#more than once tried to get me to sign a lease with them even though I had no money or job

[x-rds]

That post about huge red flags from exes is going around and I’m like well mine requires some background reading

[thatcatsalem]

Sorcerer!Sukuna SFW Alphabet

Sukuna x Yuri (OC)

For the posts that are in the format of headcanons and such, “you” will be used as a method of storytelling. Outside of those, the main story will revert back to third person.

Let me know if you like it!

The art used for this picture is not mine and I am happy to credit the owner.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Sukuna is aggressively affectionate. He will grab your cheeks with his fingers and smoosh them together, stealing a kiss; he will twist your hair on his finger until it’s tangled and ready to pull; he will shove food in your mouth if you skip meals; and he will roll you in a blanket when it’s time to go to bed.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Sukuna would rather chew his own foot than ever confess that he even understands the concept of having a best friend. If he had to choose, he most likely would point to Kusakabe because he doesn’t hate him and enjoy chilling with him. Realistically speaking, he mostly spends time either with you, or with his brother. But he will genuinely crush anyone’s head that will dare to presume that his best friend is his brother. He isn’t a loser.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He gets hot very easily and doesn’t really like overheating. But you run surprisingly cold and he welcomes the soothing coolness of your skin. If he is cuddling, he is a big spoon or he is sprawled on his stomach and has one hand over your waist.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Never wanted to settle down but it happened when you bulldozered yourself into his life. It happened to unexpectedly that he didn’t even hesitate signing a lease for their new house.

He isn’t great at cooking anything other than steak. He likes his food incredibly spicy and was relieved when he found out that you do as well. You both have a whole cabinet dedicated to alphabetized rows of hot sauce.

He prefers to split the chores overall, but absolutely loathes doing dishes and splashed out on an industrial style dishwasher to avoid doing it by hand. He likes to iron.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?”)

Would attempt to do it over the phone to avoid emotional responsibility. Might even fake his death or something equally bizzare.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

He is married within ten months of dating you because he decided it was the best way of ensuring you won’t really go anywhere. He later realised that it was your plan all along and fell for you even harder.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He tries? Doesn’t always succeed. He has an emotional range of a table but he attempts to get more in tune with his feelings to suppress his rage; he meditates a lot. Even though he didn’t grow up with any particular belief, he practices Buddhism to ground himself.

Physically speaking, he is not very gentle and has to remind himself that some people just physically cannot withstand his strength. He once chest bumped Inumaki as a joke and sent a boy flying into a building.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?

It is a weird hate and love relationship. He will hug you out of nowhere, like a cat that decided that moons have aligned and it is permitted to touch him, but usually you are the one who has to initiate. But unlike a lot of people, you don’t actually require that much of physical touch to be close to him, so Sukuna himself gets a bit touchy.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Doesn’t say it but shows it. He will not hesitate to confirm that he loves you if someone asks but won’t ever initiate it.

“Awww, Sukuna loves his girlfriend!” Yuji beamed at his brother when he saw that Sukuna has a picture of his girlfriend with a glass of wine on his Home Screen.

“Yeah, and what of it?” he shoots him a look, “go and run another lap.”

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Homicidal rage. Not much explanation needed, but…

Sukuna found her quite alluring at first, but was taken back but how hostile she was to male attention.

“Haven’t seen you here before,” he attempted to start conversation, mostly thinking with his groin.

“Do you often look at women’s faces or you usually check their asses through the mirror?” she replies with indifference, but shoots him a look. He blinks.

You hook up in less than two weeks during your mission together, and it is so good that Sukuna wakes up alone, wallowing in disappointment. As it turned out, you were the one who fucked him, not the other way around. They later form a very short-lived (three weeks and two days) beneficial relationship that almost immediately falls apart when Sukuna beats a potential suitor of yours half to death in a possessive streak. You start dating the next day.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

So passionate that he is almost aggressive. He likes to kiss behind the ear and on your collarbones, playfully biting and leaving marks.

He practically melts when you kiss his neck and he will never confess that he likes when you kiss his forehead or top of his head.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Not great but he tries. He finds kids noisy and annoying but he did have to pretty much raise Yuji so he mostly is just not into the idea of babysitter.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Working out. He mediates in the morning and then hits the gym. It takes a lot of convincing but you eventually agree to join him at the crack of dawn and regret it instantly. Not only is Sukuna a true gym rat, he is also a ruthless PT, and will not allow to skip a workout.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

During the busy season, Sukuna takes night missions and sleeps in the afternoon so you have to adapt to his routine if you even want to see him. Like for him, you are a night owl and usually are still awake when he gets home. On the days where you too tired to wait, he will find you sprawled out on the couch, waiting for him.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Not by choice. You are perceptive and started hammering him down early in the relationship. He doesn’t have much choice but to open up to you, but he does it with a lot of reluctance. He sometimes says something so shocking and traumatic about his past in such a nonchalant voice that it is hard to take him seriously.

Trust me, he is not joking.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Anger is a second nature for Sukuna. He is aggressive and brash, and will lash out on anything and everything. That is why he meditates every morning.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He actually remembers a lot but will act like it’s not a big deal. Yes, he remembers your favourite SpiderMan (it’s a tie between Madame Web and Spider-Punk), he remembers your favorite constellation (Auriga). He will remember your favorite foods and how you like your coffee, but will get flustered and defensive if it’s pointed out to him.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

“Be careful,” he snorts when she wraps the handmade scarf around his neck, “or I will marry you right here.”

“The council building is an hour away,” Yuri glanced at her watch, “if we go now, we can get there on time and we can fill in the digital paperwork on the way there so maybe we can be married in… five hours, accounting for the wait.”

She steps back.

“That is probably the earliest it can happen.”

Sukuna stares at her.

“I need to get my passport from home,” he says calmly, but he hates the facts there is a certain vulnerability in his voice, “so we could go tomorrow… if you would like.”

Yuri looks at him and stands up a little to plant a small kiss on his cheek.

“Sounds good.”

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He does it without much thinking. Protecting Yuji is a second nature to him, as well as his incompetent friends; but with you it is not as simple as you are a well-known sorceress and are famous for your vicious techniques. He enjoys having a powerful and strong partner and it is one of his bragging rights. On a rare occasion you get injured or beaten up, he obliterates everything in his sight.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Fairly minimal but does like going somewhere nice during important dates. He will give you a gift and will treat you to a nice meal but he will not decorate the house in balloons (you would kill him), and doesn’t proclaim his undying love for you.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His inability to accept that his past was not his fault and his unyielding need to be viewed strong as it is the only trait he is familiar with, and his crippling defensiveness of his own emotional unavailability.

Oh, and he smokes quite a lot.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He enjoys going to gym and getting a few pictures in the mirror after seeing the pump. He will absolutely send those to you and will hold his t-shirt edge in his teeth to show off his abs.

He likes his tattoos and is not afraid of showing them off.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

It’s a complicated question and Sukuna doesn’t feel like considering it too deeply. He is his own person and the idea of two halves of one soul is alien to him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

If you would have to search him, you would always find those things on him: wallet with small picture of Yuji licking an ice cream and picture of Yuri on their first date, wrinkled yens, cinnamon flavored gum, a pack of cigarettes, a vintage gas lighter with his initials, Yuris black lipstick, hand sanitizer, keys with attached figurine of spider, a bag of half eaten wasabi pea and his gym pass.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He fucking hates when people are obnoxiously loud in public spaces. He will turn around and bark at a group of teenage girl to pipe down in this cat cafe.

He also doesn’t like weakness. He finds it pathetic in every aspect; even if it is emotional vulnerability. You suggested that therapy would help with that and he did not speak to you for a day.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He is a really heavy sleeper. Like coma like but he will wake up as soon as his alarm will go off. He once slept through an earthquake and Yuji had to shake him into consciousness.

[vizthedatum]

Please don't do it. My reactions and narrative are all valid, but don't do it.

A couple people have listened to or read our vows.

They were absolutely beautiful and perfect for us.

I will always love our wedding day, despite knowing I deserved more.

I told my close friend today about the promise I made you.

You know the one I told you about while we were shopping at Target?

That I thought you were once a shining orb but that you had dimmed so dull?

You wrote, "you've spoken of me as a bright shining orb that has become dull through hardship, not glowing with the same light." in your vows.

Babe, do you not understand what happened?

I left for two simultaneous reasons: I LOVE YOU, and I had to protect myself.

I could not do it anymore. If I had stayed, I would have completely lost myself - there was no way I was willingly consenting to so much - I did it because I was stuck in deep trauma responses. I am also at fault, but you leeched on my energy too. I tried to repair but you refused to. Please consider the very real effects of the emotional abuse you inflicted on me - please remember all the times I was so scared and how much I flared. Me calling you a narcissist (even out of anger, and I have a right to be) is not trivial: you need to grow the fuck up and get diagnosed - it is going to be painful to heal, but it is possible.

I cried just a few moments ago. I'm not going to lie - I invoked the fiercest of the goddesses I knew and broke down sobbing and screaming on my kitchen floor. I am more sane and in sync with reality than I have ever been.

I don't want you to do it.

So don't do it. (Please sign the divorce paperwork obviously. I still want to be divorced ASAP. You couldn't even pay half of the lease break fee and that's pathetic, and you know it.) You know what I mean when I say don't do it.

I am selfish - I cannot lose you. I never want to see you again (because the only way I can interact with you ever again in any lifetime is if you are COMPLETELY healed and not a narcissist anymore.... :/), but I cannot lose you from this plane of existence during my lifetime, and that is my weakness. You will always be a part of me. I will always remember our love.

But don't restrain yourself for me, even though I want you to.

Live for everyone you've lost, and, most importantly, live for yourself.

Your eyes are like glass. You are an empty husk. Your father is a narcissist. Your mother loves you. Your trauma is not your fault but it is your responsibility. You know that you continuously try to fill yourself with strategy, games, control, drugs, mirroring love, etc.

I know you saw yourself doing and saying all those things. You chose to do them anyway. I know you saw how much I deteriorated.

Just like there are recovering codependents out there on the internet like me... there are people with diagnosed NPD talking about their healing journeys too. Find them. Here's one: https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealnesss/

Not all the patterns will match with you - my friends who have known us for a while think you are a "covert narcissist." Figure it out. Figure it out for yourself.

And please know, that I will always love you.

[quantumfeat72]

for the past few years i’ve had a personal rule that i do not sign anything i haven’t read - mostly because i genuinely think it’s a good idea, but also as a kind of social experiment - and i wanna share some observations

when i worked at an amusement park, i was one of like two or three people in a group of around twenty young adults who read the employment contract

i gave up on reading every TOS and privacy policy early on - now i only read them if it’s a website or company i’ll be giving personal information to (and even then i only skim them) - but i’ve never found anything super suspect in one

i also have an exception for when i’m made to feel like i’d be an asshole for stopping to read something. notable examples of this going into effect include the patient-intake paperwork at the ER when i went in a few months ago. (i really wish i’d just gone ahead and been the asshole in that situation, even though i have no reason to think there was anything bad in it)

i think the only time i was the only one to read something that the people who gave it to us actually wanted us to read was the waiver at a cat café, which included a lot of safety information about how to interact with the cats

one time i was approached by a guy with a petition who told me it was an anti-fracking petition (which was a real petition that was going around at the time), but the paper he handed me was a petition to instate a “citizenship requirement” for voting. i pointed this out to him and he tried to convince me that even though that’s what it said, it’s not really what my signature meant, and then named the university he graduated from as though it gave him some level of extra credibility??

i have more than once been given a HIPPA form at a doctor’s office where my signature certifies that i’ve been offered a copy of their privacy practices, when i had not, in fact, been offered a copy of their privacy practices. the last time this happened, the receptionist didn’t actually have a copy of their privacy practices, and had to get me to me sign it several days later once she got a copy from her manager

99% of people are very accommodating when you tell them “i want to read this before i sign it,” but it’s never what they’re expecting

on a related note, if someone thinks it’s important that you know what’s in something they’re giving you to sign, they won’t wait for you to read it - they’ll go through, point to each section, and tell you what it says. this is what happened when i signed my lease, and it’s actually a pretty common instance of using my asshole exception, because then i feel like i’m calling the person a liar if i stop to read it myself

the moral of the story is... like... we treat a signature like it’s the absolute most surefire way of saying “yes i understand this and agree to it,” but in practice there’s not even a pretense that a signature means you’ve READ whatever you’re signing. in fact, handing someone a piece of paper and saying “sign here” is one of the LEAST effective ways to make sure they understand and agree to something, and PEOPLE KNOW THIS, and we do it ANYWAY because what else are we gonna do? notarize it??

i don’t have a solution but like. that’s kinda fucked up, you know?

[neoheros]

moving in — seijoh 4 x gn! reader

it’s been exactly two weeks since you’ve made the decision of moving in with your best friends, and so far, everything’s been a bit better than you expected.

when the idea was first pitched to you, you admit, you thought it was a very poorly written out joke shared over a few beers and the pitiful nostalgia of graduating— you were wrong.

they were alarmingly serious about this.

“just a few months ‘til we all head off for college.” hanamaki told you, his arm casually over your shoulder and you’ve known him long enough to know that pushing him off is futile.

“then do it without me.” you said, a lazy smile on your face as you continued to walk. “i’ll visit literally every day.”

“no, you won’t,” matsukawa said, his words laced with a soft chuckle, “you don’t ever go anywhere without being physically dragged off.”

“you don’t understand,” you smiled, “i have such a lovely room.”

iwaizumi fell next to you, his voice blunt, “you can have the biggest room.”

“that’s not entirely better.” you shrugged.

“at least think about it,” oikawa told you, his charming smile coating his tone and you found a bit of warmth in the reserved gaze you realize he only had for you, “for me.”

“as if that’s the selling point, shittykawa!”

“i am always the selling point, iwa-chan!”

you ignored their usual banter, moving away from the four as you quickened your steps and you sighed. “i’ll think about it.”

you don’t miss the shared grins they all give each other, knowing you well enough to understand that they’ve successfully wore you down and before you knew it, you were signing a lease to a four bedroom loft that you were lucky enough to afford.

it didn’t feel weird or anything, you’ve known these guys since forever and more, really the only problem you’ve had with this was the fact that you knew how much of a slob they’d all be to live with — not that you were any better — but hey, surely you were neater than four sweaty athletes.

which brings you to where you are now; just a few weeks after graduating from aoba johsai and barely even a few days since getting comfortable in your new temporary apartment.

you figured it was better than you expected.

hanamaki’s nice to keep around. he’s almost always just lounging in front of the tv, sometimes a controller in his hands, most of the time, his fingers running through his short trimmed hair as he shifts over numerous college application essays.

you’ve found yourself waking up at three am a few times to get yourself a cup of water only to see him to have fallen asleep on the coffee table with folders and envelopes around him.

sometimes you’d sit with him, sometimes you’d wake him up to help him trudge to his bed. either way, he’d always end up pulling your head close, giving you a quick kiss on the temple as he sleepily mumbles something along the lines of “thank you” or “good night”.

iwaizumi’s somewhat the same; buried in college prep and sorting through plane tickets as he made the ever so impressive decision to take his future abroad. you’d told him numerous times how proud he made you and he’d always give you back the warm grin he seemed to have reserved just for you.

he isn’t the last one you see off to bed, but he’s always the first to get up in the morning. no matter what time you wake up, he’s already there in the kitchen brewing a pot of coffee (much to your dismay since his blend is a tad bit bitter to your liking but you’ve never had the heart to tell him that).

(though truth be told, ever since iwaizumi found out you woke up at the crack of dawn, he’d begrudgingly fallen into the habit of waking up before you just so he could make you coffee before seeing you off for the day.

he hates waking up that early.

but he does like the smile you give him when you walk out the door.)

you spend the most time with matsukawa. his schedule was freer than the rest of the boys so if you ever needed to go anywhere, he’d already be there to insist that he came with you.

he’d pick you up from your day job, a lazy grin encasing his face the minute he sees you from the car window— you looked tired, worn out from the ruthless retail, and though he couldn’t say that to your face, he sure is glad he’d have an excuse to take you for coffee before heading home.

oikawa’s the busiest. his taxing schedule now so much worse after his decision to go to argentina. (you told him you’d miss him, he told you you didn’t have to, and begged you to try and fit in his luggage.) all that aside, you barely got to see him; you’d wake up finding him already gone for the day, and come home to him passed out on the couch.

some nights he’d come home later than you, too tired to know which is left or right, and more than once, he’d end up in your room, clocking out the second he crashes on your bed.

you don’t push him off, you never had the heart to. you missed him. not that you’d ever say it to his face, but he hasn’t even left for college and you were already missing him.

it’s a sunday morning— one of the few times a week all of you had a free day, and normally you’d all just end up sleeping in, most days you’d get up and enjoy breakfast with the other four, but when the bed felt too warm and too peaceful, you’d rather just waste the day away in your room.

a pair of arms pull you out of your sleep, your head softly falling against someone’s chest and you blink— you went to bed alone last night.

“what the hell, shittykawa!” you yell, sitting up and pushing him off of you.

oikawa groans, having just been brutally woken up, he pouts, “... you spend too much time with iwa-chan, you sound exactly like him.”

“go sleep in your own room!”

“but — you have the softest bed!”

“no?” matsukawa says, leaning on your door frame looking like he’d just woken up. his voice is groggy, almost annoyed, “i have the softest bed.”

oikawa pushes you away, ignoring your groans as he laid back on your mattress and he says, smile wide, “that’s not true— feel this.”

matsukawa narrows his eyes, walking up to him without even acknowledging your constant complaints of ‘no! do not feel this, go away!’

he sits on the edge of your bed, taking a second before falling on his back and taking in your white comforters.

“what the fuck?” he says, “what the hell, why do you have the softest bed?”

“because i’m me.” you tell them both, rolling your eyes as you realize that you probably won’t be getting your bed back anytime soon.

hanamaki walks in barely a moment later, his hand tiredly rubbing his left eye as he yawns away the last of his sleep.

he blinks, unsure what to make out of the scene in front of him. matsukawa and oikawa pulled on your duvet, pushing each other off every second as they fought on who got a bigger part of the blanket, and you, well — you had your head propped up on your headboard, muttering under your breath as you tried to push the two off your mattress.

“what’s going on?” he asks, a smile already forming on his face as he recognized the early morning chatter.

you look up, eyes brightening at the sight of hanamaki, he was going to help you.

“makki! my love!” you yelped, “get them out of my room, please.”

“no. makki will not.” matsukawa grins, “did you know this is the softest bed in the apartment?”

hanamaki frowns, “i have the softest bed in the apartment.”

oikawa grins, “feel this!”

you take it back. oikawa tooru might not make it to argentina after all, not when you were going to kill him in cold blood after this.

before you could even protest, oikawa pushes you more to the side, clearing some space for hanamaki who (so traitorously) plopped down on his side beside you.

“what the fuck,” he says, eyes widening as he moved around for a more comfortable position.

matsukawa nods, “that’s what i said too.”

“why do you have the softest bed?” oikawa groans, “we’re the ones who play volleyball— we’re basically sore all the time.”

you blink, “i was sleeping.”

they ignore you.

“you want the bed?” you ask, getting up from your mattress, and you glare. “fine. keep it.”

“wait, we were just joki—”

you ignore what they were going to say, slamming your door on your way out, and you curse under your breath every step of the way to the room right across from yours.

iwaizumi’s room. somewhere cold, peaceful, quiet. you ought to remind him to keep his door locked, but right now, as you stood by his doorway, drowsy and almost desperate to go back to sleep, you’re thankful he doesn’t.

you don’t say another word, walking directly up to his bedside and plopping down on the open space next to him.

he stirs, and you take his movement with a sigh.

“move.” you tell him, a pillow in hand and he looks up at you with sleep plastered on his face.

iwaizumi does as you say, moving deeper into his side and he yawns, “what’re you doing?”

“we are going to sleep.” you tell him, snuggling deeper in his covers as you got yourself comfortable.

you look at him, “unless you want to join those three idiots outside.”

iwaizumi ignores the warmth coming up on his face, pushing his pulsing heart aside, he shrugs, throwing an arm over you, and he mutters, “not even gonna ask what happened.”

(you fall back asleep quick after that, but that doesn’t last long as iwaizumi’s door opens again, oikawa going on and on with complaints about how iwaizumi was obviously your favorite, matsukawa barely caring as he pushes past him and just crashes in between you both and hanamaki declaring a dog pile as he so ruthlessly jumps on top of you.

it was horrible.

you wouldn’t have it any other way with them.)

[i-need-air]

Hybrid!AU Wolf!Bakugou Katsuki HCs Part 2.

Summary: Part 2 is here! While in part 1 it was mostly adoption and how he'd behave with you as a roommate, part two is him ✨ realizing things ✨ followed by how he'd be in a romantic relationship.

Word Count: 2k words [ oops, I did it again ]

Notes: So I said it'll be out in a few days but three [3] people asked me for part 2 and I'm a sucker soooooooo!! I could've just written a long ass fic but whatever, I thought I'd make it shorter in headcanons... hah lol right. Enjoy!

Part 1 here!

× he's a wild wolf so he's very active; like you need to understand he needs to go outside if not he'd get impatient, more aggressive, snappy, so once you took him on an easy hiking trail near your house and he loved it so once or twice a month you both go together to different places [ he demands it ]

× it's hard to keep up with him bc he's literally genetically engineered to be better than any very fit human being but he slows down for you

× morning runs at 5 a.m. bc he's insane

× is also a grandpa

× watched all documentaries on any streaming platform you could provide to him, also loves reading

× as months pass and you start to have your routine in order, word comes to you that an acquaintance is looking for a security guard at his mechanical shop two streets away from your house

× you casually mentioned it to Bakugou because he was starting to act anxious whenever you'd leave the house, so you assumed he was extra bored

× seriously, the house was spotlessly cleaned, he cooked amazingly and was occupied with your old laptop and going around the city to explore, but you guessed he wanted more independence?

× little did you know you were right but so wrong lol

× so Bakugou stared at you intensely and asked "Where?"

× it was as easy as telling him the location, him nodding and you thought he'd consider it; you didn't put any pressure on him because he already did so much to help around anyway

× well guess what bitch, next day he comes up to you saying you gotta co-sign his contract [cuz fuck society] meaning he got the job

× he was perfect for it because tall, intimidating, muscular wolf guy? who'd even mess with him? do they have a death wish?

× well, even before this he started to be... soft

× but once you really did show him you support whatever he wants to do, you give him his freedom and liberty of choice, he just reaaally changes, man

× he gets touchy, like his hands stay one second longer on your skin, he uses any excuse to have them on you, even his eyes follow you everywhere

× like c'mon, it's obvious but you didn't wanna put too much thought into it because we're respectful here

× not like you had a big fat crush on him and slowly started to realize it too

× sike bitch he knows

× you think his super-hearing didn't catch the way your heartbeat spikes up every single time he touches you? *please*

× i think he knows before you know

× meanwhile he is working to discover his feelings too

× so your relationship slowly turns into a couple's like relationship but without anything official and of course no kissing or such [ sadly ]

× would get jealous easily

× basically because nothing is talked between you two and deep down is insecure

× why the hell do you smell like other people? was it just a hug or something else? hell, why would you even hug people when he's right there??? just ask and don't touch some extras????

× another thing he does is getting very close to you while you talk to somebody else; scoffs and glares at them too

× ok so!! gifts! he really appreciates any gift you give him but scolds you if you do because you genuinely don't need to do that

× of course he just scolds you and calls you an idiot so I do hope you already learned his language

× it basically means that you shouldn't have done it, he's really grateful but seriously you shouldn't have

× like that one time you saved up money to get him a good computer and he forgot how to speak for like an hour

× the softest thank you ever afterwards

× still sounded rough but he was shocked as fuck

× one thing that remained in your brain were his friends, as sometimes he'd mention them

× so you took it upon yourself to find them, of course with his permission

× gets genuinely overwhelmed and plays it off saying he wouldn't mind knowing where those idiots ended but you didn't miss the way his voice trembled

× for you to find them you needed names and any information he could provide so that's when he, after a long silence and a mesmerized look on his face, started really talking about his life

× which was fucked; won't get much into detail but he was indeed in a fighting ring, people came and bet on whoever was stronger, he even had to fight his friends, everything was filled with abuse and their conditions were subhuman...

× just overall awful

× you couldn't help but hug him tight, feeling him shake in your arms

× with a hesitant voice he asked if you really did think there was a chance to find them

× just couldn't believe how amazing he felt in your arms

× or how your determination that night made his heart clench and took a big weight off his shoulders

× anywho;;;; after his first paycheck he takes you out on cute dates

× never calls them that, just demands you dress up [helps you out cuz boy got style] and takes you to a nice coffee shop or something

× AND on your fifth not date cuz you're not official but there's this weird tension between you date he finally kinda s n a p s

× you honestly didn't expect the waiter to flirt with you, he came out as very pushy and even if you were a lil uncomfortable you smiled and brushed it off

× when the waiter suggested giving you his number the sandy blond hybrid growled

× which i shit you not made the whole coffee shop freeze

× and you froze too

× but neither of you could say anything because the oblivious fuck kept talking

× basically joking about how you should keep your pet in a leash, to which you got up, threw some money on the table, grabbed Bakugou by the hand and leave before he'd rip someone's head off

× it only took you to touch Bakugou's arm to calm him down as he followed behind you wordlessly

× so you stood outside, angry, deep red eyes on your figure

× and silence

× his hand still in yours

× it was warm and amazing and you felt angry but your heart was beating loudly; angry at the waiter that you wanted to go full Karen on and get fired but excited because that growl shook you to the core, as if you could tell it was territorial and it was because of that pig flirting with you and did Bakugou Katsuki just lace his fingers with you?!

