#okay da top ones just a goof

[antiquesintheattic]

i’m just saying

[emeryleewho]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Hello!

So I know you sent this awhile ago and I took ages to get to it, but I just really wanted to do this justice because this is such a big ask and I take my responsibilities as a fan very seriously. I'm also going to have to caveat the fact that "all of the media that I have loved" is too many media to be able to truly answer this question with 100% accuracy, so instead, I opted for

My Top 10 Favorite Characters (In Recent Memory) That I Feel Best Portray What I Love In Characters (But I'm Very Sorry To Anyone Who Should've Been On This List But I Just Kind of Forgot) in no particular order:

Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

I am sorry to be a basic bitch, but Gojo may be my favorite character in anything ever. I hate that I am so predictable, but the white haired anime character trope absolutely kills me. Also, I am obsessed with a character who is like... too op to function, but also still very flawed. Also characters who are Sunshine Silly Goofs on the surface but so haunted and devastating under the surface. I admire the way he's The Great Protector of everyone but also makes sometimes callous choices, and I am obsessed with the fact that he is essentially the god of their world, but is still just... so very fragile and human. Also, like, he's so hot. Just so hot. That's also important.

2. Daddy Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

I literally cannot stand watching this show. Like I want to throw up watching it because I love these bitches so much. Anyway, I tried REALLY hard not to like Nanami. Like I fought it so hard because he was obviously a doomed character from his intro, but I could not stop myself because I love the Sulky Blonde anime character trope for some reason, but also like... he's so hot. I want to watch him do my taxes. Also like... he's so relatable. Doesn't want to work overtime. Doesn't want to keep playing this shitty game where everyone dies young and bathes in the blood of teenagers, but also like, what? You expect him to work in corporate hell? Just let people die? He's not gonna fucking do that. He's that voice of reason every anime group probably needs, but he's also so hot, and like so grumpy but so kind, and so Responsible and Mature, but also so soft, and I love the way he takes care of those damn kids, okay? I just... *runs away sobbing*

3. Kurapika (HunterxHunter)

My favorite trope when I was younger was the "looks like they could kill you but is actually a sweetie" thing, but as I've gotten older, I've really come to appreciate what it is to be fully capable of being an all-powerful, cold-blooded killer and just... choose not to do that. Kurapika is the epitome of "character I just want to hug and protect forever" because he's been through so much and it's only made him stronger, but also like he shouldn't have to go through all that? And I adore that he's so mature and so strong and so capable and he protects everyone and puts villains in their place and all that jazz but he's also just a sweet kid who loves his friends and I love him so much oh my god.

4. Gao Yizhi (Iron Widow)

(See above regarding Kurapika) I have talked about Iron Widow as one of my favorite books of all time, but while Li Shimin is just a fabulous fucking character who once upon a time definitely would've been my favorite, Gao Yizhi stole my heart by just... being pretty... like soft pretty boy but also don't look at him too long because the devil burns behind his eyes and he will kill you. That is the finest of aesthetics, but also like... this man is so concerning. I would not trust him for a moment. And yet, he is just whipped for Wu Zetian, and that is literally what everyone should look for in a boyfriend.

5. Dazai (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Speaking of concerning, I first fell in love with Dazai because I loved how much he wants to die (don't call the cops, this was like a decade ago, and I am better now), but tbh I love how cute and silly and flirty he is on the surface to cover up the fact that he is just a downright nightmare of a human being. This man is a menace. He could kill literally anyone. And in another life, he probably would have, but now he's just chilling, taking care of his kids and fucking with his ex, and I love that for him. He is literally the perfect villain, and yet... he's not really doing anything that bad anymore. Go figure.

(Also, sidenote, I recently read No Longer Human, and not only did it give me a profound appreciation for Osamu Dazai as a person, but it really put his character into context that makes me adore this show even more, so yeah.)

6. Shinobu (Demon Slayer)

She is so mad. She is so angry. Yet she is a cutesy little girl in butterfly garb floating around saving people, I--yeah, it's very clear from this list that I have a type, but whatever. I love Shinobu because she's small and tiny and sweet, but she's also a major badass who can and will kill you. She's the only hashira who's physically too weak to decapitate demons so she kills them with poison, like??? This girl said "the gods didn't make me powerful, so I made me powerful", and that is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. She's surviving on spite alone, and she's whooping everyone's asses that way. An icon. A true hero. I adore her.

7. Vanitas (The Case Study of Vanitas)

This one's back to my roots, but I love a tragic character like Vanitas. I just... I love a man so broken you have to wonder if he's even a person anymore. I love how wretched and painful and horrific his past is and how divorced he feels from humanity, and also like those little claws get me every time. Idk. I know, I'm weird. Whatever. The flippant, antagonistic, flamboyance on the surface to cover an empty, wretched, devastated soul underneath just struggling to survive? *chef's kiss*

8. Scorpion King (Word of Honor)

Scorpion King is basically the opposite of all my above examples, but I love him for the same reasons. This is a man who is heartless, ruthless, an absolute murderer. He kills for fun. He has no regard for human life... EXCEPT HIS FUCKING GODFATHER. Like this is a villain who could easily have burned the entire world with his cunning and power and literally all he wanted was for his dad to fucking love him??? He would have broken himself down day in and day out just for that affection, and that's the sort of sick, twisted, vile love I want to see in a villain. Just the sort of absolutely poisoned, twisted, abusive affection that makes me absolutely feral. He could have been the ULTIMATE villain, and he was absolutely DESTROYED because he just wanted to be LOVED. Delicious.

9. Muichiro (Demon Slayer)

This is a BABY. Just... A BABY!!! Literally a tragic character, but what I love about him is just how casually perfect he is. He's supposed to be weak, pathetic, useless. He is NOT. He comes off kind of airheaded at the beginning, but he is truly just... the most impressive. I want to protect him always, but also, everyone should be scared of him. (Except me, I am good to him so he will be kind to me in turn :))

10. Crowley (Good Omens)

Once again, an exceptional villain. Or, you know, could be, except he fell in love with an annoying fucking angel so now he's barely a menace, mostly just kind of a fool who wastes his time around a bookshop all day (both relatable and kinda aspirational, ngl). I love Crowley both because he is so not evil that it's actually kinda funny despite having all the evil energy and aesthetic, but the thing I love MOST about him is the way he just absolutely spits in the face of gender. Gender who? He wouldn't know. He is all gender. He is no gender. He is the divine lord of gender, and I worship at his feet in the hopes that he'll give me a little gender as a treat. Just truly a trans icon AND a menace at the same time, and I can think of nothing better. (Also, I have a thing for David Tennant. Always have. His accent does things for me so this doesn't help. Whoops.)

Anyway, yes, this concludes my Top 10 Characters [blah, blah...] List. If you are not familiar with any of the above media, I highly recommend them, but also like... these are not Wholesome(tm) and simple media. I like weird shit. If that was not obvious from my talking about these freaks, now you know. Be warned.

Also thank you for the ask!!!

[lo-sulci]

just finished getting thru the gundam 0079 arc with all the amphibious mobile suits, so now i'm gonna comment on zeon mobile suit designs because why not im bored

zaku

the very first one! definitely has some cool elements- the torso design makes me think of, like, ancient roman battle armor, specifically the, like, armor skirts that i just now learned googling are called pteruges. anyways, it's neat, but also, it's hard to say that it's not overshadowed somewhat by some of the ones that follow it, which is okay!! it serves its function well

gouf

this is no zaku!! the blue is a fun color, and the electric whip is a pretty cool weapon. as much as it is no zaku, it does follow the same kind of design path as one, and really does just kinda end up being, like, "zaku but slightly more." name kicks ass tho, love da goof

dom

speaking of names lmao. i kinda really like the dom, tbh? admittedly, part of that is personal bias- purple is my favorite color, so a purple MS is cool to me. but also, i really love the camera set-up here! it almost looks like this single red eye in this dark cloak hood or smth, it brings to mind imagery of, like, fantasy assassins to me. how they move is also pretty neat, i like watching them glide around and stuff. dunno what the little badge thing is about, but i'll pretend it's a little award for having a cool design :)

gogg

our first amphibious MS!! like the zaku, it's the kind of basic one that subsequent ones iterate on. that said, look at those claws!! in general this is such a chunky MS, it's great. i also like the little thrusters/propellers it has on the bottom of its feet, those made me laugh the first time i saw them. does anyone else feel like it looks like its wearing, like, a wrestling championship belt or smth??

z'gok

HELL YEAH!!!! genuinely love the z'gok. first: phenomenal color scheme, imo. the periwinkle and dark teal works *so* well, i could not be happier with how that looks and fuck char for painting it all red. aside from that, there's something so pleasing to me about the general way it's shaped. the proportions work surprisingly well for smth that is really close to being a torso with no head. and, speaking of the head: I love the little torpedo launchers on top! idk, I can't tell you exactly why, I just think the z'gok kicks ass, and is one of my favorite MS designs so far

zock

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND!!!!!!!!!!! the zock looks so ridiculous in the best possible way, I'm utterly obsessed. almost looks like it was designed to be a mobile armor like the bigro or smth, but then was changed to be a MS instead at the last minute. i dont care at all tho, bc it is just. perfection. look at that camera set up!!!! why is it a star!!!! it's so impractical it kicks so much ass!!!! and my god, the SHAPE on this lad!! and those claws!!!! and just, everything!!!! perfection has a name and it is zock

acguy

acguy is. a lot. he head too big for he gotdamn body!! it's a bit disappointing to go back to a gogg-adjacent color scheme, i won't lie. also anything coming right after the zock was bound to be a bit disappointing because, like, what could compare? that said! the crab-like head is cool, and i like the range of motion the camera has. also, the retractable fingers are incredible, and seeing these things spider-maning around in a cave was hilarious. more than any other MS, the acguy is just, like, a sopping wet beast to me

bonus that i haven't seen in action but saw a picture of: juaggu

what the sneef? i'm snorfin here!!

[sheepishfreeloader]

I've added a handful of people to my V/RC friends list, some I hang out with more than others, and otherwise I just instance hop in the Sup/erstar Da/ycare a lot since it's pretty popular and full of fandom people...

Sooo one day while playing with one of the regulars I goof off with someone new shows up, and after having a chill goofy time he asks for my Discord. He's an adult so I'm like, yeah alright. First time adding someone from V/RC on Dis/cord so I didn't know what to expect... and I mean, it started out pretty nice cause he seemed like he wanted my attention, buuut my irl friends were uncomfortable that he would spam me for attention all the time. But I'm just delighted that someone seems to have had a fun enough time around me to want to talk and hang out more ya know. So I shrug it off, being needy isn't exactly a crime and I just ignore it when I don't feel like socializing.

I try to be a little more tolerant and open in VR/C... he was nice to my kid friend, but I noticed in one-on-one worlds he made some off color jokes. I expressed discomfort with them and he was cool about it and stopped making them around me, so I was appreciative. I tolerated knowing he made the jokes because he didn't seem to do it in front of anyone but me, and making ass jokes doesn't automatically make someone evil, and he was otherwise nice. Figured he just had a lot of growing to do. I mean, I made ass jokes when I was a teen, and I learned and grew up and stopped being like that, afterall.

We have a few good chats, both in Dis/cord text and in V/RC. It was great! But I can't be around every time he's needy for attention (I think I was like. His only AFAB friend) so he expresses trying to find more cuddle buddies, but he's just too anxious about public worlds. So I'm like okay. I got you. I make a plan to make him unintimidating and easy to sit next to and cuddle with, and with my presence in a large avatar hope to be comforting to him in a public world while we try and attract him someone else to hang with.

Maaan. Here I was, so excited to help out, and then when we do it he just. I don't even know what went wrong. He picks an annoying avatar that he knows might crash people and decides to behave in the most vile way I've seen from him, so much so it shocked the Hell out of me. I'm talking rape jokes, groping girl's jiggle-physics breasts without permission, explicit NSFW jokes in front of minors, threatening to dox a minor's IP address for a small silly annoyance, jokes about women being dumb, being a-ok with a stranger touching my avatar after laughing at his rape jokes, and he tops it off by insulting my fiancé's gender identity (and therefore, mine) while also assuming they're AMAB (and therefore, assuming I'm het). All this in a public world. I was so embarrassed that I brought him there and was being associated with him. Being a bit mean.... even my kid friends know better than to behave the way he did.

I get so uncomfortable and sad that I awkwardly stand up and say my friend is asking me to join her. Not a lie, but I was technically the one who sent the request. He says okay. I see he logs off about 15-20 minutes (unusual, he usually begs me for attention 24/7) after I leave him and then a couple hours later has the balls to message me hi and spam my username at me for attention. What the hell??? Like, that's it? You're a total ass and I leave out of sheer discomfort and that's all I get? Man, whatever. >n>

In hindsight, without giving details about things he shared with me (it would be wrong to share private things even if he was an ass), he only ever acted like he wanted me around to give him attention, not because he was actually interested in me as a person. My attention, genuineness, and openness made him feel emotionally heard and comfortable. But he didn't show any regard for my own emotional or physical wellbeing, he just wanted to spam and beg me to come online to make him feel better about himself, even if it was 1am and I was exhausted. I get it that it's hard to think about other people when you're not in the right mind for it, but you have to if you want to make and keep friends. I may be nice and attentive but I have my limits. I'm too old to have to explain to some guy I've only known for 2 weeks why he shouldn't grope womens' boobs in V/RC or threaten to dox a child over a fucking virtual barrel.

