#like i will throw up on her very nice loafers :/
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PUTTING UP MY FIRST EXHIBIT EVER RN CURATED ENTIRELY BY ME !!!!!!!!!!! RAHHHH 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈
IT’S OPEN 2 THE PUBLIC NEXT WEEK ‼️‼️‼️
#also hehehehe i have another exhibit going up in a different room that’s opening in the summer !!!! RAHJSNSNAJAKAK#i used 2 pray 4 times like these#straight up bad bitching it rn#now everyone pray that everyone is super niceys to me and love love LOVES what i’ve done w the place or else …. 🔫#biggest nightmare is my boss being like ‘oh no…. this isn’t what we wanted at all….. i fear you’ve missed the mark’#like i will throw up on her very nice loafers :/#<- it’s because my biggest fear is being bad at the things i love the most#does that make sense? like this is all i am. i’ve dedicated my entire studies and life to this … if im bad at it …. i can’t be bad it …yk?#but i think its swag idc! now is not the time for self doubt !!!!!! 🙂↔️🙂↔️#nat rambles
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I saw a few other blogs doing this so I thought I'd share my input on what I think would happen in the House MD universe in 2024:
the constant jokes abt house and wilson's relationship turns into the fellows jokingly writing fanfic abt their boss and his boy best friend. somewhere along the way they all get very serious abt the quality of it and it turns into a Whole Thing, a 150k+ novel that they vow to take to their graves.
house discovers the fic by accident and sends it to wilson. wilson discovers things abt himself and then he and house discover each other shortly thereafter.
house purposefully posts the fic online and credits the fellows by their entire full names so it embarrasses them more than house and wilson. It's never spoken abt again but it gets way more online attention than any of them expected.
wilson doesn't get how the Cloud works and accidentally uploads his and house's nudes to the google nest hub on his desk. He doesn't notice it until one of his sweet little old lady cancer patients points it out to him during their appointment. He throws the google nest hub into his trash can until he can figure out how to get the naked pictures off of it.
house has an alexa and abuses the hell out of it. sometimes ppl hear him screaming at someone in his office, only to walk in and find a robotic voice replying with "sorry, I didn't get that" and house throws it off the balcony.
wilson gets addicted to online shopping. house has to stage an intervention bc they do not have enough room in their closet for another pair of prada loafers and their kitchen is full of shitty gadgets that wilson bought off temu or something.
some right wing social media influencer comes in with a mysterious illness and ends up getting castrated as part of the solution. 13 personally does the procedure herself and house watches like a proud dad.
a patient reveals chase's grindr by shoving his phone at him and asking "is this you?" abt the headless profile with the ripped abs that says Dr. Feel Good, 0 feet away, in front of the rest of the team.
foreman finds the team doing tiktok dances bc house told them to learn it in order to understand their 15 yr old patient better.
chase medically murders mitch mcconnel and the entire hospital celebrates ding dong the witch is dead style.
there's a whole episode where house faces his transphobia bc of a trans patient that he connects with. the patient tells him to fuck off and go face his own problems instead of pretending to make it right by being nice to one trans person. And house does, even if he's not perfect, he really tries to do better.
13 gets her medical marijuana card and accidentally becomes the team's plug. her main customer is wilson who still supplies it to certain terminal patients. She hears "hey, can I hit your pen?" at least four times a day.
foreman buys a tesla and it blows up in the parking lot. they spend the entire episode trying to figure out who tried to kill foreman, but it turns out that teslas just do that sometimes.
there's an episode where house finds out that netflix is removing his favorite obscure tv show that ran for 2 seasons in 2002 and wilson recruits the team to hunt down a dvd copy of it without house finding out. they somehow manage to find one and spend a ridiculous amount of money on it, only to open the dvd case and find a copy of the porno wilson starred in that one time instead of the dvd of the show. park saves the day at the last minute by finding a copy of it in a box of dvds in her parents house.
#might fuck around and add more later if i can think of some more#chyanne speaks#house md#hate crimes md#medical malpractice md#hilson#dr. gregory house#dr. james wilson#remy thirteen hadley#eric forman#chris taub#chi park#robert chase#house md headcanons
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I have an idea for a thenamesh au.
Both of them are spies and one day their mission is to take out each other without them knowing it. In one mission Thena follows Gil discreetly and when Gil takes the elevator first she quickly changes her appearances and takes the elevator next but when she goes out Gil is right in front of her, smiling slightly and pulling out a photo of him from her jacket pocket. Then he pulls out a photo from her out of his pocket. And both realized they are each others target but both are impressed with each other. Maybe you can do something with it
A woman walks into a cafe. She gets in line behind a man.
The man is tall, has a broad back, wide shoulders. It's impossible to hide. His hands are in the pockets of his silky black bomber jacket. He shuffles forward as the line moves, just like everyone else, completely inconspicuous.
The woman looks up at him and then down at her phone. She types as she moves. The heels of her loafers click on the tile floor and her long trench coat sways with her movements.
"Next!"
The man in front of her orders quietly. He asks for a large coffee, black. The barista makes a joke about grinding the beans fresh that morning. The man laughs--it's a nice laugh.
The joke about beans is code. The goods the man is here to receive are ready. He'll receive them here. He hands over cash and steps aside, very quiet, very normal.
The woman steps forward. She puts her hand to her chin as she looks at the board behind the counter. She purses her lips, making sure to show off the rouge lipstick she has on, which matches the gloves on her hands. "What would you recommend?"
"Can't go wrong with a latte! Any special milk request?"
"No," she smiles, also pulling out cash. "I'll take it as is."
She slides to the side, waiting for her drink. The man is behind her now. She makes sure to flick her red hair over her shoulder as she goes back to her phone.
"Gil!"
The man comes forward. He nods and smiles, thanking them for the coffee. And he walks out, plain and simple. Her coffee takes just a moment longer--47 seconds longer, exactly.
She walks out of the cafe. As she crosses the threshold, she pulls off her beret and slips it into her purse. She looks both ways before turning right. As she does, leaves the purse on the back of an outside chair, taking only the smaller purse which contains her phone. The woman sitting there doesn't notice a thing.
The man is walking at a relaxed pace. He's tall but his steps aren't long; he's in no rush. He's easy to pick out in a crowd, from his height to his general physique and stature. He raises the cup to his lips every few minutes.
The morning crowd is thick. Everyone has places to be. The woman weaves through the foot traffic. She pulls off her gloves; they get dropped into a trash bin. She pulls her coat off as she passes a shop--lays it over the railing of its patio. Now, with a white cardigan, she pulls out a handkerchief and wipes off her lipstick.
The man turns the corner.
In the 12 seconds between them being on the same street again, the woman has taken off her wig and disposed of that as well. She kneels to pet a stray cat, and while she does she steps out of her clacky shoes and steps into quieter ones.
A man walks with his coffee in hand. Approximately 11 seconds behind him is a woman. She's blonde, wearing all white and doesn't have the coffee that was in her hand a second ago. She slips a pair of sunglasses away from a tourist reading a map.
The man starts walking down the subway stairs. The woman follows a little closer. She keeps him in sight. If he does anything to throw her, she has to keep him in a certain range. And it's not as if he'll be able to hide the fact that he's a walking wall of muscle.
The woman walks down the stairs. The crowd gets tight, but because of that she's able to capture a scarf off someone passing by. It keeps her silhouette different. She follows the man to the main floor. The station is massive, and he's walking a little quicker now.
The man takes another sip of his coffee. But it catches the light, and there's likely no liquid in there, if there ever was to begin with. He takes the lid off and raises it one final time before disposing of the cup. He changes direction, starts heading towards the platforms.
The woman takes a turn. She takes more of an indirect route. She moves through the crowd, keeping an eye on him from behind someone else's sunglasses. She passes through one of many kiosk shops. She drops the sunglasses for a pair of reading glasses.
She passes another little coffee shop. She leaves the scarf on an empty table.
The man is headed for the departing trains. She has to intercept him. She picks up her pace. Many people are beginning to speed their way to their morning train.
The man looks at the crowded escalator and staircase and moves towards the elevator. He presses the button. Most don't consider it worth it to wait.
The woman watches him get on. He takes it down. She'll take the next one. She disposes of the glasses by easily slipping them into a passing pocket. When she steps on the elevator, she's just a woman on her morning commute.
The elevator is clear when she steps on. If she really has to engage, she does have a knife in her bag. But this is a simple surveillance mission, in the depths of a civilian populated area. It's quick to get from one floor to another. She gets ready to step out.
The man steps back on.
She looks up at him; if she were a petty thief she would say she's kissing the dog. But she frowns, "I need to get off."
But the man just smiles. He pulls his hand out of his jacket pocket. Her body coils but he turns around a picture. It's of her. "Thena, is it?"
The mission is compromised. She's an enclosed space with an enemy agent. But he gives her the picture he has. This is what was in the cup, folded. It's of her leaving a vehicle after her last mission.
"How did you get this?" she asks, since she can't make the cleanest of getaways. An agent must never leave evidence of themselves. If this photo was identifiable, then the entire agency could be compromised.
"I could ask you the same thing."
The target has jokes. But she pulls out the photo of him she has up her cardigan sleeve and flicks it. He catches it--easily. He's quick on top of being strong. He looks at the photo. "Aw, come on, this is your recon photo?"
She gives him a look. He is rather amusing for the enemy. "My photo isn't exactly a glamour shot."
"Yeah, but at least you're not stuffing your face," he grumbles - practically pouts - as he waves the picture of him mid-cheeseburger around.
"Don't eat in the open air," she offers as her only advice.
"You haven't had their burgers," he counters, slipping the picture into his jacket inside pocket. "They're worth being compromised."
She crumples the photo of her in her hand as she crosses her arms. "An agent can never be compromised."
"Guess I'm not very good," he shrugs. He thinks this is funny.
He's a damn good spy. So surprisingly - infuriatingly - good that they had to send her after him for close proximity surveillance. Because no matter how identifiable he is, the only trace of him they had ever been able to get was when he was at that burger place.
"I suppose I just have to go that shop to find you from now on?" she jabs at him.
But he just laughs. "Hey, don't ruin it for me! That's where I go on my days off."
"Days off?" she scoffs in his face. Her father would have her head for speaking those words in such an order.
"Everyone needs a day off sometimes," he shrugs, as if they're talking about office jobs and not espionage. "Even spies."
She glares at him. She hates that he's as good as the rumours said, because now she has to report back that she made contact, and after shedding all her disguises. "Don't you have a train to catch?"
"Would you rather share an uber?" he jests in return.
"I don't think your boss would appreciate that," she settles with an icy tone, bumping him with her shoulder on the way out of the lift. "Nor mine."
"Okay, so no carpooling," he brushes off as he continues to follow her. "You know where I'll be for lunch."
She purses her lips at the suggestion she come and find him again. "Should you be inviting me to surveil you again, at even closer range?"
"I'm not suggesting that at all," he says and lengthens his stride to overtake her. He smiles at her over his shoulder as he's turning, "I'm suggesting you try one of their cheeseburgers. You'll like it!"
The man pushes through the crowd, not aggressively, but his sheer size makes room for him. He continues on, head held high. Eventually he gets onto a departing train, but by the time she follows, he's nowhere to be found, having left through the door on the other side.
This is her train anyway. She unclenches her fist, letting the properly printed film photo relax its structure. She looks at the back of it. She knows him only by his code name: heavyweight.
To: Thena
From: Gil
He had given the coffee shop his real name, which his a cardinal rule in agencies. This must be his current cover alias. It's unknown how his people got a hold of her name. That will have to be addressed later.
She sees him out the window. He waves. She doesn't respond; unlike him, she has to report to her job. He waves his phone in the air and mouths words; he wants her to call him.
She does not pull out her phone, but the man - Gil, apparently - has air dropped something to her. She refuses to let herself be flirted with by a man from an opposing agency. But he continues to mime eating a cheeseburger--and enjoying it to a comical degree.
The woman catches herself smiling, just for a moment--for 47 seconds exactly.
#Thenamesh AU#thank you so much for the ask!!!!#I hope this is something like what you imagined#I love the vibe!#I tried to keep some mystery going here#I've also totally watched those videos where a spy handler describes what makes a good disguise#how to change silhouette and profile and such#and also#no amount of disguise is going to make her look not stunning#in Salt when she has coloured contacts and fake teeth#none of that makes her look any less like Angelina Jolie#so Gil obviously catches sight of this stunning woman#and no matter what changes about her#she's still obviously beautiful#Thena is hunting him and he's like well it could be worse#he did give her his contact#not that he's going to tell anyone that#and Thena isn't going to admit that he did it either#she gets a real earful for being compromised but he caught her fair and square#and she just...happens to walk by that place later on#and she sees him sitting in the window#when he sees her he waves as if they're friends and weren't sent to potentially kill one another that morning
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Should You Watch Skip & Loafer?
(English title: Skip & Loafer)
(Japanese title: Skip to Loafer - or Sukippu to Roofaa)
A Brief Summary
Mitsumi comes from a super small town, but she has big ambitions. Her plan is to attend school in the big city (Tokyo) in order to become a government official and make things better for her very small hometown. She’s so dedicated to this goal, that she doesn’t realize other people may not have the same kind of mindset and would rather loaf around. Enter Sousuke, a fellow classmate she meets after getting lost on the way to her first day of school in the maze that is Tokyo. Sousuke likes to take things at his own pace (slow) and not get himself deeply involved into anything or with anyone.
The pair are almost complete opposites, but they become friends anyhow and learn a bit more about the world and themselves throughout their freshman year in high school.
So, should you watch the anime?
Definitely yes, unless you absolutely can’t stand slice of life anime.
I looked forward to watching Skip & Loafer every week as it gave me a warm, squishy dose of wholesome goodness. It’s just so gosh-dang nice. My heart could barely handle the genuine feelings in some episodes.
Skip & Loafer is also a funny show, but funny in a friendly way. It’s not slapstick violence, but instead shows off how goofy things can be when high school kids interact with each other. But to be fair, the show has its serious moments too. High school isn’t all laughs, after all. Each of the characters have darker bits to them, as do all people. The way the show explores how the characters grow is… well, I used the word before, but honestly, “wholesome” is the best description for Skip & Loafer. Because even when some darker moments happen, things end up okay in the end.
While I mentioned this is slice-of-life-esque, there is a hint of romance throughout as well. But romance isn’t the main focus, it’s just part of the high school experience - which is what the focus of Skip & Loafer really is. Kids figuring themselves out a little at a time with some bonus shenanigans thrown in. You know, your classic school festivals and sports day fun. Throw in the whole “country hick in the big city discovering new things” vibe, and you’ve got yourself this anime.
And I mean that in the best way. Though my high school days are long past, so maybe my opinion is slightly tinted by nostalgia’s rosy color.
The art design and animation add to the wholesome feeling the show gives off. The character design is pretty simple, but they do a lot with faces and expressions. I love some of the derpy faces Mitsumi makes, and the little blush marks characters get when embarrassed or nervous are very cute. While I don’t know much about fashion, the clothes Mitsumi and her friends wear seem fairly realistic to what you could find normal Japanese teenagers wearing today. I do enjoy extreme and weird outfits, but in a slice-of-life style anime, regular fashion is a nice touch.
The plot is mostly about the day to day life and ambitions of high school students. We learn a bit about the group and how their childhood experiences (such as being a child star, being made fun of, etc) have shaped them, but also how they can still keep changing. Like I said, freaking wholesome.
Besides Mitsumi and Sousuke’s developing friendship, you’ll get to peek into the lives of some of Mitsumi’s other friends and family, such as:
A tsundere classmate who wants Sousuke’s attention and has the same bangs as Misato from Evangelion (Mika).
A blonde bombshell super-model type that wants friends who don’t care about her looks or fame (Yuzuki).
A classic nerdy introverted girl with twin braids and glasses who thinks good looking people are jerks (Makoto).
The ultimate bestie from back home that is the most supportive person on earth (Fumi).
The epitome of OCD and the type who would probably plan out every bathroom break on a trip (Takamine).
A passionately dedicated drama club student who will do anything for the sake of their art (Kanechika).
And a cool aunt with a bit of an adam’s apple that helps out with good fashion tips and a place for Mitsumi to stay in Tokyo (Nao).
**Disclaimer here that I am not trans, but in my opinion, I think Nao’s inclusion in the story was very tastefully done. Pronouns were used correctly, and no big deal was ever made of Mitsumi’s aunt formerly being an uncle. She mentions it to her friends once when they are going to stay they night in case it bothers anyone. But it doesn’t. And I really like that.**
Plus even more friends and family! There are quite a few minor characters that still make a big impact, and some I’d like to know more about. As Skip & Loafer was a manga before it was an anime, I assume we do get more, so yay! But even if you just watch the anime only, the story ends at a good stopping point.
Where does it rate on my personal scale?
S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).
->A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.
B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.
C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.
D: Dropped it.
X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.
Skip & Loafer ranks at a solid A. It was one of my favorite shows of the season and I would like to have the chance to watch it again even if streaming services die. I’m also tempted to check out the manga to get more of my wholesome fix.
#skip & loafer#skip to loafer#skip and loafer#itsavgbltpta#anime#anime review#should you watch the anime
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If you’re not too busy, I wanna request a matchup if that’s okay with you!
I’m a Qiqi main who built her as a DPS healer out of spite and now she does 36000 damage every time the lil bubble the ocean-hued set pops. Very proud of that, she does more damage than what my main DPS used to be <//3
I am an ENTP-T 8w7, which probably makes me seem like an arrogant asshole, but I’m actually just more of an oblivious idiot who has trouble understanding things. Like, my friends have to explain to me when someone is flirting with me or when I shouldn’t talk to someone if they’re back-handedly insulting me cause I just don’t catch it. My friends also described me as airheaded and after they called me that for a couple weeks I asked what it meant since I was too scared to search it up since my friends are terrible people. (/hj) It ended very well, obviously. **I am not sobbing. I am sobbinh**
I’m 5’0. I’ve been 5’0 for three years and I am not growing more. But it’s okay because it means I’m easier to lift up! I’m asian with a tinted pink wolfcut, dark-brown/basically black eyes, and round black glasses. I mostly wear academia clothes (dress shirts, ribbon-ties, pleated flannel skirts, leather bags, loafers, etc.) in any color with a cute hat. I use any pronouns but am female presenting! Bisexual moment whenever I see someone who could throw my ass across the room. Basketball girls and Volleyball boys??? >>>>
Or literally just anyone who can pick me up and just toss me. I think strength is really hot. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY’RE QUIET AND SITS ALONE!!!! Like…I just wanna be their friend. As an extrovert it is my job to adopt the quiet ppl. College has taught me many things. Idk what the heck a cotiledan or whatever it’s spelled is but I know that if a person is lonely I must at least ask if I can hang out with them.
AND COOKING WITH THEM AT THEIR DORM OR APARTMENT OR WHATEVER >>>>>
I enjoy studying epidemiology, biology, anatomy, etc. and I spend most of my time studying those because I need to be good at drawing and writing realistic characters and how their world effects them. Like, diseases need to be studied so I can make a fake lil zombie virus in my story that lives in my head.
I’m a silly little guy. I don’t care what weight a person is, tall a person is or exactly how smart they are or even if they know how to drive (I don’t drive, it’s scary.) If they think I’m cute and they’re nice to me and they can absolutely body check me into oblivion I’m game!