× "Oi." he interrupted your thoughts

× he turned your frame towards him and pulled you [kinda harshly] into him

× you'd make a comment about it but brain empty, just Bakugou Katsuki blushing

× "You're mine, you get it?"

× skdjflglykshs

× it sounded like he asked but it was a demand so oops you're his now ok bye

× like I said, boy isn't dumb so he lowkey knew you felt something too

× legit from there on he's just soft as fuck

× has a hard time opening up but visibly tries for you

× still continues to be a pain in the ass, Bakugou Style, but with a loving teasing attitude behind it

× his eyes give him away all the time

× they shine whenever you're in his field of view so congrats because, and this is the best part:

× WOLVES MATE FOREVER 💕💓💞💗💝💟

× oh yeah, he's yours, no takebacks

× he isn't one to half-ass the relationship; you're his now and he'll do anything for you

× big time touch starved it hurts

× because he is shy

× so whenever you introduce him to hand holding and cuddles, he can't get enough

× not big on PDA [ and not recommended since human-hybrid relationships are kiiiinda frowned upon but it's getting better ]

× although at home it's another deal

× seriously cuddle him; he's big into the protector vibe so he's a big spoon almost exclusively unless it's to sleep on top of you

× speaking of! accept that even if your relationship isn't that intimate, he'd still hint about sleeping together in the same bed

× so you better catch on when he does because he'll just click his tongue and call you needy

× while dragging you to bed

× sleeps holding you, his nose in your hair or in the crook of your neck

× unless it's summer then stay on your side 💅

× you know those kisses that just scream "I can't get enough of you"? that's his whole kissing vibe in a sentence

× hell, even the gentlest kiss gives that vibe away and it'll 100% leave you breathless

× doesn't have experience but is a very fast learner

× pays very close attention to your body language

× really into biting your skin enough to leave marks

× wear his hoodies

× no, I'm fucking serious, wear them now

× his chest puffs and he turns into a blushing mess when you do it the first times because his scent is on you

× scenting is a big thing for him so of course he's gonna love it

× 10x more territorial because now he has a mate to protect

× jealous but trusts you

× still very jealous though

× let's all pretend he is definitely not scenting you before you go out because it's in his nature and it is embarrassing

× the first time he tells you he loves you it's when he's feeling vulnerable

× the search for his friends is still on-going, he feels less than adequate as a providing mate, is pissed at the world for treating him like an inferior animal when they created him, everything is piled on his shoulders and whenever than happens he closes off

× you notice immediately

× will not tell you at first

× it's only when you go to bed and he turns his back to you when you really know it's bad

× even if you fought before, he'd angrily snuggle you at night-time

× now it's so different

× hug him, whisper sweet nothings in his ear, pull a blanket all over you both and big spoon him, he'd start shaking and talking in no time

× will hide his tears from you but you'd know

× "You're the best fucking thing that happened to me, [Y/N]... I—... Shit... I love you so much."

× neither of you slept that night

× excuse you? drink some water and pray to jesus;;; you talked about feelings, ok? communication is key in a relationship, puh-lease

× [ i have this whole nsfw hcs post already cookin in my brain so maybe I'll make it happen cuz y'all know he has a mating season and all that comes with it 👀 ]

× back to being children of jesus here

× thanks the moon, the heavens and all the gods for putting you in his life; boy didn't believe in destiny but deep down he thinks you were meant to be

× you still better wash the dishes or you'll get your ass kicked.

Extra:

× you did find some of his friends, little by little, and even if he acted nonchalant, like k das cool, it was obvious he was extremely happy

× so they did get adopted too

× you got in contact with them on social media and they were all very excited about meeting

× so it was a chaotic meeting with a dog hybrid called Kirishima and a mouse like vibrat yellow guy called Kaminari

× they all were looking for Bakugou too since they were very worried about where he ended

× Kirishima shed manly tears when seeing Bakugou

× as they instantly welcomed you in their small group, they informed you both that the majority of the squad was adopted and they're in contact, while they're still actively looking for the others

× cue to the softest expression you've seen on Bakugou in public followed by "That's good"

× silence

× shock and silence

× Kaminari turning to you and whispering "You did this" with a hand on his heart, lips trembling as he wiped an imaginary tear

× insert instantly snappy Bakugou

× when everyone laughed and continued to make plans to meet up with the others, he just looked at you conversing with them, soft expression again on his features and his chest warming

× "Oh! Look, he's doing it again! Quick, take a pictur—"

× "SHINE!"

[whimsicallyreading]

For Day 29 of Rowaelin Month

“A song fic-“

The song- “Always Been You” by Quinn XCII

CW- Mentions of miscarriage and divorce

"I can't believe you right now."

Rowan looks at his wife in frustration. She's sitting at the end of their bed, staring listlessly at the wall. The skirt of the red dress she's wearing is wrinkled, and his heart aches when he notices the mascara marks on her cheeks.

"Aelin," Rowan tries again to reach for her, but she leans away from his grasp.

"No, Rowan. I'm done."

Rowan takes a long swing from the beer in front of him. The time on his phone alerts him that he's spent most of the evening sulking at his bar.

The guys had invited him to dinner, but Rowan hadn't felt like going in light of his current situation. Instead, choosing to meander to the shady little pub they'd passed by coming from the airport.

His lawyer had sent him numerous emails. Documents to sign, agreements to approve, and papers he needed to read through before sending them to the judge.

Divorce was a pain, and Aelin wasn't making it easy.

"Hey, bud. I thought I might find you here." Fenrys slides onto the barstool next to his.

Rowan sighs and rubs the lines forming on his forehead. "Well, I thought it was obvious I didn't want company."

"Too bad. Drinking alone isn't a good look on you." Fenrys raises a hand and motions for another round of beers. "How are things going with ya know?"

"Shitty. She's never paid a dime of rent on that apartment, but she wants the lease signed into her name and for me to front the first four months of rent." Rowan cracks a peanut between his finger. He has no intent to eat the growing pile in front of him. He just craved the satisfaction of breaking something.

"Well, have you talked to her about that?" Fenrys frowns in sympathy, knowing how equally attached both parties were to the little rental.

Rowan laughs mirthlessly. "No, she said that it was better if our conversations were mediated. I always knew Aelin was catty, but she's acting like such a-"

"Don't." Fenrys gives Rowan a severe look. "I know you are upset, but don't start saying shit you'll regret."

Rowan pauses and reluctantly nods his agreement. It's the alcohol talking. He knew the problems that had festered his marriage were predominantly his responsibility.

He takes a deep breath, but a heaviness seems to keep the air from reaching his lungs fully. The weight was slowly becoming too familiar, starting the day Aelin had presented him with the papers.

Rowan wishes he'd done more. Wishes he'd paid more attention and seen the signs of Aelin's unhappiness.

The day Aelin had broken down in their bedroom had been a cold wake-up call but by then? It was already too late.

"You missed our anniversary Rowan." Aelin shouts and pulls her heels off angrily.

Rowan picks up a shoe and tries to hand it back to her. "I know. I'm sorry. It's not too late, though. We can still go out? There's still time to salvage-"

Aelin turns away from him and seems to fold in on herself. Rowan wants to reach out. He wants to hold her, but something dark is building in the air.

"I don't want your leftovers, Rowan," Aelin whispers. "That's all I get anymore—your leftover time. Your leftover attention. Whatever leftover resentment you bring home from work."

"Aelin-" he tries to cut off her depressive spiral, but she's not finished.

"You used to call me during the day." Aelin's voice cracks, and he realizes she's crying. "Every day, you would call me on your break. Now you don't even call when you leave town."

"Baby, just listen to me." He puts his hands on her shoulders, but Aelin breaks his grasp to turn around and look at him.

"Is there someone else?" Her eyes are wide and vulnerable. So unlike his regular Aelin."

"What?" His brain is struggling even to formulate a reply. Rowan's lack of response only causes Aelin to worry more.

Something in her cracks. There's a quiver to her lips, and her face drains of color. "Oh. Oh no."

"Aelin. I swear there is no one else." Rowan finally says, but it's too late.

"Is," Aelin presses the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Is it because I lost the baby?" She sucks in a hiccupping breath. "You've always wanted kids. So did I, but my fucking body doesn't work."

Aelin closes her eyes, and Rowan knows she's speaking more to herself than him, but her words gut him just the same. "My body doesn't work right. I keep giving us false hopes and wasting money on pregnancy tests. Of course, you would look for a woman who can give you what you want."

He's surprised by the sudden flare of anger in him. "Don't put words in my mouth. That will never be your fault."

They'd known right from the start their journey to parenthood would be a long one. Aelin had a family history of complicated fertility. It had seemed so trivial when they got married. Yet even knowing there could be issues, nothing quite prepared them for the pain of a miscarriage.

Aelin sniffles, unable to force back her grief, "But you resent me. Don't you?"

Rowan doesn't reply.

"It's rough," Rowan admits out loud. "I let a lot get left unsaid. I was hurt and pushed her away. Now she won't even speak to me without a lawyer present."

Fenrys nods, "It's all probably for the best. Once this is over, you guys can put this drama behind you."

"I wish it were that easy," Rowan knocks back the rest of his beer. He grimaces at the drink. It's not taking hold quickly enough.

Fenrys raises an eyebrow. "You both will be able to shut the book on this chapter of your lives and move on? Considering how bloody you two have been fighting, it sounds ideal."

They sit in silence. Fenrys takes the peanut basket away from Rowan and picks at the shells. The bartender comes by, and disgruntledly eyes Rowan's pile of crumbs as he orders a whiskey neat.

Fen was like his little brother, but Rowan found it hard to admit his real problem to him aloud. "I still love her."

The basket goes flying over the side of the counter, and Fenrys chokes on his beer. "What?"

Rowan can't look him in the eye, "We lost a baby. It was early. Aelin didn't want to tell everyone. Three years we tried to get pregnant, and finally, a test comes back positive. She was so happy."

"Shit," Fenrys says quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"It was there, and then it was gone. I thought Aelin was fine. She cried for a week, but then it was like a switch flipped, and she was back to normal." Rowan clenches a napkin in his fist. "I was devastated. It hurt like hell, but I didn't want to send her back into a depression." Rowan shakes his head at how stupid he'd been. "So I put some distance between us. I didn't want her to think I was upset with her."

"I didn't feel better," Rowan sips the whiskey, relishing the warmth. "It made me mad that she got over it so quickly, and I couldn't. I didn't realize that I was growing that space between us. I didn't understand how much guilt she harbored and that she tried to be strong for me. Not until she broke."

"We fought. I said all the wrong things. Aelin couldn't take it anymore, she left, and I didn't stop her." Rowan leans his head on his hands and elbows against the counter. "She's the love of my life, and I watched her walk out the door."

Fenrys sucks in a breath and sighs. "You are my best friend, and I mean this in the most loving way possible. Why the hell are you here?"

"What?" Rowan looks at Fenrys annoyed face.

"Get out of here. Go. I'll tell the boss you have ebola or some shit." Fenrys fishes his wallet out and throws cash on the bar. "I'll even cover the tab. Just leave. Now."

"What? I don't understand?"

Fenrys looks at Rowan like he's stupid. "No offense, but you are about as interesting as a brick wall. The fact you caught a girl like Aelin is astonishing. If you love her, are you honestly going to let her go on being miserable?"

"She's not miserable," Rowan scoffs.

Fenrys laughs bitterly. "You forget I'm pals with Aedion too? Aelin winds up at his house almost every evening crying her eyes out. You two are still hopelessly in love. You're just dumb and badly in need of a good conversation."

"Aelin is upset?" A sense of disbelief washes over him.

"Yes! She misses you, but she's under the impression you are off sleeping around." His face saddens. "I told Aedion you weren't. He knows I go on all of these trips with you. Aelin's just upset you're gone and needs to believe in something that can help her let go."

Rowan stands up, swaying. "I have to go."

"Hell yeah, you do. Give Aelin my love," Fenrys waves as Rowan vates the bar like a hawk out of hell.

Aelin sets the stack of papers in front of him.

Rowan had been camping out in his office ever since there disaster of an anniversary. He'd texted a few times, but every time they talked, it was like relighting a fuze. Things weren't getting better.

"What are these?" Rowan asks without looking up from his screen.

"Your ticket to freedom," Aelin sits in the chair across from him.

She looks thin, thinner than she did when Arobynn was her foster father. It physically hurts Rowan that he's causing her that kind of stress. Glancing at the papers, she slapped in front of him. His blood becomes like an ice river through his body. "Aelin-"

"I'm not the one for you. That's apparent now. I won't hold you hostage in a marriage that you aren't happy in." Aelin blinks, and a tear slides down her face. He wants to wipe it away, but he's beyond angry. She was giving up on them.

"If this is what you want," Rowan slides the papers towards him and pulls out a pen.

Rowan is racing the familiar paths to their apartment. He doesn't care that it's almost four in the morning. The plane ride between Perranth and Ornyth is mercifully short, but he can't force himself to wait another minute.

"Aelin," he yells through their door. "Baby, answer me. Open the door."

Rowan's fists tap a consistent rhythm on the door, and his heart skips a beat when a bedraggled Aelin finally appears. "Rowan, do you know what time it is?"

She's in a pair of grey flannel pajamas, not one of her usual silky numbers. Aelin's eyes are red around the edges, and her face is still dewy from the excessive amount of lotion he knows she loves to put on. Rowan knows all of her routines. All of her favorite outfits, comfort movies, and best memories. He knows the scar she has on her left hand from an abusive foster father. Rowan remembers how the bridge of her nose wrinkles when she's upset in the same spot her cousin's does.

He knows everything about her, because not only were they husband and wife, they were best friends.

How could he have let that go?

Before Aelin can ask any more questions, Rowan has swept her into his arms. "I missed you so damn much."

"Rowan, have you been drinking?" Aelin asks in a voice cracked with emotion.

His hands are running up her back, and his knows burrows into her hair. He's always loved the smell of her jasmine shampoo. "Fireheart, I never resented you for losing the baby."

"Rowan, I don't want to talk about this," Aelin tries to push him away, but he squeezes her into his chest, and she melts.

That had been his mistake. He should have held Aelik like this and never let her go on pretending to be happy. How could he know everything about this woman and not have seen past her facade? She'd suffered. His own pain had blinded him.

"Aelin, I've made so many mistakes lately." Rowan rubs the back of Aelin's neck the way she likes, and he can feel the sobs starting to build up inside of her. "But the greatest shame of my life is not being there for you when you needed me. I was stupid, Fireheart. I'm not going to be stupid any longer. This separation can't go on, we aren't any happier for it, and I can't live knowing I'm away from the other half of my soul."

Aelin cracks, and he can feel the tears wetting the front of his shoulder. "You were never home. I thought there was someone else, someone who could give you the things you wanted because I can't."

Her whole form is shuddering his arms, and Rowan squeezes tighter as if he can hold her broken pieces together. "It's always been you. I don't care if we adopt or never have any kids at all. All I need is you, baby. You are all I've ever needed."

Suddenly, hands are in Rowan's hair as Aelin crushes their lips together. The kiss is frantic, a relief of the stress they'd carried upon their shoulders.

"I missed you too," Aelin whispers in between kisses. “Gods I mussed you so much.”

The rest of their night is filled with soothing words, frantic kissing, and murmured apologies. Rowan kisses the tears from her cheeks and Aelin looks into his eyes like she’s home. Nail dig into skin as they promise never to be apart again.

For the first time in months they sleep in the same bed. Rowan sinks into a deep restful sleep with his wife in his arms once more. He loves the way her cold toes search out his heat. How Aelin fits so perfectly against his chest. When he wakes up and she’s still there, his heart nearly features from relief.

After months of pain, it's the beginning of their walk towards healing.

The days after aren't perfect. They had legal issues to sort back out, more problems to lay bare to the sunlight. There was arguing, but it lacked actual heat, and they didn't walk away feeling unloved at the end. No longer did they fight to land barbs. Their bickering now served to work towards solutions and to express needs.

Between struggles, the love began to grow back. Rowan kept his job at work, and when he was home, it was about them. He started calling her on his breaks again, and it always astonished him how much he missed the sound of her voice. They both strived to communicate their feelings better and actually listen instead of reacting.

Aelin surprised him with romantic dates, and Rowan read pages of her favorite books to her at night. They danced in the kitchen and laughed at their favorite shows.

Fixing their marriage was hard work, but Rowan and Aelin didn't mind. The separation proved that neither of them wanted a life without the other. It was to whatever end, and they wouldn't accept anything less for them.

On one Sunday morning, Rowan opens his eyes and realizes that Aelin isn't on her side of the bed. Panic surges in him, and he looks around to make sure her things are still there.

They are, and the tension eases from his shoulders until he hears soft crying from the bathroom. Darting out of bed, he grabs Aelin's bathrobe and knocks on their bathroom door. "Aelin, what's wrong?"

Had he screwed something up? Was she sick?

The lock clicks, granting him silent permission for him to come inside. Rowan pushes the door open and finds Aelin crying on the side of the tup. With gentle hands, he wraps her robe around her and throws an arm over her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Aelin looks up at him, a radiant smile on her face. "Look."

Rowan glances down to her clenched fists and-

He blinks, once, twice. Aelin laughs at his dumbfounded face, and it breaks his paralysis. Rowan grabs her around the waist and spins her around the cramped bathroom, the positive pregnancy test clattering to the floor.

Aelin's arms wrap around his neck. The emotion in the room is raw and bittersweet, but there's a hopefulness that can't be denied. Rowan holds her tight as they process the news. When they break apart, the love between them is palpable. They had another shot at this, a fresh start.

Hards times would come and go, but good days were never far behind for them. Because for Aelin and Rowan, it's always been them.

And that's all they needed.

[smokinholsters]

The Lucky Horseshoes - A Heartland Season 16 AU - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Good morning Amy, good morning Lyndy, you’re both up early I see.”

“Good morning Lisa/Grandma.” They said together making Lyndy giggle as she climbed into her seat.

Lisa pushed a mug of coffee in front of Amy before turning to Lyndy “what would you like for breakfast Lyndy ?”

“Bagel and cream cheese please.”

“Half a bagel Lisa, she’ll never finish a whole one.” Amy added getting up and grabbing the milk and the cream cheese for Lyndy and a yogurt for herself from the fridge and half a bagel from the freezer for Lyndy which she handed to Lisa who popped it into the toaster.

“What are your plans for today Amy ?” Lisa said putting cream cheese on the now lightly toasted bagel.

“Early chores, obviously, get Lyndy off to school, shower and meet Cass.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.”

“Clothes shopping, not my strong suit.”

“I hear Cass is pretty good at shopping, sounds like you’re in good company.” Lisa said laughing sitting with her own coffee “what are you shopping for ?”

“Dress and shoes for a dinner date.”

Lisa smiled “Oh Cass is definitely a good choice. Where are you heading ?”

“Chinook and around, lunch first and then shopping.”

“Oh, you’re heading into Calgary. Where’s dinner ?”

“The Lake House, I hear it’s nice.”

“Never been but I do hear it’s lovely. So what’s on the menu ?”

“The works; dress, hose and shoes.”

“Done Momma !!”

“Then let’s get you washed up.”

“How about you get started in the barn and I get Lyndy here ready for school ?”

“You sure ? Lyndy would that be Ok ?”

“I’m sure. Lyndy, how about you ?” Lisa asked.

Lyndy smiled and put her thumb up before hopping off her chair and putting out her hand for Lisa to take.

Amy laughed “Guess that’s a yes, thank you both. I’ll be back to walk her to the bus Lisa, she can read or play in her room once she’s dressed.”

She started early so she was almost done when she took a break back to the house. 

“Thanks for doing this Lisa.”

“Really not a problem honey and try to have a good time shopping. Think of the reason for your outing.” She said as Amy helped Lyndy with her backpack.

“The end game, got it.” Amy said heading out the door.

Since most anything is easier to hand off to a valet than a large pickup they decided that Cass would pick up Amy for the ride into Calgary. She had forgotten that Cass had just leased a new BMW SUV and smiled when it pulled down the road to the house. Cass called her for courage to sign the papers even though with the new partnership in the clinic and Caleb’s partnership in the rodeo school she assured Amy that they could afford it and keep saving for a small ranch.

“Nice wheels !!” Amy said opening the passenger side door and leaning over for a quick kiss and hug.

“Thank you, thank you, I like it.”

“And Caleb ?”

“Not so much which is fine.”

“Carson ?”

“He’s more adorable by the day and loves nursery school. Lyndy ?”

“The same really, she loves school and horses. Caleb ?”

“Ok well,  before Caleb we’re talking about Finn. Goosebumps ?”

Amy smiled “it’s pretty bad Cass.”

“Doesn’t sound bad to me girl, tell me about Sunday.”

“Pull in for coffee Cass.” Amy said as they passed a sign for an upcoming Tim Horton’s pull off.

“No arguments here.” Cass said as she turned on her turning signal and Amy began her retelling of their Sunday picnic and dinner.

Amy told her about their morning, the long ride up to the river and the picnic. Cass stopped her a few times with questions or comments about the story especially Finn’s interactions with Lyndy.

“Sounds like a pretty idyllic an afternoon if you ask me.”

“It was a really nice day Cass, no complaints.”

“And the dinner ?”

The had made it into Calgary by this point and Cass pulled into the mall and rather than pull up to a valet Amy pointed out a fairly convenient parking spot that was opening up for them to use. The plan was to stop for a bite to eat first so that Amy’s dress could be tried on after eating just in case.

“Trust me Amy, you want the dress to be perfect on a full stomach otherwise you’ll feel fat which you are definitely not.”

“I trust you Cass.”

“As you should, now how was your family with all this ?”

They stopped for dim sum as neither Amy nor Cass were famished and as they ordered, waited and ate Amy continued on with her story. Again, Cass stopped her for more details as the story progressed.

“How was Jack after Finn said that ?”

“I think maybe those that didn’t get it get it now.”

“You’re Ok with what he said though ?”

“He’s not that guy Cass, he follows his heart so yeah I’m fine with him saying it. Basically he just reinforced what I said before anyway, I’m not 15 Cass, I’m all grown up. Now what’s the deal with Caleb ?”

“Caleb and Sam are buddy buddy.”

“What does that mean exactly ?”

“He was hoping you and Sam would give it a shot.”

“You told him right ?”

“I told him but I think he needs to see. It’s Caleb Amy, I love him like crazy but he’s a little slow on the uptake. How do you feel about burgers Saturday night at KO’s, a couples date ?”

“Fine with me, I’ll check with Finn.” Amy said pulling out her phone and texting.

“7:30 is easier with Carson when he answers.”

Her text came as they paid their check and headed into the mall.

“7:30 at KO’s is fine with him.” She said stopping to text something else.

“What ?”

“He’s asking where I am.”

“And ?”

“I’m telling him I’m clothes shopping with you and that I’ll text when I get home. We’ve both been pretty busy this week so maybe there’s a trail ride in my future.”

“Amy Fleming are you actually enjoying yourself ?”

They were walking again and Amy side glanced a smile at Cass and then playfully bumped her with her shoulder as Cass pointed to the first store she was taking Amy in to shop.

Four stores and at least a dozen try ons later Amy had two maybes when they stopped at the gelato stand for a rest and a snack.

“They both looked great on you and neither needed any alterations Amy.”

“Yeah, I liked them both but if I’m going to splurge I’m really looking to love what I’m wearing.”

“So what’s holding you back on either of those ?”

Amy scooped some gelato into her mouth and was quiet while she savored the rich double chocolate cream and chewed a brownie bit, “I think they’re too short, maybe something past the knee for this.”

“You know, I’ve been to the Lake House twice, once was for a wedding so that doesn’t count but once for a business meeting on a regular night and you may be right, especially for a Saturday night dinner and dancing. Let’s change our plan a little, we need to go higher up the chain.”

“Cass.”

“This is your first real date in how long and I mean dressed to go out for dinner and dancing with a handsome guy ?”

“Years.”

“Then we’re splurging meaning, you’re splurging and then shoes. Come on.”

“Cass.”

“Come on Amy or you’ll blow a possible trail ride and you don’t have to buy unless you’re in love with it.”

“Fair enough.” She answered tossing her empty cup and spoon into the bin near the seating area.

It came in the third store they walked into, 11 dresses and an hour later, Ted Baker. 

Cass was sitting on a small couch when Amy walked out and in front of a three sided mirror.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Cass said standing and walking behind Amy.

“Me too, it’s perfect.”

The dress was navy blue, an embroidered midi dress with a well fitted bodice, an open neckline, tight waist and a tiered skirt with a handkerchief hem. The embroidery was floral with long delicate sleeves and it fit her perfectly. More than that though, the color set off her hair and eyes and she positively glowed in it.

Walking back and forth Cass smiled “well, I think our work here is done.”

“What’s the most you ever spent on a dress ?”

“4300 dollars.”

Amy laughed “not talking about your wedding gown Cass.”

“I don’t know Amy, definitely several hundred. How much is that ?”

