#message of second dose without taking

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Paradigm Shift 3

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such noncon/dubcon, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: you get transferred to a new position but it’s hardly a breath of fresh air. (plus!reader)

Characters: Loki, Bucky Barnes, this reader is known as Billie.

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself💜

💼Part of the Bad Bosses AU💼

Dark roast, black. You're tempted to order one for yourself but the extra dose of caffeine might unhinge you after the morning you've had. Transfer, no desk, a firing, a stolen desk, and two painfully aloof bosses.  

You go back up to the office, the short reprieve offering some clarity but not solutions. There has to be some way to get more than a grunt and a closed door from these men. Geez, if you wanted to work with children you would've done so. 

You knock on Mr. Barnes' door. The one next to it opens first. Laufeyson considers you from head to toe and Barnes appears not a second after. He takes his cup without a thanks. 

"Mm, and where is mine then?" Laufeyson challenges. 

You blink, long and hard. Of course. Of course! You let out a slow breath, "what would you like, Mr. Laufeyson?" 

You don't miss the quiet snort from the other door and it closes before you can glance Barnes' expression. You have a suspicion he expected this. It's like your first job when you worked with a bunch of men in stocks. Their numbers were as bloated as their egos. 

“Matcha.” 

The door shuts in your face. Again. You bite down and stretch your fingers wide. It’s fine. It’s fine. Growing pains. 

Matcha... what? Iced? Latte? Hot tea? Smoothie? Wonderful, a guessing game. 

You will be getting yourself another coffee for the trouble. Another trip to Roasters and you settle on the simplest option; just tea. You’re certain if you’re wrong, he’ll let you know.  

You stand at the two office doors and contemplate your life decisions. Is this worth it? Can you beg Odinson to take you back? To send down another poor soul? You almost feel bad doing that to someone else. You’re about to give when that innate stubborn ticks in your jaw. It’s only been a few hours. You don’t just give up that easy. 

Knock, knock. There’s a delay before Laufeyson answers. You’re not put off by it. You know the tactic. It won’t work on you. If his tea is cold, it won’t be your fault. 

“Matcha, sir,” you hold out the cup. 

He accepts it and reads the sticker on the side. He narrows his green eyes and looks at you, “note for next time, I prefer Garcon’s to Roasters.” 

Click. Another shut door. You’re really starting to get angry. You laugh out the flurry of agitation and turn away. What else can you do but think of it as a joke? It has to be. It’s just that absurd. 

You sit at the desk and open your laptop. You get it hooked up to the monitor and refinagle the cords. That’s an accomplishment at least. A tiny morsel of victory. You glance around and frown. It’s like the waiting room in Beetlejuice; everyone looks miserable. Well, can you blame them? 

Your phone buzzes and you check the messages. Girl nights hangs like bait at the end of your day, keeping you swimming through dark waters. It’s a bit ridiculous. Your friends are all like you in one way but all vastly different in many other ways. You all spend your days taking care of men who couldn’t give a shit about any of you. 

You can already taste the Paloma; bitter grapefruit with the burn of tequila. You are dying to drink away this day. You look at the clock and nearly whimper. It’s not even one o’clock. Ugh. 

You plug away at your desk. You get the daily agendas templated then spend time scouring the web. You have something in mind. You’re pretty sure you can make it work. As long as those grumps can do the simplest of tasks. 

You customize the survey and send the link. You doubt you’ll get a response today or even at all. It’s a hail mary, really. Barnes’ door opens, then Laufeysons. Your chest fills with dread. Great. 

“Hello, sir and... sir,” you sit up as they approach. 

“What is the meaning of that quiz?” Laufeyson demands. 

“It’s not-- 

“Asking a lot, aren’t you?” Barnes crosses his arms. 

“No, I just--” 

“What business do you have about my dry cleaning?” Laufeyson hisses. 

“I have lunch when I have lunch. I'm not a child at grade school,” Barnes sneers.

“Okay, woah,” you put your palms out, “first, there’s an n/a column, you can choose not to disclose the information. Two, I need to know what to do. What do you want from me?” 

Both men frown and look at each other, then back to you. 

“I can think of one,” Laufeyson raises a finger, “don’t treat us as children who need you to put our socks on.” 

“Good one,” Barnes scoffs, “also, you could stop with calendar reminders.” 

“Those are automatic,” you mutter. 

“And the arguing,” Laufeyson points at you. 

You sputter, dizzy at their onslaught of criticism. They can tell you exactly what they don’t want but they can’t give you a clear answer as to why you are there. You calm yourself with a breath and sip of coffee. 

“Mr. Laufeyson, Mr. Barnes--” 

“Why him first? My name’s first alphabetically,” Barnes says. 

“I--” you stop yourself and take another taste of your coffee, “if my presence is getting in the way of your work, I will go back upstairs and talk to Mr. Odinson--” 

“Mr. Odinson? Thor?” Laufeyson says, “no, you won’t do that. In fact, that is another item for your list, no talking to my brother. Especially of me.” 

You could tear your hair out. You could hit your head on the wall. You could gauge your eyes out and drown yourself in your coffee. Instead, you smile. 

“Got it,” you say, “well, sirs, good luck with your meeting this afternoon.” 

“Yes, thank you,” Laufeyson intones. 

“Mm, sure,” Barnes says and they both turn on their heels then stop at once. They face you in sync with each other. 

“Meeting?” They ask. 

“Mmhm,” you nod, “it’s in your calendars.” 

They stare at you. 

“If that’s something you’d like me to brief you on,” you say tritely, “you can submit that in the survey.” 

Laufeyson hums dryly and Barnes growls. Neither says anything further as they retreat. You keep your eyes on the screen as your heartbeat races. You can’t believe you said that. 

[joelswritingmistress]

You Scare Me, Professor: Chapter 22

Summary: The reader is taking graduate classes at a local university in the wooded upstate New York. She is drawn to her professor, Dr. Joel Miller, though she is also inherently aware that he has something dark about him that she can't quite put her finger on. As the reader's attraction grows deeper, she has to decide whether to endure the danger or run away as fast as possible.

Pairing: Professor Joel Miller x f!reader

I had gotten through Dr. Stevenson’s class with flickering eyes in the dim lighting. Knowing that Dr. Miller was right next door teaching his other course had me thinking about him.

Was he making people laugh? What material was he teaching? And the question I tried not to let creep into my jealous, little mind - is he attracted to anyone in that class? I don't know why I did that to myself, but I couldn't help my inner baseless insecurities. Still, I didn't let it consume me. I was the one who had a key to his house. I was the one who was attending his sister’s wedding in a few weeks. I was the one sleeping beside him on a nightly basis.

Be cool, I told myself. Our romance was too hot and steamy for me to attempt, or even pretend, to be cool.

When I wandered out into the hallway in the crowd of other students, I glanced down toward the closed door near the end of the hall and smiled to myself. I then whipped out my phone to find text messages from both Dr. Miller and James - who had been walking me to my car regularly on Wednesday nights.

Before clicking on Dr. Miller’s, I expected his typical racy text that made the extra hour without him feel ten times as long. I smiled to myself when it read: Please be careful. Let me know when you get home. I still don't trust the campus security.

I had to admit I enjoyed Dr. Miller’s healthy dose of jealousy towards James. It made me feel less guilty for having my own insecure thoughts. I guess it was just human nature, to some degree.

I wrote him back, promising I would text him when I arrived at my car and then again at home. I added a heart emoji and hit send before moving on to James’s text, which let me know he’d see me in the parking lot. A part of me felt just a bit needy for asking him to come by every Wednesday at this time; but I knew Dr. Miller’s concerns for my safety wouldn't allow for me to be alone after dark on campus - even for just a minute or two. I didn’t particularly think I needed James, but I know, despite his distaste for another male to come to my aid, it made Dr. Miller feel better. That was enough for me.

Gotta pee, long ride home! I texted back to James, adding, See ya in a second. Thanks!!

I stuffed my phone back into my bag and wandered into the women's bathroom in a nook by the elevators.

When I hung my bag and sat in the stall, my phone buzzed again. Tori.

Her text came through: Hey, thanks for the two months in advance. You didn’t have to! Btw, I have a huge question. Nothing bad. Call when you can.

Big question? What could it be? And I certainly didn’t pay two months in advance.

Dr. Miller. It had to be him.

I quickly tapped her name and hit the little phone icon and put the receiver up to my ear.

“Hey!” My friend answered in a cheery voice, “Didn’t think you’d call back so quickly!”

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Ahh…” She breathed the word and I knew she was hesitant to ask whatever it was she was about to. “So.. um.. Derek.”

I smiled to myself, thinking I had an inclination of what this was about. And I actually thought it would solve a few of my inner monologue issues, especially since Dr. Miller insisted on having me at his place every night.

“You want him to move in,” I speculated. It caused a long pause on the other end and I finally asked, “Tori?” Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they broke up. Maybe-

“Yeah. I feel like a dirtbag for asking-”

“Why?” I practically shouted, and then put a hand over my mouth with a little laugh when I heard the door open to the restroom.

“Because it’s our place and I know adding a dude to the mix could make it awkward.”

“Well.. honestly.. Dr.-” I caught myself and stopped for a second.

“Doctor?”

“I.. well.. Hmm..” I reset. “Joel gave me a key to his place.”

“What!?” Tori exclaimed.

“I know I've been staying there a lot,” I went on.

“(Y/N) it's totally okay.” She laughed. “So, is he like your hot sugar daddy?”

I laughed again and glanced to the side when I heard someone shuffling around. “No. I am falling for him pretty hard though.” And then I added, “I think it's great if Derek moves in.”

“Really?” Tori squeaked.

“Really.”

“I feel like we haven't seen each other. We need to meet up this week and really talk.”

“Definitely. How about Friday after work?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. Congrats on Derek.”

“Congrats on your hot old man.”

I laughed. “Alright. I'll see you soon.”

“Bye.”

The door handle turned and I cleared my throat. “Oh, someone’s in here.” A knock followed. “Be right out.”

I got myself together and felt the muscles in my stomach tense when there was another, louder knock. This time I didn’t answer right away. And then came a loud bang that caused me to jump back a few inches. I almost shrieked but I held it in.

“I’ll be right out!” I shouted now, beginning to use my phone. When the door handle twisted again, I used the best verbal defense I could think of. “I’m calling campus security!”

The pounding stopped. The door handle twisting stopped. I breathed heavily a few times and swallowed hard as I heard the faintest sound of footsteps. As badly as I wanted to peek out of the crack in the door, fear had me pinned against the wall of the bathroom stall.

I heard the creak of the door and then there was silence. I began texting Dr. Miller, though before I hit send I stopped myself. He was teaching a class. I didn’t want to bother him and pull him out of class. Not to mention there was no good reason why, according to the university, I should be phoning my professor.

“Fuck.” I whispered the word to myself. I wanted to call him, but I knew it wouldn’t be a good look. On the same note, I knew when I told him about this later, he’d be pissed that I didn’t call him.

I went with my next best option. James.

Until I heard the door crack open again, and my friend’s familiar voice called hesitantly into the women’s bathroom, I remained behind the locked door - not that someone couldn’t have gotten under the bottom of it if they really wanted to. Still, I wasn’t about to tiptoe out, only to be ambushed.

“(Y/N),” James called, “It’s me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat and finally managed to open the door. I quickly washed my hands and then hurried back out into the civilization - which at the moment was only James and I.

“Are you okay?” He asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I took a deep breath and brushed my hair back. “I don’t even know what happened. I was.. I don’t know if someone was just being impatient, or..” My eyes met his, “I don’t know.”

“Did it seem like a threat?”

I shrugged. “They tried opening the door, and I told them I was in there. And then they just kept knocking and pounding at the door and twisting the handle.” I shook my head, “It was probably someone just having a bad day, or.. I don’t know.”

“Let’s make it a formal complaint,” James suggested, but I shook my head.

“No. No, I’m sure it was nothing.”

“You have to,” he insisted, “You can’t be too careful. With everything that’s happened here, it needs to be reported.” James pulled out a small notebook from his shirt pocket.

I scrunched my nose. “Do you have to include my name?”

He shook his head. “I’ll keep that part to myself.” James made a face, “Unless they really need it for some reason.”

“Okay.” I agreed. He took the details of what had happened and then proceeded to walk me the rest of the way to my car, flashing his light in my back seat just before I hopped in.

“Thank you, James.” I gave him a hug. “I appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome.” He gave a small grin. “Any time you need someone, I’m here. I know you take a few night classes here so just make sure you don’t walk alone.”

“I won’t.”

“Be careful.”

I nodded and began to duck into the driver’s seat.

“Hey, (Y/N).”

“Yeah?” I glanced up at him as I settled in.

“Do you still live on that dead end street with Tori?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why?”

James shrugged. “You just said you had a long ride home. I didn’t know if you moved, or if you were staying with your parents or something.”

“Oh.” Shit, I had slipped. “Yeah, tonight I’m actually.. Staying somewhere else.”

“Oh.” His eyebrows rose and fell and it appeared as though he was waiting for an explanation. When I failed to elaborate James cleared his throat. “Well, stay safe.”

“Thanks for helping me out.”

“No problem.”

I waved goodbye and closed the door, locking it as I started it up. Before I put it in drive, Dr. Miller’s text came through, asking if I was on my way home.

How much do I tell him right now?

I hesitated before leaving it at: Pulling out of the parking lot now.

Are you okay to be in that big house alone? He asked.

The thought did freak me out a bit. But I knew it was probably the safest place for me to be. If it wasn’t, Dr. MIller wouldn’t be comfortable sending me off there alone.

I wrote back: If I say no will you hurry home?

I’ll hurry home anyway.

I smiled to myself and began the drive back up the desolate highway into the heart of the Catskills. After weeks of spending the night at Dr. MIller’s mansion, I couldn’t imagine not staying there.

The longer I drove with my music playing, the less I thought of the incident in the bathroom. It was when I finally reached the tall, steel gates surrounded by nothing but woods that my anxiousness grew. I had to physically get out of the car to do the code. That was when all thoughts of the bathroom came rushing back.

Dr. Miller was over a half hour away. He wasn’t here to protect me. What if that was some psycho killer? What if someone was here now? My mind rushed to all the worst case scenarios now that I was forced with the task of getting out of the car to open the gates. It was dark. It was scary - at least without Dr. Miller it was.