(I’m a new anon technically! Can I be 🧪 anon?)
I would match you with...
You and Sara would end up meeting because you kept accidentally getting into bad situations while being oblivious.
"What do you mean you didn't realize they were Fatui? The Insignia is right there??"
You being persistent and talking to the quiet and stern Sara helped build feelings between the two of you.
Sara is part of the Kojou clan, a servant of the Shogun. So of course she is strong.
She would have absolutely no problem picking you up and tossing you around.
Are you in the way? She casually lifts you up and moves you out of the way without a word.
Lowkey, does it cause she knows you like it.
She wouldn't mind if you were a bit of an airhead at times because she can see your true intelligence with your studying hobbies. She admires the fact you go so far for your passions.
Don't worry, I am an airhead too
We all know Sara is the one doing the cooking for the Shogun, so she would absolutely cook with you any chance she gets
Hi 🧪 Anon! You can absolutely use that emoji! I made a little list for my emoji anons, so I don't ever lose track I only have two right now but shhh You have a badass Qiqi! She still hasn't come home for me. Hope you enjoy <3
#Genshin impact#Genshin impact matchup#genshin impact x reader#Genshin impact headcanon#kujou sara#kujou sara matchup#kujou sara headcanon
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zeke yeager | pta meeting
i literally don’t know how to shut up about him
also this is all because i saw a drabble of dilf!zeke and it’s been on my mind nonstop
warnings/notes: dilf!zeke, fem!reader, cursing, eventual smut, zeke is a divorced/widowed dad(at 33), reader is 21, cursing, zeke has a mean daughter and a sweet daughter, breeding kink, overstimulation, brief choking, slight degradation, shit one shot i’m sorry
you swear to the lord that zeke’s 11 year old daughter is a menace to society.
she’s brutally honest, just like zeke, and mean. she’s oddly mature for her age, and you think it might have something to do with her late mother. she looks almost nothing like zeke, but she certainly inherited her personality from him. she’s got curly dark brown hair that ends at her armpits and zeke’s grey eyes. she has a button nose along with rosy cheeks, something else she inherited from her mother.
“y��know my daddy only dates you cause you take care of me and aloisia,” isolde says to you as she slips on her school shoes.
you feel your eye twitch as you turn to zeke’s other daughter, aloisia, who’s seven and looks exactly like zeke. she’s got his nose, his hair color, and even eye shape. she’s got hazel eyes and a slim face. she’s as bubbly as they come, always greeting people she passes by on the street, always making friends at the park.
“i’m ready,” she holds up her small hand to you, a silent request for you to hold her hand.
“same,” isolde stands up after she swings her back pack onto her back, brushing off the nonexistent dirt on her navy blue skirt.
“zeke, the girls are ready!!” you shout out, taking aloisia into your arms.
zeke comes stumbling out of his bedroom, a white sleep shirt covering his torso and grey sweatpants.
“you’re going in that,” you raise an eyebrow at his attire, “we’re going to a parent-teacher meeting, not the gym.”
“yeah daddy, my teachers are gonna think you’re a bum or something,” isolde snickers.
“i’ll help your dad, go watch tv for a little bit longer,” you chuckle at zeke’s pout and put down aloisia, who runs to the couch.
isolde takes off her backpack and joins her sister on the couch, putting her feet on the coffee table as aloisia puts on avatar: the last airbender.
“i thought the dress code was casual,” zeke furrows his brows as you take his hand and lead him back into his bedroom.
“it is. sweatpants are not casual, they’re lounge wear,” you snicker as he flops onto the bed while you close the door and go into the closet.
you know zeke’s rolling his eyes at you, judging from his silence. you grab ahold of a white button up with light grey vertical stripes on it, trying to picture your boyfriend in the shirt. you shake your head and put it back on the rack, deciding that the default outfit would be best for now. you take a white button up off the hanger and grab a pair of black dress pants from his dresser. you hand him a pair of black loafers to go along with it and some long black socks that would cover up his ankles, you’re so glad you reminded him that they exist. you throw a black belt next to him as well.
“this is boring.”
“zeke, this is a pta meeting, the whole thing will be boring,” you watch him rid himself of his shirt.
“should i wear a tie?”
“no, you’ll look better with one button undone,” you smile as he struggles to balance correctly when he puts on his pants.
he tucks the shirt inside his pants and slips on the belt with ease. he unbuttons a button before he slips on his socks.
“i thought today was my day off,” he smirks at you while you roll up his cuffs a bit.
you roll your eyes and he slips on his shoes. he doesn’t need to do his hair, it’s just effortlessly neat.
“time to go,” you scurry to the front door with the girls following behind you.
“he doesn’t look homeless anymore,” isolde notes when zeke follows you all out of the door.
“not funny,” he huffs while he locks the door behind him and the girls get into the black SUV zeke drives.
you help aloisia buckle herself up in the car seat and then slip into the passenger’s seat next to zeke. he’s grumbling something about ‘uncle eren’ and ‘getting the girls’ as he turns the car on.
————
you try to ignore the women ogling zeke as you all walk down the school hallway. you send isolde off to her class since her meeting is after aloisia’s.
“i hope you’ve been good,” you say to aloisia, who’s holding both your’s and zeke’s hands.
“i have! ms greene says i’m one of the best,” she gloats, and you hope for zeke’s sake that ms greene isn’t bluffing.
you three walk into the second grade classroom, which is empty because you reserved the appointment, only to find the teacher isn’t in there. it only seems to make aloisia more excited as she tugs you and zeke towards the class wall with a bunch of pictures of it.
“look, look!!” she jumps as she points at her’s, “they said to draw our family and she said i did a good job!!”
the picture is a messily drawn family portrait of zeke, isolde, and aloisia.
“you drew (name) very pretty,” zeke smiles at you when you snap your head back to look at the picture in closer detail.
there you are, stick figure holding hands with zeke’s and aloisia with isolde on zeke’s other side. you never expected to be on aloisia’s family portrait, you’d barely been in her life for two years and weren’t exactly motherly. you’re a struggling college student that she occasionally sees crying at the kitchen table with zeke comforting you from behind. she, on very rare occasions, sees you come home, absolutely plastered, with a sober zeke leading you to his room. you’re the woman that wakes her up when you cry on the couch late at night. you were, admittedly, okay with not being seen as their mom.
it wasn’t your place, for so many reasons. one, you didn’t exactly act as a role model. two, you could never replace her mother and would never try. three, zeke never referred to you as such. you’d only ever act like their mother whenever you were in certain situations. but that didn’t mean you didn’t want them to see you as a maternal figure.
it made you want to cry, but luckily you didn’t. you just smile at the picture and pat aloisia’s head in approval.
“you did do a very good job,” you smile down at her and before you can give her a hug, you notice a woman walking into the room.
“oh, you must be zeke yeager, aloisia’s dad! i’m ms greene,” her face flushes while she holds out her hand for him to shake.
“yea, that’s me. it’s nice to meet you,” he shakes her hand.
she turns to you, “oh my goodness, i didn’t know aloisia and isolde had an older sister!”
“no, she’s my girlfriend of two years,” zeke chuckles uncomfortably.
“i’m (name), nice to meet you,” you wave your hand, “i’m just here to keep an eye on aloisia while you two talk.”
zeke and her go to a table in the corner of the room and aloisia drags you towards a bookshelf.
thirty minutes of aloisia rambling about her favorite book go by seemingly quick, and you watch as she cheers when her classmates walk into the room. zeke’s walking towards you, holding a thumbs up with a cocky smile, for whatever reason.
you kiss aloisia goodbye, who doesn’t seem too fazed, and head towards isolde’s classroom. you hold hands with zeke while swinging them back and forth while he repeats everything the teacher’s said to him.
“i can’t believe my little girl’s at a third grade reading level,” he exclaims, “that vocabulary studying did wonders!!”
“you should thank me since i was the one who studied with her cause she asked about my assignments for class,” you taunt and laugh when zeke pulls you closer by the shoulder.
that’s how the two of you walk into isolde’s classroom. she’s sitting at a table with her teacher, miss dunst, and fidgeting with her thumbs anxiously. she’s covering half of her face with her hair. with the one eye you can see it looks puffy and her cheeks are red, as if she’d been crying.
it has both you and zeke rushing to sit down on both side of her, zeke asking miss dunst what happened while you tend to isolde.
“hey, why are you crying,” you’re squatting by her chair and you reach to brush the hair out of her face.
when you see her other eye, you gasp out at the black eye starting to form on her eye.
“oh my god, zeke, look at her face!!”
“that is what i wanted to speak about with you. isolde has been getting bullied by some of her classmates. today, a little girl hit her after isolde defended herself while they argued,” the poor woman looks sad watching you and zeke check isolde for more wounds.
“why has she been bullied? she’s not mentioned this to me or (name),” zeke asks while examining her eye more closely.
“well, during the first day of school, isolde introduced herself and told the class about her family. she mentioned you, mr yeager, and her sister. the kids asked about her mother before i could stop them and she was honest with them and said that she had passed. she then said that she still, in a way, had a mother. your girlfriend, mr yeager.
“i asked her occupation, to which isolde said a college student. the kids got loud but i managed to quiet them down, and i thought it was the end of that. after that, her classmates started to pick on her verbally about your age gap and her late mother. i didn’t find out about it until this morning when isolde was hit,” miss dunst frowns as she explains.
before zeke could open his mouth, you speak up, “i’m the girlfriend, (name). i am hoping that these children will be punished accordingly and that their parents be notified. if this has really been going on all year like you say, then at this point their parents should be involved.”
“of course! i’m giving all of their parents a call after classes today. the little girl who hit her is sitting down with the principal right now, so she should be safe if you two would like her to stay at school.”
“give us a moment,” you smile kindly, which she returns, and walks to her desk to give you ‘privacy’.
“isolde, why didn’t you tell your daddy or i about what was going on,” you ask while she hugs zeke.
she peeks her head out of his chest, “didn’t want to seem weak.”
“why would you be worried about that,” zeke asks.
“after mom died, you were always so sad and stressed. i thought that if i was strong, you would be happier,” she explains shakily.
“isolde, look at me,” you put a hand on her knee, “you were six years old when your mommy died. six year olds shouldn’t know how to accurately take care of themselves, it’s why your daddy was there. i’m sure your daddy appreciated the effort, but i promise you that all he wanted you to be was his happy little girl. you don’t need to be strong at 11 years old, and you don’t need to be strong all the time. like you said, your daddy was sad when your mom died. it didn’t make him weak, it made him a person. and that’s what you are; a person. a little person.”
she sniffles and nods at you, “people can’t do everything by themselves. i’m sorry if we made it feel like you couldn’t tell us, and it’s totally understandable that you felt that way.”
zeke hums in agreement, “we love you, baby. so much.”
“love you too,” she mumbles with a small smile.
“do you want to stay at school,” zeke asks, he didn’t want to force her into a situation where she didn’t want to be.
“i have a math test later, don’t wanna miss it,” she sighs, now looking up at you.
“(name)...?”
you tilt your head while you wait for her answer.
“i’m sorry i’ve been so mean to you. everyone was making fun of me and called it weird, so i guess i wanted to believe that too,” your heart warms whenever she looks away shyly.
great, now zeke’s horny from seeing you act motherly.
————
ever since you and zeke had stepped off school campus, one of his hands was always touching you. it didn’t matter where, zeke was shameless.
even as you unlock the door to the his house, he has his chest pressed against your back and his arms wrapped around your waist. his lips are kissing softly at your neck and his hands are shamelessly groping at your boobs.
“zeke, what is up with you,” you laugh whenever you open the door, kicking off your shoes immediately.
“horny,” he admits, swiftly following after you and locking the door behind himself.
“what about this morning made you horny,” you ask shyly while you sit on the couch.
zeke’s buttons are halfway undone and his belt is somewhere on the floor. he squeezes in behind you, once again pressing his chest against your back.
“acting maternal, i guess,” his beard tickles the back of your neck as he kisses it.
“is this why you told isolde it was okay if she wanted to stay at school,” you snicker at his fingers pulling your shirt over your head.
“why else,” he scoffs, “my only day off in a while and i’m horny. sounds like a deal.”
you whimper whenever he starts biting at your neck and when his large hands slip under your bra.
“zeke, if we’re gonna do it on the couch, can i at least lay on my back,” you ask while zeke unclips your bra.
without a word, he’s thrown you onto the couch on your back and climbing on top of you seconds later. your hands quickly unbutton the rest of his shirt, pushing it halfway off of his body.
zeke throws the shirt onto the floor and kisses you, hands running up and down your torso. he pulls away to kiss and suck at your neck while his hands grope at your tits. you’re stuck between laughing and moaning at zeke’s beard dragging against your neck.
his mouth trails down to your tits, mouth attaching to your left tit while he continues to grope your right one. you let out a moan whenever he tweaks your nipple with his right hand and bites softly at your left nipple.
he pulls away from your chest, tugging off your pants and panties in frustration. it leaves you laughing and assisting him. whenever your pants do come off, he throws them to the ground and spreads your legs.
“zeke, they’re not opening too far, we’re on a couch,” you note, but soon stand corrected as zeke grabs your ankle and puts it on the back of the couch.
“nevermind,” you snicker at his cocky smirk, as if he’d done something amazing.
your other leg hangs off the couch, leaving you spread open for zeke. zeke spreads open your glistening folds with thumbs and gives a mindful lick up to your clit. after realizing that his beard is not rubbing against you uncomfortably, he dives in like it’s a pool, which he thinks it is because of how wet you are.
his mouth his sucking on your clit vigorously, as if he were a man starved. you’re moaning wantonly as he suddenly ups the speed. how did he even go that fast, you have no clue, but either way you enjoy it. your back in arching off of the couch and your toes are curling as zeke starts bringing you closer to an orgasm.
“zeke!! i’m... i’m gonna come,” you tug at his hair as your legs start to convulse and close around his head.
he only goes faster, and you wonder to yourself if zeke is powered by batteries or something. but the thought is quickly shut off whenever you finally orgasm, moaning out in ecstasy and throwing your head back against the couch cushions.
zeke slows down his pace, helping you ride through your orgasm. he pulls away whenever you’ve calmed down, fingers immediately pressing at your tight entrance.
“zeke... i-i’m too sensitive,” your complaint goes ignored as two of zeke’s fingers are suddenly inside of you.
“don’t care, deal with it,” he huffs as his fingers stretch you out.
with his other hand, his thumb is rubbing at your puffy clit at the same time of his fingers curling inside of you. your hips buck up with a mewl and zeke chuckles at the sight. unlike last time, he’s moving his tantalizingly slow.
his fingers curl once more, rubbing against the spongy part inside of you sweetly. you buck your hips up again at the contact and curl your toes whenever zeke starts abusing that spot with overwhelming speed. curling his fingers against the spot each time he pistons his fingers in and out of you.
“zeke!!” you come again while moaning his name and he can feel his cock twitch in his pants.
zeke chuckles when he pulls his fingers out, spreading them apart to watch your juices stick together in strings. he plops the fingers in his own mouth, rubbing his other hand up and down your quivering thigh as he pulls away from your sloppy cunt.
he pulls his fingers out of his mouth with an obnoxious ‘pop’ and pulls off his pants and boxers at the same time. he groans at his cock hitting against his lower stomach.
you stare at zeke’s cock. the tip is flushed with a bashful pink and his hair is trimmed nicely against his groin. he’s more girth than he is length, a whopping 6.5 inches, which is something he absolutely gets arrogant about.
“hurry,” you huff while watching zeke fist his cock.
“nah, you gotta beg for it, baby,” the corner of his mouth tugs upwards as he watches you wipe away your tears from the previous orgasm.
“zeke,” you whine and wiggle your hips, “please please please give me your cock. need it so bad.”
he hums thoughtfully, and it already gives you his answer.
“please... i want it so bad, need to be fucked by you,” you pout but perk up at his dismissive shrugging.
“since you want it so bad,” he’s laughing while he puts his right hand on your pelvis and his other on his shaft to enter you.
you gasp at the feeling of him pushing inside of you, grabbing for his, now, free hand. when you catch his hand, you guide it to your bruised neck for him to grasp on. he’s chuckling once again, fingers lightly squeezing against your throat as he continues to push himself in.
he groans whenever he bottoms out, letting go of your neck to grab at your plush thighs. he pushes the towards your chest and thrusts into you shallowly after he spits on his cock buried in your pussy. he hits you deeper than he would’ve before, that much is obvious by your moans raising octaves when he starts to thrust roughly.
your hands reach up to grab the back of his thighs to pull him closer to you than before. he’s groaning at the feeling of your pussy squeezing onto him each time he pulls out and thrusts back into you.
“fuck... zeke!!” you cry and throat your head back.
“fuck,” he grunts, “you’re so fuckin’ tight. even after how much i fuck this pretty little cunt each week.”
his words make you whimper and squeeze your grip on his thighs, making crescent moons into the skin.
“i’m gonna come... i’m gonna come again,” you pant out, back already starting to arch, “come with me please..!”
he speeds up his thrusts, the sound of his balls slapping against your ass getting increasingly louder as he does so.
“you wanna come with me so badly,” he asks tauntingly while you nod.
“god, zeke, please,” you try to ignore the saliva and tears on your face as you continue to scream out for zeke.
“i’ll give my sweet girl my cum since she asked so nicely,” he’s biting his lip whenever he feels his orgasm getting closer.
“yes! yes! please,” you sound so desperate as your orgasm gets closer, “zeke, please, fuck a baby into me, please..!”
zeke almost comes right then at your pleas, but ends up stilling and adjusting his stance to thrust into you more efficiently. the sudden stop makes you whine but it’s soon interrupted with a gasp as he jackhammers into you harder and faster than before.
“fuckin’ whore, wanting me to fuck a baby into you. to make you a mom. since you asked so nicely, i’ll oblige,” he berates.
“you me to fuck a baby into you? make you a mom?” it has you nodding frantically.
zeke continues to degrade you as you’re orgasm comes rushing towards you, fingers now clawing at his thighs as a signal.
zeke thrusts into you two more times before the two of you manage to orgasm simultaneously. his jackhammering slows into a grind, helping the two of you ride out the euphoria you’ve both just went through.
you whimper whenever he pulls out, uncomfortable at the sudden emptiness in you. he watches his cum start to dribble out of you, telling you to keep your legs up. he scurries off to find a paper towel or something to wipe it up with before it falls onto the couch. you shiver whenever you feel a wet cloth wipe away the dribbling cum.
he’s wiping down your chest and neck as well with a clean side of it after you put your legs down. he carries you off into his bathroom, sitting you on the counter while he readies the shower.
“i can’t believe you said that,” he raises a questioning eyebrow at you while he checks the water’s temperature.
“i wouldn’t mind having your kid,” you shrug and watch him put two towels on the counter next to you.
“i might just give you one, don’t say that,” he jokes as he starts to hug you.
“‘m okay with that,” you sigh and lean into his touch, enjoying his warmth.
“you’re stupid,” he snorts and kisses at your shoulder.
“only for you,” you snuggle your head into his neck with a giggle.
“i love you,” he sighs.
“i love you. enough to have your kids.”
maybe in a few hours when you weren’t bathing in the afterglow, zeke would bring it up to you.
