#mmmkay how did I miss this?!

[toomuchracket]

stupid cupid (d word matty x reader fluff)

day 3 of valentine's week, in which you realise you're in love with matty in an unexpected circumstance. cute as shit. enjoy <3

you collapse forward onto matty's chest, both of you breathing heavily. he's still partially inside you, and you can feel his cum dripping from your hole and pooling below you on his body, but you don't mind; you like this sort of post-sex intimacy, when the orgasm haze fades from your brain but the stickiness and tiredness of your body still continue as reminders of how good it was.

and fuck, was it good.

matty strokes your messy hair. “mad how we've never had bad sex with each other, isn't it?”

“shut up,” you laugh, looking up at him adoringly. “you'll have jinxed it now.”

“impossible,” he grins. “i like watching you try to walk normally the day after a good fuck too much to not make an effort…”

“oh my god.”

“... and you are just too eager to please me to half-arse anything, my little princess,” matty boops your nose, laughing when you screw your face up. “in conclusion - great sex forever.”

you hum, tracing the chest tattoo next to your head. “that really was great, that. unexpected.”

“d'you mean?”

“thought you'd be exhausted after the show. s'why i insisted on being on top,” you laugh breathily while matty flicks your nose. “pleasantly surprised at how much work you did.”

“you've been running around in tiny shorts all day. course i was gonna go fuckin feral,” he smiles, hand weaving into your hair and massaging your scalp. “tired now, though.”

“same,” as if on cue, you yawn, and snuggle further into your boyfriend. “night night.”

matty giggles. “nope, not yet. need to clean you up first, darling,” you're not quite sure how he manages it, but next thing you know you're being scooped up bridal style and carried to the bathroom. he sets you down next to the toilet, and reaches in to turn the shower on. “you piss, i shower, then you come in with me. yeah?”

“mmmkay,” you nod, smiling as matty kisses your head before stepping into the shower. normally, you wouldn't let him in the room at this point, but the glass is so frosted that you don't care. you do what you need to do, giggling to yourself as you stand up and lean over to the sink to wash your hands and listen to your boyfriend sing (for what reason, you've no idea) lucky ones by lana del rey over the sound of the taps.

and then, you try to walk over to him, and your legs almost give way to the point you have to cling to the counter to stay upright. you yelp. “matty!”

he's over at you within seconds, sliding a little bit on the floor. concern on his face, he gently holds yours in his still-wet hands. “what’s wrong, angel? you alright? did you see a spider again?”

“no, i just,” you sigh, looking up at him with a pout. “i can't walk. tried to get to the shower and my legs gave way.”

“already? nice,” matty smirks. you deliberately wobble your lip, and his face softens. “oh, sweetheart,” he coos, kissing your forehead and lifting you up to sit on the counter. “give me a second to rinse my hair, yeah? then i'll take care of you. promise.”

“‘kay,” you sniffle. “you can leave the shower door open if you want.”

your boyfriend laughs. “it won't turn you on again, looking at me naked and dripping wet?”

you shrug. “maybe. but you're beautiful like that. s'nice to appreciate you.”

“flatterer,” matty's cheeks go adorably pink. he kisses you, long but chaste, before walking backwards to the shower. “front or back view?”

“back. you've got a cute arse, and i never get to see it.”

“not as cute as yours.”

“yeah, yeah,” you roll your eyes. “hurry up, please, i miss you. wanna go to sleep.”

he grins. “alright, darling.”

in fairness to matty, he really only is a few minutes rinsing the hair mask from his curls - he's so quick, in fact, that you’ve half a mind to tell him to go back in so you can appreciate the view even longer. but as much as you like ogling his peachy little bum and the way his back muscles flex under the water, you like it when he takes care of you even more. so you keep your mouth shut and smiling, hand him a fluffy towel from the stack beside you (with a final bit of ogling as he runs it over his body and wraps it low on his hips), and let him do just that.

he kisses you as he runs a flannel under the hot tap, then wrings it out and presents it to you. “temp ok?” he smiles when you nod, tapping your thigh as a sign for you to open them so he can clean you up, cooing when you wince at the feeling of the warm fabric on your still-sensitive cunt. “i know, sweet girl, i know. just a second longer, yeah? need to make sure you won't be all sticky and uncomfy, that's all. alright?”

“mhmm,” you smile at the way matty’s concentrating on you, the same as he always does during aftercare - brows furrowed in focus, bottom lip between his teeth, whole face softening as he looks you over in satisfaction once he's done. it's almost reverential, the way he treats you, and still totally overwhelming, even after all these months. nobody else you’ve been with has ever been so caring towards you, nor so affectionate; once he's chucked the flannel in the laundry bag, the first thing matty does is straighten up and kiss you. it makes you melt. “thank you, baby.”

he pecks your lips. “just doing my boyfriend duties.”

“you do them very well,” wrapping your arms around his neck, you shuffle forward to hug matty, snuggling into him while he holds you tightly. you don't know if you've ever felt so safe in your life. “m'really sleepy. will you take me to bed now?”

“course,” matty gives you a final squeeze and pulls back, smiling softly; his eyes widen when he looks at your face, though. “wait, no, i can't. not yet.”

“why?”

“you've still got your makeup on, darling.”

blinking tiredly, you look over your shoulder at your reflection. “oh, so i do. never mind. i'll sort it in the morning. let's just go to bed, yeah?”

matty shakes his head. “nope.”

“matty,” you whine, stroking his face. “please can we just go to sleep? m'too tired to do it.”

“angel,” your boyfriend sighs, taking both your hands in his. “the first time i stayed at yours, you made me promise - promise - to never let you fall asleep with your makeup on. said it was the worst thing i could ever let you do. so, yeah, we're not going to bed until your skincare is done. alright?”

a wave of something unfamiliar passes over you as you take in matty's words. it's not unpleasant, though; quite the opposite, actually. kind of warm, but not in an embarrassed way. you don't know what it is, or where exactly in your body it starts, but you like it.

you smile shyly. “i can't believe you remember me saying that. i was half-joking, honestly.”

matty copies your smile and shrugs. “well, i took it very seriously. so, to that end,” he kisses you quickly, resting his forehead against your own. “if you're too tired to take your makeup off and all that, would you let me do it instead?”

the warmth passes over you again as he speaks, increasing by a couple of degrees when you look at your boyfriend's adorably expectant face. god, his eyes. you want to drown in them. “yes, please,” you smile. “if you wouldn't mind, that is.”

“i never mind getting to touch your beautiful face,” he grins. “i know you're tired, darling, but could you put your hair up while i wash my hands, please?”

you oblige, reaching to the side for your claw clip and headband. matty quickly cleans his hands, fiddling about with the tap once he's rinsed. “tepid for skincare, yeah?”

“right,” you nod. “if it's too hot it…

“... strips the skin too much. makes sense,” matty carefully measures out your makeup remover on his palm, while you blink in surprise. wetting the cleanser, he brings his hands to your face. “let me know if i'm not doing it right, sweetheart.”

“okay,” you close your eyes, and he begins. his hands move gently across your face, the soothing circular motion of his fingers lulling you into relaxation - ironically, in total contrast to the circular motions matty was using on you earlier. when he giggles quietly, you keep your eyes closed, but smile. “what?”

“you look like a raccoon. your mascara's completely melted,” matty replies, and you can hear him smiling. “a really cute raccoon, though.”

“a callback to my emo days,” you smile, closing your mouth as matty wipes the makeup residue away with a facecloth. “is that us done?”

“yeah. take a look, please.”

you do as asked, turning to examine your totally makeup-free face in the mirror. “perfect, baby. thank you,” you turn back to peck matty - glowing with pride - and smile. “d'you want me to guide you through the rest of the routine?”

“oh, no, it's ok,” matty’s cheeks go pink again, and he looks bashfully at the ground before peeking up at you through his eyelashes. “i, uh, i actually made a note of it in my phone, one of the times i sat with you while you did it. just in case, you know, something like tonight happened, and i would be the one doing it for you.”

oh. your eyes widen, and matty starts some frantic monologue about… well, you've no idea what. you can't focus on anything he's saying, because now you know what the new warmth in your body is, spreading from your heart to your brain and tinting the world just a little bit brighter.

it's love. 

you're in love with matty.

as soon as the realisation hits, though, reality follows - all it took for you to realise was for him to offer to do your skincare for you? really? that tiny little gesture? christ. how pathetic of you.

but it isn’t a tiny gesture, though, is it, if you think about it; matty cares so much about you that he physically noted down which skincare products you use on your face and in which order. it might be a basic ritual, but it's intricate and intimate, and he's willingly offering to enact it for you because he knows you’ll feel bad if you abandon it tonight.

god, you love him so much.

shit, you still haven't said anything - you tune back into matty talking about “i'm sorry if that's a bit creepy or stalker-ish, i just know you spend a lot of time taking care of yourself like that, and really i think you've got it down to a fine art cos you always look amazing, and i don't know i just thought it would be useful to know if i was ever lucky enough to be so close to you that i could take over with it if necessary, and-”

“matty, baby,” you stop him before he talks himself unconscious, smiling. “i’m really touched that you would do that for me. really.”

he smiles, clearly relieved. “i'd do anything for you, darling.”

you swear you can feel your heart grow three sizes like the grinch. “well, in that case,” you kiss the back of his hand. “i'd like you to do my skincare for me, please.”

“alright. can i kiss you first?”

you say nothing, just pout your lips and close your eyes. matty chuckles and kisses you deeply, hands on your jaw; you sigh into him, lips parting to let him in, and he takes the bottom one between his teeth and releases it ever so slowly. when you whimper, he smiles, pecking your lips before pulling away completely. “right. cleanser time.”

you smile, too, closing your eyes and sitting back while he washes and hydrates and treats and moisturises your face. again, matty's so gentle with you, humming whatever tune is in his head and quietly murmuring instructions like “pea-sized amount of niacinamide, grape-sized amount of moisturiser” to himself - you huff out a laugh at those, and he stops talking to himself in favour of talking to you. “what?”

“nothing, you're just cute” and i'm very much in love with you.

“nowhere near as cute as you, sweetheart. just your lip balm left to do, by the way, and then we can finally go to bed.”

“thank god.” 

matty laughs as he quickly swipes your overnight lip mask on, tapping your thigh once he's done. “that's you, angel,” he washes his hands again, while you open your eyes and beam at him. “shiny and beautiful.”

“thank you, my darling,” you pull the claw clip and headband from your hair, shoving them in your cosmetics bag before making grabby arms at matty. “bedtime?”

“bedtime,” your boyfriend lifts you and wanders to the bedroom, laying you gently on the bed and kissing your hair; in complete contrast to the tenderness, he parkours over you to get to his own side of the bed, and you giggle as he winces. “fuck, that was a bad idea.”

“oh baby. c'mere,” you slide under the duvet and open your arms. matty slots himself between them, resting his head on your chest. “better?”

“so much,” he yawns, eyelids already fluttering closed. “night, baby. see you in my dreams, and then in the morning.”

“goodnight, darling,” you lean down to kiss his forehead, gently massaging his scalp until his breathing indicates he's properly, genuinely asleep. then you smile, and your voice drops to a whisper. “i love you.”

[nancypullen]

Another Sunday

Welp, I made it through another week without killing or being killed, so...success! I have the Sunday night dreads, remember that feeling as a kid? I haven't posted about work or much of anything because I feel like I've been negative lately. No one likes that. I'm usually the seeker of silver linings and cheerleader for the team/family, so I don't like being a downer. I know my role, and until I get back in the groove, I'll shut up about all of it, mmmkay? Today we drove to Easton for an author talk and it was absolutely fascinating. David George Haskell, an evolutionary biologist and winner of all sorts of awards for his writings (two time Pulitzer finalist!) was speaking at The Avalon Theater about his book, Sounds Wild and Broken.

Biologist and nature writer David George Haskell has spent his career reminding us to pay closer attention to nature. In his latest book, Sounds Wild and Broken, which was nominated for a 2022 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction, Haskell turns his considerable perceptive powers to “Earth’s fraying soundtrack”—the planet’s orchestral richness, which is being increasingly blocked out by human noise. Haskell will deliver a book talk and play some recordings of nature’s most wondrous sounds in the Avalon Theatre.

It was so, so good. I took notes and now I want to read all of his books. He is an absolute artist with words, and managed to make some very scientific topics digestible for us common folks. His phrasing made me swoon, he could make insects seem magical. Even Mickey admitted to getting a little choked up a couple of times when he spoke of "primal sounds" - sounds that are unchanged from millions of years ago. We hear the ocean or a waterfall the same way that our Neanderthal ancestors did. I think you had to be there to hear and feel the impact. I'm not doing any of it justice. We had a lot to talk about on the way home and I'll be thinking of this for a long, long time. I've been reading rave reviews about his book The Songs of Trees, I may have to grab that one too. Don't judge his work by my poor attempt at sharing here - check it out! Another big (and important!!) event coming up is the grandgirl's SIXTH birthday. Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday I was passing out pink tootsie pops and telling everyone I met, "It's a girl!" Now she's her own little person with friends, report cards, and a desire to see Disney on Ice. That's where she's going next weekend with her bestie that lives two houses down from her. I would not be at all surprised if they attend in full princess regalia, tiaras and all. Grancy has her birthday surprises ready and I think I covered all of the bases - dress-up, books, a little magic (Magic Mixie Pixlings), clothes,etc. If she didn't already have two cats I'd get her a kitten too. Think they'd notice a pony in the back yard? I should stop. After we celebrate Little Miss turning six, we'll celebrate my first baby turning thirty-nine. Thirty-nine. How did that happen? Matthew has been a joy to me every day of his life. That isn't an exaggeration. Thirty-nine years of being a mother went really fast. My youngest baby is thirty-five. Same level of joy. Those two made my whole life worthwhile. There's not a single day I'd give back. We were always sort of the Three Musketeers, we've been poor together, laughed until we cried together, had adventures - some even on purpose. Okay, I got sidetracked. I was talking about Matt's birthday. Since he's in Minneapolis we rarely get to celebrate with him and that makes me really sad. I hate the idea of him working all day and then heading home to an empty house on his birthday. Oh, he's got wonderful friends, but it's not the same. Before I started at the library we'd talked about flying out to see him and have some birthday fun. Of course that isn't possible for me now, but Mickey is going to zip out to Minneapolis for a guy's weekend and I couldn't be happier. They'll probably fill the hours with weird stuff that wouldn't interest me - like watching a bunch of war movies and eating a lot of beef. As long as Matt has a happy birthday, that's a win. Gosh, it's almost 9 o'clock. We're watching the Grammy Awards and I'm quite pleased that we recognize so many performers. That's not always the case. When we were young we swore that we'd never be those old folks who didn't listen to popular music, but here we are. I listen to about a third of what's new, maybe not even that much. You get to an age where you just don't care - you like what you like and you don't care what else is out there. Kind of like my fashion choices at work - everyone else still wears gray, black, somber clothing. I show up daily in my pink and ruffled nonsense. It's February so tomorrow I'm adding big ol' heart earrings to the mix. I. DON'T. CARE. I'm the granny in the building anyway, might as well write my reputation in stone.