“It’s on sale for $385 down from $565.”

“It’s gorgeous Amy and it’s perfect for you and the evening.”

“It’s a lot Cass.”

“You’ll wear it again.”

“Promise ?”

Cass laughed “We’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh man, how do I even justify this.”

“Just think of Finn’s face when he sees you in it.”

Amy sighed and reached down to look at the tag again.

“Hey, stop thinking about it and get changed into your 180 dollar jeans, how many of those you own ?”

“3 pairs but I wear those all the time.”

“Everything is relative Amy. Hold your breath and get your credit card ready, we have more shopping.”

“Ok, shoes.”

“Sheer stockings before shoes, preferably seamed.”

“Will panty hose do ?”

“I take it he won’t be helping you off with that dress ?”

“I don’t think so Cass, we’re not up to advanced dating yet, besides, we have no place to go and I’m pretty sure this dress isn’t coming off in the truck.”

“What’s going on with that ? Have you made a decision ? Leaning one way or another ?”

Once again Amy sighed “I’m leaning towards taking the Director’s job and moving out. Have an opinion ?”

“You already know my opinion Amy, you need a life of your own.”

“And my family ?”

“Don’t be silly, they’ll always be your family just like I’ll always be your best friend and we’re all 10 minutes away.”

Once again Amy gave her friend a side glanced smile and getting a smile in return before she nudged Cass again.

“And we’ll always be there for you, never forget that.” Cass said nudging her back. “You sure you don’t want to try a garter and stockings, only you have to know.”

“How about I promise to wear a new panty and bra set with my panty hose and we’ll move on to garters next time.”

“Deal !!” Cass said smiling and leading Amy into their next stop, La Vie en Rose.

“I can’t believe I just spent 85 dollars on a bra, panties and panty hose.”

“Trust me Amy it’ll make you feel great wearing them, now come on, shoes and home.”

45 minutes later Cass popped the doors on her SUV and Amy carefully laid her dress in the backseat and the shoes and her other bags on the floor before climbing in to the passenger seat.

“I’m going to trip for sure Cass.”

“You’re not going to trip but you should definitely practice in the meantime and no hat Amy.”

“I won’t wear my hat and you’ll lend me a black clutch ?”

“The clutch isn’t a problem, we’ll switch cars that afternoon, you are not going out in that dress in your pick-up.”

“This ?” Amy said pointing around Cass’ brand new BMW.

“I don’t have a garage full of cars Amy.”

“You sure ?”

“I insist.  We’ll swap back the next morning when you tell me everything. Are we stopping for coffee ?”

Amy checked her phone for the time and thought for a second. “Sure, we’ve got time, Lisa’s home for Lyndy.”

“And your trail ride ?”

“Would actually include Lyndy.”

“Didn’t realize that but it makes sense and really good for him that he doesn’t resent it.”

“I think they’ve sort of taken a shine to each other but are tip toeing around it.”

“Cute, so back to the job.” Cass prompted as they pulled over to an on-off road Tim Horton’s.

40 minutes later Cass made the slow turn into the Heartland driveway and under the familiar sign.

“So we’ll meet up Sunday afternoon or Monday and take a look at the space ?”

“Works for me.” Amy said hopping out simultaneously with the front door opening for Lyndy and Lisa who were coming out onto the porch.

Cass also got out and walked over and up the stairs to hug Lisa and then lean over for a big hug fro her goddaughter.

“How’d it go ?” Lisa asked when she stood.

“She’ll live.”

“I will definitely live.” Amy said handing a bag to Lisa and a smaller one to Lyndy.

“Love you Cass.” Amy said putting out her one free hand to hug her friend.

“Love you too, you Ok ?”

“I’m fine, I’ll see you Saturday night.”

Cass smiled at Lisa and waved at Lyndy before turning down the stairs.

“Put the bag on my bed sweetheart.” She said coming through the door and handing Lisa her dress so she could sit and get her boots off.

“Color ?” Lisa asked when Amy stood and put out her hand for the dress.

“Navy, dark navy actually. Come on I’ll show you.”

“Model ?”

“Nope, it’s perfect, but you can look and gently touch.”

She leaned over and carefully undid the zipper pulling apart the garment bag to show Lisa and Lyndy.

Lisa put out her hand to run the back across the fabric. “It’s long.”

“Midi.”

“It’s a beautiful dress Amy, you’ll look amazing.”

“Can I touch momma ? My hands are clean.”

“Touch not grab sweetheart.”

Lyndy reached out her hand and touched the fabric. “It’s soft and I like the flowers.”

“Think I’ll look pretty ?”

She smiled when Lyndy nodded.

Lisa nodded as well and reached down to the tag, then looked at Amy. “Go ahead, tell me I’m not crazy.”

Lisa turned the label and saw the 565 marked down to 385.

“Add shoes and lingerie, I just spent almost 600 dollars on an outfit.”

“You’re not crazy, not by a long shot. Come here, give me a hug and then show me the shoes and whatever. What’s Saturday night by the way ?”

“Ah I was going to ask, Caleb inspection, double date, he’s not happy I never dated Sam so burgers at KO’s so that he can see us together.”

“Sam ? Sam who ?”

“Langston, next door ?”

“What ?”

“I don’t know Lisa, it’s Caleb and they’re friends or drinking buddies, whatever.”

Lisa shrugged “I guess in a way I get it, either way it’s another date and yes, we’d be glad to watch this one.” She said bending over to tickle Lyndy.

“Lyndy, do you have homework ?”

“Two worksheets in her folder Amy.” Lisa answered.

“Go sit down at your desk and get them done and we can go for a ride.”

“Yay, a ride !!” Lyndy cried out running into her room.”

“Come with Lisa ?”

“I wish, I’m waiting on a call about a horse to make a call about a horse.”

“Finn said he might make it.” Amy mumbled checking her phone. “Maybe he got caught up in something.”

“Text him.”

“I texted when I got home, I don’t want to guilt him if he’s busy. Let’s go sit.”

The knock came as Amy was helping Lyndy with her boots which were new and not quite broken in. She glanced up at the screen door and smiled. “You are not dressed for a ride.” She said to Finn who was standing there in his overalls.

“I’m sorry, I ran late. I can help saddle though.”

“Come on in and say hi and Lyndy and I would love some help with our saddles.”

Lisa had come in from the living room and smiled “Hi Finn, how’s everything ?”

“Hi Lisa, everything’s great, you and Jack doing Ok ?”

“We’re good, not riding ?”

Finn laughed “In this outfit I’ll just become a puff of dust every time I came down on a horse. I’m do for a shower.”

“You can help me with Harley.”

Finn smiled “I’d love too.”

Amy fit her hat on and turned. “Let’s get ‘em saddled.”

Lyndy skipped on ahead and Amy reached out for Finn’s hand. Neither said anything when their hands joined. 

Amy watched Lyndy walk over to the meadow where several of the horses were grazing and call out “Harley, Harley.”

She saw the big brown horse turn his head and shake before walking out to look at the fence.

“Come on Harley !!”

“Would you look at that.” Finn whispered as Harley trotted over.

Amy smiled at his reaction and then whistled at the herd. Both Spartan and Shadow turned and Amy called out “Shadow, come on sweetheart.”

A second later the light brown colt darted towards them.

They walked to the gate together which Finn opened and was surprised again when Lyndy just turned and walked towards the barn “come on Harley, you need a saddle” and the horse followed right behind her.

“Wonder where she gets that from ?” Finn said smiling as Shadow walked calmly alongside Amy towards the barn.

Amy clipped Shadow while Finn helped Lyndy clip him and then handed her a brush before grabbing her step stool and swinging it around Harley for her.

“Thank you Finn.”

“You’re very welcome Lyndy”

They worked quietly to brush the horse down before Lyndy ran to grab Harley’s blanket and carried it two handed over to Finn who laid it on Harley’s back before getting his saddle. When he was satisfied that it was snug he handed the reins to Lyndy who walked his out along with Amy who was ready at the same time.

Same as the last couple of times Lyndy held up her arms and Finn lifted her onto her 

Saddle. She smiled at him before bending and hugging Harley’s neck.

Amy watched smiling when Finn walked around Shadow’s rump and Amy moved from his head.

“See you tomorrow ?”

Finn frowned, “I’m swamped all day and scheduled dinner out with Grandpa. How’s your Saturday ?”

“Center all morning then Lyndy has story time at the library.”

“Saturday night then.” He said “Leg up ?”

Amy smiled and leaned over to kiss him gently before he hoisted her up “Text if your plans change.”

“You too and have a good ride.”

“They’re all good Finn, talk later.”

He stood and watched as they pulled away and waved at them both when they turned for a last smile before riding off.

[inotanzen]

May I request an InoTanZen drabble of the three talking about their fears? Or having to brave a closet full of spiders and then calming each other down afterwards? (I love your writing by the way! I'm excited to read your drabbles!)

thank you for the request and i'm so happy you love my writing ahh !! i chose the first one, i hope you like what i came up with and the direction i went in!

— ♡ —

modern au • sfw, hurt-comfort • 1k words

— ♡ —

The thick veil of night that settles over Tanjirou's small, one bedroom apartment is borderline suffocating when he's by himself.

Shadows behind his dresser look too deep, the ones on his ceiling make the room feel too small, and he can’t bring himself to go into the kitchen once the sun goes down. It's not necessarily the look of darkness itself that bothers him so much as the feeling it gives him...

It had gotten worse since he moved out a few months ago after graduating high school. He used to avoid it by sneaking into Nezuko's room when he knew she was already asleep and camping out on her trundle bed until he drifted off to the sound of her breathing, or on the floor next to Takeo and Shigeru's bunk bed because they kept a nightlight for most of their childhood, but he lives on his own now- and his favorite way to avoid it is by having nights like tonight.

“Inosuke, can you hand me the chi- that's my foot, you asshole!" Zenitsu shouts and Tanjirou has to stifle a laugh to shush him.

“Guys, please, you’ll wake the neighbors-"

“Your foot shouldn't have been in my way then!" Inosuke interrupts matter-of-factly as he settles into his spot on the couch to Tanjirou's left, nearly sitting on Zenitsu's feet in the process before throwing over the bag of chips. Zenitsu catches them from where he’s leaning into Tanjirou's right side, his legs draped over the brunette's lap and into Inosuke's space that they all know he only pretends to care about by projecting a false bravado, his true feelings showing in the one arm he drapes behind Tanjirou’s shoulders and the other hand he places on Zenitsu’s shin once he’s comfortable.

They were setting up to have a movie marathon, one favorite from each of them, with a blanket pulled over Tanjirou’s laptop and the top of their heads. It was Tanjirou’s favorite way to spend time with them both, and he didn’t need to say it either; they knew.

Tonight felt different though, they could tell their boyfriend needed them more than usual. It had been like this for a few weeks now, pretty much ever since he’d moved into his new place Tanjirou had wanted either or both of them over whenever they weren’t working. It was because of this that both men made sure to put Tanjirou in the middle and pick lighthearted movies they knew would make him laugh, with Inosuke choosing “Thor” and Zenitsu choosing “You’ve Got Mail”.

Tanjirou’s pick obviously gets to go first though as “Howl’s Moving Castle” starts up on the screen and Tanjirou feels them settle around him into a pile of warm, comforting limbs.

They’d shared their fears with each other a long time ago, exchanged in hushed tones punctuated with comforting touches and warm embraces, so Inosuke and Zenitsu knew why Tanjirou had always been a fan of sleepovers, but it had taken them a while to find out.

Before they started dating in second year, all the way back to when they’d met in middle school, Tanjirou would beg to have a sleepover at any of their houses for the weekend. He never cared whose and would always make sure they were diligent with homework and cleaning up after themselves so none of their parents would ever have a reason to say no.

It wasn’t until they started dating though that either of them thought to ask him why.

Tanjirou had tried to hold it together but eventually broke down into silent tears as he explained he’d had a fear of being alone ever since he was a kid and his father died suddenly from illness- especially since he began having recurring nightmares afterwards of his entire family disappearing, falling ill, or worse, being killed.

The bright, shining boy they knew so well had never looked so small. Inosuke had grabbed his hand in a surprisingly gentle touch and pulled Tanjirou to straddle his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around the thinner boy’s waist while Zenitsu pressed against Tanjirou’s back from behind, arms coming around his shoulders, as both of them buried their faces in his hair... and he had let them.

He knew by then that, out of everyone in the world, they understood him, because they had the same fear.

Inosuke had his mom, Zenitsu had his grandfather, but at least now they had each other too, and have stayed that way ever since.

The movie is going for about thirty minutes when Tanjirou pauses it out of nowhere, his hand staying on the keyboard for a moment as he stares ahead. Zenitsu looks at him, puzzled. Inosuke had been only half paying attention, instead getting momentarily distracted with a loose thread on the elastic of Zenitsu’s sweatpants, but he still shouts indignantly regardless.

“Hey! What’s the bright idea? Didn’t you wa-”

“Move in with me.”

Inosuke goes quiet with the interruption and Tanjirou quickly squeaks out a “Please!” as he glances between them in a panic, not able to tell what they’re thinking yet.

“What kind of stupid question-!” Inosuke starts, looking at Tanjirou like he’d grown a second head.

“You really couldn’t have asked us that before you signed a six month lease for a place that could barely fit you and me, let alone him as well!” Zenitsu monotones, and Tanjirou has to mentally jump back and forth between the feeling of his tone and the meaning of his words but it just makes him laugh in relief even as Zenitsu starts playfully shaking him back and forth while shouting curses in his ear.

It only makes him laugh more when Inosuke yells at Zenitsu indignantly that he’s being shaken too before tackling him to the floor, nearly breaking Tanjirou’s laptop in the process. 

Tanjirou had realized sitting there, both of them wrapped around him, that he might never let them leave and now watching them wrestle playfully on the floor as Zenitsu cackles in pseudo-protest from the raspberries Inosuke blows into his neck, he knows that for sure.

[queenshelby]

Unexpected Circumstances (Just Friends Part 7) - Cillian Murphy Imagine

Featuring: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: SMUT

Words: 5789

Notes: I have decided to include one of the requests I received in this series as I didn’t know how to best write it as a standalone at this point. I think it makes sense as part of this series as trust between Cillian and the Reader has been clearly established. I might still write a stand-alone piece as well incorporating the same request as this is the sort of Smut I like. So, stay tuned for that!

------

The Letter

It has been five weeks now since Cillian and you admitted your feelings for each other and things were going great.

Some days you couldn’t believe how lucky you were to have found a man like him, someone who cared not only for you but also your son Max.

Cillian adored Max and Max enjoyed Cillian’s and Cillian’s children’s company.

Cillian would often pick Max up from preschool when you had to work late and prepare dinner for you and Max. Max thought that this was fantastic since you were a terrible cook.

But, despite this, it was sometimes difficult to arrange dates when you both had children to look after. You both tried to work around this issue as best as you could but, realistically, you only managed to have three sleepovers per week, mostly when Cillian didn’t have his boys. This was when he came over to stay at your house and you always hated when he had to leave.

After all, you were madly in love, a feeling which was unfamiliar to you. You wanted to be around him all the time and whenever you weren’t together you missed him.

As expected, you received some backlash from strangers due to your age gap but you tended to ignore the frustrating comments. They didn’t know you and they didn’t know your relationship.

The comments you received from your friends were nothing but supportive and even your grandmother thought that Cillian was good for you, much unlike your previous partners.

You still haven’t told your parents about your relationship, but your sister was aware. She followed Twitter quite eagerly and loved Cillian’s TV Show hence the reason you told her.

Your sister was concerned that your father wouldn’t approve of your relationship due to the large age gap, but that wasn’t a problem you were ready to face yet and little did you know that you were about to have bigger problems than that coming your way.

Bad news was about to hit you like a freight train. It was 10am on Friday morning. You were working from home while Max was at preschool as the doorbell rang.

It was unusual for the postman to drop off letters personally. Usually that meant that you had to sign for your letters, which was never a good sign.

You thought that it must be a vehicle recall, or notice of some sort. But it was worse. It was a letter from your real estate agent advising you that you will be required to vacate the premises within 30 days.

You could not believe it. It was difficult enough for you to find this townhouse as a single mother in an area where the schools were decent enough. You were always on time with your rent and never missed a single payment. You had no idea why you had to move out.

You called the real estate agent immediately and were advised that the owner is returning from America and requires the premises at the end of the lease term. There was nothing you could do.

The real estate agent advised you that there were no suitable rentals in the area within your price range but that they were willing to give you a good reference should you find something else with a different agent.

You were devastated. The last thing you wanted is to take Max out of preschool just after he made some friends. Furthermore, Cillian’s youngest son was attending the same preschool and it was a perfect arrangement for the both of you.

As you went on with the day, you put your non urgent work aside in order to search for rentals online as, all of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

‘Oh Cillian… I totally forgot’ you said as you opened the door.

‘You forgot our date?’ Cillian chuckled as he walked in the door, giving you a quick kiss.

‘I must be the worst girlfriend’ you said with some embarrassment. You never forgot a date with your boyfriend before. After all, it was what you looked forward to the most.

‘Relax, it’s fine Y/N’ Cillian said before noticing that your face was slightly flushed and your eyes were red.

‘Are you alright though? You look like you’ve been crying’ Cillian said as he ran his hands over both of your arms. He knew that something was wrong.

‘Yes, I just had a very stressful and shit morning. I am alright now though’ you said as you walked into the bedroom to get changed, ready to go out for lunch.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Cillian asked from the hallway.

You took the letter which you received from the real estate agent from the sideboard in the hallway and handed it to him.

‘I’ve just been searching for a new rental but they are either too expensive or out of the area. But, I have found one in North Dublin and the schools there have halfway decent reviews so…’ you explained and, before you could finish your sentence, Cillian interrupted you.

‘The schools here are much better Y/N. I don’t think you should change Max mid-term; it will put him behind’ Cillian said.

‘Don’t you think I know this?’ you asked frustrated. You were still quite upset about having to move.

‘I will lose the enrolment as soon as I move out of area. Despite, I cannot drive backwards and forwards with work. I barely make pickup time now with the hours I am at the office’ you added just as tears began to build up in your eyes again.

‘Common, sit down’ Cillian said as he sat down on the bed next to you and wrapping his arms around you.

‘I might have a solution’ he said as he wiped your tears away.

‘Go on then’ you said, still sobbing.

‘You and Max could move in with me. That way, we could spend more time together and Max won’t have to change preschool and can start year one with Charlie’ Cillian suggested.

‘Move in with you? Cillian, don’t you think it’s a bit too early for that? We have only been together for 5 weeks’ you said.

‘Yes, but we’ve known each other for a few months now. Seems like a perfectly reasonable timeframe’ Cillian chuckled, making you laugh. You knew that he was being sarcastic. He always had a good sense of humour.

‘Coming from the man who just a couple of months ago didn’t want to settle down’ you smiled.

‘Well, that was before I got myself such a beautiful girlfriend’ Cillian said before giving you a passionate kiss. He could taste the saltiness from your tears but it didn’t seem to bother him.

‘You are crazy, you know that’ you chuckled after your lips drifted apart.

‘Well, you do that to me’ Cillian said while cupping your face with both of his hands.

‘We would, however, need to work on your cooking skills’ he added jokingly, earning him a nudge.

‘Very funny’ you said with a laugh.

‘Seriously though, what do you think?’ Cillian asked.

‘I think Max would really love this idea and I would love nothing more than sharing a bed with you every night. I am just worried that you will get sick of me after a while’ you said.

‘I don’t think I could ever get sick of you Y/N. Just your cooking’ Cillian chuckled before telling you that he loved you.

‘I love you too Cilly’ you said before kissing him passionately.

‘Is that a yes?’ he asked.

‘It’s a yes, thank you’ you said before pushing him back onto the bed.

‘The lunch reservation is at 1pm Y/N’ Cillian said as you hoovered over him.

‘Forget about lunch’ you responded just as you threw your t-shirt to the floor.

However, just as you were getting down to business, your phone rang, not once, but twice.

It was Max’s preschool and you knew that it was urgent.

You quickly returned the call and were told that you must pick up Max as he had a fall on the playground.

You got dressed quickly and drove to preschool to pick up Max. You were advised to go to hospital to see whether Max’s arm was broken.

Being cautious, you followed the teacher’s advice and took Max for an x-ray at hospital. Luckily, it was just a sprain which should resolve with some rest. Unfortunately, by the time you got to leave the hospital it was 6pm. You were there for hours.

Cillian suggested that you and Max come over to his place for dinner. You gladly accepted the offer and this allowed you both to talk to your kids about moving in together.

As you told them, they were beyond excited and Max was quick to arrange a sleepover for the following night.

You and Cillian agreed but, for a change, arranged a babysitter to look after your three boys allowing you to go for dinner and to the movies with your friends which was something you didn’t do very often.

Movie Night

The next evening, Cillian’s sister came over to watch the kids. This was the first time you met someone from Cillian’s family and she was quite excited to get to know you.

Apparently, Cillian had told her and his parents about you already.

After you chatted with her for half an hour, you both made your way to the restaurant.

Unfortunately for you, your friends had invited Jeremy, unaware of the fact that he continued to message you daily much to Cillian’s frustration.

Regardless of this, both you and Cillian were polite as you sat down across from Jeremy and your friends.

‘What did you guys do with the kids tonight?’ your friend Amy asked.

‘My sister is looking after them at my house’ Cillian responded.

‘What about Max?’ she asked.

‘Max is at Cillian’s house as well’ you said, which is when your friend Amy slipped the news. You had already told her that you would be moving in with Cillian just before he starts filming again.

‘Oh well, better to get used to it. Living with 4 boys soon Y/N eh? That shall be interesting’ she said.

Her comment quickly raised a lot of questions, in particular from Jeremy.

‘You really are becoming a sugar baby Y/N aren’t you?’ he said sarcastically, causing Cillian to laugh. He tried very hard to take Jeremy seriously, but it was difficult.

‘A sugar baby? Is that even a word?’ Cillian asked.

‘You know what I mean’ Jeremy said.

‘No, please enlighten me’ Cillian responded.

‘Alright’ Cillian chuckled.

‘It’s none of my business Cillian, but why is that you actors have to get involved with women who are so much younger than you?’ Jeremy said.

‘You are right, it’s none of your business Jeremy’ you said harshly while Cillian tried hard to bite his tongue.

Your friends quickly changed the conversation after that but you couldn’t keep your hands of your boyfriend that evening simply to annoy Jeremy and Cillian played along.

‘I am sorry he’s been a tool’ you whispered into Cillian’s ear as you walked to the movies with your friends.

‘I find it very difficult to remain polite around him’ Cillian said.

‘I know’ you responded just as the theatre opened.

You took your seats and, to your frustration, Jeremy sat down right next to you, causing Cillian to get annoyed.  

After what Jeremy had said to you and Cillian, you refused to speak to him and largely ignored him until the movie started.

About twenty minutes into the movie, you started to get rather bored. You couldn’t believe that you had to be there for another two hours. Who decided to choose a two- and half-hour movie in French, with subtitles? Of course, you did, without doing any research.

You looked over to Cillian and noticed that he was disinterested in the movie as well and stopped reading the subtitles. It was evident, he was somewhere in dreamland, probably thinking about how he could annoy Jeremy after his most recent insult.

Noticing your boyfriend’s disinterest in the movie, you reached for his hand, running your hand over the top of his gently. You had his attention now and he gave you a warm smile for all you could tell in the dark theatre.

Taking his hand into yours, you guided it on top of your thighs which is where it sat for a while. Not getting the hint, you arched back into your seat and guided his hand further up beneath your loose cotton skirt.

Whilst you couldn’t see much, you noticed Cillian turn his head towards you. Just as he did, you guided his hand further up your thigh while biting your lip. You tried hard for your eyes not to leave the movie screen.

He finally got the hint and squeezed your thigh gently before handing you your cardigan from your bag.

You placed the cardigan across your lap just as Cillian lifted up your skirt slightly beneath it, giving him better access.

You glanced to your right to ensure that Jeremy, who was sitting next to you, didn’t see what Cillian was doing.

Luckily for you, he was intensely focused on the movie although, no doubt, your boyfriend would have preferred if Jeremy knew what you were doing. After all, Jeremy had just insulted him and it wasn’t long before Cillian and you got together, that Jeremy had told him that he would like to get into your panties.

Just as Cillian’s fingers wandered up your upper inner thigh, you released a sigh and parted your legs slightly while making sure that your cardigan provided enough cover.

By the time Cillian’s fingers reached the apex of your thighs and touched your panties, they were already damp.

You were grateful that the theatre was so dark because your skirt was up to the top of your thighs and draped over Cillian’s hand which would otherwise have been clearly noticeable beneath the thin cardigan.

You were panting with desire, just from Cillian stroking and squeezing your thighs and running his hand over your wet panties.

You slid down a bit in your chair and spread your thighs even more. The adrenaline rush had your inhibitions going out the window.

You could hear a slight chuckle from Cillian as he noticed you pushing your body down against his hand.

Just in that moment, you felt his fingers sliding your panties to the side.

Within seconds, he dipped a finger inside your wet entrance, gathering some of your natural lubrication, then moved it upwards toward your clit.

You sucked in a breath through your teeth, hissing quietly. By that time, you both had completely stopped paying attention to the movie.