#attack on titan#shingeki no kyojin#snk#aot fanfiction#snk fanfiction#zeke yeager#zeke x you#shingeki no kyojin zeke#zeke yeager x reader#zeke x reader#zeke jaeger#attack on titan zeke#zeke smut#zeke aot#tw: breeding
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Prompts are open! Professors!Drarry, husbands, one tells students all about his husband. No one knows who that is. Until one day sth clues them in. And everyone's like - WHAAAA?! Bets are lost. McG is amused.
Hello there! This is the oldest prompt in my ask box, haha! So sorry it took like two years to get around to this.... *blushes*
Anyways, I hope you like!
-
“That will be all for today,” Harry says. “You can have the rest of the period to work.”
He leans back against his desk and watches the scramble of students trying to pair off with their friends. He smiles and shakes his head. Every day is the same. Gloriously, marvelously, wonderfully the same.
“Professor Potter?”
Harry looks over to one of his students, a slight teenage girl with her hair tied up into three ponytails. “Yes, Miss Wimblefon?”
She twirls a curl of hair around her finger and smiles up at him. “I had a question for you. About the assignment.”
Harry sighs and waves his hand. “Ask away.”
“You said that the enchantment only works if the user is truly in love,” she begins.
Harry nods and folds his arms. “Precisely. Which is why you are only working on the theoretical application of this spell, and not trying to use it on your classmates.”
Jane giggles. “I’m in love. Can I give it a try?”
Harry stands up and brushes off the front of his robes. “You most certainly may not, Miss Wimblefon. As much as I am pleased by your interest in the subject, it’s not appropriate nor safe to produce the enchantment even when one is truly in love, and I have the strong suspicion that you are not.”
Jane’s cheeks go red. “Well, what does the spell do anyways?” she says, crossing her arms and huffing.
“An excellent question,” Harry says. “An easily answered one if you do your reading.” He holds his hand out to the classroom, and she gives him one last glare before turning on her heel and taking a seat with Mildred Daney.
*
“Merlin,” Harry says, dropping down onto the bed and spreading his arms out wide.
“What is it?” Draco asks, emerging from the bathroom and leaning against the door frame with his toothbrush stuck out of his mouth. “Jane flirting with you again?”
Harry groans and rolls over on the bed. “How did you know?”
Draco disappears to spit out his toothpaste, and then returns, smelling of mint and citrus shampoo. He climbs up the bed and drops down beside Harry, curling an arm around his waist and pressing his nose in the back of his neck.
“Because she’s the exact same with me,” Draco sighs. “Always playing with that bloody hair of hers.”
“She’s a sixth year already,” Harry says to the wall. “Isn’t this a bit odd?”
Draco nuzzles in closer behind Harry. “Someone should tell her that if she keeps tugging at that hair, it will all fall out by the time she’s twenty.”
Harry laughs. “Don’t you dare, Draco. Her mother will tear down the school.”
Draco bumps his head between Harry’s shoulder blades. “Well, then it will be McGonagall’s problem.”
Harry twists and rolls over to face Draco, his face smiling and bright. “You know,” Harry says, touching their noses together. “I think you may be right.”
“Oh, yes?”
“Yes,” Harry says and pushes himself on top of Draco, knees on either sides of his hips and arms around his shoulders. “Get Jane out of our hair.” He sets his head down on Draco’s chest. “And while we’re waiting for her mother to Floo in, we can plan our joint funeral, hm?”
“Bit early, isn’t it?” Draco says. He lifts his hands and rubs them up and down Harry’s back.
“Oh, no. Not at all,” Harry says. He lifts his head up and grins at Draco. “In fact, it may be a bit late if McGonagall has anything to do with it.”
Draco rolls his eyes. “Forget I said anything.”
“That’s what I thought,” Harry says, and drops his head back down on Draco’s chest.
Draco is so warm, so soft. Nice. A weight tethering him to the ground, to sanity.
“Good night,” Harry sighs.
Draco smacks his bum. “Get up and brush your teeth, you buffoon.”
Harry groans as Draco pushes him away, all the way off of the bed.
“Why?” Harry wails as he hits the ground with a great oof.
“Because I love you,” Draco says happily before sending a stinging jinx in the direction of Harry’s backside. “Very, very much.”
*
“Hello, Professor Potter,” Jane says. She’s twirling her hair again.
“Hello, Miss Wimblefon,” Harry says over his breakfast potatoes. “May I help you with something?”
“Yes,” she says, looking rather pleased with herself with her chin all drawn up. “The book says that the enchantment provides a binding connection to the user’s true love. One that doesn’t break until death.”
Harry squirts some ketchup onto his plate. “Almost correct.”
“What?”
Harry picks up a piece of bacon. “Almost correct. The enchantment doesn’t die after death. That’s why it’s so complicated. It must be a mutual bonding, and both parties must be truly in love with the other. And the bond doesn’t break after death, which opens up a certain realm of questioning about putting intention behind spells.”
Jane shakes her head hard. “What does it benefit though? Why engage in such complicated and dangerous magic? What does it do?”
Harry smiles and sets his bacon down. “Miss Wimblefon, would you mind continuing this conversation during our class time? I’m trying to enjoy my breakfast.”
Draco snorts beside him.
Jane glances over at Draco briefly and narrows her eyes. She opens her mouth to speak again, but Draco looks up from his hash and stares at her with wide grey eyes. Too wide to really be attractive, people have said before. Harry likes them.
“Right then,” she says, and runs off.
“Bless you,” Harry says, linking his pinkie into Draco’s.
Draco raises his eyebrows. “Harry.”
“Yes, my love?” Harry smiles at him. Innocently, very innocently.
“Why are you teaching verus amor est alliges duplicia?” Draco glares at him, and squeezes hard with his pinkie finger. “That’s extremely complicated magic.”
Harry shrugs. “No reason at all.”
Draco sighs and winds the rest of his fingers through Harry’s. “Oh, Harry.”
Harry grins. “Oh, Draco.”
*
“It’s class time now,” Jane says.
Harry glances up at his charmed clock over the archway in his office. “Not quite, Miss Wimblefon.”
“Well,” she says, already sitting down in the chair opposite him. “I didn’t want to interrupt your lecture, so I thought I’d pop in early.”
“Right,” Harry says. It’s probably best to get this over with. Maybe if Harry answers all her questions, she’ll leave him alone. “Go on then.”
“I’m curious to know what is the purpose of the spell.” She folds her hands on Harry’s desk and leans forward.
Harry pushes his chair back slightly. “It’s an irreversible connection with the person who loves you most in the world. It links you together. So, theoretically, if one half of the pairing was hurt, the other would know it. If something good has happened to one, the other feels their happiness.”
“So they share feelings?” Jane asks.
“No,” Harry says. “It’s not sharing. It’s just a sense. An added knowledge.”
“And what else?” she demands.
“It can act as a protective charm, if in dire circumstances,” Harry says. “A bubble of defense, if the two are physically close.”
Jane sighs and kicks her loafers on the floor. “It sounds fine, but not worth the magic.”
Harry smiles. He’d felt the same way when he’d first learned of it. “Well it’s more than that. The best part about it is the connection. It is difficult to explain, even for those who have experienced it. It is a joining of skin, two souls being one, a linking of magic. It is being melded with another person, body, soul, and mind. It is having them with you, always.”
Jane’s mouth opens a bit. “Er. Professor Potter?”
“Yes?” Harry asks pleasantly.
“Are you bonded to someone?” Jane asks, looking scared and excited all at once.
“To my husband, yes,” Harry says, and smiles at her.
Jane falls out of her chair.
*
It takes another four days after Jane faints in Harry’s office before she comes to confront him again.
“You’re completely oblivious to it,” Draco is saying to Harry. “He has an excellent aptitude for Potions. He’s very talented, really.”
They’re in greenhouse four, so Draco can collect clippings for a potion in his classes the next day. Harry hovers by Draco’s side, not doing anything particularly useful.
Harry rolls his eyes. “Please, you should see him in Defense. I might as well transfigure him into a hippo, and see if it changes the results.”
Draco touches a hand to his chest. “My, my, Harry. I think you’re spending too much time with me.”
Harry pushes at him. “I know I am. Thank Merlin for it.”
“Professor Potter?”
Harry trips and nearly stumbles over into a collection of finger eating bushes before Draco grabs his sleeve and hauls him up.
“Hello, Miss Wimblefon,” Draco says coolly. “May I ask you what you’re doing out of bed at this hour?”
Her eyes pass over Draco. “Professor Potter, I have more questions for you.”
Harry is still choking on his breath. “Er. Yes. Miss Wimblefon, can we resume this conversation at a later time?”
“No,” she says, and comes to stand next to him. “Carry on with your walk. I’ll simply join in.”
They have no choice but to walk.
“I didn’t know you were married,” Jane begins immediately as they’re leaving the greenhouse. “Especially not to a man.”
Draco throws an elbow in Harry’s direction and raises both his eyebrows in question. What is she talking about? he mouths. Harry shakes his head. He has no idea.
“So you’ve performed verus amor est alliges duplicia.”
Draco straightens up beside Harry. He chooses not to look over at him for fear of being burned to the ground with the look on Draco’s face.
“Quite,” Harry says.
“With whom?”
Harry stops. “What do you mean with whom?”
He looks over at Draco, who looks just as bewildered as Harry does, his irritation at Harry’s curriculum forgotten.
Jane stops too and looks back at them. “Who are you married to?”
Harry could fall over laughing.
Draco speaks before he can. “Miss Wimblefon. What is my name?”
Jane finally looks at him. “Professor Potter?”
“Yes.” Draco says very slowly. “My name is Draco Potter.”
Jane shakes her head, still looking confused. “So?”
Draco huffs and flicks his hair off his cheekbones. “So I share a last name with Harry Potter. Who do you think I am?”
“Potter is a common name, it’s not weird that you both have....” Her eyes go wide. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh,” Draco snaps. “Merlin and Arthur, these children get dimmer every year. Potter’s a common name. Honestly!”
Jane turns and takes off running up to the castle.
Harry lets out a breath and holds out his hand for Draco to take. “I think you’re right, love. They really are getting dimmer.”
Draco takes his hand, gentle. “Why did we choose this career path anyways?”
Harry shrugs and they begin the walk up to the castle together. “Good pay?”
Draco blows out a hard laugh. “Good pay, indeed.”
*
Jane Wimblefon tells the entire school that Professor Harry Potter and Professor Draco Potter are married at breakfast the next day.
Harry drops his head into his hands and Draco rolls his eyes. Headmistress McGonagall stands up briskly and walks right out of the Great Hall. Hagrid bursts out laughing before knocking over the entire front table, and Professor Flitwick along with it.
The students go into a frenzy, jumping up and running from table to table, expressions of shock painted over their faces.
“Forget dim,” Draco says, looking out over the chaos. “This generation is entirely brain dead.”
Harry laughs so hard he gets marmalade in his hair.
#ask box#prompt#drarry#fic#fanfic#essentially plotless#fluff#domestic#professor harry#professor draco#husbands#hogwarts#mine#my work#draco malfoy#harry potter
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Thank you Lauren @kingsofeverything for tagging me multiple times and reminding me that I have over 70k of fic sitting in docs (and that's just one wip) Maybe one day I'll have enough time to finish it 🤞🏻
"Steer clear of the dip, mate. Tastes a bit off."
When Harry turns around he's met with a very handsome man standing before him. His brunette hair and dirty blond highlights are layered into a meticulously styled high quiff. Internally, Harry blames Zayn when he takes note of his impeccable wardrobe. He's wearing blue and green Glen plaid trousers with a tapered leg. Black Gucci penny loafers and a vintage Fleetwood Mac ringer completes the whole look.
Harry nods once, "Thanks…" and resumes his solo snack table mission.
"Niall," he introduces himself with an outstretched hand.
Harry holds his hand out to shake, "Harry."
"I know," Niall smirks.
Harry furrows his brow, "Oh."
"Louis told me the bloke who's phone he found on the train was English. I know everyone else here," he waves his hand around the room.
"Nice to meet you."
Niall ignores the greeting and points a carrot stick at him as he narrows his eyes, "You were a bit snarky with Louis just now," he takes a bite.
Harry widens his eyes, "Oh-"
Niall abandons his crudites to light up a joint. He takes a long pull and hands it to Harry, "Sounds like you need this," he blows the smoke out the side of his mouth and smirks.
"Cheers," Harry says absentmindedly and accepts the spliff. He takes a nice big toke from it and coughs, "Shit," he whispers as he clutches his chest.
Niall beams with pride, "Good?"
Harry tilts his head from side to side. His sour mood has shifted dramatically. "Brilliant," he smiles with his eyes closed.
Niall nods and observes him for a minute, "Not sure what your beef is Harry, but Louis' me best mate," he takes a pull off his own joint, "They broke the mould with that one, so ease up. Especially seeing what he's done for you. That's only a slight glimpse into what Louis' about. Selfless, that one."
Harry looks down at the table, "Understood."
The corner of Niall's mouth quirks up, "That's sorted, then. Enjoying the Skunk?"
Harry exhales a puff, "Quite."
Niall sighs, "She's my baby. Took an extra two months for her to cure," he declares with admiration, as if talking about a beloved family member.
"Right…"
Niall grins, "This one's called Jade Dream. Louis named her. Same day he met you, actually."
"Nialler!" Louis walks up to him and throws his arms around Niall's neck. He smacks a loud kiss to his cheek, "Almost showtime."
Niall plucks another joint out of his mouth which Harry hadn't even noticed and places it between Louis' lips. Niall throws his arms out and shouts, "Rock'n'Roll!"
Louis giggles with the spliff hanging off of his lower lip.
They begin to walk away with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Louis turns his head back to Harry, "Hold on tight to that phone, Harold. It's going to be a bumpy ride," and then he winks.
They're gone before Harry can respond. He's left a little awestruck standing in his spot due to the extremely potent weed and his encounter with Niall.
Zayn and Liam clear their throats simultaneously.
"I'll take that," Zayn grabs the forgotten spliff out of Harry's hand and takes a pull, "Fuck…" he says in stupefication. He points the joint at him, "He called you, Harold," and snuffles out a laugh as he exhales his hit.
Harry rolls his eyes.
"Pass the Dutchie to the left hand side please," Liam, the nerd, sings. He takes a pull and coughs, "Yup, that's Niall," he wheezes.
Harry furrows his brow, "You know Niall?"
"Of course," Liam crinkles his eyes, "Everyone knows Niall."
"I don't," Harry tells him, "He sells pot, right?"
Liam laughs, "Not quite. He creates the seeds for medicinal, all types of strains for different diseases…" he looks at Harry incredulously, "He's a Geneticist, Harry," Liam says it like it should be so obvious.
Harry turns his head to the door even though they're long gone and drops his jaw, "Of course he is," he shakes his head in amusement.
Zayn snaps his fingers, "Come, Louis got us a prime spot in front of the stage," he orders them both.
Harry trails behind them, "Yes, your Highness."
Tagging @kingsofeverything as well as @crinkle-eyed-boo @maleksrami @becomeawendybird @beelou @femstyles @fallinglikethis @hiccoops @louandhazaf @twopoppies @alarrylarrie @toomanydreamers @youareimportantevan @lookslikefairytale and anyone else with writing/art to share
#sunday snippet#my fic#that i've been working on since 2017#fl#all the inspo#💡💡💡💡#pot tw#lmk if anyone would like to volunteer as tribute to beta this beast#high art
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Beyond Reasonable Doubt (ch.1)
– A Lawyer AU –
You and Kylo Ren have hated one another for as long as you can remember. He, a criminal prosecutor, and you, a defense attorney should be natural-born enemies, and you are. But when Kylo comes to you seeking representation after being charged for a murder he didn’t commit, you both learn a thing or two about life, the law, and love…
[5k, no warnings for this first chapter!]
Available on AO3
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In a world of ever-changing circumstances, where people do things that cause ripples and shocks through the very fabric of society that shake them to their core, where the sun shines and rain falls and snow blows cold through the streets of Manhattan, where there is life and death and a mess of bullshit in between, there was but one thing that you could ever comfortably rely on in life.
Only one thing remained constant in the grand scheme of it all: your alarm.
With a grunt and sigh, your arm extends out from underneath the covers to smack at the loud blaring jingle that sounds from your phone, hand desperately trying to hit the dismiss button without looking so that you don’t have to face the day just yet. It’s too early, you reason, to pull your whole self out from under the covers.
Eventually you give that thought up though, because dammit now you’re awake and it’s Monday morning and you have an office that’s waiting for you uptown. So, ever grudgingly, you throw the plush comforter off of your body and stretch to greet the day, saying good morning to the city that never sleeps.
You don’t usually dread waking up, but well, the last time you’d been in the office was Friday afternoon, after you lost your case.
After you lost your case, to him.
Glancing at the clock on your phone, you chew your lip for a moment or two, before finally turning off the do not disturb function, immediately going into the bathroom to shower and ready yourself for the day while damn near a hundred backlogged notifications make your phone buzz nearly onto the floor.
There’s a small mirror in the shower, a little compact to make sure there’s nothing left on your face after you scrub your skin clean, and you catch your own reflection in it. You’ve looked better, that was for damn sure – but by that same token, you’ve also looked worse. Mondays were shit, but today was gearing up to be an even worse one than normal.
No, you think as you shake your head adamantly, you have no desire to let him soak up any more of your good mood than he had already. So what if you had forgone your entire weekend, canceling plans and ignoring friends to nurse the sting to your pride that was losing? So what if instead of checking your email or your phone, you sat yourself on the couch and wasted two entire days doing nothing but watching shitty shows on Netflix?
What you did on your downtime was nobodies’ business, and since you live alone in your beautiful one-bedroom in SoHo, no one was there to spill your secrets. If anyone asked – not that anyone would, if they knew what was good for them – you would tell them that you absolutely did not spend the weekend wanting to throw darts onto a photo of his face. That wouldn’t be very professional, now would it?
Shutting off the water, you wrap yourself up in a big plush towel, and pad across the floor to your closet. Briefly, ever so briefly, you glance at your phone on your way, holding your breath, wondering, hoping that there might be something from him.
If there is, it’s buried under a pile of emails and text-threads from your firm, so he’ll have to wait.
Manhattan in January was chilly, so you bundle yourself up in your chicest coat overtop your most well-fitting skirt suit and a pair of heeled boots. Even if you felt like shit, you could look like million fuckin’ bucks, and no one would be the wiser.
And what a wonder the power of confidence was! Through the streets and down to the subway, you smiled at everyone, and they all smiled back. You offered your seat on the train to an elderly man who clearly needed it more than you, and he complimented your gloves. Everyone from the NYPD officer drinking his coffee to the mom scolding her three children brightened as you wished them a good morning, and somehow, along the way to work, your Monday blues disappears into something a little brighter.
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Your good mood only continues to grow as you exit the elevator of the huge high-rise that you call your home away from home, your office on the twenty-third floor right in the heart of the Upper West Side. Sandwiched between the Hudson and Central Park, you have to admit that getting your ass out of bed was worth it, even if just for this view.
“Morning (Y/N).” The front desk security guard greets you, and you say hello back to him with a performative show of your badge.
HKS Law, so named after the founders and current partners Amilyn Holdo, Ben Kenobi, and Luke Skywalker, is a shining pinnacle of what defense attorneys and opposing counsel at trials should be. Not only had the firm made history time and time again with incredible wins and even more incredible ultimate losses, but it prided itself on being representation for the people no one else could represent.