I have the biggest hair in the building, the brightest clothes, and the loudest laugh. I gotta' be me.

I'll end this scatterbrained post with a bit of good news. The mister and I have made a decision about our anniversary trip. It'll likely be in October and we'll head to the Alsace region of France. It's a stunningly beautiful area where France, Germany, and Switzerland bump noses. After bouncing around a lot of idea and doing a bit of research it's a place we're both excited to see. We'll likely fly into Paris and take a train to either Colmar of Strasbourg as a base for our explorations. That means that we'll probably spend a couple of days at the end of the trip back in Paris. That thrills me. I need to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night again and make another trek up to Montmartre. Isn't that a whole bunch of wonderful to look forward to? It certainly is in my world. Alright, I've let you all know that I'm still alive. I'll try to blog more often (looong week ahead, no promises) and to make it lighter than it's been recently. No more whining. Well, not as much anyway. Sending out lots of love tonight, take as much as you need. Heck, take a little extra and spread it around. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[josiebelladonna]

okay, pro-ai people, what you got for me.

do your worst-

mmmkay, keep going

true, and you know, this was something that i believed would happen with merely the natural progression of technology and everything, as a building off digital art. but that’s not what’s happening, though—it’s also not “replicating” human-made art, it’s straight-up taking the data around it and storing it in algorithms. biggest missed opportunity i’ve seen… ever. in my whole life.

that’s beside the point, though—something tells me this guy has never done a speed drawing or speed paint before. but again, beside the point. what’s happening is typing into the algorithm to make whatever and then boom, done. absolutely zero effort.

let’s be real: i don’t care about engagement. sometime last year i decided i just wasn’t going to give a shit about it anymore because it doesn’t mean anything when you think about it. but my instagram likes have steadily fallen off a cliff since september: my reach has been phenomenal, though, i get at least 1000 people looking at me on a monthly basis and that’s on a weak month like december, too; but likes have been utterly abysmal lately. things i thought would be huge like my erotic drawings and yet people hardly bat an eye at them. it’d be easy to assume that “huh, there’s no place for this girl, especially since her art doesn’t look like anything else i’ve seen before. where do you place her?”

it’s something that has nagged at me for years, my place in the art world that is. it’s not anime because a.) it just isn’t—greatly influenced by it, but that’s not what it is, though; b.) that’s incorrect terminology anyway: anime is animation, manga is printed work; and c.) it just isn’t. i don’t fit in manga/anime circles for this reason, and i also don’t fit into cartoonist circles for this reason, too—cartoonists have gotten alarmingly cutthroat as of late, too, going on about their politics instead of making stuff that moves me. it’s really weird, and tragic, too, like you can only talk about that stuff before it gets exhausting and you’re wishing for your own alex skolnick.

i’m also seeing things like “it’s being framed as a crypto grift when it’s being done by actual artists” to which i say you’re probably looking at straight digital art for all we know—which tells me we’ve passed the point of no return there.

apparently, this guy started out as a traditional artist (account was started in 2017) and then switched to ai and—  you’re going to buy into an illusion because it’s the latest thing at the expense of your own roots and call it “ludditism”. god, that’s upsetting.

wait, wait, wait… did you miss something here? i feel like that above tweet should’ve led into something.

also, “there’s no need to hate something simply because it’s different.” there you go again with the “anti-ai is ableist” horseshit. i read about this when it started coming forth into the foray, and i always do, too: as an artist and someone who reads and has an extensive scientific background so i literally think like a scientist, this shit should sound off alarm bells everywhere.

i love how this guy just says “don’t be afraid because you’re wrong” and then does fuck all to back it up. paramount signs of blind leading the blind—it’s really weird because once you sift through the playground insults and the sense of entitlement, that’s really all what the pro-ai argument boils down to. seriously, go on twitter or the ai tag here on tumblr right now and see the pro-arguments that are meant to be mediating: they all have that air of “because i said so” and they don’t tell you anything—or they’re like mike portnoy and they’re like “but it’s so cool though!!”

worse, these people are so far gone in it that there’s no convincing them otherwise, even if you back it up and follow the research and show them the truth. they’re quickly reaching the level of trumpers and pro-lifers. they are just so convinced that they’re the ones telling the truth that they get all misty-eyed about it and yet you get absolutely nothing from them when you approach them logically. you learn nothing… except how they are as people, of course, and you find that it was nothing more than emotionally manipulative propaganda.

abortion is healthcare, not ~murder of babies~ (and being anti-abortion has roots in antisemitism and rape apology, too, so pro-life feminists can stop lying to us) trump is hitler 2.0 and magats (idk what they’re called, there’s about 12 different names for them) are the new nazis and ai is an existential threat whether you want to believe it or not.

too bad. IT’S NOT ART. IT’S THEFT AND ANTIHUMAN.

you didn’t say anything??

also, fuck twitter for making the most-replied tweets the most visible now, god, i’m glad i don’t have an account on there anymore.

by the way, i checked the replies under that thread, and—

did no one learn from 2016? i mean, jesus christ, it wasn’t even that long ago. “oh, the pandemic! the pandemic has warped my perception of time! wah wah wah!”  listen, when you close yourself off to a vacuum like this, you only receive feedback that backs you up and kisses your ass rather than challenge you and help you grow and learn and bust down your own pretenses… god forbid. fake news was actually a thing (until it wasn’t), and there still is hordes upon hordes of misinformation about covid and the vaccines, and it all comes down to not questioning and going, “maybe this isn’t the truth, maybe the truth is somewhere else or maybe it’s inside me. maybe the vaccine does work after all. maybe there is something that does resonate with me from the other side of the aisle. maybe this cool thing really is pernicious and i’m only believing my own bullshit because i’m the one who’s actually afraid.” also, hot take: memes contribute to propaganda because they’re based on punchlines and specific context rather than tell you something you should know. i can’t say how many times i see a meme anywhere and i have no idea what the hell it’s supposed to mean.

i like how that top tweet—nice touch with the “nft” in the username, too. yeah, people still take crypto seriously after the bottom dropped out on the market and i haven’t seen a commercial for it since last march—just reinforces the doom mindset that i’m seeing a lot of legit artists resign to (please don’t, i’m begging you, you are letting them win by undertaking this mindset)… as if there’s no such thing as legislation or artists banning together against this. they think no one can write petitions or get the ball rolling and make someone in a position of authority really look at the ethical implications of ai.

really, i want someone to look into starting a petition, do something to get the ball rolling to their congressman or whoever to really look at the ethics behind ai to expose the truth about it and maybe do something about it because it’s only a matter of time before the hollow propaganda wins. yeah, congress is what it is, but it’s something, though. it’s called making use of the tools that you have at your disposal, even if they don’t function at the ideal level, something that’s been with us from the first time our ancestors created fire. unlike h.r. puff n stuff here^, i actually want art to go places. and not because i said so.

[ouatsnark]

Colin did mention later in panel that when both him and Emilie were asked fave scenes to film with Jen he said when Emma killed him, their wedding and first date. He generally does talk nice about CS. Once everyone went ooh when he said hook Belle ship he did say bet you didn’t think I’d say that then later when someone brought up fanfic mentioned hook and Belle with it to. He’s starting to remind me of how Lana acts at cons now. I miss them not Being able to talk about show now.

Honestly, I actually think he's always played to whomever he's on stage with? I seem to remember him giving a similar answer about Belle before and I think once he said Regina & Hook did it in her carriage which isn't grounded in canon either since Hook looked absolutely not interested in her advances but mmmkay. lol. But don't quote me on this cause I don't have the receipts & it's been a long time. Anyone know????

I am sorry things seem to be changing at cons! If you wanted you could maybe look at these answers as being "funny" new answers to the same old questions ...? cause I'm sure that's tiring too.

[joytraveler]

25. Reward For Being Good

The first thing on screen is Redhead Mom again! In fact it's the same scene as in Keep Your Promises, except it's daylight outside and she has a smile on her face.

"..............."

aroseahorseboy: AY REDMOM

[ "You did a great job playing so far! You haven't missed any games!"]

"......Cool! Hi, uh, I've seen you at least one before, nice meeting you in a better mood?" Bea finds herself smiling at the screen. After Box Baby, this feels like meeting up with an old friend.

[ "You must really love video games! Me too. I'm glad you picked Joy Traveler 1*67!" ]

"I dunno, have you seen some of the stuff in these games?"

Syrupentine: We love you too Redmom! <3<3

[ "Since you do... Here's a special treat for you! Have fun, but don't forget to come back and play more Joy Traveler games!" ]

"Wait, what? Treat? Yes, Bea like treat" When she dismisses the text box, it fades to... a list of letters, and a cursor to choose one.

HNV: oh boy alphabet soup my favorite mom

"Have I ever mentioned I think moms are great, maybe not Isaac's but.. Oh.. Do I get to choose? How does this work? Well let's press B, that's the name of the show!"

B opens up another, much shorter list-- it consists of "Bally Astrocade", "Bandai Super Vision 5000", and "Back."

"I used to be a huge Power Rangers fan so let's see what the Bandai one is all about!"

Another list of 7 items appears: Beam Galaxian. Gun Professional. Missile Vader. Space Fighter. Submarine. Othello. PacPacBird.

Bee52: dude wtf

"What is this? Redmom, are you a giant nerd?? Me too!! I didn't even know about most of these though"

Syrupentine: Yo Bea I heard you like games so I put a multicart in your multicart so you can game while you game

"GAMECEPTION!"

aroseahorseboy: these kinda suck but its awesome to get more games at all!

"Let's not be rude, thank you Redhead Mom! You just helped me get another five or six episodes out of this!"

HNV: Dude. Bea. I have a hunch. Go back and pick "N"

"Mmmkay let's see what happens here.." she does so, sipping her Cactus Cooler thoughtfully.

The list that pops up here are much more familiar phrases: 3DS. DS. Game Boy. Game Boy Advance. Game Boy Color. GameCube? Nintendo 64?? Nintendo Entertainment System???

HNV: YESSS IT WORKED aroseahorseboy: no way man Klickitat_Street: Seriously??

"No no no. No it can't. Really?" She opens N64... Scrolls down through the list until she hits the Ms... there it is.

VRROOOOOM. "Welcome to Mario Kart!"

"FUCK!"

Syrupentine: OMG OMG OMG ButterflyDefect: FAKE FAKE NO WAY Aroseahorseboy: Bea how much did you pay for this game I WANT ONE

Bea's not really listening, she's too engrossed in the DK Rap at the moment. "I, not nearly what it's worth, I can assure you! Wow, thank you, Best Mom Ever! Now look.. don't pirate games, its bad, etc. I should probably say that."

Syrupentine: Wait, that thing doesn't have an analog stick how can it play N64 and GC games???

The answer-- surprisingly well. All the Joy Traveler games have played so simply, Bea hadn't even noticed the analog capacity of the directional pad! "I really don't have a lot of words, this is unbelievable. Pretty much impossible, at least I would have thought so? I'll be honest, I'm not a tech nerd, I just really like playing games, so if you think you have any idea how this crap works.."

"Gonna come back to this one. Many, many more times, methinks"

aroseahorseboy: I wish red mom was MY mom

"I'd say she just topped my upcoming Top 10 Video Game Moms list except I don't think anyone else has played this thing"

Bee52: I can't think of any other moms DueyDecimal: Ms. Pac-Man is a mom, right...?

"Uh, ness's mom, Ms. Pac, and your character's mom from Pokemon.. aaand.. hm, well its a work in progress"

Syrupentine: Hinawa.... *sob* snerd_burglar: nah mama red blows them ALL away DueyDecimal: Weird she's in so many games! Bee52: she's like the host or something MaxForce: Great, horror movies get Elvira, we get an Irish MILF

"You say that like its a bad thing!"

The emulation isn't perfect since there's only so many buttons on that tiny pad; and of course Bea's out of luck if it's a twin-stick game like Panzer Dragoon. But after about fifteen minutes of suggestions from the viewers, she has yet to find a game that isn't included!

"Ok so this all the video games ever and I can only play most of them! I dunno maybe I can figure out some way to hook up another controller with the right buttons but I think I'm set for a while.."

She chomps down on a candy bar, going quiet because it's a really chewy one but also she's deep in thought about what all this means. "I know we want to see everything but let's come back, the Library of Alexandria isn't going anywhere"

Baconnaise: I wonder where the arcade games are though Klickitat_Street: This is some dark shit you're messing with, Bea. MaxForce: There's something called the Switch listed there! I never even heard of it! DueyDecimal: Maybe it's one of those China-exclusive Nintendo consoles? Like the iQue?

"Beg pardon?" She scrolls down the list: Xenoblade 2. Splatoon 2. Super Mario Odyssey. "This isn't even out. None of these games exist yet, do they? WHAT IS THIS MACHINE?!"

aroseahorseboy: HOLY SHIT MARIO MEETS ABE Klickitat_Street: I can't belive they didn't go with "Spla2n"... snerd_burglar: of course it's all sequels, please understand

"This is just too good to be true, I feel like any minute some goons in Mario and Luigi clothes are gonna burst down my door and break my legs here. This must have been made by either a brilliant hacker or someone with the time and resources to make all these on their own."

The first one she chooses is heralded by a singularly beautiful image of the Nintendo logo...then suddenly Redhead pops up in a hard hat. "Oops! You entered the year 2015 in your profile-- This attraction will not be available until 2017. Sorry, but we can't show you a game that hasn't been made yet!"