I haven't exactly broken it to him yet that I really don't feel comfortable hanging out with him or having him on my Dis/cord after his nasty behavior and insulting my fiance/me. But woof, lesson learned... just because someone seems really nice the first time you hang out, that doesn't mean they aren't hiding showing off their true colors. So... maybe don't add them on Dis/cord until you know they're not a total prick 😓 you may just end up feeling sad and heartbroken that damnit another adult friend was shitty.

I wouldn't say it was a total waste of two weeks, I mean it was fun until... that. And after I left him in that world I did get to hang with someone else I knew and added two other people, who I'm crossing my fingers are cool. They all cheered me up. But it also always sucks when you have to drop yet another person that you thought was friendly, you know? :^P

[cheese-induced-madness]

HI I'M THE PERSON THAT REQUESTED MOTHER!READER AND HOLY FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT IT HAS ME SCREAMING THANK YOU SO MUCH <33

I don't even know where to begin, but I just wanted to let you know that I adored it so much and that you are an amazingly skilled writer! The entire exchange between Becky and her mother felt so natural that I could actually see something like that happening in the show, had they done more with Lexicon and just Becky's family/backstory in general. Also I loved each and every one of the bonus headcanons!! They're all great, but I especially found the one where Tobey wants to impress her so that there's one less thing standing between him and his crush to be especially adorable and in character. Though, I think the one about all the villains dreading Becky's mom's visits is probably my favorite bc…yeah, they absolutely would lmfao.

Also!! I want to apologize for the awkward wording in the first paragraph of my ask! I totally goofed up when I sent it bc I made the assumption that you were planning on sticking to Dr Two Brains x Reader stuff and that any headcanons would be related to that, so that's what I meant when I referred to myself as a simp. I desperately hope I didn't give the impression that I was calling myself a simp for Wordgirl or anything like that and I am so, so sorry if I did 💀 Though, I'm so glad I made that error in assumption bc I literally got the best fic and headcanons I could have ever asked for out of it, so thank you! 💚

If it's okay to do it here, would it be alright if I request a Dr. Two Brains x Wordgirl's Bio Mom!Reader? Ngl, with your skills, I'm very curious to see what you could do for something like that 👀 (No pressure or anything, of course <3)

Thank you again!

AAAAAAAA THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMPLIMENTS, I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT BC I REALLY PUT A LOT INTO THAT ONE <3

And I can absolutely do dtb x reader for this scenario! now i'm glad i left his role in all this so open ended in part 1. I'll just go with headcanons for now but if there's any ideas you particularly like in here, feel free to request a full fic!

for those that haven't read it, here's part 1.

-Doctor Two Brains is not typically a patient man, but when his status as the top villain is on the line, he considers it of utmost importance to play his cards very carefully. It's easy enough to lie in wait and shoplift cheese subtly until the time is right to strike. With a new hero in town, he considers it best to watch a few lesser villains attempt to battle you and learn from their mistakes when you are inevitably victorious.

-Once he feels he has the perfect plan, then he makes his move and carries out a proper heist. Theatrical, flashy, one that sends a message. One that will properly signal that he is the fiercest and craftiest villain you'll face in this city.

-But of course, just like all his plans, this one falls through when you turn out to be stronger and smarter than he bargained for. And it really doesn't help that you're a lot prettier up close, I mean, really, it's just distracting.

-Of course, this doesn't dissuade him from trying again, and again, and again, and of course you and Wordgirl take him down every time. And each time he fails, he can't help but admire your strength a little more than before.

-It's strange to him. He's been attracted to power before, sure, but he's usually only interested in other villains. Normally he finds heroes with their self righteousness and annoying, pesky little moral code to be nothing more than a bother, but something about the way you so fiercely fight for the side of good has him blushing. He can't help but scold himself for it, it's SUCH a cliché, he's supposed to be better than that.

-The mouse brain doesn't like this one bit. It was bad enough his human host still thinks of Wordgirl almost like a daughter, but now he's catching feelings for her actual parent? Ugh. Squeaky thinks this is all a waste of time and totally counterproductive to GETTING MORE CHEESE, DAMMIT! Unfortunately for Squeaky, Steven has somewhat of a spiteful streak and will stick it to the mouse whenever he can, so his little crush on you holds pretty strong.

-Eventually he sorts his own feelings out and gets daring enough to test the waters. He starts flirting with you in the middle of a fight, much to poor Wordgirl's absolute horror. She's even more horrified when you seem to reciprocate. Gross, her mom-slash-partner in crime and her arch rival who's kind of her quasi second dad are being all lovey dovey. Huggy's kind of just off the the side watching this unfold like a bad romcom and he's absolutely invested.

-Dtb is not entirely sure he thought this through when you haul him off to jail and leave him with a kiss on the cheek. Talk about confusing. It's great that you seem to feel the same and it's kinda hilarious watching Wordgirl lose it, but... What does one even do beyond just idle flirting in this situation? It's not real easy to advance things into a proper relationship outside work when his day job is fighting you.

-He wants to catch you alone for a moment and work something out, properly separate work from his love life. He has his henchmen hold up a cheese shop on one side of town and starts turning buildings to cheese as far away as he can so you and Wordgirl have to split up. Lucky for him, You decide to take him on yourself, and he has his chance to ask you to dinner before you take him to jail again.

-You fall into a sort of rhythm. Outside of committing crimes that you have to stop, he's pretty pleasant company; very affectionate, very sweet, he always seems happy to have you around. He tries pretty hard to be romantic when you're off work to make it clear there's no hard feelings no matter what happens during the hero-villain back and forth.

-The henchmen are always pretty excited when you're over because that usually means the boss will be in a good mood and be a lot nicer to them.

-Every once in awhile he'll invite you and Wordgirl over to his lair for a movie night with the henchman so maybe this whole thing will be a little less awkward for her. She's always pretty tense at first, suspecting this will be a trap, but after a couple nights that go incident free, she starts to trust that he won't pull anything. It's oddly domestic, and it reminds her of when he was just Dr. Boxleitner and they were still friends. You can't help but be happy that she gets to have a sense of normalcy every now and then as Wordgirl and not just as Becky.

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH..

Part Two

Part One

Warnings: swearing

‘Carefully, you reached towards the piano and tried to touch a vase of flowers but they passed right through your fingers. Your entire hand went numb then a tingly feeling spread throughout your body.

Well, two things were for sure.

You were definitely back, but you were definitely dead.’

-

“(Y/n)?”

Alex appeared by your side, pulling your hand away from the vase that you couldn’t seem to stop sticking your hand through.

You had been so distracted, you didn’t realize that the girl had come back until you heard her scream. Alex covered his ears and shouted over the noise.

“Please stop screaming!” He shouted.

She did, but she kept eyeing the four of you suspiciously. 

She was holding a cross out as she slowly stepped into the room. Her eyes were still wide with fear but she stood her ground. “Who are you and what are you doing in my mom’s studio?”

Luke gave her a look of confusion as he stepped forward. “Your mom’s studio? No, this is our studio.”

He yelped as she came at him with the cross. He jumped up on the piano and slid across the surface. “The grand piano is new, and-”

Luke cut himself off suddenly and in a fit of excited giggles, he ran towards the other side of the room. “My couch!”

You watched as he ran his hands over the worn leather, a dreamy look on his face. Despite the situation, you couldn’t help but laugh a little. After your time in the dark room, it was comforting to see some things never change.

Luke’s eyes flickered up to the ceiling, his eyebrows knitting together as he inspected the lights and chairs hanging down and you were reminded that more things had changed than stayed the same.

You decided you couldn’t take it anymore. You had to get to the bottom of this. And to do that, you needed the boys to focus for more than a few seconds.

“Boys, can I see you over here for a minute?” You said, gently leading Alex and Reggie away and gesturing for Luke to follow before turning back to the frightened girl.

“Excuse us for a second.”

You gave her an apologetic smile and shuffled over to the other side of the garage with the boys in tow. Once you got far enough away, Luke frantically whispered. “What is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?”

“Maybe she’s a witch. I mean, chairs are floating on the ceiling.” Reggie exclaimed. You could feel Alex glaring at him as you placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“There’s no such thing as witches, Reg.” You said.

“You sure? Cause I used to think that there was no such thing as ghosts.”

Alex nodded reluctantly. “That’s fair.”

“Okay,” Luke butted in, “So, we’re going with witch?”

“No!” Alex scoffed. “We’re not going with witch. Look, she’s just scared. Let someone with a softer touch handle this.”

He turned towards the girl and approached her slowly before practically yelling in her face. “Why are you in our studio?!”

“Real soft, Al.” You whispered to him before extending your hand out to her, wincing at the awkwardness once you realized that like the vase, you probably couldn’t touch her either.

“I’m really sorry we scared you. I’m-”

Before you could finish, she jabbed her arms forward until the cross went clean through your chest. The tingling sensation came back in full force and you resisted the urge to shiver.

“Oh my gosh! How did you do that?” Her eyes were wide and unblinking as she stared at you.

“Clearly she doesn’t get it.” Alex said, turning back to the boys and then back to her, obviously exasperated. “We’re ghosts, okay? We’re just four ghosts who are really happy to be home.”

“We’re actually in a band called Sunset Curve.” Luke explained, his tone full of pride like it always was when he talked about the band.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie piped up with his signature line and you snorted. It was nice to know that even in death, Reggie was still the best hype-man.

“Last night was supposed to be a big night for us.” Luke said. “It was supposed to change our lives.”

“I’m pretty sure it did.” Alex interjected.

“This is freaking me out!” The girl shouted, keeping one hand held out towards you with the cross and the other pulling something out of her back pocket which she began frantically tapping on.

“What is that?” Luke asked, and the girl rolled her eyes.

“It’s my phone.” She cursed herself and shook her head. “No! Stop talking to them. They aren’t real. There is no such thing as cute ghosts.”

Reggie flashed her a dopey smile. “You think we’re cute?”

You rolled your eyes and Alex leaned forward. “Who are you calling?”

“I’m googling Sunset Swerve.”

You couldn’t help the surprised giggle that escaped your mouth as the boys groaned in unison. “Sunset Curve!”

Over Alex’s shoulder, you could see the bright screen of her phone as she pulled up an article. At the top was your professional band picture you had taken a year before the Orpheum. Luke was goofing around and playing Alex’s leg like a guitar while you stood by his side, sticking a finger in Bobby’s ear.

“Whoa.” She muttered. “There is a Sunset Curve and you did die. But not last night.”

You tried to keep your composure as she turned to look at the four of you, the fear in her eyes replaced with a small trace of sympathy. “25 years ago?”

“What? No, that’s impossible. After we floated out of the ambulance all we did was go to that dark room where these two cried.” Reggie gestured between you and Alex.

“Well, I think we were all pretty upset.” Alex said in his high pitched voice that usually made you laugh, but the mention of the dark room made you remember your moment with Luke. You turned around to look at him only to find him several feet behind you, eyes focused on a spot on the wall just past you. 

The fact that he was still avoiding you didn’t escape you, but you forced yourself to swallow the sad feeling and focus on the issue at hand.

“But that was just for like an hour.” Luke said. Despite the tension between you, the sound of his worried tone made your heart ache. “We just showed up here.”

The girl sighed. “I’m just telling you what my phone says. You died in 1995 when you were 17. It’s now 2020.”

“So, this is the future?” Reggie asked.

Your head was spinning. There was no way it had been that long, right?

“It’s really been 25 years? I’ve been crying for 25 years, how is that possible!?” Alex shouted. You rubbed his back softly.

“You’re an emotional person.” Reggie shrugged.

“I am not!” He said, his high-pitched voice coming back as he pouted.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice chimed in. “I thought you were too afraid to come out here.” 

You turned around to see a kid standing in the doorway, smiling as he came into the room. “You talking to your ghost friend? Is he hideous?”

“He can see you.” Alex snorted, bumping Reggie with his shoulder.

“No, he can’t.” The girl blurted, receiving a weird look from the younger kid.

She asked him what he wanted and he rolled his eyes. “A normal sister for starters, now stop being weird and come eat.”

The girl blinked at the garage doors her brother had just exited from before looking back at Alex. “He couldn’t see you.”

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda how ghosts work.” Alex said.

The girl huffed and marched towards the doors, spinning on her heels to face you again. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave.”

“Wait.” Luke took a step towards her. “We didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Julie.”

“Cool.” Luke smiled. “I’m Luke, by the way, and this is…”

“Reggie! Hey.”

“I’m Alex, how’s it going?”

“I’m (Y/n).” You waved to her awkwardly as Luke stretched out his arms and made a little ‘tad-da’ sound.

“Okay...” Julie said before disappearing out the doors.

“Julie seems nice.” Reggie said brightly, making Alex sigh.

“Did you miss the part where she kicked us out?”

As you patted Reggie’s shoulder, your eyes drifted up to the loft where you could see the outline of more instruments. “Alex, aren’t those your drums?”