Most of all, it had you.
If your alarm was a constant, than this was a universal truth: you are a damn good defense attorney. As you walk through the crisp and clean polished floors, you hold your head high, knowing that this loss against him still put you at the lowest loss rate of anyone in the history of HKS, lower than even the founders themselves.
That little reminder has you grinning to yourself. You’d been working with HKS for nearly six years now, and very quickly you saw your office climbing higher and higher up the skyscraper, saw it getting bigger and bigger. And now, you were nearly positive, that your meeting at eleven o’clock would be to discuss partnership with the firm as a reward for your continued hard work.
“Hey (Y/N)!” One of the associates, Rose Tico smiles at you from where she’s chatting with her sister Paige by their desks.
“Someone looks like they had a nice weekend.” Paige remarks, and you only wink at them, playing the game.
A game, which becomes instantly easier as your assistant, a bright-eyed intern fresh out of law school appears seemingly out of nowhere.
“(Y/N), good morning!” She is already offering you a cup of something nice and hot, her arm cradling a stack of manilla folders that have all sorts of sticky-note flags on them, that she shifts onto her hip ever so slightly to brush a few loose braids out of her face, speaking at what feels like a million miles a second, “I have your coffee ready and there’s a fresh breakfast buffet in the break room if you’d like, I can get you something – ”
“Good morning Neisha.” You accept the coffee gratefully, but interrupting her only to give her a chance to catch her breath. You check your watch, it’s only half-past seven, she’ll wear herself out if she exerts that much energy first thing. “A bagel with the usual would be perfect, thank you.”
“No problem – oh, Rick wanted you to look over those case files before your eleven-o’clock.” She breathes a sigh of relief, and gives you a smile.
Groaning, you accept the manilla folders too, balancing the coffee cup on top of them as Iman follows you into your own private office. Your assistant stands in front of your desk at the ready, looking sharp and put together, as ever.
One thing that you loved about Neisha – aside from the dozens of things that you admired and appreciated about her – was that you have never ever seen her in something other than a pantsuit. She did not wear dresses or skirts, she was almost never in heels, and she did not carry a purse. Instead, Neisha could almost always be found in a very smart trouser and blazer set, often complete with vests, and fun-colored socks in her loafers to coordinate with her ever-expanding collection of ties.
“Rick can go fuck himself.” You mutter under your breath, and she laughs.
“Should I tell him you said that?” With a playful glimmer in her eye, she crosses her arms over her broad chest.
“Yes.” You wink, before checking your watch once again and reminding her about that, “Bagel?”
“Bagel – right, on it.” Neisha snaps her fingers and leaves, closing the office door behind her.
You like your office, even if you’ve outgrown it. Much like the rest of the firm, it has stayed up to date with the contemporary interior design of the day. However where the open floor of the firm is mostly whites and silvers and glass, your office feels warmer with shades of coffee browns and creamy neutrals.
Remembering how you had been so excited for the promotion to your own office, you can’t help but chuckle to yourself now – it really was a small office. It consisted of a long dark brown desk situated in front of a wall-unit bookshelf/display area, and a seating arrangement of matching brown chairs situated around a free-edge wooden coffee-table. A soft rug covers the marble flooring, and cream gauzy curtains cover the windows, but that was about it.
You had been to the offices of the higher ups, you knew just what you could achieve if you made partner – even if you made junior partner.
And if all went well during this meeting at eleven, you knew you’d be moving into one of those offices soon.
For the first time all weekend, you sit down in the big leather chair behind your desk and finally check your phone. The case files remain on your desk, and you know you’ll get to them eventually, but until you’ve had some breakfast and that coffee can work its magic, no one could blame you for scrolling through the shit that you had put off since Friday.
It’s mostly work friends taking your side, which you appreciate. They knew losing a case was hard for you – you didn’t do it very often. And even though you never lost to anyone besides him, it still never got easier.
The case had been a simple one, or at least, you had thought so. Murders are so often simple, either the person did it, or they didn’t. If they did, there’s evidence, and if they didn’t, well, there’s evidence too. And when two parties come forward with their own evidence, compelling, strong fucking evidence – evidence of alibis and proof that your client couldn’t have been there, couldn’t have done it – it’s up to the jury to decide who to believe.
In this case, this jury decided to believe him, and there was nothing you could do about it. It was losses like this, losses like the knowledge than an innocent man was going to prison, that make you seriously question the legal system as a whole, frankly.
It’s then that you see it, and your hand freezes.
You have a missed message from him.
He’s saved in your contacts as the dick from VTH, and even though that could refer to any number of people, you know that it’s him. You have five missed messages from him, as a matter of fact, which sends both a rush of adrenaline through you, as well as a spike of anxiety.
The two of you…you’d never been friends, not really. In fact, the closest thing to a relationship that you might have is that of a rivalry, if not flat out enemies. You hated him, and he hated you, and he had hated you ever since the first day he set eyes on you, from the very first moment you walked into the courtroom as a last-minute addition to the defense counsel, and won the case in fifteen minutes.
Which was a shame, because you often find yourself thinking that if he weren’t such a…well, a dick, there could have been something there. Instead of a friendship, or even a civil acquaintanceship, you have over the years developed something of a hate-fucking-enemies-with-benefits arrangement. He was probably pissed that you ignored him all weekend, but that was okay – let him be pissed, you were pissed too.
You don’t open his messages, not yet. You’d need coffee in you and food in your stomach before you’re able to handle whatever mood he has to be in, now that you’ve got the energy to deal with him.
You’re so deep in thought that you nearly miss when Neisha returns with a plate for you, a big spread arranged on your desk for you to enjoy. You’re about to thank her and let her get on with whatever work she has to do, but she holds out a newsletter with a devious smile and curiosity gets the better of you.
“Have you seen?” She asks, and you raise a brow, a smile of your own creeping across your face.
The newsletter was something that circulated through the different firms in the area, keeping everyone up to date – or at least as up to date as legally possible – on the goings on in the sphere of influence that you all found yourselves in. Everything from congratulatory memos to case results, and even high profile celebrity gossip was fair game, but one of the more scandalous parts of the newsletter, was the publication of trouble that various lawyers found themselves in.
The Monday morning newsletter had quite a bit of this from over the weekend, and right there on page sixteen, is none other than his face looking as irritated as he possibly can, as he’s being given a hard time for a DUI on Friday night.
“Oh fuck.” Your eyes widen, wanting nothing more than to call him and yell at him for being a fucking idiot, “What the hell does he think he’s doing?”
“Whatever he wants, evidently.” Neisha shrugs, no doubt thinking the news would cheer you up in some sort of vengeful way that you appreciate. She reaches for a pumpernickel crisp from the spread on your desk and muses, “I bet the cops are thrilled, they hate that sonofabitch.”
“Yeah them and me both.” You mutter, already rubbing away a headache that’s starting to form across the expanse of your forehead. “He’s not going to be pleased about that photo, he looks rumpled.”
Sighing, you look down at the photo. He’s very clearly intoxicated, you’ve seen that look in his eyes more than once, the blurry out of focused glassy look that he gives you over smiles at dinner sometimes. You blink away the image of him in a nice suit on the other end of a table, reminding yourself that you’re angry with him.
“Doesn’t he have a driver? I wonder why he got behind the wheel himself.” Neisha continues, and bless her you think, for continually giving you a means to not be left alone with your thoughts.
“If there’s one thing I know about that man, it’s that when he sets him mind to something, no one is going to stop him from doing it.” You reply, not able to ignore a bit of gut-wrenching regret.
Maybe if you hadn’t been so mad at him, you could’ve gone with him to wherever he was coming back from, and maybe you could’ve --
“Should I have this framed?” Neisha asks, and you blink again.
You check your watch, it’s only a quarter ‘til eight. Have you really only been at work for fifteen minutes? That stack of folders sits on the edge of your desk, taunting you. You’re gearing up for an extra long day.
“No, that’s okay.” You shake your head, opening the bottom drawer of your desk and dropping the newsletter into it. “I will keep a hold onto it though. Just for fun.”
With a laugh, Neisha leaves and once again closes your office door.
“God dammit.” You grumble, pulling your phone out yet again.
The unread messages from him sit buried beneath thirty other messages that don’t warrant responses, and you hover your thumb over his name.
After all these years, something about getting a text from him made your heart jump. It felt stupid, you weren’t some teenager with a crush in high school, you were an adult, and this was just another adult, who you happened to have developed some sort of attachment to. Not a friendship, or a relationship even, but some kind of attachment.
Right now, you wanted to bitch at him for getting himself into trouble, for driving while he was so very clearly drunk, a whole argument prepared about how he could have seriously hurt or even killed someone, how even though he’s a rich asshole he can’t afford to be so reckless.
But first, in order to bitch at him, you have to read what he’s sent you over the weekend, and that’s where you keep tripping up. You don’t know why, but when you do finally open up his texts, you find that you’re holding your breath until you read them.
You try to ignore the way the thread starts out, try to ignore how if anyone were to squint, they might think something was going on between you two.
Incoming: [1/8 6:03am] just picking up croissants from that place u like. jam?
[1/8 6:10am] Yeah, raspberry if they have
Incoming: [1/8 6:11am] on it, go back 2 bed.
That had been just over a week ago, and you remember the day well, how you exchanged smiles over bites of fresh and flaky pastry, how you had dipped the croissants into hot chocolate in his bed, not giving a fuck about the crumbs that weren’t your problem because they weren’t your sheets.
How that was the last time you had seen him, before the conclusion of the case.
Now, now that you’d lost, the tone of the thread has very clearly shifted to something much colder. One thing you’re surprised to see though, is that they’re all from around Friday night, which was unusual.
Incoming: [1/15 7:43pm] going out 2 celebrate tonight, join me
Incoming: [1/15 8:57pm] u can’t ignore me forever u know
Incoming: [1/16 12:02am] i’m glad u didn’t come, ud fucking hate it here. theyre playing music 2 loud
Incoming: [1/16 12:15am] r u seriously still mad?
Incoming: [1/16 1:09am] Fuck you.
Rolling your eyes, you rub away more of that headache that starts to form. It was weird that he didn’t text you at all for the whole day of Saturday, or Sunday for that matter. If you didn’t spend the weekend together, he was very content to simply blow your phone up with links to random bullshit or long text conversations in broken grammar because his thumbs were too big for the buttons.
So for there to be radio silence after one o’clock in the morning was strange.
“For fucks sake.” You find yourself texting him back without even thinking about it, your fingers moving over the keyboard easily and quickly, sending off a slightly antagonizing reply after two days of nothing;
[1/18 7:55am] Looks like you had quite the night on Friday.
There, you think. That should get a response out of him. No doubt he would be quick to complain about how he had been pulled over and the whole nine yards. You wait for it to come through, the text. Or more accurately, the string of impassioned paragraphs that he tends to send you.
But a minute go by, and there’s nothing.
Five minutes, and nothing still.
You know you have to work, you have shit to do, you have that big meeting in a couple hours that you have to mentally prepare for, there’s no time to be worrying about him not texting you back. Still, you don’t like the silence. Sure that makes you a hypocrite, but he deserved your cold shoulder for beating you in court. At least, that’s how you justify it for yourself.
Getting up from your desk, you hover in the doorframe, where your assistant’s desk sits just outside to act as a buffer for anyone wanting to bother you.
“Hey Neisha?” You ask quietly, getting her attention, “I haven’t missed any calls, have I?”
A crease of confusion dips between her brows as she frowns, and immediately she checks the call logs on the conference phone that sits on her desk next to the big computer that takes up most of her space.
“No not that I can think of, are you expecting someone – ?”
Just as she’s asking, the phone rings. You lean over and see the number is one you don’t recognize, and you frown too.
“Better get that.” Neisha says awkwardly, so you just nod and retreat back into your own office from where you came.
It’s been seven minutes now, and there’s still nothing from him.
“Fine, fuck you too.” You mutter at the phone, locking it and putting it in the shallow drawer of your desk so you can focus on the folders in front of you finally.
The stack is pretty normal, all the weekend material finally coming in now that it’s the start of a new week. There’s new case files to look through to decide if you’re doing to accept the client, supplementary material from old case files that you’ve asked for to review, notes and evidence belonging to associates’ cases that you said you’d give your opinion on – all mixed into one big pile.
You liked it though, liked staying busy. It was a good distraction from a loss, the ability to win, the ability to prove to yourself and to the world that you’re good at what you do. There are all sorts of awards and pieces of paper displayed on the walls of your office that show that you’re good, but still, there’s nothing like a strong win after a frustrating loss.
But you’re not even halfway through reading the first folder, when Neisha knocks on your door and opens it slowly, a look of preemptive apology on her face.
“I’m afraid you’re going to need to cancel your eleven o’clock.” She says, and you can tell by the tone of her voice that there’s no use in trying to argue with her.
You let the folder fall down onto the desk, and brace yourself for whatever bombshell she’s about to drop on you, what could possibly be so important for you to have to reschedule one of the biggest meetings of your career. They would understand, you’re sure.
You hope, anyway.
“Who is it?” Your tone is already filled with dread, but a resigned kind of dread, knowing that whatever it must be, it has to be big, and you’re the only one in this entire fucking firm who can handle big things like this – it was the reason they wanted you for partner in the first place.
But Neisha hesitates with this response, scratches the back of her neck in a way that makes you instantly curious.
“I…I was instructed not to say, just that you’ve been requested to meet with them regarding representation.” She tells you, and now your headache pounds even harder.
Clients didn’t withhold their identity from you; some used an alias of course, but you can’t say that so far in your career you’ve had a completely anonymous client. Whoever this person was, had to either be royalty, or something very very close.
And though that meant there was going to be a nightmare of a trial – because these high profile people almost never got to simple settle, not when the prosecutor wants to make a show of prosecuting them – you can’t help but think that would be a pretty good notch in your beltloop, as it were.
“Alright, where are they?” You’re already up and away from your desk, shuffling the case files into a locked cabinet.
“Rikers.” She says straight away, and you let out a groan.
“Of course they are.”
You had almost hoped that whoever this mystery client was, they had posted bail and could meet at a nice neutral location. You didn’t have anything against Rikers personally, but rather the entire prison industrial complex as a whole, and as far as New York prisons went, there were few more infamous for being unnecessarily brutal than Rikers Island.
“I can call them back and tell them you’re busy…but they sounded adamant about wanting you in particular.” Neisha nudges gently, and really there’s no need to butter you up, you’ve already made up your mind.
“I’m guessing they didn’t tell you why?” You ask, even though you know the answer.
“Correct.” She replies with a sheepish shrug.
You look at her, at your watch, at your phone screen which shows no new notifications from the last time that you checked it, and you square your shoulders.
“Alright, reschedule the eleven o’clock, and let’s get out of here before Holdo freaks the fuck out on me for that.” You say, grabbing your coffee and a few more of the pastries to take in the car with you for the drive.
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Most times, you have no problem taking the subway wherever you need to get, but visiting Rikers wasn’t as easy as hopping off the train and walking a couple blocks. For times like these, you and Neisha take one of the company cars, a sleek and shiny black thing with dark tinted windows. Cars really aren’t practical in the city, which is why you don’t have one of your own, but it was nice to be driven around from time to time in the peace and quiet of a car like this.
Normally, visitors are not allowed on Mondays or Tuesdays, but you’re not a normal person, and you’re not here for a normal visit, so once you pass through the security gate, the K-9 unit and the metal detector security tests with ease, you find it a pretty quiet lobby.
“Good afternoon Ms. (L/N), here on official duty?” One of the correctional officers that sits up by the front visitation desk beams at you.
“No, I just missed you Jake.” You reply, fishing out your identification for him even though he really doesn’t need it. Jake has worked there only a year or so, and every time you see him you can’t help but think he’s young, too young for this job, you think, too young to become desensitized to the humanity of incarcerated individuals. But that’s not a conversation that you’re here to have today, so instead you keep up the chitchat with, “How’s Lottie and the kids?”
“They’re good, who are you here for?” Jake asks as a matter of protocol, and you give Neisha a look, before looking back at him.
“That’s just the thing, I don’t know. I wasn’t informed for confidentiality reasons.” You try to explain, before leaning forward and mock-whispering to him, “Please tell me someone has me on the list and I didn’t drive all this way for nothing.”
Jake laughs, a sound that feels out of place in a place like this, and pulls something up on his computer. You can’t really see it, the list, and that’s okay. Whoever this mysterious person is, you’ll find out within just a few minutes.
“You know the drill, they’re waiting for you in the back.” Jake waves you off, and you’re glad to go.
“Wait out here.” You tell Neisha, who clearly looks uncomfortable even being in the lobby, and with good reason. She doesn’t argue you on that, instead takes a seat on a bench near Jake’s table, and the two of them get to chatting while your boots click on the floors as you walk away.
There’s a couple different visitation areas in the jail, and the deeper into the building you go, the more that you’re glad that visitation isn’t allowed on Mondays. You don’t want the chance of running into someone that you had failed. Granted there had only been a handful of those instances, but the thought of any one of them being here is not outside the realm of possibility.
Through the sea of empty tables and chairs that are reserved for long term inmates who happen to have visitation privileges for good behavior, you find yourself moving deeper and deeper, until you’re at the door of another room, a closed off one more typical to that seen in movies and television shows.
Opening the door, you hang in the hallway to confirm that there’s no one else there, as there shouldn’t be. There’s eight stations, four on each side of the small room, with a phone and a pane of bulletproof glass. Right away, you have a feeling this is going to be a murder trial, if they’re not even letting you meet with the client out in the open, if they’re monitoring the phone conversation that you’re about to have.
You see a shuffle of movement out of the corner of your eye, and assume that that’s who you’re here to meet, so with your chin held high, you step into the room, and make your way to the visitation booth where a man in a bright orange jumpsuit is waiting on the other side of the glass.
Stopping as quickly as you’ve started, you stand frozen in the middle of the room, blinking away and desperately shoving aside a wave of feelings that have crashed over you at the familiar face behind the glass.
The dark hair, the deep eyes, that proud nose, those full lips, you take it all in with some strange sense of disbelief – surely this must be a dream? It has to be, even as you sit on the little stool and yank the phone off the wall, shoving it against your ear, not even knowing where to start as you try to wrap your mind around the fact that the man, this mystery client…
“Hey sweetheart.” He says, and you could smack him upside the head if only there weren’t this glass between you and Kylo Ren.
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Tagging some pals, please let me know if you’d like to be added to or taken off the taglist! @safarigirlsp @steeevienicks @mochabucky @sacklerscumrag @artsymaddie @bitchydecisions @direnightshade @reyloaddict55 @kylorenswhxre @sunflowersinthesnow @mousemakingjam @the-unmanaged-mischief @drake-bells-waxed-penis @littleevilme13 @rennaissance-mama @materialisthicc
#kylo ren x reader#kylo ren/reader#kylo ren x you#kylo ren/you#kylo ren fanfic#kylo ren imagine#reader insert#slowburn#modern au#lawyer au#my writing#beyond reasonable doubt#adam driver fanfiction#adcu
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Intro to Caitlyn 101 (Mirror’s Edge)
Summary: Caitlyn is a thief looking for the next big score. Used to taking wristwatches and wallets from rich folk, she's aiming to take down bigger game as she discovers the hidden magical world within her hometown. Her first mark is an unassuming shopkeeper and his collect of ancient relics. All set with a plan, Caitlyn makes her move. Though plans rarely go off without a hitch.
