#nothing sweeter than local honey

[readwritealldayallnight]

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, who from the moment he laid eyes on you, has only ever referred to you as his wife

You, this sweet little thing, running through the halls on base one day when you turn a corner and nearly run headfirst into the Lieutenant, who’s walking alongside Soap

“Oh! Sorry about that, sir.” You told him, never slowing down in your hurried pace as you snuck around his large frame and continued down towards whatever you were evidently late for

The only reason his gaze had followed your retreating form, was that unlike everyone else, you had met in his eyes when you spoke, even smiled warmly up at him

That one smile and he was done for

“Who was tha’?” The sergeant had questioned, seeing Ghost’s attention still fixated on you.

“Think that was my wife.”

“Yer what?!”

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, who makes it a point to let everyone know that you are in fact his wife

Well, everyone apart from you apparently

He would certainly never abuse his position as a Lieutenant, but some new recruit had the audacity to whistle at you as you walked by? Well 100 laps around the base don’t exactly run themselves

Another soldier saved you a seat next to him in a briefing? He can enjoy scrubbing toilet seats for the next week in that case

Someone actually had the bollocks to ask you for your phone number? Perfect, he needed a volunteer for demonstrating hand to hand combat to the recruits, medics on standby of course

By the time he properly introduces himself to you for the first time, it’s understood by everyone else around that you are, for all intents and purposes, Mrs Riley

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, who listens to you tell him your name in a voice that resembles music to his ears, hardly bothering to remember your last name, seeing as it’ll be changing soon enough anyway

“You can call me anythin’ you want, love.” His deep, gravelly voice had sent shivers down your spine, cheeky smirk widening beneath his mask. “So long as you call me, that is.”

By the end of your first date, (you were sitting alone in the dining hall and he wordlessly joined you what do you mean this isn’t a date) he’s wondering if you’ll insist on a ceremony or if he can sweep you away to the nearest courthouse and make this official, slipping a ring onto you finger and his cock into you

You had laughed when he put his number into your phone and named himself ‘Husband’, certain that the man was only messing with you, some kind of hazing that you apparently weren’t aware Lieutenants played on the new communications hire, but it was only fair seeing as he’d saved your contact under ‘Wife’

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, who is over the moon every time you play along, even if he knows you believe you’re only playing

“Ach, thanks Lt. Just what I needed.” Soap said, seeing Ghost’s approaching form enter the common room, holding a steaming cup of tea in each hand

“S’for my wife. Get your own.” The older man gruffly replied, sliding the mug onto the side table next to where you’re curled up on the couch, reading a book

“Aw, thank you honey.” You giggled, smiling up as him with an expression he thinks would taste even sweeter than honey if he were to run his tongue across your upturned lips

“Happy wife, happy life, sergeant.” Ghost shrugged, ignoring the other man’s pout, landing next to you and reaching an arm behind you across the back of the couch

“God, maybe I really should keep you.” You’d laughed, reaching a leg out to dig your socked toes into his muscled thigh, teasing him

Grasping your foot into his large, strong hands, he began massaging it, uncaring that you were only two of the many people in the common room, not when you looked at him like that, smiling together as though you truly were nothing more than a married couple

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, who surprised you one day, insisting he needed your help with something crucial off base, and drove you to a local shopping outlet to look at none other than dresses

“Is there some sort of party happening?” You’d questioned, confused out of your mind

“Suppose you could consider it a party.” He’d answered, leading you through the many racks of dresses, you noticed were all, very conveniently, white

“Now while you’re lookin’ through dress sizes,” he’d added, taking your left hand in both of his. “You know your ring size? Got my own shoppin’ to do ‘round here.”

Series masterlist

[readyforthegarden]

It's the Great Pumpkin, Danny Wagner!

Pairing: Danny Wagner x F!Reader

A/N: I was already planning a cute autumnal fluff with Danny for @hearts-hunger and their halloween prompt list (#3 pumpkin patch and #4 apple orchard), and then he decided to go ahead and do all these adorable fall boyfriend tiktoks. Please enjoy this sweeter than apple cider fluff!

Warnings: Implied smut at the beginning, but nothing too spicy! Just fall fluff!

wc: 2300

You were floating through a bright orange and pink sunset, the wind sweeping your hair. Your arms were spread out on either side, though they were normal, you could feel fluttering, as if the air was moving through feathers. Blissfully happy, is what you would call the feeling bubbling in your stomach. 

“Honey,” turning your head, looking around the sky for the deep, soft male voice that echoed around you. You couldn’t see anyone in the wispy clouds around you. “honey, wake up.” The sky began to disappear as your consciousness returned to you. You could feel the drag of something across your cheek, warm and firm, something softer pressing against it in it’s wake. 

Blinking your eyes open, a smile tugged at your lips as Danny came into slightly blurry view. Raising a hand up and wiping the sleep from your eyes, he came into focus, a crooked smile greeting you.

“Good morning, sunshine.” you yawned, letting the hand that had dutifully cleared your vision reach out and tousle the silky curls on his head. Playfully, Danny swatted your hand away, only to clasp it in his and press kisses to the skin. “What did I do to deserve this wake up?”

“Just love you,” Danny hummed, tucking your hand into his chest as he leaned forward, brushing his nose against your cheek again and kissing it. “I have an entire day planned for us.”

“You do?” stretching your body out, Danny took the opportunity to wrap his arms around your body, placing himself directly above you and smattering your entire face with small kisses. “Danny!” Between your giggles, your body relaxed, accepting his affections. You welcomed his hips between your legs, feeling him settle against you.

“Mhm,” he hummed, pressing his lips to yours, his movements become less rushed as he trailed his lips down your neck. “I was going to start with your favorite coffee, but I think I have a better idea to start the day.” his hands shimmied up under the shirt you wore, one of his cut up old t-shirts. 

“I think this is better than coffee anyway.” the words spilled from your lips and Danny hungrily ate them up, kissing your lips once again and waking your whole body up for the day.

After well-deserved shower, you were sat in the passenger seat of Danny’s car, the wind whipping your hair around with the windows down, though you didn’t mind the chill. A warm latte was clutched in your hands, resting atop the hand Danny had splayed on your thigh as he drove. He was wearing his fair isle burnt orange sweater, one of your favorites and one that you attempted to grab before he could while getting dressed. Instead, he’d found one to match, gifting it to you as he swiped his well-worn sweater out of your hands.

He had told you where he was taking you was a surprise, but it was hard to keep once you saw the sign for the local farm, their orchard teeming with apples and pumpkins ripe for the picking.

“Are we going apple picking?” you turned to face Danny, grinning from ear to ear. His eyebrows raised excitedly from behind his square sunglasses as he glanced from the road to you.

“We’re doing anything you want, honey.” Danny grinned back when you squealed with delight. You’d been talking nonstop about missing the cider mills back home, the pumpkin patches and bushels of apples you’d bring home to make homemade apple butter, jams and pies with. 

“I hope you’re ready to carry the biggest pumpkins to the car.” 

“Been lifting the couch all week just to prepare.” 

Soon you were parked on the matted down grass of the farm, and it took everything in you not to shoot out of the car towards the orchard, already trying to spy the best apples. You set your latte in the cup holder, quickly undoing your seatbelt and getting out, waiting for Danny to meet you at the front of his car. Eagerly taking his hand, you pulled him to the makeshift register booth, where you could purchase admission to the various activities the farm ran. 

You had thrust a large wooden bushel basket into Danny’s arms as soon as you could, taking off the the trees. 

“They have spies!!” you twisted around excitedly after reading the signs, watching Danny blink in confusion, looking around.

“What? Like they’re making sure we’re not eating their stock?” you laughed, pointing to the tree line in front of you.

“No! They’re a type of apple.” explaining as you went to one of the trees, gently taking one off the branch. You lifted it to your nose, smelling the sweetness through the skin. “My grandma always made her pies with spies. They’re the best.”

“We’ll just have to get enough for a few pies, then.” Danny grinned, setting the basket down and reaching up to start searching for the cream of the crop. The two of you spent more than a few hours going through the various apples, getting a peck of jonamacs and a peck of honeycrisp for snacking. He made sure you could see all the apples you wanted, lifting you up onto his shoulders a few times when you saw a good one higher than you could reach.

You were meticulous about the apples you picked, something that would annoy most for how much time it took, but to Danny, it was endearing. He watched you as you closely inspected the skin of the apples before picking, looking for any markings of worm or bird pecks, your lips pursed as if contemplating the universe with each apple. 

“Sorry in advance for the mess in the kitchen for the next week or so.” you began as you and Danny walked back from depositing the apples into the car. “I’m going to be cooking and baking so much to make sure none of these go to waste. I’m afraid my eyes may have been bigger than my recipe book.”

“Well, we can always give a few to Jake, he’ll have something to do with them.” Danny shrugged with a smile, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as you headed towards the pumpkin patch. 

“I’ll enter a bake off with Jake.” you joked. “I could beat him.” Danny laughed, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“Don’t tell him I agree, okay?” your giggle was infectious, making him laugh again. “Alright, we need pumpkins for the front porch, for carving, and for seeds so we can roast them.”

“That one!” your arm shot out, pointing across the field. Taking off towards it, Danny had to near-sprint to keep up with you. You came to a halt at possibly the largest pumpkin either of you had ever seen.

“Honey, I don’t,” Danny had to pause, trying to wipe the smiling smirk off his face at your excited look. “I don’t think that’s gonna fit in the car. Especially with the apples.” a pout came across your face as you walked around the massive pumpkin towards him. Once you were directly in front of him, you looked up through your lashes, batting your eyes.

“I thought you said anything I want today?” Danny cupped your face in his hands, the tip of his nose bumping yours.

“I said we would do anything you wanted, not that you would get anything you wanted.” you took a long breath in, letting out a dramatic sigh as he rolled his eyes. 

“But what if it’s The Great Pumpkin, Danny Wagner?” you asked teasingly. 

“Then all the more reason to leave him in the patch to prepare for Halloween night.” Danny reasoned back. “Let’s find a slightly smaller one. We have to get quite a few, we don’t want to leave a spot empty.”

“Fine,” you quietly huffed, though there was a playful smile on your face. Bouncing up onto your tiptoes, you pressed a quick kiss to his lips, turning quickly away to find the next best pumpkin. 

The sun began to fall from the sky as you loaded a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins of all sizes and shapes, picking a few that were specifically for making truly homemade pumpkin pies. “I promise, I’ll buy some canned pumpkin as a backup.” you swore, knowing that pumpkin pie was serious business around the holidays. You walked behind Danny as he carted the wheelbarrow over to the cashier, who laughed at the amount of gourds you were purchasing. After helping Danny load them into the trunk (begrudgingly admitting he was right, and The Great Pumpkin would not have remotely fit, even with the back seats folded down), you headed back one last time.

“Can we get something to eat?” you glanced up at Danny. “We forgot to have lunch between the apple and pumpkin picking, it’s nearly dinner time.”

“Yeah, there’s a few food trucks here for the weekend, let’s see what they’ve got.” Danny grasped your hand in his, rubbing his thumb against your cool skin, warming it up as he pulled your towards the trucks, the lights in the trees and hung around the farm starting to pop on the the dusk.

“Ooh, grilled cheese!” you pointed at one the trucks. “And tomato soup, can we split that?” 

“That sounds good, let’s go.” Danny took you to the truck…and then you ended up going back, half a grilled cheese not being enough for either of you, especially with how good it was. Once full, you found yourselves on the back of a hayride, going through the orchard again. You took the opportunity to snuggle into Danny’s side as the tractor puttered through the trees and to the pastures, where you sat up and cooed at the cows and horses and sheep. 

Danny kept his arm around you the whole time, rubbing your upper arm to ward off any chill, pressing small, lingering kissed to the side of your head. You couldn’t help but gaze up at him from time to time as the night air curled you in closer to his side, taking in his striking features and thinking about how you got just so lucky to end up with someone who cared in the same ways you did. 

Ever the gentleman, Danny got off the hayride first, holding his hand out to you to help you down off the wagon. Then he ended up helping everyone off the wagon, smiling politely and helping the small kids jump down without being hurt. 

“Feel like some hot cider and a couple donuts before we hit the road?” Danny asked once he was free, rubbing his cheek where an older woman had pinched it. His sunglasses rested on top of his head now, keeping his curls in place as the wind blew up again. 

“I would be upset if we came all this way and didn’t get any!” you replied, clasping hands with him once again. While waiting in line, you went through a few photos you’d taken that day on your phone, showing Danny a few that you really liked, and trying to quickly swipe away from the ones you took of his bottom as he had bent down to pick something up.

“Make that one your lock screen.” he joked, pointing at one where his jeans hugged his rump especially tightly. 

“Bet.” you giggled, putting your phone away as you made it to the counter. Once the two of you had your goodies, you found a small bench, sitting down and enjoying your treats together. You once again were thinking about how lucky you were to be sharing time with this man. Who was just as excited as you to do cheesy, holiday things, regardless of his big rockstar status. Who wanted to wear matching sweaters and pick apples and help you make pies and jams. 

Danny was made for falling in love, that you were sure of. Watching his hazel eyes sparkle in the warm toned fairy lights that hung in the trees, their deep orange and vibrant red leaves glowing. The smile that remained on his lips as he burned them on the still steaming hot cider cupped in his hands, licking them quickly to soothe the sting. The way his curls bounced as he turned to watch a few kids scurry past, shrieking and giggling from the last kid-friendly corn maze of the night. Danny was love personified; safe, warm and intoxicating. 

“What are you looking at?” you snapped out of your thoughts as you caught Danny staring at you, his crooked smile now aimed at you. He took a bite of his donut as he waited for your answer, quirking an eyebrow playfully.

“You,” you answered. “and I’m just thinking how lucky I am to have fallen in love with you.” Danny grinned, leaning over and pressed his lips to yours, leaving a small dusting of cinnamon sugar in his wake when he finally parted that you eagerly licked up with a soft laugh.

“I think about that all the time.” Danny admitted, his cheeks blushing. “Not-not how lucky I am that you’re in love with me…which I am! But I mean how lucky it is that I fell even harder for you.” your cheeks flushed. You both had admitted to loving one another before, but this time, it felt more real, more grounded than just something romantic to say.

“Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we go home? I just want to end the perfect day snuggling on the couch with my perfect guy.” Danny grinned widely, nodding and grabbing the shopping bag with cold cider for the rest of the week and your free hand in his, ready to end the perfect day snuggling on the couch with his perfect girl.

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @demonrat444 @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal

@allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet@gold-mines-melting @earthgrlsreasy @mountain-in-springtime @forcebond301 @stardust-and-shadows @llightmyllovee @gretavangroupie @comesofarsomehow @starcatcherkiszka @indigofallingsky @hellowgoodbye @hearts-hunger

[celestial-vapidity]

Ok fine, I'll make playlists for every route. Here's Donna's! Hey @shortstrawberry come yet yall juice!

I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie (How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me [...] I will possess your heart)

Gnaw by Alex G (Dry your eyes, I won't tell your mother, she won't ever discover the things you kept under the covers, and please don't cry)

Going to Georgia by The Mountain Goats (The most remarkable thing about coming home to you is the feeling of being in motion again)

Riches and Wonders by The Mountain Goats (We write letters to each other, invent secrets to confess to, I learn foreign terms of exotic endearment by which to address you)

Ghosting by Mother Mother (I've been ghosting alone, ghost in your house, ghost in your arms)

Piazza, New Your Catcher by Belle and Sebastian (Oh, elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze, a trail for the devil to erase [...] I love you, I've a drowning grip on your adoring face)

Sarah by Alex G (She loves me like a dog, and when we mess around I'll let her know the truth I found)

Local Honey by AL Riggs (Nothing sweeter than local honey, nothing sadder than a local death)

Butch 4 Butch by Rio Romeo (The music we make is unnatural, but it sounds just like falling in love)

Underground by Kimya Dawson (I cannot disguise the fact that I'm nervous when we are together, and so I fantasize that the nights will get shorter and the days will get better)

Sex with a Ghost by Teddy Hyde (I'm having sex with a ghost, cause she knows I'm alone)

[evereinefaust]

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 ࿐ྂ

Pairing: Kiba Inuzuka X afab!Reader

Synopsis: After training, MC and Kiba spend the afternoon eating their favorite snack at the local candy shop.

Word Count: 1,380

You were sitting on a tree branch, watching your boyfriend train with his dog. Smiling, you leaned on the trunk with three shurikens between your fingers. Without any hesitation, you threw the blades at Kiba. The Inuzuka heard the sounds of the blades coming his way. When he turned to face the shuriken, he smirked before swiftly evading the attack, landing on a tree branch near to yours.

"That is one cheap trick, [Name]" Kiba smirked at you, revealing his fang. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Oh come on, Kiba. I'm just improving your skills" You retorted then stood up on the branch. "Why won't you train with me? I know that you're a better shinobi than me" He said, standing on the branch as well.

"Maybe later, Inuzuka" Your eyes trailed down the grass. "After we have some fun!" You chimed then jumped off the branch. Kiba smiled at your cheery behavior. "Okay, [Name]. As you wish" He rubbed his brown hair and then jumped down the tree, followed by his dog.

"Okay, hime, what should we do today?" Kiba grabbed your hands and gave it a tight squeeze, locking eyes with yours. "Let's go and visit Haku's sweet shop. I hope there's a [f/f] odango candy" You smiled, stealing a kiss from him. "Okay! Let's go!" You pulled away then skipped off with his hand on yours.

You, Kiba, and Akamaru left the forest and went into the village. The two of you were walking side by side, hand in hand, with the white dog following behind, chatting and joking while on your way towards the local sweet shop.

Once the three of you arrived at the shop, you smelled the delicious aroma of the [f/f] odango candy. "Haku-san!" You called as you, Kiba, and Akamaru entered inside. "Ah! [Name]-san! Kiba-san! Welcome!" A young man in his twenties greeted the two of you. He has medium black hair, and fair skin and wears a plain white top and black pants. "Hello, Haku" Kiba smiled at the man.

"Please have a seat, I will be preparing your usual orders" The black-haired man flashed the two of you a smile before entering inside the kitchen. You and Kiba followed his instructions and sat near the door. You placed your elbows on the wooden table and rested your cheeks on your palm, staring at the male in front of you. You smiled at him.

"What's on my face?" He asked, giving you a confused expression, one brow raised and lips a bit curved down. "Nothing, honey~ I'm just wondering if you can be a sweet person" You smile with your eyes closed and swing your legs under the table. "I really can't understand you and your childish behavior... Geez....." He rubbed his head and then averted his eyes somewhere else.

"But that's the reason you loved me, right?" You said, still staring at him. "Well, you can say so. Maybe..." He hesitated to answer at first. Knowing your other secret side, the manipulative side. You smirked. "Let me make you a bit sweeter to reduce your bitter personality. "I'm not bitter nor sweet..." He retorted, giving you an unamused expression, resting his cheek on his palm.

"Okay then, do you believe that there's a forever?" You challenged him, sly smirk crept on your lips. "There's no forever, [Name]. Since we die eventually" He sighed at your stupid question. "Not that forever. Forever in love, I mean" Your brows twitched but you remained calm. "Either, [Name]. Some believe that love's not forever, some believe that there is" Kiba answered finally.

"Just like I said, I'm neither bitter nor sweet" He slyly smiled, and you removed your elbows and then smiled too. "Fine, but you can't complain when I turned you sweeter..." You stated. Kiba opened his mouth to argue but you stopped him. "... It's my decision, right?" You grinned at him. He scoffed, that's what he hated with your manipulative side. You always win in arguments, manipulating his answers.

"Your orders are here, [Name]-san, Kiba-san" Haku came back with two plates, one plate consists of 100 odango candies. One has [f/f] odango candies and the other has a mint flavor. Haku placed the plates down the mouth-sized sweets and looked at the two of you with a proud smile. "Also, I have some for Akamaru" He placed a white cloth with some odango candies on the floor. Akamaru didn't hesitate to munch on the candies.

You chuckled while watching the white dog devour his snacks. "Okay, I'll leave the two of you here" Haku flashed you a wink before heading back to the kitchen. You understand what he meant and you smirked inside. Kiba grabbed one small candy and put it inside his mouth, chewing, and savoring, before finally swallowing.