Alex followed your gaze and poofed up to the loft. “All of our instruments are up here!”

Luke immediately shot up from the couch where he had been sulking and faced you and Reggie with a mischievous grin on his face.

Half an hour later, you had your instruments set up in the middle of the room. Once it all came together, you could almost convince yourself you were back in the old studio having a normal band practice. The boys must have felt the same way because before you know it, you were singing as loud as you could as Luke played the opening of ‘Long Weekend’

You got lost in the music, smiling and dancing around. Even though it felt like it had only been a few hours since you sang at the soundcheck, it had been 25 years. It was as if everything you didn’t get to feel in all that time started pouring out.

You felt like you were floating - and not in the ghost kind of way. 

It wasn’t until you heard Julie’s annoyed rambles that you came back to reality. You stopped singing and the boys followed, though Luke couldn’t resist doing an extra few riffs on his guitar.

“The whole neighborhood can hear you!” Julie yelled. “I thought I told you to leave.”

“Wait, people can hear us play?” Luke asked. Your stomach fluttered with hope as Julie sighed.

“Yes! And so did my dad and my brother.”

Alex stood up from his drums. “So, only you can see us, but everyone can hear us? What kind of ghosts are we?”

Luke gave him a fistbump. “Who cares, man? People can hear us play!”

Suddenly, the door swung open and a man stepped in.

Julie smiled nervously. “Dad!”

“Hey, I was just making sure you’re okay.” He smiled.

“I’m fine. I just had to turn off the CD player.”

Julie’s dad nodded before turning around and looking at your instruments. “Is this the junk that was in the loft?”

“Junk?” You and Luke scoffed. His eyes flickered to yours but you looked away as the man started tapping on Alex’s drums with his fingers.

“Hey, man! Tell him to stop touching my drums!” Alex complained. Julie just shrugged as the man pointed to the CD player.

“I liked that song you had on.”

“Sweet! We’re Sunset Curve.” Luke cheered.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie said as if he could hear him.

“It’s just an old CD I found.” Julie explained.

Her dad smiled. “Well, it’s still nice to hear you listening to music again. Out here you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.”

Something in his voice was a little sad even with the smile on his face, and you noticed something seemed a little heavier about Julie too. You got the sense that the conversation wasn’t just about music.

He stretched his arms and they went straight through Reggie and Luke’s chests. They both shivered but smiled brightly.

“That’s nice.” Reggie said, which made Julie sigh in frustration.

“Stay out of this.” She snapped and her dad gave her a confused look and started to apologize. Julie shook her head frantically.

“No, no. Not you. You know what? Just give me a minute.” She grabbed her dad’s arm and started leading him out of the garage.

Before he stepped out, he gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. “We’ll figure out this music program thing.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He gave her one more reassuring smile before he disappeared out the doors. 

Julie paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. You were just about to ask if she was okay when she whirled around and glared at all of you. If you weren’t already dead, you’re pretty sure that her stare would’ve killed you.

“He liked our song!” Luke yelled.

“He doesn’t count. He’s a dad.” Alex said.

Julie stomped her foot. “Why can’t you just be normal ghosts? Go haunt an old mansion or something! I heard Pasadena is nice!”

She stormed out and Alex whistled. “I think she’s warming up to us.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Pasadena.” Reggie said.

“I feel bad.” You admitted. “I mean, if I was her, I’d probably be pissed too.”

“I don’t think-” Alex started, but before he could finish, Luke poofed out of the garage. 

“Rude.”

It was quiet for a few seconds before you heard Luke’s voice just outside the studio. You pointed towards the doors and Alex and Reggie nodded.

You closed your eyes and focused on where you wanted to go. Within seconds, you were standing on the pavement of the driveway, facing Julie as she and Luke talked.

“Look, I’m sorry we came into your life.” Luke said. “But what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again.”

He looked back to the three of you and you nodded.

“We all felt alive again.” Luke sighed. “So, you can kick us out if you want. But we’re not going to stop playing music. I mean, we can play again! That’s a gift that no musician would give up. You gotta know that. I mean, clearly your mom is into music.”

Julie’s look shifted from understanding to sadness. She took a deep breath. “Was. She passed away.”

Luke exhaled. You could tell he was beating himself up a bit as he chewed on his lip. “I am so sorry.”

“Yeah, we didn’t know.” Alex said. Reggie nodded solemnly behind him.

“It’s okay.” Julie shoved her hands in her pockets and looked at Alex. “You haven’t seen her anywhere, have you? Like from wherever you’re from.”

“Uh, no. I mean you’re kinda the first person we’ve seen.” Alex said.

“Yeah, but she’s not dead so that doesn’t answer her question.” Reggie piped up, making Alex roll his eyes.

“I think she knows what we mean.” Alex turned to Julie. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Julie’s gaze fixed on her shoes and she shrugged. “Thanks. Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good.”

“Kinda?” Luke scoffed. “That’s just 25 years of rust getting dusted off.”

“Yeah.” Reggie agreed. “Do you play piano too?”

Julie shook her head, a sad smile on her face as she stared through the studio’s window. “No, that’s just my mom’s stuff in there.”

“No way! She’s an amazing songwriter.” Luke said.

“She was.” Julie tore her eyes away from the garage. “Wait, how do you know that?”

Luke shrugged. “There’s a song on the piano, if that’s hers…Your mom was really talented.”

You nodded and Julie scanned all of you one last time. “I guess, if you need a place to stay…you can stay in there.”

You all cheered and Julie rubbed her temples. “This is just too weird.”

“Thanks, Julie.” You said. The other girl gave you a weak smile before she disappeared behind the gate leading back to the house.

-

An hour later, as you paced around the garage, you got an idea. Your hand flew to the front pocket of your jeans and you turned to Alex. “Hey, Al. I’ll be right back.”

Before he had a chance to ask why, you had poofed away.

It didn’t take long before your feet landed on the doorstep of the house. You wandered inside and it took a full minute of searching before you arrived at Julie’s bedroom door.

You tried to knock, but your hand went straight through the wood. You cleared your throat. “Hey, Julie?”

“Come in.” Julie said.

Carefully, you stepped through the door and into her bedroom. It was decorated a lot like the garage, with bright lights and pretty paintings. Julie sat in the middle of the room on her bed, and even though you probably couldn’t sleep anymore, you wanted nothing more than to lay down and take a nap.

“Hi. I’m sorry to bother you.” You fiddled with the zipper of your jacket. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about your mom.”

The friendly smile she had wavered before she nodded sadly. “Thanks. I’m sorry again for freaking out back there. I guess I just still kinda think of it as her place.”

“Don’t be sorry!” You told her. “Believe me, I wouldn't have handled it as well as you did.

 I know we’re a lot to handle sometimes. And by ‘we’ I mean the boys.” 

You both laughed and Julie shrugged. “They’re not so bad. As far as ghosts go I would’ve expected them to be a lot scarier.”

“It’s really nice of you to let us stay. But I’m sure we can find somewhere else to go. I wouldn't want to intrude on your mom’s space.”

“No!” She said, sitting up slightly against her pillows, “I think it’s what she would’ve wanted.”

“She sounds like an incredible person.” You said. 

“She was.” She nodded. She took a deep breath in, “It’s just kind of hard to talk about her sometimes.” 

You nodded. “I understand. My dad died before I was born. All I really have of him are a few pieces of clothes and this picture.”

You reached into the pocket of your jeans, pulled out a polaroid picture and handed  it to Julie. It was of your mom and dad on the day they got engaged: your mom showing off her ring and your dad unable to stop smiling as he kissed the crown of her head.

It had been on you since the day your mom gave it to you with a box of his old things. The sight of your mom made your heart wince, but you weren’t ready to think about that yet.

Julie smiled as she stared at the picture then pointed to your jacket. “Is that his?”

It was a dark blue hoodie with sleeves that were a little too long for your arms so you had to bunch them up to fit your hands through.

“Oh, uh. No, this is Luke’s.” You explained, trying to fight the blush spreading across your cheeks. “Or at least it was before he waged a war on sleeves.”

Julie laughed again, and you couldn’t help but feel a little lighter.

“Anyway, I know it’s not the same,” You took the photo back and shoved it in your pocket. “But I do know what it’s like to miss someone, and if you ever want to talk about how much it sucks, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”

She nodded, a grateful smile on her face. “Thanks, (Y/n).”

You nodded and waved goodbye before poofing back into the garage. 

Between working at Cece’s, going to school, and making music, you never had much time to make friends when you were alive. Especially girl friends.

But you were starting to think that maybe you could have one now.

July 1994

“Slow down!”

You yelled over the noise of the crowds, your tone sounding a lot less intimidating than you wanted due to your laughter as Luke dragged you up the boardwalk.

He responded with a smirk over his shoulder while he waved through dozens of excited carnival-goers. The smell of fried food, funnel cake, and fresh ocean air flooded your senses as you tried to stay on your feet. The pace was almost dizzying, and your body was buzzing from the excitement.

You hadn’t realized where he was taking you until you saw an array of flashing neon lights spinning above you. The Ferris wheel.

“Seriously, Luke?”

“It’s tradition.” He beamed, fidgeting excitedly as he got in the line. It was not lost on you that he was still holding your wrist in his left hand. “I mean, can you even remember the last time we did this?”

You didn’t. But you weren’t going to prove Luke’s point for him.

“Next, please.” The ride operator gestured for the line to move up and before you knew it, Luke was shoving you into the cart. It was a faded red one with a ‘7’ painted on the side.

“You know, it’s okay to admit that you only dragged me over here to avoid everyone seeing me kick your ass at Skee ball.” You joked.

The ride started and your cart was lifted into the air while more people got on.

“Excuse you, I dragged you over here because I wanted to spend time with my best friend.” He said sincerely, but you could see the mischief behind his eyes. “Or maybe I wanted to do this!”

Luke suddenly jerked forward, then pulled himself back, making the cart wobble.

“Luke!” You gripped the support bar and glared at him. Once your heartbeat righted itself, you shoved him with your shoulder. “You’re hilarious.”

“About time you admitted it.”

The ride spun around a few times before slowing to a stop just as you reached the top. The sun was gone now, but there were still soft streaks of pink in the sky left behind. The noise of the carnival faded out beneath you and the playful mood shifted into something different as the sky began to darken.

“Are you cold?” He asked, looking back at you for the first time in a few moments. Something in his eyes seemed softer, but you tore your eyes away before you could figure out what it was.

You shook your head and tried to hide the fact that you had goosebumps from the cool night air. Despite Alex’s reminders, you had forgotten your jacket in the car. But you were too stubborn to admit that you needed it, especially knowing how much Luke would tease you for it.

“Dude, you’re shivering.” Luke laughed and rolled his eyes before shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and wrapping it around you.

The material was warm and soft against your skin. It smelled faintly like cinnamon and laundry detergent and suddenly your head felt dizzy all over again. "Thanks, Lu."

You weren't sure what gave you the confidence for your next move, but you ignored the screaming voice in your head as you slid over and tilted your head until it rested on his shoulder. It was something you’d done before out of comfort, but you felt out of your element in this moment.

Some hair on the top of your head ruffled as he took a deep breath and you could hear the soft smile in his voice when he spoke.

“Anytime.”

There was a moment of anticipation, like just before a big drop on a rollercoaster. Neither of you dared break the silence for fear of shattering the moment and the feeling that came with it. Just as it seemed like maybe it would last forever, the Ferris wheel suddenly moved forward and the moment evaporated.

"So." You said, trying to distract yourself from the fluttering in your stomach. "How much do you wanna bet that I actually can kick your ass at Skee Ball?"

-

Taglist:

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[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Hi! You're by far my favorite writer for the man himself so I wanted to ask you.. can we plleeasse get a super sweet and passionate morning sex smutty-fluffer with Mr. Washington? Maybe the two of them had a stressful week at work/school or something and they decided to drive up to the lodge to escape by themselves for a long weekend together?? I'm on a massive Josh kick right now, there isn't enough love for him 😫😫

13. sleepy sex 14. being ridden

Another perfect place to answer two requests—I’m feeling accomplished! I love you all so much 💋

Also, this sucker is almost 3,000 words. I SWEAR I try to answer your prompts quickly on days like this, but sometimes, a story happens. Well, if this can even be considered a “story” 😆

* * * * *

Every year, Josh Washington hosted one hell of a summer-kick-off party at his parents’ lodge. He watched the weather like he was auditioning for a job on the local news, carefully choosing the warmest, clearest day. Despite the label of “summer,” the temperature in the Rockies at the lodge only ever flirted with anything near 75°F (23°C) yet Josh insisted, every year, that it was a “pool party” and that guests shouldn’t wear much more than a swimsuit.

At least that’s what your mutual friend, Chris, had explained to you.

It had been a stressful final month of school—exams, moving out of your dorm and back home with your parents, finding a summer job—so when Josh finally chose a date for the party, you requested the weekend off and offered to help him get things set up.

Josh eyed you suspiciously, considering that you and he had been engaged in a sort of “will they, won’t they” dance for the past few months. You were locked in a battle wondering if he just wanted to check you off his list as another notch in his bedpost, and he was wondering if you even liked him as more than a flirting buddy, considering you seemed to have quite a lot of those.  