“Grow up,” I whispered to myself. I knew if I was going to be living there, or kind of living there, that I would have to do this.

I opened the door and hugged my body, glancing around at the swaying trees all around me. Snow still sat in patches around the area from the small storms and the pavement was dark and damp.

2003. It was four numbers, and then I could get back in the car, drive up, get comfortable and wait for my knight in shining armor.

I left the car door open and clutched my keys as I slowly paced the uphill pathway toward the key pad. A whistle from the wind made me whip around in all directions and I had to catch my breath and remind myself that I was fine. It was just the desolate surroundings and the murders on campus that had me jumpy.

Very valid reasons, I reminded myself.

I reached for the keypad and punched in 2-0 as a set of headlights rolled up the drive, illuminating trees off to the left as it rounded a bend before was in the crosshairs of the beams.

That was the last straw. I didn't know whether to keep typing or run back to my car. I did neither. I froze.

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

@untamedheart81 @suttonspuds @cesspitoflove @michilandcof @grogusmum @morallyinept @akah565 @brittmb115 @magpiepills @poodlebae @gobaaby-blog-blog @mermaidgirl30 @mandijo17 @jiminstinypinky @itscatrodriguez-thepearl @macaroni676

[lirational]

Gazania

Alpha!Coquelicot x Omega!Reader

Warnings: Dark content, Omegaverse, dubious consent, (minor) dehumanization. DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT.

Disclaimer: Written before release with minimal information. OOC abound. You have been warned!

Additional message: I promise I am working on the requests I am sorry RUSJDUDJSHSB

SMUT UNDER THE CUT. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

If, back then, you were told that one day you would be snatched up on the streets while taking a shortcut, you would’ve laughed in their face and tell them to stop watching too many movies.

Now, you would laugh without mirth, for such an event became your reality.

Fearmongers would claim that it was unsafe for an unclaimed Omega to roam freely without suppresants, even in short trips, and you were just an hour late for your next dose. You left your pills at home that day, figuring that the dose you took should give you enough time for the trip home.

A mistake you would come to regret.

When you came to, you were greeted by a woman clad in white, naked with your hands tied up in lace, laid sideways on a plush bed. Were you able to see yourself, you would realize that the ropes binding you created such a beautiful sight, an artful display meant for the woman now sitting on the sofa in front of you.

“Ah, I see you are awake.”

Her movements ooze elegance, from the way her dress wrapped around her lithe, pale body, down to the splotches of ruby jewels that gleamed like stark droplets of blood under the light. Her smile was terrifying, claiming, and as she stepped closer, you caught a whiff of her scent. Sweet, with something metallic hidden underneath that captivated your senses in a dance with the macabre. She was nothing short of beautiful, and you half wondered, in the start of your lust-inflicted haze.

Do your scent affect her even half as much as hers did?

A pointless question, and you gulped as you saw the bulge barely hidden by her short dress, the outline of a piercing visible at the end.

One hand grasped your cheek, the other tilting your chin up, forcing you to look at her ruby pupils that shimmered like blood. Her lips curled into a scimitar smile, and a shiver went down your spine, her touch setting your skin alight as your body started to submit in her presence—

The unmistakable presence of an Alpha.

“An unclaimed Omega, passing in such a secluded place… One would wonder whether you were trying to invite rabid mutts on yourself,” she shook her head, her gaze filled with a mocking compassion, tinged with unmistakable lust as her pheromones started to fill the room, spreading much like black coloring drops in pristine water. Desire was coiling in your body, preparing yourself for a potential mate, and you start to fidget, sweat dampening your skin while moisture gathered down below, likely forming a puddle with each passing second.

Despite that, the Alpha woman caressing you still seemed as if she was unaffected.

“As for my name… call me Coquelicot. Shorten it as you like, I only want to hear you scream it later,” she accentuated her threat with a rough twist on your nipples, drawing a groan that escaped your lips before you could think to even stop it, “My dear flowers have been keeping an eye on you. To think the chance to take you away arrived this soon…”

“Y, you can’t do this,” you reply, your trembling, high-pitched voice undermining any attempts at loading your voice with a semblance of authority, “My roommates will be looking for me if I don’t reach home before ten, and, I attend the—“

“They have been taken care of, my little Omega,” she cut you off, hand reaching for the ribbon on your back. With that, just like unwrapping a present, your bonds unraveled, dropping into strips of ribbons on the bed. She took one end of the ribbon and lifted your wrists up, binding your hands together, then pulled the end of the knot with her teeth, forming a tight seal that did not even allow even the slightest movement.

Her fingers glide down the sides of your body, gripping your waist in a vice-grip strength. In a contrast to your state, as you get messier from sheer desperation with each tick of the seconds, she was the epitome of patience. Her other hand cupped your dripping folds, and in a contrast to her projected grace and beauty, the way she presses on your entrance almost screams out her desire, before slipping the tip of one digit in. In a teasing motion, she wriggled her finger, and it was enough to make your toes curl, the end of a choked moan slipping through pursed lips.

“That’s no good,” she tutted, then slipped a second finger in, curling her digits before she spread them apart, drawing out a high-pitched noise that slipped out before you could stop it.

“I want to hear you.”

Even if what was left of your thoughts could muster a fight, your body had long recognized it was futile. White was creeping at the edges of your vision, while your body bucked in response to any form of stimulation. Coquelicot’s movements conveyed impatience that was not visible from how calm and languid she sounded, delicate fingers massaging your walls and mapping each reaction that spilled from your lips.

Coquelicot smelled of blood and roses, distinct metallic tang fading into sweetness at the end, the scent potent enough that with a whiff, you felt like metallic sweetness had swirled on your tongue and coated your insides. She kept up the scissoring motion of her fingers, undeterred in her quest to split you apart, to truly stake her claim on you. With a shuddering breath and a mockery of an attempt to call out her name, you spilled on her fingers, coating her pale hand with your slick.

Under the throes of your still burning lust, only slightly alleviated by coming once, you beg for her.

“Please… Coque— no, please, more—,” finally, finally a plea slipped from your lips, your earlier hiss and bite all but gone as your whole being yearned, screamed for her. You try to buck your hips, to meet the base of her fingers in hopes of feeling her touch on that sweet, sweet spot once more, yet she was too quick, a confident smirk gracing her face. It was a stark contrast to the twitching member hidden beneath her short dress, its length tenting the white garment enough that if you look just a bit lower, you would have seen everything she has down there.

“Ah, now you are finally begging! Show me, show me then, my little Omega, show me how desperate you are.”

Coquelicot stopped moving her fingers, though she kept them inside you.

“Use those hips of yours, let me hear you call my name, my blooming Gazania, my beautiful Omega. Give me unshakable proof of your loyalty for me.”

You have all but thrown your dignity to the wind, allowing yourself to be consumed by this blood-coated promise of pleasure. Though you were pinned down, restricting your movement, you still obeyed the best you could, rolling your hips in an attempt to meet the base of her fingers.

If only you could see your own expression, wanton with lust and eyes no longer reflecting any coherent thoughts. Your skin shined with sweat, evidence of the furnace burning inside, and yet you still wanted - no, needed - more. Your attempts were futile, and from the amusement dancing in Coquelicot’s gaze, she was fully aware of it.

“What happened, my little Omega? Don’t you want release?”

There was mocking glee in her voice.

“I need— I need you inside me,” you admitted with trembling lips. As an afterthought, you added, “Please.”

To your surprise, she smiled, and with an embarassing, wet sound, she pulled her fingers out, leaving you with a gaping ache bigger than you have expected.

Then, sheshoved her sullied fingers into your mouth.

“Clean this up first, then.”

Her command was accentuated as the pheromones swirling in the room intensified, turning your emptiness into clawing, unending, torturous desire. Evidence of your need had long since dripped onto your inner thighs and sullied the luxurious bed you were on, sheer need driving your thoughts to nothing else but the alpha in front of you.

You obeyed, swirling your tongue on her digits, tasting yourself on her skin.

Satisfied, she pulled her fingers out, then you saw a glimpse, her elegance almost discarded out the window as she pulled down her own panties, ruined and sullied with her own juices. As she pulled her dress aside, you saw her member in all seven inches of its full glory. The gleam of metal gave away its pierced tip and sides, with a short ornament hanging on its very tip, close to the bead of precum already forming. A spiked cock ring could be seen at the base, its look reminiscent of rose thorns.

She did not give you a chance to admire it.

She aligned her pelvis with yours, looking at you with a gaze so loving, so deep in a wave of obsession that threatens to sweep you under. The tip of her cock pressed against your entrance, then it slipped in all too easily, your clenched walls allowing you to feel each bump at the side pressing against you.

Her slow entrance kept you at edge, even as the grip of her fingers tightened on your shoulders, a sign that she, too, was impatient and close to ramming everything inside. As she slid down slowly, savoring the feeling, you felt more complete. Euphoria washed over you as she finally slid everything inside you, her cock now pressing so deep you could feel it threatening to truly, finally split you apart and bind you to her in vines full of thorns and deceit.

“Try to stay awake, dear Gazania,” Coquelicot warned, the mockery made clear with her laugh.

That was not your name, but you could not find it to protest - perhaps, more like you were not given a chance to as her thrusts became faster, more erratic, a sign that she has truly let go of her restraints. Her ruby eyes almost shined with the intensity of it all, and her breaths became ragged, though you only saw that glimpse for a second before she lunged for your exposed skin, kissing marks that would paint your skin in smudged red and dark blue bruises later on. From your shoulders, the column of your neck, to your breasts, she kept you aware and able to feel everything she did, both as she rearranged your insides with each thrust, and the way her tongue swirled patterns on your stiff nipples.

Her groans became more stilted, louder, and so were your moans, spilling unbidden without care of who or what might hear the two of you tangled in twisted, bloodied passion. She pumped faster, caressing that sweet, sweet spot, her movements desperate for her own release, while you saw stars at the edge of your vision as you tipped over the edge, adding to the mess that was already pooling beneath you. Her cock twitched, once, twice inside you, then she came, her girth swelling, filling you up with both the scalding hot proof of your passionate tangle, and her dick that now acted as a plug, keeping you two in each other’s embrace.

You could feel that a little bit almost spilled out, yet it remained there, as if Coquelicot did not want any of it to go to waste.

“Haah, my flower… you are finally mine,” she muttered, warm tongue licking the spot near your neck, her breaths fanning the spot and causing you to shudder, but you were already too full, the craving of your body satisfied, and you wanted nothing more than to curl up, perhaps from the mix of shame and satisfaction. Thankfully, she seemed to understand, and helped shift your position, allowing you to sleep on your side, though still tangled. The last thing you heard, before she drifted off and left you to ponder your fate alone, was her sweet whisper.

“Let’s do it again when you are rested, my dear flower.”

[drewsbuzzcut]

Forever Doesn’t Measure

mat barzal x model!fem!reader

a visceral in doses fic

Part 3 here

warnings: angst, crying, pregnancy, small argument, and I think that’s all

You sit at the island bar, basking in the sweet sounds of Nolan laughing along with Mat. He’s laid out on the rug, the boy playing with cars and using Mat as a racing track. All while AJ is sleeping peacefully in the pack and play. It transports you back to certain moments of happiness, moments you wish you could always live in.

You make eye contact with Mat and it’s like he takes a skinny dip inside your mind, because he gives you a longing smile. You can see it in his eyes that he knows what you’re thinking about.

The peace doesn’t last too long when AJ wakes up in tears; it’s his feeding time. You’re quick to settle on the couch, your baby boy nestled in your arms under a blanket, happily sucking away. It’s your last month of breastfeeding before weaning him off, knowing that he can’t just not visit with Mat during his allotted time.

You focus on Angel’s blond hair and soft cheeks, distracting yourself from thinking about how you were once a married mom, but now a single one.

Mat’s body sitting beside you on the couch makes you look away from the baby. He peers at you with a softness that you’ve almost forgotten.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me. It really means a lot to be here with the boys and you,” he says, knowing that spending the Christmas holiday together is important.

You honestly didn’t want to because almost 2 weeks ago you were tagged in pictures of him and a girl together, who you assumed was his friend from home. However, the thought of your boys not seeing their father took away all your anger. You didn’t need to ruin their lives even more.

“The boys miss you a lot, and it isn’t fair to them for you not to be here.”

“I miss them, too, everyday. I miss being on morning duty. Believe it or not, it’s one of my favorite parts of being a parent,” he admits. You faintly smile, thinking about all the times Mat would come back to bed with either one of his twins or both.

“You still have morning duty,” you point out, your free hands brushing AJ’s hair to avoid reaching out for Mat.

“Yeah, for like every other week. It’s not the same. Especially because you’re not there with me,” your heart hurts at his words.

“Is this your way of saying you miss me?” You tease, desire taking over when your hand reaches out to brush his hair away from his forehead.

“Of course I miss you,” he says simply, holding your hand in his. The way his thumb sweeps over your knuckles is pure bliss.

You tilt your head towards him while letting it rest back against the couch, eyelashes fluttering and eyes glued on him. Your innocent looks breaks him down into mush.

“I miss you, too,” you say, growing shy and looking down to avoid his stare. He only guides your face to his, lips connecting in a blurring passion. You try to lean into him, but with your baby pressed to your chest, it’s kind of hard. Mat does the job, though, scooting close to you to the point you’re practically wrapped in his arms.

Your tongue seeks entrance to his mouth, prodding the seam of his lips to make its way to dance with his tongue. You have the innate need to explore his mouth as you haven’t done so in a while. He feels the same way.

“Daddy! Daddy, look!” Nolan’s shouts make the both of you jump away from each other, in a state of shock at what just happened.

“Wow, little man! That’s so cool,” Mat clears his throat before complimenting Nolan’s favorite toy that he’s showing off.

“Um… I need to burp Angel and put him down for a nap. I’ll be back,” you mutter before scurrying upstairs.

The second you’re gone, Mat notices your phone going off, and without thinking about it, he picks it up to see who messaged you.

Tito: Happy holidays! I’m so glad we finally got to see you and the boys. Angel is perfect. I miss you guys. Hopefully we can have another visit soon.

Mat frowns at the message, not aware that you flew to Vancouver to visit Anthony.

“AJ went to sleep right away. I swear I can just watch him sleep all the time,” you gush, not knowing what you’re walking into.

“You went to Vancouver?” He asks immediately, catching you off guard.