You grabbed one candy and shoved it inside your mouth, savoring each time you bit on it. You noticed Kiba enjoying his little snacks, eyes closed. An idea popped inside your head as you smirked, you grabbed one [f/f] Odango candy and put it inside your mouth. You waited for Kiba to finish his candy before you made a move.

"Sometimes, when you always eat the same thing all over and over again, you will get tired of it" He stated then looked at you. Without any warning, you leaned your face to him, forcing him into a kiss. His eyes widened at your sudden action as cheeks started to heat up. While you stayed in that position with closed eyes.

Kiba is still frozen in his spot, you took this as an advantage then leaned more aggressively as he moaned. You slipped your tongue in his mouth, letting him taste the melted [f/f] flavor of your candy. When Kiba noticed your need, he didn't hesitate to kiss back and started a tongue battle.

The two of you continued the passionate kiss for a moment and then parted for air. You pulled back a bit, your mouth was still open as saliva hung between yours and Kiba's mouth. You panted for air as your cheeks were still dark red. After that, you leaned back in your chair and fixed yourself.

"That was one cheap trick again, [Name]" Kiba barked at you. "You said it yourself, I have a manipulative side. Whenever I want something from people, I manipulate them to give it to me" You retorted. "And also--Mhm!" You didn't have the chance to construct your sentence when Kiba leaned on you, forcing you for a kiss.

Your eyes widened in surprise as his tongue made its way into your partly open mouth. A taste of mint in his tongue, and you couldn't help but taste it. You looked at his eyes and they showed challenge, you smirked then furrowed your brows in determination to win the challenge.

You roughly kissed back, earning a grunt from him. But Kiba didn't want to lose, his tongue explored every corner of your mouth until he found a special place. He aggressively licked that part, gasped then he continued on his work. Every time he returns to that part, you let out a moan.

After some time, you quickly broke and then gasped for air, panting as sweat beads decorated on your face. You looked at a grinning brown-haired male and glared at him. "That is unforgivable," You said in a venom-filled voice. "Eh~? Why? Can't I do that to you too? You're not the only one who can be manipulative, you know. And you also said it yourself, you manipulate people to give you what you want. Isn't that what you want?" He said.

You grimaced and then hissed under your breath. Kiba chuckled and earned your attention. "What?" You snapped, crossing your arms in frustration. "Nothing, now you achieved your goal," He said. You tilted your head in confusion at his statement. He chuckled again. "Remember what you said? That you're going to make me sweeter? Well now I became one" He smiled. You smiled back. "You're right" Then leaned again to give a quick peck on the lips.

[mithrilhearts]

I'd like to know more about "heartstones" and "sweeter than honey" please 👀💕

HARAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for asking about these two in particular!! I know I've talked about them on my blog before, but it's time for a refresher, especially after I've given them a lot more thought since the last time (or maybe I haven't, but let's go anyway!)

Heartstones - Soulmate AU/Erebor never fell

Dwarves are all born with a grain in their hands, that over time, grows into a crystal/rock, which gains its color and meaning upon meeting their soulmate. Whereas hobbits are born with a seed, that does the same thing, it grows, and only sprouts its flowers/leaves/whatever when meeting their soulmate. Like, meeting that person triggers the gem or plant into completion. Neither Thorin, nor Bilbo, are born with their respective items, making them outliers to their race - but they aren't born with "nothing", at the very least. Moving on, Frerin insists that Thorin's heartstone or heartcraft (as not all dwarves are destined to have a romantic soulmate), is out there, and they just have to go manually find it. He leads Thorin and a few of their guard, west, in hopes of searching the areas beyond the Misty Mountains - and Bilbo is named as their host during their stay. 👀

Sweeter Than Honey - Modern AU, Beekeeper!Bilbo/Lumberjack!Thorin

Bilbo Baggins is a beekeeper, owner of the best local honey farm that sells honey themed goods and what not, and has been for years. Lately, the surrounding land to his bee sanctuary has been bought up by a logging company that's migrating west (owned by Thror Oakes), which of course, means his grandson Thorin, works for him. Ultimately, Thror is hellbent on taking over Bilbo's land, it has some of the oldest and largest trees, and there are many businesses that are up and coming that would love the cleared land for development - for a handsome price. Bilbo is not keen on selling. A budding relationship between Beekeeper and Lumberjack ensues, and decisions of loyalty need to be made. Or, the cozy cottage core AU I didn't know I needed.

Ask about my WIPs!

[give-me-a-minute-to-think]

give me a minute, say, what is your favorite fic? (of any fandom)

hope u have a good day :)

oh my gosh, first of all, this is such a cute name for me, thank you babe.

and ummm as for my fave fic, i don't know if i can pick one?? but u can be sure im gonna take ur ask and use it as the perfect excuse to infodump all of you with my fave fics!!

so!

as for a start, i could not put any fic other than World Ain't Ready by @idiopath-fic-smile of course. this is probs my Actual Favorite Fic but i never was into les mis so im kinda reluctant to count it bc this one just doesn't feel like a fic to me, but more like an original story. also i want to link more fics shut up and let me have this.

next up we have love and other fairytales by @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors, another monster that feels more like a stand alone piece from how good it is. just. so good.

rebel, rebel by @basic-banshee, a fic that made me worry i wont enjoy wayward son bc it was That Good

KNEE DEEP by @plumcat which made me unable to breathe for like a solid half hour.

nothing sweeter than local honey by @karliahs which gave me writer envy like no tomorrow and aspired me to write more

reciprocity by @bubonickitten which was so beautiful it almost made me cry (so! much! serotonin! my head was bazzing for hours man i could not cope)

and finally, A Lion's Heart Lullaby by @uselessbreadcrumbs. this one also technically is not a fic for me, bc im not a fan of bts, and never were. but i had to include it even if im reading it as an original story and not as a fic bc maaaaan is it Beautiful. i cant its just so good. (warning - not finished yet. i promise i will let you all know when it is. like, i wont shut up about it. i promise.)

and that's it! was fun. bye have a nice day!

[lvckwielder-m]

tag dump ♥️

[cloudykyu]

— [1:15 pm] he loved the chase as much as he adored you. from the moment he laid eyes on you, mark knew he had to make you his.

from your laugh that rings light sounds of bells in his ears to the gentle way you carry yourself, he was enamored by every bit of you. particularly, the way you wore your glasses at the end of your nose which caused you to constantly scrunch it in a way that mark couldn’t handle.

so he pursued you. and it worked. it started with a small date to a boba shop filled with conversations that flowed easily despite only sharing a few words beforehand. then it was a romantic dinner date that johnny help him set up which solidified the bond you two were creating. many many many more dates later, mark felt content and accomplished with you walking next to him as you two made your way through the local fair.

you were munching on the funnel cake that mark bought you, enjoying the overly sweet taste that danced along your tongue just like the even sweeter boy in your company. you were scarfing your treat down because you desperately wanted to hold his hand, but mark told you to slow down since he’s always gonna be next to you for you to hold.

the past month with mark has been a dream. he embodied everything you wanted in a partner: caring, gentle, persistent with the way he asked you out that first time, and lastly you felt safe whenever you were with him. it really was only a matter of time before the two of you became official, but you were starting to think that it would come later than you expected. the thing about mark that you’ve come to learn is that he takes his time. he never does anything unless he’s 100% sure that it’s what he wants. but geez, do you wish he’d hurry it up a little. you can only be his friend who holds his hand for so long.

“do you even like me mark?” you ask, the sun shining down on the two of you making you feel brave. “be honest.”

the boy in question comes to a complete stop in front of the ferris wheel, looking at you like you’ve gone crazy. you look back at him with curious eyes and mark can tell that you were being serious. “I’m literally in love with you, y/n. from the moment I met you, but go off I guess. not like I take you on these dates for nothing.”

laughing, you attempt to hide the blush that adorns your cheeks. heart picking up a little faster than normal, and it’s definitely not from the sugar you just inhaled. “sorry I didn’t see that you liked me so much” you joke. “I don’t have my glasses on.”

mark let’s out one of those laughs, where his whole face contorts. once he calms down, he grabs both of your hands in his and stares you right in the eyes. “y/n,” he starts off, honey dripping from those eyes you always got lost in. “will you give me the honor of being your boyfriend?”

smiling wide, you tackle the boy into a hug and pull back to plant a fat smooch on his lips which leaves him stunned. “I thought you’d never ask, mark lee.”

tagging: @deputyjuyeon​ @wonjaems​ @changminurheart​ @exfolitae​ @lilacdreams-00​ @nycol-ie​

[mittensmorgul]

14 years since Cas raised Dean from perdition, and to celebrate Dean takes him to the renaissance festival. Dean just wants a turkey leg, but Cas thinks they deserve something sweeter.

also on ao3

“Turkey legs?” Cas asked, as Dean carefully pulled the Impala into a dusty field in a long line of cars creeping toward the flag wielder impatiently waving them toward the next parking spot in the long row.

Dean shrugged and glared at the people in the minivan now parked beside them in case they had any thoughts about just flinging their doors open in their haste to get into the rennfest. They didn’t even seem to notice him, but they also didn’t bash their doors into baby’s side panels, so Dean let it go and turned back to Cas.

“Well, yeah, it’s a tradition. But they got other stuff too. Pork chop on a stake, chicken on a stake, sausage on a stake—”

“It seems like they impale everything,” Cas said thoughtfully as he and Dean climbed out of the car. “That does sound a lot like the middle ages.”

Dean grinned at him and threw his arm around Cas’s shoulders, and they followed the crowd toward the festival’s entryway. About half the crowd was dressed in various costumes, some of which fit the period while others were bafflingly out of place.

“Dean, why is that entire group dressed in Roman togas?”

Dean shrugged. “No idea, but they at least look comfortable. Unlike that pirate dude dressed in head to toe leather and a full length wool coat. He’s gotta be roasting in there.”

Cas bought a paper cone filled with cinnamon roasted nuts, and then Dean dragged him off toward the jousting arena. He chose their seats by some metric Cas couldn’t understand at all, and then leaned in to snag a few nuts for himself.

“See you gotta pick the dude you wanna root for, and sit in his section,” Dean said. “And look at that dude,” he added, pointing at a tall man with long flowing hair atop a brown and white horse. “He looks like a winner.”

Cas frowned at the man as he rode his horse past, and couldn’t fault Dean’s choice.

“If nothing else, he’s extremely attractive,” Cas murmured back entirely seriously before refocusing on the squire introducing the crowd to the rules of the games.

Of course, that was exactly why Dean had picked that particular rider’s section, but it took a lot of the fun out of it if Cas felt the exact same way. At least their rider won the trick riding contest, hanging upside down over the side of his saddle as his horse galloped around the arena.

“So, turkey leg time?” Dean asked, rubbing his hands together as they left the jousting arena.

Cas frowned, looking at all the food choices available, and spotting a local winery booth selling mead.

“They have honey wine,” Cas said, walking off toward the booth without even checking that Dean was following. Of course he was, and when he caught up, he protested.

“Dude, we gotta get food first, then drinks.”

Cas stopped in his tracks and glanced around, making an abrupt turn toward the nearest food vendor.

“One cheesecake on a stick, and one key lime pie on a stick, please,” Cas said, getting out his wallet and paying for the frozen treats.

He turned and handed the pie to Dean with a smile. “Here, it’s pie, and it’s food. And it should go very well with a nice glass of mead.”

Dean eyed the turkey leg booth longingly, but they had all day, and he wasn’t about to argue with pie. He took it, and gave Cas a kiss right there before taking a bite.

“Have I told you I love you lately?” Dean asked before taking a bite of frozen pie and letting out a satisfied hum. He watched Cas carefully taste his cheesecake, and then quietly added, “because I do.”

Cas smiled at him and slowly led him back to the mead seller. “Is it because I bought you pie?”

“It’s because everything, Cas.” Dean pulled him to a stop before they reached the mead booth again, and very quietly added, “Happy anniversary. Fourteen years since you pulled me out of hell, and being with you now is so much better than heaven.”

A man walked past them on tall stilts, towering above them, announcing a show starting at a nearby theater stage, and breaking them out of their little bubble. Cas blinked, and then hurried him back into line.

Dean was so happy to be there with Cas he even drank the honey wine instead of a beer. Cas was right all along. The best way to celebrate was with something sweet.

(and a link to my other deancasversary fic)

[theskywaslookingback]

tma fic recs please ? 🤲🏽

Oooooo yes! I never get asks like this, thank you!

[my tumblr fic recs tag is here for browsing]

I had to put it under a cut because it got...entirely too long barely half an hour into making it, sorry.

Under 5k

means of cartharsis by orphan_account [G] [965]

“You’d think – you’d that at this point nightmares would be second nature for me, hm?” Martin says, forcing a smile even as he tugs the blanket tighter around his trembling shoulders.

It’s meant to be a bit funny. Instead of laughing, though, Jon frowns.

“No,” he says simply, and matter-of-factly wipes the moisture from Martin’s cheeks with a tissue like he’s a crying child.

A Proper Sleepover by Goodluckdetective (scorpiantales) [T] [1.4k]

In a different world, one where Elias is not waiting for them outside the Lonely, everyone has a chance to savor a moment of respite. As much as they can get these days. If only to talk about things that long need to be spoken.

“Basira says we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” Jon says without looking up. “Safer. So we can keep an eye out for intruders and also each other.”

“So we’re having a proper sleepover then?”

Jon scoffs. “Technically we’ve been having a proper one for months.”

where i go, when i go there by rainny_days [T] [1.7k]

Martin wants Jon to hold his hand. Martin doesn't want Jon to hold his hand.

It's complicated.

all the other ways by AptlyNamed [G] [2.2k]

Jon loses his first soul mark when he is eight years old.

a palace from ruin by bibliocratic [G] [2.2k]

"What're you sorry for?” Martin asks.

“I should have asked,” Jon says finally. “I'd never.... you were always so private about him, so I mean, at first I wasn't sure he was even yours, but then – when you, when you went with Peter, and I – he was so small, and I thought he was h-half-dead. S-so I picked him up and I carried him. And I'm sorry.”

interiors by doomcountry [T] [2.7k]

In the doorway, he fumbles with his keys. Their sound is loud in the silent stairwell. You don’t remember getting here.

searching for a light (for a right) by Kalgalen [T] [2.7k]

Some people make the mistake of assuming he's naive about sex, for the simple reason he hasn't dated in a while. Tim has called him a prude, at one point, and implied that he was somehow afraid of the intimacy required by the act; he wasn’t entirely wrong, but this definitely isn’t the reason for Jon's disinterest and general bafflement toward what most people seemed to consider as "what makes them human".

Jon simply hasn't found the right person. That is all it is: high standards, and a reticence to let people in.

(In which Jon finds out society is wrong about what a romantic relationship should be.)

how to plant a garden in rocky soil by treeprince [T] [2.9k]

Sometimes you just need a good pair of hands to work out all the kinks in your life.

Good thing Martin has two.

A Weather In The Flesh by cuttooth [G] [3k]

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

*

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

I'll bring the motion by callmearctus [T] [3.1k]

A long series of kidnappings and international flights leaves its own special mark on someone. Before the Unknowing, Jon is a mess.

Martin helps.

A Bread Made In Heaven by Againstme [G] [3.3k]

Martin moves over and watches how his boyfriend handles the dough. He's awkward with it, tentative and gentle, as if he's scared of hurting it somehow.

"Is this, uh, am I doing this right?" Jon asks, still slowly stretching out the dough and folding it onto itself.

"Well," he says shifting closer to Jon again, "you could be applying more pressure. Here, let me help you out, dear."

Martin moves fully behind Jon, and reaches around him, putting his hands on top of his boyfriend's. Jon inhales sharply, but doesn't say anything else, just lets Martin's hand rest on top of his.

Martin's hands are bigger, but not big enough to entirely envelop the other's hands, and Jon's hands are much, much warmer than his own are. To see what they're doing, Martin moves his head to look over Jon's shoulder. Though he can't see his boyfriend's face from this angle, he can see how it is slowly growing red at the edge of his vision. He decides not to tease him on it, instead content with letting a smile spread across his face and slowly guiding their joined hands in the proper motion.

Or, Martin teaches Jon how to make bread.

stumbling and spinning by lady_mab [G] [3.3k]

“Things happened,” Jon says demurely, trying to untangle Gerry’s fingers, but it only results in him getting pulled in so Gerry can kiss him properly. “It’s not all that bad.”

“I suppose not,” Gerry says with a sigh, sitting back upright. “You somehow managed to snag an incredible boyfriend out of it.”

It takes a solid few seconds before realization clicks in Martin’s brain. “You mean me?” [...]

“You have to admit, Jon has great tastes,” Gerry teases.

nothing sweeter than local honey by beeclaws [T] [3.4k]

So Tim is content, one arm leaned into the spray, waiting for the water to warm, enjoying the feeling of homecoming underneath the gentle fuzz of jetlag, when he hears gasping, panicked breaths coming from the other room.

Tim and Jon, in the aftermath, relearning how to be okay.

When Words are Inadequate by Mugatu [T] [3.8k]

Meals and the preparation of are, for want of a better word, informative. Fact gathering. A place where they can fill in the gaps of their knowledge of the other.

Jon cooks for Martin, and they learn more about each other.

go softly by doomcountry [T] [4k]

And there is nothing else besides this.

Imago by cuttooth [T] [4k]

“Jon?” he asks tentatively, tightening his grip around the poker as it slips against his sweaty palm. The antennae twitch, and suddenly Martin knows that it’s Jon, the knowledge sliding into his mind in a surge of desperate affection, the same profound love he felt that first time he truly saw Jon in the fog of the Lonely.

“Oh,” he whispers. “It really is you.”

*

Jon changes, but he’s still the same to Martin.

shoreline by bibliocratic [G] [4.1k]

“Martin," Tim says kindly, tipsily, only mildly slurring. "Dearest, dearest Martin. You're wankered, babe. Last train to Stockwell fucked off hours ago because it is now piss off o'clock in the morning, and there's a sofa with your exact name on it at my place. Thought you said you wanted some handsome fellow to take you back to his tonight?”

Or: The OG Archive crew go drinking, Martin comes out, and gets some well deserved TLC. In that order.

get your epitaph right by bibliocratic [G] [4.2k]

Martin's daemon has tried on the shape of dogs and lizards and snakes and horses, and even – once, when he was younger and Mum took him to the seaside, a fish.

Martin's never seen his soul in the dressing of a spider before.

i've known the warmth of your doorways by beeclaws [T] [4.2k]

'I’m always in pain, Jon wants to say, even as he dismisses the thought as melodramatic. Between his growing collection of old wounds and scar tissue, the supernatural hunger for statements that hasn’t been truly satiated in months, and the unpredictable aches and strains his body threw off day by day long before he ever set foot in the Institute, some level of pain and discomfort follows Jon wherever he goes now. He is used to being in pain. He’s not used to someone holding his hand as he suffers through it.'

Jon catalogs the comforts he receives, and wonders how long he will be allowed to keep them.

lay down your weary head by Zykaben [T] [4.6k]

Jon has been running himself ragged, searching for every scrap of information he can possibly find about the Unknowing. He's exhausted and sleep-deprived but he can't bring himself to take a break, not now.

Luckily, Tim and Martin are there to make sure that their boyfriend gets the care and rest he needs.

only the sweetest words remain by bluejayblueskies [T] [4.6k]

This isn't how things are supposed to go, right? Jon remembers those ratty paperbacks from the charity shops, dime-a-dozen romance novels with broken bindings and yellowing pages and words that spoke of love and passion and sexuality in prose that was more than a bit too mature for someone whose age hadn’t yet reached double digits. Stolen glances turn into dinner dates turn into passionate kisses turn into…

Well, he’d never actually read those parts of the books, because it had all seemed so deeply uncomfortable and gross. But he got the picture.

Or, Jonathan Sims, on being loved

5k-20k

and they keep not letting go by Marianne_Dashwood [G] [5k]

It’s an electric feeling, something strange and new and familiar all at once, even though he has been holding Martin’s hand for most of the day. His stomach swoops, like he is standing on the edge of the precipice of realisation and staring into the void of unknowing. But at the same time, he does know. In this instant of contact between them, the last few years of cups of tea and small smiles and momentary glances, of panic and fear and only feeling safe with Martin’s solid presence in the room, despite his paranoia, rush into him, and oh, oh oh.

ready to call this love by yewgrove [G] [5.6k]

How is Martin supposed to tell Jon that he panicked, stupidly, when the lovely old lady down the village asked him what they were doing in this part of the world? Got the shopping! Oh, by the way, we're married now! Whole village thinks we're on our honeymoon, hope you don't mind!