Klickitat_Street: I knew it Bee52: BOOOO Llord_Kuruku: Lol, Trollmom

"Oh come on, don't go all Mrs. Resetti on me here!" she exclaims. "I mean I don't wanna be ungrateful but its not like I can play 'em anywith.. all right, never mind. Anything else cool on here?"

"Ok hive, let's get right back into the Awesome Companion and explore the next game and hope that last one is still here when we get back!"

[opie-nixx]

You're not Illiterate. (CHAP. 10)

Lenny: "When we doin some readin?" Lenny practically prances over to Sean with a cup of coffee

Sean: "Not now Lenny, please. I've almost got it anyhow."

Lenny: "I told ya I'd have you readin. Okay, now come on, I can't do it if you won't let me try." He argues. Arthur and I watching from afar.

Sean: "Look, what's the point of readin anyhow? Just puts silly idea's in me head.

Lenny: "Exactly, that's the point of readin."

Sean: "Another day, please." Sean looks down, sharpening his knife.

Lenny: "Fine, but you can't avoid avoid me forever." Lenny walks off. I've seen this go on for weeks while Arthur has been healing. I push myself up.

Arthur: "What are you doin?" He chuckles watching me walk off.

Y/n: "He's gonna learn." I march my way and hop up on the table next to Sean.

Y/n: "Why you givin him a hard time?"

Sean: "Readin's stupid." He mutters out. I light up a ciggerate and take a small puff.

Y/n: "You know, I hate doing math. In fact I suck at it." I chuckle.

Y/n: "Learning new thing's can be a pain in the ass for you to understand especially when you feel like an idiot for not knowing what everyone else does." I take another drag.

Sean: "Why you tellin me this?" He sighs.

Y/n: "You're not alone when it comes to this shit, in fact you have more people here than I did learning. I promise you no-one is gonna make fun of you for not knowing a word. We have all stuttered on a word or mispronounced it." He looks at me and I give him a small smile holding out the ciggerete for him to take. He takes it while giving a long sigh.

Sean: "Foine, I'll learn how to read." I giggle.

Y/n: "Fuck yeah. You irish bastard. LENNY! Get back here with that book!" I yell over to him, hopping off that table. I take my place next to Arthur.

Arthur: "Ain't you Miss Encouragement." He says sarcastically.

Y/n: "Life is hard and depressing enough, why not live a little?" I retort.

Arthur: "I guess." He pulls me closer and plants a kiss to my cheek. His beard scratching my face. I turn to him.

Y/n: "You need a trim, my good sir." I giggle running my hands through his long hair.

Arthur: "You don't like it?" He gives his beard a stroke.

Y/n: "I have nothing but adoration for how you present yourself. But give the beard a trim....and keep the hair." I give him a peck.

Arthur: "I know this is off the subject..but..uh..How old are you?" He kinda whispers.

Y/n: "Oh? I guess you don't know much about me?" I chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck.

'I know you though.'

I can feel Arthur's gaze on me. I lightly blush as I turn to look at him.

Y/n: "20...I'm 20." Arthur's color drains from his face as he begins to choke on air. I can't help but hold my stomach while I laugh my ass off.

Arthur: "You screwin with me, woman!?" He mutters out taking a few deep breaths.

Y/n: "No, I'm very serious." I wipe the tears from my eyes.

Arthur: "I'm 36."

Y/n: "Niiice...heheh."

Arthur: "I gotta head out into town to help Micah and Bill with somethin. Possible job." He says standing up putting his hat back on.

Y/n: "Mmmkay. I come with."

Arthur: "I really would prefer it if you stay here."

Y/n: "I'd prefer it if you didn't argue with me." I make my way towards my horse. Arthur behind me.

Sean: "Wait for me. I'll ride wit ya's." He says standing up and practically running away from Lenny. My eye's widen with fear a bit as I watch Sean.

Arthur: "You okay darlin?" He asks putting his hands on my hips and giving me a concerned look.

Y/n: "Yeah.." I snap myself out of it and flash him a smile before putting my foot in the stirrups and climbing up. Arthur shares another concerned look.

Arthur: "You can talk to me ya know."

Y/n: "I know that, darlin." I lean down and give him a peck.

Sean: "Can we get goin? I don't want to watch you two weirdo's suck faces any longer."

Arthur: "Shut up." He grumbles before mounting his own horse.

The ride was filled with Sean talking about his pa which I understood why they all wanted him to shut up about it. He just goes on and on and some of his words I don't even think it was english. It was like his own word with his thick irish accent. I'll admit it was funny but I was worried about him dying. I was going to do anything I could to keep him alive.

'You're a good person.' I smile to myself.

Arriving in Rhodes made me feel like I was working in a saw mill from all the dust I was inhaling. We all hitch on the side of the bank where we saw Micah and Bill.

Micah: "We been waiting for you, Arthur."

Arthur: "Well, I’m sorry to have kept you."

Micah: "Come on. Let’s get going." We all trail behind him as we begin making our way to the saloon.

Arthur: "What's the plan?"

Micah: "We’re meeting a couple of the Grays over at the saloon. They spoke to Bill about a job… needing security." I pull out my carbine and eye the rooftops.

Arthur: "After the farce of stealing the horses for them, why we doing this?" They begin to bicker with eachother. I completely ignore them until we come to a pause.

Arthur: "This don't feel right." He snarls. I see a man on the rooftop of the Sheriff's office. As if time slowed yet again I immediately drop my gun and tackle Sean. I hear the man fire and a burning sensation in my shoulder. I let go of Sean and grab my shoulder. I scream at the top of my lungs. Micah glancing at me and then shooting the man on the roof and the one's around. Micah, Bill and Arthur all take cover as Sean drags me to cover. The sound of guns firing and bullets flying surround the whole town.

Arthur: "Y/n! You okay!?" I try to keep pressure on the bullet wound and look everywhere.

Sean: "She's foine! She's just bleeding bad!" He stands up from his cover and fires away with his shotgun before returning to look at me.

Sean: "You look sick." He leans me forward and I groan in pain as I grit my teeth.

Sean: "We have a problem! The bullet is still in her shoulder!" Arthur screams out a few curses as he goes awall shooting most of the bastards in the head.

Bill: "You bastards will have it now!" He laughs.

Y/n: "I..I don't feel so good." I slouch over and up chuck everything that was in my stomach. Sean rubs my back and moves my hair out of the way.

Sean: "It's okay, we're almost done here." He says reassuringly. A ringing fills my ears as I begin to cough up the dust from town. My sight going hazy.

Y/n: "I'm so glad you're okay." I smile as I fade out of consciousness.

Arthur: "You...idiot Bill!" I feel myself get ripped up off the ground bridlestyle. I scream again in pain. The smell of campfire fills my nostrils and I part my eye's a bit and notice Arthur is carrying me hauling ass across town.

Y/n: "This fucking hurts, Arthur."

Bill: "She needs a doctor!"

Sean: "There's 1 we passed walking down."

Micah: "Do we really have the time?"

Sean: "Oi! That ain't a question!" He snaps.

Arthur: "Shut up Micah!" My head lolls back as I struggle to keep them open. I hear a loud bang.

Sean: "You! Help her!"

Bill: "She lost a lot of blood and the bullet is still stuck in her shoulder." I feel myself get set on a chair. Then I hear a man take cautious footsteps towards me.

Arthur: "Don't try nothin funny or this will be the end of your petty life." He threatens. I feel my shoulder begin to ache as I take deeper breaths to try and soothe my wound. I grunt.

Doctor: "Shit! I'm gonna have to pull it out now and stitch her up fast." He stutters out in fear.

Arthur: "Do it, God Dammit!" He shouts. My eyes shoot open as I hear the man grab his utensils. My heart begins to race even harder. I whip out my knife as he the doctor comes at me with clamps. The doctor flinches. Micah and Arthur rush me slamming me back in the chair as Micah tries to pry the knife out of my hand.

Arthur: "Jesus woman!"

Sean: "He's tryna help yew!" Tears brim my eyes from the pain as my breath becomes labored. Arthur hold my body against the chair as Sean holds my legs in place as I began to thrash them around. Arthur puts his forearm in my mouth.

Arthur: "Bite me if you have to, this is gonna hurt baby." The doctore hesitates before digging the clamps into my shoulder. I scream into Arthur's jacket as I clench down. Arthur grunts in displeasure. Hot tears rush down my face as I feel more of my blood ooze out and a stinging ache in my arm. Suddenly I feel the bullet be grabbed and ripped from me. A stream of blood shoots out from where the wound was.

Doctor: "Cover her wound and keep pressure!" He gets up and runs to the back of his office as Bill keeps a gun on him. I whimper and cry as Arthur slowly removes his arm and gives me reassuring words and giving me kisses. The doctor reappears with a health cure and gauze.

Sean: "Yew did so good, Y/n." Bill even grunts in approval.

The doctor removes Arthur's other hand. He pours the health cure in the wound making me hiss in displeasure. He takes a clean cloth and wipes out the wound, patting it dry. He applies an ointment in the wound.

Doctor: "I need her shirt off so I can wrap it." He stutters nervously avoiding eye contact with us. Micah, Bill and Sean all slowly look at Arthur. He grunts as he begins to untie my corset.

Arthur: "Look away you bastards." Sean moves himself from my lower half with a deep blush as he turns around as do Micah and Bill. Arthur swiftly pulls my knife out and cuts the laces on my shirt and corset, my breasts falling out and my nipples hardening from the cool air. My breathing becoming more steady. The doctor pulls out a syringe filled with some sort of liquid.

Doctor: "This will help with the pain and help her get some sleep." He injects it into my vein in the arm I was shot in and then begins to wrap my shoulder as Arthur rubs my head. Once he finishes Arthur takes his jacket off and helps me slide my arm's through it.

Arthur: "Let's get you home." He buttons it as he helps me make our exit, the other's close behind.

Micah: "You tell anyone about this we come back for you." He says threateningly keeping a gun on him. Arthur lifts me up on his saddle and mounts behind me. I lean back into Arthur's chest. He wraps 1 arm around me while taking the reins in the other. He calls for my horse to follow. He gives me a kiss on my neck while whispering gentle words in my ear.

Arthur: "You did so good for me, girl." I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting a bit of pleasure from hearing him say that to me. I chuckle dryly.

Y/n: "I love you." I drawl out. He plants another on my neck before whispering.

Arthur: "I love you too." He whispers lowly. I begin to fall asleep and I hear him whisper shout at Bill and they all begin to argue.

I awaken to Arthur gently coaxing me awake.

Arthur: "We're here beautiful." I open my eyes and lazily look around. The swamp muggy air bringing back some moisture into my lungs. I feel Arthur slide off and I let my body slide down into his arms. He walks me back to his tent.

Dutch: "What happened?" Arthur gives him a menacing glare.

Arthur: "That whole damn thing was a setup. Sean would've been killed if she didn't take the bullet."

Dutch takes a glance at me and apologizes. Arthur waves him off as we walk into his tent. I hear some tense hushed mumbling.

Y/n: "Please be nice. It's not his fault." I sit on his cot.

Arthur: "He's a fool." He grumbles sitting with me.

Y/n: "Please?"

Arthur: "Fine."

Y/n: "I love you." I say.

Arthur: "I love you too." I lean over to him and slowly lean in and plant my lips on his. Arthur pulls me into his lap without breaking the kiss. My breath hitches from this.

Arthur: "Easy, girl. We don't wanna hurt your shoulder now." He whispers out a smile on his face. I glare into his blue eyes. I shove him back into his wagon wall. A small slam emitting from that action. He chuckles. I begin to undo his belt buckle and pants as I smash my lips onto his. He holds his hand up at either side of me unsure of what to do with them. I grasp his cock in my hand and stroke his tip with my thumb. He grunts into the kiss. He tries to take over dominance, but I bite his lip.

Arthur: "Jesus!" He chuckles. I pant.

Y/n: "Stay." I stand up and unbutton his coat and take off my own gun belt and pants. His eyes watching my every move. I see his member begin to pulse. My eye's flick between his own eye's which held nothing but love and lust and his cock which had to be an impressive girthy 6 inches. I climb back on top of him and he places his hands on either side of my hips. I position myself at his tip. He moans.

'Not so fast cowboy.' I rub my wet clit all over his tip. He tightens his grip into my hips.

Arthur: "Please, baby." He begs. I slowly slide down on his tip and bounce just on that little bit. He only takes so much before he pulls me down on his length. I yipe from the shock of taking it all in so suddenly. He takes 1 hand off my hip and over my mouth. I moan into his hand and place my hand on his shoulders as I begin to bounce and grind on his member.

Arthur: "Y-y/n." He moans out. His hand falls from my mouth and right back to my hip.

Y/n: "Daddy." I moan out.

Arthur: "Say it again." He drawls out. I feel that same knot form in the pit of my stomach.

Y/n: "What?"

Arthur: "Call me daddy." He demands softly. I feel that knot slowly untie as I begin to grind on his cock.

Y/n: "Daddy, shit!" I whisper shout as I bury my head into his shoulder. I feel my pussy begin to throb as it releases every bit of it's juices all over him. I begin to slow down.

Arthur: "Oh, no you don't." He quickly lays me down on the bed and begins to thrust hard and fast. I begin to mewl from the  stimulation.

Arthur: "I'm almost there, darlin." He grunts out eyes flicking between me and my breasts that bounced with every thrust.

Y/n: "Arthur, you're so good." Both our eyes meet as I feel him to pick up his pace nearing his end. I feel another knot form and untie as he pulls himself out and cums all over my chest. I flick my eyes to him and to his cum. He stands up and grabs his coat and wipes me off. I try to regain my breathing, while he crawls right next to me giving me the most innocent look.

Arthur: "I didn't hurt ya, did I." I shake my head and crawl into his chest. I fall asleep to his heartbeat as he plays with my hair.

[bucky-bucket-barnes]

Mmmkay, i would love to see your vision about a domestic bucky. If he moves close to the Wilson's, and starts to meet someone? He is insecure but want to try feeling something new. Maybe he could walk at night because he just woke up after a nightmare and then meet that person, i don't know.