Your mouth opens and closes, truly not knowing what to say.

“Um… yeah. I took the boys to go visit Tito and Emma. It was only for a few days,” you say softly.

“How could you?” Mat asks incredulously.

“What’s the big deal?”

“We were supposed to introduce Angel to them together,” he reminds you of the detail you stupidly ignored.

“Well, we aren’t together anymore, so it shouldn’t matter,” your voice is in a whisper, hoping that Mat will get the hint to not yell.

“It does matter. He’s my best friend, not yours,” he spits out.

You fight the tears willing to slip down your cheeks.

“I’m tired of you saying hurtful things to me! I’m tired of you breaking my heart,” he tells you.

“Breaking your heart? What about the girl you went on a date with? Huh? That friend from home? Yeah, I saw those pictures of you two together,” you inform him.

“It wasn’t a date! She is a friend from home, one that has a girlfriend, but I guess you didn’t see her in those pictures. And what does it matter if I was on a date, we’re not together anymore,” he throws your words in your face.

Your hands gravitate to your stomach out of instinct, holding on to the soon to be last piece of Mat that you’ll ever have. You can feel your heart cracking, knowing that most of this is your fault. You’re the one to blame.

“You’re right. It doesn’t matter. You’re free to date whoever you want. I’m sorry for saying hurtful things to you. I don’t hate you, I hate myself. Excuse me, but I think I’m going to take a nap. I’ll be down in time for dinner, just please watch Nols and keep an ear out for Angel,” you whisper, voice hoarse and ego crumbled.

You drag yourself upstairs, heading to your closet to pull on a large hoodie that you sneakily took from Mat before you moved out. Undressing out of your outfit, you put your hair up in a messy bun, and cuddle into your bed. Sleep takes over your body in less than a second. You hope you have dreams of your family being all together again.

Mat’s upset with himself for making you cry. To keep the picture of you heartbroken out of his mind, he starts completing miscellaneous tasks around the house, something he knows you’d appreciate. He’s lucky to get Nolan down for a nap even if it’s for 20 minutes. He takes a load of laundry upstairs to fold and put away. As he’s putting some of your clothes in your drawer he finds your paperwork confirming your pregnancy. To say he’s shocked is an understatement. A flurry of thoughts rush through his mind, tears starting to cloud his eyes at the secret you’ve been keeping. He’s not upset with you for not telling him, but at the fact that he has been missing out on the journey so far.

He exits your walk-in closet, coming face to face with your sleeping form. No one can stop him as he strides over to what would be your side of the bed- you’re asleep on his side -and lets his body sink next to yours. You’re on your side, facing away from him, so once he settles he nudges your body to turn into his hold. Your face connects with his chest, an arm holding onto him while one of your legs tangles with his. Eventually you end up on top of him, the natural instinct taking over. Besides, his warmth is to die for.

He allows his fingers to card through your mess bun; the urge to comfort you, strong. He watches your features as they are contorted into something resembling peace. You never see it, but Angel and Nolan look like you when you’re asleep. Both boys share that same blissful smile with you when sleep takes over. Mat first noticed it when Nolan was around one year old, and now he sees it all the time.

Light, pounding footsteps alert Mat, Nolan is making his way to the room.

“Mommy?”

“Mommy is sleeping, buddy. What’s up?”

“I hungry!”

“I know. We’ll start dinner in a little bit. Why don’t you lay with me for a bit,” Mat makes enough room for Nolan to cuddle with you both, you ending back on Mat’s side, facing him while your arms are still around him.

His eyes start to sting, thinking about another baby with you. He is so excited. His hand travels to your stomach, alerting you in the process. Your eyes pop open and you stare into his beautiful eyes. You know he knows. It’s as if anything but you touched your stomach, you immediately go into protective mode.

“Another baby, eh?”

“Another baby,” you confirm. He just smiles, eyes closed and lips closed, but the smile is so happy and a little smug.

Your one arm falls to rest around his waist, relishing in the small contact you have with his bare skin from where his shirt rides up.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t,” you shake your head fast and repeatedly, swearing away the thoughts of telling him before this moment. “I just couldn’t tell you. We had just broken up, and I was so shocked about the news. I just didn’t want to disappoint you even more. Even Tito said I should wait,” you say rushing through your words.

Mat’s face falls and for a minute you’re confused until you realize why. You told Tito before Mat.

No no no.

“You told Tito before me?” He asks surprised and hurt, immediately getting up and your hand latches into his waist to keep him close to you, but he’s stronger and upset. He rips himself out of your hold, disturbing Nolan in the process.

He stands, pacing a bit, one hand through the hair and the other rubbing at his neck. Those actions stop when he realizes Nolan is watching his every move, so he picks up Nolan as if he’s a protective blanket, constantly playing with his hair and kissing his head.

“Don’t be mad at Tito, please. It was word vomit. I didn’t mean to actually tell him,” you explain.

“But you still did,” Mat finishes, walking downstairs and leaving you alone with more guilt than you can handle.

You stay in bed for no more than 10 minutes, forcing yourself to get up and attend to Angel. Once he’s all changed and settled, you make your way downstairs. The air is tense beyond measure. Mat is prepping the kitchen, but takes over with AJ to let you cook as he isn’t the best.

From the time of cooking and preparing to eating, everything is silent except for the scrapes of the utensils against the plates and chewing.

Mat sits across from you, holding Angel in his lap. He’s so small compared to Mat’s arms. You start to think about just how much time Angel is missing out with him and vice versa. That’s how it’ll most likely be with the new baby, too. You don’t even realize your tears are falling until Mat is seating himself next to you to comfort you. You can only push yourself away from him. You don’t deserve his affection.

“I love you. Don’t push me away,” he whispers in your ear.

You only shake your head in response, and for the rest of dinner, you’re both silent, just watching the boys.

As you and Mat clean up around each other, you ponder how things should go from here. How will it work with you being pregnant? At the sink, you feel his arms cage you in. His tall, strong frame surrounds you. His breath flows out his mouth and down the back of your neck. You ward off the chills that sensation brings you. His head leans down, forehead resting on your shoulder. His hands move to rest on your stomach. It’s at that moment when you break down completely. Your body goes limp as your silent cries take over, but his body flows seamlessly with yours, so he has you in his hold before you hit the ground.

“Don’t do this, Mat,” you say.

“Don’t do what?” His face frowns in confusion, eyes searching desperately for yours for a clue.

“Don’t forgive me or love me just because I’m pregnant. I don’t want you to be with me for the sake of the kids,” you sob out.

“What about wanting to be together for the sake of us? I love you and I will never stop loving you,” he says so sure.

You turn to look at him when you feel droplets hitting your blouse and soaking your skin through the fabric.

“You’re breaking my heart. Please don’t,” he mutters.

“I love you,” you say for the first time in what feels like forever.

“I love you.”

“I want to be with you. Please. I want you. I want our family. I fucked up so badly. I don’t hate you. I love you. I overreacted about the whole nanny situation and I’m a fucking mess, but I need you. I want you,” you practically chant as you break through your stubborn walls.

“You didn’t overreact. I was being an asshole. I’m sorry. I love you. I want you. I want our family,” he says, sealing his lips to yours. It’s a kiss that can bring you back to life. A kiss that only gives you that fleeting emotion. A kiss that only Mat can give you.

“Mommy?” You hear Nolan calling out for you, so you break away from Mat.

He looks at you with a hint of worry, but more loving than anything.

“You ‘kay?” He forces himself between you and Mat, your face held in between his little hands. He looks at you with a look that you’ve only ever see on Mat when he’s making sure everything is good.

“Yes, baby. Mommy is okay. Mommy is happy,” you breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that you aren’t lying anymore. Pulling yourself off the ground with help from Mat and your little man, you bring all your boys into your arms on the couch. You feel like you can finally breathe again.

You and Mat make eye contact once more, fighting and breaking through each other’s walls- even though yours are more of a struggle to get through. You hate the way you treated him over the few months of separation, but there is nothing more healing than love being shared, love being felt, and love being created.

a/n: I’m so sorry this took long, but I hope you all love it! Thank you all for all the love and kind words<3

taglist: @literatureluster

[boltupbitches]

Black Ties - Nick Bosa

18+ content ahead (smut)

She was playing with fire. She knew that the second she hit sent on those photos.

Within seconds they showed sent and she put her phone down, waiting impatiently for his response.

Her fiance, Nick, was at a black-tie dinner event held by his family's financial firm. It was the public front his mother's family operated under while they continued to run their underground mafia dealings. This was something that shocked his fiance the first time she found out as his girlfriend when Joey was fighting with his parents over knocking up the daughter of a don from a rival family. That night was quite shocking and reflected a pivotal change in her relationship with him. Her sticking by him signified her loyalty which led him to return the same sentiment. His undying loyalty to her.

He wanted to take her along with him as he wasn't the most social and didn't want to get roped into babysitting Joey who would likely drink too much and pick a fight with their dad or someone else nearby. Especially since Carla wouldn't be present to keep him in line, with being home with their baby and all.

Sadly for Nick, she had been to a similar event where one of his cousin's had hit on her and a fistfight broke out between him and said cousin.

She wanted to sit this one out this time.

That didn't mean she couldn't have some fun though from home.

Slipping into a black lingerie set she recently purchased, she decided to put on one of his white button ups and a black tie to top it off, posing in the mirror with a pair of black heels and stockings to match, she thought she looked good with her hair tousled and the red lipstick he loved her wearing. Especially when those red lips were wrapped around something down below.

She took about 10 photos, each in different poses and less clothing items each time.

The final one was of her topless, arm across her chest as she bit at the tip of her finger seductively.

She knew the second he saw these he'd be out of his grandmother's house and flooring it home, with or without his driver.

-BING-

She broke out of her daze to see a message from Nick.

She opened them up to see a string of messages and the three dots loading as he messaged her back.

Nick

Fuck.

I knew you'd do this shit to me. Everytime

You fucking tease.

omw

She giggled and tried to call him, only to be sent immediately to voicemail after the first ring.

Which meant he was mad. And very, very sexually frustrated in this moment.

Good. That meant it would be a fun night tonight.

She laid back on their bed, a huge, goofy smile overtaking her face as she waited patiently for her beau.

She didn't realize she had dosed until she felt a hand gently shaking her to wake her up.

Sitting up in confusion for a moment, she looked up, making eye contact with Nick as he stared back at her, his already dark brown eyes even darker, communicating to her his wants and desires as she stared back.

"You little minx." He said gruffly.

She just smiled innocently back at him. "Who me?"

"Yes, you." He mocked back. He shifted to kneel on the bed, his suit jacket missing, tie loosened, and shoes and socks already long gone.

She could see his prominent bulge pressing against the seam of his dress pants, hard and wanting. Just for her.

She looked up, making eye contact with Nick as he raked his eyes down her body, taking in the black laced set she was sporting, and the thigh high stockings still adorning her legs.

She had kicked the heels off before laying down and was glad she did so because Nick was on her within moments.

Their lips met as his one hand buried into her hair while the other worked its way down her body towards her panties.

He broke the kiss to make his way down to her neck, sucking marks along the way.

With how rough he was right now, she knew she was in for it tonight.

She reached for the black tie hanging loosely from around his neck and tugged on it to get his attention.

He looked up and stared at her questioningly as she stared back. "When you fuck me.." She started, making sure to keep eye contact as his pupils dilated further in want. "Keep this on, baby." She tugged it again and Nick nodded obediently before returning to his task at hand and taking over once again.

It was a good thing their townhouse was pretty high up on a sky rise because the amount of screaming she was about to do tonight wasn't within noise ordinance. She was sure of that.

------

Maybe a part 2 at a later date?

[bimbo---bitch]

if youre still taking requests, id love to see something written about some smug rich girl being turned into a milky cow

This isn't much to go off, so I'm gonna do my best lol. I wrote kinda bitchy wlw hucow transformation. Again, I wrote this in second person, I am sorry lol:

She wasn't always this way. When the two of you were younger, she had no desire to shove her closet the size of your house, or the designer purses, or the sports cars in your face. But the second you two went to college, she became a whole new person. Her whole personality revolved around her wealth. You assumed it was just because she wanted attention, but you always felt that it was the wrong kind of attention.

You hadn't spoken to her since orientation, now you were entering your senior year and you two managed to get stuck in a class together. Unfortunately, this was one of those seminar classes where you're made to work on the same project for the whole year with the same partner.

You've heard from some of the other people in your major that she's a notorious slacker, the kind of person who always just skates by, a real "C's get degrees" kind of gal. Normally, you wouldn't care about this, but because you're grade is on the line here, too, you were fuming at the thought of her just making you do the whole assignment by yourself.

You were going to set her straight. One way or another, she was going to pull her weight in this project.

You decided to invite her back to your dorm to brainstorm ideas, but you already had one. You just needed to wait for the inevitable.

The two of you sat down at your too small kitchen table and stared at your laptop screens.

You both affixed your gaze on a blank Google Doc simply titled "Ideas."

Well, you did. She just had it open and was instead focused on her phone. Now was your chance:

"So, any ideas you think could be interesting for the-"

She raises a finger to you, "I'm gonna stop you there. I know you're, like, way smarter than me, so you can just do it and I'll, like, make the PowerPoint pretty in the end. Okay? Just do whatever you want, we can, like, meet up for 15, or like 20 minutes every couple of days to make it look like we're working, but beyond that I don't care."

"Okay, but why do you have to look like you're working? It's not like we're being checked on."

"You might not be, but I am. These stupid professors have me on academic probation, so they need to know where I am all the time," she groaned.

"Got it." You knew the answer already, of course. Gossip is common throughout the school about the pretty little rich girl who always manages to come out on top.

"Yeah, so just do whatever you want," she said with a dismissing wave.

You nodded, covering your mouth with your hand, hiding a grin that cartoon supervillains would be jealous of. You clicked open a new tab with a fully set up paper outline and data collection page. This was going to be the perfect paper. You called it, "Creating a Hucow: How Lactation Supplements and Subliminal Messaging Can Turn Anyone into a Ditzy Cow."

Of course you needed IRB approval for this, but based on your partner's nonchalance and overall dismissive nature, you could surely get her to sign all the papers you needed without her ever noticing what she was agreeing to.

