pulled his pants down and stuck his flat, pasty ass up against the glass. Mooned the entire board. Fucking unreal.”

You’re half-listening, but your brain still hasn’t kicked fully into gear. Still hasn’t quite caught up with the fact Met Gala Nathan is here, in front of you, never mind blathering on about his table mates. Your brain certainly has not caught up by the time Nathan is leaning forward, lifting the lid of your laptop with a knowing smirk. “Let’s see what you were up to while I was gone, huh?”

Oh shit.

Your brain catches up so quickly now that your thoughts cause a pile up, and yet there is no time left to stop him.

You could swear that you almost pass out from embarrassment when Nathan finally flips the lid, his action revealing every one of the tabs you have had open this evening. Naturally, of course -just your luck- the first just had to be the most incriminating, didn’t it? He just had to see your BlueBook image search for “Nathan Bateman Met Gala hot”.

His eyes spark, his gaze electric as he drinks in the screen. He sinks his pearly teeth into his plush lower lip and practically grunts. “Searching for wank fodder of your boss, honey?” He clicks his tongue in what you hope is faux disappointment. “And you didn’t even go Boolean.”

“Heh. Trying to,” you scoff, the response -in your head- forming a suitably scathing comeback, alluding to how you couldn’t even find any hot pictures actually because he’s so gross or whatever. Well, you realise quickly that you messed that one up entirely, especially as a smug, lopsided grin blooms on Nathan’s pretty mouth.

Honestly, you were not far off giving yourself a little treat. If Nathan had been a little later he may even have walked in on it. You cheeks heat with shame, though it’s hardly the first time you’ve had sexual thoughts about him. Not even close. Still, it’s not like you are keen for him to know that.

In haste then -nay, desperation- you reach to slam the lid closed, narrowly missing Nathan’s fingertips in the process as he begins to skim effortlessly through your other tabs.

Then, springing to your feet with a surge of guilt once more, you scoop the laptop up against your chest, like an ailing quarterback cradling a football in the closing minutes of the Superbowl. Damn you and your motor mouth! “I meant… Look, actually, never mind what I meant!” Your voice is growing increasingly high-pitched, and Nathan’s face is becoming increasingly smug. “Why are you here?” you accuse, as if he doesn’t have every right to be. “Why aren’t you at -oh I dunno- The Freaking Met Gala?” You even stomp your foot and jab your finger a little, so help you, in your last ditch attempt to turn the tables. And, certainly, in attempt to deflect before Nathan can probe you any further about that so-called “wank fodder”.

Nathan, for his part, leans back ever so casually and deliberately on the couch, his sturdy thighs spread open and straining against the fabric of his pants, his arms hooking backward over the lip of the couch. The shift makes that crisp white shirt ride up over his stomach, straining the buttons to show you glimpses of his smooth tan skin.

Hnnnggggg.

You feel positively ill with desire at this point, and Nathan, meanwhile, looks effortlessly cool. He even takes a casual swig of his beer. “Meh. Honestly? Was kinda boring. And I couldn’t get the image of the mooning Royce Flat Ass-Coachella out of my head. Put me off my fucking caviar. Also, I thought there might be somebody bang-able there. But who the hell wants to risk losing an eye to some pointy-ass fashion apparatus while you’re going down to beaver town, huh?”

Oh goodness. Poor little rich boy!

All that, and he’s bored. And, on the other hand, what you wouldn’t give to attend the spectacle that is the Met Gala! Your little Museum Nerd heart is positively outraged! “Boring?! Boring, Bateman?! It’s only the most glorious, fabulous institution to exist in modern America!” Highly amused now by your gushing, Nathan stands too. Slowly, and far more calmly than you did, his eyes glowing with a soft, shrouded affection for you, if you’re not mistaken. “Boring, Nathan?!”

“Yeah.” He tightens his lips into a thin line, as though he’s trying to stop himself from saying something he may royally regret as soon as it’s out of his mouth. “Was no fucking fun without you.”

Your eyebrows jump up towards your hairline, your whole torso curling around your still warm and whirring laptop as you tighten it in your arms. You can’t believe the words he’s just spoken. )You especially can’t believe it after all of the hints you’d dropped about wanting to go with him!) Luckily for you though, you’re still having a near out-of-body experience, and so his words fail to register completely. “Boring?! It’s only full of all of the most beautiful, interesting, important people in the country!” you continue, your voice so high and careening now that you’re sure you’re making a mockery of yourself.

Nathan takes a couple of slow, casual steps towards you, still looking at you steadily from beneath his lenses. “Well… almost all of them.”

A swallow bobs down your throat with the unspoken implication, and you dare not follow that thought through to completion.

Then, wordlessly, Nathan shuffles up close to you, and eases the laptop from your grip. He sets it down on the table, and then he turns his gently heating, amused gaze back to you, looking you over in your crumpled sweats.

You swallow, still experiencing cognitive dissonance, Nathan’s words not matching up with what you’ve told yourself for so long - that he could never be interested in you. Instead of acknowledging him then, you instead cling to your futile, part-sensical assertions. “It’s only an unparalleled showcase of the greatest creative costuming of the modern day.” Your argument is losing strength, however. Your voice is breathy and barely there now, as Nathan’s face hovers ever closer to yours.

His voice drops low in his throat, becomes a low, warm rumble which you swear you feel in the pit of your chest. “Maybe. But no-one looked half as cute as you do in these baggy sweats.”

Nope. No way. This isn’t happening.

Your brain is definitely broken now. In fact, all you can do is whimper pathetically as Nathan looks hungrily down at your mouth. Is this some kind of dream? A joke? You have to be sure, before you make an even bigger fool of yourself. Before he makes a fool out of you.

“Really. Nathan. What are you doing here?”

Nathan pauses. Pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. His face goes taut, brows drawing down. “Well. I went to your apartment first, and you weren’t there.”

“Because I’m here.”

“Yeah. No shit.”

You gulp. You gulp as Nathan reaches up to pick a tiny bit of lint from off of your sweater, the gesture so tiny but humungous. His gaze gently, warmly, flits over your face. “Now I’m here too. Asking you…” He sucks air through his teeth, like he’s about to regret all of his decisions in life, but then… he still says it anyway. For the first time in your memory, Nathan Bateman even looks…bashful. “Do you wanna come to The Met Gala with me?”

Your mouth opens and closes wordlessly for a few moments, in complete and utter shock.

“I know, I know.” Nathan concedes, his eyes blinking closed and his palm waving through the air. “I’m a dumb fuck. You’ve been hinting incessantly. To the point of irritation. Beyond even. You’re not subtle, honey. And my timing is beyond shitty. But… what do you think? Will you be my… date?”

You blink at him. Look at him regretfully. “Nathan. I… I can’t. I…”

He quirks a thick eyebrow. Runs a hand over his buzzed head. “Fuck. Why not?”

You have to laugh. This situation is all so completely absurd. But you look down at yourself, your palms gesturing towards your clothes. “I… don’t have anything to wear.”

Nathan purses his lips then, and nods contemplatively, releasing a long-held breath, perhaps even in relief. “So the clothes thing is the issue? The idea of dating your asshole boss doesn’t bother you?”

You swear his eyes have grown uncharacteristically soft, hopeful even, but of course, your mouth runs off ahead of you to ruin the moment before you can even get there.

“I mean. Nathan. I’d go to the Freaking Met Gala with anyone who was willing to get me in there, honestly. Elon fucking Musk if he asked me. It’s not like I’d be fussy.” Nathan gives you a glare. Curls his tongue around his top lip in mild aggravation. And, there it is. That hand settling on his jutted hip. “Of course. I’m not saying he’d get to any bases. Bleuch. I’d ditch him right after the canapés.” You slide your palm over your face, regretting your motor mouth as Nathan eyes you judgementally over the brim of his frames. Holy shit. Why exactly are you still talking? “Wow. I sure wish someone would shut me the hell up.”

Nathan shifts gently, winding his hands around your waist, his fingers clawing into the soft fabric of your hoody like they belong there on lazy Sunday mornings. “You’re in luck, honey. I’ve been dying to help with that for months now.” His thick eyebrow sweeps up suggestively, and you can’t believe this is happening. You feel giddy. You feel like you’re in some kind of modern fairytale and Nathan is Prince Charming. Or, wait… maybe Prince Crude or something would suit him better.

“Nathan!” You emit a dirty laugh and attempt to bat him in the chest, but in that moment he tugs you closer. And so, your palm simply ends up resting lightly against his chest, your fingertips grazing over the bare brow skin beneath the “V” at his neck. Fuck, he looks hot. Feels warm and smooth. Your knees are barely keeping you up at this point.

What in the actual fuck is happening right now?!

“So, how about it?” Nathan prods, giving the closest thing to puppy dog eyes that you’ve seen from the man, the edge on his usually cool, calculating stare completely blunted - only for you. “Will you come with me?”

You want to say yes. Of course you do. Want to jump at the chance. But this is all so surreal you can barely think straight. Can barely imagine a world where you could be the woman who gets to attend a Gala on Nathan “Gift from God” Bateman’s arm. “You’re impossible, Nathan! I mean. You’re asking me while it’s already happening? This is all kind of crazy!”

“I know. You’re right,” he concedes, drawing back from you and clicking his tongue. Shoving his hands back into his pockets. He does indeed look good from behind, you are delighted to confirm.“Don’t know what I was thinking.”

You fold your arms around yourself, getting whiplash. This is all happening so quickly, and now it might not even be happening at all? “Now, wait a second. Let’s not be so hasty.”

Nathan wafts his hand through the air. “No. You’re right. I’ll call that upper east side boutique you obsess over back. What was the name again? I’ll them they don’t need to open back up after all. Tell them we don’t need a last minute gown.”

Your jaw drops and you audibly gasp. “Nathannnnn!”

He turns back towards you, and you can see the spark of mirth in his eyes. Can detect that he’s teasing you. That this whole thing is still very much on the table, if you want it. “Nathan Bateman. Are you seriously taking me to the Met Gala?” you squeal, unable to contain your excitement any longer.

“So long as you don’t ditch me after the fucking canapés, Princess.”