Cillian started in a slow rhythm, circling your clit a few times, then dipping down shallowly into your entrance, repeating it over and over.

Your fingers were digging into his forearm on one side and onto the armrest on the other.

Your hips were moving of their own accord as you were whimpering quietly as Cillian’s fingers moved in and out of you.

Suddenly, it hit. You groaned quietly, gripping boyfriend’s hand, pushing his finger into you even deeper and grinding your clit against the palm of his hand.

Your walls clenched around his fingers as your orgasm washed over you and you couldn’t help it but let out a shallow moan.

‘Are you alright Y/N?’ Jeremy asked, noticing the sound you made while looking at you with some confusion.

‘Yes, I am fine’ you said bluntly and with a deep breath while Cillian pulled his fingers out of you with a grin on his face.

You handed Jeremy your popcorn before rearranging your skirt and handing Cillian your cardigan. At this point, he needed it more than you as his erection pushed against the zipper of his jeans.

‘Follow me’ you whispered into Cillian’s ear before standing up and excusing yourself, walking past Jeremy.

‘Where are you going?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Bathroom’ you responded. You were still annoyed with him and he wouldn’t get anything from you but stern and short answers.  

Cillian waited another minute or two before following you so that he wouldn’t raise any suspicion.

You waited for him in the front of the cinema with a big smile on your face.

‘You choose the worst movies’ Cillian said with a cheeky smile.

‘I have been enjoying it so far’ you smirked before taking his hand and pulling him towards the parents’ room.

‘Y/N, I don’t think this is a good idea’ Cillian said as you locked the door behind you.

‘Relax, it’s 10pm. No one will need this room until tomorrow. We will be safe. Despite, I know you, this won’t go down any time soon unless we get to it’ you smirked as you placed your hands on Cillian’s crotch before crashing your lips onto his with haste.

Without wasting any time, you unbuttoned his jeans and pushed down his zipper before running your hand inside his briefs and stroking his hard cock.

‘You’ve got ten minutes’ you said after breaking the kiss and before turning around, leaning forward over the wash basin.

Within seconds, Cillian lifted up your skirt and pushed down your panties before lining himself up with your wet entrance.

You smiled at him in the mirror as he gently pushed your legs apart and grasped the perky butt cheeks before him.

Cillian pried them apart and stepped forward. He was flush against you and you couldn’t help it but release a soft moan.

His cock slipped between your legs, and the head glided across your sensitive lips.

‘Fuck I want you so much’ you moaned as you pushed back against him in anticipation.

Without words, Cillian pulled back a little and then pushed up into your tight tunnel.

‘Fuck’ you moaned loudly as your walls stretched to fit his length inside you.

‘You got to be quiet’ Cillian whispered from behind you as he began to thrust in and out of you.

He gave you barely a moment to brace yourself before he gripped your hips and pulled back. His cock slipped out almost the whole way before he thrust his hips forward and dived back into your heat.

Cillian set a hard pace, knowing that you didn’t have much time together before someone would get suspicious.

You could hear his laboured breathing behind you as you held onto the basin tightly.

‘God yes’ you moaned quietly as the tip of his cock hit your cervix over and over again.

Cillian smiled at your reaction and reached down to grab your thighs. He spread your legs even wider. By that time, you were on your toes, with no leverage of your own.

‘Don’t stop’ you whispered as you could feel another orgasm build up in your stomach and, within seconds, your walls constricted around him.

You cried out a little too loudly, and your whole body shook as your orgasm slammed into you.

Cillian kept his brutal thrusts up as you rode out the waves of pleasure. Your legs trembled before him and he smiled as you whimpered with every thrust.

The contractions around his cock and your moans sent Cillian over the edge also and, shortly after you came down from your high, he reached his and filled you with his warm cum.

‘Fuck Y/N’ he moaned quietly as he slowly began to relax, his face resting on the back of your shoulders, kissing them gently.

After he came down completely, he pulled out of you and you could feel the mixture of his cum and yours drip down your thighs.

Cillian handed you a paper towel but you declined the offer and simply pulled up your panties.

‘I like to remember this for the rest of the night’ you grinned before giving him another passionate kiss.

Your comment earned you a chuckle but, deep down inside, Cillian liked the thought of knowing that your panties will be wet from his cum for the remainder of the night.

After making sure that no one was around, you left the room together and made your way back to the theatre together.

‘You’ve been gone for a while. Is everything alright?’ Jeremy asked as you sat back down next to him.

‘Yeah, I had to make a phone call’ you said just as Cillian sat back down next to you.

You both had a cheeky grin on your face as you watched the rest of the movie.

‘The movie was great, wasn’t it?’ your friend Alice asked as you left the theatre and Jeremy agreed simply because he knew that you chose it.

‘What did you think about the twist towards the end Cilly?’ she then asked.

‘Yeah, uhm…yeah it was alright’ Cillian said, not knowing what she was talking about.

‘There was a twist?’ you whispered to Cillian as you walked outside the theatre.

‘I think we missed the majority of the plot babe’ Cillian whispered back before taking your hand into his and following the others to the pub.

Jeremy kept starring at you and Cillian and you could notice the frustration on his face. You enjoyed it, a lot.

Later at the pub, Cillian received the usual attention from some young females. It always made you chuckle but it really annoyed Jeremy.

Despite the fact that Cillian enjoyed Jeremy getting annoyed, it soon became too much for him and, after about three drinks, you both decided to leave.

Getting Down to Business

You called a taxi and drove back to Cillian’s house.

‘It’s unbelievable’ you giggled sheepishly and slightly tipsy from the three gin and tonics you had earlier.

‘What is?’ Cillian asked, closing the door behind you.

‘All the attention you get from all of these young women every time we go out’ you said.

‘What can I say, it’s Tommy Shelby Effect’ Cillian laughed.

‘Hmm I think I get it’ you said and, just after this comment, you kissed him passionately just as his sister walked out of the living room.

‘Alright, I am going’ his sister chuckled.

You both thanked her for looking after the children and made your way to the shower. You both smelled like beer and popcorn.

Just as you got into the large shower together and were talking about the evening, Cillian couldn’t help it but complain about Jeremy.

‘You know, I am yours Cillian!’ you said as you ran your hands over his chest.

‘You are mine, are you?’ he chuckled in response to your comment which reminded him on his script for Season 5 of Peaky Blinders.

‘Yes…’ you whispered into his ear just before biting his earlobe gently while the hot water ran down in between you.

Cillian’s hands soon moved from your back down to your naked butt cheeks while his lips kissed the bare skin on your neck.

‘I love you Y/N’ he said in between kisses.

‘I love you too Cillian and I want you to fuck me as if you own me’ you whispered. ‘Take me the way you want to’ you added seductively.

‘You’ve been watching too much of this TV show’ Cillian said with a chuckle, referring to a new TV documentary series that you were watching on Netflix about BDSM.

‘It’s intriguing though, isn’t it?’ you asked running your hands over Cillian’s chest and down in between his legs. He grew hard almost instantly as you touched him.

Your face was inches away from his and you could see pure hunger and lust aflame in his eyes as you were stroking him gently. His warm breath fanned over your face like an aphrodisiac and the want in his eyes was intoxicating.

He remembered the last episode of the documentary quite well and grabbed your hair at the back of your head gently, causing the hot water to run down your breasts.

You bit your lip with excitement, fire building up in your eyes.

‘You really want to try this don’t you?’ Cillian asked, causing you to nod.

‘Alright’ he sighed with a smile and, with his free arm, he pushed you onto your knees almost instantly.

That’s it, exactly what you wanted.

He pulled on your hair, making you look up at him while you were biting your lips.

You suddenly felt a wretch in your stomach. Cillian wasn’t normally that forceful with you and you knew that, for him, it was a roleplay more than anything. Being with an actor clearly had its perks.

‘Is this what you want?’ he asked, causing you to nod again.

With his hand still firmly in your hair, he guided your mouth towards his hard cock.

You open your mouth willingly and, within one thrust, the head of his hard cock hits the back of your throat, making you gag.

You didn’t even try to pull away and he slowly and deeply began to thrust in and out of your mouth, giving your barely enough time to breath.

You gave into his rhythm as the warm water was running over your back.

‘God, your mouth feels amazing’ Cillian moaned, knowing that you enjoy it when he is talking to you while were intimate. You loved the sound of his voice.

Just as you got used to the sensation of being forced up and down his cock, he began to tweak one of your erect nipples with his free hand, causing you to moan around him.

‘Good girl, keep going’ Cillian said with a slight smirk as he toys with your nipple, pulling and rolling it between his fingers.

The pit of your stomach was set aflame and your thighs were slick with your juices.

With his cock in your mouth and your nipples being aroused, you are under sensory overload.

As he continued to thrust in and out of your mouth, you closed your eyes trying to concentrate on the raw pleasure that was radiating from your body in waves.

‘Look at me’ he demanded, causing you to open your eyes again and dig your hands into his thighs as he kept going.

‘That’s it’ he moaned, thrusting into your mouth a few more times before pulling you away from his throbbing cock and your mouth comes off with a satisfying pop.

Some small tears were running down your cheeks, your mouth sore from opening so widely and your hair was still in his hands. He roughly wiped away the saliva around your mouth and wrapped his hand around your throat gently.

You looked up into his blue eyes and wanted nothing more than for him to take you, fuck you hard.

‘Common, let’s take this to the bedroom’ he said as he began to notice the water getting cold.

‘Yes sir’ you winked, earning him a chuckle.

‘You defiantly are serious, aren’t you?’ Cillian said as you dried each other off. He was slightly out of his comfort zone but decided to play along as he could see the desire in your eyes. You were by far the most adventurous and kinky woman he’s ever been with.

Moments later, you made your way to Cillian’s bedroom.

‘I don’t think so’ Cillian said firmly as you reached the edge of the bed.

With his hand on your throat gently again and the other on your waist, he guided you towards the large reading desk in the bedroom.

‘Turn around’ he instructed and, as soon as you complied, he pushed you down onto the table.

Just as you your face leaned against the cold wood, he took both of your arms and secured both your hands behind your back.

Electricity shot down your spine as you tried to struggle out of his grasp teasingly.

You were completely under his control just as you wanted.

He put your two wrists wrapped around one hand and with the other, slowly traced a finger up your inner thigh.

You bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from moaning too loudly.

Cillian took his time, exploring every inch of your thighs and ass.

‘So sexy’ Cillian said as his fingers brushed against your wet folds, causing you to whimper.

He continued to run his fingers up and down your pussy, teasing to put his fingers in.

You whined and struggled against his grasp, your wetness started trailing down your thighs.

‘Oh god yes’ you moaned as Cillian slowly eased his fingers inside, scissoring his fingers as he went.

‘Shh’ Cillian said, knowing that you had to remain quiet with the boys in the next room.

Your mind went blank as pleasure shot through your nerves, spreading like wildfire.

Cillian’s fingers swirled around inside of you languidly, leaving no space unexplored and, moments later, he brushed against your g-spot causing you to jerk.

‘Stay still’ he said as he pressed his body down, immobilizing yours.

He knew very well that you liked to squirm when he reached your sweet spot as the intensity was too overpowering.

This time, you wouldn’t get away, no matter how hard you try.

‘Oh god Cillian, please’ you yelped, the feeling of his fingers on your g-spot being too much for you to handle.

But Cillian wouldn’t let you squirm away and you soon learned that you had to just give in, surrender to him.

But, just as you relaxed and could feel your orgasm approach, he pulled his fingers out of you.

‘Did I say you could come?’ he teased as he placed his fingers into your mouth, making you taste your wet juices.

‘No sorry’ you said, hoping that he would put his fingers back inside of you.

‘Sorry what?’ Cillian asked sheepishly.

‘Sorry Sir’ you grinned just before you ran your tongue along the length of his fingers.

‘Good girl’ he whispered just as he trailed his fingers back down towards your wet entrance.

Within seconds, they entered you again and continued where they left off.

You tried hard not to come right away and, after several more minutes, you couldn’t control it any longer.

‘Cillian please, can I come?’ you moaned, your walls already beginning to contract around his fingers.

‘No Y/N, you cannot’ he said, withdrawing his fingers once again, pulling your head back on your hair and kissing you passionately.

Just as he pushed you back down, you could feel him line himself up with your entrance.

Your hands were still pinned behind your back as he pressed the tip of his cock into you slowly. Your walls clench instinctively.

‘Don’t you dare come until I’ve given you permission’ he murmured into your ear as he pushes into you torturously slow.

‘I promise I won’t come without permission’ you said as you could feel Cillian’s body against yours and his hands gripping over your hands pinned behind your back and your hair.

‘Good girl’ he whispered as he continued to push inside you slowly until he was completely inside.

You tried to wriggle so you could adjust to his size, but Cillian held you in place. He slowly moved out until only the tip remained inside and thrusts back in deeply.

You moaned loudly into the table as he continued his rhythm, fucking you slowly but deeply. Your mind blanks, pleasure rocking through your body.

You could feel him tighten his grip over your hands as he slowly pulls out and slams into you, eliciting a yelp.

‘Yes, oh god, yes’ you moaned loudly as he began to pick up the pace, knocking you almost breathless.

Your moans caused Cillian to place one of his hands over your mouth gently. You were way too loud.

You felt like a wound-up toy, yearning to be released from the tension. With every thrust, you come closer to your orgasm. He's hitting you fast and deeply, but not enough to send your over the edge. You whine and whimper, weakly struggling against his body. You are so close, teetering on a cliff.

‘Please’ you moaned into his, desperate for your release.

‘Please what?’ Cillian asked as he thrusts in and out of you and removing his hand for just one moment to allow you to speak.

‘Please let me come’ you responded.

‘You will need to do better than that’ Cillian said as he thrusts into you even deeper.

‘I do anything, please’ you moaned, your walls beginning to clench around him.

‘Anything? Hmm, alright, that seems like a fair deal’ Cillian said picking up the speed.

With those words, you let go. Pleasure rocked through your body like a wave.

You tried to fight the feeling of falling and flying at the same time as your orgasm washed over you.

Cillian moaned at the same time as he felt your tight walls close around his cock and, with three more thrusts, he came inside of you.

You could feel his cock throb inside of you as your legs shake from the powerful orgasm.

Just as you both came down from your high, he slowly pulled out of you, causing some of his cum to leak out.

He released your hands and helped you up from the desk.

You turned around to face him and, with one of your hands, you reached in between your legs collecting some of his cum before licking it from your fingers suggestively.

‘I enjoyed this’ you smirked, causing Cillian to stare at you in disbelieve.

‘You are naughty, aren’t you?’ he chuckled just before giving you a kiss.

‘Yes I am’ you smirked before you both made your way to the bed.

By that time you were exhausted.

You curled up in each other’s arms and shared some gentle moments together.

‘I am looking forward to sleeping in this bed with you every night’ you said.

‘So do I’ Cillian responded, before turning off the light.

Morning After

The next morning, you got woken up by the smell of pancakes and three missed calls.

Your father had tried to call you to congratulate Max on his recent soccer medal.

You returned the call and handed the phone to Max while you joined Cillian in the kitchen for a coffee. Just as you were drinking your coffee, you listened to Max speak to his grandfather on speaker.

‘So how have you been Max?’ grandpa asked.

‘Good poppy, we are having pancakes’ Max said.

‘Mum made pancakes? Do they taste any good?’ grandpa laughed.

‘No Cillian made pancakes. Mum and I are moving to his house soon and then we can have pancakes every weekend’ Max said.

‘Cillian? Who is Cillian?’ grandpa asked.

‘Mum’s boyfriend’ Max responded, causing you to choke on your coffee.

‘Can you please put your mother on the phone’ he said.

To be continued…..

  ‘

[oneletteredwondered]

One of the Boys

Virgil is a new tenant to an apartment complex and his landlord seems real nice. He told Virgil that should he ever need anything fixed to just give a call. He managed to get over the anxiety of calling someone for help, now he needs to get over the gay panic he experiences every time his landlord sends ‘one of the boys’ over.

Pairing: Everyone has a crush on Virgil who is also gay for everyone.

Warnings: panic descriptions from talking over the phone/to new people. Possible second hand embarrassment, swearing

Prompt pic at the end.

--

In all fairness, Virgil loves his new place. Way more than the old place he used to live at least. At least here the walls weren’t cracked and seemed sturdy enough that he wouldn’t be able to hear his neighbors through them. While he does his sweep of the place, writing down anything that might be wrong so the landlord can’t blame them on him, there’s barely anything broken or messed up. A clear step up from his old apartment.

“What you say Oogies?” Virgil nods to the black cat lounging on the cat tower after he’s finished his walk through. The cat stares at him, he stares back. They blink slowly at the same time and Virgil puffs out a breath. OogieBoogie wasn’t fond of the move. Complaining loudly at every jostle of the cat carrier. Virgil wanted to let her out but couldn’t until all his stuff was moved in for her safety. Seems like he’s forgiven.

“Come on lazy bones,” He finagles the cat out of the tower and she curls over his shoulders, paws dipping into the hood of his hoodie, and purrs. He smiles and scratches at her chin. For the most part she blends into the patterned fabric, her grey stripes the only thing that pop out, and even then only barely.

Virgil locks the apartment door, cat on his shoulders, and walk-through papers in hand. They walk their way around the complex and to the main office building. Virgil almost hesitates, thinking maybe he should go tomorrow morning at a better time, but OggieBoogie nuzzles his head encouragingly.

“Yeah okay,” He whispers to the animal, knowing she’s smug as he opens the door. It’s fluorescently bright. There’s no one at the front desk. Virgil takes two steps, and nearly backs out, when a friendly face pops out of one of the offices.

“Oh Virgil!” Virgil lets out a sigh of relief. He recognizes the elderly face 

“Hey Mr Sanders,” He gives an awkward wave. The cheery man laughs.

“You may call me Thomas you know,” He says smiling at his cat and waving to the animal. She blinks at him.

“Right, yeah, course, Mr. Thomas yeah,” Virgil says. Thomas gives him a fond smile but doesn’t correct him. Thank god. Thomas helped him fill out lease papers when he first came to check out new apartments. Honestly a blessing as Virgil had no idea what he was doing. Bonus that Thomas professed the place to be queer friendly as well. Virgil hung up his rainbow flag in the window the moment he found it.

“Oh I brought the walk through papers back,” He hands them over and Thomas takes them happily. 

“Everything good so far?” He asks. Virgil nods, nothing on there that he thought needed fixing, at least right away.

“Oh,” Thomas says softly. Virgil tenses and Oogie starts purring on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Are you having problems with the lights?” Thomas asks, very sincerely. Virgil shrugs a little and Oogie shifts to accommodate his motions.

“Not really, nothing serious,” He tries to play it off. Thomas pouts at his papers.

“Some of the plugs not screwed in properly, not working, a light out in the laundry area,” Thomas ‘tsks’ as he reads off Virgil’s writing. He perks up and offers Virgil a bright smile.

“No worries at all! I’ll send one of the boys over to fix it.” He offers Virgil a wink and riffles through his pockets. He pulls out his wallet and inside it a business card for the office that he promptly hands over.

“You ever need anything fixed, do not be afraid to call ya hear?” Virgil just nods, taking the card with him.

“Wait the boys?” He finds himself questioning. Thomas smiles again with a flippant wave of his hand.

“It’s the name of the contractor company I have hired here for the apartments. Someone should be over in about an hour to help you with the lights.” And with that Thomas is walking away to his own office, leaving Virgil to go back to his new home.

“Shit,” He mutters as he now realizes. Company coming over, and his new home is a mess. He walks quicker than he normally does to try and clean a little before ‘one of the boys’ makes it over. Oogie is not as impressed.

--

Virgil does well distracting himself. He organizes the boxes and even rearranges the hazardously brought in furniture to his liking. Oogie is lounging in her cat tower again, watching him try not to be frantic. He’s in the middle of putting some tupperware containers in the cabinets when there’s a knock on the door.

He wipes his hands on his jeans to make sure they’re not sweaty, and opens the door. Somewhere in the back of his mind he debates slamming it shut but in the end remains frozen with the front door wide open. Cause there in front of him is an absolutely gorgeous guy, hair slicked back and a cunning smile.

“Good afternoon, my name is Damien. Mr. Sanders said you needed help with some of your lights?” His voice sounds like silk and though there’s a long scar across side of his face, it takes nothing away from his beauty.

“Uh yeah.” Virgil says awkwardly.

“Yeah, yeah,” He says even more awkwardly and moves to the side to let the guy in.

“Much appreciated,” The guy, Damien says. Virgil can’t tell if the dude is cheeky or not, but damn is he flustered trying not to stare at his arms and the way he moves in those white jeans. Who wears white jeans to fix things? Virgil should send them a thank you note.

“Which plugs were having issues?” Damien asks then and Virgil decides words are not needed just this moment and deigns to gesture as best he can. Damien smiles at him and sets to work straightening some of the plugs out and replacing one in the corner when he notices a crack in the casing.

“Excuse me, miss.” He hears Damien say and peeks over his kitchen counter to see Damien gently nudging Oogie away from some of his tools. Virgil whines.

“Oogies come on let the man do his job,” Virgil goes over and scoops the cat up, petting her head to keep her from getting annoyed that she couldn’t continue with her curiosity. Damien laughs though and stands, now taking out the walk through Virgil so diligently wrote not 2 hours ago.

“You said that some of the plugs don’t work and that some of the switches don’t lead to anything?” He glances at Virgil with just a hint of a smirk. Virgil hugs Oogie a little tighter to keep his gay panic from spiraling.

“Yeah just seemed weird? I didn’t know if it was something wrong or what,” He says with a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant. Damien lets out a small laugh and waves Virgil to follow. He pulls out a small plug in light and pushes into one of the sockets Virgil said wasn’t working. He flicks the switch on the wall and the light pops on.

“Oh,” Virgil says and wants to die of embarrassment. 

“Well now I feel stupid as fuck,” He says. Damien lets out another laugh, flicking the light twice more to demonstrate.

“It’s to save power that some of the switches lead to the plugs. Nothing broken there. You’re not stupid because you didn’t know.” He takes back his light and once more gives Virgil that sly smile. The worst is he smiles in a way that makes it seem like he knows what he’s doing to Virgil, which is just rude. Except he’s not, Damien is insanely polite which does not help Virgil in the slightest.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Damien asks as he puts the last of his tools back in the case.

“Nah. I’m good, thank you,” Virgil says, determined not to make a fool of himself this time. Damien nods his head.

“Have a good rest of your day then. It was a pleasure meeting you,” And this smug bastard winks at him and closes the door behind him. Virgil lets Oogie fall to the floor, picks up the nearest pillow, and screams into it. At least he can do it with proper working lights.

--

Virgil is freaking out. There’s no other way to put it. He is freaking out. So he got a little lazy and didn’t do his dishes. He’s been working so often and never found the energy to keep up. He decided he had a dishwasher for a reason, and even though he felt bad because the machine wasn’t even full, he ran it, and now there is water over the floor. Shit.

He sits on the couch, legs bouncing, with his phone in his hands. Thomas’s number is on the screen, ready to be dialed at the press of a button. Virgil still isn’t sure if this counts as a proper emergency. He managed to clean up most the water with some of his towels, but water is still coming out. Maybe if he just keeps rinsing out the towels and waits for the cycle to be done, he can pretend it never happened.

OogieBoogie jumps into his lap. She kneeds at his leg and is put out when he doesn’t move right away to pet her or give her proper access to his lap. She bumps her head against him and pushes her way to his chest, knocking his phone with her foot in the process.Virgil hisses at the action and ruffles her face in revenge.

“Hello?” A very faint voice calls out. Virgil swears softly and picks up his phone.

“Uh Mr Sanders Thomas?” He says into the receiver, then pulls it away to stare at the ceiling to briefly wonder what is wrong with himself.

“Yes?” Thomas says on the other line.

“It’s Virgil from Unit 16 B.”

“Virgil! How are you?” Thomas doesn’t sound put out that Virgil is calling him, which is a good sign so far. Virgil takes a deep breath, hands working methodically though Oogie’s fur.

“Doing okay yeah, how are you?” He says, it’s important to be polite. Thomas laughs.

“Doing good over here. What can I help you with?”

“Uhm, my dishwasher is leaking? And there’s water on the floor and I don’t know how to fix it. You said I could call if something is wrong and I just, yeah.” Virgil shrugs to himself. Thomas gasps on the other end.

“Oh no! That won’t do. I’ll send one of the boys over to help clean it up.” And Thomas hangs up. Virgil stares at the phone, then at his cat, then back at the dishwasher. He really doesn’t want Damien to see him embarrassed like this  again. He buries his face in Oogie’s side and lets her purr calm him down. He must be there for a while because soon enough there’s a knock on the door.

Thankfully, it’s not Damien on the other end. However, it’s another incredibly attractive guy with a wild smile and even wilder hair that makes Virgil tense up because how. This one wears a shirt with the sleeves ripped off to show how ripped their arms are, and again, white jeans, though this time, the jeans are not as white as they once were, evidence of the work that has been done in them.

“Afternoodle! I’m Remus. The Sander’s Man said something was wishy-washy with your dishy-washy?” His smile in untamed and Virgil stares at him dumbly trying to understand what the hell just came out of his mouth.

“Yes?” He ends up asking more than saying, and moves over so Remus can come inside.

“Much appreciated, now what is gong on here?” Remus smirks down at the mess of the kitchen with his hands on his hips.