“You sure?”

“Totally!”

Josh took your phone and typed in the address for the lodge. “Can you come up Thursday? That way we have all day Friday to get ready.”

You nodded and plucked your phone out of his hand, but not before he tightened his grip, making you look up and smile at him as you tugged on it.

“Gimme. Or I won’t come up at all.”

Josh released his grip with his trademark grin before he schooled his features into a contortion of pain as he gripped his chest. “Call the medic! I’m wounded. My heart’s been plucked from my chest,” he exaggeratedly panted.

You tried to stifle your grin, knowing it only encouraged his antics, but how could you not smile at that adorable goof?

* * *

The drive up to the Washington Lodge was fantastic for your stress level—nothing but empty roads, gorgeous scenery, and all the cheesiest, upbeat pop music you could cram onto a playlist. When you finally parked your car behind Josh’s in the horseshoe driveway, you were humming the lyrics of the last song as you pulled your weekender bag from the backseat.

After you slammed the door shut and rounded the car, you looked up at the lodge and whistled.

“Jeee-sus.” You knew Josh’s folks were rich, but this was the kind of rich you had only ever seen on Instagram … or maybe on an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians. It was so intimidating, it made you think twice about Josh.

He was just so … normal. Well, normal in a film-nerdy, goofball kinda way, but he never struck you as someone who grew up in a bubble of privilege.

It was close to 8:30 pm, but daylight still persisted and the pinkish sky lit up Josh’s face as he stepped onto the porch and looked down at you while you still stared open-mouthed at the lodge.

“Was the drive okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah it was great,” you said as you shook your head and climbed the stairs. “Josh—this place is … insane.”

“You’ve never been here?”

You shook your head no.

Josh frowned and thought for a moment. “I guess I forgot we haven’t known each other that long. You sure feel like an old chum, lil buddy,” he said as he slung an arm around your shoulders and walked you into the house.

“Chum? ‘Lil’ buddy?” you said with amusement.

Josh cleared his throat and removed his arm, nervously running one hand through his freshly cut hair. “What else should I call you?”

You bit your lip and looked up at him, a small smile on your face. “Guess we’ll see, huh?”

Josh grinned, his face lighting up as his white teeth flashed, and butterflies unexpectedly danced in your stomach.

“Let me show you around.”

* * *

The house was just as impressive on the inside, and when Josh finally showed you his room, you flopped on his king-sized bed and begged him to never make you leave. He laughed and made you promise not to move a muscle as he dashed out of the room, returning in about 15 minutes with food, drinks, extra pillows, and a stack of DVDs tucked under his chin as he tried to balance it all. He kicked the door shut, nearly spilling a bowl of popcorn he had tucked under his arm.

“Now you’re my prisoner,” he attempted to declare, but given the comical way he was shuffling toward the bed, you could do nothing other than laugh.

As he deposited everything onto the comforter, you asked, “DVDs? Is there even a TV in here?”

“Au contraire, lil lady. Behold!”

Josh walked over to the wall and slid the wooden paneling open, revealing a huge flatscreen. “Ta-da!”

“I really could stay here forever,” you mumbled as you kicked off your shoes and scooted to the top of the bed.  

“But don’t you think you’d be more comfortable in your PJs? Unless, of course, you sleep in the buff? And in that case, you would absolutely be more comfortable in your PJs,” Josh finished as he settled onto the bed next you, his elbow propping him up as he laid on his side to face you.

“If I came out of your bathroom naked, you wouldn’t even know what to do with yourself, Joshua Washington.”

“You’re right. I’d die of happiness,” he confirmed with a smile.

The room felt a lot hotter than it did a moment ago, so you sat up and looked down at Josh, his big green eyes bursting with affection.

“Let’s see how the night goes,” you promised with a sweet kiss to the tip of his nose.

* * *

As it turned out, the night passed chastely. You were a lot more tired than you had thought, and halfway through the first movie, your hand still sitting in the bowl of popcorn, you fell asleep.

When your breathing deepened and it became clear you weren’t going to wake up, Josh chuckled as he removed your hand from the bowl. He cleared off the bed and turned off the TV before snuggling into your side and quickly falling asleep.

Sunlight streaming through a huge window woke you up with a start. For a moment, you forgot where you were until you shifted under the weight of Josh’s arm. You smiled as you felt him stir, the arm wrapped around your waist tightening as he burrowed between your shoulder blades, probably trying to unconsciously hide from the sun.

Squinting, you shuffled out of bed and fiddled with the blinds until you figured out how to draw them. The room darkened to a greyish hue and Josh rolled over, seemingly still asleep. Since you were up, you went in to use the bathroom, and as you washed your hands in the sink, you looked at your reflection.

A slight blush colored your cheeks as you thought about how much you wanted to wake up like this again, preferably after figuring out if the big dick jokes the boys directed at Josh were because he actually was well-endowed or if they were just being idiots.

You had left your bag in here after changing last night, so you dug around for your toiletry case to retrieve your toothbrush.

After adjusting your tank top and sleep shorts, you gave your just-brushed hair a sexy tousle and glanced longingly at your lip gloss container.

“Too much,” you said with a dismissive shake of your head. You piled everything back into your bag, and exited the bathroom, hoping Josh was still asleep.

As you rounded the corner the bathroom was tucked into, you felt that familiar hot flush creep over your cheeks as you took in Josh’s form.

In your absence, he had sprawled out in the middle of the bed. He was on his stomach, his hands tucked under his pillow as he faced away from the window. His chocolatey-colored curls had lost their definition in the night and stood out against his light-grey pillowcase in a wild puff. The blankets were pushed down to his waist and the plain white t-shirt he had worn to bed was pushed up to his midback, exposing an expanse of light brown skin. His legs were spread, one foot sticking out from under the messy pile of blankets and you had to tamp down the temptation to see if he was ticklish.

You slid back into bed and settled on your side so you could face him. Tentatively, you reached out with your finger and ran it gently down his spine. His skin was smooth and the depression of his spine contrasted so deliciously with the strong muscles of his lower back that you wanted nothing more than to trace that indentation with your tongue.

Still touching him lightly, Josh stirred, his arms flexing as he stretched them before lifting his head and turning to look at you.

“Hi,” he said, his grin half-hidden by his bicep.

“Good morning.”

“Sorry. Forgot to pull the blind.”

“So you were awake?”

“Just waiting to see how much of me you’d touch if you thought I was asleep. Pervert,” Josh teased.

You opened your mouth in mock-offense and smacked his shoulder. “Rude.”

He chuckled and stretched again before he wriggled out from the blankets and stood, offering a mumbled, “Be right back,” as he made his way to the bathroom.

Josh wasn’t gone long, but it was long enough for your eyes to slip shut, a smile still on your face as you thought about him.

When you felt the bed dip, your eyes popped open.

“Sleepy girl?” Josh asked, his hand crawling under your tank top to rest on your bare stomach.

The heat radiating from his palm scorched through your body, a pool of arousal settling between your thighs.

“Not anymore,” you whispered as you looked at him, your eyes locked on his as you slid your hand along his arm, resting it on top of his.

Josh pulled his hand from beneath yours, off of your stomach and up to the side of your face. He cupped your cheek and slid closer, his body warm and connected with yours.

“Can I kiss you?”

In answer, you pulled him to you by the front of his shirt, causing both of you to softly sigh as your lips connected and began to move. You both tasted like the spearmint of Josh’s toothpaste, and when his tongue licked along the seam of your lips, you opened for him, the tips of your tongues touching before he dove into your mouth.

You kissed and kissed and kissed until you were both a panting mess, the blankets twisted around your legs, your once-sexily tasseled hair once again a mess, and Josh’s poof of curls even more wild than they had been against his pillow from you running your fingers through them, scraping across his scalp and around the back of his head.

Reaching for the bottom of his t-shirt, you tugged until he detached himself from your mouth so he could pull it the rest of the way off. You seized the momentary lull to push him onto his back, and as you sat up, you pulled off your tank top, Josh’s pupils dilating as he watched your breasts bounce.

Immediately, his hands reached for them, but you pulled back as you wiggled out of your shorts. Josh licked his lips and followed suit, pulling off his sleep pants. You glanced at the outline of his cock beneath his boxer-briefs and smirked.

“They weren’t just jokes,” you mused as you reached out and gripped him, pulling a mix between a moan and a chuckle from his throat.

It was your turn to control the kissing, so you straddled his hips and lowered your body to rest on top of his, once again relishing in the warmth of him and the masculine scent that seemed to be a mixture of expensive cologne and something that was just … Josh.

His hands roamed over your back and your backside, kneading and massaging as you kissed him—lips, jaw, neck, and when you sat up to catch your breath, he begged, “Ride me. Please.”

Again, that electric heat shot through your body and you knew your pussy was a mess for him. He reached up, finally able to wrap his big hands over your breasts, and you leaned back, grinding on his cock as he worked your nipples gently pulling on them before he leaned up to capture one in his mouth.

You shuddered as he sucked, his green eyes looking up at you, full of unabashed want and affection. He moved his mouth to your other nipple and you thought you might spontaneously combust if you didn’t slide his dick inside of your body within the next three breaths.

“Do we need protection? I’m on the pill.”

“Are you asking me if I’m a slut?” Josh said as he nuzzled between your breasts.

“Yes,” you answered, not caring if it sounded callous.

“I’m clean—and you?” he queried, laying back onto his pillows.

“Me too,” you answered before pulling down his underwear and moaning as you palmed his dick.

“Such a big boy,” you praised before looking up at him. “Tell me why we waited this long?”

“How about after we fuck?” Josh suggested, leaning up to tug at your panties.

With a huff of laughter, you slid your underwear off and returned to straddle him, sliding your soaking pussy lips over his cock until it glistened.

A whiny moan slid out from Josh as he watched and his strong hands reached up to grasp your hips and tilt them, the tip of his cock finally sliding inside your body. You adjusted the top half of him, sliding up and down a few times before taking him in all the way, both of you letting out a whoosh of breath once he was fully sheathed.

“Oh my god,” you groaned as your eyes rolled back at the sensation of his big cock. “Wow!”

Josh snorted and gave your ass a light smack.

“See what you were missin’ out on?”  

“Mmm,” you hummed as you began to ride him, slowly and purposefully, not wanting your first time together to be over in a flash.

“You feel so fucking good,” Josh stated as his hands slid over your body. “So good.”

The rhythm you settled into was natural, even lazy, like you had been fucking for years. It felt so right, to be here with Josh, to feel him moving inside of you as you locked eyes, both of you shedding your protective layers and letting yourselves feel exposed, finally knowing that all each of you would see in return would be a sweet tenderness, the kind that could easily turn into love.

“Touch me,” you breathed, leaning back to rest your hands on his thighs so he could have full access to your clit.

Josh’s fingers immediately went to work, stimulating your swollen clit. The sweat blossoming across his brow in tandem with the flush of red settling over his chest told you he was trying his best not to come before you did.

“Come, Josh. Come for me,” you commanded as you clenched your inner walls around him and swirled your hips.

His thumb stuttered across your clit until he couldn’t do anything other than grasp your hips, his fingers digging into the flesh of your ass bruisingly as he cried out, his hot cum flooding your pussy while you rode him through his climax.

He looked beautiful as he came, his eyes widening before slamming shut as a series of gravelly groans fell from his parted lips.

Swallowing for breath and still hard inside of you, Josh flipped you onto your back and reached between your thighs, furiously working your clit until you came, clenching around his softening cock.

Josh said something to you, but you couldn’t hear him over the roar of blood in your ears. You shook your head and raised your hand, silently begging him to give you a minute.

Josh placed light kisses across the heated skin of your chest, before shifting slightly so his weight wasn’t crushing you.

“What was it you said?” you asked when you could finally form a sentence.  

Josh looked into your face, smiling. “That good, huh?”

You giggled and smacked his shoulder, again. “That was not what you said.”

His face turned serious as he nodded, clearly building his resolved to repeat his spontaneous emission.

“Will you be my girlfriend? I … I don’t want this to just be a one-time thing.”

You were speechless as your eyes roamed his face, your mind wondering how you got so lucky.

“Yeah. I wanna be your girl, Josh.”

“Fuck yeah!” he yelled, rolling over and pumping his fist into the air before he pulled you back on top of him, his hands tangling in your hair to pull you down for a kiss.

You pulled away after a minute to ask, “Can we cancel the party? Just do this instead?”

“And miss a chance to see you prancing around in a swimsuit for hours, knowing I get to tear it off of you at the end of the night?”

Your body flushed with a familiar warmth as you grinned. “Guess I didn’t think about it like that.”

“I can’t wait to show you off,” Josh whispered against your lips, both of you smiling as you exchanged sweet kisses.      

[myheroacademiashorts]

i think i’m in love w his blog 🥺💞 (1) how about a scenario during UA where bakugou ends up coincidentally wearing a coat that looks almost identical to that of his fem!crush. she’s more nonchalant about it and like “hey! we’re matching!” with this adorable little grin on her face that makes him blush almost imperceptibly, which his friends tease him for mercilessly—

(2) sometimes they end up accidentally swapping coats and although he’d never admit it, seeing her in his slightly larger coat with a sheepish smile on her face is completely worth the embarrassment of his friends. he’d take this to the grave, but he may or may not leave his coat around on purpose from that point on just to see her in his clothes and pretend they were together. and tho she might not admit it, she likes the sweet smell that lingers bcuz she has a not-so-little crush on him too?