So, off you went. For months, you slowly dosed her up with lactation supplements, offering to pick up her Starbucks and spiking it before each 20 minute meeting. You'd talk to her about how gorgeous she'd look in cow print, how soft her skin looked. After a month, she was letting you give her hand and shoulder massages. After two months, you were able to comment to her about how heavy her breasts looked, how tight her clothes had gotten, and how the cow print would help to hide it well. She started to let you grope her under the guise of "just holding them up to help her back." Each time she let you do this, you slowly introduced nipple stimulation. Then the day came.

It was month three and she was practically putty in your hands. But there was still work to do, and you knew just how to get the next phase started:

"Hey, you know, during some of my research for this stupid paper, I found that breast pumping, like the stuff new moms do, can really help ease the pain in your tits."

"Really? I never, like, ever heard that before."

"No, it's true! Here, I knew you were having a rough time, and I don't wanna see you suffer, so I bought you one," you say presenting the best pump to her, "Wanna try it out? I can get it hooked up for you."

She looked at you, puzzled, maybe moreso tentative. There was a long pause as she examined the device, "Okay. What not."

Success.

You peeled off her shirt, and hooked her up to the little pump. After only a few seconds, milk started to leak from her nipples into the machine.

"Oh my god! What the hell? Why am I-"

You shush her, cutting her off, "Don't worry, it's normal. Sometimes this just happens to girls with big tits like yours. It's the price to pay for beauty like that. But don't worry, I'm here to help."

"Okay, if you say so," her voice trailed off, it's the most concerned she's sounded throughout this whole process. You'd be sure to note that down. "But okay, I trust you. Thank you for helping me."

"Any time."

With that, you convinced her to come over more often, twice a day for an hour each session. Each time you'd pump her, you'd touch her breasts, rub her thighs. She moaned at the mear sight of your hands now.

By month four, she would come to your dorm and stop down to nothing but a micro cow-print bikini, which she now wore under her ensemble of cow-print clothes each day, and her cow bell collar. She'd then let you rip off her top and pump her. You'd run your pussy and your own breasts as you touched her, and she would beg for your touch all the time now.

It was month five now, and the semester was drawing to a close. She was a wet, milky mess the second she laid eyes on you. She would walk around on all fours, pumping her tits as she slurped up your wetness. Her favorite activity was rubbing your tits together.

She was the prettiest little experiment you ever saw.

And today was the day you'd tell her what you'd done to her. In front of the whole seminar class.

Your class' collective jaw dropped the second you walked in with her on a leash, walking on all fours in her micro bikini, leaking milk down her swollen tits.

You began your presentation:

"This semester, I turned my partner, with her consent, of course, into a hucow. Here's how I did it."

You spent your presentation detailing every step in your manipulative process, and not once did her face drop that ditzy smile it had. All she did was nod, smile and beg to be touched by you throughout your presentation.

As your presentation drew to a close, now was the time to ask your coveted question: "Alright, cow, here's my final question for this study, okay?"

She nodded fast.

"Knowing what you do now about what I did to you and how, are you mad, and do you regret what you've become?"

Without missing a beat, she chirps, "Absolutely not! I'm so happy being your dumb cow! I just wanna be your little milky toy forever! Please may I be your toy?"

You look at your classmates and smile, "Why yes, yes you can."

She jumps up from the floor and kisses you, groping your tits in front of the class.

You had made the perfect bimbo cow and proved that it was a more than satisfactory existence. This was the life.

[arsenicflame]

sprizzy this is how you lose the time war adjacent AU-

It starts with Izzy leaving a letter at the Revenge's most recent battle- we'll never know if he specifically planned for Lucius to find it, or if it was just meant for any member of the crew, but it is Lucius who finds it amongst the wreckage. Written in blocky-but-precise print, he finds a note thanking them for joining the war:

"but then you turned up and our margins vanished. You invigorated my captain again, and in doing so, invigorated me"

Lucius, being Lucius, has to write back. He sends a letter in his best calligraphy, full of flirting and innuendos, with a healthy dose of mockery at the first mate for the defeat that'll have led him to finding this letter.

Izzy, being Izzy, cant let Lucius have the last word, can't let him win. Despite the danger of their communication- the best they can hope for if their captains find out is to be labelled a traitor, to be cut off from all they know- they can't stop themselves.

And now they have a correspondence. The letters shift from taunts to tales, a mutual hatred of The Republic and a discovery that their paths had crossed before-

Izzy saved Lucius as a child, though he didn't know it then. Just a young pickpocket stalking the streets, new to the game and unaware he was being tailed- but Izzy noticed. He tries not to get involved in others business, but he also can't let a child get hurt when he could have intervened, so he makes a move on Lucius' stalker, taking him out before he got a chance to do something himself (though not without being stabbed through the shoulder) leaving Lucius none the wiser-until now.

They fall in love through their writing, dedication and devotions, talk of tea and bouquets, and an end to this godforsaken war.

"Love spreads backwards through time. I am sure there was a time I did not love you, but it feels a ghost to me now"

It ends, eventually, as all things do. Izzy's interest is noticed by Lucius' side, how he seems to precede or follow him, and a decision is made, to take out the second in command of the enemy and bring their whole side to its knees.

The plan, to have Lucius show an interest in talking with Izzy, is laughable, if it were not for the stakes. Lucius makes the poisoned letter as clear as possible, he has to make sure Izzy knows the trap he's going to fall into, to never read this letter. Make it seem as though Izzy wasn't interested in him after all, and to never speak again, only seeing each other from across the battlefield.

Izzy understands the message, he would have to be blind not to. But what choice does he have? If he doesn't read it, then Lucius will have failed, and failure is unacceptable in this war. He can't have his actions cause Lucius harm- he can't think of anything worse.

So he opens it, signing his death, and sits down to write one last letter. Congratulations on a game well played, to Lucius for managing to slip under his armour and between his ribs to take him down.

It ends, as it starts, with a letter.

(or does it?)

[falloutjuli]

Look who got mad Chuuya brainrot so Im gonna drop this one here while I continously work on my other two ideas uwu. dont even ask how i came up with any of this, I typed this in like two nights I think? Im not even sure anymore lmaooooo.

Also its my first time writing for BSD sooo, hi im nervous af.

-----------------------

Chuuya Nakahara × fwb!gn!Reader - Lets be more than friends

Wordcount: 2,7k

Short summary: After an excruciating couple weeks, Chuuya texts his friend to come over and they do. Unfortunately after some great time together, Chuuya gets hit with a dose of reality that the situation is changing and perhaps he has waited too long.

Warnings: Very brief not super detailed smut, some cursing, FWB Situation, toxic frommer relationship mentioned, theres a creepy guy reader goes on a date with. THEY/THEM pronouns and Y/N used.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT -----------------------

>>Could you do me a favor? Please go to my apartment, make yourself comfortable, order some food for the two of us and then let me fuck you until I forget my own name.<<

Arriving at his front door, Chuuya wondered if perhaps he had been a little too harsh in his message. But the smell that invaded his nostrils the second he opened the door told him they didn't take it in a mean way. Kicking off his shoes, putting away his hat and coat he walked into the kitchen where they were staring at his oven.

"Welcome home Chuuya." Y/N said, giving him a warm smile. "Roughly thirty minutes, then food should be ready, sorry that's it's that long, I miscalculated my time preparing."

"You could have just gotten takeout or something. I didn't expect you to cook. And also..." Chuuya looked at his couch that was cleaned up. And now that he looked around, everything was cleaner.

"Gathered your laundry, put on a machine, and cleaned a little. Like I said, welcome home."

The cheeky smile they gifted him, while saying so nonchalantly that they did all this for him, it had Chuuya grin, walking quickly over and lifting them up to sit them down on the counter. Getting between their legs, the redhead grinned up at Y/N, who lovingly put their hands on his cheeks, cupping his face.

Their lips finally met and both relaxed into the other, with Y/N brushing their thumbs over his smooth skin and Chuuyas arms wrapped tightly around Y/Ns waist.

This wasn’t enough in Chuuyas mind, he needed more so his tongue rather quickly invaded their mouth, making his desperation rather clear. Pulling away after a while, a little out of breath, Y/N spoke up; "We got still twenty-five minutes left until your oven beeps soooo..."

Without any hesitation, Chuuya lifted them up, carrying them over to his bedroom to do what they did so many times already.

The undressing of Chuuya was practiced by Y/N so many times now that it happened very quickly. The buttons opened, vest, shirt and accessories discarded (except for the choker, which they never took off, they had once confessed to Chuuya how much it turned them on), his pants pooling on the floor.

Thanks to Y/N rather simple outfit tonight they were undressed soon too and so it wasn't before long that Chuuya was inside of them, the main noise that filled the room being their moans. Y/N still had a sly grin on their face and Chuuya was determined to fuck it out of them.

"What you grinning for like that?"

"Dunno. Ah... I just like the way...fuck...it riles you up."

Biting his lip, he picked up the pace, making the person underneath him a moaning mess.

---

His hand roughly grabbed a fist full of h/c colored strands of hair as he came down their throat, a shaky "Fuck~" on his lips.

Patiently, Y/N waited until he had rode out his orgasm and took his whole length one more time before letting him go and swallowing the cum. "You're too good to me." Chuuya said, falling backwards on his bed from his sitting position, still a little out of breath.

"Oh please, it's nothing." They said, got up, and looked at the sprawled-out man. He was pretty, oh so pretty.

Putting their underwear back on and stealing one of the bathrobes that looked so exquisite, they walked back out to the kitchen, checking on the food, which finally looked done. While carefully pulling the steaming hot Lasagna out, Chuuya exited his bedroom, dressed in Casual sweatpants and shirt.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asked as he crept up behind Y/N, pressing a few light kisses onto their neck. "Not at all. Don't worry. I know how you are when you come back from a long mission and then get even more work loaded onto you."

Chuuya kind of disliked how easy they were able to read him, but at the same time it made things so easy. They understood each other wordlessly. Y/N always knew what he needed, wasn't mad if he was unable to keep in touch due to work and was there whenever he needed them. It was perfect.

So, while he let Y/N fill plates with food, Chuuya grabbed wine and glasses for them, placing them on the couch, where not long after Y/N then proffered the plates and took seat next to him. Putting on the TV for some background noise, Chuuya leaned back with a filled glass in hand, taking a long sip.

"Thank you. For everything." He whispered quietly, almost thinking his friend hadn't heard him, but they did reply.

"No, don't thank me. I'm just helping you out a little."

"I have to. I haven't texted you in a couple of weeks and then only send you that message that I typed while rushing out of my boss’s office after getting more work loaded onto me." And without even wanting to, anger filled him, but it just as quickly subsided when a warm hand was placed on his chest, calmly petting him.

"Don't sweat it. You're here, you have wine, so relax a little."

Moving to sit on him, straddling him, Y/N got comfortable and reunited their lips again. He tasted like his wine, sweet though also a little bitter, which was so unapologetically Chuuya in every way.

Just when that new make out session was getting heated once more, with their hands in his red hair and his hands slipping underneath the robe, a phone notification ripped them out of their bliss.

 "Sorry I..." they mumbled as they leaned over, grabbing the device from the couch and swiftly unlocking it. Chuy's groaned, taking another sip. "Who's interrupting?" He asked and the grin on Y/Ns face grew wide.

"My date for next week."

Suddenly it felt like the wind has been knocked out of Chuuyas lungs. He just stared at his friend, who was happily texting, on top of him.

His chest felt heavy, his thoughts raced through his mind, but he couldn't even make out what he was thinking, nor what he was feeling.

"A date?" He asked, his voice suddenly sounding strange to him. "Yeah. I went out with friends recently and I met some really nice guy who kept buying me drinks!" They laughed, putting their phone aside.

"And we exchanged numbers and he asked me out. Aren't ya happy for me?"

"Yeah totally. It's what you deserve!" He lied through his teeth. Unexplainably he didn't feel happy, though it was what he had hoped for Y/N all this time.

He had met them after they got out of a horrible relationship. And out of their friendship and shared need for human contact blossomed a little friends with benefits situation.

He knew what they were, so why did his chest feel like it was burning, why did he feel regret that he had left Y/N for weeks, allowing some asshole who wasn't deserving of them to even get a chance.

"Aw thank you. I'll let you know how it went. But for now, we should get eating, otherwise I'll feel like I wasted all my time preparing this." They slipped out of his lap, plopping down beside him and grabbing their plate.

His appetite was lost but Chuuya still ate, not wanting them to feel like it was going to waste.

The meal continued in an awkward silence, broken only by the clinking of utensils and the distant sounds of the city outside. Chuuya mechanically put food in his mouth, but it might as well have been cardboard for all he tasted. His mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

As they ate, Y/N seemed oblivious to Chuuyas inner turmoil. They chatted about their upcoming date, sharing more details about the guy they had met and their plans for the evening. Chuuya tried to feign interest, asking questions, and nodding at appropriate times, but his heart wasn't in it.

He couldn't shake the feeling of regret, the nagging thought that he had missed an opportunity. They had been there for each other in the aftermath of Y/N's horrible breakup, and their friends-with-benefits arrangement had provided comfort and solace.

But somewhere along the way, he had allowed himself to become emotionally attached, even if he hadn't realized it until now.

And this realization now threatened to crush him under the weight it held. From the corner of his eye, he looked at Y/N, who still wasn't aware of his silent demise at all. Their eyes were on the TV, a kind smile on their lips as always.

Soon the dinner was over, food had been eaten, wine has been downed, and internally Chuuya was still freaking out in a way. But what was he supposed to do? Overstep their boundaries, and just tell them he got attached now that they met someone? That would have been cruel and unfair to them, so he swore to not say anything about it.

"Hey you alright?" Y/N asked, placing their hand on his, concern written all over their face. "Nothing to worry about. Just thinking about all the work I'll have to do the coming days." Seemingly believing his lies, they smiled again, and went to clean up.

"You don't have to-" Chuuya said but was immediately hushed. "Let me do this for you."

So, he let them, he couldn't deny them.

Once everything was clean and Y/N was back in her own clothes, Chuuya accompanied them to the door.

"You won't allow me to thank you, but please know I'm glad you were here tonight."

"Always Chuuya. Just text me when you can, and I won't be mad when you won't, I know you're busy." He nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts only clouding with regret over his missed chance. Y/N quickly hugged him tight, mumbling; "Alright then, see you soon hopefully."

"Yeah, see you soon." He replied and watched them leave. Back inside behind closed doors, he just walked to his bed, laid down and felt the emptiness that suddenly felt crushing. He had never felt lonely in his bed.