“I just ran the dishwasher and water started coming out. I was in the kitchen when I felt it on my foot.” Virgil explains as Remus moves some of the soaked towels over. He finagles the machine to open, something Virgil was too scared to try.

“Oh boy, I see. Give me one hot second here hot tamale, and I’ll get this all cleaned up.” Virgil isn’t sure what he should be more flustered by. Being called hot by a hot guy, or the fact the dude flexed while talking and there is some serious definition in his arms. So Virgil just nods as Remus skips out to the maintenance golf cart outside the door, and brings back in a tool box.

Virgil watches from over the counter as Remus pulls out the racks and practically crawls his way into the dishwasher. Virgil decides it’s a good time to walk away so he doesn’t end up staring at Remus’s ass while he works. That’s not proper behavior for someone who is trying to help.

It’s a few minutes, one colorful yet not quite a swear, and a victory noise later that Virgil feels okay going back to the kitchen area.

“Oh! Hello~ pusspuss!” Virgil gets to watch the exact moment Remus looks up to see Oogie staring at him working. Virgil scoops the cat up.

“Sorry she’s really into strangers.” He says. Though really, she hides from everyone. Remus lets out a cackle of a laugh.

“That’s fine, I’m into strangers too. So I fixed the problem here, no more soggy floors for you. Make sure to run it every so often so it keeps things going clean and unclogged.” Remus says far too quickly for Virgil to respond properly. He picks up his tools and returns them to the case. Virgil does a half-assed job of not staring at his back which is now water soaked.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Remus asks at the door. Virgil shakes his head.

“As long as it works I think I’m good,” He says. Remus smiles openly.

“Have a good rest of your day then!” He says and closes the door behind him. There was really no reason for him to flex as he said that but Virgil enjoyed it and no one else has to know.

--

“Shit shit shit,” Virgil is fumbling. He had to go grocery shopping and get some cat food for OogieBoogieBaby. And no self respecting trash panda such as himself would dream of carrying it back inside in more than one trip. So he’s fumbling with his arms lined with bags that would be cutting into his skin if not for his hoodie sleeves, but even then, those are falling and he wishes it wasn't so hot out.

He manages to make it to his door, shift some bags around so he can get his key out, when the bag of cat food starts slipping. Virgil can see it now, cat food all over the front porch to either collect ants, or other cats, or any other large animal. He wouldn’t feed it to Oogie, to afraid of what is on the ground and if it’ll upset her stomach. He braces for impact and for another quick trip to the store.

“Whoa!” Virgil feels the weight leave him but not the crash. He blinks at the ground, then at a pair of white jeans, then at the bag of cat food in someone else’s arms, then up to the face of a bespectacled stranger with brilliant blue eyes.

“Are you alright?” Stranger asks calmly and takes another bag from Virgil that looks ready to topple at a second’s notice. Virgil snaps out of it once it’s out of his hands.

“Shit yeah thanks,” He breathes out in a rush, thankful as all hell as he manages to finally get the door open. He pushes it with his hip and Oogie is waiting at the door for him, meowing up at him. He coos a greeting to her and sets the bags down in the kitchen, the stranger follows only to the inside door and puts the bags down there to not intrude.

“Thank you so much,” Virgil says once he’s done pretending he can carry that much. The stranger just offers him a small smile, kneeling down to let Oogie sniff his gardening glove covered hands.

“It was my pleasure to help you. My name is Logan, I’m one of the workers on site.” He says and stands. His voice is low and calming, it would make for a great audio book, and Virgil is not going to spend the rest of the day thinking about that.

“Though I do apologize for suddenly grabbing your things, I know that can come across as ‘creepy’ and I do not wish for that to be my first impression.” He pries a glove off and holds out his hand. Virgil takes it and gives it a small shake.

“I’m Virgil, and this is OogieBoogie,” He introduces himself and his cat who has deigned to jump on the counter and sniff at the contraption on Logan’s back. He gently pushes the cat away with a soft look in his eyes.

“Pleasure to meet both of you. None for you I’m afraid,” He chides Oogie gently. Virgil swallows because damn, someone interacting gently with his cat more of a heart throb than originally intended. And Logan is nothing if not simply scholarly stunning.

“My apologies again, be sure to let someone know if there’s anything we can help you with. Have a wonderful rest of your day,” Logan nods his head softly and there is just the smallest crinkle around his eyes hidden under his glasses and Virgil is so weak as he closes the door to his apartment. He’s come into contact with one too many pretty people at this complex and it will be the death of him. Still, it is nice to wave to Logan every so often as he preens the landscaping around the buildings.

--

Virgil watches as water drips down the window. It started the other day after some rains. He put a towel under it to keep some of the water from ruining anything, but it’s still going the next day. Virgil sighs and looks at his phone, Thomas’s number on the screen. He takes a deep breath and presses call.

“Hello?” Thomas answers.

“Hey Mr. Thomas it’s Virgil, from Unit 16 B.” A practiced line. Thomas gives a happy gasp.

“Virgil how are you?” Thomas always sounds excited to speak to him. It helps.

“Doing okay, how are you?” He asks, absently petting Oogie’s back.

“Good good! How can I help you?” Thomas asks in turn. Virgil looks at the window.

“Something’s up with my window? It’s like.. leaking.” He explains but not really. Thomas hums.

“Did this start up with the rain?”

“Yeah, I’ve tried cleaning it with towels but it keeps going.” Virgil says. Thomas makes another hum noise.

“Sounds like a problem with the roof. I’ll send one of the boys over.” And Thomas hangs up. Virgil isn’t as put off with the abrupt ending, expecting it this time around. He glares at the window and goes to wait for ‘one of the boys’. Oogie follows over and demands pets. It a decent distraction till a loud knock comes from the door.

Virgil opens it and it's just unbelievable how down right beautiful this guy is. His hair in perfect waves and a charming smile on his face. His sleeves are also cut like Remus's were, but far less frayed.

"Wonderful morning, my name is Roman. Our dear Mr. Sanders told me there were some ill issues with the roof is that right?" He speaks with such confident flamboyance Virgil is a loss for words.

"Yeah," Is all he manages to say. He's pretty. Way too pretty for this.

"Yeah, sorry it's over here," He turns and leaves the door open for Roman to follow. Roman laughs loud and proud and does just that. Virgil shows him the window and does not bit his lip as Roman jostles the frame showing off muscles that are illegal.

"The panes seems closed but I'll check outside as well." He turns and heads out the door. Virgil follows.

"And the roof?" He asks. Roman offers him a dashing smile, checking his tools that he attaches to his belt, holding up pristine white jeans.

"You may hear some noises for a while as I'm up there, but fear not, I'll find the problem." He gives Virgil a wink and with ease, he finds a ledge on the building and hoists himself up. Virgil does not squeak. Certainly not cause he's scared that Roman will fall, and certainly not cause he rolls his shoulders and Virgil can see his body move and god damn it he’s so not straight.

So he goes inside and pretends there’s not a real attractive guy fixing his roof. The noises of fixing continue for an hour or so, Virgil keeping busy with cleaning and some mild work emails. Then the noises stop. Virgil glances at his ceiling curiously.

"Uh, Roman?" He calls from his front door, making sure the dude didn't fall off and die.

"Be down in a moment fair tenant!" He hears. Virgil rolls his eyes and barely turns when Roman suddenly lands in front of him.

"Roof is all set. There were a few shingles out of-"

"Did you just jump off the roof?!" Virgil interrupts. Roman blinks at him and has the nerve to smiling so dashingly again.

"I dare say I did," he says as if it's no big deal. Virgil sputters at the reckless, careless, brash attitude. Roman is far too entertained by it.

"I'm honored by the concern, dearest. Just one more moment to check the window from the other side." He winks again and is walking around the building before Virgil can say anything.

He grabs Oogie and plants his face in her fur. Too gay to function. He talks to her plainly about how unfair it is that pretty boys plague his life, only to find out he can absolutely be heard through the window by Roman asking in a muffled voice.

"You think I'm pretty?" Virgil screams and hides in his room, hearing Roman laugh through the wall. This is how he dies, he decides. This is even worse than the time Damien had to tell him his lights weren’t broken, he just didn’t know how to use them. This is so much worse.

He groans loud and dramatically when there’s a knock on his front door. He doesn’t want to open it. But he does, cause it’s rude other wise.Roman stands there, smug expression and a bright smile.

“Checked everything and cleaned up some water. A few shingles out of place and a loose vent, got those all patched down. If it continues to leak it might be a bigger issue so be sure to call if it does. Anything else I can help you with?” He asks. Virgil takes a steady breath to say no.

“I think I’ve dug my own grave enough for today,” He says, further digging his own embarrassment grave. Roman gives another laugh.

“Enchanted to meet you pretty boy, have an amazing rest of your day.” And then Roman honest to goodness bows and drives off in the golf cart. Virgil closes his door softly and looks at Oogie who stares back from her perch on the counter.

“Don’t even start,” He tells the cat. She looks away like she doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

--

“Boogs! No!” Virgil does not like shouting at his cat. He doesn’t like shouting in general. But it gets OogieBoogieBitchBaby away from the wall she is using as a scratching post. She scampers off as he approaches, fingers going over the claw marks in the wall. He groans to himself.

He moved her cat tower because she kept getting onto his work papers. In revenge for disposing her from her favorite perch and sights of the room, she clawed at the wall instead, leaving a few nasty scratches behind.

“How am I supposed to fix this?” He asks where she’s run off, hearing her run around. He bangs his head on the wall. This is not how he wanted his night to go. In the end, he has Thomas’s number on his phone and piece of paper he tore to shreds in worry over what he could possibly say.

“Hello?” Thomas answers.

“Hey Mr. Sanders, it’s Virgil. I-”

“Virgil! How are you?” Thomas asks. Virgil takes a deep breath.

“I’m- I’m so sorry Mr. Sanders. It was an accident I swear.” He needs to apologize, cause if Mr. Sanders kicks him out, he’ll have to go hunting for places to live again, and who is going to take him with a cat who destroys things, and then because no one will take him, he’ll die on the streets and Oogie will eat his toes.

“My cat Oogie she got upset with me and she clawed the wall and I’m so sorry,” He says in a rush.

“Hey, hey Virgil it’s okay. It happens, our furry friends do funny things. I’ll send one of the boys over to help fix it right up, okay?” Virgil swallows a lump in his throat at Thomas’s easy solution.

“Okay,” He croaks out and then hears the click of someone hanging up. He lets his phone drop and then puts his head in his hands. He doesn’t want to be kicked out his apartment, or to have Mr. Sanders think bad of him as a tenant, or as a bad pet owner. He throws himself back on his couch. He feels so dumb.

Thankfully, there’s a gentle knock to his door. Hopefully his savior in this mess. He opens it to bubbly boy in round glasses, giving him the most cheerful smile Virgil’s ever seen.

“Hey there, evening to you, my name is Patton. Mr. Sanders said we have some kitty claws on the walls?” He asks. Virgil lets his shoulders drop.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry about it.” He says Patton waves his hand.

“It’s not a cat-astrophe, it happens. Can you show me where it is?” He asks. Virgil nods and steps back to let the boy in white jeans in, then pauses.

“Did you just make a pun?” He deadpans. And Patton giggles.

“Sorry, sorry, just slipped out. I’m pawfully bad at them.” He says with a bright smile. Virgil stares at him, then snorts into his hand.

“That was really bad,” He says but Patton just beams at him.

“Got you to laugh though.” And Patton should not sound so proud of making a stranger laugh. Virgil coughs to cover his awkward and shows him where Oogie got to the wall and Patton ‘tuts’ in response, putting down a bag of tools on the floor.

“I have just the thing to get this back in purr-fect conditions.” Patton opens his bag and pulls out some paint and calking. Virgil steps back to let him do his job, very aware that Oogie is hiding somewhere away from him. It makes him nervous to not see his cat in the area. Sure Oogie isn’t a registered therapy animal, but she does a good job of keeping him calm.

“There, al-meow-st done!” Patton smiles at him over his shoulder and adds another coat of paint to the wall, looking good as new. Maybe it’s the puns or the cute, but Virgil does relax.

“Thanks for that.” Virgil says as Patton cleans up. He giggles once more and waves Virgil’s concern off again.

“It’s no big deal, it’s what we’re here for.” He reassures. Virgil sighs and turns to the small meow behind him. Oogie is on the table staring at him. Patton lets out a squeal of happiness.

“Oh she’s precious!” He says in syrupy sweet voice. Virgil snorts again and looks between the two.

“Wanna pet her?” He asks and before he finishes Patton is shaking his head.

“Un-fur-tunately I’m allergic. But she is paws-itively adorable.” Patton coos and waves to the cat, Oogie does nothing in return but that’s to be expected. Virgil rolls his eyes at the both of them.

“Thanks again for your help,” He says. Patton beams and there are freckles on his cheeks. Freckles, too cute, not allowed.

“Of course! Anything else I can help you with?” He asks. Virgil’s turn to shake his head.

“I think we’re good now,” He says. Patton giggles once more.

“Have a claw-some rest of your night,” And that shouldn’t be funny but Virgil snorts again and Patton is proudly walking off.

--

What the fuck, what the fuck. Virgil stares at the door knob in his hand. He just went for a late walk to get his mail, Oogie joining him on his shoulders. Something rattled in the door knob when he opened it, having to actually shove the door open to get back inside after unlocking it. When he went to close the door, the handle came off in his hand before he could close it proper.

What the fuck.

He stares at the space where the door knob was and his open door. His mind immediately races to all the creepy people who can break in and steal things or kidnap his cat. Or even all the bugs that will make home in his food and hair. Nope. None of that.

“Hey Mr Sanders?” Virgil says first, his anxiety over the open door he can not close for fear it won’t open again overriding his normal fear of calling his land lord.

“Virgil! How are you? It’s very late,” Thomas yawns on the other end. Virgil winces. He probably should have thought this through considering the time.

“I’m okay, so sorry to wake you, it’s just. My door handle uh, fell off?” There’s a pause.

“Well that’s not good.” Thomas says.

“I’ll send one of the boys over.” He hangs up plainly. Virgil has enough time to worry if he made Thomas upset by calling so late, and worry Oogie somehow got out only to find her cuddled in her tower, when the bad lights from the maintenance golf cart shine through the crack in the door.

There’s an awkward knock and Virgil pulls the door open. He’s not sure who in their right mind has sunglasses on this late, but at least this gorgeous person isn’t using them to hide their bright eyes. They give him a quirky smile.

“Well this isn’t something you see every day.” They remark and Virgil has to huff out a laugh, some of his panic subsiding.

“Evening babes, I’m Remy. What happened?” He asks and goes about unscrewing the rest of the door knob, kneeling down and scuffing his white jeans that nearly glow in the darkness. Virgil tells him the lead up and Remy scoffs out a laugh of their own, giving Virgil a glance, that turns into a once over, that shakes him to the core.

“No worries, I can see the broken piece. Easy fix.” He winks at Virgil and gets a spare doorknob from the golf cart. Virgil stand idly by as he fixes it, keeping Oogie from getting too close.

“Wassup cat?” Remy asks and gently puts his knuckles to her head in greeting. She makes a noise and then trots off, satisfied with the attention.

“What’s their name?” Remy asks while he screws things back together.

“That OogieBoogie, Oogie for short, though she’s been more of an OogieBoogieBastard lately.” She meows at Virgil from the top of her tower. He hisses back at her. Remy snorts.

“Nice, I have an orange cat named Pumpkin.”

“Nice,” Virgil says back. Remy smirks at his response and keeps working. Vigil pretends the look on Remy’s face didn’t give him reckless night vibes, that he would take Remy up on if he asked, cause damn, the dude’s hot.

“May I borrow your key for a second babes?” Remy twists the knob a few times and with Virgil’s borrowed key, closes, locks, and opens the door with no problems.

“All good to go, anything else I can help you with?” He asks as he hands back the key. Virgil shakes his head.

“Nah, I’m good, thanks for that,” He says. Remy gives him a wink.

“Have a good night babes.” Another wicked smirk and Virgil does his best to close his door at a proper speed. His heart is pounding and these pretty boys will be the end of him.

--

“Hi! Welcome in, how can I help you?” Cute, is all Virgil can think when he enters the office. Pastel, is second. There’s a new receptionist at the desk, freckles and a mega-watt smile.

“Hi uh, I got a notification I have a package?” He stammers out. Oogie purrs at his shoulder, reminding him it’s okay.

“Sure! What apartment number?” Virgil rattles off his numbers as the receptionist looks in the package closet.

“For Virgil?” They ask. He nods and takes his box, keeping it away from Oogie as it’s a surprise for her birthday.

“Oh! I’m Emile by the way. I’m working in the office now so if you need anything just give us a call okay?” They’re so earnest. Virgil ends up just nodding his head, only speaking when Oogie bumps her head to his.

“Yeah, thanks,” He says and before he can make an exit Thomas appears from inside one of the offices.

“I thought I head you! Virgil, how are you?” He asks. Virgil gives him a soft smile.

“Good, and you?” It’s only polite. Thomas lets out a laugh.

“Good here too. Say, the staff is hosting a tenant party here, some games and some food, you should join us if you’re not busy.” Thomas hands Virgil a flyer with some gaudy colors. Virgil does a good job of not letting his dislike of the idea show.

“You should totally come!” Emile beams at him and it does something gay to Virgil’s heart. Virgil glances at the two of them smiling at him.

“I could stop by?” He offers not waiting to make them mad at him. They cheer and turn back to their jobs. Virgil walks back to his apartment, petting Oogie as he does.

“What did I just get myself into?” He asks her. She bumps her head to his hand in response.

--

It’s not a bad turnout for an apartment complex party. Virgil does show up, Oogie situated on his shoulders. Even though its closer to summer, He’s still wearing his hoodie if not just to give her a place to put her paws should she wish to.

There’s those plastic cheap tables lining around the pool area, boxes of pizza and some crinkly plastic containers of mini sub sandwiches sit on top. There’s a section for drinks and cups right next to. Virgil gets himself a cup of lemonade.

He glances about. Some people are playing some bean bag toss game, others are playing on the mini putt putt area Virgil didn’t even know they had. Lots of people are in the pool, messing around and splashing water at each other. He sticks to the sidelines.

“Virgil!” Or maybe not. He looks to who called his name and though he’s happy Logan called for him so he doesn’t have to be alone, he’s lamenting the fact that not only is it Logan, he’s also with Patton, Damien, and Remy. Fuck. Virgil goes bug eyed, giving himself a pep talk, helped along by Oogie making a ‘mrrp’ noise in his ear, and walks to his doom.

“Hey Logan,” Virgil says once he’s close. Patton waves as best he can with hands full of pizza.

“Sup babes?” Remy asks with damn smirk, sunglasses appropriate now. Virgil rolls his eyes.

“Damien, if you don’t remember,” Damien holds out his hand. Virgil of course remembers embarrassing himself in front of freaking sleek attractive Damien, but he isn't about to say that. Virgil takes his hand to shake and Damien flips it to bring a kiss to the back of Virgil’s hand. Virgil’s jaw drops as Patton giggles helplessly.

“Dee don’t do that!” He says but there’s not force behind it. Damien just smiles like the cat that got the cream.

“I didn’t know you two were familiar?” Damien turns the attention to Logan now. Logan just pushes up his glasses.

“I admit to helping Virgil carry in groceries more than once.” Logan says, giving Damien a look that Virgil doesn’t have the power to decipher. Patton whines.

“Kiddo you could have asked for more help,” He says. Virgil shrugs.

“Two trips are for the weak.” He and Remy tap their glasses together in a cheers.

“Yes and I’m sure dropping your groceries is also for the weak.” Logan chides and it does hit a little harder, but still Virgil taps his glass to Remy’s again in a cheers.

“Virgil!” Someone calls and Virgil is blinded by the force of Emile’s smile so suddenly in his face.

“You came!” He’s excited. Virgil nods and takes a step back. Oogie murmurs upset on his shoulder.

“Yep, I said I would and hey, free food.” He ignores the looks the others give each other and Emile just bounces.

“Well I’m glad you’re here. Me and Patton were gunna play corn-hole later, you should join us!” Patton gives an equally excited gasp as Emile gestures to the bean bag toss.

“Uh sure,” Virgil says. Emile bounces and waves, and is off to say hi to other residents as soon as he came. Virgil is reeling from the interaction and it only gets worse.

“Is that pretty boy??” Virgil hears the splash before he sees anyone but then Remus is there in his face, shirtless and in swim trunks and dear god, he has a tramp stamp.

“Hello again stranger~” He coos. Virgil musters up a hi when suddenly another shirtless person is standing next to Remus.

“It is pretty boy! How are you darling?” Roman says. Virgil has officially hit gay panic mode. If the earlier mix of suave and cute wasn’t enough to do him in, the pure amount of muscle now is going to do him in.

“Fine,” He chokes out. Remus and Roman both laugh at his answer. Great. If he hoped for any kind of saving from the others, it’s surely a dashed hope by the amused looks on their faces.

“Are you joining us in the pool?” Remus asks excited. Oogie hisses from his shoulders. Vigil raises a hand to calm her and she nuzzles his knuckles.

“Uh not today.” He says, which is the wrong thing to say.

“But another day?” Remus asks all wild excited. Roman shoves him.

“Like he wants to spend time with your gross ass!” Roman shouts playfully. Patton huffs and calls him for his language but he is ignored. Remus gasps offended with a wild smirk on his face.

“Sure he does, can’t keep his eyes off these guns,” And Remus flexes. Virgil smacks a hand to his face. Oogie dips to hide in his hood. Roman lets out a laugh and firmly shoves Remus back into the pool.

“The only gun he needs is a glock to the face.” Roman puts a fist in his hand, flexing as well. The pun does get Patton to giggle though and Damien rolls his eyes.

“Virgil I am going to get some food, would you like to accompany me?” Logan asks finally done with the nonsense.

“How do you know his name!?” Roman screeches.

“I asked.” Roman let's out an outright offended gasp for whatever reason. He doesn’t get to say another word as Remus from out of no where, runs and tackles Roman back into the pool with no such boundaries.

“Food sounds good,” Virgil says. Logan smiles softly at him.

“I think I shall join you,” Damien says looking into his cup which doesn’t look empty but who is Virgil to judge. 

“Come find me and Emile when you’re done okay?” Patton interjects before they can leave. Virgil offers him a two finger salute, and then leaves Patton and Remy to go find Emile, while he finds food.

“Idiots,” Logan mutters once they are away from the pool. Damien hums in thought.

“But not wrong,” He says.

“They aren’t right either.” Logan snaps back.

“Should I go?” Virgil asks as they are clearly not talking to him. Both Damien and Logan look at him scandalized.

“Certainly not!” Damien says and gives him a slick smile. Virgil swallows down his lemonade to keep his throat from clogging up. He spends some time talking to the two of them, making sarcastic comments and opening up. Oogie pops out to lick his hair at one point.

At that, Virgil finds Emile somewhere, letting them know he’ll be right back, wanting to drop Oogie off at home. He’s comfortable enough here to not need her reassurances, besides, she’s tired from napping and needs to go home to sleep. With some ‘hurry back’ wishes, he’s off back to his place.

He makes sure Oogie is comfy and goes to leave, finding Thomas waiting in one of the golf carts outside his door.

“Need a ride?” He offers. Virgil laughs and joins him in the small vehicle.

“Virgil if I may, I have a favor to ask of you?” Thomas says seriously. Virgil nods his head as his lungs refuse to let him breathe for fear of the favor.

“Please be kind to my grand kids yeah?” Thomas asks, an earnest look in his eyes. Virgil isn’t sure what he’s talking about, but then he looks up. All of the boys who have been coming in and out of his life to fix his home are there staring and waiting for him to get back with the same look in their eyes.

Oh. Virgil thinks.

Oh no.

--

AN: Lol that multiship life

Edit: now with a part 2

[bqstqnbruin]

F is for Friends - part 1

Uhhhh, hello, yeah, this is that Nolan fic that I started yesterday that wasn't on my WIP list but I've decided that this is going to be multiple parts so I hope you like this.

Anyway, it's 4:30 am, ignore typos, the MC is a high school chem teacher (because that is all I know and I'm not sorry, enjoy pretending to be an expert on the basics of chemistry)

Read part 2 here!

_____________

You knew you and your friends were being a little bit loud, but you didn’t think anyone was around to hear you. When you had gotten into your apartment, the cars that were normally there indicating that your neighbors were home were gone, the only cars there being your own and one you hadn’t seen before. If you were being honest, you didn’t even know who your neighbors were, you had just pieced together that the cars you had seen regularly were ones you assumed belonged to the people who lived around you.

It’s not like you were being that annoying, you just had music playing while you guys were hanging out. It was a rare afternoon where you were home before the traffic got bad, and your friends, working together at the same company, had the day off for whatever holiday they tried to claim it was. You and Lindsey were sitting on the couch, Francesca leaning against the coffee table as she set cross-legged on your floor.

“Do you guys hear that?” Lindsey yells over the music, interrupting the attempt you three were making at trying to figure out what you wanted for dinner later that night.

You turn the music down, not even realizing how loud it had gotten even with the screaming you all were doing trying to communicate with each other. “What?”

“Y/N, someone’s knocking at your door,” Fran says, not looking up from her phone.