Hello everyone! E here, hoping you are all well and staying safe. So the next chapter of my little side project is here! Honestly wasn't planning on getting back to this so soon but I was having fun worldbuilding and character creating and here we are. You can blame my friend @hains-mae for enabling me.
Right so the next thing I write will probably be the part two to this then the next chapter of the Underground. Umm that's really it for me so have a great week, be safe, wear your mask, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Please feel free to reblog, share, leave kudos or leave comments with things you liked or feedback if you read it on a03. I promised I'd try to promote myself more and it feels weird haha.
E is out, have a great one everyone! and here’s the link to the doobly do
---> https://archiveofourown.org/works/30599756/chapters/76014323
There was an arrogance that seemed deeply etched into every aspect of the magical world. She stood among valuable, ancient relics from throughout human history: Vases from Greece lined the shelf above her. A row of Roman gladius blades in various states of decay with only a flimsy glass case between them and Caitlyn’s pocket. Tarnished Victorian era slivered lockets left about like loose change.
Millions dollars worth of the past and she, a stranger, was left unattended with it all.
Technically she wasn’t supposed to be in here with the locked door and close sign but the fact in the 5 minutes it took her to pick the lock and scout the first floor without a single soul attempting to stop her really was a testimony to the haughtiness of the ‘shopkeeper’.
It had been only few months since she saw past the false reality that was superimposed onto hers and she was still readjusting: Magic was real. Elves, dwarves, little halfing folk? Real. People shooting bolts of lightning and flames while riding storm clouds? Real. The guy who kept awkwardly hitting on her every time she tried to get a hotdog from the cart at the corner? Just a regular creep BUT could’ve been magical.
Even their currency was a show of their excessive wealth: Sliver, gold, platinum coins Actual platinum traded away like it was nothing! People starving and helpless on the streets and these bastards just walked with some of the rarest metal on the planet in their pockets like chump change.
Anger bubbled within her stomach along with self righteousness and a bit of her breakfast but she took a deep calming breath, closing her bluish gray eyes. ‘Calm down Cait’ she scolded herself ‘This isn’t the first time you’ve seen excessive wealth squandered and wasted. You’re here for a job so do it and never come back.’
She glanced around the waiting room she found herself in. It was off to the side of the shopping front andthere were very few things of interest in the tiny room: Some old, tattered chairs that had seen better days. A very, very tacky abstract painting hung over a bricked up fireplace. There was a scattering of magazines older than her with loose stables and free roaming pages everywhere.
A place of show and very little use.
“Hello my angel.”
Caitlyn seized up. She had been so caught up in her rage she hadn’t been paying attention to anyone coming down the stairs. Three stories with a handful of people about and nary a sound could heard. Must be some sort of magic.
She shook herself out of her stupor, slowly exhaling to calm her nerves. She forced her lips to curve into the cutest, lost smile she could muster. She opened her purple jacket a bit further so the guy could get a clearer view of her tight white tank top and running shorts.
“Helpless. Remember you’re helpless.” She whispered to herself before whirling about, her long black hair with dyed purple coloring flowed behind her gracefully as if she was an actress in those stupid hair product commercials.
“Oh!” she spoke with mock surprise, scrunching her face cutely as possible “I’m so, so, so sorry! I’m lost and the door was open and sorry!”
She leaned forward, sheepishly scratching the back of her neck as she gave whoever it was a better view of her outfit.
Hook, line and sinker.
“No problem sweetie. No need to lie to me.”
Hook, line and sunk apparently.
She blinked, unsure if she heard what she thought she heard. She glanced up to find a strangely dressed man with the goofiest grin.
He was cute in a ‘I dress as an obscure, indie character for cosplay’kind of way: His messy, unkempt black hair sat under a black fedora. He wore a long black trench coat that had seen better days. At least he preferred more colors than black on black. His collared shirt was a nice baby blue with an equally nice light brown vest. Black dress pants because men’s fashion is incredibly boring and shiny loafers to completed the look. Whatever the look was.
She expected him to be taking a good look at her attire.
What she found was him staring at her.
His warm dark brown eyes were soft, gentle and he refused to break his gaze from her bluish grays even though there were more tempting sights on offer.
She was on the back foot. No wandering glances, no self pleasured smiles. Not even a creepy chuckle. Just a strangely dressed, inch shorter guy looking like he just found the love of his life in this moment.
“I…” she cleared her throat “Umm….did you hear me?”
He gave a quick nod “Yeah. You broke in and you were trying to cover your tracks.”
It wasn’t that he guessed correctly what was she up to that threw her off. It was how casually he said it. More discussing the weather than committing a felony.
She raised an eyebrow, not sure how to proceed from whatever this was. There were always some people who caught on about her intentions fairly quickly but no one had ever been so….indifferent about it.
“I don’t work here.” the man offered, slowly closing the distance between them but leaving the doorframe wide open “I really don’t care that you’re here to rob the place.”
This has to be a trap. This had to be. No one was ever this….laidback. Were the other goons on the side waiting to jump her when she bolted? Was she on camera and he was letting her go knowing full well he had all the evidence he needed to track her down?
Or maybe he really didn’t care. He seemed more interested in talking than stopping her and there was this strange presence about him. A calm she’d never felt before even when her parents were alive. It was odd and foreign to her but she felt safe. Protected.
She shook her head, slowly inching closer to the doorway. The man made no attempt stop her. He just stood there, smiling, hands in his pocket.
The rational part of her brain said to run. This whole thing was botched and it was better to cut her losses than find out first hand what magical creatures could do to her. The less rational side of her head told her to wait, to talk this guy. Lying was obviously pointless but she had a feeling he would answer any questions she’d had and she had plenty.
“So…” she rose a suspicious eyebrow “Not gonna stop me?”
He shook his head “I wish you’d stay but I understand if you don’t want to be found in Andor’s shop. He’s one of those new elves. Less honor more power.”
She blinked. He said elves right? Just threw it out there like it was an everyday matter of fact and not a deeply held secret of her hometown.
“Elves aren’t real.’ Caitlyn said matter of fact.
“We both know better than that.” The man gave a bright smile.
“What do you want?”
The words spilled out of her mouth despite her best attempts but this guy was throwing her off so badly she forgot how to function.
“Talk to you of course.”
The worst kind of people were the sincere ones. They were sappy and gooey. They just so happy it was sickening. They had to be up to something. They had to some scheme or scam or something they were waiting to drop on you. No one was that happy, that purely honest. They were the liars who were so good they convinced themselves they were good people. No one was good and everyone had a dark corner in their soul they hid from the world.
Caitlyn knew she had plenty in whatever was left of her ratty soul.
“And if we talk? Will you let me go?”
The man nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Caitlyn licked her lips anxiously “Promise?”
Promise? What was she 12? No one kept their promises. Not even her.
He placed his hand over his heart “Cross my heart.”
“Let’s talk,”
He jerked his head towards the door “Outside. Don’t want you to ruin your heist.”
-----
Today was not going how she was expecting. She was thought she was going to break into an elf ran front, scout the area and come back in the middle of the night. She hadn’t been expecting to have coffee and bread with a random stranger on the street.
Well she had coffee, mystery man opted for hot chocolate.
They stood in a strangely comfortable silence a block from Andor’s. The man offered to pay for whatever she wanted and she took him up on it. Couple of baked goods, a sandwich for lunch, some water and of course her cup of wake up juice. If he was mad at her for her splurging at his expense, he hid it well. He just took his coco and some fancy elvish bread. Looked good but Caitlyn wasn’t up for trying other beings food. She didn’t know how it would sit with her stomach.
The elf who ran the cart, a few months ago human to her, waved goodbye to the pair as he counted the human cash the man gave him.
The trench coat cosplay stood patiently, sipping his drink and waited for her to break the silence.
She refused to break the silence first. Not wanting to sound too eager. Eagerness was a weakness and this guy was already throwing her off her rhythm.
“I’m Finnrick by the way.”
She turned to him, unsure if he was messing with her or not.
He gave her the same goofy smile “Finnrick Drift, private investigator.”
“Ah huh.” She nodded slowly “So you’re a magical P.I.? Like elves cheating on their wives, dwarves dodging their taxes P.I.?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugged his shoulders “Ironically elves like dodging on their taxes more than dwarves.”
“Right.”
“You’re new to the whole other side of Newton Haven huh?”
She glanced at her coffee “Lived here my whole life. Really makes me wonder if I lost my mind.”
“Don’t worry, we’re all mad here Alice.”
Why was she talking to him? Why was she being honest? This was weirder and getting weirder every passing second.
Finnrick changed subject “So, robbing Andor? Any particular loot you are after?”
Caitlyn narrowed her eyes “Trying to fish something out of me Finny?”
“Guilty as charged” He beamed with pure happiness “Don’t want you wasting your time on shiny trinkets he cares nothing about.”
Caitlyn remained silent. She wasn’t used to such transparency. Normally this would be the point where the guy would lie or pretend to not have heard or awkwardly switch the subject but Finnrick answered openly and honestly. So far.
“So” Caitlyn straightened up, pulling her jacket wide open “What do you think? Great outfit right?”
Finnrick turned to her with a grin, his cheeks turning a pinkish hue as his eyes locked onto hers “Your body is absolutely lovely but your eyes even more so.”
Caitlyn could feel the flush coming. She coughed loudly, focusing on her drink as she willed the embarrassment away.
Finnrick chuckled lightly but returned to his drink. The silence returned, still comfortable as before.
This is was bad whatever this was. She needed to regain some level of control and stop acting like a teenage girl on her first garbage fire of a date.
“So” she cleared her throat “Mister P.I. what would you recommend taking if not all those millions of dollars of historical items he leaves about?”
Finnrick crushed the foam cup effortlessly as he gestured to the third floor of the shop “His office has a pretty simple safe. He keeps loads of paperwork. His various contracts, accounts, treasure hoards”
Caitlyn scoffed in disbelief even though her eyes shone with excitement “Treasure hoards? Elves? I thought dragons were the hoarders. Weren’t elves supposed to be above all that lovely corruption?”
“No one is above corruption.’ Finnrick answered “Elves are just like everyone else.”
Caitlyn crossed her arms and leaned back with a cocky swagger “And why, pray tell, would I care about boring paperwork?”
“Because it really hurt him in the pride.”
Damn Finnrick was good. Not only she was eager to learn more, she could already feel the smug satisfaction of bringing a powerful prick down a peg fill her cause.
Finnrick seemed to notice this because he went on “Andor is a young elf. 100 years give or take.”
“A hundred years is young?”
“When you live a thousand years every other race is a child to you. Andor’s old man is a swell guy. He’s one of those good elves you see in Tolkien.”
“Tolkien?” Caitlyn furrowed her brow “He wrote the books that those Lord of the Rings films are based on right?”
“Yeah actually.”
“Oh and the Hob…”
“We don’t talk about that.” Finnrick quickly added “But see the problem is Andor’s old man doesn’t know his son has become the small time crime lord. Thinks he’s running an antique business selling off old junk that was gathering dust in the family’s attic.”
Something clicked into place for Caitlyn “Wait. Junk from the attic? You mean all those relics on the shop floor?! THAT’S OLD JUNK!?”
Finnrick gave a casual shrug “Elves are weird. Andor don’t know shit about selling, all his money comes from his illegal business practices. That’s how he keeps the shop afloat.”
“I see” Caitlyn spoke, her bluish grays sparkling with mischievous intent “If those records disappeared, his shop sinks and he has to run back home to daddy.”
“And out of the city” Finnrick finished with a smile “And those records are pretty valuable to loads of people. Easier to fence and less messy to explain than a long lost Greek vase showing up in someone’s private collection. You’d get good prices for those hoard locations alone. Better than trying to carry tons of stolen and lost treasure back to your house.”
Caitlyn eyed Finnrick carefully “And you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart? Trying to do your ‘civic’ duty to our fair city?”
“Among other things” Finnrick admitted “But mostly for the greater good.”
“Pfft, greater good? Yeah sure buddy. Like you know what’s the greater good.”
“Will you do it?”
Caitlyn paused, allowing all this information sink in. It was much better than she had planned and while she wasn’t sure of Finnrick’s angle, he seemed honest enough. Of course everyone seems honest enough the first time you meet them.
“Let’s say I do” she spoke, placing her hands on her hips to play the part “What’s in it for you?”
“A favor” He replied simply.
She rose a curious eyebrow “A favor? It’s not date with me, is it?”
“No, I plan to earn that one myself.” Finnrick answered cheerfully.
Caitlyn coughed “Fine, good. Not a date. Least you’re not a creep. But a favor is pretty vague.”
“It’ll be simple I promise.”
Caitlyn narrowed her gaze suspiciously “You promise?”
Finnrick put his hand over his heart again “Cross my heart.”
Caitlyn took a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the situation.
Caitlyn offered her hand towards the trench coat cosplayer “You got yourself a deal.”
He gently took her hand in his own and gave it a firm shake. She was surprised when, as he pulled back, she felt a strange metallic item left behind.
She looked at the crystal butterfly hair clip he placed in her hand: It was a beautiful with sliver hues and multi-colored shards of glass across its wings.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
Caitlyn felt uneasy with the ornament in her palm: It felt cold and distant like it was feeling her out and wasn’t liking what it found.
“It’s attuning to you.” Finnrick explained “It’s syncing up to your whole aura.”
“Aura?” Caitlyn shot him a glare of disbelief “This isn’t one of those new age hippie things is it?”
Finnrick shook his head “It’s a magical item. Yours specifically. Everything alive has a deep and very convoluted to explain connection to this plane. The hairclip is trying to match yours so you and only you can use it.”
“It feels wrong.”
“Because it doesn’t know you yet. It will.”
Caitlyn felt unease about whatever this was. Part of her wanted to toss it as far as she could. The worst part was she felt the item probing at her, changing temperatures as if trying find a comfortable setting for both of them. Burning one moment and too cold the next. This was magic and it made her felt like she knew nothing.
But part of her felt it slowly and subtly trying to match her, focusing on her and on her place in the universe. It felt more natural each passing moment and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious what mister detective over here was letting her borrow.
Caitlyn blew a strand of hair out of her face “How long does this usually take?”
“An hour.” Finnrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone “Oh shoot I have a meeting to get to.”
He turned to leave and suddenly Caitlyn felt alone. Awkward just standing in the street without someone to talk to.
“Wait!” She reached for him but quickly pulled back when he faced her “….any advice?”
Finnrick scratched his chin for a moment “Red tiles. Avoid them or they’ll blast you off the roof.”
“G-gotcha.” Caitlyn didn’t want to know what blast off the roof was code for “A-and the hairclip? What’s it do?”
Finnrick gave a cheeky grin and Caitlyn could feel her face flush “I guess you’ll have to find out angel. Bye for now. May we meet again soon.”
And like that, he was off. Strolling down the straight with a bounce in his step and humming a tune.
Caitlyn glanced at the ornate hairclip in her hand.
Turns out there was a lot more to this magical world than she thought.
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More childhood friend au's, cause I can 2/3
Chaos Trio Uraraka, Bakugou and Monoma. Fuck me I would kill to see them as childhood friends.
They absolutely hate each other/ only ever roast each other buuuut. No one else is allowed to talk the other two down but them.
Uraraka is shy when they meet, plus she has such a sunshine girl aura that no one believes Bakugou (and it’s always Bakugou) when he tells them that she’s the rowdiest, dirtiest cheat of the lot.
Most of this trios interactions are based on competition. They’ve been in all the same classes since they were three, it’s been sparks ever since. Just. Not the good kind.
Bakugou used to tease Uraraka frequently and at first she cried, but then she got sick of it and started teasing him back until they were both screaming the playground down. They were arguing about a crayon Bakugou wasn’t even using anymore, yelling that it was theirs, when Monoma seen them too busy arguing and stole it for himself. He finished using it just as they noticed it was missing and they pounced on him. He did not care and rubbed his drawing in their face.
Oh Monoma will run screaming from a bug, Bakugou just lets it live as long as it isn’t near him and Uraraka catches them to throw at the two, because as mentioned Monoma will run and Bakugou will freak out, even if he’s trying not to show it. This is how their interactions remain for the rest of their life lmao.
Uraraka isn’t as academically inclined as the boys, who always rank 1st and 2nd (rotating each school term) but when it comes to P.E she shines. She is first in all of the girl ranking for sports and makes sure she beats as many sports records as she can, it’s so much more satisfying when she can beat the records set by the boys though. She learns to fight because there’s no way she’s gonna let Bakugou’s stupid strategies one up her when she can CRUSH him back. Monoma is bitter because he very rarely beats either of the two in physical stuff, though he has also had a few wins to his name. (‘Without fucking cheating like Sweet Cheeks! I know you used your quirk for high jump!’/ ‘I didn’t you sore loser, you’re just offended that you’re too fat to jump as high as me!’)
They all have thick skin and are rarely offended by the insults they share.
They all like the same genre of manga, books and movies. They only have differing music taste.
When Bakugou is petty he cooks spicy food and let’s them burn for whatever slight they’ve done against him.
Monoma buys extremely thoughtful gifts for them, accounting for their likes, their taste as well as how often he could use/borrow/wear what he gets them.
Uraraka does personal gifts that she hand made, like scrapbooks and phone cases and jewellery boxes, but she’s reaaaally bad at guessing their taste. Like Bakugou gets a really nicely made jewellery box, that she hand carved, but she carved this cute bird that she found into it and Bakugou doesn’t even like birds, especially birds that look like they’ve been electrocuted because she cannot draw. Monoma gets stuff with skull spider motifs and he’s deathly afraid of all insects. They hate them, but all of her gifts are given places in their rooms.
Bakugou doesn’t really do gifts, because he gets mad if he doesn’t think it’s perfect, so he just plans really cool trips/hangouts/elaborate meals on like important gift-giving days.
Bakugou teaches Uraraka to sow, Uraraka teaches them both how to use power tools, Monoma doesn’t teach them shit because he likes laughing at their failed attempts. Without fail he’ll solve whatever problem they have tho, even if he won’t tell them about it.
They ALL have different outfits than canon, because the minute they peaked at each other’s designs it was roast central. (Are you really some Sailor Moon fucking wannabe Prince? Are you looking for Christine you Phantom Idiot? How are you even gonna fight like that?’/ ‘I’ll take fashion critique from the 50 year old in loafers when he’s not showing off his Mommy Milkers and being held down by cuffs. Any new kinks to share with the class?’/ 'Oh stop fucking laughing Pink Cheeks, all you wrote, not drew mind you, was space suit with helmet. Reeeal creative Thirteen-2.0)
They all know Japanese Sign Language and French. Partly because Bakugou is petty enough to take his cochlear's out if they're annoying him enough.
Everyone assumes one of the three are dating another one of the three. They hate it! It's like asking them if they're dating their sibling.
Before UA they didn't do different friend groups, because people spread rumours about Uraraka being a gold-digger and no one could get pass the abrasiveness of the boy's attitudes.
Then at UA people don't even realise that their best-friends because they're always bickering and prefer to hang out outside of school, where the competition feels less personal. It's always funny to them when people realise that their best-friend's though, because no one expects Sunshine Uraraka, ExplodoMurderKing Bakugou and High-Maintenance Monoma to have a very functioning, very emotionally connected friendship.
Monoma could tell you everything about his friends, he won't because it's more fun to leave you annoyed and guessing, but he could.