But tonight, he did.

---

Radio silence from both ends followed that evening. Chuuya was predictably busy with Mafia work while Y/N was simply caught up in their own life and prepared for their date.

So Chuuya didn't really expect a sudden message appearing on his phone that read; >> SOS, help me! I'm at the Yokohama Sunset grill place, pllsss<<

"Will you guys be alright without me?" Chuuya asked directed at his subordinates, who were by now only cleaning up the guys Chuuya left behind.

"Of course, Nakahara!" One replied so Chuuya quickly got on his motorcycle and took off towards the place mentioned in the message.

The drive towards the restaurant was rather pleasant, the early dusk painted the sky all kinds of colors and the air was chilly but not too cold yet.

His mind was restless, hoping nothing too bad has happened. And in case it did, well whoever hurt Y/N better be prepared for the wrath of a Mafia executive with the ability to manipulate gravity.

Arriving at the fancy looking  place he spotted his friend near the entrance being talked to by a guy who was rather rudely invading their personal space.

Y/N was smiling but Chuuya immediately spotted that it was a fake and pained one. He quickly got off and walked over, his coat wafting behind him as he did. "Chuuya!" Y/N immediately called out, leaving their leaned position. And meeting Chuuya halfway.

"Hey woah woah, Y/N we ain't done yet." The guy called out and came after them.

Chuuyas eyes narrowed as he approached the scene, his protective instincts kicking in. He stood beside Y/N, his presence meant to offer support without escalating the situation. Y/N, visibly uncomfortable, took a step closer to Chuuya.

"Listen," Y/N began, their tone polite but firm, "I appreciate the evening, but I'm just not feeling it. Let's part ways amicably."

The guy's cocky demeanor faltered for a moment, but he quickly recovered, leaning in closer to Y/N. "Come on, don't tell me you'd pick that shrimp over me," he sneered, glaring at Chuuya. "He's barely a man. Honey, you can't be real. Come on, let's go to my place."

Chuuya clenched his fists, his temper rising, but he reminded himself to stay calm. He didn't want to make things worse for Y/N. Instead, he spoke in a measured tone. "Look, she's made her decision, and you need to respect that. It's time to move on."

Y/N nodded in agreement, their fake smile still in place. "Yeah, sorry, but I'm really not interested. Thank you for the evening, though."

The guy's face contorted with anger, and he took a step back, his frustration evident. "You're making a big mistake," he spat before storming off.

Chuuya watched him leave, making sure he was well and truly gone before turning his attention back to Y/N. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, genuine concern in his eyes.

Y/N let out a sigh of relief, their shoulders relaxing. "Yeah, thanks to you. I really didn't want things to get any worse."

Chuuya gave them a reassuring smile. "I've got your back, always. Let's get out of here and grab a drink perhaps? My place is closer than yours, but only if that’s alright with you…“ He said, and carefully examined their reaction, not wanting to cause any mire discomfort.

“Yes please, get me out of here.“ They replied and followed Chuuya over to his motorcycle. They have ridden together a few times already, but it still felt a little weird every time again.

---

The ride to Chuuyas apartment was silent, but it was a comfortable one. Y/Ns arms around his frame felt nice and Chuuya felt more than happy that they had contacted him to rescue them in a sense.

They remained in silence all the way up Chuuyas apartment, and even until they were both seated on the couch with wine filled glasses. Putting an arm around them, Chuuya pulled Y/N close.

"You alright?" He asked as his head leaned on theirs. "Yeah. Thank you for coming. The guy kept pestering me no matter how many times I said no. He wasn't like that before and didn't know what to do so I texted you."

Suddenly they leaned away and looked at Chuuya shocked. "I didn't call you away from work or anything, right?"

Laughing, he waved his hand and shook his head. "No. Also don't worry your pretty head about that. I'll gladly come safe you any time from some creep." Smiling brightly, they clicked their glasses together and then took a long sip.

Feeling glad that his beloved was back with him, safe and sound, he also felt dread creeping up in him again. This time your date went as poor as possible, but what about a next time?

He didn’t even want there to be a next time. It was time to be honest.

“Hey, Y/N?” He asked carefully. Making a humming noise as a signal to continue, Y/N looked expectantly at him.

“I…I think I like you more than I should, considering what he are and I…” Okay, that had sounded a lot more smooth in his mind, now it was just awkward, with them staring blankly at him.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to somehow formulate what he was trying to say.

“Chuuya, are you asking me out?” Y/N asked and Chuuya just answered with an enthusiastic; “Yes!”

Much to his surprise, they laughed warmly, before putting a hand on his. “I’d love to. I think we can skip a couple of steps and get right to the fun parts huh?”

It took Chuuya a second before he realized what Y/N was saying. “The fun parts are what I’m best at.”

Pulling them over and placing them in his lap, Chuuya passionately pressed his lips onto theirs, enjoying the smile his partner had as he did so.

“I know.” Y/N said as they pulled away, pressing a couple of light kisses all over Chuuyas blushing face. "But I am also pretty good at them, no?"

[mytheoristavenue]

Ojiro's Hidden Talent

When the band was formed, the guys' positions just kinda...fell into place. Tokyami already knew guitar and bass, and had some experience with singing, and his deep voice was perfect for metal music. Shoji took to the drums quickly and due to his quirk and vocal range was perfect for backup vocals. Tokoyami also knew piano and was able to teach Shoji the basics quickly, now he's a master of mixing and keys which expands what he can create instrumental-wise.

Then there was Ojiro. He wasn't really into all this like the others were, he just wanted to feel included. To his credit, he did play acoustic guitar as a teen, so picking up bass wasn't all that hard for him. Originally, Tokoyami offered for him to be the lead guitarist, Ojiro denied it, he didn't want the attention. As a bassist, he didn't have to move much, didn't have to do crazy solos, didn't have to interact with the crowd much. He could just be included without being in the spotlight.

Little did the others know, Ojiro has pipes. He always would work on some solo stuff on his own time, not being as into all the heavy metal the others liked. He preferred lighter, more emotionally mature stuff.

It wasn't until Tokoyami got a call from their manager that they'd signed a label for a new album that he and Shoji found out about their friend's talent. Meeting up, they decided to head to Ojrio's apartment to tell him the news in person, unannounced. They stopped in their tracks when they reached his door and overheard him covering a Linkin Park song.

"When my time comes, forgive the wrong that I've done! Help me leave behind some reason to be missed!" Came a voice from the other side, whiny and cracking and dripping with raw emotion and natural-born talent. "Don't resent me! When you're feelin' empty, keep me in your memory! Leave out all the rest, leave out all the rest!"

Shoji and Tokoyami exchanged astonished glances, like they'd just discovered a star- and they had.

A text message pinged on Ojiro's phone, interrupting the Bluetooth surround system in his living room. He stepped away from the mic and set his guitar on the couch to check it. 'Look outside.' It read, Shoji's name scrolling across the top of the notification.

"No way-" the blonde breathed, heart dropping as he darted fro the window, sure enough finding his bandmates and best friends on his porch. "What the hell?!" he fussed, throwing the door open. "You can't just come over out of the blue without asking first! What if I wasn't home or had a girl over?"

"Do you have a girl over?" Shoji quipped with a knowing smirk.

"W-Well no, but-"

"We got picked up by a label," Tokoyami interjected, grinning as his friend's expression fell from irritation to blank disbelief, and then morphed into pure, unadulterated excitement. "We're gonna record an album," He elaborated, before pointing a finger at him. "And you're gonna sing on it."

"W-What?!" Ojrio spat, trembling at all the new revelations. "B-But you're the singer! I-I don't sing!"

"You do know," Shoji chuckled, patting the bassist on the back. "You've hardly been involved with songwriting this far, now it's your turn to shine."

"B-But..." The blonde still hesitated, eyes darting over to the raven. "W-What about you? I don't wanna be the front man, I can't handle that kind of attention..."

Tokoyami simply smiled. "Oh, you couldn't dethrone me even if you wanted to. But..." he trailed with a content sigh. "I'd be more than happy to take over bass and backups every once in a while if you'll sing and lead guitar."

"Y-You mean that...?" Ojiro sputtered, still in utter shock, but now beginning to fall in love with the idea of being in the limelight for small doses at a time. All it took was a confirming nod from the crow and he was all in.

Ever since, Ojiro has taken lead vocals and guitar on at least three songs per album, having started on the second, if you count their demo as the first. He draws a lot of inspiration from rock/rap bands, and now even has Tokoyami rapping on tracks with him while he sings and Shoji provides backups and harmony.

None of Ojiro's songs have ever been released for longer than a week without being in the top 100 for their time. While they don't tend to break top 10 often, they are always considered favorites by fans and his new spin on their music helped frow their fanbase tenfold.

[writing-whump]

Nightmare

Isaiah is sick after a nightmare. Cue some fluff and comfort from Seline. Warning for emeto.

Isaiah was pretty sure their pack was ruined before it even formed. And that he had ruined his chances with Seline.

Since that difficult afternoon, things have changed between the trio. Matthew and Seline apologized to each other right away - her for not letting them know earlier of having guests over and him for scaring her. They both acknowledged partial guilt for the incident and resolved to be more tolerant in the future.

Seline promised to always message them if someone came over and ideally warn them a few days in advance. Matthew expressed deep regret over raising his shadow at her and promised he would never hurt her no matter how angry he was and reassured he wasn't being angry with her in the first place.

This did not, however, achieve the effect Isaiah had hoped for.

Seline was cold and avoiding them. She would greet them and act politely, but she hurried over to the second floor to her room any chance she got, excusing herself from sharing meals with them. She waited until they left in the morning to come down, came home late and her answers to any initiations or invitations were "don't know if I'll have time yet". Which Isaiah knew was a lie, cause she kept a calendar for months in advance and because her assistant job was flexible and confusing to understand without it.

Matthew and Isaiah both had an unspoken agreement to initiate contact on neutral ground in the shared spaces only. The second floor became Seline's exclusive territory - her room, her personal boundaries and her safe space. They were not going to breach it without explicit invitation, hoping to soothe her that way.

Except the invitation never came.

Isaiah didn't think it was necessarily him she was avoiding, but since he had comforted Matthew, shared a room with him and tried to mediate their first apologetic interaction after the incident, he had inevitably taken "his" side and fallen into the "enemy" camp.

He shouldn't have been explaining so hard that wolves needed their territory and were touchy about new wolves that invaded it without warning and that the whole thing would have been much easier if they had just become a pack. His suggestion was met with a disbelieving stare, asking him if he was insane. Yeah, he should have held his mouth shut.

But he couldn't precisely abandon Matthew to the issue either.

Isaiah got to know Matthew's stress reactions very intimately in the following weeks. Matthew asked him to train with him outside of their sparring for fun to work on his shadow's temper. He also kept up with his daily runs, waking up even earlier to go to the gym and do some boxing workouts before and after school. When he got home, the redhead usually switched on their Google Chrome on the smart TV, a clear indication he was open to having a movie night, whatever anyone picked.

Their evenings looked exactly the same since. Seline declined his offer to watch something without even giving him a look or a thought. Matthew promptly dosed off, only to stumble over to bed around midnight and get up at 4 am again for his run. Rinse, repeat.

Matthew's stress reaction was to sleep and be quiet. Coaxing a conversation out of him took a herculean effort. Then again, he could also be exhausted from all the additional workouts. Isaiah thought Matthew was working on the issue diligently and seriously enough to win some sympathy points, but Seline seemed set on not seeing any effort Matthew was making.

He also thought she had come a bit calmer from her visits to her mom over the weekend. Except afterward, she started going home every weekend, sometimes even taking Fridays and Mondays free to go home sooner. Completely shutting them down.

This left Isaiah alone in a very tense and silent apartment. He hadn't realized before how much he looked forward to coming home after they started living together. How much he cherished the afternoons cooking for everyone or sharing a glass of wine with Seline to talk over progress on their respective research projects. Or the way they would debate and laugh about movies, always switching in introducing their favourite ones to each other. He missed Matthew's good-hearted grumpiness and Seline's playful complaints and the heated discussion about that or another scene. It really felt like a home, in a way the empty vast place he had before never did.

Now living in polite charming illusions he knew alright and he hated them. Masks may have been his thing, but he only became what he wanted to be, what he wanted people to hear - because he genuinely wanted to give them something and not because he was hiding what he knew was terrible to do to someone else. His masks were heartfeltly crafted pieces of art, of himself, of things he was shaping himself to become.

But whatever this terrible silent tension was, it was too close to home in an unexpected way.

Maybe that was when the nightmares started. The foreboding feeling came right in the evening, his stomach feeling like it was hanging on water as he watched Matthew turn his face into the pillow and Seline gathering food to eat in her room, so she wouldn't have to spend even that minimal time with them.

Retiring to their shared room with Matthew didn't help much either, cause he couldn't sleep and when he did, he dreamed. He wasn't sure what he dreamed about, just that he woke up confused, nauseated and sweaty and like he didn't get any rest at all.

Matthew's sleep was very deep though. Nothing seemed to wake him once he was out, so Isaiah at least didn't have to worry about his night terrors being witnessed.

It was the same that night as well.

Isaiah woke around 3 in the morning, sweaty and breathing hard from a dream he didn't want to remember. A string of faces of all the people he had failed, that he had left behind. Familiar enough.

Except now Seline's and Matthew's faces showed up there too.

He must have had a real heavy dinner today, cause he wasn't just feeling vaguely nauseated. His mouth was actively flooded with saliva and gulping down just made his stomach twist more.

Isaiah scrambled from the bed as fast and queit as he could, though Matthew didn't even stir, and headed for the sanctuary of the bathroom.

He turned on the light, closed the door and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet. His stomach was in turmoil, roiling restlessly inside him. The nausea felt like claws, black and long running up his back and Isaiah leaned over the toilet, bracing against the rim.

Taking deep breaths didn't seem to help at all. He let drool drip from his parted lips, when a sudden heave surprised him. His whole body rocked and vomit rushed out of him, hot and thick. The horrible guttural sound accompanying it was even worse.

He took some more breaths, but they were coming fast and shallow. His stomach hurt and twisted further and he knew this wasn't the end. Another terrible sound came and another thick wave of vomit with it, chunks of undigested rice and meat from dinner spluttering noisly against the water.