You subdue a face splitting grin, wanting badly to revel in it - but still not quite sure yet what you’ve done to deserve this. Not even the Gala, the gown, all that. Most importantly, this attention from your long-time crush. The man who, over time, has become so much more than your asshole boss. Your close friend. Someone you could even imagine a future with, so help you.

“I promise not to ditch you, Bateman - at least not until the entrées.” His eyes crinkle again at the corners and it makes you feel ten feet tall. “But… I don’t get it, Bateman.” It is your turn to take two steps towards him now. For your gaze to flit gently, warmly, over his face. Over that groomed, raven beard. His tan skin and his huge, brown, earnest eyes. “Why me?”

Your question seems to take Nathan by surprise. He looks a little more severe all of a sudden. More serious. A weight settles into his heavy brow, yet his eyes remain soft beneath it. “Well, kitten. I was -supposedly- hanging out with the most beautiful, interesting, and important people in the country and…”

“A-And what, Nathan?” You swallow, your heart thrumming and voice trembling at the potential implication of his words. He’s not going to say it though. You already know he isn’t going to say it. That “not one of them had anything on you”.

“And… it sucked ass,” Nathan finishes unceremoniously, in typical fashion. “And not in a good way.”

“S-so, you need me to be there?” You’re not above fishing for your compliments. You cast your line, waiting to see what you can manage to reel in.

Nathan’s brow folds with a newer weight. One which he can’t seem to shake off through smugness or humour or deflection. “Fine. You want me to play my fucking hand, honey? Here it is. Met Gala, Schmet Gala. I got there, and I realised that I…” His voice cracks with the weight of a million tiny revelations, hinted at in his eyes and they way they begin to sparkle. But, he doesn’t say it. Not every revelation he may have had tonight. Still, he does say something. He does say just enough. “I just… I realised that I just needed to be where you were.” Nathan reaches up then, and he lifts your chin with the crook of his finger. “So. We can get you a gown, if you want, and we can hit it up.” His eyes flick towards the TV, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth. He offers a second option. “We can stay here and eat ice cream and watch E replay my Nathan’s Ass Broke The Internet red carpet moment all night long.” His eyes turn smug and dark, and a hunger intensifies in them as he looks you up and down again. “Or,” he says, slipping his expensive jacket off of his sculpted form, and passing it carefully around your shoulders. “You can go just like this. Technically, it’s now a Tom Ford ensemble. Would get you through the gate.” You even think he’s serious. You even think he’d have you by his side exactly as you are. That he sees you as beautiful, just like this.

You giggle into your palm. “I’m a mess!”

“No. You look good,” Nathan insists, not a whiff of a lie on him. In fact, as he drinks you in, he looks like he’s melting too. Like he might form a puddle and dribble through the floorboards any moment.

You finally allow a giddy, joyful, disbelieving smile to claim your face, and you reach up to fiddle coquettishly with Nathan’s loosened bow tie. “You look good.”

“Oh, I know, honey. Perfect wank fodder right?” He tips your head, allowing his lips to ghost up the column of your neck. He hums lightly when he reaches your pulse point, his mouth tasting your perfume. “Naughty girl. Gonna make you show me later, huh?” He presses a kiss to your throat. “If you want that,” he adds for good measure, and the addition makes you even hotter for him. He’s far softer and more gentle than you ever would have imagined, treating you like an intricate, delicate thing. You’ve seen his hands be careful as he worked his machines, but you never imagined them quite like this on your own skin. As though you were something magnificent. Special.

You feel another surge of embarrassment at the thought of showing Nathan how much he turns you on, as mental images carousel through your mind. You move to dip your face into Nathan’s chest; however, delicately, seamlessly, he crooks his finger to lift your mouth to his instead, his lips covering yours with a soft, earnest kiss. He hums into it, his tongue tentatively twining with yours as you open up for him.

You blink in disbelief as he breaks for air, your lips still tingling from the contact, your arms now hanging limply by your sides.

“Christ, honey. I’d better not kiss you on the red carpet.”

“And why not?!” On the contrary. You want a lot more where that came from.

“You look like a fucking goldfish. That good, huh?” There his crooked finger is again, gently fixing your slack jaw.

Well that won’t do. And so, with a determined, hungry glint in your eye, you pull Nathan back into your kiss by his lapels, slanting your mouth against him, kissing him deep and hungry. Kissing him until there is a moan spooling from his chest. Until, this time, Nathan is the one who is slack-jawed and dumb-founded when you pull away, his eyes fluttered closed and lips still puckered in search of you.

“You’re right,” you agree, surveying his own goldfish face. “No kissing on the red carpet. You’ll just have to grab my ass instead,” you snicker, and Nathan slowly wafts back down to earth. You could swear he even blushes at the suggestion, a crimson flush deepening the colour of his cheeks.

He strokes his hands up and down your forearms, searching your eyes. “So are we doing this? Because I have about 20 people on standby and ready to go.”

“You do?”

Nathan takes your hands. “Yeah. And I know you won’t wanna miss the exhibition tour, right? You big dork,” he teases with a sweet grin - as if he isn’t the biggest dork you know.

You clap your hands to your cheeks then, the situation suddenly feeling less like a fantasy and growing all too real. You feel a sudden flurry of nerves at the realisation there will be so many eyes on you. “I’m nervous,” you admit.

Nathan sighs, begins to grumble under his breath. “Christ. Don’t make me say it.”

You look at him quizzically.

He sighs again. More deeply this time. His words come out rather reluctantly, but no less full of meaning. “You’re gonna be the most beautiful, interesting, important person in the whole fucking joint. And I should know.”

“Oh yeah, Bateman?”

“Yeah. Got bored of those losers after 5 minutes, but you…?” His eyes twinkle again, with sentiments deeper than his words dare illuminate. You can see him rein it in a little. Backtrack. Keep things Nathan-y. Respond in his typical fashion. “Well. It’s been 9 months now and you’re still here. Clearly, you’re annoying enough to keep things interesting, Princess. Not bad to look at either.”

You chide him playfully with your eyes for the backhander, but despite his words, he’s looking at you with nothing but sweetness. “Besides, you’re gonna look like total wank fodder.”

You laugh. “Okay. True. But can we please retire that phrase? Otherwise I just know you’re gonna say it on E, and your publicist will kill me.”

“Publicist schmublicist,” Nathan breezes, and he pulls you into him for another kiss, a smile cracking beneath his raven beard. “Anyway, honey, you started it.”

You protest, bickering back and forth, exchanging snark as Nathan puts his arm around you and guides you out of the apartment. He leads you out of the lobby to where he has a car waiting, and he opens the door for you to clamber inside. Your belly is full of nerves and excitement, and you eye him with fondness as he calls up the boutique -your favourite, but one you are usually priced out of- to confirm you’re on your way over.

You can’t believe your dream of heading to the Met Gala is coming true. But most of all, you’re elated that Nathan wants you next to him. You’d always believed you weren’t good enough for him, but here he is, eager to show you off to the whole world. To have fun with you and enjoy your company.

It’s funny, you think. He wasn’t meant to be here tonight, and nor were you. But somehow, you think, you each ended up exactly where you were supposed to be.

Nathan hangs up his call and turns to you. “You okay?” He smooths a hand up your thigh and you nod, still smiling softly. “What kind of outfit do you want? It’s on me.”

Your eyes glint with mischief. “Nothing pointy.” Nathan takes a moment to catch your drift. “I don’t wanna put your eye out when you visit beaver town later, do I?”

You think you’d like something simple actually. Something to match Nathan. He may be a complicated man, but in many ways he’s so entirely straightforward. It’s one of the many things you like about him.

For a moment, Nathan looks lost for words, a swallow sinking down his throat. You can tell he’s already eager to follow that plan through to completion. “Please. Honey. Tell me we can we skip the after party?” He looks like he can’t wait for what you’re suggesting.

“How long is this ride?” you ask, arcing an eyebrow suggestively.

“What are you saying?”

“So you reckon you’ve got time to get a whole four bases further than Elon ever could?”

Nathan’s eyes glow with something bright and inexplicable. “You’re fucking unreal.”

“Oh, Nathan,” you purr, as he slides up the divider in the front, giving you some privacy. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

[myfeetkeepdancing]

NSFW 18+ NSFW 18+

Nathan Drake x Male Reader

“Finally peeled yourself from behind that desk…?” The familiar voice came as a flash in the night ignited the room. And there he was again. Nathan. Sitting on your sofa. That familiar smirk on his face. 

“I knew this day would come.” Letting out a sigh when you notice the contours of the man seated on your comfy sofa. “Quite the entrance.”

“Yeah. I thought I leaned a little on the dramatic reveal.” He smiled fondly. “My other ideas were a lot worse.”

“In a way… I’m glad it’s you. Could’ve been much worse.” You chuckle. “How’d you get in anyway?”

“You don’t wanna know.” He rubbed his thighs slightly nervous. “But seeing that smile… makes me wonder if I should’ve done it much sooner.”

“That a look in the mirror, Nathan. You should see the look on your face.” You snort and eye him indiscriminately. “Must say, time has been kind to you.” His arms bulge in that shirt. Forearms treaded with thick veins. Brown hair combed and slicked backward. “Been busy I see…” 

“You too.” He leaned forward, eyeing you the same way. “So… How is your… new… life?” Tilting his head slowly sideways. That knowing smirk on his face. “Gotten used to… doing laundry… making shopping lists?” Glancing around with a belittling expression. “Reading the newspaper every morning…”

“It’s growing on me. How about you?”

“I’m fine.” Flicking meaninglessly through the pages of the newspaper lying on the coffee table. Giving you the worst faked smile you ever saw on Nathan’s face. “Thanks for asking.”

“I see...” Crossing your arms and lean into the doorpost. Watching Nathan holding back something you can’t fully put your finger on. “Why do I feel there’s more to this?” Stepping into the room. It feels like stepping into a cage. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, Nathan.” 

“Either you’re in trouble…” That glint in Nathans’s eye twinkled as you sat yourself on the armrest of the couch. Opposite of Nathan. “Or… you’re here to crash on my couch for the night. No, wait… that’s all the same to you.”  