Prenons-nous la main by luftballons99 [T] [6k]

They still haven't talked about it, any of it, not even to pass the time on the long train ride to Scotland. Instead, Martin fell asleep in the seat next to him, pressed into his side from shoulder to knee, and Jon thought about love confessions and verb tense and how the two fit together when you think you're dying.

or: Good cows, mediocre poetry, and other crucial topics of discussion.

This Must Be The Place by cuttooth [T] [6k]

“You said – you said we were going home,” Martin says softly.

“I did,” says Jon, and is grateful that Martin doesn’t comment on him calling the Archives home. “I – I don’t really know where to go. I, uh, I don’t have a flat anymore, I don’t think. We could find a hotel?”

“Let’s go to my place,” says Martin. His hand squeezes Jon’s, more gently than before. Most importantly, Jon notes, he doesn’t let go.

*

Jon and Martin go home for a little while.

Small Things, Simple Acts by ZaliaChimera [T] [6.6k]

Even after leaving London, Jon and Martin are not free, not really. Maybe they never will be.

But for now they can be themselves, and maybe in the end, that's enough.

house by tomatoes [G] [9k]

Martin can take care of himself.

roses, roses, roses by acetheticallyy (judesstfrancis) [T] [9.3k]

Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses.

a deeply annoying child by ajkal2 [G] [9.6k]

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

Inseparable by voiceless_terror [T] [10.3k]

“You can stay.” The voice interrupts his internal panic, and he looks over to find Jon studiously avoiding his gaze, staring hard at a neighboring bush. Martin wonders what caused his sudden change of heart. “But you have to sit on the other side. And don’t talk to me.”

Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood meet as children. Some things change, others do not.

i'm almost me again, you're almost you by gruhukens [G] [12k]

After a second Jon steps in towards him, close enough that Martin flinches, but all Jon does is put two fingers under his chin with his free hand and raise it until Martin can’t duck away. Jon has never touched him so casually before – at least, not until today, and it raises a lot of thoughts and feelings that Martin is trying very hard not to process.

Much like a lot of other things that have happened, he thinks. Not that it’s horrible or terrifying or numbing like everything else has been: it’s just another thing on the list of things he doesn’t have the capacity to deal with.

---

In the wake of the Lonely, there's a lot that Martin doesn't really want to think about.

hello my old heart by firebirdsuite [T] [15.8k]

Peter’s wrong, of course. When it’s all over, Martin does still want to tell Jon everything. It’s just—well, there’s a few things they need to work through first before they can get there.

Martin and Jon find each other again in Scotland.

Over 20k

The Kindness of Strangers by TheOestofOCs [M] [23k]

It was easier to treat Jon like a monster when he wasn’t shivering against his back, brokenly humming—wait, was that…

“Are you trying to do ‘Hey, Jude’?” Tim demanded.

Jon stopped, stiffening. “Mm hrmh mm mmh hm,” he said defensively.

“You really can’t hold a tune, can you, boss?”

*

It was just an ordinary walk to a restaurant. Tim had insisted that if they were going to talk, there would be no tape recorders or weird Archives ghosts listening in. A bit of fresh air wouldn’t kill him, Tim had said. What could go wrong?

By the time Jon spots the white delivery van, it’s much too late.

The Stranger kidnaps Jon. Tim comes along for the ride.

Misjudged by ShastaFirecracker [T] [36.5k]

Martin's been a longtime listener of What the Ghost, so when Georgie gives a shoutout to her flatmate's Twitch channel during a Q&A, he checks it out - only to discover that her flatmate is also his most terrifying coworker at his new job. The first time they crossed paths, Jon yelled at him for incompetence. But on the streams, Martin sees an entirely different person - someone fun and relaxed, engaging and unfairly attractive. Over time, Martin begins to find that Jon buried inside his dour, awkward coworker. He also learns to live with the fact that his crush is painfully one-sided... or is it?

if we make it through the night everyone is gonna hear us (Series) by skvadern [Ratings Vary] [42.4k]

In which Sasha survives the NotThem (with a little help from a certain Distortion) and she and Jon spend s2 working together to try and make sense of everything that's happening to them. It goes...interestingly

the garden of forking paths by bibliocratic [T] [49.7k]

Whatever he had predicted might happen, Jon wasn't expecting to survive upon demolishing the Panopticon. He certainly wasn't expecting to be rescued.

Instead, he wakes up in an alternative universe where he's never been the Archivist, and Martin Blackwood doesn't exist.

Martin Blackwood wakes up somewhere else entirely.

it's only forever by lady_mab [T] [50.9k]

“The castle at the center of the labyrinth,” Jon breathes, recalling again the words from one of the past conversations with Martin. “He’s there.”

“Turn back, Jonathan,” the Goblin King says, and Jon is surprised to hear a slight edge of desperation in the tone. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” Jon answers with the same tone. “You know that I can’t.”

The Goblin King’s grin is gone completely, and he regards Jon with a degree of pity before that melts into resignation.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey [T] [53.3k]

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

A Home For What Loves You by TheWrongShop [T] [151k]

It was completely fine that Jon was following up on this very normal, non-supernatural statement at midnight on a Friday. He was going to find nothing at all, and then he was going to go home and sleep for fourteen straight hours and feel absolutely no qualms about moving case #0150409 directly into the filing cabinet marked "discredited".

Or; Jon and Martin end up investigating Carlos Vittery's basement and finding the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss together.

RATED E *MINORS DNI*

A Look And A Voice by cuttooth [E] [6.9k]

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Jon asks bluntly, and for a second Martin can’t breathe.

“It - it doesn’t matter what I - ” he begins valiantly, before Jon interrupts him.

“Because I want to have sex with you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if you think it’s for the wrong reasons. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. The only thing that matters is if you want to as well.”

*

Martin meets a guy in a bar and takes him home.

Warms The Coldest Night by cuttooth [E] [11k]

"Flame that warms the coldest night Bring to us the waxing Light, Be with us on Solstice Night." Gypsy - Bring Back The Light

There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.

Curiosity by ShastaFirecracker [E] [11.6k]

“You know that conversation we had the other day about how one of the most important things for queer youth to learn is that it's okay to change their minds, because identity and self-discovery are always fluid?”

Behind him, Martin slipped oven mitts over his hands and pulled open the oven door. The scent of garlic and rosemary flooded the kitchen. “Yeah?” he said.

“I, um... I'd like to revisit the topic of sex.”

At the Interim (Series) by Rend_Herring [E] [41k]

A Measure Outside the Lines and The Residuum

triptych (Series) by Stacicity [E] [44.9k]

A collection of Jon/Tim/Martin fics

a steady hand, a delicate man by callmearctus [E] [52.8k]

Martin is the proprietor and manager of a very discrete and fairly exclusive brothel situated between Belgravia and Chelsea. Blackwood House excels at special requests and pleasing any client.

Except for Jon, who probably has never been pleased a day in his entire life.

Despite that, he still comes back. It eventually begs the question: how do you solve a problem like Jon Sims?

[forcefully-awoken]

hello this is for @titan-fodder's coffee shop AU collab. you can find the rest of the amazing works here. divider by @firefly-graphics

i am patently against coffee shop AU's but i do like plot twists.

pairing: Nemuri Kayama (Midnight) x Reader

Summary: Life is boring when you work at a coffee shop in a small town and your life feels like it's going nowhere. Good thing Nemuri walks through the door and sets her eyes on you.

warnings: pining, angst, ghost shit, author has never worked in a coffee shop, period typical mentions of homophobia

WC: 4.2k

You never thought your life would turn out this way.

Stuck in a dead end job at a local coffee shop, always working the opening shift, paying off loans for a degree you barely had use for now. You weren’t so old now, barely twenty three, but starting college seemed so far away. Everything felt so much easier back then, you were so young and idealistic and you were going to change the fucking world. Now you have to listen intently while the rudest woman in town berates you because her coffee isn’t heated to the exact degree she had specified.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” You reply smoothly, voice honey sweet and fake as hell, “I’ll get that remade for you right away.” You had no such intentions, but this bitch didn’t need to know that. Instead you took it behind the counter, just out of sight while you busied yourself making another drink. Then you handed the original back to her, and watched as the woman took a sip, sighing happily.

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” She snips, walking away. You roll your eyes and take up the register again. Standing in front of you is the single most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. You’re certain she’s never been in before, at least not while you’ve been working. She’s eyeing the menu board over your head, while you’re able to drink in your fill of her. Long black hair, falling in soft layers down her shoulders, pale, unblemished skin, full lips, and bright blue eyes. She’s dressed in the vintage style you’ve seen come back into fashion, red glasses perched on her face.

“W-what can I get for you?” You curse how you stutter out the question- you haven’t stuttered in front of a woman since the sixth grade and you realized you liked girls.

“I think just a black coffee, small.” Oh for fucks sake, even her voice is pretty. You mutely nod, picking up a cup to write down the order.

“And a name?” The words are routine as they slip from your mouth.

“Nemuri Kayama,” She replies, giving you a smile as bright as the sun. All you can do is nod back to her, taking her money and making change in silence. Your coworkers snicker quietly when you even go so far as to hand deliver her drink.

“What time do you get off work?” She asks when you manage to make it over to the table and set the drink down without spilling it on yourself. “I’d love to get to know you.” You check the time on your watch.

“Another two hours,” You reply, sadness in your voice because there’s no way she’ll wait.

“Wonderful!” Are you dreaming? You must be dreaming. “I’ll see you then!” Once again you can only nod in reply, silently wondering what the fuck to yourself as you get back to work. You try to look at Nemuri as much as you can, but she seems to just be lost in thought as she sits at the tiny two person table. She gazes out the window with a dreamy smile on her face, every so often bringing the cup to her mouth- though you notice it doesn’t look like she’s drinking, only smelling it.

Two hours has never seemed so long as your shift drags by. Customers come in, you take orders, your heart tries to beat out of your chest. Soon enough you’re hanging up your apron on its little hook, and ignoring the stares of your coworkers as you take a place across from Nemuri. Her cup still looks full, and you almost want to ask if there was something wrong with it before shutting that train of thought down- you’re not working right now.

“Hello,” You breathe out, trying not to sound so excited, failing miserably. “You waited.”

“Of course,” Nermuri practically purrs at you, leaning forward on the table, just slightly closer to you. “I wanted to talk to you.”

That’s all it takes- you think you’re in love now. The talk starts small, just figuring each other out, you tell Nemuri about your degree and she tells you she never went to college, that she worked as a secretary at a bank you hadn’t heard of. You figured it had to be in the town over, but the conversation moved on before you could ask. You don’t think you’ve had such a delightful conversation in ages, so far from your friends and not close to your coworkers.

Nemuri makes you realize how lonely you’ve been, but soothes the ache before it can even begin. Neither of you offer up your last names, but that seems so inconsequential. You want to know what makes Nemuri smile, what drives her out of bed in the morning (“Not a lot,” She says, smiling down at her now cold coffee, “Just getting by like everyone else.”). For all you can find it in you to care the rest of the world is standing still now. You think you could swim in her eyes, drown in the soft peals of her laughter.

It’s not until the pointed coughs of your coworkers that you realize the shop is only a few minutes away from close. She hesitates when you ask for her number, but that doesn’t slow you down. You offer to walk her to her car, but she says she doesn’t have one- doesn’t even have her license in fact. You offer her a ride home, eager to spend more time with the mysterious woman. She nods just the once, and you go to gather your things, taking her coffee to the back to pour it out in the sink. You’ll really have to figure out what kind of drink she likes.

Nemuri is standing by the table, waiting for you once again. She looks ethereal in the low light, and you tell her as much.

“You look like an angel,” You declare confidently, but she somehow becomes even more pale. There’s a split second where you think you’ve done something wrong enough that she’ll faint right there on the spot but she perks up after a moment.

“That’s the first time I’ve been compared to one,” She teases you, and you lead the two of you out the door. When you turn to grab your keys from you bag you take your eyes off of her for a split second, it’s barely anything, but there’s a gentle breeze and when you turn back Nemuri is gone- leaving you with disappointment and more questions than answers.

Namely, what the fuck.

You had the next two days off, and you were left to wonder- had you done something wrong? The signs felt like they were so clearly there but maybe you had misread them? Maybe Nemuri was just flirty like that, and ran at the first sign of queerness? For the first time in your memory you wish you would get called in so you could ask her about it. But your days off passed quietly, with you just puttering around your house, trying to get everything done that needed to be.

Soon enough you’re there, bright and early, and nervous beyond belief. It feels like it takes all day for Nemuri to show back up, but she arrives- this time right before your shift is over.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing out of her mouth, and damn, it’s hard to stay even a little annoyed when she looks so cute staring at you like that. You find yourself melting, smiling and taking her order- which is your favorite drink, you recommend it to her. When you join her after your shift again she gestures to it. “It’s yours.” Your answering smile is all she needs.

“Tell me about your favorite childhood memory?” Nemuri asks, and you find yourself unable to deny her.

“My mom took us to this mermaid cove place, they have a show with pirates, and mermaids, and singing, and I just remember how happy she was watching it all,” Your eyes grow a little misty thinking about the past, about your mother, “I remember telling her that I was going to be a mermaid one day, just to make her smile like that all the time. I was a very ambitious seven year old.”

“You sound like a good daughter,” Nemuri replies, smiling sweetly at you. “I’m sure your mother is still very happy for you now.”

“She passed,” You manage to choke out, trying hard to sound like you’re okay, “A few years go, but anyways, what about you? Your favorite memory?”

“I’m so sorry,” Nemuri starts, but sees something in your face so when she talks again it’s not about you, “We were down on our luck when I was a child, like everyone was. I was maybe nine or ten at the time- everything we ate was so bland, but it was all we could afford. One day papa came home with an orange- a real orange! We had to split it between everyone but nothing tasted sweeter.” Nemuri isn’t looking at you now- she’s lost in her own thoughts as surely as you’re lost in yours.

“We should talk about happier things,” You say, and Nemuri is nice enough to ignore the sniffle in your voice. “The future, maybe. Where do you see yourself in five years?” She blanches at that, actually, and you feel bad, taking a sip of your drink to focus your thoughts. “You’re right, that was bad. This isn’t a job interview.”

“I just haven’t given it much thought,” Her reply is a little stiff, formal.

“Ah, a live in the moment type of gal?”

“You could say that,” There’s a secret hiding in Nemuri’s smile, one you want to spend as long as she’ll let you trying to figure it out. “What about you? Big future plans?”

“I want to fall in love,” You blurt out, cringing back a little, “That sounds so cheesy. I just want to have a little place, just a little piece of happiness.”

“I don’t think that sounds cheesy at all,” Nemuri assures you, “I think it sounds amazing.” The two of you sit there for another moment, just enjoying each other before the alarm on your phone goes off- half an hour until your therapy appointment. You frown at the reminder, cursing it internally for disrupting your time now. You stand, gathering your things as does Nemuri.

“I have to go, but maybe I could take you out?” There it is again- the blanching, the frown that plays on her lips. “Or is that too fast?”

“We could meet back here?” She slowly suggests, “I live in one of the apartments above?” You’re not sure why she sounds so shy about it but you readily agree anyways- you don’t cherish the idea of coming back here but maybe you’ll get lucky if she’s already inviting you over.

“It’s a date,” You declare, feeling more confident when Nemuri nods in agreement. You bid your farewells and make it home just in time to pick up your therapist’s call- the wonders of telehealth. It’s hard to focus on what your therapist is saying, and she seems to pick up on that.

“I met someone,” You say, suddenly shy. Nemuri is so new, you don’t feel quite comfortable gushing about her yet. “It’s new. We have a date tonight.” There’s not much else to say after that, anyways. After that you’re able to focus just a little bit more, and soon the hour is over, with you promising to tell your therapist all about your date.

There’s still a few hours so you take your time getting ready, trying to find that balance between casual and dressed up. You’ve never felt so nervous for a date before in your life, but then it’s suddenly, somehow, time to leave again.

Nemuri is waiting in front of the shop for you, looking nervous but she lights up when she sees you. You can see a soft glow behind her- the shop is transformed. The door is unlocked, and she mentions something about being friends with the owner again when you lead the pair of you inside.

The main lights are off but there’s fairy lights all over, and the tables pushed out of the way, save for one right in the middle. There’s some take out on it, a Thai place you know you had mentioned earlier today.

“This is all so much,” You gush to Nemuri as you take your seat across from her. She looks perfect, and you tell her as much, just to watch the apples of her cheeks turn a beautiful shade of pink. It’s endearing, really, the way she waits for you to serve yourself, how she just watches you, and talks to you. Conversation flows as easily as the wine you brought, though you’re the only one drinking it.

“I thought I had misread the signs,” You confess. “I thought maybe once again I had a crush on a straight girl.”

“I had the same fears,” Nemuri returns, shaking her head a little, a soft strand of black hair falling around her cheek to frame it perfectly. “I know I can be a little unusual and I thought you were simply being kind.”

“Oh, no, I totally wanna fuck you,” You try to keep your voice a little light, teasing, but it comes out damn near a purr and Nemuri’s eyes widen in response. Now, your tipsy mind thinks, now you’ve definitely over stepped and you’ll be reported, and get fired or sued, and your therapist will be so disappointed and-

“It’s good to know we’re on the same page there.” Her words bring you up short, stopping your anxiety spiral before it can even really begin. Nemuri shifts, her eyes going distant when she looks away from you. “Though there is a slight complication here.”

That sends another pang of worry through you- you’re pretty certain Nemuri is perfect, what could complicate sleeping together? A million different scenarios speed through your head all at once, but for the life of you, you’d never be able to predict the next words that come out of her mouth.

“You see, I’m a ghost.” You’d laugh, but her face is kind and serious and all sorts of heart breaking.

“I’m sorry?” Your manners prevail, and you bite back what you want to say, “You think you’re a ghost?”

“I am, I know I am,” Her words hold a note of finality, so much so that you can’t help the next words out of your own- “Alright, then prove it.”

She looks back at you now, catching your eye with a mischievous grin. She stands, but the chair doesn’t move. Nemuri walks, actually walks, through the table, standing right in your food to bend over and brush her lips against yours. It’s like there’s nothing there, only the hint of coldness, something that sends a harsh shiver down your spine.

“Do you believe me now?” She asks when she pulls away.

“I do,” You answer simply, before everything goes dark and you feel yourself slide out of your chair onto the floor, as Nemuri calls your name.

Your eyes flutter open and Nemuri’s face is so close to yours that if she had breath you would be sharing it. You scramble away from her, kicking the chair as you move, and her face falls.

“You- you’re a gh—” You choke on the word as you sputter, unable to get your mind around it. Ghosts aren’t real, your mind distantly supplies, the wine is drugged, or you’re having a stroke, or you fell asleep on the couch but this isn’t- it can’t be real. Nemuri is still frowning at you, kindness in her eyes like she understands. God, how do you even begin to tell your therapist about this? That the girl you have- had- have a crush on is a ghost?

“I have to go,” The words leave your mouth, body twisting as you grab your bag off the floor and run out the door. You think you hear your name being called but you don’t look back, you don’t stop shaking until you’re home, and the door is locked behind you. Your mind doesn’t stop racing, anxiety making your heartbeat loud in your chest.

There’s a pang of regret but all you can think is why, how, what the fuck? Nemuri is a ghost, she walked through a table and kissed you and you ran away. You had work in the morning but it was so hard to think about going back. Would the shop even look the same now to you now? God, had she died there? Is this why she lingered around it? Were her bones buried under your feet as you made rude middle aged women their overpriced lattes?

That thought is enough to have you running to the bathroom, emptying your stomach into the toilet. You slide to the floor again, pressing your forehead against the cool tile to try and stop your reeling brain. You have no idea how to process this now, electing to simply crawl into bed, deciding to call in sick in the morning.

And you do- you call in sick for two days. You curl up in your blankets, and ignore the world outside. You think about the sad look on Nemuri’s face, and it sends another pang through you every time. It’s hard to think of disappointing her again but where do you go from here?

After two days you can’t justify calling in anymore. Your bills need paid, no matter how many ghosts you think you might want to have sex with. You don’t see her your entire shift either, which makes you a little sad, and that surprises you. You hesitate as long as you can, hoping to see her before you head home, but she never shows.