This was horrible and intense and he didn't even understand the cause! Surely his stomach wasn't so weak as to react to stress that wasn't even rightfully his.

His stomach shot up his throat again, but he managed to swallow it down this time, moaning the bitter taste burned his throat. Isaiah let his head fall down against his folded hand on the toilet, exhausted to the bones.

Time seemed to have stopped and slowed down at the same time. The nausea was still there, not as intense, but ever present, so he didn't dare to leave his post. His shirt was cold and sticky with sweat, making him shiver. He should buy a thicker carpet in front of the toilet, this one did miserable job sparing his knees...

The door creaked open. Isaiah didn't feel like lifting his head, it seemed to weigh a ton.

A hesitant gentle hand touched his upper back.

The contact felt electrifying, his head finally shooting up to see Seline kneeling next to him, bathrobe open around her blue PJs.

"Oh," he creaked, his voice hoarse. "Hey." Just when he thought the night couldn't be any worse.

"Hey yourself," she said, not letting her hand fall. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

"It's nothing. Had a nightmare. Nothing serious." He let his head dropped back against his folded elbow, wanting to hide. He always felt like hiding when he felt like crap. Especially from her.

"A nightmare can make you this sick?" Seline asked, horrified. "What was it about?"

Isaiah made a helpless gesture up with his free hand, then let it fall limply beside him again.

"Go to sleep, please. Nothing fun to see here."

She reached behind him to flush the toilet. Isaiah reddened at the reminder he forgot to do it himself.

Seline rubbed his back slowly, feeling him tense and shiver as she touched the sweaty stains. "Anything I can do?"

"Just go back to sleep," he said quietly, not wanting to argue. Why did she always have to see him at his most disgusting and pathetic? Why couldn't he just be his normal, strong, tidy self, like he could with everyone else? Couldn't she come down from her fortress during the day, when he was fine and in control?

The anxiety spiked a reaction in his stomach. He groaned as the nausea made him shudder and he leaned over the toilet again, spitting into it. His stomach roiled in preparation like he was on a boat.

"Please leave, Seline. I don't feel good," he warned, brows furrowed as he rode out the next wave. His teeth clapped together, but he didn't think that would help.

"That's okay, I don't mind."

"Seline-"

"You can't seriously expect me to leave you here like this-"

Isaiah wanted to argue that was exactly what he wanted her to do, when the new wave of puke had him heaving over the toilet violently. He braced against the rim with both hands, mind going blank as his body purged in several waves after each other, leaving him breathless.

He lifted a little, his hands hurting from the coldness digging into his palms. This was so humiliating...

It was then that he noticed the warm presence against his back. Seline had her forehead pressed to his shoulder blade, hands digging into the fabric of his shirt from behind.

"Please, don't send me away. I want to help you," she said.

He reached for toilet paper, wiping his mouth clean of the drool and sighed heavily. "I don't want you to see me in this state."

"Why can't you let other people help you? Why can't I help you?" Peaking up from her place against his back, she added in a smaller voice: "Why do you not want me here?"

He couldn't stand the hurt in her voice, like he had somehow put it there. "Because I want to be perfect for you and this is the exact opposite of it," he said in exasperation.

The silence that followed was deafening. It made him realize what a terrible thing he had just said.

Isaiah groaned, pushing his face against the inside of his elbow again. "I'm so sorry."

"For what? Saying that you like me?" she said in a stunned voice.

"Yes. No. I'm sorry I said it here, at such a disgusting place and at such stupid time. I had a whole plan of how-"

"Shhhhhh," she said, leaning against him again. He could feel the place where she buried her face into him burning through his shirt. "It's alright."

"But you-"

"I like you too."

It was his turn to be stunned. He blinked, hoisting himself up, trying to turn enough to look at her.

"And you help us with embarrassing, stupid stuff all the time," she said quickly, "so it's no fair to try to prevent us from doing the same."

"This is such a terrible confession," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. She leaned back as well to meet his eyes. Despite what he said, her blushing cheeks, her tangled hair in a loose ponytail, her eyes flashing with indignation - he thought he never saw anything more beautiful.

"Shut up! I thought you would never say anything."

"I was waiting for your signals!" he protested, "I wasn't going to force-"

"Signals? I was giving you plenty. You think it's easy for a girl not to look like she is chasing the man-"

Isaiah chuckled. He was freezing, his mouth surely smelled terrible, just like the whole bathroom and it was almost 4 am and there they were, arguing. His chest felt so light and fluttery though like not in several weeks. Not since the argument.

Seline's eyes widened in surprise as she tipped back against the wall, watching him. "Hahaha. Glad you are feeling so much better."

Isaiah ran a hand through his hair. "I'm still very sorry."

"If you apologize one more time, I'm going to hit you," she threatened. He wondered how exactly she was going to do that, when he was the one trained in martial arts and with a deadly shadow.

Her hand reached forward to press against his forehead, gently brushing some hair out of its way. "You don't have a fever."

"I told you. It's just stress," he deadpanned. But he truly was feeling a lot better. His throat was still raw and his stomach was tender, but he didn't feel the weight gnawing him or the nausea at his spine. He allowed himself to lean a bit into her touch, eyes closing momentarily against the exhaustion that hit him as a ton of bricks.

Seline rocked closer to him again, face almost touching his neck.

"Stop that," he chided in a resigned tone. "I'm disgusting."

"You better stop with that talk," she said. He blushed, squirming self-consciously as her hand slid from his forehead to his cheek. "I couldn't find you disgusting if I tried," she whispered.

He wrinkled his nose in disbelief, but he was too tired and confused from the adrenaline crash to argue further.

Seline leaned away, but tugged at his sleeve. "Come up to my room to sleep with me?"

Isaiah forgot about the embarrassment entirely. "Oh?"

Seline's whole face reddened, waving her hand at him adorably. "Not like that! Just...I thought it might help against the nightmares. If you want."

Isaiah watched her in amusement, realizing slowly what she had just offered. Breaching the ban. She just invited him over to her room, her territory, her kingdom.

He smiled at her, blinking tiredly. "I would like that."

---

@bellysoupset

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #36

36. FINLAND Windows95Man - "No Rules!" 19th place

Decade ranking: 143/153 [Above Nadir, below Let3]

Okay so, I promised in Saturday's post that I would try to be positive, but I may already have to rescind on that promise lol. (the "lol" is for punctuation because I definitely did not laugh.) "No rules!" stinks and has very few redeeming qualities. 🙂 Natalia was right, she WAS robbed by a Nudist Demon!

For real, does anyone over the age of twenty-five enjoy this dumpster fire? If so, fukk meee. LOVE YOURSELVES.

As I noted in my UMK review back in Feb:

I have difficulty buying into this hyperactive ball of bad taste. “Fuck The System” always feels like the go-to message of individuals that fail to fit into social structures that aren’t fully of their own shaping. For an entry that’s all “live as you like, there’s no rules!” in its messaging, these two look like they conform to just about every styling and behavioural rule associated with Zoomer culture: A total disregard for general aesthetics over a dumbed-down drone of a beat because everything is ironic and nothing is to be taken seriously.  It is a depressing take on life. Yeah sure, a bit of camp levity is welcome in this loathesome world, but any happy song that weaponizes irony like this one trends towards encouraging irresponsibility, cynicism and nihilism. Some things DO matter in life, you know? You need to afford your bills and groceries, charge your social batteries, cultivate your friendships, or else you’ll wind up living alone in a van, down by the river. But if the latter life appeals to you, then this is the entry for you, I guess. For me though; this contest is already has one Joost Klein. Let’s not add a second one from Finland.

Funny how I nailed that even before knowing the full extent of it. I ofc vastly underestimated how bad the live would be, and as soon as I'd seen it my scepsis immediately supernova'd into intense HATRED. If ONLY "Paskana" hadn't been weak as piss. Yes, the cringe in "No Rules!" is deliberate, obviously, I have a sense of humour. Having a sense of humour is why I hate it? How much "deliberated cringe" can one tolerate before concluding "nope, this is r o t t e n." Does it start with

THE BAD GUNTER IMPRESSION?

or

THE DONALD DUCKING?

or

CALLING HIMSELF" A QUEEN"?

or

screaming "SEE ME SLAYYYY" :proceeds to not slay: ?

It definitely ends in whatever this shot is supposed to be.

Humour is subjective sure enough, and Windowsninetycringeman's jokes fall flatter than a pancake á moi. Why is everything denim? Why is this THIRTY-NINE YEAR OLD MAN still engaging in toilet humour and internet speak? Grow the f up? The art lies in the execution and Finland showed neither. I do NOT like Europapa much, but having Finland and not Netherlands in the final vibes wrong on so many levels. Europapa at least had a clear plan and delivered its nonsense in contained, piecemeal doses? It was COMPETENT in what it attempted to be (A Televote Winner), not a lazy amalgation of simple-minded drunk jokes strung together over a Planet of The Bass megamix as some sort of a Hail Mary. Joost and Teemu represent the Expectations/Reality divide of Zoomer Nonsense and it was darksided that only the latter got to compete for points. But on top of that, Teemu was generally just full of shit? Hooray, an Old Millennial engaging in Zoomer Cringe who lets an actual zoomer do all the vocal heavy lifting, without giving him a single featuring credit. Yay! It's a painfully accurate depiction of what being a zoomer is like, but not an intentional one.

Also remember when Teemu said he would "try to discreetly approach the other contestants to find ways to show support for Palestine" (remember that this contest was supposed to be 'not political'?) Hm yes discreet. So discreet he declared his intentions to interviewers so that everyone would know it was HIS idea. "Discreet", human please. And the result of all that talk was...

(lol I'm SO making it sound like I care about what political standpoints any of these acts took, and I don't. But I do call out a fraud when I spot one.)

Yeah well thanks for trying, but I'd rather you hadn't. A statement you can apply to my feelings of the entry overall. Okay, we've reached full circle, time to move on to our designated palate cleanser because THIS page is a safe zone for people of good taste.

The universe where YLE overrules the results and sends THEM to ESC is the one where we head to Helsinki twice in a row.

THE RANKING

[a-detraque-barista]

Insomniac Cookies

Soft Yandere!Shinsou Hitoshi x Reader

Genre: soft yandere, tooth rotting fluff

Word Count: 1k+

A/N: wassup my loves, here is yet another shinsou work cause i love him and this is roughly edited but i hope you enjoy~

The quiet hum of your ceiling fan did little to drown out the slightly louder murmur outside. Engines of cars and motorcycles were sparse but your ears kept picking up the grumble and low timbre coming from their exhausts. Your mind wasn’t willing to give up the alertness it felt it needed. Even as your room was completely dark, all electronics turned off and your black-out curtains covered the window so none of the street lights could make it to your tired eyes. Yet, your brain refused to wind down and stop the rushing thoughts that could wait until you awoke the next day.

You tossed and turned, laid still, stared at the walls, and stared at the ceiling. Soft music couldn’t help and neither did your nightly dose of melatonin. Finally, you gave in and picked up your phone. The sudden light burned your eyes as your irises adjusted to let it in. Your brow raised as you read the notifications, two messages from Shinsou Hitoshi. These were only from minutes ago, wondering what the indigo-haired brainwasher wanted at, oh god. You were now able to register what time it actually was. Four in the fucking morning. Had you really not slept since you laid in your bed at ten the night before? You let out a mixture of a groan and a whine before opening Shinou’s messages.

“L/n, I can’t sleep”

“Wake up already, I’m bored”

You rubbed your face before typing out your response, “I never went to sleep, what do you want”

Maybe that was a tad rude but you’re tired and you didn’t miss that comment about being bored. You rolled your eyes and set your phone down on your stomach, knowing it won’t take him long to respond. Then, a thought popped into your head, cookies. Fresh cookies never fail to help you fall asleep. Every time you found yourself unable to rest no matter how tired you were, you baked your favorite type of cookies. As you went to sit up, you felt your phone vibrate. Already knowing it was Shinsou, you read it, “I said I’m bored, let’s talk for a bit :)”

This time, both of your eyebrows raised. Quite bold, but what did you expect from someone who had a quirk that relied on talking?

“Can’t. I have cookies to make”

You tossed your phone on the bed and stood up and walked to the counter you had put in along with the fridge and oven to make all the sweets you want. You’re constantly eating sugar to make up for your quirk, Sugar Explosion. You have the ability to spit out candy and they explode within seconds.

Getting out two mixing bowls, a whisk, and two pans, you also get out your measuring cup and spoons. Reaching up toward the cabinet containing some of the most important ingredients needed to make cookies, a series of knocks came from your door. You froze. It was way too early for anyone to be knocking at your door. Slowly, you tread towards the door, placing your hand on the knob.

“L/n, it’s me,” your shoulders relax. You’d know that stoic voice anywhere.

“Good morning, Shinsou. So glad you invited yourself,” even after your annoyed words, you walked away while leaving the door open, and Shinsou entered before closing the door behind him.

Honestly, you’ve always loved the presence of the sleep-deprived boy from general studies. You know others don’t feel the same because of the fear of getting brainwashed. Shinsou has only used his quirk on you once when you tried going head-to-head with a villain without your provisional license. Something Shinsou was not going to let happen, knowing the consequences you would face if you did.

Opening the cupboards you look for sugar, flour, baking soda, and oil. Only to find flour and oil. You stare blankly at the empty space where the sugar should be. Ah, you used the rest of it yesterday to make hard candies. Growling, you slide your shoes and jacket on, practically forgetting the fellow insomniac boy in your room.

However, he followed you asking, “Where are you going so early?”

“The fucking store to get some damn sugar and baking soda so I can make some c o o k i e s,” your voice was low and gravelly as you muttered the curses making the purple-haired student chuckle.

At the store, Shinsou would snatch the things out of your hands so he could carry them. You weren’t really sure why he wanted to be around you all of a sudden but your top priority right now was to make cookies so you could get some sleep. Luckily it was the weekend so you didn’t have to worry about waking up in a couple of hours. Another reason why Shinsou should be in his room and not with you at the store.

Even as you got back to the dorms, he stilled stayed with you. Every time you turned around, he was helping you make the cookies. Whether it was measuring the floor out, cracking the eggs, pouring the dry ingredients into the wet ones as you whisk them. You couldn’t help but feel...ecstatic. You’ve always wanted to spend time like this with Shinsou but he was never really the type to spend more than ten minutes with someone at a time. His social battery was small which you respected, especially since yours wasn’t much bigger.