“Alright, I have a feeling I… eh… got off on the wrong foot…” He says, rising to his feet, you feel slightly apprehensive at first. “Can we start over…?” 

You remain unmoved, heart racing a little as he steps closer. Cautiously taking his steps. Nathan aware of your mistrust. “Pretend this didn’t happen?”

“I haven’t eaten.” You let out a sigh. “How about we grab a bite and work from there…?” 

“Wait…” Nathan darted forward, his hand against your chest. The distance between the two of you closed within a heartbeat. “I… m-... There are a lot of things I didn’t say when we… went our ways. I... just haven’t been… honest.”

“Are you saying… your conscience got the better of you…?” The irritation boiling inside of you. “I know you kept a sweater, a shirt, and… my bottle of perfume. What else is there… that I don’t know?”

Nathan is smooth and swift. He steps in and takes you right on the lips. It takes you back. Just like it was back then. Your noses touch and skim awkwardly against each other as he overwhelms you. The moving force behind the kiss, he’s hesitant for a moment. That first wave of emotions washes through his movement. Awaiting your reaction. The taste is the same. The feeling is the same. Your heart skips a beat. Excitement taking over. Following him into the kiss. Kissing him back. Wanting to. 

“You stole my heart when you left…” Nathan whispered through the kiss. “And I fucking… miss you.” Repeating it again as he rested his forehead against yours. “I miss you.” One hand cradling the back of your head. The kiss left you both breathless and… somehow relieved. The tension was so thick and so relentless. The unspoken glances shot back and forth. That in just a matter of minutes. While it’s been months since you separated and went your own way. You never forgot each other. Still on each other’s minds. “All of it.”

“You… s-should’ve started with that.” Trying to suppress the growing excitement within you. “Shit…” 

The past was an interesting one, especially with Nathan. When you’re young, the thrill of exploration and adventure is ever-present. And the world was full of them. Stories and mysteries. Myths and treasures. The next one is more attractive than the other. Now those stories and adventures are tied up in relics dotted across your apartment. Of what a life once was. A thrilling one, but dangerous for the age.

Now settled and living the ‘normal’ life. A desk job. Stability. Quiet. 

But without Nathan.

“If I’d known…” His hands lower to your hips, balancing you on the armrest of the couch. “I wouldn’t have been waiting in this room.”

“What happens now…?” Silencing his lips with a finger as you move to your feet. Seeing his lips curl into this devious smirk. “Do we… slip back into… old habits?”

“Fuck yeah...” With a freshly released pent-up frenzy of love and lust, you viciously move towards the bedroom. Discarding each other’s clothing along the way. Frames fall from the walls as you bang from side to side in the hallway. Fighting for dominance and bare skin. Kisses become violent, and touches intensify. Until you end up on the mattress of your bed. 

Forcing Nathan on his back, you throw a leg over and seat yourself on top of him. Naked and more than ready. Balls and cock resting on his abs. Firm and hard. Warm to the touch. 

Just like his cock. It’s looming behind you. The thought of it alone made you want it even more. That feeling intensified as Nathan perched himself upwards, one hand on your neck, and pulls you in for a kiss. It’s slow but so good. “No quick cuddle…” He insisted with a grin. “We have no dinner reservation to get to...” His hands feeling your body up. Eyes full of lust. “Or a plane to catch. It’s just us… you and me.”

“I can’t wait to feel you again…” You confess outright. Wetting your fingers with a spat of spit. Reaching behind you, you feel this familiar length, standing tall and eager to get in on the action. 

The touch of your fingers on his twitching length makes Nathan moan through the kiss. It’s warm and firm. You feel the veins protruding underneath the tight skin. Sliding backward makes the ongoing kiss a challenge to uphold, and Nathan tries to follow. You lean in. Until you feel his rock-hard cock fill the crease and curvature of your asscheeks. Its slippery length rubs up against your skin, its frantic throbbing teasing your senses. 

“Go slowly…” Nathan whispers as you let go of his lips. Watching and feeling you angle his tip to your entrance. Rising your ass to meet up his tip. “It’s… been a while.”

The resistance at first is prevalent. A simultaneous groan of the two of you sends shivers over your spine. That teasing sensation of his pink tip, stretching your hole. Wanting inside. Nathan reaches over and gropes your asscheeks. Digging his fingers deep in, and spreads them wide apart. Making it so that you manage to pop his tip in. 

Your sphincter protests, fights back. Struggles for a moment or two. So does your mind. But the feeling of Nathan’s cock once again penetrating you is overwhelming. Your knees weaken, and feel yourself give in. “Fu-... uck... Nathan…” Words fall short, as does your breath. He always managed to rub you right inside you. That eagerness grew inside you. Wanting more. 

“Keep b-breathing…” Nathan reminds you with a quick kiss. But memories of your last time with Nathan flood your mind. It’s been so long. The craving and urges have never been higher. And that euphoric feeling of his cock once again inside you made you lose control of your body. Forgetting to breathe is just one thing. The growing cramps in your leg muscles are another. Your legs sink deep in the sheets, muscles struggling to keep you upright. 

“Breathe…” Nathan went again, this time putting his lips to yours. Taking your mind off all the things happening. A sigh loosens your muscles, and you sink further down onto his cock. The lingering tease now turned into a pleasurable fulfillment. You can’t stop moaning to the sensations overwhelming you.

“That’s it…” He groaned as you felt him fill you up. Hearing the pleasure in his voice as he complimented you. “All nice and tight for me…”

You have to fight to keep your composure. Savor that full moment of him penetrating you slowly. Your body fights back. Your hole and cheeks clench hard and quiver under the increasing pressure that pushes into you. Nathan’s firm grip on your asscheeks prevents that. 

“Take it in…” Pulling your cheeks apart. “All of it…” You feel his length stretch and push in on your narrow insides. Every curve and vein pushing on your walls. Deeper and deeper. Your body gave in as it tried to resist. But you knew better. And you wanted more. 

“N-Nate…” You stammer as his length slid into you up to the last inch. Once his hands had spread your asscheeks apart, you let out a moan of pleasure. 

It sank deep and penetrated you fully. You have to gather your breath. Senses overloaded. Mind blank. You couldn’t cope. 

“Fuck me…” You ask, plead and beg all through a series of groans. Trying to force your body into a grinding rhythm on his cock. But that sensation of his cock buried so deep into you made your body quiver. Every time you tried to roll your hips, his lengths rubbed places inside you, you needed him to. Wanted him to. Craved. You’re simply unable to move. 

“I can’t…” You stammer through a chuckle and try to grab his shoulders. Hold yourself onto him. 

“Let me…” Nathan whispered as he laid back, spread out to give a clear view, looking down at his exposed body. You couldn’t help but admire how perfect it was, arms thick and strong, a bulky chest that flexed as he helped you into motion. “I’ll make you feel good...” 

His grip on your ass moved further down, slowly lifting you up. That girthy cock of his almost creating a vacuum inside you. It slid out an inch or two, but it was more than enough. Slowly sinking you down again. 

Your dick slapped against his abs, pre-cum already flicking back and forth with the impact of his next push. Barely any control over your own body, you try to hold onto his shoulders. 

When you thought you had adjusted, he increases his pace, completely and utterly pounding your insides. All you hear is the loud sound of skin-on-skin as he slammed deeper into your ass. 

All you can feel is pleasure as your vision hazes. You needed very little stimulation. 

All you can feel is your heart pounding, his cock inside you, and your cock throbbing with every push. 

Your cock slapped onto his perfect body. You can feel your balls start to churn. He looks so gorgeous writhing beneath you, such a mixture of hot and adorable. You can hardly bear watching any longer it. Let alone keep it in. 

Nathan stirring you on with his lusting gaze. Hitting you in all the right places. The sensation is feels utterly amazing. Cum just spills without a warning. Spraying it all over him. He watches you in amazement and fascination as the first rope of cum shoots out of you and onto his muscles.

“L-Like… old t-times.” Nathan smiled as he welcomed your lips, seeing your arms buckle from the pleasures. You feel yourself fall forward into him, his lips up close, strong arms wrap around your neck like a vice. “You haven’t changed, have you…” Nathan teased as he helped you ride out your wave of ecstasy. Swaying you in the motion, meeting you halfway with slow thrusts. 

“Nothing changed.” You confessed with his hard cock still inside you. “I just… miss this.” Showing him a smile as you begin to gather yourself. His scent assaults your senses once again, just like many months ago, you take your time, slowly savoring every part of him, his smell, his sweat, the taste of his lips on yours. 

“I thought you were going to confess-…” Nathan breathed out, combing his fingers through your hair a bit rough to get your attention. “-... that you m-missed me.” His voice is low, raspy. It’s turning you on even more. The air of pheromones is heavy, the smell seeping into your mind, both wanting it badly. 

“Make me…” 

His grip is so firm, yet it slides against your skin, teasing you. Nathan really does have a large, firm, toned body, even his legs are muscular. The bed shudders and creaks as you roll over. Looking at his face, he’s so focused. All it takes is looking into each other’s eyes for him to know that you want him to fill you up.

“I’m not gonna lie…” He lifted your legs, pulling you closer, ready for him to mount you. Nathan’s muscled body loomed over you. “I’m real close...” The cum dripped from his abs. From his well-built frame all the way down to this hard cock. Without hesitating, he nudges his tip into your tight, quivering hole, letting half of it pop inside. “But… I’ll try…”

You’re once again breathless. Feeling him fill you up. Nathan really is sexier now, even more so than a few months ago. No longer able to hold back, he pounds into you, your body braced. You can take him in further. You feel it, your entrance contracting with each thrust he makes. Accepting him in. Deeper and deeper.

He pins you down on the bed, hips bucking as he thrusts into you. Clasping your hands on his hips, you guide him, as he pushes down with every thrust, body already used to his length. You can feel him going in and out. And you can’t help but shiver in pleasure with every push. 

Your eyes lock as his handsome face stares into yours; you can’t look away. Taking in the sight of this muscular man in front of you, body pulsing with each thrust. 