And for the next week you don’t see Nemuri. You brush it off when your therapist asks after her, and try to write it off as maybe a slight psychological break. But then you see her, sitting in a corner, and you notice how the sunlight goes through her now, like she’s fading, like she’s only ever been halfway there.

You don’t acknowledge her until the end of your shift when you whisper, “Tonight. The same time.” There’s no reply but when you glance back she’s gone.

Your hands shake something terrible when you drive back to work after hours. When you arrive this time there’s no grand set up (and you really should ask Nemuri how she did that!) there’s just the table by the window, the same one you first spoke to her at. You don’t even see Nemuri as you walk in, the lights on just enough for you to see.

“Hello?” Your voice echoes around the open space and then all of a sudden she’s right next to you. Materializing out of thin air like, well, like a ghost.

“You’re here,” The word sticks in her mouth, and you feel the pressure of it on you, compelling you to take a seat. You slump in your seat, eyes widening when Nemuri is just there across from you- only she didn’t walk there. She’s just there. Everywhere. The thought makes you dizzy.

“I figured,” You voice is too quiet, you clear your throat, straightening up in your seat, “I figured talking can’t hurt, right?” Nemuri nods, a little too eager. “I don’t have to solve your murder or anything right?”

“Heavens no!” Nemuri sounds scandalized at the thought which brings you little relief. “I died of old age, quietly, in the apartment above here about twenty years ago.”

“But,” Your mind is still reeling from how old she must be, what year her date of birth is, “Why are you here then?” And from the look on her face she knows you don’t just mean why is she in the coffee shop. She doesn’t look at you when she starts her story.

“My father wasn’t a nice man,” She says, a hard line to her words. “He loved me, please don’t misunderstand that, he loved me in the way fathers love their first daughters, which is to say pining a legacy on my shoulders before I know how to walk. He looked at me and saw future generations, saw grandchildren that might share the color of his eyes, the shape of his mouth.

Unfortunately for him the first time I kissed a boy I knew- I couldn’t love him or any man. I couldn’t love anybody the way I loved the girl next door, my roommate in my first apartment, the lovely barista at the coffee shop. I was… wrong in his eyes. I wasn’t the child he had been promised and that broke something inside of him. He asked me to deny myself, if I wouldn’t have a husband then at least, I should have nobody at all.

And I couldn’t deny him that. I died here. I died alone, with regrets, and one big thing tethering me to this ground we sit on. I wanted a love. I want one kiss, with someone who looked at me and saw me and understood me and loved me so much it didn’t matter that I was wrong in my father’s eyes- because I would always be right in theirs.”

You’re crying by the time Nemuri stops talking. Big, fat, salty tears make their way down your face. Your nose is running too, and with shaky hands you move to wipe your face off with a napkin. You can’t imagine Nemuri’s life the way she described it. Your mother had hugged you tightly when you came out, had set you up with the daughters of friends, had held your hand in hers on her deathbed and told you to love as much as possible.

But Nemuri, sweet and kind and loving, had been denied that because it was the wrong time? The wrong place? The wrong family? It broke your heart to think of decades alone, closing her eyes that final time knowing there was nobody waiting on the other side.

“I’m sorry,” You gasp out, trying to stop yourself from crying more, “I’m so sorry I ran off, I didn’t even give you a chance!”

“You’re giving me a chance now,” Your heart breaks a little more at how kind she still sounds, “And you’re not running. I don’t see fear in your eyes. I see acceptance, and understanding.”

“And love,” You say with some finality. It’s hard not to love someone like Nemuri, and how could you not love her now? She’s laid her soul in front of you, and all you want to do is hold her hand. You reach out, placing yours palm up on the table. She’s hesitant, but then her hand rests in yours and you can feel her- warm and vibrant and alive. She’s solid when you look back up at her. Holding her hand in yours, you move around the table, bringing your face level to hers.

“I love you, Nemuri,” You tell her, watching as tears gather in the corner of her eyes, “And I won’t stop until my dying day.”

When your lips meet hers this time you feel them, the first and best kiss she’ll ever give you, and there’s a soft exhale from her that your greedily swallow down. When your eyes open again she’s gone, but you know that’s okay.

Somewhere, she’s happier.

Your life moves on after that.

It’s weird- you think going back to the coffee shop might feel awkward but it doesn’t. You swear you can hear her laughter in the ringing of the bells over the door, feel her touch as it stops you from burning yourself on something hot. She’s everywhere and nowhere- just the simple, calming presence of an old lover.

You meet a girl, two, three, before the fourth one finally sticks. It doesn’t feel like betrayal, not when your first kiss with her happens because an invisible force pushes you forward and into her arms. Sue, your wife, is lovely and understanding, even when you drag her to a cemetery, and introduce her to a grave holding a person you couldn’t know, given that the gravestone held a death date of when you were five.

She doesn’t question it when she finds you talking aloud sometimes, to thin air, to a person who’s name she’s only even seen on that gravestone. Sue holds you tight on your worst nights and lifts you higher on your best. Every kiss with her is full of life, of love, of a happiness you find yourself thinking you’re sharing with one other person. You give everything you have to Sue, save one little corner of your heart.

You move away, you move on from that small town and everything that held you down there. Your life flourishes out, it’s more than you ever could have dreamed of, your happiness so much that you’re not sure how your heart handles it. Every little victory feels dedicated to her, to the one ghost you’ve never been able to exorcise but that’s okay, more than, because you know Nemuri loves you still, wants you to be happier just for her.

And you know it too, when you close your own eyes for that one final time, and her voice calls to you from somewhere, far off in the distance.

[helenazbmrskai]

Shush

Wow. I think this is the filthiest and the most messed up shit I’ve ever written in my whole life send me holly water pls (after you enjoyed reading this duh) I don’t know how this idea popped up in my mind one night but yeah don’t come at me.

💊Title ‹ Shush ›

💊Pairing ‹ Jimin x OC (f) ›

💊Genre ‹ adopted brother au, forbidden/unhealthy romance, smut, angst › 

💊Summary ‹ Forbidden fruit always taste the sweetest and when the fruit comes in the form of an innocent boy it’s even sweeter. ›

💊Warnings ‹ emotional manipulation, discussions about an incurable disease, unhealthy relationship dynamics, some fluff, multiple smut scenes filthy so be aware!, mention (and brief description) of sexual fantasies, sub! Jimin, soft domme! OC, teasing, mention of porn watching, brief imagined masturbation, corruption kink, first time, virgin! Jimin, blowjob, handjob, good boy Jiminie, jealous OC, oral (f), fingering, unprotected sex (don't do this be safe!), exhibitionism, marking/biting, almost getting caught, dirty talk, riding, pls keep in mind that this is only fiction! don’t do this folks ›

💊Word count ‹ 6k ›

💊Masterlist

Brushing the snowflakes off my coat’s shoulder, I take a look around the spacious living room soaking in the warmth and waiting for my fingers to defrost, hearing nothing besides the wind that blows outside. Checking the clock on the wall I recall that mom should be still at work at this time around, nothing’s new.

I silently make my way upstairs then halting once I’m in front of Jimin’s bedroom door that has a big J on it. Mom would be upset if she knew I didn’t check on him first thing when I got home so I knocked once then twice before I heard muffled noises from the other side and the shuffle of sheets followed by a loud bang of something hard suddenly hitting the ground. The sound itself quite concerningly rings in your ears.

”Are you alright?” I place my palm on the wooden surface concentrating on the noises that I faintly hear filtering through the door, biting down on my lip as I still didn’t get an answer from him.

”Ok. I’m coming in!” I tell him after a couple of seconds of silence, I gave him enough time to yell out that he’s fine. I’m ready to burst through the door when his voice squeaks out a tiny unconvincing ’I’m good.’ but my hand is already on the doorknob. His body lays slightly off the bed when I enter his room, the bed under him is unmade and his hair is dishevelled sticking to different angles from all the tossing and turning looking soft, wearing only a thin white shirt and pyjama pants to bed. Probably haven’t gotten up from it all day.

”You fell off the bed again?” I chuckle, sending him an amused look spiced with an arched eyebrow – it’s not the first time I see him in this position – shaking my head from side to side, though my eyes reveal that I’m not angry just amused. I grab both his knees and help him to lay flat against the pillows just like he was most likely laying before. His eyes glow like a lightstick with a beaming smile on his face.

”Y/N, you’re home early.” Arching up a brow himself he situates his body to rest his back against the headboard interrogating the cause of my early arrival with a slightly hoarse voice. Jimin looks into a specific direction frequently enough for me to spot his staring. I reply to his statement with a roll of my eyes brushing his hair gently to the side after I checked he indeed has no fever. Giving him the benefit of the doubt that I have no idea he’s trying to hide something I smile back.

I scan through his room hoping to find out by the order of things are placed what he was doing before I got home, it’s easy to spot the differences since I’m the one who usually cleans in here but besides his laptop that sits on the far end of the bed instead of the desk, nothing else seems out of place.

”Why? Were you doing something you shouldn’t be?” I grin, at first the question was intended to be innocent but watching how Jimin’s face contorts into a scandalized look I know he’s up to no good. His expression soon gets replaced with shyness unintentionally a boyish blush spreads across his rosy cheeks. It gets me even more curious.

He gained some weight over the past weeks so his features are almost healthily filled out, the new medication seems to work better than the doctors had anticipated and right now he has minimal symptoms.

Mom must be pleased by the outcome, he regained so much colour to his pale skin too. I witnessed all his ups and lows, I still remember the day I met him. He was in a bad shape, bedridden, so pale and skinny like a skeleton. He couldn’t even sit up on his bed to greet me and when he opened his eyes hearing my mom’s voice calling out to him I came face to face with his teary eyes, hands grabbing his chest to ease the pain that he felt crawling his way up from under his ribcage as a silent tear rolled down his cheeks. He got better when mom decided to take him out of the care system and switched doctors to look after his further treatment.

I regarded him as a responsibility at the beginning of our relationship made sure he took his medication between meals just like my mother instructed. Cleaned his room and made him food when my mother was busy with work. She’s a nurse at the local hospital, she left me alone with him a lot, her job consumes a lot of her time so I had to take care of him almost every day after school even had to take a few days off so I can stay at home when his condition started to get worse and he needed more supervision than usual.

Be that as it may, he had his better days that I started to like so much, spending time with him stopped being an obligation and instead, the time spent together started to be the highlights of my days.

Listening to his angelic laugh, having him listen to me talking about my day. No boy or man ever paid this much genuine attention to me, only him. He has his eyes only on me.

His fierce response makes me come to my senses, dragging me out of my own consuming thoughts.

”Of course not!” He defensively spats my hands away when I try to pinch his cheeks. He looks very pretty when the sun shines on his face. He looks like an angel.

”Oh really? I guess it���s fine then to show me your laptop’s search history. How about right now?” I move faster than he can snatch the device so I’m able to get it and open his tab before he even lets a leg down to plant his feet on the ground.

However, I was not expecting to find something this interesting in his log history. Looking between the screen and his red face I tilt my head to the side seemingly deep in my thoughts. It’s not that I never acknowledged the fact that he’s a man in his mid-twenties and because of his unfortunate susceptibility to having a systemic autoimmune disease he never had the chance to socialise like it’s a norm for most people. The only other’s he meet day by day are my mother and I since he can’t go out because of his photosensitivity.

Maybe I could blame the stars that never flickered out of his naive eyes for the past ten years I’ve known him for not thinking that Jimin could have dirty thoughts. Well, this porn page clearly states otherwise.

I know it’s inappropriate to think about Jimin, my adopted brother, in this way but I can’t find it in me to stop the spiralling thoughts.

Wondering if he masturbates while watching these videos when I’m in school. How he grabs his cock with shaky hands, cute fingers coated in his precum. Wondering if he uses the same hand to hold mine innocently after he did dirty things to himself. I subconsciously rub my thighs together to ease some of the tension that gathered between my thighs, even fantasising about him makes me feel hot.

I feel bad thinking about him inappropriately when he’s sick but I can’t seem to feel the shame when I look directly into his bright eyes now. The rational part of my brain screams that it’s inappropriate even though we are not blood-related.

Heck, not at all as mom adopted him when his last remaining family member, his father died ten years ago.

Jimin’s facial expression is like an open book I read him so well. Poor boy can’t even lie everything he thinks about is apparent on his pretty face.

Afraid that I’ll call him names he lowers his gaze, waiting for me to tell him that I’m disappointed and disgusted by him now that I discovered his dirty little secret that he rubs one out to porn but oh boy he has no idea. That I think about him in a way a sister shouldn’t. That there is nothing wrong with being curious. He has all the right to be. It’s easy to forget he’s older than me when I’m the more experienced one in everything.

”Hey it’s ok,” I get to my previous position, sitting down on the edge of his bed right next to his waistline. I curl a finger under his chin to level his face with mine, showing him a small smile indicating that everything’s gonna be alright.

”I watch porn sometimes too, there’s nothing to be ashamed of here Jiminie. It’s only natural to be curious about it. It’s human nature.” He avoids making eye contact but a tiny nod in my direction shows me that he’s listening.

”If you want I promise I’ll forget that this ever happened. Do you want that honey?” Nudging his pinky with mine I offer him the chance to change the topic to something light.

”You won’t tell mom about it, right?” Nodding my head in agreement I assure him that this piece of information can be our secret and no one has to know that this conversation ever happened. It appears to calm him down gradually as he finally reciprocates my gaze and sighs in relief. What you didn’t expect to hear after that, however, was an explanation of why he started watching porn.

”I want to know how it feels.” Jimin admits shyly, looking around to avoid my eyes as he tells me his hidden thoughts and I find him truly endearing. The previous tense atmosphere seems to completely fade away as Jimin relaxes his muscles against the bedsheet and opens up his heart.

”What? Sex?” I asked, watching his reactions closely as I experimentally place my palm above his right knee. An innocent touch.

Jimin shivers into the contact but other than that nothing remarkably changes in his behaviour or posture. He pays careful attention to not let his feelings show up on his otherwise expressive face. Cute. Sooner or later I’ll know how he really feels about my advances as he can’t keep pretending for long. He was never good at it.

”Yes. They seem to like it so much when I’m watching those videos.” Humming approvingly I rest a manicured nail at the edge of his waistband, this earns a sharp inhale of breath but he doesn’t try to remove my touch that indicates he’s not uncomfortable with me touching him. He doesn’t seem bothered, just a little sheepish.

”You know, a video is nothing compared to the real thing.” I let a single finger slide under his shirt drawing circles into his hipbone eyes watching the way his chest moves up and down a little faster at that.

”What a shame that you don’t know pretty girls to have sex with.” Deciding it’s time to remove my hand I’m letting the limb fall to my side lazily. Jimin’s lips immediately form a pout after I stop making advances on his body, showing me that he was expecting something more. All this time I thought he doesn’t see me like I see him but maybe I was wrong assuming that. Gaining confidence I decide it’s time to push his buttons a little more.

”I’m sure girls would form long lines to get into your pants baby. I wouldn’t be surprised since you are so pretty.” The praise makes his ears bright red, mother did a good job with giving him a boyish undercut a good fashion choice to leave the tips longer so I can easily comb my fingers through it, curling a few strays behind his ears.

”Y-Y/N.” A breathy moan leaves his lips as I kiss the underside of his jaw on impulse, finding stability by grabbing onto his thighs to lean closer and breathe in his clean scent. I push him against the headboard but he doesn’t mind it at all, too lost in the moment, feeling my lips on his throat to register any pain.

I pull away slightly to reconnect our eyes. Jimin licks his dry lips, not having anyone to talk to until I arrived home, he kept his mouth shut only feeling now how dry his throat is all of the sudden.

A ghost of a smile appears in the corner of my mouth as I realise Jimin is watching my lips not even trying to conceal his desire to have another taste of the forbidden fruit. This is so wrong but his lips are so light against mine, afraid that if I apply pressure somehow this moment will end and I don’t want this to ever end but as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever in life.

The magical moment ends when I hear my mother’s voice from downstairs. ”Y/N, Jimin I’m home!”

The cheerful voice of my mother abruptly interrupts our first shared kiss, not letting him chase the taste of my cherry lip balm I place a small peck on his nose instead yelling back that we’re upstairs and we’ll be down in a minute.

”No need to rush,” I peck his forehead this time, giving his face small kisses to lift his mood. It’s comical how disappointed he looks with his nose scrunched up adorably. He really has no shame as he sighs licking his lips to taste the remaining flavour of our kiss.

”We can continue this tomorrow, we have so much time, I promise...”

And continue we do. True to my word I comply with his request pulling the oversized t-shirt over my head to reveal him my black lacy bra and the curve of my waist. His eyes devour the new uncovered flesh hands lingering in the air itching to touch my bare skin but too shy to do it without my permission. He remains frozen in the act. Dreamy eyes watching my reaction to his shy movements silently asking for a sign that it is alright to touch. He’s so curious he wants to hear those noises the couples always make in his videos.

I nod putting him out of his misery cradling his hand in mine to place the warm palm onto my covered breast I guide his movements fondling the flesh, his touch feels good despite the barrier between his skin and mine.

Slipping his hand under the cup his finger comes into contact with my nipple I show him how to circle the bud until it gets erect a small sigh escaping my lips. I had the sudden urge to steal a kiss so I leaned in to grab the back of his neck and crush our lips together no tongue just lips touching sweetly.

I removed his touch to intertwine our fingers placing both of our hands to rest against the bed leaning into his mouth more.

”Is that all that you want me to do?” I murmur the words into his mouth, encouraging him to say more, to do more. Jimin swallows the saliva in his mouth gaze significantly cloudy as he stares into my eyes, shaking his head. He got so far the current thoughts in his head are clearly not about stopping anytime soon.

”What else do you want then?” I press him to answer my question, following the line of his upper lip with my thumb smearing the lip balm that got transferred from my lips to his while kissing, Jimin took a shaky breath before opening his mouth.

”Y-your tongue.” His tongue seemingly came out subconsciously to wet his lips I closed my eyes moaning at the sinful image. He really did his research, I’m about to give him everything he wants if he keeps up with these innocent yet so dirty looks.

”Where do you want it?” I grin moving closer so our thighs are firmly pressed together letting go of his hand to cup his face with both hands. Bending my head to peck the outline of his vein on his neck his pulse quickens under my touch. Pleased to have had such a great effect on him.

”In my mouth.” He squeaks out his response when I bite into his shoulder careful not to really pierce his skin but let him feel a moderate amount of pain mixed with his pleasure. I smooth my tongue where I bit making sure that I don’t leave any marks on his perfect skin. I don’t want our mother to ask questions later.

”Hm,” I hum into his neck satisfied by the answer before lining our faces again to fulfil his wish. ”Open.” As soon as I command his lips part obediently waiting for me to slip my tongue into his awaiting mouth.

”Jimin. Can I touch you?” I sigh into his mouth, he tastes so sweet I can’t seem to get my fill as I discover every corner of his hot cavern licking the roof teasing him before letting our wet muscles touch in a heated battle for dominance. Jimin gets greedy soon as he pushes my tongue back to do the exploration of his own, the kiss turns sloppy and too much saliva. Hands clutching onto the duvet under him grounding his body swimming in euphoria from falling too deep into the feeling.

”Yes, please.” Our eyes open slightly to watch each other my mouth founds the corner of his lips then the side of his cheek and jaw before diving back in parting his lips with my tongue to continue tasting him.

With a feather-light touch, I snake my hands upwards his thin frame and tiny waist feels so fragile under my fingers. I want to pepper his torso with my kisses pushing his body down using his shoulders to see his weight bounce on the bed. But I can’t get so ahead of myself, Jimin deserves to be worshipped like the angel he is.

”Lay down on your back Jiminie.” I smile seeing how obedient he is following my orders without any complaints or questions. He trusts me so much.

The thought alone that he is under me letting me have my ways with him makes my underwear sit uncomfortably against my heat when I move my legs to straddle his hips I feel how drenched I am for him. So pretty and so eager under me as his head rests on the pillows he truly looks like an innocent angel.

I motion for Jimin to raise his arms so I can get rid of his shirt and finally do what I intended to do and kiss his body starting from his collarbones all the way to the line where his pyjama pants hide the delicious lines of his hip bones.

I press kisses of praises into his shoulder blades moving down following the line of his sternum to give attentive licks and pecks all over his stomach feeling his muscles tensing under my lips whines and other sweet sounds slipping out of his parted lips as he breathes heavily through his nose with his eyes closed.