Hope you feeling better today ❤️

smile again

Summary: Having recently moved down to Louisiana, Bucky struggled a bit in the relationship department. It’s not until he met a firecracker of a girl one night that he sees change and trusting yourself can be quit rewarding.

Pairings: domestic!bucky barnes x female!reader

Warnings: some angst, a lot of fluff, and minor swearing

Word Count: 4.2k

~

Bucky shot up from the floor, cold sweat clinging to his forehead, heart pounding inside his ribcage. The nightmares didn’t haunt him like they used to, but when they inevitably returned, they always came with an ugly vengeance. His palms groped around the cool wooden floor, regaining his sense of reality. He had to just assure himself that he was really awake, that this was real.

To his relief, the ringing in his ears subsided and the graphic images faltered. He peered around at the unfamiliar walls, taking in the dark scene of his new living room. A measly coffee table here, a couple of unpacked boxes pushed to the corner there. To Sam’s delight, Bucky packed what little he owned into dusty cardboard boxes and moved down to Louisiana. The thick rain was more than he was accustomed to and he occasionally missed the low humdrum of the city, but it was much more peaceful here. Most nights, anyways.

I deserve this.

The three word phrase echoed through his mind, a monotone mantra to recite in especially trying moments. Sometimes he thought it was useless trying to convince himself. Other nights Bucky was more forgiving. Healing was a tricky thing, it wasn’t a neat linear line or a simple five stages to move through. For Bucky, it was finally acknowledging wounds that had long run dry and patching up what he could. It was letting people in. But damnit was that hard.

Slowly rising, he padded over to his dusty window to study the misty night sky. Even through the foggy glass he could see the moon peeking out from behind the clouds and silhouettes of the trees. Just by looking outside he could see how thick the air was with humidity.

There’s no point in going back to bed now, anyways.

Bucky decided the best course of action would be to go out on a walk, not particularly caring where to. He really did enjoy his new home despite its modest size and rundown disposition, but he needed to get out. If it were up to him, he’d take a break from existing as himself, but escaping the house was the next best thing.

It was late and he decided he would throw on a thin long sleeve shirt. His heated temperature would argue with such an action, but he was still new to town and wasn’t crazy about showing off his arm. He walked aimlessly, following the streetlights to whatever part of town they would take him. His wandering session had brought him to where all the local bars resided, lightly buzzing with music and chatter that could be heard from outside. He spotted a quiet little bench under a street lamp and decided to take residence there for the time being.

Sighing, he sat down and leaned his head back, taking in the muffled sounds of the bars and people inside them nearby.

“That seat taken?”

Bucky’s body slightly jostled awake. He wasn’t asleep, but he was comfortable enough to start drifting off. He turned his attention to the voice. In the yellow light he could make out a figure of a woman standing in front of him, expectantly waiting for an answer.

“No, you’re fine.” He shifted his body to make more room on the small bench. He didn’t plan on staying for much longer anyways. You sat next to him and his nose was immediately hit with a smell of vanilla perfume.

“You don’t look familiar. You new?” You popped a piece of bubblegum into your mouth. As you spoke, he got a soft scent of alcohol and sugar radiating off of you into his nose. It fluttered around him, enveloping him in the smell of sweets and drinks. To his surprise, it was oddly comforting.

“I just moved down here.”

“You’re sober.”

“Yeah,” he responded, confused by the statement.

“You okay?” you gawked, giving him a concerned look.

“I wasn’t in the mood for a drink.”

“No one comes down to a street of bars at 1 in the morning, doesn’t drink, and is doing alright,” you explained to him. “What’s on your mind?”

Bucky was a bit surprised at how bold you were, just asking a random man his problems. It didn’t change your night, why should you care? It was unexpected, but charming to say the least. It was clear that you were tipsy, but your tone still commanded intent and was laced with sympathy.

“Just a bad dream.”

“Must be some intense dreams you got to come all the way out here,” you replied, blowing a quick bubble with your gum before popping it.

“Something like that.”

You looked at him, waiting for something more. Try as he might, it was hard to ignore your gaze. It begged for more answers and he hated the thought of leaving you unsatisfied.

“I’ve let a lot of people down. That’s all.”

He felt silly confessing to you. You were drunk, and probably didn’t actually care to know. The worst part was that he actually liked telling you, even if in vague terms. It was nice to just talk, even if it was just to a drunk girl he just met.

“You haven’t let me down.”

“You don’t know me,” he stated dryly.

You crossed your legs and propped your head into your hands. Staring out into the nightlife of Louisiana you pondered something for a while. Now what’s going on in that head of yours Bucky wondered, studying how your face contorted and shifted as you thought.

“I know you walk to bars to not get drunk when you’re sad. How many other people know that?” you asked after two minutes of quiet thinking.

Bucky continued to admire you for a second longer, trying to figure out a response. It was correct technically, no one else knew that he was here, but still, you didn’t know him. Not in a way that mattered, not really.

“I don’t know you.”

“Y/N. Call me Y/N.” You stuck out your hand proudly and offered him a toothy grin. Laughing slightly at the overly formal gesture, he shook your hand and responded with his own name.

“See, we’re not strangers now.”

“I guess we’re not, Y/N.”

It was embarrassing to admit, but this was probably the most fun Bucky had had since he moved down there. There were the Wilsons of course, but they had family, they had other life problems. It was great to see them, but it was never for too long.

Bucky saw a light flicker in your eyes as he thought quietly. You went to dig through your bag and pull out a pen, missing its cap. Without question, you took his arm and started to scribble down your number.

“Next time you’re sad, call me instead of coming here. I’m much better company,” you winked.

Before Bucky can go to say anything else, a taxi pulled up to where you two sat.

“That’s my ride. Bye, Bucky,” you waved, giving him one last smile for the night before getting situated in the car.

He didn’t know if it was the alcohol messing with your speech, but the way you sang his name made his heart dance inside his chest. You closed the door as he let out a feeble goodbye, head reeling from the pretty girl he just met.

-

Bucky woke up the next morning and stared at his ceiling for a bit. His mind was still buzzing with the thought of the stranger from the previous night. The soft linger of her perfume, the firm grasp she held around his hand. He couldn’t wave that inviting smile out of his thoughts, but he was sure you didn’t even remember his face. Getting up, he grabbed a piece of pen and paper to scribble down your number before he took a shower.

As the cool water ran against his body, he watched the traces of black ink wash down the drain. He debated calling you the entire time he washed his body, going back and forth between absolutely yes and definitely not. Technically, he got your number on the condition that he’d only call when he was sad, but he didn’t want you to view him as only that; helpless and alone.

“Hello?”

Bucky didn’t think that you’d actually pick up. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if you gave him your actual phone number. He didn’t understand why he called, why he had to do it so soon. Alas, he worked up the nerve to punch in the digits and there you were.

“Uh- hi, it’s Bucky, the guy-”

“Well I’ll be damned, how’ve you been? You get any sleep last night?” You talked to him like you had been friends for years, casually catching up with each other. Your voice rang with excitement and true curiosity as you asked. It didn’t bother him that you interrupted, it just meant you were eager to talk.

“Yeah, yeah, I did. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“Oh, no problem. I wasn’t going to let the cute guy on the bench suffer alone,” you teased. He could hear the smirk in your voice. He felt his face grow a little warm. He cleared his throat in a fruitless attempt to regain his composure before continuing.

“Oh- uh- thank you,” he blubbered out, shy at the sudden flirtatious advance. In the background, he could hear bustling and movement from your end of the line.

“Is now a bad time?”

“I’m on lunch break. I work at Stella’s, but my shift ends at 5. You can pick me up for dinner then.”

“Oh, that’s- wait what?”

“See you then!” Bucky thought he was going to lose it, he could still hear you grinning ear to ear as you clicked the phone to end the call.

Under normal circumstances, his hands would have gone clammy and he would have gone into panic mode. But, not today. A modest smile sat upon his face as he thought about the prospect of a date. By no means was this what he expected, but he was more than happy to get to talk to someone, someone who really wanted to listen.

I deserve this.

-

Bucky’s mind buzzed as he waited in his car at Stella’s parking lot. You had fifteen more minutes until your shift ended, but he wanted to make sure he was on time. He bounced his leg in anticipation, nervously glancing at the bouquet of flowers he bought for the occasion.

Is this too much? Too old fashioned? Maybe it’s a bit corny. What if she’s allergic to flowers? What if she-

He was jostled out of his aimless thinking by a tapping sound coming from his window. He looked over to see your face, eyes bright with wonder and the same toothy smile that lingered in his memory from the other night. He rolled down his window in response to your knocking.

“Hey, cutie.”

“Hi, Y/N. You’re done early.”

“Slow day,” you explained before making your way to the other side of the car and casually hopping into the passenger side. “Where are we going, Buck?”

He almost went to correct you, to tell you that Buck was reserved for very special persons, but as he looked over, he couldn’t muster the strength. The syllable clicked off your tongue so soothingly, like honey dripping down the side of a tree. It was almost like you were eager to say his name, to feel the way it vibrated in your mouth. He decided he’d let you call him Buck.

Your hair was a bit messy from work, but you managed to find the time to swap your diner uniform for a much more comfortable sundress. It clung to your body in all the right areas and flowed in the most elegant manner.

“Are you always this upfront?” he inquired, still adjusting to your boldness.

Bucky swallowed shyly as you crossed your legs, exposing more of your thigh. They looked smooth, glowing from the heat. You rolled down the window on your side to allow some air into the stuffy car, fanning yourself. Bucky forcefully kept his eyes from your cleavage, only slightly exposed, but still a view to admire. He felt a little guilty thinking about you like that. He didn’t mean to be perverse, he just wanted to know what you were like in your most honest form. What it would be like to trace the lines on your body, to slip that pretty little dress off you and-

“Are you always this nervous around women?” you bluntly asked, noticing his admiring gaze that travelled your body.

“Sorry,” he apologized, looking away, “I haven’t been on a date in a while.” Clearing his throat, he handed you the bundle of flowers situated in his lap. You took it in your hands and gave it a quick sniff. It was a simple bouquet, but sweet nonetheless.

“Who said this was a date?”

He felt his mouth go dry. “Oh, sorry, I just-”

“I’m teasing you,” you giggled. “Start driving, loverboy.” You thought it was cute how easily flustered you made him. Sure, he wasn’t a very expressive man, usually wearing a stoic expression, offering only a slight shift in his facial expressions, but you knew how to rile him up. You were having fun, to say the least.

He let out a small relieved laugh before starting the car back up. He liked the way you joked with him like you were childhood bestfriends. You weren’t two strangers, you were two normal people on a date.

“Can I be honest.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I have no idea where to go, I’m still pretty new here,” he confessed.

“Hmm, I have an idea. You’re going to take a left up here.”

The rest of the ride he followed your instructions without much question. He didn’t know where you were taking him, he just knew he was more than happy to follow. You decided to direct him to the scenic route to your mystery destination. Along the way you pointed out where you scraped your knee while learning to ride a bike. The park where you had your first kiss. The now abandoned coffee place where you had your first break up.

You were an open book to Bucky, indulging him into the crevices of your life. He’d never met someone so telling, so honest in his life. He knew so much about you while still understanding so little. He wondered, maybe did you fall from the sky, or spring from the Earth? Or maybe you were just a person who happened to be special and he was a man lucky to accidentally cross paths with you.

“I’ve been talking this whole ride, tell me about yourself. What’s your deal?”

“I don’t have a deal,” he answered coolly.

“No family? No friends? Do you sit and stare at the wall all day?”

“Pretty much.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute, Buck, because you sure are boring as hell,” you coyly mock. He smiled in spite of himself.

“Well,” he trailed off. He wanted you to know him, he wanted to talk to a person who seemed interested in him. Not the Winter Soldier, not Captain America’s best friend, but James Buchanan Barnes. He hadn’t said anything untrue to you, but he felt like hiding himself was like lying to you and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I have a little sister.” You waited for him to further continue, sticking your hand out the window to feel the breeze between the fingers as he drove. “Rebecca. She’s a sweet kid.”

You realized that was as much as he would indulge you for the moment. “That’s a pretty name.” He could hear you smiling once again. He admired that quirk of yours.

“I moved down here about two weeks ago. I’m friends with the Wilson’s. They’re good people.”

“Ain’t it a small world, I used to babysit for Sarah. I’ve been friends with them ever since. You do anything for work?” you asked, now playing with the petals of the bouquet in your hand.

“I’m a mechanic.” That wasn’t false, so he didn’t mind telling you. He decided to take up work at a local car shop. It didn’t pay much, but it was honest work and his boss mostly let him do his own thing.

“Is that where you got the fancy metal arm from?” Your eyes trace over the gold detailing of his appendage as he used it to grip the steering wheel.

Bucky’s eyes widened. With the heat of Louisiana combined with recent stress, he’d forgotten to wear something that would cover up his metal arm when leaving the house. He quickly shot his eyes to see it gleaming in the sunlight before refocusing on the road.

“Oh, this old thing. You like it?” There was no use in denying it, so he thought he should try to play it off. His face remained nonchalant but panic began to settle in his stomach. She thinks I’m a freak. She thinks it’s weird. Fuck.

“I think it looks handsome on you.”

Bucky could feel his weariness begin to melt away and warmth take its place. It was silly, but he felt like a schoolboy all over again. You were wonder, everything that he wasn’t, everything that he used to be; open, outgoing, and trusting.

“You’re more interesting than you lead on, Bucky. Turn into the next driveway.”

Following your instructions he pulled into a driveway of gravel road. A cute little house appeared, the next one not for another mile. The garden situated in the front was decorated with flowers and fauna of all sorts.

“Is this your house?” he asked, knowing the answer.

“She needs a new coat of paint, but she’s all mine.”

“You don’t know me. Why are you letting me in your house?”

“You’re a friend of the Wilson’s, that’s enough to trust you.”

“You’re insane.”

“And yet you’re still here, Buck. C’mon,” you beckoned him out of the car. For a moment, he stood to admire the view of your house before you took a hold of his hand to pull him along inside. Your skin was soft and warm against his, just like he remembered it from the other night. You arrived at your porch and began to take out your keys.

What am I doing here?