“I’ll make you cum again before I do…�� Rubbing his hand all over your cock. Despite being limb just seconds ago. It swells and hardens within his gentle and loving touch. It’s slick and ready to go for another round.

You can feel him move from a steady pace to this harder and faster pounding one. Your insides feel like they’re tearing apart. Lost in a haze of passion. You can feel his moves become desperate, pounding more and more, approaching your own release again. Forcefully thrusting his hips, battering your ass. Jerking your cock with increasing vigor. Your cock still sensitive from before wasn’t going to stop Nathan. 

“Oh God… N-Nate” All you can feel is pleasure as he wanks you off, timing the strokes to his thrusts. His grip tightens. “Faster… H-Harder!” Wrapping your legs around his back. 

Calling out to each other in pleasure like this. It awakened something in one another, stirring on his movements. In response to your words, the thrusts hasten in speed, flashes of white begin to color your vision as he pounds into you.

Each time he hits your prostate, you feel that jolt of pleasure all through your body. Hand stroking faster, forcing the release. His muscles flexing as he penetrates deeper and deeper. Your insides were starting to tighten up more. No longer able to hold back. Your vision glazes over as you surrender to his pounding.

“I’ll fuck… the cum out of ya…” He groans as his grip tightens. Your body adjusts to his movements, the pain subsiding as you savor every thrust he makes, each move going faster. Your entrance slick as he pounds more intensely with each thrust. 

Your bodies come together, at this point neither of you care for the sounds you make. The climax inside you builds up as the cock inside you assaults your hole fiercely. His body heaving with every thrust, his strong features are on full display as you writhe under him. 

You cum, shoving your face hard against the mattress and your ass against his crotch. Body in a quivering state of perpetual pleasure. Cum jets from your swollen cock. Nathan strokes hard, milking every last possible drop. Making you spill all over yourself. Glazing your own stomach in a coat of your own cum. The pulses sends Nathan after you. 

Nathan cums with full force. And you accept it. Take it in. His cock hardens and unloads a stream of warm cum that fills your insides. You feel him. Contracting and unloading. His groans are as sexy as ever before. Gripping you. Holding you. 

“Breathe…” You mutter and grab him by the neck, placing your lips on his. Stealing your breath in an instance as he regained his senses. Bodies burning up from the heat, sweat running down your faces, mixing into the kiss. Lips turning in a smile. Both panting, trying to recover your breaths, you peaked at his face, all zoned out after such an intense release. 

“K-Keep it in…” You urge him as you clench your ass as tightly as you possibly can, trying to hold his load in. You felt him chuckle. His body shook as he reseated himself, and pressed his hips deep into you. Despite his efforts, cum was spurting out, bubbling around the rim of your ass. Slowly oozing downwards. 

“I miss what we did. What we used to do. What we were.” Nathan whispered into your ear as he slowly lifted himself onto his arms. “Can we please go back…? At least… gimme a try. I’ll try to be a bett-...”

A finger to his lips stops Nathan from talking. His chocolate brown eyes, big and lovingly, stare at you with this glimmer of desire. “You don’t know what you’re missing until they’re gone.” Throwing your arms around his neck. “Now I know…”

Nathan’s softer side shined through as he smiled. Hugging you closely. Caressing your lips with a lover’s embrace. “I bet you got that out of the Da Vinci Code.” He teased you, slapping it from your nightstand. “You oughta know better. Now for real….” Stealing a quick kiss from your lips. “Will you… gimme a chance?”

“The past is the past. All this time, it started to grow on me… I can’t do without you.” With your legs twisted around his body like a vice, you clamp yourself onto him. Arms and legs tightly hugging him. “Time for a new adventure, Nathan. A new chapter.” And give a playful slap on his ass. Feeling him harden again. “Or another round is fine as well.”

“What were you mad about…?” He inquires with a persuasive session of peppered kisses along face your and down your neck. “I’d like to know… to improve.”

“Doesn’t matter, Nathan.” You stammer, unable to think straight. The shower of kisses and praise your body gets from Nathan is exhilarating. At the same time, you feel the sheets go damp underneath you. The cold sensation trickled down the crack of your ass and lower back. “The sheets…” Trying to plug your hole with him again. Reaching for a piece of discarded clothing lying on the bed. “The cum is-...”

You get stopped by Nathan. Pinning the arm in place at your wrist. “You either tell me…” Grabbing your other arm and pins it down on the other side of you. “Or you and I are going to stain the sheets… into oblivion.” Slowly pulling his cock in and out of you. The resistance is gone. It’s all slicked and ready. Each cycle of his hip rolling against yours caused the cum to seep out slowly. Trickling down. The inevitable. 

“L-Looks like your body made the choice for you…” Nathan glanced down, buried his face into your neck, leaned and arched into you further, his muscled torso pressing into you, locking your stiffened cock in-between your bodies. Your length teased by the ripples of his abs. Gliding back and forth as he began moving. “You won’t be able to walk… w-when I’m done.” He growls into your ear. “You tell me…”

But you let the silence speak for itself.  

[harlowhockeystick]

can i ask for a breakdown of the kids and their personality because im lowkey lost.

yes! i would love to! under the cut are just the main ones that we talk about the most.

milo makar: sweetest boy anyone could ever imagine. is cale's twin, has the rosy cheeks, blue eyes, light ginger hair. fluxuates between momma's boy and daddy's boy, loves both equally. he is best friends with penelope mackinnon and her bold (to put it lightly) rubs off on him eventually. milo does end up turning into chaos but not in a bad way. he is a chatterbox, he will walk up to any stranger and just start a conversation. milo loves baseball and anything to do about it. yeah, it's cool that his dad plays hockey but it would be even cooler if he played baseball. just fyi. milo all in all is just a good, solid kid. he can make friends with anyone but isn't gonna ditch penny behind. milo does get in trouble at school sometimes, but it's never anything too serious. cale makes sure of that.

penelope mackinnon: there are not enough words to describe this child. she is a lot. she's dramatic, she's the kid who cries to get what she wants and she uses it to her advantage. she looks like her mom (mom, who's name is sarah, had penny with nate but they were never really a serious couple. they decided co parenting was the best option), but has nate's eyes. and good lord is that his biggest weakness. but back to the point- she is a bubbly kid, always laughing and has a smile on her face. but if she doesn't like something (a person, a place, a food, etc.) she will let dad/mom/nanny naomi know about it. which she also gets in trouble for at school for simply telling other kids "i don't like you, you (insert reason here)". she's intense, she intimidates even nate's teammates sometimes. but once you have penny's approval, you have it for life pretty much. she wasn't ever one for sports, she's tried a few things but never really found her fit in any of them. but she is her dad's #1 fan for sure. nobody supports nathan like his lucky penny <3. to end, penny most definitely is an attention seeker. if she doesn't have all the attention she will get it. she loves her dad more than anything, but she hates going to his games bc "hockey is no fun". penny is the popular girl in school in every grade she's in. even though she has her little "posse", milo will always be her best friend.

gemma patrick: ugh, what a sweet girl. looks just like dad. the light brown hair, the blue eyes- everything looks wise she has. but even though she looks like nolan (even in the sonogram pictures mom was like "she looks like you nolie"), she grows to be like mom. chatterbox- once she says her first word (which was daddy), she never stops talking. very talkative child, she's always asking questions and always pointing things out. she's kinda shy at first but once she comes out of her shell it's hard to push her back in it. oh and when i say just like mom i mean it. gemma is a material gorl. she wants to dress up like mommy, be pretty like mommy. she wats to do everything like mommy. but do not be mistaken, she is a daddy's girl through and through. she might act like mom, but he's her #1 at heart. he calls her his mini princess. but she keeps to herself most of the time as she grows up, taking on some of her dad's traits that way. if she does play sports it's track/cross country. she reads all the time. any time nolan finds her she's got her nose in a book. oh and at family reunions, gemma and penny do not vibe at all (it was cannon that princess is nate's cousin a while back). just bc they're cousins doesn't mean they have to vibe. gemma is more humble, penny is...not. but yeah, gemma is nolan's pride and joy.

nelly crosby: 1/2 of the crosby girls, nelly is the more reserved of the twins. she's attached to sidney at all times. the crosby girls are the stereotypical twins, opposites. but the girls are sid's carbon copy. they have his curly hair, his dark brown eyes, slightly olive toned skin, even his half crooked smile. but nelly, absolute doll. she's polite, she always asks if mom or dad wants help with what they are doing. even if mom is just folding laundry or working from home, she always offers to help. nelly is a homebody honestly. where nora plays two or three different sports, nelly is back home reading a book or watching shows. nelly, when she grows up ofc, loves to have just deep talks with sidney. she just walks into his study, or wherever he's at and just plops down and asks a deep question that she know's he will have an answer to. oh yeah, did i mention she's a daddy's girl?

nora crosby: ah yes, the other 1/2 of the crosby girls. the wilder one. where nelly is introverted, nora is an extrovert. she's also the one who starts little petty fights (most of the time, not saying nelly is perfect). but nora is always putting herself out there. she spends most of her time playing outside when she gets home from school, just running around the yard or shooting hoops in the driveway. she plays just about every sport she can until she can only do two at a time. but nora, is also a daddy's girl at heart. when she's little, more often than not after dinner she's the first to leave the table after they finish cleaning up to go play outside. when she's done, she comes back in and crashes on the couch on sidney's lap. nora, like milo, will talk to anyone about anything. she's a bit of a chatterbox but she wont go on and on. both of the girls love spending time with each other though, normally where you find one you can find the other. they're each others best friends, and sidney loves it.

[spidernerdsblog]

Hey can I ask a blurb for MMIH series where Nathan is a complete mamma's boy...ntg much just domestic fluff and oh yeah can u some team fights like Tom and Leah are a team and Nathan and his mom are team? Love u and ur work💓💖💖

Nathan is a complete mama's boy no doubt in that. Thank you so much <333 Hope you like this. Let me know what you think.

Match made in Hell

MAMA'S BOY

Pairing : Mob! Tom Holland x Reader

Warnings : fluff

Saturday nights were usually family game nights where you and Tom would take your time off from work to spend time with Nathan and Nailah playing games as per their choice. Tonight they had decided to play pictionary for which Tom had set up a white board in the middle of the living room.