When I let a couple of fingers slide under his pants I realise the lack of material under my touch. He’s not wearing his boxers. The outline of his dick is evident when I look down he’s not that long but where he lacks his grith makes up for it as I can already imagine how good he would feel buried in me stretching my walls so good.

”Do you want me to touch your pretty cock darling?” I don’t forget to ask for permission even though by now I can clearly see how much he wants all this. The sight itself, how his member strains against the concealing fabric is an awfully clear giveaway of his growing desires. Jimin maintains our eye contact with hooded eyes nodding his head fervently before he can confirm his needs with words. His body burns but not with fever.

”I..yes, please. I w-want you to.” Jimin squirms waiting for me to do something that would relieve some of the tension in his joints. His cock feels heavy in my hand ready to sink into my cunt anytime, I can’t wait to put my mouth around it first but I have to be patient. I circle a digit around the tip testing how much precum he has for me.

Holding the digit up to my lips I taste the slightly salty substance humming approvingly. Tugging his pants down I get to work giving a kiss to the tip before coating his member with my saliva so I can lubricate his shaft enough so it won’t hurt him. His whole body shakes when my mouth makes contact with his cock his virgin body overwhelmed with the new sensation the little pleasure already too much for him to handle.

I make a mental note about grabbing some lube on my way home tomorrow so I can be prepared for situations like this. My lips suddenly widen into a Cheshire grin as I deliver the last lick all the way up to the hilt replacing my mouth with my hand.

”Jiminie look here for a little.” I coax him to open his eyes again with a sweet voice. ”Like that darling.” I praise him when his eyes met mine, choosing the moment his gaze connects with mine to use the same hand that pleasured him to glide under my jeans and underwear mixing my arousal with his precum I moan for the show as I rub my clit before collecting my essence so I can use it on his dick giving him the needed extra lubricant.

Jimin’s eyes don’t stay open for long when I finally touch him properly with the intent of making him cum. He can’t seem to keep his moans and throaty whines to himself as I give him a confident grip increasing the speed of my wrist when his whines became more high pitched his body gives away all the signs when he shakes under my touch that he’s close embarrassingly fast but I don’t mind, it’s his first time after all. We can always work on his stamina later.

”Relax baby and just enjoy this.” I encourage him to let go, massaging his thighs with my free hand to relax his strained muscles, slowing down my strokes but give special treatment to the tip collecting the forming precum. ”There’s no need for you to hold back.” I peck his hip picking up my pace again for a few moments longer before taking him into my mouth waiting for him to cum swirling my tongue over the tip repeatedly.

”Y-Y/N.” My name comes out in moans like a broken record when he finally lets all the tension seep away from his body letting the building pleasure force him into submission as he cums into my mouth his body goes limp when the pleasure fades away after I let him ride out his high with gentle licks.

I place the duvet over his sleepy form after I help him back into his clothes, tucking him in as I kiss his cheek to say ’sleep tight’ with the gesture.

I toss the food around on my plate in front of me tentatively listening to the conversation held between my parent and her guest but not engaging, sinking my fork into the broccoli angrily as I hear Natalie’s sugar-coated voice destined for only Jimin’s ears to catch.

She leeched herself onto him as soon as she stepped into this house annoying me with saying stuff like ’you have such a nice brother’ just to emphasise my relation to him. Even my mom takes her side saying that they look cute together.

I know she wants Jimin to socialise, that’s why this dinner is purposefully held in the first place but I can’t seem to show a different emotion than disgust when I look at Natalie trying to woo my Jimin. She will never know how he sounds when he’s about to blow his load or how he would taste against her tongue because only I can see that side of him no one else, and especially not her.

  His ears are red from her constant compliments and I swear I even saw her hand grip his shoulder when she laughed about something my mom said, he shies away from her because he never kept a conversation going on with another girl that wasn’t me or my mom before but that doesn’t mean jealousy doesn’t bubble up in my chest when he doesn’t deny her advances explicitly.

The dinner continues for an awfully long time before I could excuse myself from the table to hide away in my room and peacefully start yelling into my pillow to relieve my pent up frustration throughout this unpleasant meal.

Either Jimin genuinely didn’t have a clue what she was implying or he was aware but fine with it I don’t want to waste any more time and watch her all over him. I continued sulking in my room when I heard a knock on my door grunting a ’yes’ before I resembled smashing my keyboard I suddenly felt the urge to complete that assignment I procrastinated on so I can keep my mind focused on something else.

I avert my gaze from the screen to see who’s my intruder but I refocus on my computer when I see it’s Jimin. I’m not in the mood to talk to him right now since the picture of Natalie all over him is the first image to enter my mind.

”What? Dinner’s over so soon?” I’m careful to use an unaffected tone when I speak up, holding myself back from making eye contact even though I would love to see his face, we haven’t got time all day to talk or cuddle at all since I had to help my mother all evening to prepare for this dinner that was a waste of time anyway.

Jimin stays silent not bothering to answer my question but I still refuse to look at him as I pretend to be absorbed in my work. Even if it’s far from reality when the only thing consuming my thoughts right now is that I want him to tell me no one else is going to touch him only I can make him feel that good. That he wants. No, needs only me.

”A-are you angry? Please don’t be.” I still don’t turn around and looks like it makes him desperate for my attention he thugs at my blouse but I don’t react.

I want him to panic take over his body so he won’t do this to me again. I have to busy my fingers with typing so I don’t move to card my fingers through his locks like I long to do when he lays his head on my lap kneeling on the ground to do so. I don’t push his head away but doesn’t react either.

Half an hour passes in this manner, only my typing is heard in the otherwise silent room Jimin’s head still resting on my thighs hands circling my waist. I’m halfway done with my assignment when I feel Jimin’s nose nudge my centre. I showered after I excused myself from the dinner to blow off some steam and calm down grabbing only a pair of underwear and a shirt to cover my body with.

Jimin placed a kiss on my clothed clit making my body jerk in surprise forcing me with his bold actions to finally look at him our gaze locks as soon as I look down. Jimin folds the sides of my blouse so he can get access to the rest of my underwear following my panty line with his nose.

”Can I make it up to you?” Jimin looks up with innocent eyes that have my stomach twist in excitement but I try not to show him how much he can affect me as well. I’ll still make him pay for his actions.

”So you know you did something wrong.” I scoff but it ends up in a gasp when he licks the front of my underwear without a warning.

I grip his hair to keep him in place holding him close enough so his head still rests on my thighs but not that close to letting him lick my centre again. He’s playing dangerous games right now but I don’t know if I have it in me to be gentle with him.

”You should stop before I can’t guarantee that I won’t lose my control.” I warn him through my gritted teeth, closing my eyes for a moment to focus on my breathing, his eyes grew bigger for a moment before the previous shocked expression morphs into something else.

He can’t reach my cunt from where he’s restrained by my hands so he licks the inner side of my thigh his teeth nibbling on my sensitive skin.

  I loosen my grip on his hair smoothing the silky locks out of his eyes but he cleverly uses the gesture to scoot forward and have another taste placing a more confident lick stretching the rubberband side of my panty with his teeth sliding his hands over my stomach that was previously so obediently circling my waist.

”You don’t have to do it.” I remind him, feeling out of breath from his kitten licks over my clothed mound.

”I know.” Jimin replies with a sweet smile adorning his face before he pulls my underwear down my legs slowly, watching with interest as I part my legs so he can have a good look at my glistening core.

”The girls from the videos always like it when the boy does this.” Jimin murmurs under his breath absentmindedly before rubbing my clit with his fingertips his digits dipping lower to catch where most of my arousal gathers a single digit nudging my entrance. I part my legs more so he can get more comfortable between them I let him get familiar with my most intimate part before I pull his hand away with shaky fingers.

”Taste it.” I order for him to pop his fingers into his mouth licking my arousal clean from them and he doesn’t disappoint as he does.

Now that his fingers are coated with his saliva I guide it back to my core. ”Want your finger in me.” I throw my head back when he enters, my walls sucking his finger in his movements are inexperienced and uncoordinated but I let him experiment until he gets the hang of it, and oh when he does. His one finger turns into two soon as he finds the best way to pound into my wet cunt curling the digits just the right way to make me see stars. ”Doing so good Jiminie.” I tell him between heavy pants as the rhythmical hard thrusts of his fingers starts to become too much to handle I feel my insides tighten just like my walls tighten around his fingers getting closer and closer.

I open my eyes to watch him lean down his hair tickling my inner thighs as he nestles between my legs licking at my clit while the movement of his hand never falters, the new stimulus that his visual between my legs and his tongue on my nub adds to the feeling, making me come undone around his fingers.

”Stand up baby.” I motion for him to stand as well, his finger slips out of my hole, with a confused expression plastered on his face but doesn’t question my intentions as he obligates standing on his wobbly feet I let him sit down to where I was before straddling his hips.

”Are you going to let me ride your cock? Make you mine?” I ask him using my sweetest tones before slowly kissing his lips making sure to map out his mouth once more before turning my attention to kiss the expanse of his neck.

”Yes. Fuck yes.” The way how the curse word slipped through his mind without him noticing is endearing, he can always surprise me with something doesn’t matter how much time I dedicate to learning his body and soul, he’ll always have layers to discover. These good days sometimes even weeks when his illness hides its ugly face into the background are so precious that I wish we could always be like this.

I situate my body so I can pull his sweats down I pleasantly discover that he doesn’t wear his underwear when his dick slaps against his stomach. I reach for one of the drawers where I know I placed the lube.

I squeeze some into my hand before wrapping my fingers around his fully hardened shaft smearing the lube over him Jimin whines when he feels the cold liquid hit his hot member moaning once I roll my wrist the way he seems to like so much. Have enough of the foreplay I position him in front of my entrance making eye contact with him before taking him in letting him have the chance of backing out.

Jimin’s thighs shake as I take him in fully he tries muffling his moans by biting down on my shoulder so our guests don’t find out what we are doing in my room. With a smirk on my face, I roll my hips getting the best responses as Jimin tries to hold back his cries tightening his hold on my waist to slow my thrusts down but I don’t listen to him as I start to grind down on him letting his member pull out almost all the way before sinking down enjoying how good he fills me up.

I slow down as a knock is heard at my door Jimin’s eyes widen in fear but I don’t let him move an inch as I silently take my seat with his cock buried between my folds he holds back a moan when I clench around him.

”Mom?” I call out to her, my voice a bit shaky but I was able to mask it away enough that it doesn’t sound suspicious.

”Are you alright? Can I come in?” I hear her worried voice, she probably heard Jimin’s louder cries and she thinks something’s wrong. At this moment I’m really glad that my mom is very dense.

”I’m feeling unwell so I’m going to sleep immediately but you go and have fun with the guests don’t worry.” I offer her my reply as I circle my waist can’t keep still as Jimin’s dick feels heavenly it shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does seeing how pathetically he tries to prevent my mother from hearing his moans but his innocent facade can’t fool me as I feel him twitch inside me as I talk to my mother while he’s balls deep in my cunt. I wonder if he wants us to get caught or that he would like me to fuck him in front of Natalie on our dining table so she can see she never had a chance with him.

”Fine but come and get me if you need anything.” She leaves with these last words without further protests and I thank her while bouncing on Jimin’s lap silencing his cries by kissing him hard. 

”What mom would think if she saw you in this situation Jiminie? Fucking me while you pretend to be an angel in front of her. Kissing her cheek with the same lips that were buried between my legs moments prior.” I whisper next to the shell of his ear he lets out embarrassed whines but I can feel him enjoy how I fuck myself using him.

My thighs ache as I increase the pace feeling so close again I guide Jimin’s hand between our bodies to make him rub at my clit he does it messily but it’s enough stimulation as I cum again watching as Jimin’s eyes squeezed shut close to reach his own high.

[evening-starlight]

Daddy’s Best Friend

I just finished Chances yesterday and I already have another Tom story posted. I have a serious problem send help. Or Tom Hiddleston, he would work too

1

When Amaris Clarke comes home after a year of studying abroad in Paris, Tom is struggling to keep his feelings in check for his best friend’s daughter.

Word Count: 1346

    Amaris scans the crowd surrounding her at the airport, searching for one of three people: Her father, his best friend, or their personal driver. She pushes through the sea of paparazzi and finds a man wearing a ridiculous hat that looks like somebody's three-year-old painted on it scanning the arrival gate.

    She skips over to him, gaining his attention. Tom's eyes widen at the woman standing before him. When Amaris left for her year abroad, she was an awkward child. At least in his mind, she was. "Bonjour, Tommy," She greets before flicking the brim of the hat. "I see you kept the hat all these years." He laughs and throws an arm around her shoulders to shelter her from the never-ending group of press.

    "Of course I did. My favorite niece made it for me." Amaris will never admit it, but Tom calling her his niece sends a sharp pain through her heart. After a year apart, she hoped he'd see her differently, see her as the woman she was. But instead, he saw her as a child. "Your father is extremely sorry he couldn't come to pick you up. He got called into a last-minute meeting." Tom apologizes on her dad's behalf.

    "Don't worry about it; I'm used to it." Amaris shrugs as Tom lead her into the passenger seat of his black Jaguar. Her dad was a great dad. He went to everything important to her growing up, like dance recitals and art shows. Amaris coming home from a trip wasn't important, comparably. Tom lifts her two green suitcases into the back seat as Amaris sits on her phone in the front seat.

    "I'm going to drop you off at home, if that's alright?" Tom asks as he gets in and starts the car.

    "That's fine," She replies, not breaking contact with her phone, catching up on any gossip she missed on her seven-hour flight. They sit in silence while Tom navigates out of the airport parking lot. You would think he'd know these lanes like the back of his hand, the many times he's flown, but he continues to swear they change the layout every time.

    "How was Paris?" Tom asks as they finally enter the highway. Amaris puts her phone down in her lap, freeing her hands to talk animatedly.

    "Paris," She starts, accompanied by a vague french accent. "Was magnifique." And thus began the long schpeel about her times in Paris. Amaris told Tom about her travels around France, to meeting a french boy name Armel in her favorite local cafe, who she then dated and lived with during the last six months of her stay in Paris.

    Tom doesn't show it, but his heart broke a small crack when he heard she had a boyfriend. "We broke up before I left, though. I couldn't do long distance. Although, I would love to go back to Paris." Amaris confirms. "I felt so at home there the minute I stepped off the airplane." She finishes.

    "It sounds like you had a great year, Mari." Amari nods and looks out the window as the mansions start to pass. Dread starts to fill her body. In Paris, she could be authentically her. She didn't have to put on a face for the public as much as she had to here in New York. The real reason she broke up with Armel was that she didn't want him to see this side of her life. He saw the tiniest sliver of her life, and she couldn't bear the fact he didn't know who she really was.

    Her family's house rolls into view decked out in green and pink decorations and a giant banner welcoming her home. Amaris's younger siblings wait outside with excited looks on their faces. Tom barely has the car in park before Amaris jumps out of the car to hug her siblings.

    "I've missed you guys so much. You have no idea." She mumbles as her cheeks get crushed between the other two. She steps back and takes them in. "You've gotten so tall, Juno. Who the hell gave you the right?" Amaris remarks as she sees her youngest sibling standing a good six inches taller than her 5'6". She then turns to her sister. "And you," She gushes, looking over how vibrant and put together she looks. "When did Dad let you grow up?"

    "I didn't ask permission," She jokes. "How was Paris since I left?" Danica asks, having visited her oldest sister two months into Amaris moving there. Juno went after, six months into Amaris's trip.

    Tom watches the siblings talk and get along as he unpacks Amaris's bags for her. He had to admit, at least to himself, that she looked good. She grew up well in Paris. Amaris dressed confidently and looked the part. Tom was surprised no one else could see the golden glow she had surrounding her.

    Amaris looks over her shoulder at Tom with a bright white smile as if feeling him staring at her. He gives a small wave and picks up her bags for her. She offers to help, but Tom waves her off, telling her to catch up with her siblings.

    They all follow Tom inside, deciding to sit on the comfortable couches in the lounge instead of standing in the driveway. Tom joins them after dropping the bags in the hallway, sitting next to Amaris on purpose.

    He will admit to everyone that he's missed her dearly. It was like a part of him was missing this last year. She was the most important girl in his life, and he'd go to jail for her. He's said as much during drunken confessions. But this new feeling caught him off guard. He wasn't supposed to feel the never-ending need to touch her.

    The feeling dies down as he lays an arm across Amaris's back but returns when she leans into him. This wasn't anything new, though. Amaris and Tom would cuddle and sit together since she was a child. There was nothing else behind it; he was just her safe place after her mother passed away.

    Though, the cuddling and touching died down when Amaris started going through puberty and liking boys. But Tom was always there as her wall when she needed to cry. Tom would do nothing wrong with those kids. He saw them as his own some days and other days as his siblings. He wouldn't do anything to lose the trust of his best friend, their father. But Amaris could threaten all of that.

    As if called by Tom's thoughts, William walks through the front door, arms open and ready to welcome his eldest child home. "Mars?" He calls out. Amaris scrambles off the couch and runs to her father.

    "Daddy," She squeals, launching into his waiting arms. "I've missed you so much."

    William hugs her tighter, "I've missed you more, Owl. You have to tell me everything." Amaris gasps and lets go of her dad, remembering she has her bag full of gifts for the gang.

    "I brought gifts; go sit." She orders, going to find which bag she put them in. Tom says quick goodbyes to the family while he makes his way to the door. "Where the hell do you think you're going, Hiddleston?" Amaris asks, hands-on-hips while she blocks Tom's path. She heard his goodbyes and raced to intercept him.

    "I was going to leave you and your family to enjoy alone time," He offers, eyes falling to the low-cut blouse she wore. Was she always wearing the shirt? Tom adjusts the collar of his shirt as his face gets hot. This was worse than forbidden.

    "Are you trying to tell me you're not family, Tom?" The way his voice falls from her lips could bring any man to his knees. Like fresh honey straight from the beehive and sweeter than sugar cane. He needs to snap out of these thoughts. Instead, Tom smiles and holds his hands up. "Exactly, go sit. I have things for you too." Amaris turns on her heel, and Tom watches her leave, ass swaying in those perfectly fit jeans.

    Tom was utterly screwed if he didn't get over this weird crush he developed in the last hour soon.

Taglist: @queenofallhobos​

[wayward-mikaelson]

Shallow (Dean Winchester x F! Reader)

Word Count: 4549

About: Set during S15 finale, so SPOILERS. You and the boys pick up a vamp hunt while at a Pie Festival. The hunt ends tragically.

Characters: Dean, Sam, Jody, Cas, Young Dean (s15), Lyla (OC)

Pairing: Dean Winchester x F! Reader (Anyone can obviously read it)

Warnings/Trigger Warnings: Language, Angst, Character Death, Depression (mentioned), Time Jumps.

A/N: It's been while since I did a SPN fic! Writing it made me miss the them more!

A/N 2: This might need some tissues.

***This work contains content for the 18 and up crowd, so please read at your discretion. This work is cross posted on other sites. Please don't copy and paste my work; I work too hard on all my stories. You my copy the link to share or you may reblog. I am NOT taking requests at this time. Feedback is welcomed!***

Forever Tags: @hobby27 @donnaintx @myinconnelly1 @elansaidaris @magssteenkamp @440mxs-wife

Supernatural Tags: @lyarr24

Dean/Jensen Tags: @akshi8278 @sandlee44 @squirrelnotsam @thougts-and-funnies

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You laid there, feeling the cool body paint move around on your back. Dean’s gentle fingers tracing over your back could put you to sleep. This had been the most calm and rest you had in the last couple years. You deserved it! Hell, Dean deserved it more than you. He had been fighting longer than you ever had.

Dean and you crossed paths six years ago during a demon hunt. It really was your hunt and you wouldn’t want to admit it, but you really weren’t doing too hot. You were extremely lucky the Winchester’s stumbled across your hunt when they did. If it weren’t for them you’d probably be some demon's meat suit or doing the conga in hell with the devil himself. That was until you learned of where the devil really was a few years later.

You and Dean rarely got along over the first few years. The two of you always butted heads and argued during most hunts. It annoyed Sam so much that he actually told the two of you “Sleep together already! I can’t take the sexual tension and the bickering any longer.”

It didn’t take longer after that for Dean to grab your face and kiss you.