Hiya! Thanks for the request... Soooo I sorta needed to split it up. I have ideas for this fic. ;) ... And I also kind strayed from the original request. I’m sorry! /)-(\ Here is part one!

Title: One Size Too Big (Part 1)

Pairing: Bakugou x Reader

Rating: Fluff, sorta angst?

Words: 3,456

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You had never been a fan of the cold, and this was further proven as you were forced to trudge from class to the dorms. You groaned to yourself, shivering despite the jacket and other layers you had on as a particularly strong gust of wind swept by. “Wow, it’s pretty chilly!” Uraraka sounded happy, and you shot her a glare as she stared up at the gloomy sky with a smile, mittened hands cupped together. “I know, and I hate it.” You grumbled, only earning another bell-like laugh from your bubbly friend.

“Oh, it’s not that bad!”

“I can barely feel my fingertips.”

She rolled her eyes at you, tugging one of your cold hands from the pocket of your coat and enveloping it in her own. Somehow, she was warm, and before you could ask her what her secret was, she was dragging you across the frost-covered school grounds, her giggling rising up with every complaint that escaped from your lips. “If we run, we’ll get back faster!” She said, and you weren’t able to argue back due to the heavy chattering of your teeth.

However, she had been right, and a minute later you were standing in front of your dorm building. Uraraka looked unfazed, her smile still glued to her face, while you looked like you had gone through hell; your hair was a mess of tangles, cheeks red from the cold and running, and a slight shiver clinging to your body as you forced your way inside. “Ta-da! That wasn’t so bad, right?” You settled with a playful glare in your friend’s direction, deciding to stay silent.

Uraraka had wanted to study in the library after class, and like the good friend you were, you followed. You hadn’t expected the weather to become worse, and didn’t realize it had done so until the two of you had stepped outside after hours of studying. The rest of your classmates were already inside, most of them in the living room and kitchen where the heater worked the strongest. Even stepping inside you could feel the difference in temperature from outside, and quickly stripped of your jacket before becoming too warm. You let your eyes stray to them, from the few goofing off in the kitchen while making hot chocolate to the group planted in the other room, a video game screaming at them from the television screen. Bakugou was on the couch, arms stretched over the top cushions and a bored expression on his handsome face as he stared at his friends blankly. It was then that you noticed a familiar article of clothing on the blonde boy.

“Hey, we match!”

At the sound of your voice, Bakugou’s attention was immediately on you, not understanding who you were speaking to at first. Then, his eyes drifted from your bright (E/C) gaze and goofy grin down to your extended arms, where an eerily familiar jacket hung from your frame. His brows furrowed for a moment, before letting his eyes dart from his own body back to yours, mouth agape in surprise. “We’re like twins! Or couple-matching!” You continued, laughing slightly at the comparison between you and the hotheaded boy as two identical sweatshirts were on both of you; sliced right down the center, the left black and the right bright orange with an x-eyed happy face decorating the back of it. You even turned around to show it off further, and Bakugou nearly choked on his own air as the realization sat in. Holy crap, they were the same. Yours, of course, was just a bit tighter since your frame was smaller than his own, but that didn’t stop Bakugou from continuously letting his eyes rake over you.

Your other classmates swarmed you before you could add on any further, pulling you towards the kitchen as they begged you to make them your infamous hot cocoa, and with a short laugh you let them drag you. You stripped yourself of the sweatshirt first, setting it aside on a lone chair before getting to work. Bakugou’s attention on you, however, stayed steady even without you noticing, eyes wide and mouth still hanging open slightly. Your teasing replied in his mind, and finally he forced his jaw shut, teeth clenched as he fought the blush rising up his cheeks to no avail. His right-hand man noticed his expression, toothy grin already placed before he could speak. “What’s got you frazzled, bro?” Kiri asked, and Bakugou immediately controlled himself, instead shooting a glare towards his friend. “Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair. I’m not frazzled.” He muttered, and he let his eyes stray back to the kitchen when your familiar laugh rose up. Kiri caught the look.

“Oooh, is Bakugou frazzled?” Mina’s voice floated in as she plopped into the empty space on the other side of Bakugou, a knowing grin on her face as she wiggled her eyebrows. At this point, all of Bakugou’s friends had their attention on him, and he felt his face redden. Not entirely from embarrassment, although part of it was, but also from frustration. “I’M NOT ‘FRAZZLED’, ASSHOLES!” As if to prove his point, he sat upright to yank the cursed sweatshirt up and off of his body, cheeks bright as he avoided their gazes.

A few beats of silence passed, his friends trying to smother their teasing giggles to not anger him further. Instead, Bakugou abruptly stood up, fists clenched as he stared down at his giggling friends coldly. “I’m going to bed.” He muttered, and none of his friends mentioned that it was only 6 o’clock in the evening as he stalked off upstairs. You popped your head from the kitchen, eyes finding the troublesome group in the living room with an innocent smile. “Everything okay?” You asked in a soft voice, missing the mischievous looks that Kaminari and Sero exchanged to one another.

Oh, they were going to have fun with this.

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The next day, you were found scurrying through the kitchen by none other than Kirishima himself.

He heard the clatter of pans first, then your frantic footsteps soon after. He peeked his head out from the bottom of the stairs, looking past the wall to see you scrambling for… well, something. He wasn’t quite sure what. “Hey, you alright?”

You jumped at the unexpected bright voice, but quickly relaxed after spotting the redhead as he emerged closed to you. “Kiri! Jeez, you almost scared the quirk out of me.” You pressed a hand to your heart as you laughed, an easy smile flitting to your lips. “I’m fine, but I forgot my sweater down here and can’t find it. Do you remember if you’ve seen it recently?”

Kiri’s brows rose, a strangely secretive smile on his lips as he recollected the actions of the night before. His friends had filled him in on their plans to shove you and Bakugou together, and he was more than happy to help. It was better than hearing Bakugou pretending to complain about you. “Actually, yeah!” He practically bounced to the couch, where Bakugou’s familiar sweatshirt still sat from the night before, long forgotten by the fiery blonde. He hoped you wouldn’t notice the faint scent of cologne and caramel lingering on the piece of clothing.

“Someone probably moved it, but here you go!” He thrusted it into your hands, and you sighed in relief as you grasped the sweatshirt. It was a bit cool from sitting out, but you didn’t pay attention to it as you instead shuffled it on, wiggling your arms into the sweater with a satisfied noise. The plush inside immediately calmed you, but there was something different about it… Were the sleeves always this long? And the hem? Maybe someone had accidentally stretched it out? And when did it start smelling like caramel?

You turned to grin at Kiri in thanks, picking up your backpack and swinging it over your shoulder. “You’re a lifesaver, Kiri. I was worried I’d have to freeze out there.”

“No problem! Want to head to class together?”

You and Kiri had always gotten along, both of your personalities being particularly bubbly and bright as you chatted during the short walk to class. However, he had broken off as soon as you found yourself standing in front of the 1-A door, mumbling something about an errand to run before turning and high-tailing it down the hallway.

You shoved the door open, grunting slightly at its heavy weight as you slid inside of the familiar classroom. The chatter continued as you sneaked in, Uraraka brightening when she noticed you. “Y/N!” Her melodic voice rang out, beckoning you forward as she stayed perched on top of her desk. “I still can’t forget about that hot chocolate from last night. It was so good!” Uraraka looked as if she were about to drool over the mere imagination of the rich beverage, moving her gaze to instead stare off at the wall mindlessly. You dropped your backpack onto the empty desk beside hers as she continued. “Man, if I could make hot chocolate like you, I’d make it all the time. I’d drink it every day! All year long!”

You laughed at her small obsession, and she seemed to want to continue monologuing before being cut off by the door slamming open. It banged against the wall, and in trudged the little gremlin everyone had become so accustomed to during their time at U.A. He kept his glare on the ground as he entered, muttering some curses under his breath for an unknown reason, before finally lifting his gaze upwards. “What the hell are you looking at-?”

And then Bakugou Katsuki’s eyes landed on you, and he froze.

Almost on instinct, you mimicked his action, eyes wide as you waited for his next move. In the short years you have attended the school with the blonde, he had never just… Stopped. And why was he staring at you so blankly?

Bakugou, however, had way too many things flitting through his mind to even think about doing anything else than just freezing mid-sentence. Holy fuck, is that my sweatshirt? I was wondering where the damned thing went. Why is she wearing it? God, it looks fucking hot on her. The last thought had a faint redness rising to his cheeks, more prominent on his ears as he tried to cover his expression with one hand and biting down on his lip to keep his jaw from dropping. Fuck. FuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK. The words were a mantra in his head, constantly repeating until he felt a soft hand wrap around the wrist hiding his embarrassed expression.

“Bakugou? Are you okay?” For a moment, he hated how soft and sweet your voice was. It just wanted to make the hard-headed boy melt to the floor. You were close enough that he could smell you; old and new books, perfume, even the faint scent of your shampoo. And you weren’t loosening your grip on him. Instead, you were tightening it, and tugging at his arm in a weak attempt for him to drop it from his flustered face. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was quiet, shocked at what they were seeing from the infamous, easily-riled pomeranian in front of them. You didn’t even seem to notice, instead leaving his arm to instead press your palm on the exposed skin of his forehead. He couldn’t see your expression, but based on how much he watched you without your knowledge, he could guess that you were frowning.

You were, by the way.

“Your face feels hot! Let’s go to Recovery Girl, maybe you have a fever?” Your voice held a slight edge of panic, not noticeable to most but making Uraraka quirk her brow in curiosity. Of course, she also knew about your not-so-little crush on the guy.

She waved her hand, breaking the awaiting tension that filled the air. “Go ahead and take him, Y/N! I’ll let Aizawa know what happened!” You didn’t look at your friend as you nodded and, grabbing Bakugou’s free arm - he was still covering his face with the other - you dutifully yanked him down the hallway and towards the healing Pro-Hero.

It wasn’t until the two of you had successfully left the immediate area that Aizawa, who had been secretly napping underneath his desk, finally crawled out of his sleeping back with a grumpy expression. He didn’t say anything -  just scanned the classroom knowingly - before huffing slightly and returning to the floor, waiting for the final bell to ring before beginning class. Luckily, he still had a handful of minutes left.

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“You can drop your arm now, you know.” You grumbled, after walking in complete silence for a few steps too many. All you could think about was how he was acting like a girl from a damned shojo manga. He stayed quiet, keeping his large palm over his face dutifully, and you reached up to tug at the offending wrist until finally his hand landed at his side.

Then, you stared.

If you thought a quiet Bakugou was rare, nothing could prepare you for a blushing one; flawless skin erupting with a dark blush, ruby eyes lowered, and - was he biting his lip? Even his ears were scarlet. You stuttered for a moment, mind blanking on what you had been prepared to say, and instead stood there gaping like a fish out of water. His gaze shifted towards you, and your heart nearly stopped.

“What are you looking at? Dumbass…” Despite his harsh words, his tone was full of embarrassment, and he quickly shifted his attention elsewhere. You were still clutching to his arm and, as if it had become scalding hot, you dropped it. However, you didn’t move away. Instead, you chose to stand a little closer than you usually would to the hotheaded boy, peering up at him as if he were a quizzical math problem. It seemed to only redden his face more, if that were possible. “H-Hey, cut it out, weirdo!”

He reached an arm up to try pushing you back a few steps, but this only resulted in you stumbling further than anticipated. You could feel yourself lose your footing, and just as a gasp escaped your lips as you tensed your body to meet the hard linoleum floor, the same arm wrapped around your waist and hoisted you upright. The arm was warm, and the pads of his fingers had accidentally found their way to the bare skin peeking at your waist. The scent of caramel became stronger, overpowering all of your senses as you stared up at Bakugou with wide eyes and lips open, a flush rising to your cheeks. Your breathing was a bit labored, gaze searching the red, blank expression presented to you. “Mine.”

You blinked up at him. The hold he had on you tightened, and you felt your mouth go a bit dry. “H-huh?”

“That sweatshirt. It’s mine.”

Oh, the sweatshirt. For a moment there, you had thought… You gulped, pushing your thoughts to the farthest corner in your mind as the blonde released you from his grip. However, you could still feel the imprint of his warmth on your body, as if it had been tattooed onto your skin. Luckily you were able to stand up straight with your face stoic, although the bright red on your cheeks showed your true emotions all too clearly. It seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed, either, as Bakugou raised one brow upwards. Then smirked.

“What’re you getting so red for, huh?” He leaned in a bit closer than you would’ve thought he would, vermillion eyes blown wide and glinting mischievously at you. It was a bit cute to see him so cocky yet embarrassed, the blush just as prominent as before. “Got a fever or something?” As if to push it further, he placed his palm on your forehead. At that, you squeaked, causing that damn smirk to only widen further.