“Ok let me just state out the rules first” you announced standing near the board as Tom went and sat down on the couch with Nate and Leah “there are going to be two teams”

“Mommy is going to be in my team!” Nathan shouted instantly which made you and Tom break into a laugh.

“What about me bud?” Tom asked, pouting his lips.

“Uhh…” Nate looked at him thoughtfully before shaking his head “no only mommy”

“You’re breaking my heart now little man” he said dramatically, placing his hand on his chest.

“You can be in my team daddy” Leah chirped.

“Oh thank you love, at least my princess loves me” Tom pulled her in his lap, pressing a soft kiss on her cheek as she erupts into giggles

“Stop being so jealous, Tom. My baby boy just loves his mom a little more than his dad” you shrugged nonchalantly.

“Yeah I can see that” he chuckled lightly as you resumed to explain the rules.

“Ok, moving on. I’m keeping the cards with the words written on it over here” you said placing a deck of cards on the coffee table “each team will get three minutes to draw and guess the correct answer. Max points are ten whichever team gets it first is the winner. The team to go up first will be decided by rock, paper and scissors. Leah, Nate come over here” you instructed as both of them got off the couch and stood in front of you.

“Rock, paper, scissors!” they recited tapping their little fists against their palms before throwing their fists open. Leah had thrown a rock and Nate a scissor so clearly Leah won.

“See, we are already winning,” Tom commented.

“Ok Leah you go first” you told her and went to sit on the couch. Nailah picked up a card from the stack and drew a decent picture of the given word on the board with a marker.

“It’s a tree!” Tom exclaimed, his face beaming with excitement. This is why you loved game night. It brings out the inner child of your husband while playing with the kids.

“Correct daddy!” Leah clapped her hands in joy.

“And we got the first point as well” Tom bragged and turns to Nate “think again buddy you might wanna be on the winning side”

“No I'll be with mommy” he nuzzled into you as you chuckle, running your fingers through his soft brown curls.

“You’re really a mama’s boy,” Tom smiled, shaking his head.

“Takes one to know one” you teased

“Hey I wasn’t a mama’s boy!” he retorted.

“Oh please, your mom told me everything. How you used to run to her for every little thing” you snickered.

“That’s absolutely not true,”

“Ok we can discuss it later on, let's focus on the game for now. Nate it’s your turn” you said as Nate ran to pick a card and began to draw on the board. He drew two squares which you roughly figured out to be a book.

“Is it a book?” you said with a little uncertainty in your voice.

“Yes it is!” he confirmed with a bright smile.

After a few rounds your team was currently at 8 points whereas Tom’s was at 9. Tom was standing near the board as he picked up a card and looked at the word. After giving a little thought he drew three zzZ increasing in size from small to big. Leah looked at it with furrowed eyebrows, trying to figure out what her dad drew on the board.

“It is the letter Z,” she said after some time.

“No, think again Leah it’s easy”

“Buzzing of honeybees?” she guessed.

“C’mon love, think a little harder. If you get this we will get 10 points and win the game” Tom encouraged her.

“Hurry up guys only 30 seconds more” you reminded them looking down at your watch.

“I don’t understand daddy,” she huffed, pouting with a frown on her face.

“Ok time’s up” you said.

“The word was sleep” Tom sighed in disappointment.

“Seriously, you think a five year old can understand what a bunch of floating Zs mean?” you scoffed and walked up to the board.

“How will I know that?!”

“Ok it’s my turn now move” you shooed him away and picked up a card. You then went to draw a circle with tiny triangles inside it and Nate was quick to figure it out.

“Chocolate chip cookies! My favourite!” he shrieked out in excitement.

“That’s absolutely correct bubs” you smiled and with that you scored another point which led to a tie between your teams with equal points.

“Since both the teams are now at a tie with 9 points respectively so in this last round only a single word will be drawn on the board whoever guesses the correct answer first is the winner” you declared and walked back over to sit beside Tom. Nate picked up a card and showed it to Leah as she turned around and quickly drew a small oval on the board.

“That’s a golf ball!” Tom blurted out without a second thought.

“No daddy!”,"That’s not a golf ball!” you and Leah said unanimously when it suddenly struck you.

“Oh, oh it’s an egg! It’s an egg!” you exclaimed with a high pitched voice.

“Mommy is correct,” Leah remarked.

“What?! That doesn’t look like an egg!” Tom argued.

“Now don’t be a sore loser Tom, no golf ball on earth is oval in shape” you chided.

“Yay mommy we won!” Nate came running and climbed up your lap throwing his hands around you in a hug.

“Yes we did honey” you caressed the back of his head lovingly, planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Next time I’ll have mommy in my team” Leah pouted with a grumpy face.

“Aww peanut don’t worry we will surely win the next time” Tom placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

“No mommy always wins, you suck” she grimaced.

“What?” Tom looks at her amused.

“Wait a minute, where did you learn that from?” you raise an eyebrow looking at her with a questioning gaze.

“I-I heard uncle Haz yesterday telling daddy that he sucks at football. Am I in trouble mommy?” Leah fidgeted with her fingers, looking at you innocently with her big brown eyes as you softened your expression.

“No sweetie you are not” you reached out a hand to gently cup her cheek “just don’t say that to anyone else because it’s a bad word ok?”

“Yes, sorry mommy” she mumbled.

“It’s ok baby I’m not angry with you don't worry” you reassured her “but I think I need to have a serious chat with your uncle Haz about the language he has been using around the kids”

Reblogs are appreciated ❤️

[sunnyshiftyy]

Date - TE one shot

Book: The Elementalists (Book 1) (takes place before the pairing's together)

Pairing: Beckett Harrington x f!MC Estelle Russel (not together yet but ~tension~)

Words: 3479

Rating: General

Summary: Shreya convinces Estelle to go on a date with a random guy, and oopsies she spills the tea to Zeph and Beckett when Estelle walks in on their study session in their common room.

TW: Probably cursing

A/N: Since this is my first piece of fanfic writing, i should clarify some points. 1) I've decided to write this in third person and present tense for now. 2) I've built this world in my head in excruciating detail, so a lot of the side characters are my characters. In this piece in particular, Nathan. If you want to know more about my OC’s in my TE universe, click here. The main characters are not mine and belong to Pixelberry. 3) English is not my first language, excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes! 4) My masterlist can be found here.

A/N 2: December 26th, 2022: Edit spelling and grammar.

Tags: @theclassycandy

Let me know if you want to be tagged in future fanfics or TE content!

And on that note, i hope you enjoy!

Estelle hears voices getting louder as she approaches her common room door. Well, not voices. A voice.

"Three, Zeph, it says three!" The sassy tone tells her this probably isn't the first time she explained it in the past hour. As she steps through the door, Shreya immediately snaps her head up from Zeph’s worksheet and starts grinning widely. 

"Oh my Gods, she's back! How did it go on your date?!"

Estelle’s face instantly scrunches up. The others don't know about this. Or at least, they didn't. She can't blame Shreya for blurting it out like this, since she never explicitly told her it was a secret. But, you know, you would expect your best friend to read your mind, so.. With Shreya’s words the guys’ interests are piqued, and Zeph and Beckett look up from their books. Zeph quickly chimes in,

"Wait, you went on a date?" Fantastic. Why doesn't he scream it even louder? In the hallway maybe?

"Ugh, Shrey..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. Now spill!" She sits up excitedly, with that sparkle in her eyes she only has when she hears new gossip or sees pictures of cute cats. Either or. Estelle's gears turn as she tries to think of any possible way out of this, but does it even matter now? She defeatedly walks up to the sofa and swings one leg on the backrest.

"It went good.. I guess," she sighs while untying her shoelaces.

"How good? Like, you like him good or..." Shrey’s hands make the 'Tell me more of the story, I need my drama fix'-motion. You would almost think she only set her best friend up on this date to talk about it after. It was probably at least half of the reason.

"He's cool. And nice. Too nice actually. He didn't let me pay my part of the bill."

"Who asked who?" Zeph asks. Estelle presses her lips together and looks at him pleadingly. Oh my Gods, why is this so important? Shreya replies,

"He asked her."

"Well then he should pay." Her brown haired head bops back and forth between the two of them.

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Whatever, it was okay. And he's also not bad looking so... Yeah," Estelle interjects, hoping to end this convo here. And for a small moment, no one says a thing. Okay, so that wor-

"Did you kiss him?" Shreya asks excitedly.

"What? No!" She takes a step forward, but then immediately composes herself again. For a second, there's a hint of a confused look on her face, that the others don't notice. She's taken aback by her own voice, as it came out loud and defensive.

"Aww, boo! You should've. He's hot."

"It's the first date!" Estelle exclaims. Shrey dramatically rolls her eyes.

"Oh, screw the games and just go with the flow!"

"I don't play 'games', Shrey, I just didn't want to kiss him yet, jeez." Shreya sighs and calms down slightly.

"I'm sorry, I went a bit overboard with that.. I just want you to be happy and have fun."

"I know. And I appreciate that you care about me," she tries not to sigh. Estelle takes a quick look at the coffee table. It's full of books, stationary and even Shreya's cauldron. The books are mostly Beckett's, since Shrey and Zeph each only have one book in front of them. She peers over Zeph's shoulder. The first sentence she can read out of his heavily used copy tells her exactly what they're doing.

"Studying potions i see?"

"Have been for the past two hours, but you're welcome to join!" he says, grinning. Shreya smiles in agreement, but Beckett has long put his head back down and is studying again. An awkward silence passes through the room, but only Estelle seems to notice it.

"O..kay, I’m just going to change and get out my stuff then," she says, as she heads towards her bedroom. She opens up her closet door and stares right back at herself in the mirror she put in a few weeks ago. Her face is flushed, but her hair still looks as pristine as a few hours ago, when Shreya put it in bubble braids, with little gold rubber bands. Estelle huffs. This is so stupid. Why did she even go on this date in the first place? She takes a deep breath, calming herself down, and grabs some leggings and a sweater out of the drawers. As she changes, she can't help but feel something gnawing at her. And she knows what it is, but she pretends she doesn't. It's easier like that.