It was a wondrous feeling to be carried along by you, but he couldn’t keep playing pretend. You were too loving to have to deal with his mess. He’d eventually tell you who he was and he’d understood you’d want to run, to never see him again. It was fun while it lasted, but reality settled in at one point or another.

“I think I should go,” he said flatly.

“But we just got here,” you frowned, turning around from the door to face him. “We were going to make some of my homemade bread.”

“You’re very sweet and you’re really pretty, but I come with a lot of baggage.”

“Who said I don’t?”

“It’s-,” he sighed. He wanted to explain everything, to make it make sense. But words were his weakness and he would hate to sadden those curious pair of eyes in front of him. He could tell you the whole truth and you’d be mortified or he could lie and live with the guilt of deceiving you. “It’s complicated.”

You looked down dejectedly at your bouquet, brushing your thumb mindlessly against the stem of the flowers. “Bucky, I know,” you mumbled.

“I don’t think you do.”

“At first I thought it was a coincidence. When I first saw you, I thought your face looked a bit old-fashioned kind of handsome, but some people are like that. I questioned it more when I noticed the metal arm, but some people have prosthetics.”

It was coming. He could feel the rejection about to roll off your tongue. You knew about his past and all the nasty things that came with it. Monster. Liar. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you lead me on? Don’t talk to me. Please leave, I’m scared. His heart sunk to the pit of his stomach as he awaited for you to finish the final blow.

“Then you said you were friends with the Wilson’s and I knew. You’re Sergeant James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. I know I’m not much like the woman of the 40s and I’m just a small town girl and you’re a hero-”

“You think I’m a hero?” Out of all the endings to this conversation that was not the one he was prepared for. Him? A hero? He never thought of himself that way and he couldn’t even fathom someone thinking that about him.

“I’m friends with the Wilson’s, Sam’s told me a lot about you. You’ve saved so many lives, you’ve lived such a fascinating life. Hell, I wouldn’t have summoned the courage to walk up to you if I knew you were some big shot,” you laughed lightly. It was strange to be talking to a piece of history, a man you’ve heard so much about but never seen in the flesh. “But, in the short time I’ve known you, you seem like a real sweet guy. Who the hell even brings flowers to dates anymore? That’s adorable.”

This was a lot of new information to process at once for the both of you. Bucky now knew you knew. You had only realized who he was ten minutes ago. It was a lot to say the least. By this time, he would have expected to have been driving home after a well earned scolding. What the hell was happening? And more importantly, was that all you knew.

“Then you know about the Winter Soldier?” He held his breath awaiting your response.

You replied with a silent nod, looking up from your collection of flowers and into his troubled blue eyes. You’d never felt so small than in that moment. You wouldn’t have dragged him around town if you would’ve known who he was. Who were you? Just some small town girl pestering the life out of this poor man who was too nice to say no. You were way in over your head, you knew it once you realized, but he was just too endearing to let slip away.

Bucky clung onto every word you’d spoken, he seemed to listen to every sound you made intently. He genuinely cared about what you had to say. Sure, he had his walls up, but he was gentle underneath. The way his face softened when he spoke of his sister and the Wilson’s was enough to make a frozen heart thaw.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” His voice was even, but his thoughts were scrambling all over the place.

“I just invited you into my house as a single woman who lives in bumble-fuck nowhere, so I’d say no, it doesn’t bother me. You’re Bucky, not him.”

He let out a small laugh, relief entering his body.

“If you’re still up for it, I have lemonade inside too,” you offered quietly, a hopeful smile on your face.

It’d be a lot easier to say no, to go back home. It’d be a lot less risky to just turn around and forget the past few hours. But it’d be so much more lonely. He could return to the cold floor of his house and spend many more restless nights in his lonesome.

Or, he could try something new. Something that was tender and wore vanilla perfume. Something that spoke fervently and had every type of flower springing out of her front yard. Someone with warm hands and the prettiest smile he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing.

I deserve this.

“That sounds nice,” he smiled shyly.

“Good,” you grinned back. You pushed open your door and took him by the hand to lead him into the house.

Bucky was an awful baker, but he had the spirit. Flour would always end up more on his clothing than into the pan. He seemed to knead the dough as if he were attacking it and he didn’t really understand what yeast was. But he was the perfect baking partner. He’d see you work and would nod intently with deep focus as you mixed together the ingredients. He was eager to make the lemonade (by making that meant him cutting the lemons and measuring the amount of sugar needed with his heart) and was the perfect taste tester.

“This is the best bread I’ve ever tasted. You’ve really outdone yourself with this one, Buck.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Maybe.” You couldn’t hold back your smile. Through the many trials and tribulations, you managed to make some alright food. The bread was mediocre at best, but you had never had so much fun making it.

Liking you came so easy to Bucky. He liked the way you lilted his name and how gentle your eyes were. He’d only known you for less than 24 hours, but already felt like he was safe with you. For the rest of the date, he couldn’t shake that warm feeling that gathered inside his chest every time you smiled at him.

Maybe this wasn’t how he imagined his relationship would start, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

~

AN: Thank you so much to anon for the submission omg I love when I get requests. I hope this lives up to your expectations <3. I got a LOT of domestic!bucky requests so be ready for more of those. Thank you for reading and have a lovely day

My masterlist

Taglist: @itscheybaby @akaaaaashiiii @Dumbhead1

[burningcrab]

hi again crab,,, maybe 40 for harriet + jayden if you want? I Think About Them

40. wake-up kisses

Harriet took a moment to really admire Jayden. Her room was quiet, sunny, and warm; the sunbeams reaching through the curtains hadn’t yet made it to their face. Jayden’s hair splayed out around her. A wild tangle of bedsheets and blankets did much the same. Apparently she rolled around her her sleep. Harriet made note of that for later.

They were just so pretty. Harriet almost didn’t want to wake them. But some things were just necessary. Heaving a long, dramatic sigh in its head (the out-loud ones would come after Jayden got up), Harriet leaned down to Jayden, closer and closer, until it could count their eyelashes and feel their breath against its skin. She pursed her lips…

And blew the whistle with every bit of air in her lungs. The shriek it produced was almost matched by the one Jayden made as she sat bolt upright and just barely missed headbutting Harriet, who congratulated themself on their reflexes.

“Rise and shine, Jayden!” Harriet proclaimed, jumping onto the foot of their bed. One of their horns stabbed a hole in Jayden’s ceiling. “Oops. Bill me for that. Up and at ‘em, girl, you’ve got training to do! Healthy breakfasts to make! Hot demons to kiss when your jealousy of their blaseball skills reaches a fever pitch!”

Jayden swung a pillow at Harriet’s feet, but it jumped back and off the bed. “That’s the spirit! Fight! Fight! How are you gonna show me up on the field if you can’t show me up in your bedroom?” Harriet paused. “Hmm. Forget I said that.”

With a muted thump, Jayden fell backwards onto their now pillow-free mattress. “Five more minutes.”

Harriet treated Jayden to one of the long, dramatic sighs it���d been holding in. It made its way back to her bedside and — after untangling one of the twisted blankets — tucked her back in. “You get ten, because I’m just too nice. But you have to make it up to me tomorrow. I saw a very pretty dress and bought it in your size. And I got us dinner reservations. And tickets to the theatre. Mmmkay?” She leaned down and kissed her on the temple. “And good morning!”

With a giggle and a final fweet from the whistle, Harriet left Jayden to her few extra minutes of sleep.

[dorktasticsoul]

Since I’ve been gone so long….

QUICK MOBILE LINKS: Downloads // Stories // WCIF

I’d like to let my followers know a little bit about the type of Simblr I am.

First and foremost, hello! My name is Savannah and I’ve been a member of this community for almost 10 years. I’m a wife and mother. I’m addicted to The Sims CC, music, books and history. I’m goofy and random and I swear A LOT. I hope you enjoy my content. Remember to please be respectful as I won’t hesitate to block anyone trying to start drama. I’m too old for that shit.

This post will be long and I’m sorry in advance.

I came to Simblr almost 10yrs ago looking for CC and fell in love with this community. I planted my own roots here and I’ve connected with some absolutely awesome and nicest individuals all over the planet. I ended up burning myself out of The Sims for awhile (and my son spilled soda in my gaming PC and it just died). I didn’t mean to stay gone as long as I did but life just got in the way of free time. In my absence, many of my favorite simmers have deleted or has gone MIA and I really miss them all. I’ve got so many great memories here. Simblr today is definitely not the same as it once was.

I have ALWAYS encouraged others to be their most creative self whether that be editing in photoshop, digital painting to creating Sims CC. It’s not very mature to call other people’s work “ugly” or discourage their creativity as they probably worked hard on it.

I’ve ALWAYS responded to every message and ask (except for rude/drama ones) and have done my best to keep up with post replies and tracked CC down for WCIF’s. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask!

Any CC I’ve created and shared has always been FREE and always been credited. I always tried to release some sort of CC as a way of saying “thank you for following me.” I will never guilt or beg anyone to download or use my CC.

I will NEVER ask you to send me money, donate or charge for any CC I may put out.

I’ve never once been rude to someone who wasn’t rude to me from the start. If you can’t show me respect, you don’t deserve mine.

I have NEVER and WILL NEVER participate in the drama plaguing this community (you can go through my posts to verify). I might post about where I stand in a certain situation but I’ll never actively engage in the back and forth bullshit. All I want to do is play The Sims, download and share awesome CC, meet nice simmers and see how different others play compared to how I play. If wanting to keep my Simblr simple and an enjoyable space for everyone without all of the drama offends you, then it’s totally okay to unfollow me or not follow me at all as you absolutely have that choice. Humans still have the right to have their own opinions without being publicly humiliated. Anyway, sorry for the long post but as I said, I was gone for a long time and just wanted to let the newbies know a little about me and my Simblr. I hope to interact with you guys and I hope you enjoy my past and upcoming content. I love you guys.

Oh, one more thing! My blog is a political bullshit free zone. It’s dedicated to Sims related things. This game is an escape from our harsh world and I don’t want or need any Karen telling me everything is [insert government leader here] fault mmmkay? kthxbye🙃❤️

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Please DO NOT follow me or please unfollow me if you support MAP’s (minor attracted person), if you’re a pedophile, groomer and/or an apologist or justifier for all three. There’s absolutely nothing you can say to me to justify or try to normalize the abuse of children. You just be a sicko.

[nightswithkookmin]

VMIN'S ETERNAL FRIENDS

I love how everyone is busy praising Jimin or fighting over whom to credit because Marvel put Friends as OST in Eternals but here I am busy trying to find the ratings for the show and how it's been performing to see if they are trying to use Jimin and BTS for clout

It's coming out in November????

Chilee I thought they were on to two seasons already! Turns out it's a two hour plus film? And BTS? Way to generate buzz and guarantee higher viewership on release date.

They better must have paid my man some hefty sum for this cos they sure aren't doing us no favors😭

A 200 million dollar budget? Ayayaya they have to pull another black panther level success else that would be the biggest flop in Marvel history since the Hulk.

They are pulling out the Big names for this promo and now BTS is on the list... mmmkay.

Also I love how the director of the film has several awards and Academy awards to her name but they aren't pushing her name that much to sell this project because they are afraid the movie will ne banned in China😊

Love how someone slipped me the "don't worry about China and their crackdown on KPOP they aren't really targeting the boys" but Marvel out here being sexist towards this female director because they fear China will ban the movie😌

As far as the source material goes I hear it's graded C-level in terms of popularity. Nnnkay.

Personally, I love Marvel and Thanos and Angelina Jolie- is there a black famous actress in there I missed?

Not gonna lie, the only thing that's exciting me right now about this film is Jimin's Friends, Lizzo and the fact this was directed by the same woman who directed Nomadland.

I saw the trailer for Nomadland and I've been trying to ditch my family ever since to live an ad hoc life with no shoes on- as long as the IRS can't find me.

It's giving me very much a generic fantasy tv series than film and for some reason I expect complex characters with heavy plot more so than the fantasy magical aspect of it- their costumes and CGI isn't giving me much hope. That alien spacecraft looks like something I'd find in my parent's junkyard.

May be throw some wandavision in there as a token. But really I ship myself with the scarlet witch. Vision can fuxk himself.

Yummy

I feel it's a bit different from the Marvel cinematic universe I'm used to and have come to love and expect from Marvel.

Also is that Bucky and the guy from Doctor strange on the poster???

I'm not as invested in this universe but I know Thanos was an eternal and so I'm excited to watch him in diapers trying to Arvada kedabra his nanny.

Already it doesn't look like a film I'd go to watch twice and I'm a sucker for fantasy Marvel movies 😫

They look too vanilla 80's heroes in those plain ass costumes and the setting is too familiar I feel I'll see them walk by house anytime soon. They look like Superman's family come to earth on tortilla chips.

They better give me a villain who's gay and badass and Angie better be a villian too cos there's no coming back from Maleficent

Ok where's my gf I need to Marvin Gaye it up in here right now👅

I don't care what anyone says but Michael Jordan's character in Black Panther is bisexual and I won't hear nothing else.

I like Guardians of the Galaxy because they funny. Dr strange is smart. Iron man is both smart and funny. I don't know bout captain America but I like Chris Evans so... meh.

Also Nebula is a lesbian and I call dips😊

Did I cosplay as her that one time? You bet your sweet behind I did.

Fingers crossed.

If this turns out to be as great as their other projects whew that's a lot of people who are gonna hear Friends😭😭😭😭

I love Marvel for this and also if they can cast Jungkook as spiderman sometime- just putting it out there into the universe.

Again congratulations to Jimin and V and BTS for this. A lot of artists blew up after they got exposure such as these.

BTS KEEP GOING HIGHER AND HIGHER

WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

The power this man has!

Please listen to his iconic bridge in Disease and hug yourself for this gift of life because you exist at the right time.

Love,

GOLDY

[falloutcatradora]

High

(In honor of reaching one-hundred followers on the blog (WOOT!), here's one of the first pieces written for this AU, by @catrasredemption).

TW: Drug use, mentioned child death

* * *

Adora stands over her wife, sighing faintly. Catra has sprawled out across the bed, staring at the vault ceiling.

“She showed up a couple hours ago,” Scorpia says quietly, rubbing the back of her head. “Think it was Jet. I wrestled an inhaler away from her.”