“Are you done back there?” You tried to twist a bit but a hand gently pushed you back into place.

“Nope,” Dean enunciated the word. “Almost. This is going to look epic though.”

“Doesn’t need to be the Sistine Chapel,” You buried your face back into the pillow.

Dean gasped. “Excuse me? Your back deserves a painting better than the Sistine Chapel. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t give you the best?”

You chuckled and mumbled something into the pillow.

Once Dean was finished, he reached for his phone and took a picture of it. “There we go,” you heard the smile in his voice. “Now that’s what I like to call the Sistine Back. Here, take a look.”

You lifted your head to see Dean lay on his side next to you. A huge smile painted his face as he showed the screen of his phone to you. What you saw, had you laughing uncontrollably. “Oh, Dean,” you breathed in between laughs. “This is better than the Sistine Chapel. I love it!”

Dean’s face lit up so bright, it could have brightened up the dimly lit room. “Yeah? Maybe I should get this printed out big enough to fit the ceiling in here.”

You shook your head as laughter took over your body once again. “Oh, God, yes! We can stare at the hamburger and apple pie every night we have sex.”

“Yeah,” Dean pushed you onto your back, getting the body paints onto the sheets under you. He plants a gentle kiss to the base of your neck, making you shiver through your entire body. Dean began to kiss down your body until he got to your belly. He looked up at you with those bright green eyes. Instead of slinking down further, he crept back up and hovered over you. Those eyes seemed to stare right into your soul. This man has shown you more love than any other man, including your father, has ever shown you. “I love you, don’t you ever forget that.”

“Never,” you reached up, wrapped your arms around his necK and pulled him to your lips. “I have a surprise for you.” Twisted to the side and pulled a piece of paper out of the side table drawer and handed it to him. You watched as his face lit up and looked between the paper and your face.

“A pie festival?” The excitement was clear as day in his voice. “Oh, Sweetheart, we are so going to this thing. The three of us. A huge family road trip.”

And that’s what you all did.

It was the best trip you all had. Dean tried every single pie he could get his hands on. You and Sam watched as he ate each slice. Looking like he was in heaven with each bite he took. It made you happy to see him so at peace not worrying about anything. There’s no end of the world evil to take care of. There hadn’t been for awhile.

LIfe seemed to be normal.

“You gotta try this one,” Dean sat next to you with another big box full of piece samples. He gave you a fork and pushed a pie towards you. “Don’t give it that look. It’s a honey apple pie with a tad bit of rosemary. So much sweeter than normal apple pie.” You took a small bite and Dean was right. It was sweeter.

“Not going to lie, that was pretty good,” you went for another bite.

“So, guys, get this,” Sam sat down with a newspaper in hand. Can’t be a fun trip unless Sam had his paper to look at. “There was a kidnapping last night. Father murdered and the mother’s tongue cut out. Both kids are missing.”

“Okay, doesn’t sound like our kind of thing,” you reach for the paper. “Maybe leave it to the local PD?” Suddenly, Dean took the paper from your hands and stared at the picture to the article of the tragic story.

“I’ve seen this before,” he mumbled. “Do we still have Dad’s journal?”

“Yeah, why?” Sam asked.

“I think I’ve seen these masks before.”

And Dean. Once he found the drawing John Winchester drew years ago, they matched the ones in the paper. You guys were looking at a pair of masked vamps and you guys were pretty much the closest hunters to take care of it.

“It’s one little hunt,” Dean shrugged as he checked out the weapons in the trunk. “Why don’t we take care of it and then head on home.”

It didn’t take long for you guys to locate the missing children. They were being held in an old barn on the outskirts of town. There three of you, so it shouldn’t be too hard to fight a small nest of vamps. You guys have taken out larger nests in the past.

“Come on, just this once?” Dean had asked. You peaked your head around the trunk and saw Dean holding up ninja stars with a huge smile on his face. Sam on the other hand just stared at him and shook his head.

“Not this time, man.”

Dean put the stars away while mumblings about how Sam was no fun. You smiled and patted him on the back and told him that there will be another time to use them. Dean gumbled some more and you had to remind him that you book a separate motel room away from Sam and that you brought some fun toys.

Even his favorite one to use on you.

Getting into the barn was too easy. Sam and Dean fought the two vamps that jumped out, making it easier for you to grab the two kids and get them to the impala. Once you strapped them in, you were making your way towards the driver side, you were tackled by one of the vamps.

The two of you wrestled in the dirt until you were able to break away and grab hold of your machete. You get to your feet and are tackled again, this time the vamp pins you firmly to the ground. The vamp removed his mask and bit down onto your neck, making you cry out. When the vamp pulled back, you took that small opening to headbutt him and kick in in the groin. You rolled away and quickly stood up and swung your machete. The vamp's head rolled onto the ground. You looked up and saw the terrified look on the children’s face.

“Hey, it’s okay,” you told them when you opened their door. You pulled the blankets over them and gave them some water and the sandwiches you made. “Drink and eat, we’ll get you home soon.” You heard it go quiet in the barn. It was too quiet and something in you told you something wasn’t right. “Hang on tight,” you closed the door and ran inside the barn.

What you saw, it almost knocked the wind out of you. There, Dean’s back was pressed firmly against a wooden pillar with a pained expression on his face. You ran up to him and looked at the damage and felt the tears fall as your heart begin to break.

Dean wasn’t going to come back from this.

“Dean,” you whispered as you met his eyes.

“I know, sweetheart,” He winced as he spoke. You saw his breathing get deeper and more shallow. “I love you. Don’t you forget that when you find someone else.” You squeezed your eyes shut because there was nothing you can do or say that will change the outcome of this. You felt Dean’s hand on your face pulling you towards his lips.

This kiss wasn’t like past kisses. It was firm and passionate and slow. He wanted you to remember this kiss for years to come. “Until we meet again,” Dean whispered, pressing his forehead to yours.

“Take care of her, Sam,” Dean added.

Everything that followed after that, felt like a dream. Your body felt heavy as you drove the kids to the nearest police station with some story about how you found them. The man that you loved, the man who you spent many nights talking about some kind of future, that man was now gone.

When you got back to the barn, the sun was just beginning to rise. You saw Sam sitting next to a covered up heap and the realization, again, hit you hard. The cover heap was Dean’s body. You stopped the impala and got out. Sam looked up at you with red eyes. You knew he had been crying hard. Probably as hard as you had. Sam got up and effortlessly picked up Dean and placed him in the back seat.

The whole way back to the bunker, neither of you spoke. You just took turns crying and driving. Stopping on the side of the road and just letting the other scream out in whatever pain the two of you had left in your bodies.

Back at the bunker, the two of you worked and got a pyre ready. When it was ready, you watched as Sam carried his big brother's body and gently placed it on the wooden display. You stood, with Miracle standing next to you. She had been whimpering off and on. She knew Dean was up there. You knelt down and let her nuzzle you while you let some more tears fall. Miracle was all you had left of Dean now.

Sam had some trouble lighting the pyre so you went up and helped it light it. Soon, the pyre and Dean were on fire. Then the two of you stared at it until it was nothing but ash.

***

You sat in Jody’s spare room while Miracle laid at your feet. You still wished all of this were a dream because neither you nor Sam, could adjust to the new reality that Dean was gone. So the two of you packed up what you could and left the bunker.

You guys drove until you were on Jody’s doorstep at midnight. She knew something was wrong when she looked deeply into your faces and asked where Dean was. When she saw the tears in your guys eyes, her whole face fell. She pulled the two of you into the tightest hug and held on tightly as the three of you cried silently.

A gentle knock on your door startled you. You got up and answered the door and saw Sam standing there. He was dressed in fresh clothes holding two cups of coffee.

“Are you, uh, doing okay?” Sam asked as you took the coffee from him. “I know it’s a stupid question but…”

You gave a pained smile, “I know I’ll be okay, but I feel like I won’t be okay. I’ve tried praying to Jack but I’m pretty sure he’s busy fixing Heaven.” You recount the hours you cried out to Jack about the loss of Dean. You cried about how you wanted him back. You cried about how you were supposed to move on from an epic love like that. You cried about how you just missed him and needed him to make it better.

“Same here,” Sam ran his hands through his hair. “I’m going to go look at places, apartments, that we can share and see what kind of jobs we can get. Do you want to come along?”

You took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “Not today, maybe tomorrow. I really want to spend time alone and process these last couple days.”

“Okay, no worries,” Sam nodded his head. “I’ll see you when I come back.”

“Okay.”

You waited until Sam had been gone for an hour to pack your bags again and head down stairs. You were in the process of opening the door when you heard someone behind you. Turning around you saw Jody standing in the entryway with you. She didn’t say anything, she just pulled a pair of keys out of the bowl next to her and handed them to you.

“Call me when you're safe,” she placed a hand on your face and gave you a smile. “I can’t bear to lose another kid.” A few tears slipped down her cheek.

Agreeing to call her, you slipped out the door and to the car Jody let you use. You got in and made sure Miracle was settled in the passenger seat. Then you were on your way out of town. You weren’t sure where you would go but you knew you needed to get far away from everything.

You needed to start fresh somewhere.

***

Years have passed and you’ve found that the pain of losing Dean has lessened. You’re able to have random memories of him without crying or hours and days on end. You were able to wake up without feeling like there was a hole on your chest. You were finally able to tell Sam why you ran after you were states away. You promised him it would be for a bit and that you’ll contact him.

Sadly, that day never came.

Two months after losing Dean you began to feel sick. You weren’t sure if it was the stress of losing Dean or starting a new life or both. So, off you went to the doctors and there you sat on the papery bed feeling like you were hit by a truck. The words that the doctor told you, they echoed around in your head.

“And the father?” the words were almost like a whisper in your already loud and spinning head.

“What?” you shook your head.

“That father?” the doctor repeated. “What do you know about the father?”

You took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “Um, he’s not in the picture.” Your voice had been quiet. Your heart felt like it had been breaking all over again. Part of you couldn’t believe this was happening. Part of you believed it, Dean and you were never really safe when it came to sex.

“One night stand? We do have options,” the doctor began to say.

“No no,” you shook your head. “The father, he’s um...he passed away.” You choked on the words. Hearing it out loud, made his death all the more real.

“My apologies,” The doctor whispered.

You took the pamphlets and walked out of the doctors. You didn’t know what you would do. This was all so new and all so painful at the same time. Dean was supposed to be here with you whenever this happened. In the end, you chose to keep the baby. You called Jody and Donna and told them, making them both promise not to tell Sam.

Over the years, you heard about Sam through Donna and Jody. He got married and had a kid of his own. You wanted to reach out but at this point it had been years and the two of you had settled into non hunting life. It wouldn’t be fair to disrupt it.

As more years passed, you saw Lyla become more and more like her father. She had his green eyes and his smile. She was smart and would get her hands on just about anything and that made you wonder, where did she get that from. Smart brains ran on both sides. Maybe something from Sam or something from your father. She loved pie just as much as Dean, and you’d take her to the pie festival every year.

As Lyla grew, she asked about Dean from time to time and you told her what you could. You also told her that when she turned into an adult you would tell her more, that telling her while she was young and child wouldn’t be safe or wise. In the meantime, you told her all the things asked about.

“What was Daddy’s favorite food?”

“What did Daddy like to do for fun?”

“What was Daddy’s favorite color?”

“Did Daddy have a favorite movie?”

The questions were endless, but you loved to answer them. Then one day, Lyla came up to you one morning, her dark hair looking like a bird's nest. Her face was beaming with happiness.

“Mommy,” Lyla’s voice was an octave higher. “Did you know, Daddy is in Heaven?”

You almost choked on your coffee. “What, Sweetie?”

“Daddy, he’s in Heaven. An angel told me,” she walked off and grabbed her stuffed chicken, one that she named Chickie Meow Meow, and hugged it tightly.

“What angel?” you asked. You got up and began to check all your warding, the ones that kept the bad creatures out. Everything seemed to be in place, even that salt that still blended in with your window panels. Then you checked to see if Lyla still wore the anti-possesion charm necklace you had made for her. She still did. “What did the angel look like?”

“He wore a funny brown jacket,” she answered. “He said his name was Cas. He wanted me to tell you that Daddy is fine. That they are looking over us.” You pulled Lyla into a hug and let some tears fall.

***

You walked into that old abandoned barn. You had left Lyla with Jody for the weekend. You sat down and placed all that you needed to summon Cas. You didn’t want to pray, you knew Cas all too well, he probably wouldn’t show up. But if you summoned him, you knew he had no choice but to come and see you. You lit the match and dropped it into the bowl and waited.

“Y/N” The deep, rough voice said your name.

You turned to see Cas standing there. In the same thing that he had been taken away in. But it was cleaner. “How are you alive?” you asked outright.

“Jack, he brought me back,” Cas took a few steps closer to you. “You know you could have prayed and I would have come.”

“But would you?” you gave the angel a smirk and raised your eyebrows.

“I did it for Lyla,” Cas looked into your eyes. “She prayed about Dean and wanted to know if he was in Heaven. I thought it best that it was me to come to her.”

You looked down, you couldn’t bear to look into the angel's blue eyes. You always assumed things and that always backfired and kicked you in the ass. “Then why didn’t you come to me when I cried out to you or to Jack?”

“I did,” Cas closed the distance and placed a hand under your chin and lifted your face to meet his eyes. “Each night that you cried yourself to sleep, I was there sitting at the foot of your bed. Each night that you drank yourself to sleep, before you found out you were pregnant, I sat there and rubbed your back the way Dean told me too. Then when you were in that delivery room all by yourself, I was there to make sure things went smoothly. Then when you were sleeping, I memorized everything there was about Lyla. I have watched over the two of you these last nine years. Dean would be so proud of how far you have come.”

You stood there and cried silently as Cas spoke. “Cas,” you whispered, wiping the tears from your face. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I can’t be on Earth as much, Jack and I are still fixing Heaven but I can tell you that Dean is waiting for you.” Cas moved his hand to your shoulder. “I have to go, but I was told to tell you, I love you by Dean.”

Then you were alone.

***

Twelve year passed and you’re helping Lyla with a college event. She had just turned twenty-one and was nearly done with her bachelor degree. At this point, she knew all that there was to Dean. She knew he was a hunter, that he saved the world countless times, that he had some faults, and so on.

Lyla knew of what goes bump in the night. She’s read every note and the journal you kept during the time you had been hunting. When she asked if Dean kept one, you had told her that he didn’t. That he used his fathers and you weren’t sure where that ended up. Lyla even went above and got whatever protection tattoos down her spine.

So, while you’re helping Lyla you had a boy, about nineteen years old come up to the booth and look around. He looked familiar to you. He wore a long sleeve flannel, that was probably why. Sam and Dean always wore flannel. That was probably why and it made you miss the younger Winchester. You should have kept in contact with him or at least told him of Lyla.

“Y/N?” A familiar voice called out to you.

You turned around and your heart just about fell from your chest. There standing with grey hair, was Sam Winchester. He hadn’t changed too much except for the hair and the fact that he wore glasses. He still looked like the Sam Winchester you knew all those years ago.

“Sam?” You crossed your arms.

“The one and only,” he smiled. “What are you doing here?”

Before you could answer, Lyla came up to you. “Mom, we’re going to need some more pamphlets, we’re just about out.” You turned to Lyla who saw Sam. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay, take my keys and you can go print some out at the UPS down the street,” You motioned to your bag.

After Lyla had left you turned back to Sam who had watched her the whole time. It was like he knew. “So, you have a kid too?” You heard the tone in his voice. Lyla looked so much like Dean these days, you knew someone from your past was bound to notice. Sam most of all.

“Yeah,” you answer quietly. “Her name’s Lyla.”

“Cool, that’s great you found someone to populate the Earth with,” Sam gestured towards you. That tone he held was still there. The look in his eyes was the very same one he used on you when he called you out on yours and Dean’s sexual tension.

“You know, don’t you?” you lowered your arms.

“She looks a lot like Dean,” Sam whispered. “Is that why you ran? Is that why I never heard from you?” You stared at Sam and tried to hold back your emotions. “Dean’s final words were to take care of you. I failed at that when you ran.”

“You failed when you didn’t come and look for me,” you lashed out. “I thought you would have looked for me despite everything I told you. You should have found me. Then I find out through Jody your married and have a kid, I thought it best not to mess up what you got for yourself.”

Sam stared at you and nodded. “I should have and I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” you whispered and looked around. The boy in the flannel was still there. Then it hit you. “Is that?”

“My son,” Sam’s face lit up brighter than you’ve ever seen it. “His name is Dean.”

For the next five years you kept in touch with Sam. You guys spent holidays and birthdays with each other. That was, until you got sick and the doctors couldn’t help you. So, in your hospital room, Sam sat beside you. He wasn’t doing too well either, but he held your hand and smiled at you.

“Tell Dean I said hi,” were the last words you heard.

***

When your eyes opened again, you were sitting on a bench. Around you was a field of just plain old grass and a few trees. You knew this place all too well. You stood and realized you were back in your younger body. Having that kind of movement again, it was amazing. You began to walk around, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin. It all felt nice and it made you smile.

“Hey, Sweetheart.”

You spun around at the familiar sound. There he stood, looking handsome as ever in his jacket and leaning against the Impala with that heartwarming smile. “Dean,” you said his name like he hadn’t been dead for almost three decades.

Dean pushed himself off the impala and closed the distance between the two of you. He placed a hand on your cheek and brushed his calloused thumb over it. You closed your eyes and took in the touch. “You know, time is different up here. It doesn’t feel like it’s been twenty-six years.” Then he pressed his lips to yours and the feel almost knocked you off your feet.

“Are we allowed to kiss in Heaven?” you pulled away from him.

“I don’t think Jack minds,” Dean smiled and gathered you into his arms and pressed his lips more firmly to his. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pressed yourself against him. “Wanna go for a ride?” He asked when he pulled away.

“Sure, I missed this beauty.” You ran your hand along the impala and just as you were about to get in, Dean staring at you caught your eye. “What?”

“Cas says you had a baby,” Dean crossed his arms on top of the hood. “I have to ask…”

You smiled at him and leaned on the hood as well. “She’s yours and she’s incredible. Loves pie just like her daddy. I thought Cas would’ve told you.”

“Time moves differently up here,” Dean repeated what he said earlier. “What’s her name?”

“Lyla,” you smiled. “Lyla Winchester.”

“I wish I got to know her,” Dean spoke softly.

“You will,” you got into the passenger side. “I can tell you all you want about her.”

Dean followed you into the impala. “I don’t have to worry about some random dude coming here and claiming you as his wife or something?”

“Nope,” You sat back. “Now drive or I’ll start walking.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

[prouvaireafterdark]

See Something You Like? - Malex Sex Shop AU Part 1/2

It’s FINALLY here: the Malex Sex Shop AU you’ve all been waiting for! Well, the first half anyway (Part Two will be out soon!)

I dedicate this fic to my friendly neighborhood Thigh Riding Anon™️, who inspired this fic with her galaxy brain prompt, and all of you who have been patiently waiting for me to finish this absolute monster of a smut fic. I hope you enjoy it! 💜😘

Also on AO3!

***

When Michael moved to California to start his PhD in agricultural engineering, he’d grossly underestimated how expensive the move would be. The stipend that came with his teaching assistantship just barely covers the rent on his studio apartment, and finding a roommate off Craigslist that’s desperate enough to live in such close quarters isn’t exactly an option considering how many alien skeletons Michael’s got in his closet. The vegetables he’s planning on growing in his complex’s shared community garden will help, but if he wants to eat any time soon he’s gonna have to find a part time job.

Enter Jackie and Kris, the delightful middle-aged lesbian couple who live next door and share Michael’s enthusiasm for sustainable gardening and the occasional midnight smoke.

They get to talking one night while passing a bong back and forth over the railing that divides their balconies, first about DIY organic fertilizer and then about Michael’s degree. He lets spill in a moment of weakness that his coursework is a breeze, but he’s worried he’ll run out of money before he can finish the program. As embarrassed as he is about the confession, it ends up saving his life.

Turns out, Jackie and Kris own a sex shop named Pandora’s Box around the corner and have been looking for some help running the storefront while they focus on expanding their online business and organizing safe sex workshops for the local queer and BDSM communities. The hours would be flexible around Michael’s schedule and all they really would need him to do is stand behind the register, ring people up, and answer questions about their products with “affability and professionalism.”