Estelle walks back into the room and sits down next to Beckett. She studies his face for a second, but quickly looks back down to open up her book. She doesn't know what she would have expected. A look? Any sort of movement? Making space for her stuff? But he just sits there, still, concentrated.

"I don't get this sentence, does anyone know what the hell it means?" Estelle asks, trying to ease the tension. She makes a point to look at everyone. Shreya and Zeph lift up their head and Estelle spins her book around so they can read. Shreya's eyes narrow to read the tiny font.

"No idea.." she says. Zeph searches frantically through the pages of his book.

"I think it means the grass needs to be dried for 4 days.. upside down?" His uncertain tone is directed towards Beckett, who's still conveniently really focused on this -in Estelles opinion- very unclear and useless chapter. Only when they all look at him, he looks up at Zeph.

"Yeah," he says, slightly annoyed. And as quickly as he responded his head is back down again.

"Well, that mystery is solved!" Zeph smiles enthusiastically, still oblivious to the weird vibe in the room. Maybe Estelle's the only one thinking this is awkward? She responds,

"Sure.. thanks. Oh and also, um, does this mean red or orange cause it never sa-" Suddenly, there's a harsh sigh coming from the left of the coffee table.

"I will need to take my leave, thanks for having me, Shreya. Zeph," Beckett states, as he looks around the table, his gaze pausing as it falls on Estelle’s face. He hesitates.

"...Estelle.." He swiftly breaks eye contact, packs up his many books and speed walks out of the door. The three of them are still staring at the dark oak-wooden door in an unsettling moment of silence as it falls closed.

"That was weird," Shreya comments, strangely unbothered. Zeph quirks an eyebrow at her.

"Even for Beckett," she clarifies. Estelle feels the little gnawing thing in the pit of her stomach getting bigger.

"I think it’s my fault? I don't know, he just seemed so.. mad? At me?" she gets out. Shreya shakes her head.

"You didn't do anything, hun, you weren't even here for most of the time." Estelle nods and looks back at her work. This study session probably isn't going to be as productive as she originally thought.

"Maybe he's mad cause his favourite study buddy wasn't here?" Zeph laughs.

"Hey, I showed up!" Estelle defends herself. Not that it really matters. It's not like they invited her or even let her know this was happening. Why is she even stressing over this? Shreya waves his comment away.

"Nonsense, maybe he just had a bad day."

"Maybe..." Estelle mumbles. She tries to refocus on the letters in front of her, pushing the excessive thoughts out of her head. She'll talk to him later.

Thirty minutes later, Zeph thuds his book closed. "I'm done with this for today," he sighs, crossing his arms in front of him and defeatedly laying down his head. Potions is a notoriously hard part of Natural Studies, and especially at Penderghast. Zeph doesn't get how some people just get this stuff by reading it once, and even get A's on the practical. He has been doing better as of lately, mainly because of the help of Shreya and Beckett, who somehow are really good at potions. He's not at all surprised Beckett's good at it, but he should've known that running an actual business based on potion making makes one quite an expert. Shreya lays a hand on his arm.

"It's okay, you worked pretty damn hard today," she comforts him. An idea strikes her. She tries to not let her face betray her as a mischievous grin crosses her expression for just a second.

"Aahh!" Zeph shouts, and he bounds up like lightning. Estelle startles with the sudden yelp. "Shrey! Don't do that!" He rubs over his left wrist with a pout on his face. Shreya laughs.

"It looked like you could use some energy..," she says smugly, "And I delivered." She holds her hand up and lets little bright lines spark between her fingers. She looks at Estelle, wiggling her eyebrows.

"As long as you don't do that to me," Estelle laughs, packing up her stuff.

"Can't promise that. If you ever fall asleep in my lesson.."

"If you show up as TA in my next metal spell class I am leaving the room!" Zeph exclaims.

"Oh, shut it, you big baby, it wasn't that bad. And I'm never going to be a TA, no thank you. I'm drowning in responsibilities already," she almost sighs, thinking back to all the errands she still needs to run. "That reminds me, I have to go to Penn Square to get some ingredients for Serene and Sublime. Anyone want to come with me?" She says, while opening her compact mirror.

"I'll go! I deserve food after this torture called studying," Zeph says, suddenly very energetic again. He stands up just as Shreya’s eyes widen.

"Oh my Gods, I'm going to be late!" Shreya quickly snaps the ornately detailed sides together and pockets it, hurriedly sliding together all her papers. Why do stores have to close this early?

"Don't worry about it, I'll pack up your stuff. Just go get you ingredients!" Estelle offers. Shreya nods thankfully. "Thanks, you're the best! Let's go, Zeph!"

"Coming! Bye Estelle!" he yells as they step through the portal.

"Bye," she murmurs. She stacks the books and sheets neatly together, and stands up, walking her own things back to her room. Should she go talk to Beckett? He was acting very weird. Screw it, who is she kidding? This is also about her feelings towards this situation. She wants to talk to him, to explain it to him. She would've never gone on that date if Shreya didn't insist on it. Face downcast, she organizes her books in the spacious wooden drawers of her desk and plops down on the chair. A few seconds of silence go by. Even thoughts stay away. The soft ticking of the dark blue rimmed alarm clock makes her feel at peace. Then, she takes a deep breath and stands up. Procrastinating is only going to make it worse. She puts on her sneakers and walks out of her dorm, towards Beckett’s.

Not even 5 seconds after she knocked, the door to Beckett’s common room swings open. A blond, slender guy in the door frame looks at her in surprise.

"Yes?" His eyes look her over before the recognition flicks across them. "Oh, hey!" He holds the door handle as he leans on the other hand.

"Hi! You're Nathan, right?" Estelle plasters a smile on her face. She's never seen him before, but Beckett mentioned him once. A friend from high school. With the emphasis on 'a'. They were never besties, that's for sure. Beckett also doesn’t seem one for friends. At least, if the first few months of the academic year were any indication.

"Yeah, that's me. And you're the.. girl that Beckett's always hanging around with. To which school did you go again?"

"Wait, high school? And I never really told anyo-" she says, looking at him questioningly.

"Yes," he interrupts her. 'Yikes,' Estelle thinks, as she tries to hide the dislike for him she already feels crawling up her torso. Is he always like this, or..?

"Oh, West Eden high school..," she answers dutifully, taken aback and trying not to flush by his directness. Why would he possibly want to know this? He looks up and mentally lists all the names that come to mind, but quickly gives up and looks back at her.

"Weird, I’ve never heard of it…"

"How could you know all the names of all the high schools in America?" the girl laughs, trying to not come off as nervous. Suddenly, his face falls into a disapproving grimace.

"...Oh, it's.. it's a public school. Should've guessed," he almost scoffs. An awkward few silent seconds go by. Estelle purses her lips and stares uncomfortably at a spot on the door frame, and a few times back at him. She hoped something like this wouldn’t happen, but deep down, she knew it would eventually have to.

"Okay, ..Well, I just had something to say to Beckett, so..," she breaks the silence. Nathan instantly turns around, slowly sauntering back to his dorm room door.

"Close the door behind you, will you?" he says, dismissively. And without a backward glance, his frame disappears behind the door. Stunned to silence, Estelle glances to the other side of the common room. She’ll just go knock, right? Hesitantly, she steps through the door and closes it. As she notices the soft thudding of Unattuned music she turns her head back in the direction of Nathans’ door. As much as she hates to admit it, he has good taste. It seems so long ago that she was immersed in the Unattuned word. Oh Gods, she’s like one of them now. Her world, she corrects herself. The world she grew up in. Does she miss it? She smiles. Not really. It’s nostalgic. It was fun. Still is. But ever since she opened her eyes, soaking wet on the banks of the lake, sun blinding her, the buzzing sound of the people and the leaves of the trees moving in the wind, she felt a sense of home. Something she’s always been searching for. Clearing her head of thoughts, she knocks on Beckett’s door.

"Come in." she muffledly hears. Here she goes.. She opens the door. Beckett sits on his bed, with his back to her, leaning against the headboard. The book in his hands looks thick and old, and is definitely not part of the normal curriculum. Since he has the dorm other side, everything’s mirrored to her room, just like Shreya’s. The only difference is the sheer amount of books everywhere, his windowsill garden, how neat his room is and the fact that he sleeps to the wrong side with his head. Well, not wrong, just not how she would do it.

"Hey. It’s me," she greets him happily.

"It is," he sighs, not wanting to let his eyes leave his book. ‘Of course she needed to come here,’ he thinks. There’s a reason why he left the girls’ common room. So he wouldn’t have to deal with… this whole ordeal. Estelle closes the door. This is going to be tough. How does she start this conversation without it being awkward?

"Uhm… I just wanted to ask if you’re okay."

"I’m good," he answers, still concentrating hard on his work. Or, trying to not concentrate on the fact Estelle’s standing within three feet from him. Or that she’s clearly just taking pity in him. Why does she even bother?

"Oh..," she mumbles, looking at the tips of her worn down shoes. The sound of Beckett turning a page interrupts the silence.

"Was that everything?" he sighs, sounding almost annoyed, still not looking at her, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Well.. I don't exactly believe you," she gets out, after she mustered up the courage. Estelle studies the right side of his face, trying to get a read. The only result she gets is a sigh. Growing tired of his lack of words, she initiates conversation once again.

"You were so short with me and the rest at my dorm and I just had the feeling you were kind of... Feeling off." Beckett shakes his head in frustration. When will she give up?

"Well, that feeling was wrong. I'm fine, I just have a lot of homework to get through, which would be a lot easier if you weren't here," he states, trying to not let his irritation be heard in his voice. Why does he even like this girl? Why did he have to like this exact one? Why did he have to like anyone? Estelle is quiet for a second. She knows he isn’t being rude to her just because he can. It’s because he has to. The moment that thought crosses her mind, she wishes she never went on that date. Again, for that matter. Did she even want it a little bit?

"So Zeph was wrong," she casually comments. "He said you 'missed your favourite study buddy'."