Same with Bakugou, knows them like he knows his own body, his own quirk. Won't tell a single soul because gross, emotions.
Uraraka can and will tell you a lot about the boys, their birthday's, their fears and their favourite pop-culture. For no reason other than she actually likes talking about her friends. Even if sometimes her telling sounds more complaining than anything else. She won't tell you their secrets though, she's cool like that.
They are all proud feminists, when Bakugou Mistuki is your role-model, you tend to learn the fear of women over the fear of any incorporeal God.
None of them are really on each other's socials, but that's more so because they are all live in the moment people. Monoma does have some nice photos of them saved to his cellphone and framed along his bedroom. He also has some truly awful candids of them on his social-media.
They nap together a lot, Bakugou is the first up always, sleepovers and naps taken at school, he's a lot more situationally aware than they are. Uraraka is the last awake, always, usually still tired and drooling.
All three of them are pretty good cooks, but Monoma bakes the best, Uraraka is the best with simple/cheap meals and Bakugou is stupidly great at all forms of cooking.
They have a lot of hobbies and talents, mostly because of codependency tings. Monoma is filled with whimsy, Bakugou doesn't say no to challenges and Uraraka is happy to be there for the ride.
Monoma and Bakugou pay for everything. At the start Uraraka was stubborn and refused their 'charity' but Bakugou argued her into submission and Monoma had a frank conversation about wanting her to be there with them and not caring if it meant they had to pay for her share of the event/experience/get together. Bakugou nodded very angrily in agreement and Uraraka cried so hard that they never broached the subject again. Though, she does get them into thrifting/going to clearance stores/doing free activities, because they don't always need money to have fun.
The only times they completely stop arguing are; gym training days, because they need to focus, movie-nights, because they hate talking during movies and grocery shopping, because again, Bakugou freaking Mitsuki was one of their main caregivers.
#more whatever tf this is#head empty#bnha#boku no hero academia#bakugou katsuki#uraraka ochako#monoma neito#bakugou mitsuki#mha#my hero academia
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heavy is the head that wears the crown; and the heart > bucky barnes
|| pairing: romanian!king!bucky barnes x black!queen!reader
|| word count: 3,273
|| warnings: language words
|| challenge: @marvelmaree‘s birthday challenge: royalty au + “i’ve dreamt about leaving so many times.” “that’s the problem with most people. they dream about what they want to do instead of really doing it.”
|| square filled: @star-spangled-bingo SSB2020 N1: modern royalty au
|| square filled: @buckybarnesbingo Y1: “i regret nothing.”
|| summary: there are many decisions to make as queen; some of the heart, some of the mind.
|| link: ao3
|| note: this is really late for maree’s birthday challenge! i’m so sorry babe, but i hope you like it! i hope it’s okay that i made it a modern royalty au instead of a traditional royalty au!
so, for this to make sense, we have to pretend that after the south seceded from the united states in 1860, they never rejoined the union and the civil war never happened. we also need to pretend that the united states had kings and queens instead of presidents, lol. we also have a cameo by a real life duke and duchess :) also, sis does not play in this.
hope you guys enjoy, and happy juneteenth!
You walk slowly through the trees, the tips of your fingers grazing over the bloomed flowers. The bottom of your dress is caked in dirt as it drags behind you, your black Converse shoes leaving soft imprints in the soft earth. You don’t care - you never have - but your mother surely will. Another dress ruined! My God, when are you going to learn some etiquette! You are thirty one years old, girl! You smile and chuckle slightly as her words swirl through your head. Dinner will be fun tonight.
You stop and bend slightly to pluck a rose from it’s bush. You bring it to your face and inhale deeply, letting the natural, earthy scent fill your nose. You close your eyes and hum a little as you exhale slowly, letting your eyes flutter back open.
“I knew I’d find you out here.”
You laugh as his voice fills your ears. You don’t turn to face him. Instead, you do just the opposite. You turn away from him and keep on your leisurely stroll as you continue to sniff at your pretty red rose, “I’m not a hard person to figure out, Mr. Barnes.”
“That you’re not. That’s what I like about you.”
You scoff but laugh again, shaking your head softly. You take a few more steps before you shriek when two long arms wrap around your middle. He lifts you off your feet, twirling you around as you laugh wildly. He sits you back down, facing him this time, and crashes his lips to yours - stealing every ounce of breath out of your lungs. He squeezes you to him as you moan lightly and wrap your arms around his neck.
“Hi,” he says softly after he frees your lips.
You giggle as he rests his forehead to yours, his eyes still closed from the kiss, “Hi there,” you whisper, “You are awfully brave for pulling this little stunt with my mother being right inside.”
“I don’t care about your mother,” he shrugs, “Do you?”
You send your eyes towards the sky, pretending to give it some thought, “Not really, no.”
He finally opens his eyes and they almost take your breath away. You’ve been staring into those blues since you were kids, but the deepness of them - the emotions that swirl in them at any given time - surprises you every time. You cup his cheek, a dark beard blooming across his skin and rub your thumb underneath his right eye as a dreamy smile covers your lips.
“You’re so pretty.” You say softly, watching as the smile broadens on his face.
You send your eyes down to his chest, finding him in a crisp white button up shirt and a black velvet sport coat and pants, complete with a pair of off white, studded loafers, “You broke out the Tom Ford just to see me?”
“Not this time, darling.” He smiles, throwing his arm over your shoulder as the two of you begin to walk again, “I had an engagement with Prince Harry and the Duchess Megan this afternoon.”
“Ah yes, I remember now. I was supposed to be there.” You laugh, shrugging.
He laughs at your nonchalance, “You were certainly missed. To be perfectly honest though, Harry and I had bet going that you’d blow it off.”
You nod, shooting him a quick finger gun, “Both of you are very smart men.” You giggle, “It’s just one more thing for my mom to be mad at me about. Whatever, I’ll text Harry and Megan my apologies.”
The two of you walk slowly through the vast garden until you are no longer visible from the main house. You wave at the horse handlers as they work your champion thoroughbreds off in the distance. You swallow and let out a breath as your mind starts to wander again, your stomach twisting a little.
“I’ve dreamt about leaving so many times.” You say softly, dropping your eyes to the rose still in your fingers.
You hear Bucky sigh, “That’s the problem with most people. They dream about what they want to do instead of really doing it.”
You roll your eyes, but a smile cracks your face, “Don’t be a smart ass, Barnes.”
“I’m not,” he smiles, threading his fingers with yours, “I mean it. You can do whatever you want to do. You don’t have to marry him.” He stops moving as you continue to step ahead of him, your arms spreading out between the two of you as he continues to hold your hand, “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes.” You answer firmly, “I’m listening, I know.”
“You don’t love him.”
“I don’t. I love you.”
“Then marry me. Come back to Romania with me, be my queen.”
“And denounce my country? Just leave them behind with no heir? I can’t do that.”
“Your cousin could be Queen.”
“She’s an idiot!” You laugh, “We’d be in a world war within months.” You drop his hand and step away from him further, spinning on your heels suddenly to face him again, “You could move here.”
He nods slowly, “I could.”
You scoff, “Stop it.”
“I could - I would. If you really wanted me to.”
You shake your head, “You’re too idealistic.”
“And you’re too cynical.” He rebukes, keeping his gaze on you firmly, “We could make this work, you know we can.”
“How can you run a country if you’re thousands of miles away from it?” You sigh, “You’re a King, you need to be there.”
He scratches his head as he closes his left eye, tilting his head towards the sky, “Um, have you heard of the internet? FaceTime, email - Zoom - I hear that’s great.”
You roll your eyes again as you groan loudly, turning away from him. You slump your shoulders as you throw your head back , closing your eyes as the sun beats down on you. You wish this was easier. You wish you had the guts to tell your mother to just piss off so you could run off to Romania and spend the rest of your life in his arms, but then there’s the other side of your heart. Half of you doesn’t want to leave. You want to take your rightful throne. You want to be Queen. You’ve prepared for it your whole life, it’s your destiny - and you’d be good at it.
How could Bucky not be a part of that destiny? That’s the real question you have. That’s what keeps you up at night these days as your calling draws nearer and nearer. He’d throw it all away for you, but you can’t do the same for him - and that makes you feel guilty; and sad.
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” You ask, not turning around.
“That,” he says in a way that you know he’s smiling, “Don’t feel guilty.”
“How do you know I feel guilty? I’m just standing here.”
You hear his feet in the grass as he moves towards you, and then feel his warm breath on the back of your neck as he sweeps your braids over your shoulder, “Because I know you.” He whispers into your ear before he pushes away again, stepping out in front of you.
You open your eyes and watch as he spins in the grass, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to give this up for me,” he continues, “It’s 2020, not 1940 - you don’t have to give up everything you’ve worked so hard for just for some dude.”
“I’m glad we agree on that.”
“Just,” his voice trails off as he takes a deep breath, “Please don’t marry him.” He says gently, his voice barely above a whisper.
The him he speaks of is Scott Lang, the appointed King of the South, né Atlanta. He’s a nice man; kind, funny, sweet - and he adores you, but he’s boring. He’s predictable, and your mother loves him. That alone makes you want to scream and run for the hills. It’s bigger than you though, the marriage. It’s not one out of convenience or even one bred from a matchmaker. Your marriage will unite the South back with the rest of the United States. Scott will ultimately relinquish his throne, and you’ll be the first Queen to reign over an intact America in over a hundred years.
But that isn’t what you want - not with him.
Bucky is slightly irrational at times - incalculable almost every time. He has a subtle boldness that’s attracted you to him since you were kids. You remember it like it were yesterday, the first time the two of you met. The annual meeting of the Royal families, this time held in Britain. You were seven, Bucky was nine. Your fathers introduced the two of you in the middle of the great library, telling you both to run along, don’t make a mess. Without knowing each other for a full minute, he grabbed your hand and dragged you through the library, reaching out and tipping random books off the shelves as you ran between the aisles.
You loved him right then and there, and every minute since.
“I’m not going to marry him,” you finally answer, “I just have to find the right time to tell them. There’s a lot riding on this.”
He nods slowly, “I know. The merger is… big.”
“I’ll make it happen.” You shrug, “I always do. The South was stupid to secede in the first place and now they’re reaping what they sowed. A few more years of this and they’ll be destitute, they know it.”
Silence drops over the two of you as you look at each other, just blinking randomly and breathing. He tilts his head and smiles at you slowly, watching you as your mind turns. He knows that in three months time, on your thirty second birthday, you’ll be made Queen. He knows you’re ready, he knows you’re capable; but he also knows you’re scared. Uncertain of what’s to come for yourself, your country; and for the two of you.
He holds out his hand to you, not saying a word, just extending it - waiting for you. You move forward without hesitation, sliding your hand into his and letting him press you to his chest. His large hands sweep around your sides and slide up and down your back as you wrap your arms around his middle. You flatten your hands on his broad back and nuzzle into his sport coat, shielding your face from everything and everyone. You close your eyes when he runs his hand over your hair and presses kisses to the top of your head.
“I’ll be right here,” he whispers softly, “I’ll always be here for you, sweet girl. No matter if you are mine or not. I promise you that.”
“I know you will,” you sniffle as tears start to fall, “I want to be yours forever.”
He hugs you to him again, rocking your bodies back and forth softly, “Just say the word and I’ll pack my bags.”
You squeeze him tighter.
You twist your hands within one another as you stand behind the two great doors. You can hear the muffled commencement speech taking place on the other side, people cheering and clapping. You swallow hard. You let out a focused breath through your teeth. You lower your head and unfold the balled up paper in your hands.
I love you. Always.
Bucky
It’s simple - not even on his official letterhead. It’s just a blank sheet of paper confessing his adoration of and for you. You take another breath and force it out between your teeth as you ball it up again and lift your head. You run your gloved hands down your red and gold military jacket, rolling your shoulders before craning your head back and forth. Your medals clink softly from the disturbance of them, but to you, the sound is deafening as everything else blurs into the background. The doors open and the military men and women before you begin their procession into the Great Hall.
Time to go.
Trumpets start to sound when you make your entrance into the room. Tv cameras zoom in on you as the audience in attendance stand to their feet. You focus forward as you move, painfully aware of all the eyes on you. The room is full of Royal families from all over the world, the press, and your extended family - all ready to watch the transfer of power. You blink, diverting your eyes quickly to your left, catching a quick smile and a secret wave from the Duchess of Sussex. The Duke of Sussex tips his head towards you and you return the gesture, winking playfully at Megan as she bounces baby Archie in her hands.
You blink again and there they are; those ice blue eyes. Your breath catches in your throat as you stare at him, dressed in his military uniform. A white satin embroidered jacket, complete with the numerous gold medals he’s earned along the way. A white and gold sash crosses over his chest as the artificial lights glint off of the gold and silver pins and buttons littered across his jacket.
His hair is trimmed - shorter than you like it, to be frank - his dark beard neatly manicured. He’s a sight - a vision, and if you had any doubt at all, it’s all thrown out the window now. Just with a glance of him.
You walk to the steps where your parents stand, a diamond encrusted crown in your mother’s hands. You kneel on the small red pillow on the top step and drop your head as the speaker begins again.
“Here, on the first of July, in the year twenty twenty and on her thirty second birthday, we honor the change of power from Queen Johana to its rightful heir, her only daughter, our royal Princess. Queen Johana, please remove the Princess tiara and replace it with the crown.”
Your mother bends, plucking the precious tiara you’ve adorned for so long from your head. You close your eyes and focus on your breathing as the official crown, her crown, is rested atop your head. She slips her index finger to your chin and lifts your head so your eyes can meet hers for the first time as Queen. You note the water that builds in her eyes as she smiles at you. You smile back, knowing in the depths of your heart that no matter how much the two of you fight, no matter how different your politics are - you are her only daughter - and her love for you knows no bounds.
“I’m so proud of you.” She whispers.
“Thank you, mama.”
When your mother stands again, the speaker announces, “Queen, please rise and address your court.”
You stand and turn, holding your head high as the room erupts with claps and cheers. Your parents step into the background as you nod and wave, mouthing your thank you’s before you cross your arm over your chest to cover your heart with your hand. Picture cameras click loudly in every direction as the television crews zoom in on you again.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the speaker announces, “Your Queen.”
“I have something I want to say, if that’s okay.” You say, turning towards the commencement speaker.
You move to the podium and clear your throat, waiting for the applause to die down before you start to speak, “I know this is unconventional to address you this quickly, but you all have always known me to be this way, and I do not intend to change. I am very proud and humble to be named your Queen today. This is a long time coming and I thank each and every citizen for supporting me up to this point and beyond.”
You take another breath, “As you know, I am to marry the King of Atlanta, Scott Lang, to unify this great United States of America again at the end of this month.” You lift your eyes and stare straight into the television cameras in front of you, “I have no intention of going through with the marriage.”
Gasps of shock ring through the room, the loudest coming from your mother. You throw your eyes over to Bucky as he blinks back at you, his lips parted, his face flushing red at your impromptu announcement. He runs his hand through his hair in complete disbelief and shrugs at you as he shakes his head, mouthing what are you doing? at you.
You smile, “The King of Romania, James Buchanan Barnes, and I are in love, and have been since we were children. I plan, if he’ll still have me, to marry him on the twenty fifth of July, here in New York. On the twenty sixth of July, I will issue an executive order demanding that the South rejoin the United States within thirty days, and that all members of their parliament dissolve immediately. King Lang will be acclimated into my court and will serve as an advisor to help oversee this merger. If there is any resistance, or the order is not signed by the end of the thirty days, I will have no choice but to find the South and Mr. Lang, guilty of treason, and will send in our military to take control.”
“I realize this sounds harsh, but I’m giving plenty of time for both regimes to come together and iron this out peacefully. But I must warn, do not take my kindness or my generous time frame as weakness. If I have to take control the hard way, I will. We are only strong when we are together, and I fully intend to right the wrongs of the decisions made before me.”
You glance to your right, finding Scott’s dark eyes on you, his mouth set in a hard line as anger washes through him, “I am not my mother,” you begin again, speaking directly to him, “I am not my grandmother, or any woman who has come before them. I will not let the South perish because of stubborn minds and brash, pompous attitudes. I will not continue to turn a blind eye to this situation, but I’ll need your help, Mr. Lang, to make this as easy as possible.” He takes a breath and lowers his gaze from yours, already realizing just who he is up against, “Please, do what is best for all of us.”
You turn, facing your parents, “If I learned anything from my parents, it’s to stand up for what I believe in. I believe in love. I believe in peace. I want to thank you all again, and please know that I look forward to serving you and this great country of ours. Thank you.”
Without another word, you step away from the podium and move down the steps as the room goes haywire, every media outlet shouting and screaming questions at you. You stop in front of Bucky, extending your gloved hand to his. He takes it without hesitation, without fear, and hand in hand, the two of you walk down the center aisle as all hell breaks loose around you.
“It’s been all of five seconds, do you regret this yet?” You ask, laughing a little as cameramen scramble to get pictures of the two of you.
“You know me, babe,” he says easily, shrugging as the two of you push through the doors, “I regret nothing.”
Neither do you.
“Oh, hey!” You smile, “I forgot to ask you, will you marry me in like three weeks?”
He throws his head back, laughing, “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
#maree's29thbirthdaybash#buckybarnesbingo2020#bbb2020#SSB2020#bucky barnes#bucky barnes x black!reader#bucky barnes x you#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x you#you x bucky#bucky x reader#reader x bucky#bucky barnes x black reader#bucky barnes fic#bucky barnes fanfic#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes fandom#black reader#avintagekiss24
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Neil/Eva + 28
.......The prompt is skirts/thigh-high socks and i’m not sorry (smut prompts here)
Confusion
Eva actually looked damn good in a suit.
She posed at herself in the mirror, her critical eye giving way to an admiring one. Red was one of her colors? Who'd have thought.
Maybe Neil will wear green. The thought made her laugh, for some reason. She dusted off her top hat and started to daydream about what candy this outfit would get her.
"Neil," she called, "you done yet?"
"Uh, yeah..."
Why did he sound like that?
Then he entered the room, and she knew why.
"I lost a bet," he said, weakly enough that it was obvious he was lying.
He had his "single/taken/anime" shirt on, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was: he was wearing a very Sailor Moon style skirt, and it was short enough to show the tops of his thigh-high stockings. They were white, like his comparatively masculine loafers (but: white loafers????).
Suddenly she felt way too hot in her suit. "Um." Not that she could throw stones. But-- he was lying, which meant he'd chosen to wear them, and she really didn't expect Neil of all people to wear... that. "You look good."
"Uh, no, you do," he said with a sharp laugh. "Like. Really good."
"I'm not kidding, Neil." She swallowed, wet her dry lips. "Thanks," she added, face burning.
"But. I dunno." He fussed with the edge of his skirt. "It... feels nice?"
She was too close to him. When had she moved? Why did she... "Cute," she whispered.
"Come on, Eva," he said, laughing nervously. "Cut it out." He bit his lip, and said, "you're way cuter."
"Neil. Shut up."
When she kissed him, he grabbed for her shoulders, making the smallest of sounds. His knee pushed between her legs, and he kissed back so desperately her heart almost stopped--
She woke with a start on her stomach, a hand between her legs and her clit pulsing. what the hell what the hell what the actual fresh hell
She didn't stop moving, though, and what the fuck, why was she so close? She slid two fingers into herself, put her thumb on her clit and groaned into her pillow.