You hear the knocking they were talking about, short and fast as if whoever it was was annoyed they had been knocking for a long time. You get up to answer it, two tall men standing in the way of your door. “Hi!” you greet them, a smile on your face, probably seeming slightly fake.

“Your music is loud,” the brunette deadpans.

“Oh,” you say, starting to put the pieces together about who they probably were, “sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was home at this point.”

“Who is it?” Lindsey calls.

“I think they’re my neighbors.”

“You think?” the red headed one says, clearly confused as to how you wouldn’t know who they were. “We are your neighbors. Did you just move in?”

You smirk at the slight attitude that came through in his voice, used to it by now based on who you interacted with everyday. “No, I’ve lived here for about a year now. I’m just normally the first to leave in the morning and then the first home in the afternoon, so I don’t really cross paths with anyone else who lives here.”

“What do you do?” the still nameless brunette asked.

Before you could answer, you heard Fran yelling from the other room. “Invite them in! That way we can turn the music back on and they can’t complain!”

You can’t help but cringe because of your friend's words, gesturing for them to come in because you now had to. “If you want.”

The two of them walk in, finding Fran with her legs up on the coffee table while her back is on the floor, Lindsey taking up the entirety of the couch. You groan at the sight of your friends sitting there like that, rolling your eyes before turning back to the guys. “That’s Francesca on the floor, Lindsey on the couch, and I’m Y/N. I can grab some chairs from the kitchen if you don’t want to sit on the floor,” you tell them, knowing that your friends won’t move from the way the positions they were in.

The shorter one follows you, grabbing two chairs from the table to your one.

“Uh, I’m Kevin and that’s Nolan,” the other one says, Fran and Lindsey looking incredibly unamused by your neighbors.

“So, you never said what you did,” Nolan asks, his eyes scanning you up and down.

You could feel the heat rush to your cheeks, about to answer that question again when Fran decides to answer, “Linds and I work at KPMG.”

“Excuse you, but I believe he was asking me,” you respond, the fake sweetness in your voice prompting an eye.

“Why does that sound like the voice you use when that other guy is trying to explain to you your material that he borrowed?” Fran asked.

“Because it is,” you say, using the same tone as before. You see the confused looks on the guys faces, unable to help the laughter from slipping out of your lips, “I’m a high school chemistry teacher, one of the other teachers steals my lessons from me all the time and tries to explain how to teach them to me.”

Lindsey and Fran change the subject, sucking Kevin into their topic with them while Nolan turns to you, scooching his chair closer to you.

“What could you possibly have been doing that your music was so loud?” he asks you, the other three practically screaming with laughter.

You sigh at their antics, explaining, “We were actually just talking and hanging out. If you couldn’t tell, they’re pretty loud. They come over and take over.”

“That’s Kevin, too.”

“Is he your roommate or just a friend?” you ask him.

He looks at Kevin interacting with your friends, the conversation seeming so natural, easy for him to act like he had been friends with them forever, even if they had just met. Nolan was almost never like that, more quiet, off to the side just watching whatever was around him unfold while he silently passed judgement at the poor decisions people were probably making. With you, though, it already felt different. He already felt like Kevin in this case. “Roommate and teammate,” he tells you, explaining that he played for the Flyers. “What about these two? Roommates or just friends?”

“Friends, but they live together. My roommate is almost never here.”

“Oh?”

“She works the graveyard shift at CHOP a lot, so Maddy normally just spends the day at her boyfriends since he lives right there.”

He notices your change in expression, watching Fran and Lindsey. “You don’t like it,” he tells you, as if it were fact.

You shrug, looking at him. You weren’t sure if the color on his cheeks was there for a reason, but you didn’t really care either way. Part of you almost hoped it was because he was nervous to talk to you, or whatever feeling he may be experiencing. “I spend all day with kids. Sometimes it’s nice to just come home and be alone. Plus, as long as she’s paying rent while her name is on the lease, I don’t really care where she is,” you joke, finally pulling a laugh from him.

The two of you fall into conversation, not paying attention to how much time was passing by you.

“Hey, Y/N, remember when we were going to order dinner?” Fran asks, snapping your attention away from Nolan.

“Right, oh my gosh! We haven’t figured out what we’re getting, but do you guys want to join?” you extend the offer to the guys.

They accept, starting to list off places that you could all order from. “Oh, don’t forget Keelan is coming for dinner, too,” you mention.

“Keelan?” Nolan asks.

“Her boyfriend,” Lindsey moans, not looking up from her phone as she scrolls through what was either Grubhub or Uber Eats.

“You don’t have to say it like that,” you spit. Lindsey and Fran didn’t particularly like Keelan, and they made it known. You were sure part of it was because they were both single and still bitter about it, the other part was they assumed he was a douche, no matter how many times you told them he really wasn't, no matter how many times he proved to them that he wasn't.

“You have a boyfriend?” you hear Nolan say, unsure if he was asking you or if he was trying to process that sentence.

“Uh, yeah,” you tell him, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “He should be here by now? Maybe he’s stuck in traffic?” The other three go back to talking, figuring out where to order from, an awkward silence between you and Nolan.

He starts looking around your apartment, the decorations that he figured you put more effort into than Maddy had, only on the basis that she was never there. “Wait,” Nolan asks, spotting the one thing hanging behind your TV that he wished he hadn’t, “You like the Penguins?”

The conversation between your friends and Kevin stops, Kevin’s head following Nolan’s gaze to the “Reserved parking: Penguins fans only” metal sign that you tried so hard to hide. Fran and Lindsey start laughing, you rolling your eyes. “Keel is from Pittsburgh. His biggest flaw is that he’s a Pittsburgh sports fan. He left it here so I just put it on the wall because I kept tripping over it on the floor.”

“It could be worse,” Nolan says, a smirk on his face as he looks at Kevin. “He could like New England sports.”

“Watch yourself, Patty,” Kevin says, causing a bickering match between the two of them. You listen to them, watching Nolan become more animated than he had been when he first came in, becoming more comfortable around you and your friends.

You didn’t even remember why they had knocked on your door in the first place, you were just happy they did.

“Hey, it’s me,” you hear someone call from your door.

“We’re in here,” you respond, knowing it was Keelan, finally arriving from work.

“We?” he finally appears, forgetting that you were at least going to be joined by the girls, definitely not expecting the boys to be there, too. “Hey, I’m Keelan,” he introduces himself to Nolan and Kevin, saying hi to Fran and Lindsey despite their lack of acknowledgement of him before he kisses you hello. He wanders into the kitchen to grab his own chair when you look over to Nolan. He was staring at his hands the red in his cheeks burning brighter than they had been before. Before you can ask him if something was up, Keelan was back, putting his chair as close to yours as he could, his arm slung around the back as if to mark you as his.

“Where did we order from?” Keelan finally asks once Fran pointed out that the food would be getting there soon.

“Snap,” Lindsey says, popping the ‘p’ at the end.

Keel turns to you, waiting for you to tell him what he was getting. “I got you the Sweet n’slow.” He scrunches his face up at the mention of what you thought was his favorite pizza from there. “What? That’s what you always get.”

“Yeah but last time I said I wanted to have something else.”

“Sorry,” you apologize, even though you really didn’t think you had to.

“Well what did you get, maybe we can trade?”

Nolan was sitting awkwardly next to you, listening to what you hoped wouldn’t turn into any sort of argument between you and your boyfriend. “I got the Kennett Square.”

“Oh, I’ll just eat yours then,” Keelan says as if it weren’t a big deal.

You look at him, confused as to how he would miss the biggest reason why you wouldn’t eat that pizza: “Then what do I eat? I don’t like the Sweet n’slow, that’s why I don’t order it.”

“He can have mine, I’ll take the pizza,” Nolan offers.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to,” you start, only for Keelan to cut you off.

“Thanks man, I appreciate that.”

You scoff at him. How could he take a pizza from a guy he doesn’t know, when you had ordered him something he had gotten time and time again since you frequent the pizza place often enough? You get cut off again, something that was happening a lot today but Fran asking you to help her bring in the pizzas.

“I can’t carry six of them by myself!”

You let out a sigh, leaving Nolan and Keelan to fend for themselves with your empty chair between them. “The boxes aren’t even that big you totally could have grabbed these by yourself.”

“Well, yeah, but oh, my god!” Fran starts squealing, “Nolan totally likes you!”

You give her the side eye, taking the pizzas from the guy who clearly felt awkward by the conversation. “I just met him.”

“Love at first sight, duh.”

“I have a boyfriend,” you counter.

“You’re not denying it.”

“I’m not acknowledging it, there’s a difference.”

“You two are going to fall in love,” she tells you.

You stop outside your door, keeping your voice down so no one on the other side has a chance to hear it. “If he does, then that’s his problem. I’m dating Keelan, I love Keelan, and that’s that.” She shrugs, clearly not believing what you were saying. She reaches for the door, you sticking your foot out to stop her from being able to open it. “What?”

“I think you like him, too.”

“I mean he’s a cool guy from the, what, hour that I’ve been talking to him?”

“You like him.”

“As a friend. If that. I barely know him. I didn’t even know he and Kevin were my neighbors until they knocked on my door because you two are too loud.”

“Whatever,” she huffs, trying to open the door again, your foot still in its way, ��I’m just saying, when you and Keelan break up, we both know that Nolan is going to be the one who you run to and who you end up being with.”

“Excuse me?” you say, not getting anything out of her as she manages to open your door, barging back into your apartment and figuring out which pizza goes to who.

There was no way she could see something between you and Nolan, could she? You met that day, and sure, he was easy to talk to, sure he was attractive, but that didn’t mean anything. Finding someone pretty does not always mean you are attracted to them. You were attracted to Keelan, turning to your boyfriend as he eats what should have been Nolan’s salad. You loved him, you loved everything about him. So why is that something you need to remind yourself of now that you’re sitting next to Nolan?

“Buddy, cat, why are you eating pizza? You don’t like pizza,” Kevin’s words pull you out of you the trance you fell into.

You turn to him, just watching him shrug as his cheeks get more red, picking at the over abundance of meat that was on the pizza. You turn to Keelan, watching him as he eats the salad like nothing was wrong. “You’re being an ass,” you say, getting up and retreating to the kitchen, leaving the five of them there in your living room.

Why would Nolan offer up his food if he didn’t like pizza to begin with? There’s no way that Fran could be right about him liking you, right? He just met you. He didn’t know you. You had been talking all of an hour of your life, barely knowing anything about him. But fuck, why was it easy to talk to him?

“Hey,” you hear Keelan say, turning to him and scowling at him.

“You really couldn’t eat the pizza I ordered for you? The same pizza that you get every single time, even when you do say you’re going to order something different? He doesn’t even like pizza and now he has nothing to eat.”

“I ordered him new food.”

“For what?” you ask, clearly not amused, “So he can sit and wait to eat while we finish everything, and then he awkwardly sits there eating by himself while the rest of us are talking? He doesn’t really seem like the kind of guy who enjoys something like that, Keel.”

He looks down at his feet,while the two of you stand there. You were tempted to walk up to him, giving in and pushing yourself away from the part of the counter you were leaning on. You wrap your arms around his waist, his own snaking around you and pulling you close to him. “What’s up with you? You’re not like that.” Keelan kisses the top of your head, lingering there as you hear him mumble something. “What was that?”

“He likes you.”

“Oh, not you, too,” you whine, pushing away from him.

“It’s obvious! Come on!” he says, his voice raising a little bit. You were hoping that the rest of them couldn’t hear you in the living room, but you knew they all could. The apartment was small, the walls thin, and if the boys could hear your music from their place, they could hear the two of you talking in the kitchen.

“If it were so obvious, then I would have picked up on it,” you try to counter.

“Babe, I liked you for three years before you finally caught on. For someone whose entire livelihood involves teaching kids that one of the most important things in life is noticing what’s going on around them, you don’t see anything.”

“That’s mean and you know it,” you tell him.

“Maybe. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. And, plus, they’re Flyers,” he cringes.

“You’ve lived in Philly for six years now and Sidney Crosby is never going to fuck you, get over it,” you counter, knowing that his love of the Penguins captain was the only thing keeping him from liking Nolan and Kevin as guys and not as two of the Flyers.

“The Flyer’s are our biggest rivals!”

“You say ‘our’ like you’re on the team but we both know you can’t skate for shit.”

“Hey, when you’re a fan, you’re part of the team.”

“Jesus Christ, what are we even fighting about?” you yell, silence falling around you as you know that your friends and neighbors heard every word.

He rubs his hands on his face, letting out a deep groan. “I don’t even fucking know. Just don’t get too close to him.”

“He’s just my neighbor. That’s it.”

“Please?”

You roll your eyes at him, knowing that he was being ridiculous. “Fine. I won’t. But you have nothign to worry about with him. I'm dating you. I have been dating you for, what, three years almost?”

He pulls you close to him, tilting your chin up towards him with his thumb before he kisses you. “I love you,” he tells you, holding you tight.

“I love you, too,” you say, resting your head against his chest for a minute.

The two of you go back and join everyone else, Nolan sitting there quietly while Fran, Lindsey, and Kevin were deep in conversation. If they heard anything that happened between you and Keelan, they were doing a good job of pretending they didn’t. “Oh, Y/N, perfect. We were telling Nolan and Kevin about that one night in the library when Danielle brought the roller blades.”

“Oh, no,” you groan, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

“So Danielle and Alli are rollerblading across the bridge that connects the new side and the old side of the library, the same floor was connected that way so you could cross over without having to swipe in and out,” Fran starts to explain, “but the old side was built lower than the new side, so when you went from new to old, there was a decline in the bridge. Danielle turns to Y/N here and says, ‘Hey, we’re the same size, do you want to try skating?’”

“Please don’t” you beg, even though you had a smile on your face. It was one of your more embarrassing moments from college, but looking back, you couldn’t help but laugh at the antics you guys had pulled when you were supposed to be studying.

“Oh, no, we’re going to. So she puts on the skates, and Dani practically launches her down the atrium bridge and she has no balance whatsoever.”

“Yeah, she couldn’t stop either,” Keelan says, “Luckily I was there to catch her before she fell flat on her face.”

You roll your eyes, leaning up against his shoulder as he wraps his arm around you. “Yeah, and then you said the worst pickup line ever.”

“Oh, what was it?” Kevin asks, his face red from laughing probably too hard.

“I think I said, ‘Wow, I knew one day you’d fall for me.’”

“I don’t know why I went out with you after that,” you joke, Keelan kissing the top of your head. You glance over to Nolan, the stoic expression covering his face.

“Me neither,” Fran mumbles, Lindsey nodding in agreement.

“I don’t think you want me to expose some of the shit you two did when we were in the library,” you counter, feeling Keelan’s touch retreat. He knew pretty much everything they did in there. The library at your school was the most social place on campus, an academic building where absolutely everyone hung out no matter what was going on. People would meet there, leave their stuff unattended for hours, the unspoken rule that if you had a table with your stuff there, no one would take it. You could get up and leave at any point, you could mess around like you did when you were rollerblading, and even do the things Lindsey and Fran did.

"Hey, maybe Nolan could teach Y/N how to skate," Kevin offers, seeing where the conversation was about to go, only earning and small, 'dude,' from Nolan.

“Like what?” Lindsey tempts you, none of you acknowledging what Kevin had just offered.

“Like when you got drunk on a Tuesday night before your accounting exam while we were there?”

“She didn’t!” Kevin gasps.

“Oh, she did,” you say, not looking away from Lindsey as her face turned bright red. “We had a few water bottles in our fridge our sophomore year, so before we left our place, Linds had grabbed one to take with her. Apparently, someone had mixed in the bottles filled with water with the bottles filled with vodka that we would take with us to parties. Lindsey tastes it, says, ‘ah, fuck this is vodka,’ shrugs and downs the entire thing, spends the rest of the night vomiting, and had to have public safety drive her home instead of walking with Fran and I since she was too drunk to walk.”

“How’d you do on the exam, though?” Keelan asks.

“I think I got a B-?” she tries to remember. “It was accounting, though, so who cares?”

You look over at Keelan, knowing that it was another jab at him. He was a CPA, the nerdiest thing he could be, but it was something he loved, so who really cared? You could tell he was biting the inside of his cheek at her words, pulling his arm from around you. “I think I’m gonna go, I have an early morning tomorrow,” he says, kissing you before getting up.

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” you point out, getting up with him.

“Yeah, I’ll see ya,” he says, practically running to the door, turning to you with his hand on the doorknob. He takes in a deep breath, his eyes closed, “He was staring at you the entire time. Please, keep your promise, ok?”

“I was telling a story, people tend to look at the person telling a story." He gives you a look, telling you to take it seriously, "You’re being paranoid, but ok, fine,” you tell him, clearly unamused.

He goes out the door and to his car, leaving you standing in your doorway watching him walk away. What were he and Fran seeing that you couldn’t? Nolan couldn’t possibly like you already, if at all. You didn’t know him. You were barely friends.

You go back into your living room, mad at your friends for practically chasing your boyfriend out of your apartment. “Can you go one day with him without being mean or rude to him?” you scold them.

“Oh come on, I wasn’t mean,” Lindsey says.

“‘It was accounting, who cares?’ He’s a fucking accountant, Linds. What about when he helped you pass your marketing classes, you know, the ones for your major? But it’s marketing, anyway, who cares?” Her lips press into a thin line, the other three silent as you talk to her like your students would be if you were in your classroom and one of the kids was acting up. “You don’t like that too much, do you?”

“God, I hate that you’re a teacher,” she mumbles, knowing that you made her feel bad for 'misbehaving.' “I’ll apologize to him next time I see him,” she says, not looking you in the eye.

“Good.”

“I think it’s time we get going,” Fran says, getting up off the floor.

Kevin stands up with Lindsey, “Yeah, we should probably go home, too.” Fran and Lindsey leave without another word, Kevin waiting for Nolan to follow him, “You coming?”

Nolan looks at you before turning to his roommate, “I think I’m going to help Y/N clean up, if you want?”

“Uh, yeah sure,” you say, watching Kevin shrug and leave. He was just being nice, you tell yourself. There were pizza boxes, napkins, utensils, whatever Keelan had ordered to make up to Nolan. The two of you start gathering everything in silence and bringing it all the kitchen, you definitely not wanting to be the first one to break it.

“So, they seem like fun,” Nolan says.

You let out a small laugh, hearing the sarcasm in his voice. “Yeah. Keelan being brought up or around turns them feral.”

“They don’t like him.”

“Oh, no, not at all. They make that very clear every chance they get.”

“Why don’t they? Like him, I mean?”

“Lindsey and Fran were on the crew team at our school,” you start to explain, “and so was Keelan. The men’s and the women’s teams did not get along at all. The guys team was favored over the AD all the time and the guys knew that and flaunted that, so any guy who was on the team during the four years they were, they automatically hate.”

He nods, trying to tie up the now full trash bag. “He doesn’t seem that bad, aside from eating my salad.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that was,” you laugh, hopping up on the counter while he still struggles to tie the bag. “That’s not like him, at all.”

The two of you remain how you were for a moment, a comfortable silence between you as Nolan stands there with the trash bag. “Um, well, I can take this out for you,” he tells you. You follow him to the door with the intention of locking it behind him, not expecting him to turn around when he does. “Do you think I could get your number? You know, Kev and I are away a lot, so if we had someone watching our place that we trusted?” he spits out.

You were definitely caught off guard, but why shouldn’t you have your neighbor's number? You pull out your phone, handing it to him as he continues to ramble, “And, of course, we can do the same for you, you know? If you’re ever away with Fran and Lindsey, or with,” he pauses, trying to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat, “with Keelan. Or anyone else.”

“Thanks, Nolan,” you tell him when he hands you your phone back. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he says, leaving to bring your trash out. You lock the door behind him, letting out a groan. He was just awkward and quiet, that didn’t mean anything about whatever feelings he may or may not have towards you.

Nolan goes back into his place, expecting and hoping that Kevin was already tucked away in his room for the night, only to find him sitting on the couch waiting for Nolan like a parent waiting for the kid who was coming in past curfew. “Dude, you’ve got it bad.”

“What are you talking about?” Nolan huffs.

“You like her.”

Nolan turns to Kevin, arms crossed over his chest. “We just met her.”

“Oh, come on,” Kevin eggs on, getting off the couch and following Nolan to his room, “when she was scolding Lindsey like that, you were so turned on.”

Nolan shrugs, trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal: “So what if I was? Sexual attraction doesn’t mean that much.”

Kevin narrows his eyes to call his roommates bluff. “With you it does.”

“Whatever,” Nolan says, trying to shut Kevin out by closing his bedroom door on him.

“Just, wait,” Kevin says, stopping him from closing it completely, “She has her boyfriend, who you just met. He’s not scrawny, he could probably take you.”

Nolan’s mouth hangs open at Kevin’s words. “What, do you think we’re going to physically fight over Y/N?”

Kevin shrugs, “You never know. Just be careful. As long as she’s with Keelan, you two are just friends. And hey, you can teach a friend how to skate."

Nolan rolls his eyes, finally getting his bedroom door closed. Just friends.

[detectivereyes]

Even If You Stumble A Step, You’re Still Moving Forward

Summary: TK and Carlos move into their new home post-finale and TK doesn't exactly make the best first impression on their new neighbors...

Notes: this was like a fever dream i had a few months ago and then i stopped writing but decided to revive it last night so... here we are. also title creds (and emotional support creds) to jillian @marjansmarwani​ because this fic wouldn’t exist without her. and also s/o to brit @moviegeek03​ for being extra supportive of yet another fic where [spoiler] tk falls down the stairs again :/

read on ao3

TK shuffles through the maze of boxes stacked several feet high throughout their new home. The scene shouldn’t surprise him considering it was only a few months ago he was moving his own boxes into their old home. However it feels different knowing that most of this stuff isn’t actually theirs.

Well, it is theirs now he figures. But the fact remains that most of the stuff filling the space was either given to them by various members of the extended 126 family, or was recently purchased by TK or Carlos on one of their many trips to Bed Bath and Beyond. 

They had taken their time searching for a new place to live. Owen had made it clear that they were both welcome to stay with him (and Mateo) for as long as they needed, but TK had known it was time.

So when a townhome popped up on Zillow that met all their criteria, they wasted no time booking an appointment with the realtor. They both had instantly fallen in love with the open floor plan and deck out back. Plus they knew the extra bedrooms upstairs may come in handy someday.

While they knew the vertical layout of the home itself wasn’t the best, having more stairs than either of them were used to, it checked every other box and was right in their price range so they had wasted no time signing the lease.

A few days had passed since settlement and now most of their days were spent trying to unpack and make this new house into a home. It would never replace the one they had lost, but it had been exciting to build this new home together.

Though on this particular day, TK found himself alone in trying to get settled in since Carlos had a shift. With the 126 still out of commission, possibly forever, and the department not having any openings for paramedics, most of the unpacking was left for TK.

After getting a good chunk of the living room done, he checks the time and decides to go out and see if the mail has come yet. Not that he’s expecting anything with their address still being so new, and not getting much physical mail anyway to begin with. But it still provided a good excuse to take a break.

TK opens the front door and starts to make his way down the set of stairs leading down. 

He makes it about halfway before his attention is caught by one of his new next door neighbors, Mr. Martin- if he remembers correctly, exiting at the same time. Mr. Martin gives a friendly wave and TK goes to return the gesture.

Except, he’s not paying attention when he takes the next step, and he misses, his heel just barely hitting the edge of the step before he starts to go down. He tumbles until he comes to a hard stop at the bottom, with most of his weight coming down on his right knee, sending shooting pains up and down his leg.

The rest of his body is sore, and by the time his ears stop ringing, he can just barely make out a new female voice asking “Sir, are you okay?”

He opens his eyes, which he had not even realized he had squeezed shut at some point, to see his neighbor, Mrs. Bailey- his brain supplies, from across the street making her way over to check on him, worried lines painting across her forehead.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m fine,” he grimaces while pushing himself up to a seated position. He tries to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. Not the best way to make a good first impression on his neighbors.

“Are you sure, son? We can call for help if you need it. Someone you know, or 9-1-1?” Mr. Martin joins in the conversation.

“No!” TK interjects too quickly, startling both neighbors. He panics for a moment when the weight of the predicament settles in. He meets the gaze of both figures still staring at him, clearly concerned and waiting for him to say something. “I mean, I’m a paramedic. I’m fine. Or I will be fine. Thank you,” he flashes them both a quick smile before pushing himself up off the ground, ignoring the sharp pains that radiate from his knee when he tries to put any weight on it.

Getting back up the stairs is no easy feat, and he doesn’t have to turn around to know that both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Bailey are still watching him, concerned. Fortunately, they don’t know him well enough to try and follow or help. He’s not sure he would feel comfortable enough receiving help from some strangers. Half the time he doesn’t even feel comfortable receiving help from the people he does know.

He leans heavily on the railing, refusing to turn around out of fear of further mortification. Once he’s inside the home, he collapses right inside the hall, unable to go any further since his knee decided to stop cooperating.

A few tears pool in his eyes, and he’s unsure if that’s due to the pain or embarrassment. Not knowing what else to do, he takes out his phone and shoots a quick text to Carlos.

TK: we have to move

It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for the three dots to pop up before being replaced by Carlos’ response.

Carlos: ???

TK sighs and rubs his face, trying to figure out the best way to explain the situation.

TK: i feel down the stairs out front and all the neighbors saw

Carlos: Holy shit, are you okay??