Your mind was preoccupied with these thoughts, leading you to burn your hand on the oven rack as you put the cookie sheet in. Shinsou took your hand to inspect it after closing the oven door.

“Idiot,” he chuckled as he brought your hand over to the sink so he can run cold water over your hand.

Your face was about as red as the burn that now adorned the side of your palm. Embarrassment with a touch of joy.

His hands were cold on their own, even colder with the water. Shinsou noticed your lack of a snide remark. Looking at your flushed features he couldn’t help the small smile that grew across his own. You were the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. That’s why he invited himself over. His mind was plagued by thoughts of you and only you. You two were known for being the two insomniacs of the school so he always dreamed of someday falling asleep next to you.

By now, your hand was becoming numb and gently tugged your arm back but Shinsou had a firm grip on your wrist.

Your tug snapped Shinsou back into reality. He loosened his grip but didn’t let go completely. His eyes dropped down to your lips, bitten from holding in pained moans. You looked at Shinsou, confused, but he said nothing.

He moved his ice cold hands to cup your face. Wet thumbs caressing your cheeks. The difference in temperature felt amazing on your scorching face that felt as if it was getting hotter by the second.

Shinsou watched closely as you licked your dry lips. His royal purple irises darkened to a merlot shade at the action. His own tongue peeking out to wet his.

Slowly, he leaned in. Carefully, scared you would pull away but even more scared you didn’t want the kiss he was about to be blessed with. He may be kissing you but just being able to give you a peck was a blessing for him.

When you didn’t pull back from him, he gently pressed his lips to yours. Then again, and again, until he stayed. Tongue poking out to prod at your bottom lip, asking for entrance. Without hesitation, you let him in. The kiss was slow but full of pent up feelings. He was pouring everything into this one kiss and who were you to not do the same? The years of wanting even a hug from the indigo haired brainwasher, and you’ve gotten something beyond that.

Shinsou pulled away first, hesitating. Almost wishing the two of you could stay like that forever. However, there was another important matter to attend to.

“Did you set a timer for the cookies?” Shinsou questioned as he still held your face in his hands.

His inquiry brought you out from your dreamy daze, “Shit.”

[ladyinbooks]

So, I am finally done with all the spin-offs and side stories and generally spread around facts XD

Now I am really interested in how Samiel transitioned from barely being able to call and think of Lord Athannus as Father, to "Papa"?

Also... they got married, he asked Jason to marry him... I wanna detailzzzzzz!

Hehe, yes there is quite a lot for Samiel and Jay. XD (To be fair, they lived in my head rent-free for about five years, and, uh, quite honestly they're still there and I haven't got the heart to evict them at this point!) Thank you for the lovely questions! You've given me a shameless excuse to ramble about them! ❤️❤️

Ohh gosh, one day I want to write a oneshot around this (probably from Daimion's point of view), about Samiel's slowly evolving relationship with his father. I think it's a long, long process, with healthy doses of resentment from Samiel (some of which are irrational, some of which not), and a lot of soft feels. I like to think they build their way towards a relationship as father and son in the in-betweens. Between missions. Between visits. In scraps and messages and letters along the way. I think sometimes Samiel visits Daimion with Jay, and sometimes he comes on his own, and both of them occasionally need a third party (*cough*Venn*cough*) to act as a balance.

And it takes time, it all takes time. Because Samiel hasn't had a parent, and Daimion has desperately tried to have a son in the only way he can: by never letting him know who they were to one another. And they struggle to let go of that together. But they keep trying, and slowly Samiel becomes more interested in what Daimion is attempting to do on Lenia, and Daimion is fascinated by every aspect of his son's new life on Elysium, until one day, one day -

On a perfectly normal visit to Elysium, on a perfectly ordinary morning, at a perfectly ordinary breakfast, Daimion hands a half-distracted Samiel a cup of his favourite tea, and Samiel says 'Thanks papa,' without even realising it.

And Daimion has to go and find a corner to have a quiet cry about it.

All of which is my long-winded way of saying: it gets better, and it blossoms, and it's slow and so very worth it.

I have so many feels about these two.

As for Samiel asking Jay if he will marry him? You *know* that it was meant to be a perfect moment; that Samiel had planned to the finest detail. And yet it all goes horribly wrong because Samiel can't shut up, and so rather than making a romantic speech, when the big moment comes he just blurts out 'Marry me!' and then spends the next thirty seconds panicking, because Jay hadn't been expecting this, and is still mentally trying to play catch-up.

(It's the longest thirty seconds of Samiel's life, and he spends it plotting all the ways he can burn down the universe if Jay says no.)

[w33nies]

Qué Maravilla CH.7 - 'The Rhythm and the Blues'

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Miguel O'hara x SpiderReader rating: E for Everyone bby warnings: none? lots of angst tbh summary: desperate times call for desperate measures art is not mine !!! @xia_finger on twitter!!!

------------ Ch.7 - The Rhythm and the Blues -----------

Miguel sat in a low crouch while investigating the wreckage in the abandoned warehouse. He cradled his aching head in his hands. He had never gone this long without a rapture dose before and the withdrawals were proving to be horrendous. He was irritated beyond belief and all this running around was pushing him to his limit. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. Doing math, the last dosage was about eight hours ago, he had four hours. Maybe five before any serious consequences start arising. ‘I can make that work,’ he assured himself stubbornly, ‘All of this will be taken care of by then.’ He groaned quietly while fighting another incoming headache.

“For all we know this could have nothing to do with Miles” he stood up so quickly he got light headed. He managed to catch himself on a nearby broken pipe and took a few moments to steady himself, “And we don’t have time to investigate every crime in this city.”

Unperturbed, you keep looking, rummaging through piles and piles of debris and damaged infrastructure until finally, after moving a large piece of concrete covering the brick wall, you find a major clue. “Nobody from this place could’ve done this. Look. '' Fighting dizziness, Miguel immediately gets up and walks over to see where you're pointing. Covering the wall are scores of organic spiderman webbing.

“Hasn’t begun dissolving yet,” Miguel took a few steps closer to get a better look at the material, “has to be recent.” You release the tension you had been holding in your shoulders, briefly catching Gwen’s look from the dirty window she had established as her vantage point. 

Brooklyn was big, but at least now you knew you were on the right track. “It’s a start,” you said in a low mumble to yourself, running your fingers along the webs then pulling away to fiddle with a small sample between your thumb and pointer finger. 

Miguel turned away from the evidence to scan the disastrous scene before the two of you, “Yeah,” he whispered absentmindedly, “If we can figure out what the hell went down here…”

“...Then maybe we can find Miles,” you finish making eye contact with Miguel just as he turns to face you. 

Before either of you can speak, your body visibly tenses once more. You knew this feeling all too well. A shiver travels down your spine and a tingling feeling draws at the back of your head. The best way you could describe it was like an out of body experience like a fly, or a spider, on the wall. For a moment you could see yourself, but most importantly you could see the shadow that had just made its way to the door. 

“The door.”  

“What?” Miguel asks, slightly thrown off. 

“Someone’s coming.”

You both quickly turn toward the door ready to fight. Through it walks Aaron Davis with a cigarette in his mouth and distractedly texting a message on his phone with his free hand. A second later he looks up and is immediately taken aback by the sight of what were essentially two strangers in decorative morphs suits standing in his damaged hideout. 

“What the hell!?” He points his phone back and forth between the two of you, “ Who the hell are you guys!?” 

Miguel immediately takes the reins, “I’m sorry sir. I know this is weird. But there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this-” 

“-Okay?” Aaron stood in such disbelief he almost seemed to be on the verge of laughter,  “Floor is yours.” 

“This may be a lot to take in, but we’re from alternate dimensions and we-”

“-Oh so there's more of you now?”

“More?” Both you and Miguel inquired at the same time, taking a moment to share a look with one another. 

“You saw another one of us?” You asked hopefully . 

“Yeah.”

Miguel brought a hovering hand to the side of his own shoulder, “Was he about yay high, black spider suit, one that kinda looks like he was bleeding out his armpits?” 

“...Um,Yeah.” Aaron straightened his posture and lifted his chin, taking on a sudden wave of defensiveness. “What about him?”

“It’s important that we find him.”

“Why?” 

“Because-” Miguel stops the urge he always has to ramble about the importance and sanctity of the multiverse whenever asked, “That’s classified.But-”

Aaron interrupts with a scoff, making his way to the heavily dented workbench,“-Look I don’t know who you think you are or what you think you’re doing here,” he spoke while rolling up his sleeves before carefully equipping his mechanical claws, “But I don’t appreciate people trespassing in my shit.” He finished, methodically cracking his knuckles to further illustrate his point. 

“Trespassing?” Miguel looks around in shock, “There's a hole in your ceiling.” 

“So? Is that supposed to be an invitation? What's the matter with you?”

“Look, this is way bigger, way more important than you could possibly imagine…” Miguel then falls into his bad habit of prattling on about “the need to preserve the sanctity of the multiverse” in an almost cultish fashion.  Aaron, thoroughly unmoved, makes a show of mockingly nodding his head taking care to throw in a couple of sarcastic, “Uh Huh” or a “Wow, really?” for extra effect as Miguel continued to ramble, “Either you help us out or-”

“-Or What?” 

Miguel takes a threatening step forward, “Do you really wanna find out old man?” 

“Miguel,” you tap him on the shoulder and loudly whisper in his ear “You're not helping? You’re actually making it worse.” 

“Old man?” Aaron follows suit with a sneer, “You wanna run that by me one more time?” 

“Okayyy,” You desperately wedge yourself between the two of them in an attempt to de-escalate, “Let’s all take a moment to calm down. Believe it or not, we’re all on the same side here.” 

“No we aren’t.” Miguel spat towards you, without taking his eyes off Davis. 

“Excuse me?” 

He fully turns his attention to you, “What are you gonna do when you find Miles?”

“What does this-?”

“-You can live in fantasyland with your heads in the clouds where we have everyone gather around the fire singing fucking ‘kumbaya’ on any other day, but right now the multiverse is in real danger. As much as it sucks to believe, there are real consequences if Miles saves his father. Are you going to detain him like I asked? Or are you gonna let your stubborn idealism get the best of you?”

“Detain? Consequences?” Aaron interjects while you stand taken aback, “What the hell are yall talking about?” 

“¡Cállate!” Miguel snapped his head towards Davis,  “This doesn’t concern you.”

“You think you can talk to me like that?” 

“Look old man, tell us where the kid is before we make you.” 

“Call me that to me one more time.” Aaron lifted a finger in Miguel's face which he immediately swatted away.

“Miguel!” you yell in an attempt to retain some sense of decorum, “We’re here to find Miles, not get into dumb fights.” 

“He started it!” Both men proclaimed loudly in unison. 

“Oh my god.” You drag your hands slowly down your face in frustration. “You’re being so-so-”

“-So what?” Miguel challenged. 

“Impossible.” 

“Impossib- Can you just let me handle this?”

“Can you just listen for one second?” 

 “Can you two get a room?” Aaron yelled exasperatedly “Damn!”

“I’m not going to ask again,” Miguel turned towards  Aaron, resuming his towering stance, “Tell us where he is.” 

“Over. My. Dead. Body.” Aaron made sure to hiss every syllable directly into his face. 

Miguel huffs annoyedly, “You’re gonna regret those choice of words pal.”

“Bruh,” you sigh defeatedly. “Like I said. Impossible.”

Amidst the kerfuffle your comrades assess the scene unfolding before them from their respective hiding spots, practically cringing with second hand embarrassment. 

“Yikes” Spyder-Byte said with her teeth chipping away at her holographic nails. 

“I can’t watch,” Porker turned away, attempting to cover his large comical eyes with his tiny hands. 

“What are they doing?” Peter gripped his hair in his hands anxiously.

“Should we jump in?” Pavitir asked, positioning himself in a low crouch ready to interfere at any moment. 

“Wait, give them some time.” Gwen whispered panickedly, “I’m sure they’ll come around.” With a focused sigh Gwen closes her eyes and drums her fingers methodically, yet softly on the glass. ‘I guess desperate times called for desperate measures’ the girl thought to herself. 

Hobie watched in confusion “What are you-”

“Shhh. I’m trying to focus.” She bit back.

You’re not exactly sure how it happens, but your annoyance seems to melt away. Your anger seemed to vanish. Just as soon as you got upset, the feeling subsided to neutrality. Miguel and Aaron seem to feel this wave or this clarity as well. Both now awkwardly avoid each other's eye contact, shuffling a few steps away from one another. Aaron sighs into a more relaxed posture, awkwardly tugging his shirt collar while Miguel looks to the ground and rubs the back of his head with his hand, clearing his throat. 

You turn your attention to the smaller of the two men in front of you,  “Aaron Davis, right?” The man looks at you startled before his face becomes a cross between skepticism and intrigue.  You take a deep breath and decide to keep going. 

“In every universe except yours, there are spider-men and women.” You motion to Miguel and yourself, “A group of vigilante’s with spider based superpowers who work to protect people. You were supposed to have a spiderman, but the spider that was supposed to bite someone from here ended up in a different universe and bit Miles, your nephew. Well not him but him in an alternate universe. Anyways, Miles was sent here-”

“-Earth 42-” Miguel interrupts.

“-Earth 42, by accident. We’re trying to get him home. And well…,” you gesture to Miguel for him to speak his piece. 

“We have…Let’s just say, different views on this issue,” he starts. He shoots you a glance as if to seek your approval, so you nod to encourage him to keep going, “ But it's important that we find him. Lives are at stake. For everyone, everywhere, including your nephew… So please, Just tell us where we can find him then we’ll be out of your hair, uh-” He uncomfortably glances at Uncle Aaron's bald “-Way. We’ll be out of your way.”

Uncle Aaron softly chuckles to himself, taking a moment to look despondently out one of the shattered windows. “Jeff. His father…,” he began, “What’s going to happen to him?”

“He’s…He’s supposed to die in the line of duty.” Miguel spoke grimly, “Similar to your own-.” 

Aaron interrupts him with a heavy sigh “Yeah that- that sounds like Jeff,” he gave a disheartened laugh while attempting to rub away the sadness from his eyes, “And Miles?” 

“We’re working on it,” you attempt to reassure him. “But the only way we can look after your nephew is if you tell us where he is.”

“One thing.” Aaron said, “Promise me you’ll keep them safe?”