She thought about him lifting up that skirt and fucking her against the mirror and came like he was inside her.
"What... the fuck?" She panted, heart pounding, head spinning.
When uncomfortable clarity started filtering into her head, she rolled to her back with a groan, then went morosely to the bathroom. Her bedside clock reading 2AM was small comfort. While getting some water, her refection caught her eye in the night light and her brain started trying to Logic without her permission.
A: Neil wasn’t into that. B: Eva wasn’t into that. She wasn’t into Neil being into that, she’d never even thought about it, what the fuck was wrong with her subconscious? She knew fantasy didn’t necessarily translate into wanting it in reality, but she had no reason to even have such a fantasy and also, what the fuck?
Pieces of the dream filtered back to her: The look Neil had given her when he’d seen her. How she’d felt wearing that suit. The unbridled lust that had filled her until it spilled into the real world.
He’d felt… needy. And thinking about that was making her feel things. She’d liked that.
Unbidden, the image flashed into her head of Neil crawling to her with a wrecked tuxedo top, with that skirt and stockings, his gaze hungry.
God. Fuck. She needed to go back to sleep. Hopefully she’d pass out from the leftover oxytocin.
She flopped back into bed, trying and failing not to think about how weird tomorrow might be. But it wouldn’t be weird! Because she'd be an adult, a goddamn professional, and seeing Neil being his usual dumbass self would be a palate cleanser and she wouldn’t think about any stupid, weird, weirdly hot(no!!!) sex dreams.
Her brain was just being dumb. That was all.
...Besides, she would definitely look better in thigh-highs than he did.
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Please, Mr. Barnes
CEO!Bucky x Reader | NSFW, 18+ only please | 2163 words | Masterlist
You’ve just started a new job as the executive secretary to the one and only James “Bucky” Barnes - founder, owner, and leader of Barnes Bionics, the most successful prosthetics companies in North America. Everything is going smooth until your royally fuck up and Bucky is forced to punish you the only way he knows how...
Warning: Like I mentioned above, 18+ only, please! There’s a little tongue action here, some spanking there. Nothing explicit but, ya know.
Note: Listen, despite consuming more than my fair share of smut, I’ve never actually wrote anything remotely smutty, so this is very new to me. Please be nice 😭 I was inspired after seeing this post, where I accidently went off in the tags because I was feeling some kind of way. I’m also dedicating this to @wonderlandmind4, because they called me out on my shit 😅 Enjoy!
To say you fucked up is an understatement. Forgetting to send an email is fucking up. Forgetting to water the plant’s in your boss’s office is fucking up. But this? This is a next level, idiotic, you-deserve-to-be-fired mess. And you haven’t even been here a full week.
You started at Barnes Bionics as an executive assistant to the CEO. You’d heard great things about the company - the relaxed and family-like corporate atmosphere, casual Fridays, and the down-to-earth, laid-back James Barnes, aka the founder, owner, and leader of the most successful prosthetics company in North America - and were eager to start your new position. Not only was it going to be a significant pay raise, but it was also going to give you a change of pace. You’d struggled for so long to find a position that would help boost your career, so when your best friend informed you she was stepping down from her assistant position to stay home with her soon-to-be-born daughter, you were ecstatic.
Except right now, on this bright and warm Friday afternoon, you wanted to be anywhere but your desk on the 90th floor of the One World Trade Center Building. While the executive offices began to empty, your new co-workers filing out in clumps, chatting excitedly about their weekend plans, you sat impatiently behind your desk, trying to make yourself as small as you could.
Earlier in the day, right after you returned from lunch, an email from James popped up on your screen. “Plan to stay after this evening,” was all you could read from the preview. In naive, blissful ignorance, butterflies erupted deep in your belly. Your boss was attractive. He looked like he could be sculpted from marble with the way his muscles strained against his smartly pressed button-downs, and the slight clench in his jaw when he’s concentrating on something was mesmerizing. The giddy feeling quickly dissipated, however, as you continued reading.
“I received a strongly worded voicemail from a distraught Tony Stark this morning. Asked why I’d waste his time by not showing up to a meeting that, the last time I checked my calendar, is scheduled for next week. I should be back at the office at 5:15. I expect you to be prepared for a one-on-one meeting before then.”
Your eyes flick to the small clock in the corner of your computer screen, and your stomach feels like it’s wrapped itself into a constrictor knot. 5:12. If your boss was anything, it’s punctual. As Sam Wilson, Barnes Bionics’ chief operations officer, closes his office up, the elevators just down the hall ding, signaling their arrival.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sam laughs as he laughs before departing with a jaunty farewell.
You hear the two men exchange the usual pleasantries, the elevators shut, then the ominous echos of James loafers meeting the polished marble floor. You close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm your nerves, but as soon as he beckons you to follow him into his office as he passes your desk, you actually think you’re going to throw up.
“Mr. Barnes, I’m so sorry I-”
He holds his hand up to silence you as he leans back against his large mahogany desk and uses his free hand - the metal one, that one that started this entire company - to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You realize Tony Stark is one of my biggest investors, right?”
You open your mouth to answer, but he fixes you with a rather threatening, so you simply nod and look down at your heel-covered feet. He’s going to fire me, you think as you wait for him to continue with his lecture. I haven’t even received my first paycheck, and I’m getting canned.
“You could have cost me a lot of money today, Ms. Y/L/N.” He pushes off his desk and slowly makes his way to where you stand just inside his spacious office. “There is no room for such vital mistakes like the one you made in this industry. I didn’t build this company from the ground up by missing meetings with the men and women who fund our research. I didn’t become one of the world's leading tech companies by allowing my assistants to make careless mistakes and piss off my partners.”
“Mr. Barnes, please,” you beg. God, you sound so pathetic, but you really don’t want to lose this job. And the fact that you messed up so bad within the first week of being employed at Barnes Biotics is embarrassing, a total misrepresentation of how organized and punctual you usually are when it comes to the workplace. “I...I’m trying really hard, there’s just so much to learn in such little time and I...I don’t know what happened.. I’ve never made a mistake like this before, and I never will again. Please, you don’t understand how much I need this job. I’ll do anything, I’ll work overtime without pay. Please…”
“Fire you?” James snorts as he stops in front of you. He’s so close you can smell his cologne, feel the heat radiating off his broad chest. “Oh, honey, I’m not going to fire you. But mistakes do come with consequences.”
You force yourself to look up at him. The anger and pure disappointment you expect to find on his face is surprisingly absent. In its place is something a little darker, dare you say a bit lustful. His powder blue eyes are almost covered with the black of his pupil, and a little smirk is playing in the corner of his lips.
“Go stand by the desk,” he commands. You go to question him, but he tuts his tongue. “Go on. You know how impatient I can be.”
Confused, you slowly make your way across the room, stopping in the space he had just been occupying. You’re about to turn around when two large arms around you. James’ metal hand settles on your lower stomach as his other arm wraps around your shoulder.
“Do you know,” he says, hot breath fanning across your exposed neck, “what happens to bad girls?”
You swallow thickly before you answer. “Uhm, no, Mr. Barnes.”
“They get punished.” Before you realize what’s going on, James pushes you forward onto his desk so that your bent over the top, his muscular torso resting gently across your back. Gently, almost agonizingly slow, he begins to drag his metal arm across your stomach, around until it’s just barely resting on your ass. “You’ve gotta tell me you want this, or I’ll stop,” he whispers. “But I’ve seen the way you look at me. I think you want this as bad as I do.”
“God, yes, please, Mr. Barnes!”
The words have hardly slipped past your lips before he’s bunching up your skirt and nudging at your panties. You should feel ashamed, you think, at how wet you already are at the simple action, but by god did you touch yourself thinking of this man.
“Soaked already,” he practically purrs as he teases at your entrance. Before you can get too much enjoyment from the sensation, he quickly pulls his hand away. “But you still fucked up. Still almost cost me millions. I need you to know,” he says as he eases himself from on top of you, keeping one hand pressed gently to the center of your back and the other resting on one of your exposed cheeks, “how bad that could have been.”
Before your brain can register what is happening, James’ palm connects to your asscheek with a loud smack. You jump, having been unprepared for the assault. Just as quickly as the last, his palm connects to your ass two more times before he is rubbing the sore spot in soothing circles.
This was...different. Never mind the fact your boss of five fucking days has you bent over his desk, ass and pussy exposed for all to see, but it was actually turning you more on. Spanking had never been something you’d thought of when it came to sex, something you probably wouldn’t have even considered with past lovers. But with James, it just felt right.
“No more silly mistakes like that, okay?” he whispers softly in your ear as he continues to rub your now burning cheek. “Or I’ll have to do this again.”
Smack. Smack. Smack.
A wanton moan drips from your lips after the last swat, and you’d be embarrassed if your boss wasn’t spinning your dazed body around, shoving the miscellaneous papers away to clear a spot for your to sit. You watch in stunned as he slowly lowers himself to the floor in front of you, lust-filled eyes never leaving yours.
“Something tells me you might like that, though,” James smiles as he grabs your ankle and carves a path of gentle kisses up to your skirt's hem. Both hands slid the material up your thighs, providing a peculiar sensation of both warm skin and cold metal at the same time. His metal fingers brush ever so slightly at your still-exposed bundle of nerves, and he smirks at the gasp it pulls from you.
“Would you like that, Y/N,” he asks, planting a kiss to the inside of your thigh. “Because I know I would.”
He quickly buries his face between your legs, first with a flat-tongued swipe up your pussy before he begins to suck on your clit. The heat of his tongue, mixed with the shallows breaths he takes between sucking and lapping, causes your blood to run cold and the coil in your belly to twist so tight you’re sure it’s going to snap any second.
“Please, Mr. Barnes. Fuck,” you exclaim louder than intended, and you’re suddenly very aware of where you are. You can’t seem to find the thought to care, however, not with James drinking you in like a man just returned from the desert. He responds to your cries of satisfaction with a light bite to your clit.
As slides down, he tongues at your entrance, his nose applies just enough pressure to your clit to send you reeling. Your hands land in his perfectly styled hair, pushing and pulling at the chesnut stands as he helps you ride out the intense waves of pleasure coursing through your body.
As you begin to settle, James plants small kisses here and there on both your thighs before pulling away. He looks up at you, your juices glistening on his lips and the slight stubble of his beard. He looks as fucked out as you feel, and it makes you slightly self-conscious of what you must look like. He licks his lips and hums quietly, causing another jolt of want to rush straight to your core.
“You taste as good as you look,” he smiles and stands. When he’s back to his full height, he reaches a hand out to help you off his desk. You can’t help but catch the noticeable bulge straining at his slacks, and he must see your quick glance because he laughs and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.,” he says, bringing his hand to his lips before making his way around to sit at his desk.
You left standing there, in the middle of an office whose furnishes cost more than your entire year’s rent, fucked out and in shock at what just happened. You don’t know how long you stand frozen, eyes fixated on a vintage Brookly Dodgers poster, but a deep chuckle and the rustling of papers draws you out of your trance.
You turn to find James straightening up the papers he had shoved out of the way, and cleaning up the pen holder must have spilled. You stagger forward, hands out ready to help your boss clean up the mess, but he simply waves you off.
“I hope you didn’t have any plans after work,” James says sheepishly, almost sounding guilty for keeping you over. Almost.
“No,” you say as you anxiously rub at your arm. “Just your average, boring Friday night.”
“Well, I hope I added a little fun to help kick off the weekend.”
You can feel your face heat up as you nod. He winks before turning back to tidying his desk, and you take that as your cue to take your leave. You scurry across the room quickly, and right as your hand touches the door, James stops you.
“By the way, great job on your first week. I was more productive than I’ve been in years thanks to your organization. I really appreciate it.”
You smile, face heating up even more. You take the compliment to heart, bathe in the way it fills you with pride. “Thank you, Mr. Barnes.”
“Hey, uh, call me Bucky. Mr. Barnes or James or whatever is too impersonal, and I think we’re well past that stage.”
#Bucky Barnes x reader#Bucky Barnes x female reader#James barnes x reader#bucky x reader#bucky x you#James barnes x you#ceo!bucky#ceo AU#marvel x reader#marvel x you#Bucky Barnes fanfic#marvel fanfic#the winter soldier fanifc#marvel au#Bucky Barnes au#silverarmedassassin writes
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Shang-Chi (2021) Review Pt. 2
This one will be about the less character-relevant stuff, such as casting, props, settings, and design.
Easiest first: props and costumes.
A bit cool, a bit silly, and bit too "Chinese-themed".
The old Ten-Ring troops had normal armor for the time and age. The new Ten Ring troops looked like the Snake-Eyes fodder ninjas but with tassled helmets. Like I appreciate what they were going for, but...it look dumb dude. And what they were doing with only one hook sword? The electrified thing was cool, but y'all didn't use the bladed hand guard, the combo hook move, the spiked pommel...wasted potential smh. And then the electric arc crossbows....again I appreciate the idea, but that was silly, especially after we showed the Ten Rings sniper with a normal ass gun. Or, just go full sino-futurism and give me the chainsaw spiked club, the electrified monk's spade, taser three section staff.
The villager's clothes were too...saturated, and monochromatic. It kinda reminded me of Mulan (2020) actually, the white people's ancient Chinese clothing. In contrast, in the he TianLongBaBu wuxia series I've been watching, people dress in...normal earth tones. Oh also, too many fucking sandals, where are my black loafers and thick white socks, with rope bindings? Like the kind modern Shaolin monks wear?? The villager's weapons too. Only Xialing's was kind of interesting, the rest are vanilla staffs and sword+shield. Boooo. Where's the dragonscale fangtianhuaji? The dragonscale guandao? Ok I'm done. Just disappointed.
Wenwu's costumes were pure drip in every scene. Zero complaints.
Shang-Chi's letterman's jacket was my favorite costume to be honest. He should not have changed in the village. The final costume seemed a bit too...modern, but not quite to the level of the Black Panther suit. It just seemed like Western superhero top with a vaguely Chinese pattern on it. Or it looked kindof...southeast asian? Wish it had no sleeves.
Katy should've kept her Macau drip. The "traditional" robe just didn't look right.
Xialing looked the best in her inverse Bruce Lee colors crop top and sweats. Like damn.
Ying Li's robes' green is too saturated in my opinion, unnaturally. Same with Michelle Yeoh's character. Now that I think about it, I hardly ever see bright green in traditional Chinese clothes...or modern Chinese fashion. Her pristine white/biege wushu outfit is also meh for me.
Death Dealer's dark blue + yellow colors are quite striking, but a bit odd and out of place with the rest of the Ten Rings' getup. Perhaps it was intentional, since he's the elite trainer? I wish it was more modern, a la Snake Eyes' suit. I would also like to complain about his opera face makeup though; why only the top half? Is that even a real opera face design? It's kind of a dumb half-ass reference I think. Like, Noh masks are used all the time for creepy effect, why not Beijing Opera?
Next, CGI animals.
Morris the Hundun/Dijiang was cute, but I half expected him to suddenly go nuts and devour Slattery, since the Hundun is one of the primordial evil beasts. But Disney needs their marketable mascot. I even saw a Lego piece for him before the movie was released!
The trip through the other world was a bit too safari-like. Like wow, the Ninetails is just chilling by the road, and a herd of Qilin conveniently pass by. The execution of these creatures were fine, though the Qilin eyes were too "dead".
I don't have problems with the Lions' design, but they were completely unnecessary, and lowered the stakes for the final battle for me. Those two lions could literally tear apart all five of Wenwu's trucks in less than a minute.
I stated already, the big evil monster, the little soulsuckers, and the dragon are completely unnecessary to me. Even when I saw just the wood carving of the soulsucking bats, I felt disappointed. Xialing and Shangchi spent way too long riding the big dragon and not doing kungfu :/
Onto settings.
I just recently visited Bay Area! The hilliness of SF was nicely showed off by the bus fight.
Macao seemed well-grounded and normal for a modern Chinese metropolis. Was portrayed better than Tokyo was in Snake Eyes in my opinion. The bamboo scaffolding scene reminded me heavily of Rush Hour 2's Hong Kong fight, and I could hear Jackie Chan assuring us "don't worry, Chinese bamboo, very strong!".
The Ten Rings compound was...eh. No defining features to locate it anywhere real so whatever. But the interior was weirdly homey?
The Ta Lo village is what I really want to complain about: why they gotta throw Chinese people back to the Xia dynasty like that? Straw huts? Really? And there was a total of like 7 buildings there, across a tiny area. That is not a village, it's a medium-sized temple complex. Kung Fu Panda 3's hidden panda village was loads more impressive, with interesting geography. This was on a flat plane next to a pond. Combined with the costuming, it's like hello, it's hokey Western orientalism again.
Casting.
Tony Leung. Perfect. Outstanding. Phenomenal. Sexy as hell. I have recovered fully from Lust, Caution. I see on Tiktok that westerners are thirsting after him, and I am very satisfied. The "Killmonger-Loki" Effect is now the "Wenwu-Killmonger-Loki" Effect. I only wish he were younger, because I hate the "daddy" kink. Mr. Leung, you are a hero to Asian-American men. Thank you.
Awkwafina. Yeah she is pretty good as the unabashed ABC friend. But lately, I feel she has been over-used as the main Chinese-American actress. On some social media, I have seen Black users complain of her 'blaccent' and vow to boycott Shang-Chi in protest. I'm inclined to defend her, as it is probably what she grew up with, and the boycott feels like another attempt to draw moral hierarchical divisions between minorities. Similar sentiment is "yall didn't come out for Black Panther, why should we come out for Shang-Chi?". I don't have any data as to whether 'we' did come out for Black Panther, but I generally disapprove of POC factionalism.
Simu Liu. I'm glad that Westerners are thirsting over him too. I'm glad he's very enthusiastic and affable, and well-liked in the Asian-American community. He's us! And he got a shirtless scene! But the catch is...he doesn't fit the current Chinese standard for "hot guy actor".
From the majority angle: that's toxic af. He's hot enough, why are we being so picky with dumb Asian beauty standards? Will we ever properly support ourselves? Like damn, this is the first Asian-American lead in a goddamn Marvel movie, and this is how you treat him?? By the Heavens.
From the other angle: his eyes are small, his jaw kind of round, head kind of wide. Not the most masculine, but definitely not feminine. He's a normal Chinese-American dude. Chinese dude, Harbin, Heilongjiang born. Compare that to Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Chris Pratt, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, etc. These are among the finest western specimens; why did the pick the Asian hero to be played by the 'normal-looking' dude? Was Jackson Wang not available? Or Ludi Lin? I personally have a suspicion that his appearance most fits the stereotypical look of an Asian man to Western audiences, and that's why he was cast.
He's received hate for this, from Reddit r/aznidentity, the sub that I frequent, which currently is cheering Shang-Chi's box-office success. That's toxic af, and must be heartbreaking for him. Unfortunately, it's part of the larger conflict of Western and Eastern media, representation, markets, and culture. And that's a big fish to wrangle in part 3.
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Be With Me Tonight | Guido Mista x F!Reader
Regret is a sickening temptation - and you have ruined everything.