"I can study fine on my own. Which is good, since I'll have to get used to it." The last sentence was said with a particular tone in his voice, which Estelle can’t quite decipher. But she knows it has something to do with what happened today. He stands up, and without sparing a glance, puts his book back in it’s place on the nicely organized shelf above his desk.

"What are you talking about?" she asks, trying to get some clarification. Beckett sits down on his fancy spinning office chair, this time facing her.

"Nothing," he denies, wishing he never said anything. The thought of going back to how it was, studying alone for most of the time, is in some way both alluring and saddening. He likes her company. He likes her. Gods, why does this have to be so complicated?

When Estelle doesn’t respond, he looks at her face, making eye contact for the first time she’s been here. The pulling sensation he feels in his chest causes him to look away again. He’ll just have to come to terms with the fact she’s probably not interested.

"I'm happy your date went well," he sighs, trying to not sound annoyed. Estelle eyes roll at the mention of that dumb date.

"Oh please... 'well' is a little optimistic."

"Oh." Beckett attempts to not sound relieved.

"I don't know, I just.. don't like him that way. I'm not gonna go on a second date. Also no firsts anymore. At least for a while. It's so stupid." Estelle babbles. She starts fiddling with one of her braids in annoyance. Beckett nods. "I wasn't even gonna go at first, but Shrey said ‘live a little’, so I did. And I found out life sucks."

"It's not because you don't date that life sucks," Beckett comments, sounding very logical.

"I know, it's a.. metaphore..," she defeatedly smiles. "Whatever, I just think dates are so mechanical. You're basically forcing yourself to like someone. I don't want to do that. I don't decide who I like. I like who I like, that's it," she blurts out. It comes out so fast she only realizes what she said a few seconds later. She feels her cheeks getting warmer. Why did she just say this?

"Yeah..," he halfsmiles, thinking back to the feelings that overtake him every time he thinks about her. The feelings he never asked for.

"I'm sorry, that was way too much, I'll be going now. Please don't tell any of this to Shreya, she's gonna flip…" Estelle rattles off her sentence, pleadingly looking in his grey-brown eyes. She should’ve just bitten her tongue. Why is she like this?

"I won't," he answers. Beckett isn’t one to gossip, and especially not to Shreya. Estelle jokingly calls her Shreylock, because the way she finds out gossip could get her a job as a detective. Then Shreya jokes back that that’s why her hair’s so big. ‘Because it’s full of secrets’. Beckett never understood that joke. But even he knows telling Shreya is a guaranteed way to make your secrets not so secret anymore. And why would he? What even would be interesting to Shreya about this conversation?

Estelle breathes a sigh of relief and reaches for the door handle behind her back. She smiles at Beckett as she says,

"Thank the Gods for you." A little glint in her eye betrays the double meaning behind her words. A silent two seconds pass, when she laughingly shakes her head and opens the door. "Okay, thanks, bye!" she yells, as she ducks away through the door opening.

"Bye," he can’t help but smile at her quick disappearing act. The door of the common room thuds closed. After a few seconds in silence he shakes his head. Will he ever understand what goes on inside her head?

[sunskate]

there were only 8 teams in the FD after starting the event with 13 lol i hope Leia (and i think Felix from the Swiss team?) are ok - those withdrawals had to do with injury i think? not sure about Karnes/Carr, the new British team- if their FD isn't quite ready, they're entered in the British qualifying competition in 10 days, so they'll need it there

ok i love CPom - at this stage in their career, when they're in a fight to be taken seriously to represent the USA at the highest level, what do they want to show with their programs? there's this perception that they're "nice kids" who maybe don't have enough fire in the belly. well, the RD says our vibe is laid back, but we soar, we can fly - and that FD is dreamlike and beautiful and a little strange - we take risks - you think we're nice? well Anthony's going to murder Christina at every competition lol

i just watched the RD video online, and the music mix on the stream was terrible - the program feels different when you can hear Stevie Nicks's voice. for the FD, they're projecting so well now that the nuances of their performance come across live much as they do on the stream with the camera closer - as this program develops, it has the potential to cast a real hold your breath kind of spell. i love that they're stretching and doing another complex and sophisticated FD

Hannah and Ye - i can't remember ever seeing them have a rough skate before, but if it had to happen at least it was early in the season. that straight line lift is always stunning. they seem so savvy and self possessed that i wasn't sure a romantic program like umbrellas was going to fit, but i'm looking forward to seeing this again, to see them present it the way they intend - their version seems more dramatic than soft. (the color of her dress is 😘)

the ISU Italian judge from the RD was the tech controller for the FD 👀 i didn't know you can sit on both the tech and judging panel in the same event

i'm side eyeing this panel - in the RD, one judge had Olivia and Tim 1st and another had them 9th. same for Lily and Nathan- one judge 1st, another one 9th! there was a judge who put Emmy/Jacob 2nd behind only Fabbri/Ayer. Judge 7 had the baby British team with a twizzle error in 2nd above CPom. tell me how we're supposed to take their opinions seriously 😬

on a shallow note, of all the colors, Gauthier/Thieren and Emmy wore brown - idgi. i did like G/T's RD, and they can be proud they've performed well in their senior debut comps. Emmy/Jacob's RD is fun and quirky - i always feel like the two of them have different vibes, though

Lily and Nathan's FD is moving and unique - i get emotional every time by the character step - on a skate level there's so much that's beautiful and of quality going on - there's inconsistency in the precision of the pictures they make - a position that's stunning in one performance isn't quite there in the next. that ending pose can be so memorable right on the music, but it doesn't go up the same way each time. i hope that as they gain in polish the judges give them more love, they deserve it

there were 16 teams originally entered, and every single one was IAM or IAMO - this basically was an in-house competition for senior dance 😅

[abraxos-is-toothless]

healing and feeling

My @aftgexchange gift for @bayta-darell !!! I’m so sorry that this is late, I went to post at the beginning of the posting week but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ve spent the week doing a rewrite. There was more of it (Kevin and Neil having a discussion) but I just wanted you to get something rather than nothing. I really hope you like it. A general foxes type fic where they do some healing.  Canon warnings apply- mentioned not detailed.

---------

Twenty minutes. Twenty whole minutes it took of the foxes remaining silent for Betsy Dobson to realise she’d have to make the first move if she wanted to make any progress at all here today.

“David first suggested this for you all once before and you refused, which I respected. I will not force anyone to talk until they are ready. But you’re all here today and I feel I should ask the nine of you, why now?”

Aaron watched as everyone not-so-subtly shifted their eyes to look at Josten who opened his mouth as if to speak before closing it again. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them from where he sat on the floor by Andrew’s chair. There was a space next to Boyd on the plush yellow couch but well...

“This is the second time this week Neil has almost stabbed one of us.” Ah, Reynolds. Always making sure she got straight to the point. Matt glared at her, muscled arms crossed over his chest.

“I said it was fine, I startled him-”

“It damn well isn’t fine, Matt! Were you not a boxer with some good reflexes, he could have done some serious damage.”

Aaron watched them argue back and forth until Betsy politely cleared her throat, her calm, soothing smile never once leaving her face.  He admired the woman, he truly did; he couldn’t imagine dealing with people’s shit all day and managing to still look sane and collected. His own mind was enough of an asshole as it was. “I’m glad that we’ve gotten to why you’re all here, but I’d like for us to remain civil in these sessions. Talking about such things can be straining and I want you to remember you’re a team, that you’re friends.” Matt nodded and threw Neil a small smile and Allison simply flicked her hand, bright red nails catching in the sunlight streaming through the window. Aaron caught Neil bringing a hand up to rub at the scarring on his face but then Andrew’s hand came down to hold the back of his neck, thumb rubbing back and forth carefully and the tension Neil was holding in his shoulders eased up. His twin met his stare without faltering and simply raised a pale brow at him, as if daring him to comment. Aaron kept his mouth shut and turned back to Betsy. “Now Neil, would you be able to tell us what might have brought on these outbursts of violence?”

“I’ve always been this way, thanks to my mother.” Aaron saw Andrew’s jaw clench at the mention of Mary Wesninski; he knew well enough how his brother felt about abusive mothers. “But this is different. We lost our most recent game. We’re falling behind a little and if we don’t win the next game, we don’t get to progress any further.” Aaron couldn’t stop his mouth from moving, even if he had tried to.

“You’re telling me that Boyd almost got stabbed because we lost a game? Are you serious right now? It’s not the end of the fucking world!”

“It is for me!” He stopped and said nothing more, turning his face away from them all, ignoring their looks of confusion. He knew Josten loved Exy as much as Kevin, but he didn’t think such a thing was enough to stab someone over. Kevin sighed, eyes closing before he put his head in his hands. Neil’s jaw clenched and he stood abruptly, walking towards the door, Andrew following just a few seconds after. Betsy, bless her heart, she tried to reason with two of the most stubborn beings on the planet.

“Neil, maybe you’re not quite ready to talk, but we’ve only just-”

“I apologise, Dr. Dobson, but I can’t talk with you in the room. Anything regarding that part of my life cannot be discussed outside of the people who already know. I do not wish to implicate you.” The woman wrote a few things down; the scratch of the pen was loud to Aaron’s ears.

“Very well, then. Let David know when you’re all ready to come back, and we’ll schedule something between classes and practice.” Neil and Andrew disappeared out of the door and Aaron and the rest were quick to follow, but not before Renee, ever the peacekeeper, gave the woman a gentle smile and told her they’d see her next week. As if she alone could wrangle them all into another session. He made his way over to the mas with Nicky and Kevin, where Neil and Andrew waited, sharing a cigarette between them, and the upperclassmen left ahead of them in Matt’s truck. No one spoke until they were all in the car and on the move, and of course, it was Kevin.

“This isn’t a good idea.” Nicky leaned across the seats and over Aaron to bat at Kevin with one hand, all the while texting Erik on his phone in the other.

“Shut up. You don’t think that anything is ever a good idea unless it’s one of your ideas.”