It’s maybe not the work he imagined himself doing when he moved to California for grad school, but for $15/hr, Michael really can’t afford to say no. He sits for an official interview the very next day and leaves Jackie’s home office with a new job and a pot brownie wrapped in tin foil, eager to get started on both.

Monday afternoons at Pandora's Box are the best. They’re notoriously slow so Michael gets to work his shift alone, which gives him ample time to grade the assignments he procrastinated on all weekend while he sits behind the counter.

It’s a Monday afternoon, in fact, about a year and a half later, when Michael hears the bell above the door chime softly to announce the arrival of a customer who would change his life forever.

The first thing Michael notices when he lifts his head from the stack of exams on the counter is the black leather jacket that’s stretched across the man’s broad shoulders. When Michael’s eyes flick up to get a look at the man’s face, he’s met with sharp cheekbones, beautifully tan skin, and a pair of trendy but understated sunglasses. He looks a little lost—unsurprising, since Michael’s certain he would have remembered it if he’d ever seen a man that pretty walk into his shop before—but when he realizes Michael’s looking at him, he flips his sunglasses up onto his artfully messy dark hair and smiles.

And oh, what a smile it is—the most beautiful one Michael has ever seen, soft and sweeter that it has any right to be, his full lips capturing Michael’s attention with ease. His heart pounds in his chest as their eyes lock together, and if Michael didn’t know any better, he’d think he’s just fallen in love with a perfect stranger.

Before Michael can do more than shoot him a dazed smile in return, the man disappears down an aisle.

As a general rule, Michael doesn’t talk to customers who don’t approach him for help first. It’s best practice in a store that sells pornography and sex toys—most customers don’t want to be questioned about their kinks, and those that do usually already know what they’re looking for—but the pull he feels toward this man is undeniable. He’s curious about him for reasons he can’t explain, and as his feet carry him off in the direction the man went, Michael decides not to question it.

Michael weaves casually through the aisles until he finds the man staring up at the floor to ceiling wall display of dildos and other anal toys—because of course he does. He sends a prayer to a god he doesn’t believe in that this man isn’t buying something for his girlfriend before he steps in line beside him.

“See something you like?” Michael asks, toning down his customer service voice into something approaching normal human speech.

Up close, he can see the man has a septum piercing, which glints a little in the light. Michael’s seen plenty of people with body jewelry come through this store, but he’s never really thought of it as cute until now.

The man smiles at him, a little shy, but Michael’s not so distracted this time that he misses the way his eyes flick over his body in naked interest, and it leaves him feeling a little hot under the collar.

“I’m not sure yet,” the stranger answers.

Even his voice is nice, Michael notes, deeper than he expects and smooth like honey.

Michael nods in understanding. He gets it—this wall can certainly be intimidating, even for someone who’s been to a sex shop before. He looks the man over again, taking in his charmingly flushed cheeks, and wonders if it’s his first time in a place like this. If maybe he needs a little help after all.

It’s a good thing Michael’s an expert, huh?

He doesn’t want to come at him too strongly, though. Encountering an overbearing sales associate isn’t any more fun than being one, and Michael certainly isn’t looking to push the guy passed his personal boundaries. He may be smitten, but he’s not an asshole.

“Well, if you have any questions about any of our products, my name’s Michael,” he says, flashing him a warm smile.

He’s about to go off in search of a nearby display to straighten up so he can give the man some space, but his voice catches Michael’s attention once more.

“And if I don’t have questions?” the man asks, and when Michael turns to look at him there’s a real smile tugging at his lips this time. “What should I call you then?”

Michael laughs, shaking his head as he shoots back, “Okay, smartass, what should I call you?”

For a single, horrible second after his own words reach his ears, Michael thinks he’s gone too far, but the sudden burst of anxiety in his chest turns out to be for nothing—the man’s grin only grows wider.

“Alex,” he says, and to Michael’s surprise he holds his hand out for him.

Alex’s palm is warm against his when he shakes it, and Michael can’t help but wonder how it would feel anchored in his curls or clutching tight to the skin of his hips.

“So, Alex,” Michael starts, emboldened by the introduction. He finds he likes the way Alex’s name feels in his mouth. “What are you in the market for today?”

Alex flushes a little and it’s so endearing Michael has to bite the inside of his bottom lip to keep from smiling.

“That’s the thing—I don’t really know,” Alex answers honestly. “There’s just so many options.”

“Okay, well, let’s start with an easier question: are you shopping for yourself or a significant other?” he asks, and, yeah, maybe he’s planning on filing the answer to his question away for later. Sue him.

Alex looks at him like maybe he suspects ulterior motives, but Michael shamelessly holds his gaze.

“No boyfriend,” Alex says, the corner of his mouth twitching up. “I’m looking for something for myself.”

“Fantastic,” Michael smiles, before he slips a little deeper into salesman mode. “So, judging by the aisle we’re standing in, I’m gonna take a leap and say that you’re looking for a toy you can use for internal anal stimulation. Is that right?”

“Yeah. Think you can help me out with that?” Alex asks, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Definitely,” Michael answers with a smirk before he turns to the wall display. “As you can see, we have a pretty wide selection; you name it, we’ve probably either got it in stock or can have it shipped in three to five business days. Is there a particular price point you’re aiming for?”

Alex seems to think about it. “I’m not really looking to spend more than $100, but I could go up to $150 if it’ll change my life.”

“I can work with that,” Michael assures him. “Any other parameters I should keep in mind?”

“I’ve read that jelly toys can be dangerous, so definitely not anything made out of that,” Alex says, and Michael’s glad to hear he’s done his research. Jelly toys are frustratingly popular because they’re so cheap and Michael usually has to put in a little work to talk people out of buying them.

“Oh yeah, fuck that jelly shit,” Michael agrees, and Alex’s startled laugh makes his heart skip. “They’re impossible to sanitize properly and they’re full of toxic chemicals—you wouldn’t believe the horror stories I’ve heard about them since I started working here. If you’re looking for something with a softer texture, medical grade silicone is really the only way to go. Just make sure you stick to water-based lube or else you could ruin your toy.”

Alex nods thoughtfully, like he’s read that too.

“Glass and metal are also good options,” Michael continues. “They obviously feel a lot harder inside you, but they’re easy to clean, you don’t have to be as careful about what lube you use, and they’re naturally waterproof. They’re excellent for temperature play, too, if you’re into that.”

“Never tried it,” Alex confesses.

“It’s not for everyone, but it can be a fun time,” Michael says, recalling the scorching summer afternoon he spent fooling around with an ice cube tray and a girl he met on Tinder. “So, your options are metal, glass, and silicone. Any preference?”

Michael notices Alex’s eye catching on a set of stainless steel plugs, but he answers, “Silicone for now, I think.”

“Good choice,” Michael replies easily. “So, now that we know what material you’re looking for, let’s talk about your ideal experience. What are you looking to get out of your purchase?”

“An orgasm?” Alex answers, his confusion evident.

Michael laughs. “Sorry, I meant—how would you like to get there? What sort of sensation are you looking for?”

Alex looks a little lost at the question, so Michael turns to plan B.

“See, this one, for example,” Michael says, pointing to a familiar black prostate massager, “is great for when you wanna get off fast and hard. It’s not too thick, so you don’t have to spend a ton of time opening yourself up for it, and the curve puts the tip of it right up on your p-spot. It’s also got a bunch of different vibration settings and get this: It’s waterproof.”

Alex hums in interested acknowledgement, though Michael notes that the longer he talks, the more Alex’s attention is fixed on him, not the toy.

Feeling bold, Michael adds, “I’d advise caution if you’ve got thin walls though.”

“Why, does it make a lot of noise?” Alex asks curiously.

A slow grin spreads across Michael’s lips. “No,” he says with a shake of his head. “But you will.”

Michael watches Alex try and fail to suppress a smile, his full bottom lip caught between his teeth.

“You seem pretty sure of that,” Alex says when he releases it. “That from firsthand experience, or are you just a really good salesman?”

Michael laughs, equal parts delighted by Alex’s flirting and embarrassed by the memory his question brings to mind.

“What?” Alex asks, a smile building on his face.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you,” Michael hesitates, his face heating up just thinking about it. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Aw, come on,” Alex goads him. “Don’t be such a tease.”

Michael gasps in mock offense. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but a tease isn’t one of them.”

“That mean you’re gonna tell me what’s got you blushing like that after all?” Alex asks.

“I’m not blushing,” Michael protests, even though he definitely is.

Alex raises an eyebrow at him. It’s stupidly attractive.

With a huff, Michael considers his options. He doesn’t usually give personal anecdotes like this to customers, but there’s just something about Alex that makes Michael want to give him whatever he wants.

“Fuck it, why not?” Michael says to himself.

Alex smiles victoriously and settles in to listen.

“So, about a year ago, I came in to work and found this box sitting on the table in the break room, which was filled with a bunch of different toys from the company that makes that massager. I asked my boss about it and she said the company sent her a bunch of free samples.”

“Does that happen often?” Alex interrupts to ask. “Companies just send you free stuff?”

“Eh, sometimes, if it’s from a new line of toys that a company wants retailers to hype up,” Michael explains. “It helps that my boss Jackie’s wife Kris has a pretty popular blog where she tests and rates toys, so she gets free stuff all the time.”

“Huh,” Alex says. “So I’m guessing you took one after your shift?”

“Oh yeah,” Michael nods. “Tried it out as soon as I got home.”

“How was it?”

“Intense is about the only word that covers it,” Michael answers. “Those vibrations can be really powerful, it was like nothing else I’d ever tried before. Definitely one of my top ten solo orgasms of all time.”

“Not number one?” Alex asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I came in, like, a minute, so no, not quite,” Michael laughs.

“Is that the embarrassing part?” Alex asks. “That you came so fast?”

“Not quite,” Michael winces, his cheeks flushing. “As I was coming, I screamed so loud that the little old lady whose living room is on the other side of my bedroom called the cops on me. Apparently, she thought I was being murdered.”

“Oh no,” Alex laughs, eyes wide.

“Yeah,” Michael agrees. “Not exactly the happy ending I was after.”

Alex laughs again, but there’s heat behind his eyes too when he asks, a moment later, “Not usually a screamer, I take it?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Michael winks.

“Mm,” Alex hums thoughtfully. He looks Michael right in the eye as he asks, “Well, what if I don’t want to get off that fast? What if I want to make it last?”

Michael tries not to smile as he gets back to business.

“Well, I should mention that this massager does also have softer levels of vibration intensity, which I only discovered after Officer ACAB knocked on my door,” Michael says.

Alex laughs before asking incredulously, “You didn’t read the instructions?”

“Uh, no,” Michael admits. “I’m more of a ‘take things apart and see how they work’ kinda guy, I’ve never been big on reading the directions.”

“Even after your little misadventure?” Alex asks.

“Hey, don’t knock my process. I got a fantastic orgasm out of that ‘misadventure,’” Michael reminds him.

“How could I forget?” Alex asks, shooting Michael a look that really tests his self-restraint.

Michael huffs a laugh and reaches up to scratch the back of his own neck so he doesn’t do something stupid, like push Alex against the fucking dildo display and kiss that look off his face.

“So, anyway,” Michael starts, shifting the topic back toward the task at hand, “you can either learn from my mistakes or you can try something that doesn’t have vibrations at all. We’ve got a great selection of dildos in all shapes and sizes.”

“Do any of them come with a story?” Alex asks cheekily.

Michael snickers in spite of himself. “Maybe,” he says noncommittally. “Let’s see what we’ve got in stock.”

Michael hums as he looks over the display, searching for another recommendation he can make, when his eye catches on a purple dildo with ribbing along the shaft.

“This one’s a good starter dildo,” he says, pointing it out. “It’s a pretty modest size, but the ribbing feels really nice and there’s a suction cup on the bottom if you wanna stick it somewhere and fuck yourself onto it. There’s also a few by the same company that have a hole that you can slide a bullet vibrator into if you wanna get something that can do both.”

“Have you tried them all?” Alex asks.

Michael laughs, looking up at the expansive display of dildos. “Not all of them,” he says, glancing over to Alex as he continues, “but the employee discount here is very generous and, as you already know, sometimes we get free shit. I’ve built up a bit of a collection since I started working here.”

“I see,” Alex replies, the corner of his mouth turning up before he sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. Michael tracks the movement hungrily when Alex releases it a moment later to ask, “Which one’s your favorite?”

“Depends,” Michael shrugs, aiming for nonchalance even though he can feel himself chubbing up in his jeans.

“On?”

“On how full I wanna feel,” Michael answers, and there’s no mistaking the heat that blazes in Alex’s eyes at those words, nor the sudden intake of breath that fills his chest.

If Alex wants him half as much as it looks like he does, Michael doesn’t even care if he gets fired for where this conversation is headed, so long as it ends with Alex’s hands on him.

“See, sometimes all I’m looking for is enough internal stimulation to get the job done,” Michael elaborates, his eyes watching Alex closely. “When I feel like that, I’ll use that prostate massager I showed you earlier on myself.”

Alex’s eyes flick over to the sleek black toy still sitting on the shelf that they’d just discussed.

“And the other times?” Alex asks when he tears his eyes away.

“Other times… other times I really wanna feel it,” Michael purrs, taking a step closer. Alex’s eyes drop right to his mouth, his tongue flicking out to wet his bottom lip, and Michael can’t stop himself from asking, “You ever get like that, Alex? Like you just need something thick and heavy filling you up, so deep you’ll be feeling it for days?”

“Yeah,” Alex rasps.

“You wanna know what I fuck myself with then?” he asks.

Alex nods, eyes still on Michael’s mouth.

Michael gives him a sly grin before he backs up a few steps to find the sample of the eight inch galaxy dildo he treated himself to a few months ago. Alex follows him, as if they’re connected by an invisible string.

“This one,” he says, removing it from the shelf and offering it up for Alex’s inspection.

Alex takes it from him, his eyes passing over it with interest as he tests the give of the silicone with his fingers. Michael wonders if he’s imagining what it would look like inside him. He hopes he is.

“It might not look like much compared to some of the fucking horse cocks we sell here, but it’s thick,” Michael says, his cock hardening further the more he thinks about it, the longer Alex stands there holding it. “Takes me some time to work up to it, but it’s always worth it when I do.”

“Yeah?” Alex asks, eyes fixed where he’s shifting his hold on the dildo to measure it’s thickness with his fingers.

“Yeah,” Michael breathes, watching how Alex wraps his thumb and forefinger in a tight circle around the toy. They only just touch around its girth.

Alex hums to himself, sounding pleased, and Michael’s gut churns with the need to hear that sound again.

“I bet this stretches you out nice, huh,” Alex wonders a moment later, and with the way he stares at Michael then, like he’s trying to picture how he would look stuffed full, his rim taught over the silicone, he just knows Alex isn’t speaking generically.

“Yeah, it does,” Michael agrees quietly, trying not to squirm under the intensity of Alex’s gaze.

“How do you use it?” Alex asks him, stoking the flames inside him further.

“If you play your cards right, you just might find out,” Michael shoots back.

“You’d let me watch?” Alex asks, a smile teasing at his lips, and it’s all Michael can do not to get lost in the idea of riding that toy while Alex watches with his hand around his cock.

“Think I’d let you do more than that,” Michael admits.

Alex full-on grins at that, but before he can open his mouth to reply someone clears their throat behind them.

Michael’s heart seizes in his chest as he whips around to see Jenna Cameron, a regular customer and occasional drinking buddy of his, standing with her thumbs tucked into her police-issue gun belt. Michael can feel his erection flag at the sight of her.

“What’s a girl gotta do to get some service around here, Guerin?” Cameron asks, somehow managing to look annoyed and amused simultaneously. He notices there’s a discreet black plastic bag dangling from her fingers. “I’ve got places to be.”

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t hear anyone else come in,” Michael apologizes, trying and failing to keep a blush off his face.

“I can see that,” she answers with a pointed glance at Alex.

Michael takes an instinctive step away from him and clears his throat.

“I’ve gotta—“ he says to Alex, jerking his thumb behind him.

“Yeah,” Alex nods, eyes on his shoelaces. It makes the pleasure that had been coiling in his belly sour further.

“I’ll be right back,” Michael tells him, soft enough that Cameron won’t overhear.

The smile Alex gives him in return is encouraging enough that Michael’s fairly certain he won’t disappear if he leaves, so he follows Cameron back toward the register, all the while pointedly ignoring the smirk he can feel her directing at the side of his face.

He walks around the other side of the cash wrap and crosses his arms over his chest before he asks her, without an ounce of enthusiasm, “What do you want?”

“Damn, you’re really earning that employee of the month trophy aren’t you, Guerin?” she jokes, tossing the bag on the table. “I bought a harness this weekend, but it was broken when I took it out of the box. Receipt’s in the bag.”

Michael takes the box the leather strap-on harness came in out of the bag along with the receipt.

“Do you want a refund or an exchange?”

“Refund,” she says. “I’m thinking about getting one of those strapless ones instead.”

“You should talk to Kris, she’s got opinions about those,” he says as he starts scanning the receipt.

“Oh?” Cameron asks. “Is she here?”

“Nope,” he says, popping the ‘p’. “You can catch her at the bondage workshop she’s running later though.”

“Perfect,” she replies before leaning forward onto the counter on her elbows. “So are you gonna tell me who the hottie with the nose ring you were talking to is?”

“Why, so you can find out if he’s got any priors?” Michael jokes, not taking his eyes off his task.

“Very funny,” Cameron deadpans. “You fuck him yet?”

“None of your business,” Michael answers.

“So that’s a no, then,” she smirks, and Michael lets out a long-suffering sigh in response.

“Don’t you have places to be? Donuts to eat?” he asks, pushing her return receipt hastily in her direction.

Before Cameron can answer, the front door swings open and in walks a short middle-aged woman with a dark brown pixie cut carrying an iced coffee and a stack of papers.

Michael startles at the sight of her, realizing it must be later in his shift than he’d thought—exactly how long had he stood there talking to Alex?—but he’s never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Kris!” Michael calls to her. “Perfect timing, Cam’s got some strap-on questions for you.”

“Well, I’ve got some strap-on answers,” Kris answers cheerfully as she walks around them to drop the stack of papers—freshly-printed but yet-to-be-folded safe sex pamphlets, Michael notices—onto the counter next to the second register. “Step into my office, baby girl.”

Cameron shoots Michael a look before she steps to the side to talk to Kris, who’s leaning patiently against the side of the cash wrap.

With Cameron finally out of his hair but Kris close enough to notice him leave, Michael starts planning his escape so he can find Alex again, but it turns out he doesn’t need one. When he looks up after putting Cam’s broken harness in the bin under the counter, he sees the man in question approaching his register with a familiar black box in his hands.

“I was gonna wait for you,” Alex explains as he sets the box on the counter, “but I’m actually supposed to be meeting my brother soon.”

“Shame,” Michael says, wishing they had more time. “I was looking forward to finishing that conversation.”

Alex glances covertly at Kris and Cameron before he leans a hair closer and says, “Don’t know that it was the conversation you were hoping to finish.”

Michael blushes, casting a look at Kris and Cameron to make sure they’re too engrossed in their conversation to notice when he leans in a little further and says, low so only Alex will hear, “What can I say? I’m very committed to customer satisfaction.”

Alex laughs, a bright and happy sound that makes Michael’s heart feel strangely full, before he asks, “You charm all your customers like this?”

“No,” Michael says honestly. “Not even a little bit.”

Alex looks at him for a long minute, trying to spot the lie, and when he finds none he merely shakes his head with an incredulous smile.

“Lucky me,” he says.

Michael winks at him before he turns his attention to the box on the counter, shifting it in his hands until he finds the barcode. He usually never comments on his customers’ purchases, but with this one he simply can’t resist.

“Went with the prostate massager, huh?” Michael asks, as he rings him up.

“What can I say?” Alex answers, a smile creeping onto his face. “You made me curious.”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed,” Michael says.

“No,” Alex replies, and the way he looks at him then makes Michael wonder if they’re still talking about the massager. “I don’t think I will.”

Michael smiles at him before he tells him his total. Alex inserts the end of his card in the reader and his receipt prints a brief moment later.

“Can you sign here?” Michael asks, passing Alex the merchant’s copy of his receipt and the green pen he’d been grading with earlier.

“Mhm,” Alex hums, plucking the pen from his fingers and signing his name in a delicate script.