With every step he took forward, you took one back… Up until you were pressed against the wall, his hand still attached to your forehead as your cheeks darkened further. His free arm found its way next to you, palm flattened right beside your head, and the other soon followed until you were stuck in a kabedon position. And despite having no where else to go, he only seemed to inch closer.

His lips were hovering mere centimeters away from your own, ruby eyes staring into your own as you waited with bated breath on what was to happen next. There was a surge in the air, as if the two of you had just been zapped by Kaminari, but more tense. There wasn’t really a way to explain it. Was he playing with you? Was this just a joke? Was he going to kiss you like you thought? Like you hoped? The last thought made you suddenly suck in a deep breath as you squeezed your eyes shut.

And then the bell rang.

You nearly groaned at the sound, and opened your bright gaze just in time to see Bakugou move a step away from you; still close, but not as much as before. You stayed quiet, waiting for him to say something, anything. He wouldn’t just act like nothing happened… Right? Because something had happened, right?

Instead, he raked one hand through his spiked hair, the other burying itself in his pocket as he glanced away from you and back down the hallway, where the classroom was. The one you two had escaped from only a few minutes ago, although it felt like much longer. “We should get to class.” His rough voice came out more like a cough, and his eyes stayed away from you as he waited. You pursed your lips. So it looked like he was going to pretend nothing had happened. That just made your blood boil, and you didn’t even remember the reason as to why the two of you were out in the hallway to begin with as you shoved past him and made your way back to class. You didn’t get far, however, before stopping and twisting around, yanking the sweatshirt over your head roughly and throwing it in his direction. Then, you were back to storming down the hallway, hands balled into fists and frustration written all over your face.

Meanwhile, Bakugou stared at your retreating figure, eyes comically wide and a mixture of confusion and regular Bakugou-level anger on his features. “What the fuck was that about?” He mumbled to himself, the sweatshirt gripped in his hands as he frowned. He was just about to ask you on a date right after; not a date-date, of course, but out to that ramen place you wouldn’t stop yapping about with Round Face and Frog Girl. Did he do something wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have shoved you against the wall so roughly… He saw it in an anime once, and the girl seemed to like it. Maybe he did it wrong? He hummed to himself, brows furrowing. He was a tad bit angry, but he was always angry, to some extent.

When he got back to the classroom, Aizawa had already passed out some worksheets and was dead asleep on the floor, per usual. Bakugou’s gaze first moved to you, and he was able to catch your gaze for only a second before you swiveled your attention elsewhere, your lips pressed into a firm, harsh line as you kept your face blank. From the corner of his eye, he could see Round Face glance at him in confusion. Yeah, me too!, he wanted to yell out, but was smart enough to grit his teeth and plop down in his chair. If he needed to, he’d find your friends later and ask them what the fuck was going on. You didn’t look like you’d be in the mood to talk to him for a while.

“Yo, Bakubro! What’s up with you?” Kirishima had an impish smile, but Bakugou didn’t question it. Instead, he shot his friend a harsh glare, cold enough to make even the bubbly redhead shrink back a bit, grin dropping down a level of its brightness.

“Nothing, Shitty Hair. I’m fucking fantastic.” Bakugou’s voice wasn’t its usual boom, instead barely a murmur, and Kiri almost strained to hear him. Well, that was an unexpected reaction. He glanced at Mina and the rest of the Bakubro group, who all met his gaze almost instantly. They all had a look of worry on their faces as they glanced at their mutual, usually hotheaded friend simultaneously, then towards your stiff figure. Something had definitely gone wrong in the last few minutes.

Crap. They needed to fix this, and fast.

... Is it that obvious that I read shoujo manga? And do i think Bakugou would read it and watch it too for romance advice? Fuck yes.

[etherealhood]

Birthday Getaway

author: @etherealhood

word count: 2,212

warnings: real fluffy, dad!calum

a/n: okay so i was on instagram and saw kylie jenner’s instagram video of stormi in the water and it made me write this so sorry bout it (also i didn’t proofread so there might be some goofs)

pairing: calum hood x reader

Suppressing the smile he wore for that one little girl and her only, was hard as he looked down at her, watching her bounce with excitement as he held her in his tattooed arm. He chuckled, his heart tightening in his chest as he fell in love with his sweet look-alike all over again. She was kicking her tiny legs, reminding him of the days where he played soccer. With her powerful limbs, she’d be the perfect little athlete.

His wife was grinning at the pair as she held her cell phone horizontally, taking as many pictures she could of the two loves of her life. The sun was shining perfectly, hitting Calum’s tan skin as well as the eleven-month old baby’s in his arms. Her dark curls were matching her father’s, blowing with the slight breeze that seemed to always be present when they spent days at the beach. The daisy-printed, black, one piece their daughter wore matched the printed-bikini bottoms her mother wore and the plain black swim shorts here father was wearing.

“Hi, baby. You gonna smile for mama?” The woman looked at her child, still pointing the camera at her. Her child looked over at her mother, her fist in her mouth as she began smiling brightly upon hearing the woman’s sweet and familiar voice

Calum grabbed her hand from her mouth, waving her hand at his wife. “Say hi, darlin’.” He looked from the face of his daughter to his lover, his large smile softening as he looked at the woman that gave him the little girl he held against his chest. She was looking at the screen of the phone, snapping her pictures so she would forever have the memory of the little birthday getaway they planned for not only him, but their daughter who just so happened to have a birthday that was very close to her father’s.

His wife caught his gaze on her and he would’ve have to have been dumb to not notice how she got just the slightest bit bashful under his warm eyes. He winked at her, watching as she blew him a kiss and walked over to him, her feet leaving imprints in the wet sand that only began to fade away when the water rolled onto the shore. She held the phone in one hand, but used her right one to tickle at her daughter’s stomach.

“Why ya lookin’ at me like that?” She asked her husband. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side before kissing her temple. Her hand pressed to his bare abdomen to as she turned her head to look up at him.

“‘M just really, really in love with you is all.” He hummed against her lips as he pressed them to hers in a soft and lazy kiss that was still full of every emotion he held in his heart for her. She smiled against his mouth, circling her arm around his torso under his arm.

The baby started babbling as the couple shared their moment. He chuckled and pulled away, both of them looking fondly at their child. Pulling her arm off of him, she handed the phone to Calum and held her hands out so she could take the baby he held in his arms. She pulled the little one into her chest, showering her in kisses on the mouth and cheeks as she cupped the back of her head.

The girl’s little arms wrapped around her mother’s neck, hugging her close as she put her face against the older woman’s. Bending down, Y/N held her daughter’s waist as she helped her stand on the ground and walk in the sand. Immediately, the infant looked up at the weird feeling of the sand between her toes. She looked between her parents, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Calum laughed at her expression and unlocked the cell phone, going to camera and switching to the recording setting. He flipped the phone so it was horizontal and pressed the big red button, the changing numbers at the top of the screen letting him know he was recording.

“You walkin’, babygirl?” He said in the soft voice he always used with his little one. She looked up and smiled at her dad, bouncing up and down on her chubby legs and laughing as she held onto Y/N’s two index fingers. She started walking along the sand toward Calum, her mom not too far behind as she used her for stability. Her little footprints were left in her path, the water getting closer to her small feet as it continued washing up the sand.

“Da!” She said, following Calum as he walked backwards to keep her going for the video he was filming. “Dada, Dada.” She repeated over again as she connected her eyes with her father’s dark ones. Although in nearly every way, from her dark curly hair to the shape of her nose and to her pouty lips, she looked like Calum, she without a doubt had her mother’s gorgeous eyes. When he looked into them, he was instantly reminded of the woman he loved so much and vowed to spend the rest of his life with.

The chuckle that bubbled out of him was quiet as she blew raspberries in between her attempts at saying the few words they’d been teaching her. He heard her call out to Y/N a few times, looking around for her mother. His daughter was still walking towards him, letting go of her mom. Calum started walking closer to the water, urging his family to follow him. The water was far out, beginning roll in as she wobbled and reached out for him.

Her face lit up with surprise as the cold water rolled over her small feet. She gasped, her mouth parting in an ‘O’ shape at the change of temperature and feeling. It became just apparent how shocked she was as she fell onto her bottom with astoundment still very apparent on her face. Both Calum and Y/N couldn’t help the laugh that escaped them.

In the time they’d been parents, they hadn’t gone to the beach very often because Calum had been busy with work and brought his family along with him as much as he could so he wouldn’t miss any unnecessary time with his growing girl. However, the couple of times they did manage to get out for some time at the beach, they took the baby with them and she was always just as surprised as the first time when she felt the water on her caramel-colored skin.

The parents bent down at the same time, sitting next to their child as she leaned forward and put her hand on the ground to reach for the water that had pulled back, leaving some of the foam in its wake. She got a handful of sand and started kicking excitedly as she played with it in her hand. Looking at Y/N, she brought her tiny fist up and went to put it in her mouth.

Y/N instantly grabbed her hand and pulled it back, shaking her head. “No, no, baby. You can’t eat that.” She shook her head with a small chuckle, rinsing her hand off in the water that came rolling back up to them.

She grabbed the infant sitting between them and brought her in between her bent legs, letting the little one lean back onto her mother’s stomach. The water rolled back up, touching her tiny toes that curled and uncurled as shrieked out in laughter.

With a permanent smile, the woman’s heart beat a little faster as she looked from her baby to her lover who was laughing, his eyes crinkled adorably as he recorded the little moment. Even though he was pointing the camera at the two girls in his life, he wasn’t looking at the screen. He wanted to look at them and remember the real moment this was happening and not what he was seeing happen on the small screen of the cell phone he held.

“Oh, she’s got the most beautiful laugh I’ve ever heard.” He said with that adoring grin still pulling at his lips. She looked up at her dad and clapped her sandy hands together excitedly, still doing her little kicks of excitement even as she sat down. The water came back again, washing over the entire length of her small legs. She squealed again and put her hands in the water, trying to hold it in her small fists.

“She loves the water!” His wife giggled as he stopped recording and handed her back her phone.

He leaned in and wrapped his hands around his daughter’s little body under her arms. “Looks like we got a little fishy on our hands, don’t we?” He cheered as he threw her up just a couple inches before catching her, a giggle bubbling out of her as she smiled down at her father. He heard Y/N sigh in relief as his hands had a hold on her body once again. “Scare ya?” He teased her with a smirk on her face.

“You know that makes me nervous, Hood.” She scolded with a pout, her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. He laughed at her attempt to be angry and leaned forward, craning his neck to give her a quick peck on the lips.

“Sorry, baby. Won’t do it again.” He apologized as he gave her another kiss, pulling back to look at her with that familiar fondness in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a small scoff. “That’s a lie.”

“I know.”

His wife scooted closer to him, leaning her head on his broad shoulder. Their daughter sat on his knee, Calum bouncing his leg up and down to keep her entertained with the movement. Y/N watched as the sun sparkled on the water, making it shimmer in front of them. It reminded her of the Eiffel Tower and the few times she’d been with Calum when she saw it sparkle at night.

She looked from the water to her partner who was making faces at their daughter, her soft squeals of laughter sounding amongst the three of them as he shook her just a little. Bubbles started foaming at her mouth as she began drooling. “You’ve got slobber all over ya, my love!” Calum said, using his thumb to wipe away the spit on her chin. “All better, yeah?” He asked her in his baby-voice.

With her chin resting on his shoulder, Y/N stared at the little girl, admiring everything about the child that she loved so much. Calum leaned in and gave the baby a kiss on the tip of her little nose, yet another sound of delight coming from her. Y/N’s heart was so full as the gentle sound of waves rolling up and down the shore surrounded the family of three. “I love you. I love you both, so so much.” She whispered in his ear before placing a kiss in the little space underneath it.

“We love you too.” He said back to her, just as softly as she said it to him. She smiled fondly, looking over his shoulder at the smiling girl that the was the product of the unconditional love they shared. Her hand smoothed down his arm to his torso, her fingers grazing over the spot she knew his most recent tattoo was. It was their baby’s name written in his wife’s handwriting. One day, he asked her to write her name on a piece of paper and then later came back with the new ink under his left pectoral muscle.

“Still think this is my favorite tattoo.” She mumbled as her fingertips skimmed over the name, her touch soft on his wet skin.

“What about the one I got for you?” He asked, referring to the tattoo he had of her zodiac sign on his right bicep.

She shrugged and looked back at her husband. “Still love hers more. I love our little family.”

He was watching the little girl fidget in his lap so he set her down on the ground, still facing him but letting her play with the sand between them. She grabbed the sand in her hands, some of it slipping through her fingers and plopping down on Calum’s leg as it fell. She raised her arms almost showing him her new discovery. He smiled at her, craning his head down to kiss her little fists, not caring about the small amount of sand that transferred to his lips.

Turning his head back at the stunning woman beside him, he had a gentle smile pulling at his lips. He’d never been so happy, but being at some island resort’s private beach with just his two girls, with the two epic loves of life, he knew that this was what life was all about. He knew that the overwhelming amounts of love he held in his heart was all he needed.

Calum wrapped his right arm around his wife, her cheek resting on his chest as he kissed her hairline before looking back down at their little one. “I love it, too.”

let me know your thoughts!