“Thanks, Scorpia,” Adora says, folding her arms. At least she knows where Catra is tonight. That’s something.

Catra’s attention snaps to her very suddenly, and her pupils immediately dilate. “Adora!” She sits up and hugs her tight, laughing. “How are you? I missed you!”

Adora tugs her close, hugging her. “I miss you too,” she murmurs. Scorpia steps out of the room, closing the door behind her. “What did you take?”

“Mmmph? Oh, I dunno, some kind of new Jet. Got it off Double Trouble for cheap.” Double Trouble. Adora narrows her eyes. She doesn’t have anything against the shapeshifter, but she really wishes they would stop selling shit to Catra. “It really wasn’t much,” Catra says quickly, as if the price was the problem. “Only a hundred caps!”

“I’m sure Double Trouble didn’t rip you off or anything,” Adora assures her. Double Trouble is nothing if not honest about their business. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

“Mmmkay.”

Catra flops back on the bed, smiling stupidly at the ceiling. Adora walks around to the other side of the bed, turning the light off along the way, and crawling under the covers with Catra. Catra immediately rolls to settle on top of her, still cheery. Not real cheer — she hasn’t experienced that in six months, three weeks, and two days. Neither of them have.

“Adora?”

Catra’s eyes glow in the shadowy room as she looks up, meeting Adora’s gaze with a curiosity and innocence that she lost a long time ago. “I love you.”

The words break Adora’s heart. She doesn’t doubt the words, not for a moment. But it seems like the only time Catra says them anymore is when she’s drunk or high. Adora misses her wife so much. “I love you too,” she murmurs, kissing Catra’s forehead. “Get some sleep.”

“‘Kay.”

Catra buries her face in Adora’s neck, taking a deep breath. She purrs loudly as she drifts off to sleep, content. Adora hugs her close, tears filling her eyes.

Six months, three weeks, and two days. Six months, three weeks, and two days since she held her baby in her arms, brushing their blonde hair back from their too peaceful face. Sometimes she thinks Catra died along with Finn — the woman in her arms certainly has no resemblance to the girl she’d run away from the Horde with, the woman she had married. She’s a shell, filled with fury and grief that Adora knows she’ll never be able to sooth.

Not that she doesn’t miss Finn as well. Their absence is like a literal hole in her chest. But she can’t focus on that. Not with Catra spiraling like this. Catra needs her to be strong. Catra needs her to be steady, to hold her up, until she’s ready to hold herself again.

If she’s ever ready.

[keldae]

Fictober 2021 -- Day 13

Most days, Theron loved being a parent, honest. It was not a future he would have ever envisioned himself having, but his son was the little star that his world revolved around, and he was excited to meet the daughter in Xaja’s womb, still a few months away from being born.

That being said, tonight was one of the nights when Theron found himself missing being a single, unattached bachelor without four-year-old responsibilities. “Daddy?” asked the little voice as the bedroom door slid open for the -- Theron mentally calculated -- fifth time this night.

“Go back to bed, Daenril,” Theron groaned as he rolled to face the door, trying to keep his voice low so he wouldn’t wake Xaja up. “You’ve had two bedtime stories, and you’ve had a big glass of water, and I’ve already checked under your bed for monsters, and you can go pee without Daddy needing to help you. Go to sleep.”

“But I was s’eeping,” Daenril protested with a little sniffle. “Den I waked up.”

“If you go back to bed, you’ll go back to sleep,” Theron assured the child. “Go snuggle Mister Nerfy.”

Daenril sniffled again and tightened his grip on the nerf plushy he carried everywhere. “I did, Daddy,” he whined. “But…”

Theron sighed. “But what?”

There was a pause before Daenril whimpered out “I had a bad dream,” and this time, Theron could hear the tears in the child’s voice. “It was real scary.”

The things you make me do, Theron inwardly groaned as he sat up, fully prepared to get out of his warm, comfortable bed and escort Daenril back to his own room. “I’m sorry, buddy--”

Taking the sympathy as an invitation, Daenril opened the floodgates as he scampered over to his father’s side of the bed, with the exact tone of voice that promised tears and near-hysteria. “There was a scary old man, Daddy, an’ he said he was gonna be in Mama’s head forever, an’ he was gonna hurt you an’ Mama an’ me an’ Gramma Satele an’ everyone! An’ he had a scary laugh an’ scary eyes!”

A scary old man-- Valkorion? Theron felt his hackles rising at the mere mention of the long-dead monster who had plagued Xaja’s nightmares for so long, not to mention his own. How in the hells could his four-year-old son have been exposed to Valkorion enough to have nightmares about him?! Perhaps the too-smart-for-his-own-good child had just listened to enough of the wrong people talking about the wrong things. Or maybe this was some other example of stupid Force bullshit he was never going to understand. No matter -- none of that would help him calm a terrified little boy down from an awful dream that would have made Xaja wake up screaming.

He sighed and switched on his bedside light, and promptly felt his heart twist when he saw the tears on Daenril’s cheeks. “I’m sorry, squirt," he murmured as he held his arms out to offer a hug to the shaken child, an offer that was immediately accepted. "It’s okay -- the scary old man will never be able to hurt you, or anyone else. Mama and Grandma Satele destroyed him a long time ago.”

Daenril didn’t look convinced. Lip wobbling, he looked up at Theron with tear-filled hazel eyes, little hands clutching Mister Nerfy with a deathgrip. “Can I stay with you an’ Mama, Daddy? Please?”

Like Theron could say no to his terrified little son, after a nightmare featuring that bastard. “Just for tonight,” he agreed as he leaned down to pick the child up with a grunt, situating him on the bed between his parents. “You comfy?”

Daenril nodded as he squirmed down into the blankets, then sharply looked up as Xaja groaned and rolled over. “Sorry, Mama,” he whispered.

“Daenril?” Xaja shifted her pregnant bulk over to frown in confusion at her son and her husband. “Wha’s going on?”

“Someone had a bad dream,” Theron quietly said as he drew the blankets up to Daenril’s shoulders. He would tell Xaja exactly what their son’s nightmare had involved in the morning. No need to give her fuel for her own traumatic memories of Valkorion to spawn a dream from. “I told him he could stay with us for tonight.”

“Mmmkay.” Xaja yawned and stroked her fingers through Daenril’s auburn hair as the child settled in, tightly snuggling his nerf. “You okay, buddy? You’re perfectly safe with me and Daddy. No monsters allowed here.”

Daenril sniffled again, looking up at both his parents. “Promise?” he asked. “No scary bad men?”

“No scary bad men are gonna hurt anyone here. We promise,” Theron assured the child. “Go to sleep.”

“‘Kay, Daddy.” Daenril yawned and burrowed into the blankets until all that could be seen was a mop of messy hair and Mister Nerfy’s plush nose. In only moments, he was out cold, perfectly secure between his parents -- the safest place in the galaxy for one scared little boy. On the child’s other side, Xaja shifted into as comfortable a position as she could manage around her protruding stomach, wrapping an arm around Daenril to securely snuggle him in his sleep; she was back to her own dreams in the space of a few slow, deep breaths.

Theron wished he could follow his wife and son so easily back into slumber. But Daenril’s dream disturbed him as much as it did the little boy; it took him a long time to fall back to sleep, stroking the child’s hair and reassuring himself that everything was okay.

His dreams for the rest of the night featured golden eyes and the cruel laugh he’d heard on Yavin 4 and Ziost.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Weird Secret Friends" *Chapter 14*

Chapter 13

Chapter 15

This chapter literally took me all day, and it's kinda super long, but since I'm only going to 15 it had to be done. Also, I wanted to get a certain part and all the bullshit detail action needs to be written before we get there so I just kept writing to get there. Lulz.

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Okay and can I just say about the Goodbye Love thing it was in my head since I had her say "I need to go away".

This was supposed to be the preview:

Mimi Please don't touch me Understand I'm scared I need to go away

Mark I know a place - a clinic

Benny A rehab?

Mimi Maybe - could you?

Benny I'll pay

And this is for chapter 15: Mimi Goodbye love Goodbye love Came to say goodbye, love, goodbye Just came to say Goodbye love Goodbye love Goodbye love Hello disease....

*DUN DUN DUNNNN*

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

The next thing you knew you were waking up in another room. This one was more lavish and beautiful; the sunset was peeking through green silk curtains with a matching chaise lounge. You were now in pink silk pajamas as opposed to a hospital gown, and you weren’t hooked up to near as many wires. Just a pack attached to your arm linked to your sides.

“What the…?” You cautiously crept out of bed, examining the room.

So many questions flew through your mind at that moment. How did you get here? Where exactly were you? Who the hell changed you while you were passed out? It was too much to imagine. You walked over to the full length mirror and examined yourself. You were still semi pale, but you looked pretty damn good for just having surgery this morning.

You walked back towards your bed where your phone was laying on the nightstand. You went to check your messages when you saw the date-- it had been three days. THREE DAYS?

“What the actual fuck--?” You muttered.

Were you in a Black Mirror episode? How did you lose three whole days of your life?! You began to panic, making you pace the room. Wasn’t there a button you could do? You quickly looked around the room for anything, but all you found was a TV remote.

“Oh are you fucking--” You started to curse the world when you saw a little drawing of a nurse on one of the buttons. You frantically pushed it until a girl who looked like she was a nurse out of a porno as opposed to a hospital came running in.

“Oh my god, I thought you were like, dying or something,” She rolled her eyes and twirled her hair like she was a teenage stereotype.

“Where the hell am I? Why am I---”

“Okay you need to like, chill babe,” Nurse Betty put her hands up. “

“I’m not your babe, mmkay pumpkin? We are not friends,” You pushed her hands down. “Now why don’t you get your little chart and explain to me what’s going on in the Twilight Zone?”

“Alright, well--” She whipped out a mini tablet from her scrubs and flipped through it. “You got here three days ago with an order to keep you in a medically induced coma-- Ooooh, wow that sounds like some soap opera shit. Where your organs harvested on the black market?”

“WHAT?” You grabbed the tablet. That DID sound like some soap opera shit. “You read the tablet, all it said was the details about the coma and then FILES SEALED.

“Can you-- unlock this, please?” You shoved the tablet back in her hands.

“Um no, you need a supervisor for that babe,”

“Can you please get someone to unlock this then, BABE?” Your eye began to twitch from stress.

“Yeah, sure I’ll try,” She shrugged and walked back out of the room. You continued to pace faster now, googling “HARVESTED ORGANS ON THE BLACK MARKET”, when a doctor came in wearing navy blue scrubs, looking like Derek Shepherd.

“Well hey there, beautiful,” He grinned at you.

“...What is happening?” You muttered, staring at him. He was gorgeous, you’d probably be more flustered if you weren’t so freaked out and pissed off.

“What kind of soap opera hospital is this?!” You scowled.

“Hey, just because we take care of ourselves around here doesn’t mean it’s Grey’s Anatomy up here,” He made a face.

“...Could’ve fooled me, McDreamy,”

“....Just because my name is Derek doesn’t mean I’m that tool,” He frowned.

“Oh my god you’re kidding me right?” You had to laugh at the irony.

“You’re probably just grumpy because you haven’t eaten for three days,” He patted your head. “How about a nice filet mignon?”

“Wha…?” You looked around the room in disbelief. “How about you tell me where I am and how I got here?”

“You’re at Whistling Pines Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Hartford Connecticut, Miss Y/N,”

“Connecticut?!” You gasped. “Sonny said it was just upstate New York. Jesus Christ he sent me out of state?!”

“Calm yourself,” Derek put a hand on your shoulder. “We’re basically on the state line, Mr. Carisi didn’t send you to Siberia,”

“...And why exactly was I brought here against my will?” You crossed your arms.

“Against your will?” He snorted. “Your paperwork says you requested to be out while you recovered so you wouldn’t be tempted to ask for pain meds or anything. Part of the detox, you understand,”

“Detox?” Your face scrunched. “Seriously? So...so now what, you escort me down to the padded room now that I’m healed?”

“No, no of course not,” He shook his head. “Our rehab rooms are much nicer than this. And yours is all ready for you,”

“....Yeah, alright,” You shrugged, looking around the room.

“Wonderful,” He gave you another 100 watt smile before opening the door and motioning you to follow him. You walked for a while through what seemed like a normal hospital wing, then you came to two large doors that said “REHABILITATION WING”.

Derek opened it and let you go through first, into a beautiful lobby. The walls were made of marble, there was a koi pond with a waterfall in the middle of it, sparkling water stations next to big leather chairs. It was like a spa.

“Wow...” You whispered as you admired it while you walked.

“Yes, I know,” He chuckled. “It’s quite impressive, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” You began to feel guilty; how much was this costing Sonny? This place looked like it cost the down payment on a house to stay in. You followed Derek down a hallway that looked like a hotel room hallway more than a rehab center, until he stopped at a door labelled 312.

“Ah here we are,” He opened the door and let you go inside first once again. It was an even more lavish room than you woke up in. A nice king bed with fluffy pillows and silk comforters were covered with extra blankets if you needed them. There was a huge sofa in front of a large screen TV, and a little kitchenette with a small fridge, cabinets, a dishwasher, and a microwave.

“....Wow,” You continued to stare in awe at the luxurious amenities this place had.

“Indeed,” Derek smiled. “Now, the TV comes loaded with digital cable and all the streaming services. Our WIFI password is LIVELAUGHLOVE, the fridge is stocked with organic, healthy foods only, but if you’d like to request something you can give our front desk a ring,”

You just nodded as you checked out the room.

“Now,” He cleared his throat. “For the icky part,”

“...The icky part?” You sputtered with a sarcastic smile. “Where did you go to medical school, Sesame Street?”

“Ha ha,” He rolled his eyes. “You will need to stay in your room at all times unless it’s social time, or group time. We do have several common areas such as a pool and a gym, but you’ll need to schedule times to use them, you can’t just walk around on your own,”

“Ah,” You nodded. “So it is a prison, just a very nice prison,”

“It’s not a prison, Miss Y/N,” He shook his head. “Not for you, anyway,”

“Really? Because it sounds like--”

“Your cousin did pay for your residency here, but you’re not under a court order or anything so you’re not confined here. Most of our residents have to be here several months before they’re even allowed out of their rooms at all, you should consider yourself lucky,”

“...Right,” You rolled your eyes. “Where is my cousin, anyway?” You asked. “Is he back at the hospital in New York?”