Michael ducks under the counter to find a bag adequately sized for Alex’s purchase before he places the box inside it along with Alex’s copy of the receipt.

“You’re all set,” Michael says, pushing the box in Alex’s direction.

“Thanks,” Alex smiles, holding the merchant copy of the receipt out for Michael to take. “And this is for you.”

Their fingers brush as Michael takes it from him and Michael swears he can feel the tension crackling between them at the simple touch.

“Thanks,” Michael says, mouth a little dry.

Alex glances back to Kris and Cam before he says, “Have a nice day, Michael.”

“You too,” Michael says, his eyes straying pointedly to the black bag in Alex’s hand.

“Oh, I will,” Alex says, one corner of his lips lifting up into a smile before he turns and heads for the door.

Michael can’t help but watch his ass and those broad shoulders as he leaves.

Once Alex is gone, Michael unfolds the receipt Alex left for him. He’s about to slide it into the folder they keep by the register for receipts when he notices the phone number printed neatly beside Alex’s signature. Below, Alex has also written the words: Hit me up if you want to hear my review.

“You strike out?”

Michael startles, looking up to see Cameron leaning on the counter, a lot closer than she was a moment ago. He sees Kris at the far end, folding her papers into pamphlets for her workshop later.

“Not quite,” Michael grins and pockets the receipt.

[reiven2017]

Delicate steel.

Chapter 4

Rachel literally fell out of the building, covering her mouth with her hand and leaning over the cold iron handrails, spat the bitter taste of alcohol on the asphalt. Her head was buzzing, her hands were wadded up, and the fabric of her black shorts was soaked through with beer, sticking viciously to her body, and Raven found herself trying to count how many fingers she had on her hand.

Oh, she was in a complete mess and this is one of the worst decisions of her life..

A week before.

A gust of cold wind blew, a page of Rachel's textbook gave in to it, but the girl just calmly continued to sit in place. It was a lunch break, at this time of the year, usually all the students preferred being in warm buildings with heating and no one pokes into the street, so Rachel Roth went there with a cheerful gait.

She looked around the empty yard and noticed a large spreading tree in a remote part of the territory, and went there.

Raven sighed softly, finally getting rid of the stuffy rooms and the walls pressing down on her. Today seemed to be preparing her for the meat of something shitty and quietly mocked her without wasting a minute. In the morning, she spilled coffee on her jeans and there seemed to be nothing to put on others, but her mother reported too late that all the few things Raven had that reached at least to her knees were left in the laundry, so after glancing sullenly at herself in the mirror before going out, Roth continued to adjust the edges of the dark skirt that seemed too short to her.

She had no particular love for things that, with a slight gust of wind, could easily disgrace her. Sometimes it seemed to Rachel that she was naked, even though her legs were hidden under the thick material of black tights, but this did not save her from feeling insecure and a certain fear.

Raven was about to put up with the fact that she would go in jeans with a taste of coffee, as her mother did not tolerate any objections, waved her away and just as quickly shoved the girl into the car, offering to take her to school.

The day promised to be outstanding when the fifth whistle reached Raven, and after even more stupid words of teenagers at her school, and the girl was finally convinced of her hatred for this wardrobe item. She measured these stupid asses with a contemptuous look, squaring her shoulders and barely restrained herself from showing them a dirty gesture in response. Even if she felt naked and confused under their greasy gazes, she would not have given them the pleasure to find out about it.

For this reason, Rachel was immensely glad when she went out into the street, she came across only a lonely asphalt and a dim sun in the sky. It was cloudy, it seemed that the air was saturated with moisture and the sun's rays only occasionally reached the ground. Yes, it was cold, especially the hardships of the weather were felt in the skirt, but it was much better than sitting and listening to the students talking about their ass.

The girl shoved her phone into the very bottom of her denim bag and tried to concentrate in silence on the books scattered around her.

It took some time before Rachel's eyes refused to accept new letters and leaning back against the trunk of a tree, she literally felt someone else's presence, and then a mountain of muscles obscured her field of vision, and the smell of cologne hit her nose. Roth made an irritated face. She had a strange ability to recognize a person without even looking at him.

— "You're as beautiful as ever, Rachel." she knew the owner of such a smug voice and did not want to look at his even more smug face.

Rachel chuckled vaguely. She wasn't in the mood for conversation.

Especially with him.

"What do you want, Wilde?" he chuckled. "And as friendly as ever, my lady." " Raven gave him a cold look from under her lashes, and then went back to reading. History had never been her favorite subject, but it was much more interesting than watching Jonathan Wild and listening to his stupid flirting. He hadn't ambiguously annoyed her at school for several weeks, had he come all this way just to talk to her?

Raven was not the most desirable girl at school and did not try to attract attention to herself as many did, but simply lived by studying and this should logically provide her with a quiet life, but as they say, nothing is impossible and by some miracle it was the local football leader who fell on her. To the envy of the others and unfortunately for Rachel, but she found it extremely annoying and problematic for herself.

Her goal was to attract as little attention to herself as possible, and this pompous mountain of muscles and testosterone literally broke all her plans, considering for herself as her own law that every girl was crazy about him as soon as he appeared within a radius of ten meters. So, to get rid of him, the only thing she needed was like a breath of fresh air on a stuffy evening, and Raven barely restrained the rude comment that was ready to escape from her lips when Wilde sank down next to her on the withered grass and frowned disgustedly at his expensive designer jeans.

Is the big boy afraid of bugs?

Raven wanted to leave this place before he said anything else annoying and annoying. Of course, she could have stayed where she was and pretended that Wilde simply did not exist, enjoying further joyful solitude, but something in his gaze alerted her Mouth. She had already turned to take her backpack and get as far away from here as possible, when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and then she was pulled back, making Rachel instinctively twitch at this touch.

Physical contact was never something pleasant for Rachel, and even more so when someone so unceremoniously interfered with her personal boundaries.

And? It seems to me, or his hand really lies on my shoulder

The thought made Roth frown. She turned her head in the direction of the teenager, caught in his, at the very moment when his lips stretched into a narcissistic smile and Raven felt anger creep under her skin, making it hiss like a snake and spraying blood in her veins. Rachel hadn't always been so aggressive, but his actions had awakened old fragments of memories in her, her brain was convulsively thinking and she couldn't restrain herself. At least, that's what she wanted to think.

She felt rage and irritability drown her head in one, her eyes went dark, and her lungs seemed to be on fire, and Raven tried to start breathing again.

"Come on Raven" - Roth was going to roughly shut him up before he said anything else, but her words stuck in her throat like a lump. —" I understand that you are new and you must be embarrassed by such attention from a guy like me, but, honey, don't be shy. When I saw you today in this charming skirt..". — Raven felt his gaze darting boldly over her body, and the corner of his lips lifted in a vulgar grin and she felt a wild need to hit him between the eyes. She jerked sharply again, ignoring his plaintive sigh when she probably hit him on the liver, trying to get rid of his obsessive hand on her body, finding it rather frightening that he was so much stronger than her and John, noticing his pressure and the girl's tightly compressed lips, pulled away, but still not giving Raven final freedom.

He smiled again, thinking that the sight of his snow-white teeth would relax the situation and it seemed that he did not care at all about what was happening right in front of him. John took a quick glance at the only entrance to the courtyard where he and Raven were, and his eyes darkened, shimmered with a strange shine. His hand came out from behind his back and wrapped around the girl's waist like a snake.

This left Rachel with no questions about why he had found her. And it made her lower lip tremble, from a moment of anger that came over her.

Raven looked at him carefully, noticing that despite the way he smiled sweetly and made eyes, pretending to be a completely relaxed person, his fists were tightly clenched, and sometimes his breathing was interrupted. Roth had no idea about him, except for a wild boy's fantasy in his head and a passionate love for football, and this was a dangerous fact for her.

"You know you're just wasting your time with me, Wilde," Rachel said through tightly clenched teeth.

She ran her hand down her skirt, lightly brushing the pocket of her hoodie, and she frowned before her hands itched, ready to beat herself. Roth had heard rumors a couple of times about Wilde's sudden change of mood when he refused girls, but these were just stupid rumors and Raven had no desire to check them. For some reason, that didn't stop her from thinking about her folding knife.

Of course, it was today that you didn't take your knife to Rachel Roth.

She was sure that her mother had checked ryukaz before leaving. It made Raven groan in resignation.

"Maybe, but it makes the thought of you even sweeter." - Roth wasn't even going to think about what thoughts about her were in Wilde's head, but for some reason it made her blue eyes turn black with anger. If he continued to behave in this  way, Rachel was not sure that she would be able to restrain herself. Her brain was boiling, her breathing was sharp and ungainly, and she was almost afraid for her sudden change of mood, if she didn't know the reason. She felt her nails involuntarily dig into the soft fabric of her palms. She knew how dangerous she could be.

This is Wild, a local favorite and the best athlete in Data, whose cups are personally signed by the mayor of the city. And this Rachel, a girl who was expelled from a prestigious school for a fight and disliked the local teachers. Anyone who listens from the outside will burst into wild laughter, completely disbelieving and denying everything with the cells of his soul that such a handsome athlete harassed such as Raven. This caused a wave of rage in her.

Rachel was sure, or wanted to be sure, that he was just playing with her. But he wouldn't rape her in the middle of the day and in the school yard, would he? It was stupid, even for him.

But everything happened faster than she wanted and Raven heard him swear dirty, his football bomber creaked softly as John reached for Rachel's face, squeezing her chin and pulling her towards him, and she did not immediately realize that he was looking at nothing else but her lips.

She caught his hungry gaze, just at the moment when their faces were literally a centimeter apart, when her eyes were flooded with scarlet lead, and the cruel side of her character obscured all sane thoughts.

- !Rubbish!! Raven wasn't the one who went along with someone and restrained her anger, and before she could stop herself, her fist shot up and she heard his painful groan as Jonathan Wyald, like a beaten dog, jumped away from her.

She was sure that she would regret it later.

Raven was trembling with anger and the adrenaline in her blood exceeded the norm when she felt a wild burning in her hand and winced, wiping the blood on her knuckles on her black hoodie. It wasn't the first time Rachel had been involved in a fight, so she was sure that she had broken the guy's nose. She was enjoying the contorted and stunned expression on John's face as he fell on his back.

Raven jumped to her feet, too fast for her, regretting it when her eyes went dark for a moment and grabbed the bag from the ground with a trembling hand. I had to get as far away from here as possible.

— "You're going to regret this, bitch."his voice, low and guttural, turning into an animal growl, only vaguely resembled human speech, causing Raven to turn around.

Wilde's eyes were burning, they were fierce and animal with anger, his chest heaved and fell heavily, and in his hand he clutched the earth and the wreaths on his neck swelled and reddened. He was like a wild animal whose ego was deeply and painfully wounded.

Raven smiled dryly at his words.

She might regret it, but it would teach him manners.

Roth had already sent one like Jonathan Wild to a hospital bed a few years ago and then, without doing it earlier, this delay cost her the most expensive thing she had. She imagined in her place those girls who shuddered when John carelessly passed by, smiling and laughing, and they were afraid of male touches, and Rachel barely stopped herself from putting his head against the wall. She barely stopped her justice-hungry nature from breaking something else to the asshole.Raven always chose justice, but she had a separate place in Hell for people like Wilde. Thinking that they are allowed everything and not thinking about the consequences.

Roth swallowed the acrid lump in her throat and her eyes stung from wet tears. She roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and rushed towards the school without wasting a minute. Rachel was barely restraining herself from hysteria, she was still reeling from a fit of rage and Raven knew that if she didn't get out of there, her nerves would break like a guitar string. She felt that the sleeves of the hoodie had become wet and sticky, and her brain was trying to restrain the painful urges of her bleeding palms.

                                                       ======

The next day, Rachel came to school with her hands bandaged and already mentally prepared for the fact that the scandal and the drama of Wilde would spread throughout the school, but instead she found the usual situation and the absence of Jonathan himself.

He didn't show up for the next few days either, and Raven didn't know whether to be happy or cry.

She occasionally caught strange glances from the guys on his football team, but she wasn't going to treat it as something dangerously warning. They were always limited to just glances, and as long as it didn't interfere with Rachel's life, she just brushed it off as an annoying insect. But this did not escape the attention of her new friend.

Over the past couple of weeks, he and Amy had been communicating quite well, and Raven had to admit that she found her an interesting conversationalist.

Amelia did not require her to answer and girly chatter, occasionally joked about the name of Rachel and knew how to be everywhere and at the same time nowhere. She was a wild fan of rock bands, but became a victim of her conservative and domineering mother forcing her to be a lady even sitting on the toilet. And it also turned out that Amelia Rogers was considered an outcast at the Data school, which seemed crazy to Rachel. Even in her medieval dresses and bows on her hair, Amy did not stop being cheerful and perky and Raven had no idea how someone like Amelia was labeled an outcast.

Raven's sincere question, why the girl is considered an outcast, caused a wave of laughter and unrestrained laughter in Amy for several minutes and Roth simply left the topic alone.

It was recess, Raven was rummaging through the depths of her school locker, being annoyed and looking for a book, and Amelia Rogers was standing next to her, occasionally throwing her comments.

Amy took a close look at the football team's table and held out her hand, intrigued. — "I'm definitely sure that you did something wrong." Rachel took a sharp breath, hoping that it would remain unnoticed for Amelia, but the girl continued to study the table carefully with the athlete and Raven urged herself to calm down mentally. - "what?" she felt Amelia roll her eyes and continued in a tone as if Raven was five years old and they were learning numbers. - "Wilde has been missing for several days, and his friends are not taking their eyes off you and it all looks suspicious." - "Don't talk nonsense." - "Oh! You're a terrible liar, Rachel Roth." - "Maybe it's you who are bad at recognizing lies. "Raven snapped, feeling guilty when Amelia stared at her questioningly and immediately regretted her words. It wasn't Amy's fault that Rachel was a complete mess.

Rachel exhaled wearily, leaning her forehead against the cold metal and whispered softly. - "I'm sorry. " she heard Amy snort softly at her words and felt the girl immediately break into a smile. "Come on, you're allowed to be the Raven Queen." Rachel rolled her eyes at the silly nickname Rogers had given her — " And to be honest, Your Highness looks like a piece of shit." — "It's...just bad lighting here." Raven pouted slightly - "Continue to amuse yourself with this". Amelia clucked and waved her hand around Rachel's figures. — "That's all, literally radiates the energy of sullenness and lame shit." -" Thank you. "Raven scowled, pulling away from the cold metal and leaning her back against the lockers. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her dark jeans, took a slow breath and tried to force something like a smile out of herself. - "Bring back the sullenness, now you have such a look as if I'm torturing you." Amy said with a smile, but her eyes twinkled excitedly. "Oh, to hell with it". Raven grumbled, leaving Amelia standing by the lockers. "Yes, escape from reality, Rachel Roth, and return to your kingdom of darkness. " Rogers chuckled, catching up with the girl. It was at such moments that Rachel wondered how Amy became her friend. She shot a frown at her friend's remark, but it made Raven think and she stopped on the toes of her sneakers. She wasn't running away from reality, was she? She had no reason to.

"I can see that you've gone back to your terribly gloomy thoughts, but!" Amelia playfully played with her eyebrows, attracting Raven's attention as they turned to"wards the algebra classrooms. Rachel arched a! questioning eyebrow, wondering what had come to the girl's mind this time. They stopped at the entrance to the classroom when Rachel stared incredulously at Amelia, who had a cheeky grin on her lips and mentally asked herself how many times she would regret it. -" But?"

                                                           ======

Raven continued to ignore Amy's stupid idea of a party and was almost not surprised when she came h"ome to find angry text messages and a number of missed calls from Rogers. She felt a wild desire to erase this day from her memory and just put on her pajamas and go to bed. But during this time, she tormented herself with an argument with Amy.

—" I don't even want to know how you know about the party at the docks. " Raven grumbled into the phone, throwing herself on the bed. There was interference on the line and it seemed to the girl that someone was sneaking on the other end of the wire. —" I have connections, oh, my dear Rachel. "Amelia whispered. -" It sounds threatening...and why are you whispering?" -" Don't be such a bore and agree! "Amelia exclaimed sharply, and Raven restrained herself from covering her hands over her ears.

Rachel wondered why she was so caught up in this conversation, and not just tu"rned off her mobile phone. Roth was sure that she would not leave her room even at gunpoint, especially alcohol and sweaty people were never in a number of her priorities, so even the very essence of the conversation caused her irritation. She was grumbling, rubbing her eyes, still not understanding what Rogers was up to, puffing and mumbling into her phone, as if she was running from a herd of bulls.

— "I still don't understand how you're going to pull this off, living under the same roof with Mrs. Rogers." — "I have a plan." -" A plan? I hope I don't have just anyone involved in it." It was at this moment that Rachel caught a sound from the first floor and her mother's voice was heard on the phone. The girl's eyebrows shot up in surprise, she took the phone away from her face, listening to the sounds on the first floor and moaned in resignation, reproaching herself that she should have foreseen Amy's madness for this party.

Raven frowned and said angrily through her teeth.

—" Don't you dare say you're at my house." - all she heard before the line ended was a cheerful "Late", and then the front door in the hallway slammed shut and Angela chattered amiably on the first floor. Someone was having a nice conversation with her mother on the first floor, and knowing and confident in who exactly it was, Rachel wondered if it was too late to run, but she heard footsteps on the stairs, and then Angela came into her room and Amy's wide smile appeared in the doorway.

Rachel was going to wipe that smile off her face as soon as her mom stepped into her room.

-" Raven, why didn't you tell me that you and Amelia have a joint project?"

Do we have one?

Rachel stared at her mother with incomprehension, noticing how Amy was gesturing obscenely behind her back. Roth cleared her throat, quickly trying to correct herself and smiled at Angela. -" I'm sorry, Mom, I was just going to let you down and warn you, but I didn't know that Amelia would come so quickly. " this answer seemed to satisfy her mother. "Make yourself comfortable, honey, and call me if Raven doesn't feel well. Oh, I'll call right away and warn your mom that you're staying with us for the night, as you asked." Angela looked painfully happy, and Rachel wondered what Amy had already told her mother.

Asked for it?!

Rachel wasn't sure that she hadn't said it out loud and was extremely sorry that she hadn't put the locks on the door, continuing to watch in disbelief as Amy broke into an innocent smile that Raven knew wasn't innocent at all. The very presence of Rogers was the end of the world, and now Raven was well aware of the purpose of the" project", but still did not intend to participate in it.

Rachel narrowed her eyes dangerously when only she and Amy were left in the room. —" And how do understand this?" —" This is my last attempt to persuade your evil ass to come to the party." Rachel grumbled irritably, rubbing her face. — "Why me? I think I made it clear that I don't look like a lover of parties and crowds of people...especially as you suggest that I do it when you personally told my mother about our "project"." "Oh, don't fuck with me, Rachel Roth. My mother on the eve of the evening read me another monologue about how you again escaped through the window." -" Let's say, but this does not negate the fact that I'm not going to go to any party." Rachel said dryly, in a tone that absolutely brooked no objections. Amelia could go on as long as she wanted, but Roth's conviction that this was a terrible idea had a great cost. "Michael will be there," Amy said uncertainly, hiding her eyes on the floor. Rachel grumbled again, pacing the room. —" Is he that important to you?" - "Yes! I've been pining for him since high school, and yesterday I was finally convinced that he broke up with a girl and this is my chance! " Raven looked at Rogers incredulously. She was sure that Amy was not exaggerating her feelings for the boy. Amelia always made Rachel sit next to his desk, she was there when he needed answers to tests and Roth once again pulled Amy out of thoughts about their wedding and hamsters. This caused her inner resolve to falter. — "Well, yes, and seeing you among drunk and sweaty people, he will immediately explode with love...have you tried just talking to him at school?" "No one does that, my friend..." Rachel cast a frown at Amelia. -" well, except for you, but people like Michael need to be impressed, and not hang around with empty conversations. That's why I have to be there." -" Call someone else. I'm the last person who should ask to go to the party." Raven saw Amelia hesitate, seeming ashamed of something. - "But? — "I have no one but you". Raven felt Amy's voice tremble and moaned in frustration, now she just hated herself for never being able to stand on her own for a long time and allowed herself to be made into a living doll, but no matter how uncomfortable Rachel felt in a large crowd of people, she just couldn't turn her tongue to say "no". —" I'm going to your damn party."