[starkertrash03]

yours

the title doesn’t make sense really, but for the whole like ‘mine’ ‘his’ title thing, ‘yours’ makes sense i guess, anyway. this is like a part three, and it’s all thanks to: @stereksoulmates like damn, they made this simple brain think of so many things and guys. smut ahead(i haven’t written smut in months, so im hella sorry for however it turns out) (recommended: read other two parts first)

if you found this, it has two more parts, ‘mine’ and ‘his’ i would provide you links but tumblr goofed up and tried to help people with removing links, but still. im hella sorry. this site is falling apart at the seems, but that’s okay, because i love it.

Peter pulled Tony away from the rest of the crowd, including the whore that was rubbing up against him.

“Pete, where are we going?” Tony asked, following after his boyfriend.

“To a supply closet to have sex,” Peter said shortly, not elaborating in the slightest. Tony let the options run through his head of the pros and cons, and while the cons list was long since being caught would be bad, he should be there spreading his name, and people would be wondering why he wasn’t there, the pros list was ‘hot sex with peter’ so that beat everything.

Tony followed after Peter into a closet and the boy immediately began shedding the layers of himself, discarding the parts of the suit onto the floor, Tony didn’t hesitate to do the same. Tony didn’t even have time to unbutton his trousers before Peter had jumped up on him, wrapping his legs around his waist.

The persistence on this kid will never stop amazing Tony. There lips connected and Peter smiled into the kiss. The younger male was basically bouncing with anticipation as his member grew more erect against his boyfriend.

Peter was hyped on emotion, yeah, everyone knew about his relations with the billionaire, but people still wanted to blatantly ignore it. So, he was going to be fucked by Tony until they both smelt of nothing but sex.

Maybe it was animalistic and weird, Peter didn’t know at this moment, all he knew was Tony was his, and everyone needed to know that. Peter felt Tony getting harder, so, obedient, he unwrapped his legs from around the taller male, and dropped to his knees.

He began slowly unbuckling Tony’s pants, looking up at him through his eye lashes. Tony was looking back down at the younger boy contently, smiling slightly at his pure beauty. Peter, after the belt was unbuckled, began unbuttoning Tony’s dress pants, and finally zipping down the zipper, before tugging the pants down around his ankles.

Without hesitation, Peter licked from the base to the tip, taking in the taste of Tony. He braced his hands on the others thighs, and slowly began teasing the tip, smiling at the noises that avalnaged out of the older man’s mouth.

Peter kept swirling his tongue around the tip, grazing over the top, making Tony lean his head back in pleasure. Eventually, Tony couldn’t take the teasing and gripped the back of Peter’s hair, forcing the young man to take more of his cock.

Peter, bless him, had barely any gag reflex as he took in Tony’s full length, more than happy to be doing so. He bobbed his head, taking Tony in and out, drool dripping down his chin. The thought that anyone could walk in at anytime only made Peter hornier. Yeah, he didn’t know what was wrong with him either, but at the time, being caught on his knees for Mister Tony - fucking - Stark was really hot.

The older man kept a firm grip on the kids head, thrusting into his mouth occasionally when he couldn’t resist any longer. Tony loved the feeling of Peter’s tight, wet throat surrounding his member, how Peter focused on that one thing - sucking his cock - more than anything else, more than himself and his own desires.

The mere thought nearly pushed Tony over the edge. He avoided the temptation of cumming all over Peter’s face and removed himself from the peach pink lips belonging to the boy. “You gonna let Daddy fuck your ass real good?” Tony asked, slipping into a very deep space.

Peter moaned weakly at the thought while nodding his head slightly. Tony caught his lips in a kiss, then pulled away, making direct eye contact with his boyfriend. “You need to use your words, Baby Boy, or I won’t know what you want,”

The other almost couldn’t respond with more than a weak ‘please’ which barely escaped his swollen lips. That’s all Tony would press for as he finished kicking off his pants. He turned around and tossed off all the junk that was on the shelves.

Peter made a shocked noise as a loud noise was formed from the collision. Tony didn’t bat an eye as he quickly, but carefully, moved Peter over. The younger boy got the hint, spreading his legs and resting his elbows on the shelf top.

Tony bent over and spread Peter’s ass, looking at the piece of art before licking the flat of his tongue over it. Peter let out a moan, not holding back a single noise, once again, the idea of being caught making everything 30 x better.

Tony ate the other man out, getting Peter wet, before slipping a finger in. Peter, who was partially still stretched from there little episode before the gala, felt warm around his finger. Soon, he added another one.

Two turned to three, and three to four. Tony felt that one spot that had Peter moaning his name like a good little whore and began poking at it, teasing the younger, making him grow even more hard, so hard, it became painful.

“Please,” Peter panted. “Pah, ah, please,”

Tony removed his fingers from Peter’s hole, lowering his head once more, letting spit fall, he then rubbed his cock against Pete’s entrance, Peter moaning in anticipation. “Da- ah- addy, please,” he panted, subconsciously spreading his legs further apart, wanting to be fucked so badly.

“Your wish is my command, princess,”

Tony thrusted roughly into Peter, who let out a scream at the new, but familiar, sensation. Tony didn’t even dare to start out slow. He fucked into Peter relentlessly, showing no mercy and no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Peter was a mess of moans as Tony kept it up, wrapping his hand around Peter’s throat, applying light pressure. “Might want to keep it down? Don’t want someone finding out? Hm? Someone walking in here, let them see how I make you my little bitch? We wouldn’t want that now would we?” Tony whispered sinfully in Peter’s ear, all while still drilling into him.

The young man couldn’t form a sentence, just a string of incoharent moans. Tony practically growled in Peter’s ear. “Show them how I fuck you like a little whore, claim your ass and pin you down,”

“Y- Y- ah- Yes,” Peter sputtered out, his cock hard and pressed against his stomach.

Tony removed his hand from Peter’s neck and brought it down to his cock and began pumping, and moments later the younger boy had came, his load covering Tony’s hand. Peter tilted his head back as Tony’s fingers found there way into his mouth. The younger man began swirling his tongue over the digits, tasting himself on his boyfriend.

And only a few more thrusts had Tony filling Peter up with his seed. He stayed in for a few moments, catching his breath and leaving gentle kisses on Peter’s shoulders. Peter had his head hung and was panting heavily.

“I’ll fuck you whenever you want kid, but why now?” Tony finally said, laughing slightly, after a while. Peter let out a laugh that made Tony’s heart do flips.

“Oh, no reason,”

Yet there was a reason. After cleaning up with Peter’s boxers (despite Peter’s light protests) the two men looked exactly like you would imagine post-sex. Peter separated from Tony as he went to talk to his fellow rich people and went searching for the whore in the gold dress.

He didn’t even try and hide the red marks on his neck, or the small limp he couldn’t help. “Hey,” He spoke. He pointed towards Tony who had a dark purple hickey on his neck. “Whose is he?”

Peter couldn’t help but smile as the girl scoffed, looking Peter up and down, speaking sourly.

“Yours,”

(agh, cringe, i can’t believe how rusty i am at writing smut. i guess that’ll mean i’ll have to write more for practice)

[nebulous-frog]

Parent Ph(F)an

Summary: It’s way too hot and Dan is way too tired and his daughter is way too interested in something that could chop her fingers off, so he uses it to play a game instead.

Word count: 2194 

Rating: G

Warnings: None whatsoever

Genre: Extreme Fluff, Humor, Parent!Phan

Author’s Note: Thank you @imnotinclinedtomaturity for betaing! I love you <3

This was written for @phandomficfests‘s Summer Sounds flash fest.

Link to AO3 Fics Masterlist

After five minutes of frantic searching, Phil groaned in despair.

They were out of coffee.

Most of the time, they could make it through two weeks between their grocery deliveries, but apparently this was not one of those times. Phil supposed it was largely due to the fact that Emma hadn’t really been sleeping in the last week, which meant neither he nor Dan had gotten much sleep, either. Unfortunately, the crabby sleeplessness was augmented by the fact that Britain was currently experiencing a horrific heatwave and their flat had no aircon. It had been a rough week.

Phil trudged back into the lounge to tell Dan about the coffee situation, but stopped, in awe of the sight before him. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to seeing such a touching domestic scene.

Dan was gently swaying with their 9-month-old adopted daughter on one hip and one hand supporting her bottle of milk. Leaning against the doorframe, Phil took it all in slowly and happily. Dan’s eyes were surrounded by dark circles and his hair was an absolute rat’s nest, but he still looked at Emma with such adoration in his eyes that Phil found it hard to breathe. Dan had the cutest gentle smile on his face as he gazed into Emma’s eyes and hummed a made-up song.

After a minute or so of Phil watching from the doorway, Dan looked up and saw Phil. The delicate smile grew into a relaxed grin that had Phil’s heart thumping even harder with affection.

“Hi,” Dan giggled.

Emma giggled and gurgled in response to the noise from Dan. Dan turned his head to look back down at Emma with a loving look, then copied her gurgle.

“Aboo da wa? Abba da woo da?” Dan shook his head gently with a bright smile on his face, still staring at Emma.

“You’re so cute,” said Phil. He walked over to Dan and Emma, leaning across Emma’s small body to press a chaste kiss to Dan’s lips.

“Yeah, well, you’re pretty sexy,” Dan teased.

Phil gasped indignantly and covered Emma’s ears. “Dan! Tiny baby ears!” He giggled a smidge too much for Dan to believe the reprimand, though.

“Alright, Grandma.” Dan rolled his eyes. “It’s true though,” Dan said with a wink and a smirk. “You are incredibly-“

Phil slapped a hand over Dan’s mouth before he could finish. “Baby ears!” he insisted sternly, pretending to be offended on Emma’s behalf.

Dan giggled and kissed the palm of Phil’s hand, before reaching up with the hand not supporting Emma to pull it away. He held Phil’s hand, letting their palms dangle between them. “Did you put the coffee on?”

Phil sighed dramatically, sounding exhausted. “No, we ran out. I just came in here to tell you that I would go get more.”

“Ugh, okay,” Dan huffed. “Could you pick up Starbucks on the way back? I don’t want to have to wait for you to come back and then make the coffee and everything. I’m kind of dying.“ Dan turned his face back towards Emma and spoke in a slight baby-talk voice, “ Isn’t that right, Emma? Isn’t that right? And it’s your fault, yes it is!” He booped her nose, which made her giggle.

Phil chuckled. “Of course I’ll get Starbucks. I’ll be back soon.” Phil bent over a bit to look more directly into Emma’s eyes and smiled at her. “Be good for Daddy, okay?” He kissed her forehead and straightened up as she let out the perfect baby-talk screech of joy.

“I love you,” Dan said. He pulled Phil forward and kissed him again, before gently pushing him away. “Now go get me some coffee before I lose my mind.”

Phil laughed and reached his hand out to brush a stray sweaty curl back from Dan’s face. “I’ll be right back.” He left the room and Dan heard the front door close behind him a minute later.

Dan looked down at Emma again. She was holding her own bottle, but wasn’t really drinking from it anymore, so he took it and set it down on the coffee table.

“What shall we do, then, Emma?” Dan took her off his hip, holding her by her underarms, then lifted her above his head and swung her back down to his chest to the sweet melody of hysterical giggles.

Dan grinned. This was his favorite part of being a dad: making his precious little girl laugh. Her big blue eyes and dark puff of hair, combined with the endearing chunky baby fat, made every giggle that much more endearing, and it always gave Dan a rush to realize that she laughed because of him. The joy that idea brought him was unreal.

He set Emma on the ground to move some toys out of the way so they could play on the floor, and she immediately took off towards the tall rotating fan in the corner that Dan had turned on to try to cool off the room. Dan let her slowly waddle in that direction for a moment as he cleared the area, but swept her up before she could grab the fan and get her petite fingers stuck. He brought her back over to the play area he set up and managed to distract her for about a minute before she clambered up and made a break for the fan again.

“No, Emma, we don’t touch that. That’ll hurt your fingers, and we don’t want that,” Dan said as he picked her up again. He leaned in close to her face and smiled, shaking his head and affecting his Ultimate Baby Voice. “We don’t want that, no, we don’t want that!”

Emma giggled and grabbed Dan’s nose, arms and legs flailing somewhat wildly.

Dan laughed. “You are too cute, little miss Emma.”

He brought her back to their play area and handed her a miniature ball, and she was distracted yet again.

It didn’t last long, however, and Dan soon found himself picking her up, setting her down, and chasing after her again repeatedly. By the sixth or seventh time, he was even more exhausted and hot than before and slowly growing more and more irritated. He hadn’t gotten enough sleep in so long, the lack of caffeine was starting to really get to him, and he was so done with Emma’s inability to listen to his instructions. Dan knew it wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t old enough to understand yet, but he felt so helpless when she continued trying to do things that would hurt her.

“Emma, no! Stay over here!” he cried desperately, practically begging his daughter for a moment of peace. She snuck past his arms and he dove after her again. Emma made it to the fan and reached up to touch it, but Dan made it to her just in time. From behind the baby, he bent over, accidentally putting his face directly in front of the rotating fan and managed to pick her up before she could hurt herself. “We are not playing with the fan, Emma. No.”