“Excuse me?” He looked at you in confusion. “I’m not sure I understand,”

“Oh I guess it’s been a few days,” You thought out loud. “He must have gone home by now,”

“...Well I’d sure hope so,” He chuckled.

“So..” You took a seat on the couch. “What am I doing now, warden?”

“Well like I said, I can have food sent up to you if you’re hungry,” He explained as he handed you your own tablet. “We have these for you so you can browse our menu for food and amenities,”

“Mmmkay…”

“Tomorrow’s social time is at 10 am, and your group therapy is at noon,”

“..Uh huh,” You nodded as you absent mindedly flipped through the menu.

“It’s mandatory,” He added.

“...Right,”

“Wonderful,” He beamed. “Now your bathroom is there, obviously,” He nodded to a door on the other side of the room. “It has a shower with three different pressures, and a spa bathtub. I recommend you take a long hot bath and relax, the first night is usually the hardest to get used to.

“Right…”

“Alright well I’ll leave you to it,” He nodded at you with another dreamy smile.

He walked out and left you to your own devices. You walked over to the drawers and pulled them out. They were full of your clothes, how did they get these so fast? It was so bizarre all of this happened while you were out, it really did seem like some kind of episode out of Dynasty or something.

You decided to call Sonny and get some things sorted out. You picked up your phone and dialed his number and let it ring.

“Oh hey...you, how you feelin’?”

“I’m good,” You went and sat on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Me? I’m good,”

“Really? Not sore or anything?”

“What? OH-- Yeah, y’know, of course, obviously,”

“...Thanks so much for this, Sonny. It’s gorgeous here,”

“Anytime….sweetie,”

“Is um, is Rafael doing better? Do you know?”

“Uh he’s...he’s fine, I’m sure,”

“...Well that’s good,”

“I’ll be up there next week to see you, you hang in there okay?”

“...Yeah, alright,”

“Night darlin’, you sleep well. I love you,”

“Love you too,”

Sonny hung up the phone and glanced over at Rafael who was busy writing his closing arguments for their case tomorrow.

“....Who was that?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Niece,” He lied.

“Mmm,”

“...How are you feelin’, by the way Barba?”

“Carisi, we’re not discussing anything personal, ever again. I told you that,” He grumbled, not looking up from his desk. He winced in pain every so often when he pulled on his stitches while writing.

“...Right,” He nodded sadly. He did feel guilty about all of this, but he knew in a few weeks it wouldn’t matter. You’d both forget about each other and move on, it was for the best.

--------

The next day you woke up and felt this overwhelming sense of dread. It was like everything had finally caught up to you, all the memory of how you got here came back to you. You missed Rafael almost immediately, Sonny’s words about how you had traumatized him rang in your head.

You wanted so desperately to call him and apologize, tell him how you would have never hurt him on purpose, and that all you wanted to do was make it up to him-- but you knew you had no way of doing that, and there was nothing you could do about it.

Your tablet began to go off, alarms for SOCIAL TIME were set on it. You tried to turn it off, but apparently a counselor had to do it when you arrived. Sneaky bastards. You sighed and pulled on some PJ pants, trying to ignore the blaring sound. You stomped out of your room and down the hall, down some stairs to a huge room labelled “REC ROOM.”

“Welcome Y/N!” A bright and cheery nurse came over and greeted you. “We have lots of activities for you here,” She began to show you around. “We have arts and crafts, several board games, and the Cards Against Humanity rounds get quite rowdy!”

“...Right,” You nodded softly, feeling more and more hopeless as you saw all the other “residents” mingling-- and by mingling, meaning most of them were walking around like soulless zombies. Was this your life now?

----

One Week Later

“Hey…” You saw Rafael laying down in front of you, reaching out for your hand. You took it, not believing this was real.

“I love you, Y/N…” He smiled at you, his green eyes sparkling.

“I love you too Rafael..”

You shot up in bed, it happened again. You had been having the same dream ever since you had gotten to Whistling Pines. It felt so real, especially when you touched his hand. And you always woke up alone, stuck in your prison. Never to see Rafael ever again; It was torture. No matter how fancy the prison was, it was still a prison. You looked at the clock on your bedside table- 3:30 am. You wondered what Rafael was doing at that moment-- well, probably sleeping, duh. Or maybe he was up late, working on law stuff.

You wondered if he was thinking about you, if he ever thought about you. He didn’t seem angry the last time you saw him, in fact you were pretty sure you remembered him holding you and crying. Well, like Sonny said he was probably just upset having to see someone like that again. But-- something inside told you that you didn’t leave on bad terms. Maybe you had been too quick to just delete and block his number. But it was too late to do anything about that now. You laid back down and cried yourself back to sleep for the fifth time that night.

=============

Two weeks later

Sonny drove up to Hartford early Friday morning, hoping to get back to the city that night. He signed in at the front desk, muttering obscenities under his breath. He paced the lobby waiting for you, trying to keep his calm. Finally you emerged from the big double doors: You were dressed in a t-shirt that used to be tight, but now it draped on your shoulders. Your hip hugger jeans were more like men’s jeans, hanging off your pelvis. Your hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and you had no makeup on. You walked over to Sonny who crossed his arms at the sight of you.

“Hey, Sunshine…” He pulled you into a tight hug, your face barely moved into a small smile.

“Can we talk?” He asked as he led you to one of the leather couches.

“Sure,” You nodded like a robot as you sat next to him.

“So Sunshine,” He sighed. “They tell me you haven’t uh, been doin’ so hot,”

“Oh, have they?” You mumbled, playing with a hole in your jeans.

“Yeah they said you’re not eating, you skip the group, you won’t talk to anybody,” He put a hand on your knee. “Is everything okay? Is it your new liver? The diabetes kicking yer ass?”

“...No, I’m fine,” You shrugged feebly.

“....Seriously?” He removed his hand, his soft tone gone. “So, nothing’s wrong with you physically? You’re just being a brat?”

“Excuse me?” You suddenly blinked in surprise.

“Here I came up here because I was worried somethin’ was really wrong with you, like you were rejecting the donation or-- or the trauma was too much, but you’re tellin’ me you just won’t cooperate?” He snapped at you.

“...What do you want me to say, Sonny? Sorry?” You snarked back.

“I want you to tell me why!” He tried not to yell but this was ridiculous. “Do you know how expensive this place is?!”

“Oh wow,” You scoffed. “Well I’m sorry my recovery is so expensive for you, Son,”

“It’s not even recovery, Y/N! You’re-- You’re just laying around here like a fuckin’ angsty teen!” He barked. “Why aren’t you trying? Don’t you wanna get outta here and get back to your life?”

“Maybe I don’t!” You yelled and stood up. “Maybe I don’t care about getting out of here, or not. There’s no point anymore,”

“What?” Sonny furrowed his brows. “Why not?”

“...Because,” You looked down at the floor.

“Oh for fuck’s sake…” Sonny threw up his hands, finally standing up himself. “Is this about Barba, really Y/N? You knew him for a few fuckin’ days, gimme a fuckin BREAK,”

“He was wonderful to me, Sonny! He was wonderful and loving and caring and YOU made me go off on him, and then I--” You paused, tears caught in your throat. “I fucking traumatized him. I hurt him so badly he didn’t even want to see me when i was dying,”

“I mean-- how bad of a person am I?!” You tried not to break down in the lobby. “I shouldn’t be allowed to be around anyone anymore, I just destroy things. Hurt people. I shouldn’t be around anyone,”

“Oh Jesus Christ,” Sonny sighed. “You need to stop, alright? If you actually tried to get better, you wouldn’t--”

“I don’t want to get better!!!!” You flat out stomped your foot, not caring about making a scene now.

“Y/N, tough love time. You need to get your shit together and forget about Barba, alright? I can’t keep paying for you to stay here--” He put both hands on your shoulders.

“So let me out,” You glared at him.

“....And if I let you out, are you going to stay sober?” He gave you a suspicious look.

“Nope,” You said with a smirk.

“Y/N come the fuck on,” He threw up his hands.

“What?” You crossed your arms. “I’m being honest. So either you keep wasting your money here, or let me go,”

“And what, let you kill yourself?” He asked angrily.

“...Maybe,” You muttered.

“Sunshine, come here--” Sonny went to wrap you in a hug, his t-shirt caught up on yours causing it to pull up on his torso. Your eyes went wide when you caught sight of it, letting go of him.

“....Where’s your scar?” You blinked in disbelief, trying to wrap your head around what you were seeing.

“What?” He began to panic.

“Your scar,” You pulled your t-shirt to reveal your own scar from the transplant. “You should have one,”

“Oh, Um--” Sonny began to rack his brain for an explanation, but your brain was moving faster.

“.....You didn’t give me part of your liver, did you?” You pulled away from him.

“Uh well--” He sighed “Not exactly, no,”

“Then who did?” You eyed him accusingly.

“They got you an anonymous--”

“Oh don’t even give me that shit, Sonny,” You stopped him. “This-- this whole thing, when I got here. It felt so much like, like a set up. A soap opera plot,”

“A soap opera?” Sonny laughed. “Come on Sunshine, don’t--”

“Why did you ship me here so fast, Sonny?” You asked, your brain now on a roll.

“What?” He half laughed. “So that you could get started early--”

“No,” You stopped him. “You could have just let me come here on my own, CONSCIOUS,”

“Well I just wanted you to skip the DT’s--” He tried to think of a defense.

“DT’s don’t happen to you if you get drunk ONCE, Sonny!” You raised your voice.

“Well how was I supposed to--” He looked around nervously.

“Who really gave me their liver, Sonny?” You narrowed your eyes.

“I told you, I don’t--” He began to lie again.

“I’ll look it up,” You threatened, making his eyes go wide.

“Y-You can’t do that,” He protested.

“Why wouldn’t you want me to?” You challenged him.

“...Because--”

“Rafael did, didn’t he?” You weren’t letting him think of any more lies.

“Look Y/N, he just wanted to help you out so that you wouldn’t die, like his dad. He couldn’t save him so he saved you. Doesn’t that sound like him?”

You had to admit, it really did. But why lie about it?

“So why didn’t you tell me that, Sonny? Why tell me you did it? Why didn’t you just tell me he did it to be nice, and not that he hated me?”

“I never said he hated you--”

“If you lied to me about that, what else have you been lying to me about?” You put your hands on your hips.

“What?”

“Oh my god…” You started to remember your recurring dream. “It was real, it was real. I know it was real!”

“...What was real?” His eyebrows furrowed.

“I keep having this dream where Rafael is across from me lying on a table, and he tells me that he loves me. And I know that happened I know it did,” You explained.

You were absolutely sure of it now. So many thoughts were running through your mind, you hated that you didn’t remember any of this before.

“What?” Sonny laughed again. “Sunshine it’s just a dream, don’t you think you would remember something like that?”

“They...they gave me something before I went into the OR,” You looked off into nowhere as you tried desperately to recall that morning. “The nurse called it…’giggle juice’,”

“Giggle juice?” Sonny rolled his eyes.

“Did you make them give me that too?!” You went for his collar, but a nurse came out of nowhere to hold you back.

“Wha who whoa, Sunshine calm down,” Sonny waved the nurse off of you. “I got her, thanks ma’am,”

“I didn’t tell them to give you anything,” He said softly.

“Yeah, just to keep me out for three days so I wouldn’t ever see Rafael before you sent me here,” You accused him.

“...Not true…” He shook his head.

“Why wouldn’t you want me to talk to him, Sonny?” Tears choked your throat.

“He didn’t want to talk to you--”

“Bullshit!” You stomped your foot, eyeing the nurse who had her eye on you in case you lost it on Sonny again.

“Bullshit, were you scared he was going to tell me what you were really doing? That you were trying to keep us apart?” Tears began dripping from your cheeks. You couldn’t believe this was happening, you couldn’t believe you could have been with Rafael this entire time.

“No!” He protested, his eyes darting back and forth. “No, I--”

“I don’t believe you!” You pushed him, the nurse stepped forward but you put your hands up in defeat. “You’re keeping him from me right now, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“That’s why you sent me so far, he has no idea where I am, and he wants to know doesn’t he? He wasn’t traumatized by my ‘incident’, he’s traumatized he lost me!” You hated that you cried when you got angry, it made you so much less intimidating.

“Traumatized is a strong word, Y/N…” Sonny rolled his eyes.

“Y’know what Sonny,” You shook your head while you wiped your eyes. “I’ll make you a deal. You bring Rafael here, and I’ll try to get better,”

“...I can’t,” He looked at the floor.

“Wha--Are you serious?” You half laughed sarcastically. “You’d rather me rot in here than--”

“I don’t know where he is, Y/N,” He looked up at you seriously.

“...What?” You asked, not wanting to know the answer.

“He…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “He left,”

“What do you mean ‘he left’?” You air quoted left.

“He went on some campaign trail, Hilary I think. He took off across the country, I literally have no idea where he is right now,” He explained.

“Why would he do that?” You asked.

“I don’t know, he said he had to get out of the city--” He shrugged.

“And you couldn’t imagine why?” You gave him a knowing look.

“Oh puh-lease Y/N, he’s not a drama queen like you--” He stopped, thinking about it. “Okay well he might be a drama queen but--”

“You can call him,” You pointed to his pocket.

“I can’t,” He looked down at the ground once again.

“WHY NOT?!” You were getting fed up with him.

“He was….he was super pissed at me for keeping you apart, alright? You’re right. He...he changed his number when he took off, he wants nothing to do with me,”

“So he’s just...gone?” Your voice cracked.

“Sunshine, I promise you. In a few weeks you won’t care about him, and you’re gonna wanna get out of here,”

“Why, you're gonna start adding memory pills to my regiment too?” You scoffed with angry tears in your voice.

“Jesus,” He rolled his eyes. “No, because you’re 22 and you can fall in and out of love like that,” He snapped his fingers.

“No I won’t,” You shook your head. “You’re gonna have to let me out of here or I’ll die in here,”

“God you’re such a--” Sonny sighed in frustration. “I can get them to get you to eat, y’know that right?”