He lets out a puff of air at that.

TK: you mean besides my bruised ego?

TK: no, i hurt my knee but i’m fine. that’s not the issue here.

Carlos: Okay, I’ll be home in an hour and you can let me be the judge of that. If I see any swelling, we’re going to the doctor.”

He rolls his eyes at Carlos’ worry. At worst, it’s a bad sprain, nothing that can’t be fixed with some icing and wrapping. But there are other things they need to worry about.

TK: you’re missing the point, carlos. the entire neighborhood thinks i’m an idiot. we can’t live here anymore.

TK knows he’s being dramatic, but the more he thinks about it, the more embarrassed he gets. The idea that these are people he’s going to have to continue to face everyday for the foreseeable future. And that now all they’ll be able to think about when they do see him. Now he’ll just be known as the guy who can’t walk down stairs.

Carlos: Relax, TK. I’ll be home soon.

TK: you mean our temporary place of residence which we will soon be moving out of

He doesn’t get a response after that. 

His mind continues to spiral while he waits for Carlos to arrive. He knows the other man is likely climbing the walls trying to leave his shift early but it would still be awhile before he could be allowed to leave.

Left alone with his thoughts, his mind keeps playing out the series of events that happened minutes ago. He can't help but beat himself up over embarrassing himself like that. Ironically enough, it’s not even the first time he’s fallen down stairs, having taken a tumble down the stairs in Carlos’ place a few months back. And of course he would manage to injure himself that time, and this time as well.

He should at least try to get up so he can find an ice pack to lessen the swelling. Sitting on the floor up against the wall can’t be doing his knee any favors. Yet he can’t bring himself to move, instead resting his head back against the wall and sighing.

TK pulls out his phone again, cycling through the apps until he hears the tell-tale keys jingling in the already unlocked door.

As soon as Carlos steps through the door, he nearly trips over TK in the doorway. “Woah, hey! TK, are you okay?” he crouches down to TK’s level.

TK shrugs. Now that he’s face to face with Carlos, he can’t help but feel suffocated by another person judging him, even if Carlos’ worry comes from a place of concern.

“Can I take a look at your knee?”

TK nods, allowing Carlos to gently inspect his swollen joint. He winces as Carlos traces his hand around his kneecap.

“This doesn’t look good, babe. I think we need to go to the hospital.”

“No, it’s fine,” he quickly shakes his head. The worried look in Carlos’ eyes only makes his heart ache, and he can only try to find ways to make it go away. “Just help me up and we can ice it. It will look better once the swelling goes down a bit.”

Carlos gives him a look that screams I don’t believe you but sighs. “Fine, but if it doesn’t…”

“I know, I know. You’ll drag my ass to the emergency room,” TK gives him a reassuring smile.

Carlos returns the smile, and extends a hand to help TK up. TK accepts, and allows Carlos to take on most of his weight once he’s standing. They slowly make their way over to the living room, with Carlos softly depositing TK onto the sofa. He then disappears into the kitchen before returning with an ice pack in hand.

“Thanks,” TK smiles, trying to mask the wince as Carlos places the pack onto his knee.

“Do you want to watch an episode of The Office?” Carlos asks, picking up the remote and settling in the spot next to TK.

TK shrugs, knowing that Carlos is just trying to appeal to him by offering to put on his favorite show. The other man doesn’t even like the show that much, often finding the humor dry and tasteless, but TK thinks he just doesn’t get it.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

There it is.

“I just can’t believe I did that in front of our new neighbors. They probably think I’m an idiot.”

“I’m sure no one thinks you’re an idiot, TK,” Carlos gently reassures him.

“Yeah all the neighbors saw me make an idiot of myself,” TK sighs exasperatedly. “God, how am I supposed to face these people everyday now?”

“Hate to break it to you babe, but this is not a valid reason for us to move.”

“I know,” he sighs again.

“Besides,” Carlos continues. “If your track record has proven anything, it’s that this won’t be the last medical emergency at our new home. It’s good that the neighbors are getting used to it now.”

TK gives him a pointed look.

“I’m pretty sure this is the second time you’ve fallen down the stairs since we’ve started dating,” Carlos says with a light chuckle.

“Whatever,” TK scoffs. “At least the other time it wasn’t in front of total strangers.”

Carlos softens. “That’s true. But I’m sure the neighbors just care about you. I don’t think this is that big of a deal, TK.”

“You weren’t there though. It was mortifying.”

“What did they say, exactly?”

TK nervously looks down. “They asked if I was okay. And if I needed any help.”

Carlos raises his eyebrow, waiting to see if TK continues. 

“They offered to call for help but I said no and went back inside.”

“See? They just care about you TK. I haven’t really talked to anyone yet but they seem like nice people.”

“I guess,” TK shrugs.

“I know, you’re still embarrassed. But if nothing else, they’ll probably forget about it by the next time we see them.”

“You don’t think I’ll be known as the ‘clumsy neighbor who can’t walk down stairs’?”

“Maybe the ‘cute clumsy neighbor that can’t walk down stairs,’” Carlos says with a smirk. “But we could always change that.”

TK cocks his head to the side. 

“You think our new neighbors might enjoy some peach scones when we go over and have a proper introduction?”

“You really plan to charm our new neighbors with your baking?” 

“You think it will work?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then yes, I do,” Carlos grins proudly. He then leans over and gently removes the ice pack from TK’s knee, grimacing at what he sees. “This still looks pretty swollen, babe. I think we need to go to the hospital.”

TK gives him a pained smile. “You sure I can’t talk my way out of this?”

“Nope,” Carlos says, popping the p. He stands up before extending his hand to help TK do the same.

TK accepts, shifting his weight and leaning into Carlos once he’s fully upright. 

“You know, I think you may have a paramedic blindspot when it comes to your own health.”

TK lets out a light laugh. “Yeah, I’ve been told.”

A week later, Carlos softly knocks on the door of Mrs. Bailey’s home across the street with one hand and a plate of peach scones in the other. TK had offered to hold the scones but when they went over to Mr. Martin's home earlier in the day, it was quickly discovered it was too difficult for him to manage getting up the stairs and holding the plate.

So he settles for letting Carlos do most of the work while he awkwardly limps up the stairs, leaning heavily on the railing to keep some pressure off his knee.

After their quick trip to the emergency room, it had been determined that TK’s initial assessment was right and it was just a bad sprain. He was given a brace to help reduce the pain and a pair of crutches, which (much to Carlos’ dismay) he abandoned after only two days, citing that they only made it harder to get around their home which he can now say for certain has too many damn stairs.

A problem which seems to follow him as he also has to get up the stairs to greet his neighbors.

“Maybe we should have moved to a neighborhood of single level homes,” he states with a wince as he joins Carlos at the front door.

Carlos snorts. “We can take it into consideration if we ever have to move again.”

“God, please don’t say that. I don’t want to think about moving ever again.”

“Good,” Carlos gives him a soft smile. “Because I’m planning on staying here for the long run.”

“Me too,” TK returns the smile just as Mrs. Bailey opens the door.

“What a lovely surprise!” she exclaims taking in the sight of the two men. 

“Hello ma’am,” Carlos says with a polite smile.

“We brought you some scones,” TK adds, gesturing to the plate in Carlos’ hands.

“Oh how thoughtful of you. Please come in. How are you doing?” she asks, turning to TK. “I’ve been worried.”

He exchanges a look with Carlos, the other man's face clearly saying I told you she cares, before turning back to Mrs. Bailey.

“I’m fine, ma’am. Thank you for asking. It’s just a bad sprain. But I do appreciate your concern, especially the other week.”

“Oh, of course dear,” she says with a warm smile. “Now, you boys aren’t going to make me eat these scones all by myself are you?”

They both let out a light chuckle and exchange another glance before following their new neighbor, and friend inside.

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 23

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

It doesn’t feel real until she sees the flutter on the ultrasound, the grey and white pixels flashing erratically confirming a healthy ten-week pregnancy. The doctor gives them a due date of September 17th, and she explains to Mulder repeatedly that the due date is only an estimate, that the baby will most likely arrive sometime in the two weeks before or after that day. Nonetheless, he prints little numbers in the corner of each date on the calendar, counting down.

She is lucky to experience very little nausea, but the time saved clinging to the toilet is instead allocated to bursting into tears at every tiny inconvenience. Mulder comforts her with a confused expression when she cries because she can’t find a Tupperware lid that fits, or her latte has too much foam, or she realizes she can no longer see her toes. She cries because she’s crying, because she feels out of touch with her own body and thrown off by her own emotions. They marvel at the growth of her belly as well as her breasts, which are even more sensitive than they were before. Her libido kicks into overdrive at the same time that she becomes incredibly self conscious about her protruding belly, her fuller face, her swelling feet. This leads to more tears as she grapples with both wanting desperately to be touched and not wanting him to look at her.

He tells her each day how beautiful she is, her hair growing longer and thicker, her skin glowing, her rounding belly housing the perfect little life that they created together. When he’s home, he rubs her feet every night, fetches her countless glasses of water and then helps tow her out of the bed so she can pee ten times in the night. When he’s on the road with Monica, he calls three times a day, asks Missy and her mother to go by and check on her, calls in dinner to be delivered so she doesn't have to cook. As her due date nears, he stops going on out-of-town cases, needing to be close enough to be by her side immediately when she goes into labor. He will not risk missing the birth of his child.

The apartment becomes cramped with a bassinet, changing table, pack n play, and various other baby gadgets. They consider moving, but the idea is too overwhelming for Scully so they decide to stay put until the baby becomes mobile and they really need more space. Mulder breaks the lease on his apartment and moves his fish tank into the living room, putting the rest of his furniture in storage until they buy a house. Priscilla breaks in all the baby gear, sleeping in the car seat and jumping into the swing, covering the tiny onesies with her black fur and making Scully cry yet again. Mulder refuses to let her scoop the litter box, even though she insists it’s safe if she wears gloves and washes her hands afterward. Other tasks she’s forbidden to complete include cleaning the toilet, carrying in the groceries and hauling laundry to the washing machine. When he’s on the road, she misses him as much as she is relieved to be able to be independent, not much caring for being treated as though she’s made of glass.

For the majority of her pregnancy, Scully insists that she doesn’t want to know the sex of the baby, that she wants to be surprised. Mulder respects her decision, even though he would personally like to know, and they create two lists of potential baby names, Scully crossing off “Lisa Marie'' each time Mulder tries to add it to the “girl” column. When she reaches 39 weeks, her pelvis widening as the baby drops into the birth canal, she is so miserable that she has a change of heart, needing to feel connected to this thing that is destroying her body and stealing her sleep. They call the doctor together on a Thursday afternoon as Scully sits on the couch in tears, having woken that morning to find angry red stretch marks marring her previously lily-white belly. When Mulder relays the doctor’s message that the baby is a girl, she sobs harder, and he’s not sure whether it’s because she’s happy or disappointed.

She wakes him at 3:00 am on September 21st, the irregular Braxton-Hicks contractions she’s been feeling for weeks having taken up a predictable cadence, now ten minutes apart almost on the dot. He starts rushing around, scrambling for her hospital bag and his shoes, and now it is her turn to provide comfort, to let him know there’s plenty of time. She doesn’t want to go to the hospital until the contractions are five minutes apart, and so they wait. The progression to nine minutes, then eight, then seven is alarmingly fast, and by the time she agrees that they should head to the hospital she’s starting to feel pressure low in her pelvis. Mulder drives too fast, the streets thankfully still quiet in the early morning, and she is wheeled into labor and delivery with not enough time for an epidural, much to her lament.

Molly Katherine Mulder has blue eyes and a dark shock of nearly-black hair. She barely cries at her entrance to the world, instead searching the room with a curious gaze, squeezing her daddy’s finger with an impressively strong grip and latching like a pro. They are able to go home the following day, Scully wincing as she moves gingerly from the bed to the couch, rinsing her tender stitches with a bottle of warm water and bleeding through entire packages of overnight maxi pads in a day.

Mulder takes off work for two weeks and they spend blissful days curled up in bed with the baby nestled between them as Priscilla curiously sniffs around her, licking her hair with a rough tongue and making them laugh. Each time Scully wakes at night to nurse, Mulder insists she go back to sleep while he changes the baby and walks her around the quiet apartment until she is asleep, singing softly and lulling them both.

When Mulder returns to work, Scully insists that he get a full night's sleep and let her wake up with Molly, reasoning that she can take naps during the day. She does not, of course, take naps during the day. Instead she tries to keep the apartment clean, the clothes washed, the diapers taken out to the dumpster, the litter box scooped. She does too much, and he sees it each day as she grows more and more weary, more and more defeated, the bags under her eyes deepening in color and her mouth rarely hosting a smile. He begs her to let him do more, to ask less of herself, but she is stubborn and strong-willed, the very things he loves about her now keeping her from properly taking care of herself.

They struggle through sleep-deprived arguments over who left the breast milk out on the counter all night, why it matters if he changes the baby on the floor instead of the changing table, why Scully doesn’t want to supplement with formula so he can take some of the night feedings. Her doctor releases her as medically clear to have sex after six weeks and she cries as she tells him that she doesn’t feel ready, that she can’t imagine anything worse than sex right now, and he holds her as he tells her that he doesn’t care, that she should take as much time as she needs, that he can wait.

They struggle, and they thrive. Moments of absolute unadulterated joy are punctuated by intense despair and overwhelm. The gain of a family against the loss of a life where you could pick up and go, stay out until 2:00 am and make love in the middle of the day. They are happy, and they are stressed, and they face it together.

On a Saturday in December, Mulder wakes early and takes care of every conceivable task in the house; the laundry, the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, scooping the litter, buying the groceries. He checks every item off Scully’s to-do list and then takes Molly for a long drive, leaving Scully alone with nothing to do in hopes that she will rest for once. When they return from their excursion, he creeps into the quiet apartment with a sleeping baby in his arms and sets her in the bassinet by the couch. At first he thinks maybe Scully has gone out, but he finds her in bed asleep with soaking wet hair, Priscilla curled up behind her knees. He watches her for a bit, affection clutching at his chest, then changes into sweats and kicks Priscilla out so he can snuggle up behind Scully. It feels so infrequent that they just lay like this anymore; one of them is always about to get up with the baby, about to get ready for work, or doesn’t want to be touched after a tiny person has clung to them all day. He pulls in a deep breath, smelling her lavender bubble bath and feeling the rise and fall of her ribs against his chest. He doesn’t want to disturb her, but he can’t resist pressing a tiny kiss to the side of her neck.

“Mmmm,” she hums in response, twisting her body around so they are face to face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispers.

“It’s okay. Where’s Molly?”

“She’s asleep in the living room.”

She sighs and snuggles closer to him, pressing her forehead into his chest and pushing one of her legs between his.

“This feels nice,” she says contentedly, and he brushes his hand softly up and down her back.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Tired. Frumpy. Like I haven’t put on real clothes or a stitch of makeup in three months,” she laments.

“Well, I’ll give you tired,” he says softly, “but I can’t agree on frumpy. I think you look very beautiful.”

She scoffs against his chest.

“You don’t have to placate me, Mulder. I know I’m a mess.”

“Maybe so, but you’re my mess,” he retorts, pushing his fingers into her hair to gently scratch her scalp.

She tilts her head up to look at him, appraising his face with a skeptical eye.

“Is this what you thought it was going to be like?” she asks, her tone open and vulnerable.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly, “I guess I didn’t really know what to expect.”

She sighs. “I just wish I knew when I might start to feel like myself again,” she says sadly. “I can’t help but feel like you’re not getting what you signed up for.”

“What do you mean?” he asks with a concerned frown.

He sees her eyes growing glassy, dampening with impending tears. “I mean the woman you asked out in the autopsy bay isn’t the one you’re with now,” she whispers, swallowing against the lump in her throat.

“That’s not even a little bit true,” he implores, cradling the back of her head with his hand. “You are everything you were then, and more. I’m amazed by you every day.”

She closes her eyes, a tear rolling across the bridge of her nose. He feels his chest ache; the need to make her understand is overwhelming.

“Hey,” he says, pulling the blankets back, “come here.”

He pulls her into a sitting position and slides off the bed, towing her along with him to sit on the edge of the mattress. He kneels on the floor between her knees, his hands on her hips.

“If you think for one second that I want to be with anyone but you, you’re fucking insane. I don’t care if you wear giant milk-stained T-shirts and have spit up in your hair for the rest of our lives, Scully. You’re it for me, okay?”

She pulls in a shuddering breath and wipes at her eyes, but won’t look at him.

“Stay here,” he commands, and disappears into the bathroom for a moment. When he comes back, he returns to his post kneeling at her feet.

“We knew this was going to be hard,” he says tenderly, holding one of her hands in his. “You said it yourself before Molly was born, that it would be the hardest time in our lives, and that we’d be at our worst. And I’m telling you that if this is your worst, sign me up, okay? It hasn’t changed how I feel about you.”

He holds up his other hand, a diamond ring perched between his thumb and forefinger.

“If you’re not ready to say yes yet, that’s okay, but I need you to know that I still want to marry you, Scully. I’ll wait forever if that’s what you need, but there hasn’t been a single day since I asked that I haven’t still meant it.”

Her tears have stopped, though her eyes are still wet and the tip of her nose is red. She looks from him to the ring and back, her eyebrows stitched in contemplation.

“I didn’t hear you ask me a question,” she says quietly, and he picks up on the slightest lilt of playfulness in her voice, which makes him break out into a smile.

“Dana Katherine Scully, love of my life, mother of my child, will you marry me?”

She smiles then, and he thinks his heart may burst right out of his chest.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she answers, and he takes her left hand, slipping the ring on her finger.

She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him repeatedly, soft pecks devolving into lingering smooches as he shifts up slightly, pushing her back gently to recline on the bed. He moves over her, kissing along her jaw and down her neck, not going any further, not wanting to rush her.

She brings her hands to his hips, letting the tips of her fingers slip under the waist of his sweatpants, and his cock stirs. It’s been so, so, long, and he wants her desperately, but not until she’s ready. She pushes her hand down the front of his pants, gripping him as he grows hard under her touch. It’s overwhelming in the best way; he feels like a teenager being touched for the first time.

“I wanna have sex,” she breathes into his ear, the words rushing out quickly as though she’s afraid she might change her mind if she waits too long to say them.

He pulls back to look at her. “Are you sure?” he asks, and she nods, bringing her palm to his cheek before glancing at the ring on her finger and smiling.

They move slowly, though still with a sense of urgency that a baby sleeping in the next room brings. He pushes her shirt up and she lets him take it off, then slips the yoga pants off her hips, leaving her in basic black cotton briefs. He sees the hesitancy in her eyes as he looks at her body, now softer than it was before Molly, curvy in different places, purple streaks running from below her belly button to disappear under her panties.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, kissing her chest, her breasts, her belly, running his tongue along the grooves of her stretch marks. He loops his thumbs under the waist of her panties and tugs them down slowly, quickly undressing before he rejoins her in the bed.

“Tell me if anything hurts, okay?” he asks with a serious expression, and she nods, letting her legs fall open as he settles between them. He lines himself up with her entrance and pushes in achingly slowly, watching her face raptly. Her mouth opens slightly, and she takes in a sharp little breath. He’s about to ask her if it hurts when she closes her eyes and her mouth drops open further as she breathes out “oh,” in a way that he knows means pleasure, not pain. When he’s all the way in, their hip bones pressed together tightly, he stills and kisses her for a while, feeling like he could melt into a puddle for how good everything feels. His heart, his mind, his body, he is all wrapped up in her and it’s exactly where he wants to be.

He begins to move, and she responds with an arch of her back and a little gasp, her hands clutching at his shoulders. Little by little, he increases his pace until he knows he won’t last much longer.

“What do you need?” he asks, and she brings her hand to her breast.

He dips his head, flicking at the hardened bud of her nipple, and feels her clench around him. He plays with the level of pressure, licking and sucking, pleasantly surprised that she is enjoying it even as her breasts have taken on a purely functional role these last few months.

She pulls in a huge breath, arching her back and pressing her head into the mattress and he groans as he feels her tighten around him. She emits a single piercing cry when she comes, stifling it with an arm slung across her mouth. He pours into her, burying his face in her neck, clinging to her like a life raft. She is, in fact, all he needs to survive.

Resting half his weight on the mattress beside her, he stays inside as they both come down, panting and smiling, brushing hands over each other’s skin, reconnecting.

“Ah!” Molly yells from the living room, and Mulder laughs.

“You’re being summoned,” Scully says with a tender smile.

He withdraws from her, handing her his T-shirt to clean up while he slips on his sweatpants and retrieves Molly from her bassinet.

“Guess what, Goose?” he says, using his special nickname for her, “Mommy and Daddy are getting married.”

“AH!” She squeals, flapping her arms.

[goldencorecrunches]

Wei Ying doesn’t share the lease with Lan Zhan—his sister has very strong opinions on lease-signing before marriage, which Wen Ning has learned come from some unfortunate events in her past, and not from a moral prudishness—but he lives there in all practical terms. When Wen Ning coaxes Wei Ying out of the library at half-past two in the morning, it’s towards Lan Zhan’s apartment that he takes him. It’s a habit, walking Wei Ying home. Wei Ying can hold his own, but even if he weren’t wearing his Thinking Skirt (an ankle-length black denim monstrosity that he claims makes him “think better,” and refuses all attempts to replace) Wen Ning would still go with him. He doesn’t like the idea of anyone walking home alone, in the dark, especially not someone he cares about. Wei Ying stopped arguing with him about it years ago. “Wen Niiiing,” Wei Ying says, slumping theatrically under his backpack. “I’m dead. Linear II has killed me. You have to carry me or I’ll rot here.” “Campus police would probably collect you,” Wen Ning points out, as he bends down so Wei Ying can hop up onto his back. Wei Ying’s arms tighten uncomfortably around Wen Ning’s neck for a moment; Wen Ning hefts under his thighs, hiking up the skirt so Wei Ying can wrap his legs around Wen Ning’s waist. It’s a perfectly platonic best-friend thing to do if Wen Ning doesn’t think about it. “Or th-th, lawnmower people.”

“You’re evil,” Wei Ying says without heat. He didn’t mean his whining about his class, either; Wen Ning was there through Wei Ying deciding to go back to school, and held his hand when he hit submit on his applications. He’s also seen how much Wei Ying thrives, in the whirlwind of work and essays and complex mathematical theories that he’s plunged back into. It’s nice to see him so enthusiastic about something, again; really enthusiastic, not pretending because he doesn’t want people to be upset. Wen Ning has been his friend for over a decade, now, and the years after Wei Ying dropped out were some of his worst. There’s a lady out walking her dog. Wen Ning smiles at the pug’s stubby legs as they pass. The sidewalk underfoot is damp from the rain, glittering under the street lamps; it’s a quiet, comfortable kind of night, even with—especially with—Wei Ying mumbling increasingly incoherently against Wen Ning’s neck, the closer he gets to nodding off. Wen Ning has been over enough times that he knows the code to the building, but he has to jostle Wei Ying to wake him up when he gets to Lan Zhan’s door. “Key,” he says, when Wei Ying grumbles at him. It comes out fond; he can’t help it. “’S in pocket.” “I’d have to put you down.” With considerably more grumbling, Wei Ying wiggles around to dig the keys out of his jacket. It used to be terrifying how he trusted Wen Ning not to drop him. Now Wen Ning brings it up to tease him when his brother visits. The keys are warm from Wei Ying’s pocket, his hand. Wen Ning slides the right one into the lock and opens the door carefully, conscious of the creaky hinge; Wei Ying keeps saying he’s going to fix it.   The lights are still on inside, yellow and bright after the nighttime darkness. Lan Zhan’s head pops up over the back of the couch, followed by the graceful unfolding of his body. It’s clear he stayed up to wait for Wei Ying, but it looks like he’d also been dozing; his hair is a mess and he looks very tired. Wen Ning is used to ignoring the clench of his heart. He lifts a hand from Wei Ying’s ankle to wave. “I brought home the scholar,” he says, which is obvious. Lan Zhan nods at him and comes to help pry Wei Ying off Wen Ning’s back; Wei Ying is refusing to let go. Eventually the two of them manage to unwrap him and get him onto his own two feet. Immediately Wei Ying slumps against Lan Zhan’s flannel-pajama shoulder, muffling a yawn. Lan Zhan gazes at him with such sleepy adoration that Wen Ning has to smile, seeing it. “I’ve got work tomorrow. Um, today,” he says, when Lan Zhan looks at him; his eyes carry lingering softness from looking at Wei Ying, and Wen Ning tries not to blush. “Sorry, I d-d, can’t stay.” His regret is real. Even though he only drinks tea, Lan Zhan’s coffeemaker is much fancier than the secondhand one in the apartment Wen Ning shares with A-Jie. Wen Ning and Wei Ying can go through three pots easy, in the morning. Lan Zhan blinks at him, swaying a little (it is far past his bedtime), and wraps an arm around Wei Ying’s waist with an instinct Wei Ying doesn’t need to keep him close. They have a way of melting into each other that makes Wen Ning’s chest go all liquid, inside, but in a good way. Like soup. Maybe he should go to sleep.

“Goodnight,” Wen Ning says, at the door. Remembering at the last minute, he hands Wei Ying’s keys to Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan takes them, maneuvering Wei Ying so he doesn’t knock into the wall, kisses Wen Ning on the mouth once gently, and turns to half-carry Wei Ying down the hall to bed.