“They? You mean Jeff and-”

“-No, Miles. Both of them,” he asserted “Mine and yours.” 

“Both Miles? Together?” Miguel asked with newfound intrigue, "Where are they?” 

“I need you to promise me man. Promise me you’ll look after them. I would do it myself but-” Davis swallowed hard, shutting his eyes to fight off the emotion in his voice, “Please. I can't afford to lose any more family.”  

Miguel sighed  “I’ll…I’ll be sure to do whatever’s best. For both of them, but you have to tell us where they went.” 

Aaron takes a moment to mull over Miguel's answer, “They’re at the Alchemex lab.” He speaks softly, examining the claw on his hand before slowly removing it and tossing it on the ground. “Under Fitz Tower. ” 

“Why?” 

“For the collider.”

You and Miguel share a look, lightbulbs simultaneously going off in both of your heads . “Thank you, this helps a lot.” you tell him, “ Really.” 

“Yeah,” Aaron Davis whispered dejectedly, never taking his eyes off his fallen Prowler glove. “...Glad I could help.”

You put your hand on Davis’s shoulder and he looks up at you with glossy, remorseful eyes. The best you can think to do is give him a sincere,reassuring nod which he reluctantly returns. You and Miguel then immediately depart through the hole in the ceiling in which you made your initial entrance. 

Aaron Davis, however, remains in place, completely lost in thought. He removed the cigarette from his mouth that he had all but forgotten about and examined it. ‘Was this really all he could do?’ He then threw the cigarette butt down on the ground, stomping it out with his shoe. Then grabbing his Prowler glove, he made his way over to his workbench and began diligently tinkering away at his arsenal. 

“What…just happened?” Porker asked dumbfounded, “Weren’t they just fighting?”

Pav let out a loud gasp of realization, “Guys don’t you see. Through the power of empathy, compassion, and friendship they were able to-”

“-Doesn’t matter.” Gwen said hurriedly, “We gotta get moving, before Miguel gets there first,” Before she can take off, Hobie stops her in her tracks with his arm placed out in front of her.  

“You changed the rhythm” He said matter-of-factly. 

“What?” 

“They were arguing before you drummed your digits.” 

“Yeah….”

Hobie raised a knowing eyebrow, “...So, you changed it, didn’t you?”

 “...Maybe a little,” She finally conceded. 

Hobie slowly breaks into a grin then he wraps his arm around Gwen’s neck so he can give her a playful noogie, “That’s why you’re my drummer, mate.” Then they, along with the rest of the gang, jump off into the night.

---thanks for reading, few more chapters to the end

[oneatlatime]

The Fortuneteller

(A title which I am itching to divide into three words instead of two because boy does 'Fortuneteller' look stupid - seriously, stare at it for a bit and see how fast it starts looking like Fortun Eteller)

The last couple of episodes have had a contemplative character, so I'm rooting for this one to be a silly one. Also more Sokka please. Poor guy gets demoted to one liners in the B-plot whenever Aang is the main focus.

Episode Time!

We start this episode off with a potential love interest for Sokka.

I had completely forgotten that Katara used to have a necklace. I'd also completely forgotten that she'd lost it. When did she lose it?

Aang-o-vision has a pretty heavy rose-tinted filter - literally.

Told you it was a love interest.

The NOISE Sokka makes when the fish slaps him! I love it. Hang on I'm going to rewind and listen to it again.

Yep. Still as good the second time.

Oh wow! Aang just got Momo-zoned. Gotta say I'm not a fan of a romantic relationship between Aang and Katara at this point, so I'm all for some Momo-zonage.

Platypus bear! Finally some hybrid animals. I was beginning to wonder if that would ever come back.

Is this guy a martial arts master or an idiot?

I'm leaning towards idiot.

Friendly reminder of Appa's size. That's a lot of molars. No canines or incisors? Guess he's an obligate herbivore.

Is sniffing eggs something that people do? I get sniffing melons or other produce, but eggs?

Yep. Floppy hat guy is an idiot.

Aang buddy you might want to get that checked out.

And with a mighty squelch, the egg fulfills this episode's Beat Up Sokka quota.

Appa shakes!

Those are weird ducks.

I don't know a thing about anime, but that's the most anime-looking guy I've seen in this show. Is this show an anime?

Meng-o-vision is red-tinted. Probably doesn't bode well.

Also, Meng could give Zuko some lessons on how to style Pipi longstocking hair. Someone with more photoshop skills than me needs to make a Zuko with Meng hair.

"Don't be modest, they're huge!" Presented without comment. I'm not going to say a thing. But we all thought it.

Katara is totally the kind of girl who would fall for fortune telling. We've seen (multiple times) that she is gullible. Actually, now that I think about it, we've had multiple episodes where Katara gets swept up in something a healthy dose of skepticism would have guarded her from - Jet and The Great Divide come to mind. The writers are really hammering the 'Katara is susceptible to romantic nonsense and Sokka is a science-minded skeptic' message home. Is this going to play some bigger part in the show going forward? Why else would we be on version number (arguably) 3 of this same plot?

Aang and Sokka took off their shoes, but Katara didn't. Huh.

Pinky out. Classy.

I am not digging the Aang x Katara stuff in this episode. I'm with Sokka on this one - let's pretend it was a stellar bathroom break.

Aunt Wu is being unnecessarily antagonistic to Sokka. First he gets an egg on his head, then Momo steals his bean puffs, now Aunt Wu tells him his life's going to suck. I should have been more specific when I hoped for a Sokka episode. I didn't mean a beat up Sokka episode.

Aang. Priorities honey. Honestly, Aang casually dismissing his destiny after all that build up did get a laugh out of me.

A god-like figure coming to have his fortune read and only wanting to know about his love life would give me a headache too.

Add malicious signage to the Beating Up Sokka list.

"The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction." I bet that's the first time that sentence has appeared in the English language.

These people are stupid. Blazing Saddles style 'common clay of the New West' stupid. It would take, what, a day? to run a visual check on the volcano. But nope. Too much work. Listen to me I'm morphing into Sokka.

Katara giving off some serious fangirl vibes.

Katara is officially addicted to fortune telling.

Live footage of me watching these village idiots.

Add duck to the list of Things Which Assault Sokka. Gotta love those duck noises though.

Sokka is getting dangerously close to advising negging here. Also Meng deserves better. Her poor pigtails droop in disappointment. Girl has sentient hair - she deserves better.

Papaya? When you don't like papaya? Just because some old lady said so? Too far. That's not even teenage nonsense; that's tweenage nonsense. I kind of feel like sending Katara to her room. Actually it's just like that one line Log Man said in the Jet episode. Something like 'He tells us what to do and how to think and things all turn out right.' Outsourcing your decision-making. Which, by the way, is both nonsense and cult-like. Then again, the lost boys freedom fighters pretty much worshipped Jet the way this village worships Aunt Wu, so... parallels?

So if this guy got the panda lily himself, doesn't that mean that he recently went up the mountain? Couldn't he have had a peak inside while he was up there? Would have taken an extra 20 seconds.

"Flowers are fine once you're married" Somebody get this boy to Victorian times. If he ever sees an ankle he'll self-combust.

You have a flying bison. Why don't you fly up instead of climb?

This is totally live action fire copy-pasted in to the animation. There has got to be a more technical term for that than copy-pasted.

Raise your hand if you saw the twist with the volcano coming. (I did I swear. Blue spirit was an outlier).

Forget Appa, why didn't Aang just fly up?

"They just won't listen to reason." "But they will listen to Aunt Wu." So the mountain comes to Mohammed. I guess talking to people in a way they understand / will listen to is a good lesson for an avatar to learn. I thought he'd learned that one in The Great Divide though. Either way this episode is getting increasingly frustrating.

Can Meng get a hug? She seems astonishingly self-aware and emotionally mature for a kid. Also way too smart for this podunk town. I may rescind the hug in light of the stalking.

Well, it's not exactly subtle, but at least volcanic doom isn't a fluffy bunny.

Look at those yummy purples. Finally an episode where it's light enough to have a beautiful sky. My collection of wallpapers was suffering.

Digging a lava trench might work, if the volcano is going to put out a gallon or two of lava. This must be a baby volcano.

Nevermind.

The ashes effect feels oddly 3-D.

I guess to an avatar this kind of challenge is small potatoes.

Totally ignoring the Aang x Katara stuff for a minute, I'm with Sokka on this one too, because I also had forgotten that Aang is a superbender. He didn't even need to go glowy.

If I lived in this village that redesign would absolutely give me nightmares. Are those mega claws of doom structurally sound?

I am going to punch this man.

Aunt Wu's final speech to Aang makes me think that at least she's not indulging in her own product as it were. I suppose a con artist (whose services are free, so, just jerking around a village for shits and giggles?) is better than an actual believer?

MENG!!!

Final Thoughts

This episode has me thinking about stories. Part of the reason Katara wants to believe in nonsense like fortune telling is because she is someone inclined to listen to / believe in stories. I think the opening monologue of the first episode mentioned something about her grandmother's stories. Katara was raised on stories and very much took them to heart as more than just entertainment. And you can't blame her for believing the conceits of stories could be possible in their world, not after the events of episode one dumped the star of those stories in her lap. Just so long as she doesn't confuse a belief in stories with a belief in happy endings. There is a war going on in their world, and judging by the stuff that the show did not shy away from discussing or implying in episodes like The Southern Air Temple and The Storm, I am willing to bet good money that there will be a couple of unhappy endings ahead. Not permanently unhappy; this is a kids' cartoon. But there will probably be setbacks and disappointments.

Would Katara have astrology nonsense in her dating profile?

"The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction" is going to be incorporated into my daily vocabulary.

Platypus + bear are interesting choices for a hybrid animal, since a platypus is about 15 normal animals smashed together anyway. A platypus bear is the swiss army knife of animals. Or the Mr. Potato Head.

At first I thought that Aunt Wu was a benevolent meddler (see putting together the couple with the panda lily), but she also advised that one guy to never bathe, which doesn't benefit anyone in any way that I can see. So I've concluded that she's a Bumi level ("it's pretty fun messing with people") shit-stirrer instead. Her services may be free, but she manages to pay for a very big house, an assistant in Meng, and anime guy the bodyguard(?) so I guess grateful villagers give her donations? However she's doing it, she's got it made.

There was some sort of running theme with those large blue-billed ducks that lived in the village. If that was meant to have more meaning than just a running visual gag, I didn't pick up on it.

Meng had a surprising amount of depth and insight for what (I assume) is a one-episode character. Stalking aside, I liked her.

This episode's humourous look at the stupidity of the village (in fact the science denial of the village) is not as funny as it would have been in a pre-covid denial, pre-antivax, pre-"global warming is a hoax" world. A shallow viewing of this episode is still funny because the villagers are just SO dumb (except Meng), but the more you think about the villagers' actions and the conclusions they reach at the end of the episode (to not change AT ALL - at least the tribes made up in The Great Divide, a similarly idiot-filled episode), the more you morph into Sokka. These people have denied reality so hard that it's frustrating rather than funny to watch. Their head in the sand approach is not cute anymore.

I really wanted to like this episode. Like I said before, I wanted a goofy fun episode after the one-two punch of the last two episodes, but this one rapidly went from goofy to frustrating. I can't tell if it's because I'm not the target audience (i.e. too adult) or if it's because much of the world is currently drowning in various forms of misinformation and science denial. I know this episode isn't supposed to be deep - it's supposed to be setup for Aang & Katara as a (hopefully very distant) couple. That's all. And the message at the end about shaping your own destiny (i.e. taking an active part in your life) is a good message, and thematically relevant to the avatar, who presumably is at least somewhat responsible for shaping the whole world's destiny. But damn if this episode doesn't make my teeth itch.

Pros: Sokka had some great lines. Appa got to shake. There were pretty backgrounds. The noise Sokka made when he got slapped by the fish was a thing of beauty.

Cons: Aang and Katara are not allowed to date until they're 35. I will smack each villager individually upside the head with a science textbook. Meng deserved better.

Maybe I'm just not in the mood for this episode. I'll stick it on the rewatch list just for the Sokka fish noise.

[katvalentinesblog]

May 8th

Yesterday was orientation at my new job. I had the worst anxiety the day before and of orientation. A couple days ago I found out I was dropped by my insurance. I had to pay full price for my dr visit then found out my Zoloft is $243 without insurance. So I had to make my last few days stretch and with missing doses I’m completely out of my mind with anxiety. I was crying and shaking before my orientation yesterday. I just found out about an app that can drastically lower my Zoloft costs so I will pick it up tomorrow. Also when I get really scared I always try to blame it on my transition so for the second time in like 2 months I sent a message to planned parenthood asking how to stop my hormones followed by another message saying “oh nevermind I want to stay on hormones I just need therapy sorry”. So now I’m super worried what they think and worried they will take my prescription away. Which I don’t blame them if they do because I’m a complete fucking idiot. Hopefully they won’t think too much of it but like I said I did this once before a couple months ago. Hopefully they will call and I can explain myself. I want to stay on my hormones more than anything even if I have to do it in private the rest of my life. Anyways Home Depot is intimidating as hell. It’s even worse I’m so heavy because I have absolutely no self confidence around the other people there. I’m really sabotaging myself in every way. My anxiety is so crazy. I woke up at 4am which was about an hour ago and can’t sleep. When is it going to click?? When am I going to prioritize my health?? I’m freaking out about my hormones being take. Away although I can have over a month left of them at home I’m sure I can figure something out if then end up taking my prescription away for acting crazy. Not being on my Zoloft for a couple days has my anxiety going nuts. I’m just not in a good place. I’m going to try and lay back down and sleep. I work tomorrow and every weekday for the next two weeks YIKES. So I’m going to diet very hard like try not to eat much at all. Maybe try the 5 bite diet again. If I was very thin it would help my self confidence and anxiety exponentially!!! I’m going to get my meds tomorrow morning and pray everything goes smoothly. Hopefully planned parenthood calls and I can explain myself and bed them not to stop my hormones. Let’s see how tomorrow goes. Thank God for tumblr. I’m so fkn lucky to have this outlet. Getting this worry out to this journal helps immensely!!!! I hope I can fall back asleep. Please please please God, universe, guardian angel, anything out there please help make my life better. Please 🙏🏻 Ok im going to try and sleep. My alarm goes off in an hour and a half yuck.