Content Warnings: Angst, Explicit Sexual Content (Oral & Implied), Implied Past Attempted Sexual Assault, Potentially Dubious Consent, & Unhealthy Relationship Dynamics (Past & Present)
You said you would do your own makeup. And yet, here you sit on a thrifted barstool – never mind the tweed upholstery that digs into the underside of your skirt-clad thighs, when you paid less for the stool than you would a loaf of bread – and flinch as your sister nearly prods your iris with the mascara wand clutched in her tremoring hand. She smells of hair spray and counterfeit perfume. You look to the mirror that hangs above the vanity.
“You really should change before we go,” she tells you while returning the wand to its tube. Fingers toil through your hair: she scrutinizes your appearance as though you are a porcelain doll and she your maker. You suppose that, in a way, she is. “You won’t catch anyone’s attention dressed like that.”
The reflection of your cherry-red lips mimics the frown upon your face. “Maybe I don’t want to ‘catch anyone’s attention,’” you retort. “I’m not even ready to start dating again.”
She groans. “You’re not still caught up on that perdente, are you?”
You do not have to bite back a quip because you do not have one. Instead, you bite your stained lips and look away. Though the relationship with your most recent ex had ended on mutual terms, the separation stings nonetheless.
“You know, you’ve always had bad taste in men,” your sister continues. Varnish to a wall, she rubs powder across your cheekbones. “First there was that pervertito when you were fifteen, and now a convicted murderer.”
“Can you stop?” you demand, clenching your fist. “He’s not a murderer. It was self-defense.”
“Regardless of what you think, he still killed three men. I can’t believe the landlord hasn’t changed our locks yet. I asked him almost a year ago now, ever since he was released from prison,” your sister insists, ignoring your plea. “You should’ve asked for his key back.”
“He has a name, you know.” Guido Mista – a name that once tasted like honey on your tongue, now bitter as cigarette smoke.
And your sister refuses to speak it, for she hates the taste of cigarettes. A hum dies on her lips. Her smirk bequeaths to you an urgency to cower in shame; however, the distressed look in her eyes tells you how much she fears for your welfare.
As if she has anything to genuinely be afraid of.
Guido Mista has, for most of your life, been something of an extended acquaintance to you. His is a recognizable presence in crowded hallways; after all, who else amongst the student body could muster the same courage to break the dress-code by donning a purple beanie cap atop their head? You will admit to him that you look forward to the days when a teacher confiscates his cap because it means that you get to admire his rich chocolate curls all day long from your seat at the back of the classroom. He will chuckle in response and press a sloppy kiss to your cheek while running his calloused fingers over the sides of your belly, drinking in the laughter that bubbles through you, as if you are the fountain of ever-lasting love itself.
But it was not always this way. Before Mista came a boy whose name you will etch from memory in time – remembered as a boyfriend, but never as a partner.
At your locker, he leans over you, waiting for you to stack your textbooks away. You are fifteen, and he asks you to join him behind the bleachers of the gymnasium. No more than a pet tethered by a chain, you follow him blindly to where his companions wait. You know their pubescent faces but you seldom speak to them. Their names do not matter anymore, either.
In a school dress, pitted against three boys who surpass you in height – you never stood a chance.
The squealing of the gymnasium doors and the slamming of the lock is not enough to stop them. It did little more than encourage your perpetrators to wedge you between their clothed bodies as they fist your hair and tug at the skirt that your father has only just purchased for you after you spilled grape juice over the previous one. You spot the purple beanie over your boyfriend’s blazer-clad shoulder and cry out to him – to Guido Mista.
His cap has fallen from his head, and they beat him until he gasps for air and spews bile from his throat. But he never begs them to stop because it keeps them from attacking you again. He can hardly put up a fight when every attempt to stand is quelled by the diving of a loafer-clad foot into the pit of his stomach Your boyfriend grabs him by those beautiful curls and ushers his face against the waxed floors. The glint of a pocketknife catches your eye.
The school-bell blares. The boy who had held you back throws you to the ground. The pocketknife clamors with you, just beyond the grasp of the tips of your fingers. Your ex-boyfriend (for you no longer consider him as anything more) and his boyish companions dust off their blazers, straighten their ties, and hurry off for their next round of classes. They leave you with your unsettled clothes and a boy with a broken nose.
Clutching the rungs of the bleachers, Mista pulls his body upwards: a buoy in the sea, and you the only vessel on the horizon. You press his discarded beanie – which you cannot help but to notice smells comfortingly so of cedarwood – to his nose. Red blossoms seep into the delicate threads. “Are you okay?” he asks you with a cough and a grimace for, as you will come to discover, he has cracked a rib.
“Yes.” Compared to his injuries, you cleared the scuffle relatively unscathed. Mista had stepped in before anything beyond the tearing of your uniform could happen. And yet, his concern is of you and not for his own well-being. “Thank you.”
He flashes you a lopsided grin. You are glad to see that, though laced with the blood that seeps into his mouth, he has not lost any teeth. His repose is infectious, and his ease illuminates your own composure. You help him to stand and together you walk to the nurse’s office, his arm slung over your shoulders and yours around his waist. Your attackers are expelled; their testimony of falsified innocence could not hold a candle to security footage, or a pocketknife engraved with damning initials. Despite everything, you make a new friend. The two of you will become lovers at sixteen – utterly inseparable.
Until the very end.
You prefer sweeter cocktails, but you accept the gin and tonic from your sister and lift it to your lips anyways. The relief of the ice pooling in the cavities of your mouth is a reprieve from the suffocating atmosphere of the nightclub. Too many bodies, too much sweat – too many different smells, and suddenly your mind whirls. You place the emptied glass atop a table and only then do you realize that you never juiced the translucent lime wedge curled around the rim.
The circle of women whom you find yourself dancing with are strangers; you sway as though you have all known each other for a lifetime. You do not understand the words of the American pop song that resonates from the wall speakers, but it does not matter; after all, even an illiterate man can read rhythm. Across the dancefloor, your sister drags two men with her towards the restroom.
A pelvis presses against your backend – or perhaps, it is your backend that leans into the nook of the clubber swaying behind you. A pair of hands falls to your hips, though you take the lead in rocking side-to-side to Laura Branigan’s cadence. Over the sound of music, the woman to your left suggests that you all swap cellphone numbers. The woman to your right agrees with a drunken nod of her head and, giddy with excitement, clasps your hand. The woman directly across from you offers to order a round of shots to commemorate this newfound comradery. Instead of a tray filled with cinnamon whiskey, she returns with an olive-toned man clad in orange leopard print pants and a blue cross-patterned sweater that exposes his midriff.
“Hey, ladies,” the woman calls out to your circle. The lights ripple across her flushed skin like water. “This is Mista.”
You freeze, your hips suspended mid-beat. Your dance partner pouts and pulls away. Mista does not look to you, and you are grateful . . . Until his coffee-colored eyes do fall to your face after a hiccup jostles your chest. His brows furrow, gaze darting between you and the man behind you. Before his steadily parting lips can utter your name against the clapping of the bass, you are gone because you are not ready.
The winter breeze makes you shiver. The nightly chill is preferable to the sweltering sanctuary behind you, where only moments ago you bobbed along to pop songs and impulsively contemplated friendship with intoxicated patrons who will not remember you in the morning.
The green dial of your cellphone flashes and reflects upon scattered puddles. You text your sister and tell her that you are going home – don’t wait up. Your affinity for clubbing has gone sour.
“I thought that was you.”
Your heart races quickly, so much that it might burst from the nook between your breasts and land on the ground before his white boots. “Yeah, it’s me,” you say. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“You too. So, what’ve you been up to?”
“Just stuff. And things.”
Mista laughs. “Stuff and things?”
“Y’know, work,” you tell him with a nod. “More work.”
“Me too.” You fidget with your purse. “I saw your sister – or, the back of her head, actually. How’s she doin’?”
“She’s good.”
“Good.”
A man stumbles through the door. He reeks of cheap bourbon and rye. You and Mista step aside and watch the man as he struggles to walk away from the club. The scene has created a lull to your painfully cumbrous conversation; you reap the opportunity, for it becomes your self-proclaimed cue to leave. You open your mouth to bid Mista adieu. The taste of your own lipstick leaves you sputtering.
“Hey, so uh, are you busy?” he suddenly asks, cutting you off. You have always believed that he could read minds. In this moment, it is as if he knows your intent – as if shuffling in your heels and tightening the grasp on your purse were not telltale signs of your discomfort.
“Not really,” you insist. “I was about to head home.”
“Cool, cool. I was just wondering because you left something behind at my apartment. I’ve been meaning to give it back, but I didn’t think it’d be right to just show up at your doorstep or something.”
“It hasn’t stopped you before,” you chide.
“I know, I know. I just figured it’d make sense to stop at my place, since it’s on the way.”
It gnaws at you – the voice in your head that tells you to leave him be, here and now. It will not do you any good, stepping back into walls once sacred to you. He stares at you, wide-eyed, and gages your reaction. Dark curls poke out from beneath the rim of his cap. You wonder if he still uses that cedarwood shampoo.
It would not do you any good to go with him. The prospect of sipping a glass of wine whilst soaking in a warm bath beckons you home. There is little trouble that you can muster with an idle night, for the night is still young and you have not given up. Though the moon has reached its peak, you cannot surrender. You have made your choice.
“Sure.”
But you never intended to make the right one.
You were sure to slip on a set of shoes before stepping outside. Through the hallway, down the elevator, across the lobby, and onto the street you wander with little more than the glow of streetlamps and passing headlights to guide your way through the dark. You find him in the alley between your apartment building and the next. The stink of a prison cell has imprinted itself onto his skin.
He slips a single nickel-plated key into your hand. “Your sister probably wouldn’t appreciate me having this,” he says.
“You can keep it. I’ll tell her you forgot it.” When he does not accept the return, you reach out and tuck the key into the pocket of his cargo pants. “Just so you have something to remember me by.”
The look in his eyes – the sheen of gloss that coats his irises – churns your stomach. In that moment, Mista reminds you of a dog scorned by his owner. In a way, that is exactly what he is. “You still have that sweater I sent you, right?”
Mustard-yellow, and one of your favorites. And one of Mista’s, too. You had sent it to him during his second week in holding. “Yeah.”
“Keep that, too.” A revolver rests in inside the waistband of his pants. It is a new addition to his appearance. It does not unsettle you, because you know that this man who killed three mobsters without hesitation would never hurt you. “Mista, I’m sorry.”
“I am too,” he sighs, kicking at a discarded soda can that had drifted from a nearby trashcan. “But it’s for the best.”
“It is.” The soda can rolls your way. You stop it with the sole of your foot; it crinkles beneath your weight. “Maybe one day, after you’re tired of working for that Bucciarati, we can pick up where we left off.”
“I’d like that.”
You smile. “Me too . . . Well, I should get going before my sister realizes I’m gone.” In your final moments together – before a pair of lovers once again becomes two separate beings – you embrace. Face buried into the crook of his neck, you speak: “You’re a good person, Mista. No matter what happened between you and those men or whatever does happen, you will always be good.”
He clutches you tighter.
“Don’t let them get to you. Don’t let this job get to you. And please, stai al sicuro, amore: stay safe.”
Back in your bedroom, you shed your clothes and don a mismatched set pajamas. Ever the optimist, you retire for the night with a heart not yet ready to be broken.
And an inescapable evocation of loneliness.
You are shocked to see the stack of hastily packed cardboard boxes. The words fragile or giunca are crudely scribbled with black marker across each one. All that remains is a worn couch with springs that poke into your skin and a square television, which sits on a box labeled libri e altra spazzatura – books and other trash.
The uniform pinholes in the barren walls are a reminder that imitators of your face, frozen in time, used to adorn the room.
“You’re moving?” you ask Mista as he tosses his hat aside and runs a hand through his hair.
He stops and looks to the boxes. “Yeah, actually,” he confirms. “The rent’s too damn high to afford on my own. I’m moving in with some coworkers.”
“You mean other gang members?” You do not miss the way he bites his lip in response. You regret your words as soon as they leave you. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“N-no, it’s okay – you’re right anyways.” He trails off. “So that guy you were with. He your boyfriend or something?”
You struggle to recall your dance partner. “Oh, no,” you insist, caught between a scoff and a laugh. “I don’t even know his name.”
Something flashes behind his eyes. He hides the smile that creeps on his face behind the back of his hand, though he does not speak. Not another word is spoken.
It does not sit well with you, the silence that manifests in the still of the room. You are a trespasser – but so is he, for this realm no longer belongs to him, either. “Um, where’s this thing I left behind?” you finally ask; your voice echoes through the emptied space. It makes you shiver.
Mista disappears past the threshold of the bedroom that you once shared – you wonder if he still uses the cream-colored sheets you bought for him as opposed to his preferred navy blue – and returns with a shirt: it is your mustard-yellow sweater. It is wrinkled and smells just like him and something new (gunpowder, perhaps). The dried drool marks tell you that he sleeps with it bundled in his arms. “Here,” he says, holding it out to you.
You do not move to take it. “I gave it to you,” you remind him. A crushed soda can is under your foot and again, you are back in the alley saying farewell to your love. “I want you to keep it.”
But there is no alleyway – only a vacant apartment suite. He does not wish to return it; in a hasty, split-second decision back at the nightclub, he wagered his ownership over what has become his most cherished possession. Just for the chance that you might say yes.
Just for the chance to spend one last night with you.
He rolls his wrist, extending his arm further. “No. It’s for the best.”
And so, you pluck it from his grasp and tuck it inside of your purse – the final harvest from the tree, to be seeded and planted elsewhere. “I’d better get going,” you tell him. “I wish you all the best. It was good seeing you again. Really good . . .”
The doorknob hovers under your palm. “Wait,” Mista suddenly calls. You stop. He rubs the back of his neck. “Would you like to stay for a bit?”
“I shouldn’t. It’s late.” Your tongue betrays your heart. It is treason within your very soul. “Besides, it’s probably for the best if I go.”
Your reverberation of his words makes him wince. More than anything, you want to drop your purse and climb into his arms – to feel his warmth again. You need to leave. Yet, you step away from the door and take a seat upon the flattened cushions of the couch. You still remember where to sit to avoid the broken springs. “Unless, I mean . . . I guess if you really wouldn’t mind.”
Mista perks up. You mirror his grin. He takes the spot beside you, careful to leave a considerable amount of distance between your bodies. He reaches for the remote. The reception has not improved – it remains fuzzy, pixelated, and colorless.
“I’d offer a boardgame, but . . .” He gestures to the boxes; you get the hint. The channels flash by. “Any preferences?”
“I’m fine with a cooking show,” you tell him. “Or a movie.”
He settles for the latter. At some point, you leave Mista to fetch two drinks from the kitchen. The refrigerator is nearly empty, save for a few bottles of water. When you return with your beverages, you find that he has fallen asleep. You leave him be and watch the reminder of the movie with nothing more than his heavy breathing and the voices of the actors to keep you company.
You turn the television off once the end credits begin. Mista has not moved. If not for the heaving of his chest, he might have been a dead man. Without a clock on the wall, you cannot tell the time. Prediction is all you have – and so, you predict that it is just after midnight. Regardless, you have overstayed your welcome. It is time to leave.
Your fingers brush across his arm as you lean over his hunched form to rouse him from his slumber. You would hate to leave without saying goodbye. “Mista . . . “ you coo; your speech slurs and it is only then that you realize your own exhaustion. “I’m gonna go home, ‘kay?”
He stirs beneath you. Eyes puffy from sleep, he ogles at your figure. You hover over him, your breath close enough to ghost his cheeks. His long, dark lashes twitch when you breathe too sharply – when he parts his legs for you to slide in between them so that he might capture your lips with his own. One hand to the base of your neck, the other to your waist: he pulls you flush to his body, caging you with arms that feel unfamiliar. More muscle, you suppose.
You press against his chest and detach. His grip loosens, although only enough for you to raise the back of your hand to puckered lips to wipe the saliva from your face. He has already lost you – once more and it will become a life sentence.
“Mista,” you warn, turning your head away to resist his second kiss. The twinges of early love bloom again in the core of your belly. You want him. But you cannot have him. “We can’t.”
Your lipstick stains his mouth. It makes him look undeniably pretty.
“One night,” he pleads – yet his hands leave your body. “I know what you said, about waiting until I’m finished with Passione. But that was easier said than done. I can’t leave them; not now, maybe not ever. They’re mia famiglia. And so are you.”
Your head falls limply. “You can’t have us both.”
“Why not?” He speaks your name when you hesitate to answer. A finger hooks beneath your chin, tipping your head so that you must meet his gaze. “Why not, cara?”
He demands a truth that you have never professed. Not to him, nor your sister – and never to yourself. “I’m scared, Mista,” you finally admit. Confession weighs you down in his grasp. “Because I know the day will come when you won’t come back. It’d be better if I’m not around for it.”
A faint smile, laced with sorrow, etches upon his face. “Do you have that little faith in me?” he asks.
Faith? It was never for the lack thereof. You trust Mista with every fiber of your being because he saved you. And it was not just you – he took the lives of three men to protect the virtue of a woman whom he had never met because she could have been you. She was almost you. That night, when he had heard that woman’s screams and saw the man crouched over her bruised form, Mista felt as though his body had projected itself back into the gymnasium of the school you once attended together. Only this time, he knew how to put up a fight. He acted in the way that the constraints of boyhood had once held him back from.
No, you do not place your mistrust on Mista – you place it in the souls of every man and woman that poses a threat to his safety. The fact that you do not know how to convey this to him mystifies you. Actions are far easier than words, and so you press your lips to his once more. You feed off his touch alone.
You recline against the backing of the couch, hands pressed flat against the cushions. keening into Mista’s palms as he slides your skirt down – past your thighs, past your knees, and past your ankles. Your panties follow suit. His mouth presses against your slick folds; as touch starved as you have become, it takes little more than his kisses to stir your core. As if commanded by muscle memory, your legs coil around his shoulders and yank him closer the moment his tongue slips past your heat. He groans against you, low and gravely. It makes you gasp when his teeth graze over your hardened nub. When he brings his finger to join his tongue, you find that you are unable to stop your hips from rocking against his lips. A second finger coaxes you, and then a third – you come undone in his mouth, heaving for air.
You cry out his name in prayer. Mista pulls away, letting your legs fall back down. The spasm of your thighs turns your abdomen to jelly. You cannot move. You draw him in for another kiss, savoring the taste of your balm that coats his skin. He mutters his desires and you nod, eager to feel him fill you again. He hoists you into his arms and carries you to the bedroom.
It fills you with gratification to see that the rumpled sheets and folded pillows beneath you are in fact the color of sweet cream.
Soft snores leave Mista’s lips. He sleeps on his back, one arm thrown over his eyes, and the other tucked beneath your head. Unlike your lover, you are wide-awake. You stare at the browning wallpaper of the bedroom wall, willing yourself to believe that the stagnant flowers are truly billowing against the wind in a field elsewhere.
You toss the duvet from your body and stand, careful not to wake him. The mattress breathes in the absence of your weight. In the darkness, you collect your discarded clothing and don your clubbing attire. You cast one final look to the sleeping dark-eyed boy before clicking the heavy door shut behind you.
A tiny voice cries out – a child from the next apartment suite perhaps, startled by nightmares no doubt. Though, as your ears strain and listen, it almost seems as though the child is calling your name. It is a ludicrous idea. Still, it unsettles you, for there is something familiar in its tone. You tighten your grasp on your purse, readjust your heels, and leave.
Regret is a sickening temptation – and you have ruined everything.
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