“Do it!” You dared him. “Start treating me like some kind of mental patient, control my life like you think you need to,”

“...I can’t deal with this,” He waved his hands and started to walk away. “I’ll be back in a few weeks, I’m sure you’ll be over this by then,”

“Don’t count on it,” You stomped back into the ward.

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

A week later

You let the night nurse into your room, she brought your meds and a nightly snack.

“Well, are you excited for tomorrow?” She asked, making conversation.

“...What’s tomorrow?” You asked as your downed your pills.

“Your last day!” She smiled.

“...What?” You quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, honey you’re not here on a court order or probation, and your cousin only paid for 30 days. So, you’re leaving tomorrow!”

“You’re just...you’re just letting me go??” You asked in disbelief.

“You’re not happy about that? I’m sure we could talk to your--” She started.

“No!” You stopped her. “No, No I’m totally excited, ready to get back to real life,”

“Good!” She smiled and patted your head. “Make sure you’re all packed, we’ve already filled this room once you leave,”

“...Of course you have,” You rolled your eyes.

She left and you began to frantically pack, ready to get out of here as fast as possible. You would find Rafael on your own, you knew you could.

----------

Sonny’s phone went off while he was out on a call, he saw it was Whistling Pines so he excused himself from the scene and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Yes, Mir. Carisi? This is Sylvia at Whistling Pines, we were just checking on Miss Y/N,”

“....Why would you be checking on her? Don’t you have her?”

“...No sir, she checked out a few days ago,”

“WHAT?!”

“Well it had been 30 days and you had only paid for a month--”

“So you just let her leave?! Why would you do that?!”

“Well sir, for one she’s a grown woman who’s a law abiding citizen, she wasn’t committed here by any kind of law enforcement. And like I said you only paid--”

“For a month,” He growled. “That’s all that matters to you people, isn’t it?”

“Well sir, this is a very expensive--”

“Where did she go?”

“What do you mean where did she go? She left with you,”

“Uh she sure as hell did NOT,”

“...Well she got in a car with a man…”

“Oh my god,” Sonny almost dropped the phone. “I swear to God if something happens to her because of you people I will sue you SO fast--”

“Okay no need to get hysterical,” She began to panic. “Why don’t you just come here and we’ll figure it out…”

“No I think you’ve done enough,” He growled before hanging up on her.

Where the hell had you gone? And with who?!

[onhirel]

A Birthday Spent Apart

Akko jerked awake in the chair to the sound of her phone buzzing insistently on the desk of the hotel room in Tokyo that her agency had put her in, and confusion roiled through her for a moment before she managed to pick up the phone. Peering blearily at the display, she blinked before dread settled in her gut at the sight of Diana’s name at the top of her phone’s screen, accompanied by a picture that Lotte had taken of the two of them, Akko hugging Diana from behind, both of them smiling for the camera.

She didn’t feel like smiling now, not when...

She swiped to answer the video call even as she wiped at her eyes to remove any of the gunk that her unplanned nap might have caused. “Hey, Diana!” she said, trying to sound as bright and cheery as she could, even as she felt terrible. After all, Diana shouldn’t have been the one to call her, she should have been the one to call Diana because...

“Oh! Akko, did I wake you?” Diana sounded surprised, and was that a hint of hurt that Akko detected in her fiancée’s voice?

She wanted to deny it, wanted to say something to reassure Diana that that wasn’t true, but she couldn’t stand the thought of lying to her. “I guess I fell asleep,” she admitted, shame replacing the dread. Of all the days for her to do so!

A short burst of static as Diana sighed, though she was smiling softly. “Akko, it’s okay, I only just got home myself. What time is it for you?”

An olive branch, something Akko could use as a way out, even though she knew that Diana always had the time differences between them memorized whenever Akko was on tour. Still, Akko glanced up at the top of her phone’s screen. “Quarter past two,” she muttered before frowning. “But that’s no excuse! It’s your birthday, I should have stayed awake so I could call you, not the other way around!”

Blue eyes stared pointedly at her through her phone’s display. “Akko, it’s fine.”

“No, it isn’t,” Akko insisted. “It’s your birthday!”

“And I already got your text messages, plus the flowers and cake you had delivered to the Manor. Plus I imagine you have plans once you get back in a few weeks.”

Akko bit her lip. “But...”

Now Diana was frowning. “No buts, love. Look, I can see that you’re still wearing your stage makeup and you were already sitting when you answered the phone. You sat up by your desk so that you could stay awake and call me, right?”

Akko paused only for a moment. “You know me too well.”

Diana chuckled softly. “Akko, dearest, I could never know you too well. Even if we live together for centuries to come, I will always want to know something more about you.”

Was Akko blushing? She was pretty sure she was blushing. “Why are you so romantic?” she whined.

That drew out a grin so bright and beautiful it stole her breath away. “Because I love you.”

Akko squirmed slightly in her seat as she tried to cover up her now brilliantly red face with one hand while holding the phone with her other. She would always be awed at how powerful these feelings she had for Diana were. “I love you, too,” she somehow managed to squeak out even as her blush deepened.

A soft, warm hum. “Now, love, I want you to get ready for bed, you shouldn’t be falling asleep in chairs, you aren’t a teenager anymore.”

Akko huffed at that, but she stood up. “Neither are you,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but I actually take care of my body,” Diana teased. “How much sugar did you eat today?”

“That’s for me to know and you to speculate,” Akko shot back before grinning. “And besides, you and I both know that there’s something I’d much rather be eating than sugary food, but unfortunately there’s an eight hour difference there, ne?”

Now it was Diana’s turn to blush. “Akko!” she spluttered.

“What? You know it’s true!”

“I mean...yes, but...oh, you are incorrigible!” she huffed, though the scowl that lacked any real heat didn’t last long. “How was the show?” she asked after a moment. “I wasn’t able to watch the live stream this time.”

Akko shrugged even as she headed into the bathroom. “Oh, you know, the usual. I think we’re really getting it hammered into something good, there weren’t any hiccups this time!”

And so their call continued as Akko got ready for bed, both of them talking about their days. Before long, Akko was snuggled into bed, covers up to her chin, the room dark save for the light from her phone’s screen from where it was propped up on some of the pillows so that they could see each other.

She hated this part of the call. Hated that she could already feel sleep approaching, no matter how much she wanted to stay up and talk with the woman that she loved with all her heart. It was ironic, wasn’t it? That she resented her dream job that she truly loved if only because it meant being away from Diana, especially on important days like today.

“-and there was this little girl in the crowd, that, oh, you should’ve seen how her face lit up when I exploded onto stage,” she was saying, loving how focused and engaged Diana was on her story. She could tell that she was the absolute most important thing in Diana’s world right now. Perhaps that was why her voice faltered, why she was suddenly wiping away tears as Diana’s face grew very suddenly worried.

“Akko, are you okay? Is something wrong?”

She bit back a sob. “I miss you,” she croaked as she curled up in the bed that was painfully empty. It was Diana’s birthday, and she was halfway round the world, unable to touch, to hold, to kiss the love of her life, and she hated it. “And I couldn’t even stay awake to be the one to call you.”

A long moment of silence as she tried very hard not to give in to the tears. Bad enough that she couldn’t call Diana, now she was screwing up the little time they had together by crying like a baby? Ugh, could she be anymore pathetic?!

“Akko? Akko, listen to me.” Diana’s voice was firm, and Akko forced herself to latch onto it, to focus on it. “It’s really okay. I miss you, too, but you’re doing something important. You’re showing the world that magic isn’t to be feared, and the amount of joy and laughter you’re bringing to your audiences is so incredibly amazing. Honestly, if you weren’t putting in enough energy into your performances that you weren’t utterly exhausted by the end of it, I’d be rather disappointed in you.” She paused as Akko wiped at her streaming eyes. “Akko, honestly, the date of my birthday is just a date. The specific day isn’t important. I imagine you have something spectacular planned when you return, and that is what’s important.” Her head cocked slightly to the side, her expression softening. “What I want for my birthday is for you to have given your all during your performance earlier today. Did you get me what I wanted?”

“Yes,” Akko sniffled.

Diana smiled. “Then we’re good. We got to talk to each other, you had a good show earlier, and we’ll see each other in a few weeks. That’s all that we need, because we love each other. Nothing can change that.” She nodded, almost as though to herself as Akko’s tears finally stopped. “Now, it’s almost three in the morning for you and I know you’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Give my love to your parents, and hopefully my schedule will be a tad more open over the next few days so that we can talk when it isn’t dreadfully early in the morning for you.”

Akko gave Diana a watery smile. “That would be nice.”

Diana brought her hand to her face so that she could kiss her fingertips before she touched them to her phone’s camera, darkening Akko’s screen for a moment. “Have a good night, love. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Mmmkay,” Akko murmured, feeling sleep rush in all the quicker now, following her tears. “Oh, but, Diana?”

“Hmm.”

“Happy Birthday.”

A smile that could have outshone the sun itself. “Thank you, Akko. I love you.”

Akko’s eyes were already closed, her breath coming slower and deeper. “I love you, too.”

Yes, it was a birthday spent apart. But that didn’t mean that their hearts weren’t joined together, even with the great distance between them. After all, Diana was right: They loved each other. That was all that they would ever need.

[thewolfisapartofmysoul]

Hey lovelies,

I wrote a fanfic!

Im planning to upload more Dewey Finn/reader and Beetlejuice/reader content. And for each fanfic im planning to make a moodboard, matching the story or drabble i wrote. To (as the word says) get in the mood before reading....

Bare with me, this is my first attempt writing and uloading something.... Dewey Finn x reader related. From the musical School of rock.

Hope you enjoy it. 💕 thanx 4 reading.

Reader is an early bird and goes to drag her lovely boyfriend Dewey out of bed.

..................................................................................

Morning person.

You were and always would be a morning person. Always most productive and bubbly with life, when the sun came up. Your other half was the other way around. He would like to be called a late-night-owl. Waking up would be not Dewey his strongest point. But maybe that was because most of his inspiration at his guitar stroke at midnight. Or the best highscores on guitar hero were made at 2AM. You were not sure.

You would stretch and more often then not wake up before your alarm went off. You looked to your left and smiled softly to youself. The sleeping (slightly snoring) form of Dewey made your heart sing. He was so adorable when he slept. His bedhair never dissapointing. You had to hold back the urge to ruffle it. The pretty locks standing wild on his head.

You started at your relaxing morning routine, climbing out of the bed. After one last glance at Dewey still spread out on the bed, as the chaotic mess that he was, you decided it was time for coffee.

You sleepily walked over to your kitchen. Your dog happily coming to greet you as he did each morning. You made sure to cuddle with it a little bit, before returning your mission to get some needed caffeine.

It still amazed you how much black coffee Dewey could drink during the day. But again... he was a bouncy oddball after the coffee did its work. As you poured in the coffee for you both, you wondered if he would actually need the coffee to become the bouncy chaotic rock-god that he was. And directly dismissed that thought. He was just passionate about everything that was life. And you adored that about him.

You walked over to the radio. Turning it on at a soft volume. Soft rock was filling the room early in the morning, and it made your mind drift again. Were your passion for life began at 6.30 AM. at full capacity, then slowly fading. Deweys passion would be slowly building, like the chords of his guitar would built to the climax of a song. He would start to wake around 11, be at his best riff in the late afternoon, and be tired around midnight. You two were kinda in tune about all that, worked a way around it.

You watered the plants in the house and decided it was time to wake Dewey from his much needed rest.

You took the coffee up to your room and set it aside silently. Breath hitching in your throat as you watched Dewey humming in his sleep. God... you loved his voice.

You sat there on the bed, allowing yourself another moment to admire the beauty that was still muttering in his sleep.

You reached out softly to run your fingers through his hair, smiling as his still sleeping form sighed at this and smiled in his sleep too.

You crawled into the bed next to him, being the big spoon. You continued to softly run your fingers through his messy bedhead while whispering is name to wake him up.

"Dew... dewey... love... it's time to get up sweetheart."

He grunted sleepily at your voice. Grabbing your hand, and after 1 missed attempt (because he was still half asleep) he grabbed your hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss it. You felt his scruff brushing over your hand as he did so.

You snickered as he mumbled against your hand: "just... one more minute babe...mmmkay?"

You rolled your eyes, knowing that he tried this every day. When you let him, he'd sleep in again and would be late to teach his class.

So you lulled back: "Dew-drop... cant do that. You'll be late for class. Bad plan babe."

He grunted unhappily and you smiled at his dramatics.

You stated softly: "Dew... we can do this the fun way..."

You moved up to kiss his cheeck, nuzzling his neck, you smiled against his neck speaking: "or the less fun way..." Your hand moved to his side to poke it. He squirmed and tried to bat your hands away while yelping.

"Okay! Okay! Fine babe. Look. Im cooperating. See?" Pulling his hands up in surrender, bolting upright. You smiled at that and sat up too.

"You... are... such a NINJA in the morning, early bird." he mumbled, wiping the sleep of his face. "...not fair. Good thing that your so hot." He mumbled.

You smiled at him, scooting closer to him to run your fingers through his messy hair once again and heard him purr softly at that.

You supressed the tugging feeling in your stomache which his purring caused. (No time. School. Work. Stuff.) And after Dewey kissed your cheeck you told him you made him some coffee.

After singing you a cheesy (but in tune) "your simply the best..." he winked and went to take the coffee with a flourish.

You chuckled once again shaking your head... glad that you diserved this weirdo in your life.

You told him you were gonna walk the dog and went to stand up. Right before you could even move your foot to walk away, you yelped in suprise when his hand slapped against your ass cheeck. You heard Dewey cheering loudly in the background.

"Dew..." you growled... looking over your shoulder sternly. As he looked at you with big puppy-eyes and a big pout on his face. His fists still pumped up because of the succeeded ass-slap he just gave you.

"Sorry babe..." he stated. Mischief hiding in his eyes, biting his lip. "Its just.... You look SO good in sweatpants"

You rolled your eyes as you reached out to scratch his scruff. "You are lucky i love you that much Mister Finn, or else i would smack you awake with my pillow every morning."

When you looked at dewey you practically saw his heart-eyes as he spoke softly: "love you too doll."

You turned around, getting the dog leash. "Good..." you called over your shoulder, smile on your lips... "now get your rocking-ass out of the bed Dew."