Wen Ning stares at the closed door for a full minute. The inside of his skull keeps making a sound like a rebooting computer.

What.

Nie Huaisang 💃💃💃

 lan zhan just kissed me????????????

                                                like w tongue???

                                                omg finally

no just??? goodnight???

I dropped wei ying off and he just

???????????????????????

                                                hell ya 3some gettit

 im really freaking out

                                                oh shit

                                                sry

                                                ill b over in 30 w vodka

 thank you <3

  Wen Ning wakes up and wishes he hadn’t.

He’s curled up in the faux-leather armchair he and A-Jie dragged from the side of the road when they moved in, the one that’s just big enough to let him manipulate his spine into the worst position ever. Drunk him is a trick ass bitch who tends to forget about joint pain. Across the room, Nie Huaisang is cuddling the leg of the coffee table. They probably won’t even have trouble touching their toes, today, but they’re going to complain about it as if they aren’t as a dancer in better shape than the rest of them combined. He’s also wearing one of Huaisang’s bras, the lace pink one they always foist upon Wen Ning when they want “help hoe-ing it up tonight, let’s GO.” Since neither of them ventured beyond Wen Ning’s living room, he’s not sure what sequence of events led to said bra-wearing. The clasp is digging into Wen Ning’s skin. At least it fits better than it used to. Wen Ning’s boobs were, unfortunately, huge. His phone is at four percent. Wen Ning fumbles to plug it in—he got the charger plugged into the wall, before he passed out, but he has a vague recollection of deciding the cord was too short and taking his phone to chair with him untethered—and winces as he taps the scratched screen. He’s got messages. Did he text people last night? He really, really hopes not.

Lan Zhan’s Brother 🎼

                      Hi, I was wondering if you were free this                                           afternoon? 

                      Nothing’s wrong, don’t worry!                       I got an interesting call from Wangji?

  Oh shit. Oh, fuck.

Wen Ning groans and buries his face in the cool oblivion of scuffed pleather.

[joshslater]

Quarantine & VR

5500-word story, so I used the Keep Reading feature for once. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

“Are you sure you’re OK with this?”

We were slowly driving through an eerily empty city center from my student flat next to campus on one side of town to Ethan’s flat on the other, with all my belongings stuffed in the back of the U-Haul. Not that I had so much stuff we needed one. I just moved into the state right before the semester started, but it was the cheapest rental we could get. No one is going anywhere with this lockdown in effect. We barely had time to read the syllabus before everything screeched to a halt. You thought we’d know by now how to handle pandemics, but nooo.

“I wouldn’t have helped you clear out your shit if I wasn’t. Bit late to ask now.” “Yeah, but it seemed like the polite thing to do.”

Ethan turned towards me and spoke with a more serious tone. “I’m really happy to have you stay at my place. I think I would go mad staying alone. Go mad or go home, and I don’t think being locked up with the parents would be better.”

He was about as new in the city as I was, but his aunt had moved out of an old apartment last year and his parents had decided to take over the lease. Apparently it was even cheaper than the student apartments and much larger, but further away from campus. Though where it was in the city didn’t really matter as long as this lockdown was going on.

“Someone else is out at least”, I said indicating out the window. Across the street, a police officer with a navy blue face mask followed our truck with his eyes. Or her eyes I guess. Hard to tell in uniform and mask. I don’t know why, but I found it a rather good look. I hate the flimsy paper masks, but these form-fitted ones kind of make you look more badass.

“Do you think he looks sexy like that?” he asked, as if he had the same thought. “It’s a bit dystopian sci-fi, but that’s not to say it doesn’t look good.” “Take next right. The one after is one way.”

The apartment had two bedrooms, a large living room, decent bathroom and kitchen. Ethan’s aunt had left some furniture, but overall there wasn’t that much stuff. Makes sense as he had barely been here a month. That’s how he had a sparsely furnished extra bedroom for me to use. This was only the second time I had been in the apartment. Ethan forced me to have a look in person before he allowed me to agree to stay with him. Now standing there with all my belongings in the truck outside and my student flat lease canceled, I realized we really didn’t know each other. I studied corporate finance and he medical computer science, whatever that meant. When I asked he tried to explain that almost everything in a hospital now has a computer in it, and a ton of work went into things like volumetric renderings of MRI scans and somewhere there I started to tune him out.

There really weren’t any overlapping circles between us, we studied completely different subjects, he was active in computer games and health, I was trying to get into the writing room of the student theatre company and looking to sign up in the cinema club. But both of us had the bright idea to start working in the student pub, and really hit it off during the start of school year party they threw for their workers. We decided to pick the same work schedule and found out we have the same taste in pop culture, music, books, movies.

And now I’m moving in with him.

He had the larger of the bedrooms with a queen-size bed in the middle, a desk with a few computers and screens set up, gaming computer chair, a reading chair. Basically his room was set up so he could live there except for visits to the kitchen and bathroom. My room didn’t have a desk, but a normal bed, an armchair that looked comfortable, and more wardrobe space than I would ever need. He told me that I could basically consider the living room as mine as well. It had two couches in front of a big flat screen. By the balcony door stood a workout bench and weights. Barbell, plates, dumbbells, and that kind of stuff. Apparently it wasn’t Ethan’s but his uncle’s, but that didn’t really make a difference here and now.

Moving my stuff only took a few runs up the stairs, so we were soon back in the truck, returning it to the rental place. Ethan really didn’t have to come with me, but he said that this would probably be the last adventure for a while, and decided to come along.

“You’re supposed to buy pizza and beer for everyone who helps you move, right? What do you fancy?” “I’d like… You know what? We’re not going to get out much, and you don’t look like someone on a strict diet. Oh, no offense!” “None taken.” “How about we both keep healthy macros and workout regimen while locked up. Instead of paying rent you can help me make sure I at least isn’t in worse shape when all this shit ends.” “Macros?” “Diet.” “Sure I can do that, if you show me what to do.” “It’s a deal then. I’d like one with Gorgonzola and ham.” “Come again?” “The pizza topping. I’m allowed one cheat day per pandemic.”

The pizza place was only a block away from the apartment. Just this one time it was great, as we walked back with one quattro formaggi and one bresaola. But it would be so much harder to eat whatever Ethan had in his plans knowing a real wood fire oven pizza was just four minutes walk away.

Unprompted Ethan started to tell his story over pizza. How his father was a successful businessman in Arkansas, but his hometown always felt too small for him. He talked about how he was making synth music in school. How that made him interested in computers. How, since it was such a small town, he had ended up on the football team without any desire or skill to actually play the game. How he had almost by accident found this education program and had looked forward to both leave Arkansas and to study. I too did a year be year recap of my life so far, up to how my girlfriend dumped me just before the summer. In a way that was lucky, because it made me feel free from obligations and actually do what I wanted.

It was 9:21 when I woke up from a knock on the door. I was a bit disoriented for a second until I remembered where I was. I was sleeping in the guest bed left by Ethan’s aunt. After the pizza we did continue to talk over beer all evening, but I didn’t feel any hangover. Just thirsty. It wasn’t that early in the morning anymore on the other hand. “Yep” I called out. “I’m making breakfast,” Ethan called out from the other side of the door. “Coming”.

It literally only took me seconds to get ready. Stand up. Sweatpants. T-shirt. Done. In the kitchen I saw Ethan had a similar fashion sense, but had gone for shorts instead. “Porridge is fine with you? It would be good if it is. Lots of fibers.” I couldn’t really recall if I liked porridge and told him as much. The porridge itself didn’t taste much, but with toppings I could get used to it. “With our schedule in our own hands I think it would be a good idea to start out with breakfast and work out. That way we can get it out of the way.” Sounded sensible enough.

I changed into shorts as well and made myself ready to do my part of becoming Ethan’s gym buddy. At a quick glance we didn’t look that different, Ethan and I. On one hand I never had that big of an appetite, but on the other I had never really done any sports, and had no gym experience, so I let Ethan guide me. He tested different motions and how many times I could do them with weights he selected and noted down the results in a notebook that would log my progress. It wasn’t at all as tiring as I thought it would be. “Oh, you’ll feel it tomorrow for sure.” We each took a shower, and I went back to my room to catch up on my reading.

A few hours later I was starting to think about lunch. More because I was getting tired of reading than actually being hungry, but I thought I should ask Ethan if he had a plan. The door to his room was open, but as I got closer it became apparent it was an oversight on his part. Splayed on the bed was Ethan, naked save for a pair of boxer shorts and a big VR goggles. His right hand was massaging his obviously erect dick through the fabric of his underwear. He must have followed his normal routine and forgotten I had moved in. I’m not a prude and do the occasional tug myself, like any student, so I was more embarrassed than shocked. As on autopilot, my mind decided to ignore Ethan and continue walking to the kitchen to assess the lunch situation, but another part of my brain decided to keep him in sight.

Walking without watching in an apartment I’ve been in for all of 18 hours predictably made me jam my toe into the door frame. In the corner of my eye I could see Ethan’s body spasm and ripping off his VR goggles as I yell out in pain and surprise. He stared right at me, eyes wide open and mouth ajar in an expression that was hard to read. Surprise for sure, but also something else in between horror and delight. Perhaps it was like the smiles and laughter after you have completely made a fool of yourself. My eyes were drawn to his, and I could feel my face twisted in pain. It was like time stood still, waiting for either of us to make the next move. Out of sheer momentum my mind continued ahead as if nothing had changed and blurted out “What’s your plan for lunch?” over whatever Ethan said at the same time.

“What?” and an awkward pause again. “I said would you like to try?” “I… What is it?”

Ethan put down the VR kit on the bed, quickly got up and stepped into his pair of shorts. His erection was still very much apparent. He pressed escape on one of the keyboards and the screen switched from one incomprehensible menu to another.

“It’s a virtual reality system. I’m using an open source environment system to render inputs from an interactive story engine controlled by a GAN AI system. I’ve been experimenting with regenerative NLP feedback loop plugins for it.” “I followed you all the way up to and including virtual reality system.” “It’s like a VR movie that is generated specifically for you. Here.”

He picked up the bulky goggles and held it out to me. It wasn’t just goggles, but a pair of headphones were built in, and there were a few additional sensors glued on. Hesitantly, and with a throbbing toe, I stepped forward and took the headset. It wasn’t as heavy as it looked. I put it on my head and as it settled into place a digital version of Ethan’s room wobbled into place as well. It was remarkably similar. The colors and patterns were all slightly wrong, but the layout of the room and placement of furniture was almost spot on. I assume he had measured everything at one point and put in the data somehow.

“Go lie on the bed.” Ethan told me. I very tentatively stepped towards the bed, and feeling my way there. It was somehow surprised to find a bed where the digital bed was, and although the visuals of the sheets didn’t quite line up with what I felt, if you just moved quick enough the illusion of actually being in the digital room felt very real.

“This is so weird.” “I’ll start a blank session for you.” “A what?”

Almost immediately a guy entered the room through the door frame. This must be some VR video recording or something because he looked completely real. About the same age as Ethan and I but more fit and, I’ll admit, better looking. He looked flush and sweaty, with his french crop unkempt as if he had just ruffled it. He wore a navy blue sweatshirt and sweatpant shorts. I couldn’t see further down from my position. “Fuck, that was so dope! I love getting pump like that, you know what I’m saying” He was stretching his arms in different ways. Then he zoned in on me, like he was actually looking me over. “Fuck, I love how you look, babe. Mind if I join?” I shake my head slowly. He breaks out in a big smile. I notice he has a bit of a sweatpants boner. Carefully he climbs into bed, next to me. There’s no vibrations of course, or heat or smell, but everything I see looks utterly convincing.

“Hey, are you OK?” “What the…”

I’m looking into Ethan’s face as he stands over me. Bewildered I pat my head.

“I removed it once the program stopped. Didn’t shake you from your sleep one bit. I guess it wasn’t that interesting for you.” “It was very convincing. I fell asleep?” “Perhaps moving stressed you more than you knew? Or it could just be, you know, how shit the world is right now.” “Fuck… I only wanted to ask about lunch.” “A bit late for that. It’s like four and something. Let’s wait an hour or two more and have dinner. Ok with you?” “Sounds dope.”

It was like neither of us wanted to talk about what had happened. I certainly had questions. Had I just fallen asleep like that? Perhaps he was right and I had been anxious about the move and how things would work out. And what was up with that program? It wasn’t gay, exactly, and it didn’t mean Ethan was gay, and if he was there wasn’t anything wrong with that. All of it was just so confusing. Perhaps Ethan was right to just pretend it didn’t happen. Poor guy. I walked in on him watching porn, and then I fell asleep when he tried to show his system. Watching the news on how ever more countries were shutting down was probably time better spent.

He had not joked about being sore in the morning. I woke earlier than in weeks feeling stiff as hell. I didn’t want to wake Ethan, but I couldn’t just lie there in agony, so I got up and did some bodyweight repetitions. Squats, push-ups, dips, and stuff like that just to get some blood flowing. It honestly felt great. Me doing morning gymnastics! Who would have guessed that a week ago? When I left my room I found out Ethan was already up, but didn’t want to wake me up.

“Dude, we need to sort that shit out. I’m ok with you making noise when you’re up. You live here.” “You live here too. What if whoever gets up first makes breakfast and wakes the other up.” “Yeah, dope. I’m down with that.”

We quickly worked out the kinks in our schedule. I would typically wake up first, do a quick workout routine in my room. Then set the breakfast and wake up Ethan. Then we would do workout together. We had different weights and number of reps, but we had very quickly settled on the same exercises, though Ethan was still adjusting my form ever so often. Ethan would then shower first while I did stretches. We then kept to ourselves until lunch. Ethan cooked for both of us. Depending on what we felt like and needed we would either go back to study or do something like shopping or that kind of stuff in the afternoon.

It was hard to keep track of time, but I think it was on a Sunday four weeks later when Ethan said during breakfast that he wanted to show me something he had worked on. He moved the workout bench and the barbell stuff to just outside his room and told me to lie down. The bar had no plates on it, and that’s how I’ve used it until two days ago when I started to add extra weight to it. Ethan emerged out of his room with the VR set in hand, and a trail of cables running in into one of his computers. “Here, give this a go.”

I was a bit surprised, given the last time, but I was also curious what he had to show. Once snugly fitted on my head I was transported into a real gym. It wasn’t a very large one, but a few people did their thing around me. He almost scared me, the guy with the french crop, when he called out “Hey, bro!” just to my left. He had the same navy blue sweatpant shorts as the last time, but his upper body was bare, glistening muscles. He took a step back and his eyes were scanning me up and down. “Dude, you look so fucking good! You’ve really been hitting the weights.” I smiled and immediately realized that I was smiling at an avatar that wasn’t actually there and couldn’t see me, but it’s amazing how good some positive reinforcement feels, even if it is from a program. Perhaps that was the surprise from Ethan.

“Here, show me what you got!”

He walked around me, through the couch I knew was there in the real room, and stood behind me. I leaned back fully on the bench and looked up. He stood over me, just behind my head, so all I saw was a navy blue bulge, some abs and pecs, and his face looking down on me. “Go on, I’ve got you.” I could somehow feel him standing over me. Was Ethan spotting me in the real world? Not that it matters with an empty bar. I grabbed it. It felt heavy. “Good. Give me 15.” He started counting as I lifted. “Slower on the way down. Keep control all the way. Ten more” As I was getting to fifteen he upped it a bit. “Come one! Five more!” As I sat the bar back I felt utterly exhausted. “Fucking awesome, dude!”

“You really went all out.” “What?”

I was lying on the workout bench but I wasn’t wearing any VR shit. I sat up and hit my head in the barbell.

“Fuck! Dude, what the hell!” “The idea was for it to be motivational, but you really took it to heart.” “It was fucking dope, bro. I’m so pumped. Guy was kind of cute too.” “You think?” “Fuck, yeah. I wish I had those pecs.” “You better start some supplements then, if you can’t even last a virtual session.” “What you mean, dude?” “It’s already lunch.” “Fuck dammit!”

I rubbed my head where I had hit it and looked around the room. It looked mostly like before, but the sun had clearly moved ahead. Fuck, I really felt pumped to get some reps in hard and really make a difference. Perhaps lunch, and then do my daily sets.

“You ok with shopping without me after lunch?” “Sure. You need anything?” “I… You said supplements.”

Fortunately for me I have a roommate that studies medicine, kind of. Well, he hasn’t actually gone to any of the classes yet, but he has the books, so he picked out some things for me to boost me. Some of it looked like medicine, in small plastic jars with scientific-sounding names that could just as well have been a frat house. Alpha-omega-manganese-BS-whatever. Some of it decidedly did not look like medicine. Enormous containers with lids that looked too fucking small, with names like amazing-gainz-ultra. He set up a regimen for me to follow, basically some stuff with every meal. I started right away that evening with something like a vanilla and chalk milkshake after dinner. I don’t know why, but something made me feel really good drinking it.

I slept fucking fantastic, and despite having done way more lifting the day before than ever I barely felt any soreness or anything. I probably woke up Ethan with my harder than normal pre-breakfast cardio. Lots of burpees and jumping jacks, so I almost felt guilty making breakfast while steaming sweaty, but whatever. Ethan had to remind me what supplements to take. I really should have written that shit down.

I had a strong deja vu while doing weights. It wasn’t until Ethan spotted barbell for me I realized that this was almost exactly what I had seen doing the VR shit. I looked up and saw Ethan standing over me similar to the guy, but Ethan was wearing grey sweatpant shorts and a red tank. I kind of wished he was topless as well, like the other guy.

“You ok down there?” “Fucking dope, bro”

I realized I must have zoned out a bit. What’s worse I could feel I rocked a hard erection out of nowhere. Rather than making a deal out of it, and run to the shower, I decided to pretend like everything is normal. Guys get boners all the times. He’s a guy, so he knows that. I even did a few extra exercises to really drive home that point. While Ethan took his shower I dared to lower my shorts and slowly stroke my dick. I haven’t cummed once since moving in with Ethan, which I realized was longer than I’ve gone in years. The days were blurring together. I hadn’t watched porn either since moving in. I’ve been too preoccupied with the move and everything else going on.

“All yours” Ethan said and closed the door to his room. I just froze. I was sitting on the workout bench, shorts by my ankles and dick in hand. He saw that. There is no way he didn’t see that. I could feel my face getting hot by embarrassment, yet I continued to sit there and stroke my dick. What the fuck is wrong with me. My mind flashed to Ethan, to the guy in the VR, to his bulge just above my eyes, to his abs to the barbell, to the free weights.

No. I got up and took a long shower, trying really hard to not think about anything. Just observing the tiles, the shampoo bottles, the soap. But there were the creeping thoughts that perhaps Ethan will find me a weird creep and kick me out. How would he do it? He’s been far too nice to be direct. Would he bring up this incident or would he just wait a week or something and over one lunch say something vague like we are not as good of a match as he hoped? Fuck. I needed to do something.

I couldn’t concentrate at all on the block on taxation I was supposed to read. Apart from the residual thoughts of unease I was beginning to see what a mistake it was to not cum in the shower. I was very close to surfing porn sites, but decided against it and ended up aimlessly browsing social media. I can’t really explain how, a hundred clicks that trended in that direction perhaps, but I got into the circles of fitness instagram people. Big arms, broad chests, and slinky stringers. Somehow I was hard again. Stealthily I walked back to the bathroom, locked the door, and started to jerk off in the shower. I’d been saving for a week and been hot all day, but somehow it took quite a while to shoot the load. My mind was a soup of barbells, Ethan, sweatpant shorts, vague old porn clips, and more recent instagram models. When I finally came it was like I’ve never orgasmed before in my life. Rope after rope shot out of me, the first few even hit the wall, and my hips involuntary thrust forward for each of them. I felt cleansed in a way, like a weight had been lifted from me. I couldn’t really understand why, though. Nothing had really changed.

I didn’t want to go back to my room and study. I rinsed the shower, got a pad and a pen, and went to the kitchen to get on top of the supplements. I decided to write down all the ingredients from the labels. I had just accepted Ethan’s plan uncritically. It’s probably fine, but I wanted to understand it. That’s where Ethan found me.

“Hey, dude. Already hungry?” “Yeah… No… I don’t know, bro.” “You don’t know?” “It’s like… Fuck. You saw, bro.” “Saw what? You jerking off?” He laughed and sat down. “You saw me doing it first.”

He was right, of course. I didn’t know how that could have slipped my mind.

“Was it porn?” I didn’t know why I asked that. I was curious, but it also felt a bit too personal of a question. “Yeah. Wanna see?”

Before I even had time to respond he continued “Let’s fill up your macros first and then I can show you. If past experiences are any indications you’ll take your time.” “Already jacked off today.” Why did I tell him that? “Even better”

Ethan had this ever changing dish where he would chop and fry vegetables like bell pepper, chili, garlic, ginger, onion, peas, and whatever else was around, pour in coconut milk and whatever spices you craved that day green curry or red curry for Thai, madras curry for Indian, Soy and miso for Japanese, anise and szechuan for Chinese, saffron and parmesan for Italian, and so on. Then serve it with pasta or grains or rice. I helped him prepare it, as I always do unless he started making it without telling me. This time however the air was different, filled with tension and awkward anticipation. He made it with chicken, lemon grass, and brown rice this time. We hardly spoke a word while cooking, and then continued to eat in silence. We both knew what was on my mind, and there wasn’t any question on the subject that wouldn’t be awkward. I was weirdly looking forward to trying out whatever it was he wanted me to try. I couldn’t explain why it felt so compelling to me. Just thinking about it made me hard. “You clean up here and I’ll go and set it up for you,” he said as soon as his plate was empty. “Yeah,” was all I could manage, and he left. I finished my plate as well, put the few things we’ve used in the dishwasher and went to his room.

His bed was made and on it was the VR headset and what I first though was a protein drink shaker. “Dude, is that a… fleshlight?” I asked him both with incredulity and genuine curiosity. Curiosity because a cable ran from it to one of the boxes on the floor that connected to his computers, and incredulity because I couldn’t believe he thought I would use one of his sex toys.

“Yes. No. Not exactly. It’s modified to connect into the haptic subsystem.” “Haptic?” “Force feedback” “It’s a vibrator, bro.” “Eh.. No. Well, not only. You’ll see.” “Why do you think I’d touch that, bro?” Though somewhere inside I knew I would. “It’s a brand new inset. You’ll be fine.”

I walked up to the bed and suddenly wasn’t sure what to do. I would need to at least lower my shorts and boxers to get the until-recently-fleshlight on my dick, but Ethan was still in the room. Not only in the room but almost studying me like a lab project.

“I’ll lie down?” “Got to strip first,” he said motioning towards my tenting shorts. He saw me hesitated and continued “Dude, I just saw you jerk off in the living room this morning”. I blushed and pulled down my shorts and boxers, and stepped out of them. “Shirt too,” he said. I removed that as well and stood naked in front of him. “Wow, you are making progress. Ok, on the bed and hook yourself up. Red dot up.” I climbed into the bed, as he told me, and grabbed the cyber-fleshlight and pushed it down on my hard dick with the red dot up towards my head. There was some sort of lubrication in it and it slid on with very little effort. It must have been heated as well, because the lubrication didn’t make it feel cold. I was given a nod from Ethan and put on the helmet over my eyes and ears.

The alternative version of Ethan’s bedroom was already there, waiting for me. I looked around and as far as I could tell everything looked like in the real world, except no Ethan of course. After half a minute, perhaps more, I was almost about to ask if he had started it when the French crop guy jumped in through the doorway, as if he was in a hurry. He was naked except for a pair of white, tight speedos that both highlighted his big package and created a reference point for his deep tan and made it look even deeper. There was a sheen over all his body, like he had been working out hard or oiled himself up, and he was breathing heavy. “Sorry, I’m late. I didn’t expect you so soon,” he panted. I didn’t know what to say. “You want me to help you with that?” he asked and nodded towards my dick. I looked down and saw a massive erection, easily twice my real size. “As an apology…” he continued.

“Yeah, sure bro.”

He made the cutest little jump of joy in response, and caught my smile. He composed himself and locked eyes with me. Then he started some sort of dance where all the movement was in his hips and abs. Then he added more of the upper body, still keeping eye contact. I thought I would hose him down with cum from my monster penis right there, so sexy was it. He smirked and moved closer. Still swaying he leaned forward and licked the head of my dick, which shot pleasure up my spine. He then started to circle the head with his tongue, before taking it into his mouth. The first few times were shallow, but then he stopped teasing and begun to really do down deep on the dick. In addition I could feel him alternate between stroking my hips, the insides of my thighs, and tugging my balls. Just as I was about to nut he stopped working on my dick and started to slowly run his tongue up my faint abs, circling my nipple. I was squirming in horny delight.

He was straddling me now, face to face. I couldn’t resist it any longer and reached to pull him towards me and kiss him on the mouth. There was a loud crack of plastic against plastic as our VR helmets collided. “Dude?” I was looking at the French crop guy who was moving his hands in front of his eyes. “Ethan?” I asked, suddenly realizing what was going on. The French crop guy looked bashful, did a little wave, and answered in not-Ethan’s voice “Yeah.”

“Did you just blow me?” “I wasn’t… No, it’s still the device.” I hesitated, considering briefly what this would mean. “Would you like to?”