“Neil I really don’t-”

“Enough, Kevin. I’m telling them and that’s final. I should have told them all anyway.” Kevin sat back with a huff and Aaron rolled his eyes at the idiot’s dramatics, staring out the window for the rest of the unusually quiet drive back to fox tower, except for the clicking of Nicky’s phone and the quiet giggles he would let out at whatever he and his fiancé were talking about. When they got there, Andrew found the closest parking spot to the building that he could, because his brother preferred not to do any more exercise than being an Exy player forced him to. The others hadn’t waited for them, not that Aaron thought they would have, but he thought at least Allison would have been standing at the doors so Neil couldn’t slip away and get out of telling them anything. 

They hadn’t, however, stopped themselves from taking over Aaron’s old dorm room he shared with the rest of the ‘monsters’ before he moved to Matt’s. Dan and Matt were sitting together on the couch, the former tucked into the latter’s side, Allison was lounging in a beanbag while she inspected her nails and Renee was sitting on the floor in front of the small and worn table, sorting Nicky’s nail polishes into some sort of order. “Now that you’re here,” Allison said without even bothering to glance in their direction, “let’s get to this secret you’ve been keeping from us, shall we?” Aaron watched Andrew move over to the window to sit on the sill, lighting up another cigarette. He knew there was no need to worry about the smoke alarm because Andrew had taken it out from the first day they moved into the room. It was clear he wasn’t bothered by any of this, at least Aaron didn’t think he was, which means either he knew what Neil was going to tell them all, or he had guessed early on and hadn’t pushed for a definite answer just yet. 

Kevin sat down in the other bean bag, although with how tall he was, he seemed to dwarf the bag. The sight was odd, considering that caused him to slouch more than a chair or the couch would have, something he would moan at the rest of them for when they did it. Nicky sat himself next to Renee, gushing over how she’d organised all of his colours, nodding so enthusiastically that his messy brown curls bobbed with the movement. Aaron went to lean against the wall closest to Andrew, who didn’t acknowledge him other than glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. They were better than they were before, Aaron actually managed to have whole conversations with his brother now and he was no longer hostile towards Katelyn, letting her come along sometimes when they went to Sweeties and Eden’s. He knew it would take time to have some sort of a stable relationship with Andrew but they were trying, and that was okay for now. 

Neil stood in front of them all, hands in the PSU foxes hoodie he wore, barely any emotion on his face, as he always was. No wonder he and Andrew worked so well together, Aaron thought, internally rolling his eyes. He got straight to it. “After Nathan was killed, all his debts with the Moriyamas fell onto me. The money my mother took when she decided that we should run belonged to them. In Ichirou’s eyes, they still own Kevin and Jean too.”

“What does this have to do with you turning into a murderous little rage machine?” Matt rolled his eyes at Allison. 

“I made a deal with Ichirou.” Dan dropped her head into her hands while Nicky made a choked off sound. Aaron was tired of Josten making dumb decisions and not telling them. This is what happened when the fucking idiot ended up at Baltimore. “I wanted something and to get him to give in to that, I said he could have the majority of our earnings when we went pro.”

“Wait.” Neil turned his head towards Kevin, who was outwardly confused now. “You said he wanted a take of what we earned, that I knew. But you didn’t say it was in exchange for something, what did he give you?”

“I wanted Riko dealt with and he was.” Aaron’s eyes widened at that, as did the others in the room. Kevin went deathly pale and he stood slowly, looking at Neil as if he didn’t even know him. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he gave up and disappeared to his room without a word. Aaron had a feeling there was a bottle of vodka waiting for him to drown his sorrows in. Allison looked mildly impressed. 

“We all knew the suicide story was suspicious, but I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“I wanted him to pay for what he did. I walked out of that room and I laughed. But that’s why the nightmares have kicked in and I’ve picked up old habits, like sleeping with a weapon under my pillow. If Ichirou notices any slack, he will kill me.” Aaron looked to Andrew again, and his brother was staring back at Neil, as if waiting for him to fall apart. Dan stood, determination on her face and a fire in her eyes. 

“Then we help you stay on top of the game. We’ll fit in an extra practice a week and on the free period you share with Matt, he can discuss drills with you.” Aaron saw Matt smile and nod, receiving a dip of Neil’s head in return. “We’ll tell Coach that we’ll have an evening a week at the court, watching old games and seeing what we can take from them. No one gets to ruin this for you, they don’t get to take anything else.”

Nicky whooped and got up to hug Neil quickly, after he got the consent for one. Aaron wasn’t too happy about all this extra work for a sport he wasn’t even that bothered by, but he supposed he owed Neil this. After all, he was the one, no matter how stupidly he went about it, that finally managed their rag tag group work as a team and to become friends. He brought them together, and so Aaron would do this

So that they could stay together. 

~~~~~

They did get better over the weeks, and they won their next game, letting them progress further into this season. 

The session with Betsy continued, though progress on that front was slow going to begin with. Neil’s confession had broken the ice, and each of them would discuss assignments they were struggling with or the odd everyday problems life gave you. Betsy never pushed them, allowing them to get used to talking first before she tried diving for issues hidden deeper down. 

After a few weeks, Allison discussed her parents when she had gotten a phone call from her mother out of the blue. Apparently, they had started to notice how the foxes were on the up and up, and how much more media attention they were getting. Allison’s mother wanted to use her daughter for her own gain, to get their businesses promoted through the foxes and for Allison to start building their incomes through Exy. Aaron didn’t understand a lot of it, other than that his teammate’s parents were some of the most self centred assholes on the planet. After all this time, they hadn’t gotten in contact with Allison to see how she was or to ask about working on their own family issues, but just to see how they could make life better for them. The blonde had said in the one session that she finally told them where they could stick it, and if they wanted to cut her off from the money they could. If they didn’t want to love her as parents should, then she wanted nothing to do with them. 

When Allison ended her rant with the words ‘fuck them’, the foxes repeated them- even Andrew, to everyone’s surprise -loud and clear. Betsy tried to be reprimanding, but Aaron could see she was proud and trying valiantly to not smile with them. 

~~~~~

Some months or so after that, Aaron was attending one of his sessions where it was just him and Andrew. It was coming up to a year now since they’d first started these double sessions with Betsy, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he liked coming to them. Yes, sometimes it was bad and they’d end then arguing heatedly, or sometimes, it would leave them exhausted but content that they were managing to get on to the same page with each other. And other times, well, those times managed to bring their walls crashing down. 

Today was one of those times. 

“Aaron, you don't look as if you’re well. Is everything alright? If you’re unable to sit through this one, you may go back and rest if you like.” He knew he must look like shit, after the night he’d had with his mind torturing him, but he felt as if this is why he’d been so plagued by nightmares the last few nights. Like Andrew had to know about them. 

“Nightmares.” His throat felt raw and scratchy, but he supposed that was normal when you wake yourself up by screaming yourself hoarse. 

“Are you able to tell us what they were or about?” He nodded, turning on the couch so he was angled to the left, making it easier for him to look directly at Andrew. His brother seemed unfazed as he usually did, but Aaron thought there was something different about him today, though he didn’t quite know exactly what was different. Maybe he felt like today was going to be better for them, too. 

“I thought I was already awake, because I was walking around the house in Columbia. It was too quiet, and the house was dark, and it was almost as if I could feel the shadows closing in around my shoulders.” He breathing became ragged and clenched a fist where his hand rested on his thigh. “I thought I heard glass smash and the sound of a thud, like something had hit the hardwood floor. It was muffled, coming from upstairs so I followed the sounds.” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard; it was like he was back in the nightmare and he couldn’t get out. 

“Aaron? Aaron, you can stop if you want to.” He shook his head, feeling part of his hair fall onto his forehead. 

“The noise was louder up there, coming from your room.” He opened his eyes again, catching his brother’s gaze, hazel eyes that matched his own. And they knew, they knew where Aaron’s nightmare was leading them, yet he didn’t flinch away. “I opened the door and it was back to that day, and Drake…” Andrew did not outwardly show any reaction to the name of his abuser, though Aaron saw his fingers stray to the edge of his armband. As if it soothed him to know he had a way to keep himself safe. “When I tried to get in there, it was like there was an invisible barrier in front of me. No matter how hard I kept hitting it, it never went away. I kept screaming at you, to look at me, so you’d know I was right there but there was nothing.” His cheeks felt wet and brought a hand up to find that those were tears running down his cheeks. 

Andrew’s eyes had widened, and the hand that was holding his armband started to drift towards Aaron, but stopped just shy of making contact. He took a few deep breaths before he felt like he could go on. “I closed my eyes after a while but I didn’t stop trying to get to you. Then all of a sudden I could hear laughing, and when I opened my eyes, I was back in that shitty apartment, before you came and Tilda had locked me in the closet. She had her Junkie friends over doing all sorts of shit, music on as high as possible.” He felt like he could breathe, as though someone kept on piling invisible weights on his chest, one after the other. “I had one toy, a couple of granola bars and a bottle of Gatorade, of all things. No matter how loud I shouted for her, she never came to let me out. I woke up screaming after that, scared Katelyn half to death.”  He’d kept his gaze on the floor when talking about his mother, knowing she was a touchy subject between them. 

There was a quick tap to his knee and, a bit reluctantly, he lifted his head to look at Andrew again. His brother was breathing a little heavier, and Aaron could see the way his chest moved. There was more emotion on his face than he’d ever seen. When he was on the meds it was different, it was just a constant sort of forced excitement. This was real and this was Andrew. His twin. “I’m going to hug you, yes or no?” Aaron almost choked on air at the words. Words he’d never expected to leave Andrew’s mouth. He saw Betsy falter just a little out of the corner of his eye, her own stalling from where she was writing things down. 

“Yes.” Then slowly, carefully, Andrew shifted forward so he could pull Aaron into him. His arms went around Aaron’s back, and he hesitated just a little before doing the same. Their cheeks rested against each other and when Andrew spoke next, Aaron could feel the words against his ear. 

“We’re okay, you hear me? Both of us. We’re a little bit broken, but we’re doing okay.” Aaron nodded, taking a stuttered breath. And if the two of them, the same yet not the same, held onto each other for just a little longer then that was just fine. 

They were just okay.

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Again, I’m sorry about the lateness! Hope you liked it:)) I’m also sorry it’s not as long as it was, but trying to remember everything to rewrite was so difficult.