Something occurred to him this time, though, as his voice echoed back to him when he spoke near the fan. Dan remembered how he and his brother always used to like talking into the fans and hearing how weird their voices sounded because of it. Maybe he could try that with Emma. Of course, he would have to hold her back from the fan so she wouldn’t grab it, but he could totally do that.

Idea now set, Dan turned away from the fan, still holding a squirmy Emma, and grabbed a nearby chair. He moved the chair in front of the fan and sat down with Emma in his lap, arms wrapped securely around her torso.

At least this’ll cool me off a bit for now, even if she’s not entertained, Dan thought with a sigh.

The moving air only sort of helped to push away the heat, however. Mostly, it just pushed warm air directly into Dan’s face.

Dan sighed in irritation at how the fan just changed how the heat reached him rather than actually cooling him off. Hopefully, Emma would be entertained enough to make Dan’s plan worthwhile.

“Okay, Emma, since you’re so intent on this fan, I’m going to show you something.” Dan leaned forward as the fan swung around to face him and Emma, then spoke into it. “Hello, Emma! Doesn’t this sound silly?”

The fan made Dan’s voice slightly tinny, echoing back to him and Emma with undertones in a higher pitch.

Emma giggled softly, but mostly sat entranced by the slight distortion of her dad’s voice.

Dan leaned back a few centimeters as the fan rotated away, then leaned forward again to say “Ahhhhhhhhhh” into it when it spun back around.

Emma giggled again, then reached forward in Dan’s lap to grab the fan.

“No, no, stay back,” Dan gently warned. He wrapped his arms more firmly around her middle and trapped her hands under his forearms, giving her just enough room to wiggle to give her the illusion of freedom while still keeping her from hurting herself on the fan.

Dan leaned and yelled into the fan a few more times before Emma finally began to catch on. Almost.

“Ahhhhhh,” Dan said again. He had lost track of how many times he’d done this now. He leaned back slightly, as usual, to wait for the fan to swing back.

“Ahhhhhh,” said Emma.

Laughing, Dan shook his head. “You’re so close, Emma! The fan turned away, so it won’t make the noises anymore. You have to wait for a time like this,” Dan explained fondly, leaning forward and yelling into the fan again when it was positioned correctly.

As the fan turned away, Emma yelled like Dan but missed the echo again.

“Well, you’ll get there. You’re just so adorable trying, though.” Dan pressed a kiss to the top of her head and continued the game, Emma still failing to yell at the right time.

While they goofed around, Phil returned from the store, but Dan didn’t notice Phil come in. Phil dropped the instant coffee off in the kitchen and made his way to the lounge, where he could hear voices and giggles.

What he saw was truly the sweetest thing he’d ever witnessed.

Dan had a huge grin on his face, as did Emma, and Dan looked like a total dork as he leaned towards the fan and yelled while Emma giggled and missed every time.

Phil immediately took out his phone to film this amazing incident, setting everything he was carrying down onto the floor for a moment. After he caught about a minute of Dan and Emma’s silly game on video, he picked up the goods again and made his presence known.

“You two are too perfect for this world, you know?” he said softly, not wanting to disturb the moment.

Dan’s head snapped around at Phil’s voice, mouth already open around a wide smile to reply, but froze with his mouth hung open when he saw what Phil was carrying.

Phil had brought home not only Starbucks coffee, but also a chocolate bar and a bouquet of red roses for Dan’s hopelessly romantic side.

“I brought a surprise for my extremely adorable and wonderful husband,” Phil said with a grin.

“Oh my god, Phil! That was so cheesy,“ Dan groaned through his grin. His cheeks had turned a soft pink and Dan was sure his heart-eyes were on at Maximum Affection.

“You love it,” Phil replied with an awkward wink.

Dan stood up with Emma, resting her on his hip, and gave Phil a quick peck on the lips. “Of course I do.”

“I love you,” Phil whispered with a smile. He leaned in again, kissing Dan more firmly. He rested their foreheads together and smiled.

“I see Emma is enjoying the fan,” Phil said with a soft chuckle. “I may or may not have filmed some of it because it was too cute not to,” he confessed with a grin.

Dan laughed and pulled back from Phil, shaking his head and looking down at Emma again. She seized his chin and giggled.

“Someday, Emma, you’re going to be horrifically embarrassed by the two of us and all these videos your papa can’t stop taking of you.” Dan booped her gently on the nose.

“Hey! You’ve been taking videos, too! You can’t blame the digital scrapbook entirely on me,” Phil whined. He lightly punched Dan’s free arm, then remembered an interesting fact that made his eyes light up. “And, if I remember correctly, you were the one that started it with that video of when we first met her!” he teased Dan.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Dan conceded, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “Maybe both of your dads are embarrassingly in love with you, Emma.” He leaned down and kissed Emma’s forehead, laughing as she grabbed his nose.

Phil let out a loud laugh, then helped Dan pry her little fingers off his nose.

“I think it’s safe to say that she’s embarrassingly in love with us, too.”

[boreothegoldfinch]

chapter 6 paragraph xviii

Xandra was out cold by the time they all left—asleep so deeply that Boris got a pocket mirror from her purse (which we had rifled, for pills and cash) and held it under her nose to see if she was breathing. There was two hundred and twenty-nine dollars in her wallet, which I didn’t feel all that bad about taking since she still had her credit cards and an uncashed check for two thousand and twenty-five. “I knew Xandra wasn’t her real name,” I said, tossing him her driver’s license: orange-tinged face, different fluffed-up hair, name Sandra Jaye Terrell, no restrictions. “Wonder what these keys go to?” Boris—like an old-fashioned movie doctor, fingers on her pulse, sitting by her on the side of the bed—held the mirror up to the light. “Da, da,” he muttered, then something else I didn’t understand. “Eh?” “She’s out.” With one finger, he prodded her shoulder, and then leaned over and peered into the nightstand drawer where I was rapidly sorting through a bewilderment of junk: change, chips, lip gloss, coasters, false eyelashes, nail polish remover, tattered paperbacks (Your Erroneous Zones), perfume samples, old cassette tapes, ten years’ expired insurance cards, and a bunch of giveaway matchbooks from a Reno legal office that said REPRESENTING DWI AND ALL DRUG OFFENSES. “Hey, let me have those,” said Boris, reaching over and pocketing a strip of condoms. “What’s this?” He picked up something that at first glance looked like a Coke can—but, when he shook it, it rattled. He put his ear to it. “Ha!” he said, tossing it to me. “Good job.” I screwed off the top—it was obviously fake—and dumped the contents out on the top of the nightstand. “Wow,” I said, after a few moments. Clearly this was where Xandra kept her tip money—partly cash, partly chips. There was a lot of other stuff, too— so much I had a hard time taking it all in—but my eyes had gone straight to the diamond-and-emerald earrings that my mother had found missing, right before my father took off. “Wow,” I said again, picking one of them up between thumb and forefinger. My mother had worn these earrings for almost every cocktail party or dress-up occasion—the blue-green transparency of the stones, their wicked three a.m. gleam, were as much a part of her as the color of her eyes or the spicy dark smell of her hair. Boris was cackling. Amidst the cash he’d immediately spotted, and snatched up, a film canister, which he opened with trembling hands. He dipped the end of his little finger in, tasted it. “Bingo,” he said, running the finger along his gums. “Kotku’s going to be pissed she didn’t come over now.” I held out the earrings to him on my open hands. “Yah, nice,” he said, hardly looking at them. He was tapping out a pile of powder on the nightstand. “You’ll get a couple of thousand dollars for those.” “These were my mother’s.” My dad had sold most of her jewelry back in New York, including her wedding ring. But now—I saw—Xandra had skimmed some of it for herself, and it made me weirdly sad to see what she’d chosen—not the pearls or the ruby brooch, but inexpensive things from my mother’s teenage days, including her junior-high charm bracelet, ajingle with horseshoes and ballet slippers and four leaf clovers.

Boris straightened up, pinched his nostrils, handed me the rolled-up bill. “You want some?” “No.” “Come on. It’ll make you feel better.” “No, thanks.” “There must be four or five eight balls here. Maybe more! We can keep one and sell the others.” “You did that stuff before?” I said doubtfully, eyeing Xandra’s prone body. Even though she was clearly down for the count, I didn’t like having these conversations over her back. “Yah. Kotku likes it. Expensive, though.” He seemed to blank out for a minute, then blinked his eyes rapidly. “Wow. Come on,” he said, laughing. “Here. Don’t know what you’re missing.” “I’m too fucked-up as it is,” I said, shuffling through the money. “Yah, but this will sober you up.” “Boris, I can’t goof around,” I said, pocketing the earrings and the charm bracelet. “If we’re going, we need to leave now. Before people start showing up.” “What people?” said Boris skeptically, running his finger back and forth under his nose. “Believe me, it happens fast. Child services coming in, and like that.” I’d counted the cash—thirteen hundred and twenty-one dollars, plus change; there was much more in chips, close to five thousand dollars’ worth, but might as well leave her those. “Half for you and half for me,” I said, as I began to count the cash into two even piles. “There’s enough here for two tickets. Probably we’re too late to catch the last flight but we should go ahead and take a car to the airport.” “Now? Tonight?” I stopped counting and looked at him. “I don’t have anyone out here. Nobody. Nada. They’ll stick me in a home so fast I won’t know what hit me.” Boris nodded at Xandra’s body—which was very unnerving, as in her face-down mattress splay she looked way too much like a dead person. “What about her?” “What the fuck?” I said after a brief pause. “What should we do? Wait around until she wakes up and finds out we ripped her off?” “Dunno,” said Boris, eyeing her doubtfully. “I just feel bad for her.” “Well, don’t. She doesn’t want me. She’ll call them herself as soon as she realizes she’s stuck with me.” “Them? I don’t understand who is this them.” “Boris, I’m a minor.” I could feel my panic rising in an all-too-familiar way—maybe the situation wasn’t literally life or death but it sure felt like it, house filling with smoke, exits closing off. “I don’t know how it works in your country but I don’t have any family, no friends out here—” “Me! You have me!” “What are you going to do? Adopt me?” I stood up. “Look, if you’re coming, we need to hurry. Do you have your passport? You’ll need it for the plane.” Boris put his hands up in his Russianate enough already gesture. “Wait! This is happening way too fast.” I stopped, halfway out the door. “What the fuck is your problem, Boris?” “My problem?” “You wanted to run away! It was you who asked me to go with you! Last night.” “Where are you going? New York?” “Where else?” “I want to go someplace warm,” he said instantly. “California.” “That’s crazy. Who do we know—” “California!” he crowed. “Well—” Though I knew almost nothing about California, it was safe to assume that (apart from the bar of “California Über Alles” he was humming) Boris knew even less. “Where in California? What town?” “Who cares?” “It’s a big state.” “Fantastic! It’ll be fun. We’ll stay high all the time—read books—build camp fires. Sleep on the beach.” I looked at him for a long unbearable moment. His face was on fire and his mouth was stained blackish from the red wine. “All right,” I said—knowing full well I was stepping off the edge and into the major mistake of my life, petty theft, the change cup, sidewalk nods and homelessness, the fuck-up from which I would never recover. He was gleeful. “The beach, then? Yes?”

This was how you went wrong: this fast. “Wherever you want,” I said, pushing the hair out of my eyes. I was dead exhausted. “But we need to go now. Please.” “What, this minute?” “Yes. Do you need to go home and get anything?” “Tonight?” “I’m not kidding, Boris.” Arguing with him was making the panic rise again. “I can’t just sit around and wait—” The painting was a problem, I wasn’t sure how that was going to work, but once I got Boris out of the house I could figure something out. “Please, come on.” “Is State Care that bad in America?” said Boris doubtfully. “You make it seem like the cops.” “Are you coming with me? Yes or no?” “I need some time. I mean,” he said, following after me, “we can’t leave now! Really—I swear. Wait a little while. Give me a day! One day!” “Why?” He seemed nonplussed. “Well, I mean, because—” “Because—?” “Because—because I have to see Kotku! And—all kinds of things! Honest, you can’t leave tonight,” he repeated, when I said nothing. “Trust me. You’ll be sorry, I mean it. Come to my house! Wait till the morning to go!” “I can’t wait,” I said curtly, taking my half of the cash and heading back to my room. “Potter—” he followed after me. “Yes?” “There is something important I have to tell you.” “Boris,” I said, turning, “what the mother fuck. What is it?” I said, as we stood and stared at each other. “If you have something to say, go on and say it.” “Am afraid it will make you mad.” “What is it? What have you done?” Boris was silent, gnawing the side of his thumb. “Well, what?” He looked away. “You need to stay,” he said vaguely. “You’re making a mistake.” “Forget it,” I snapped, turning away again. “If you don’t want to come with me, don’t come, okay? But I can’t stand around here all night.” Boris—I thought—might ask what was in the pillowcase, particularly since it was so fat and weirdly shaped after my over-enthusiastic wrapping job. But when I un-taped it from the back of the headboard and put it in my overnight bag (along with my iPod, notebook, charger, Wind, Sand and Stars, some pictures of my mom, my toothbrush, and a change of clothes) he only scowled and said nothing. When I retrieved, from the back of my closet, my school blazer (too small for me, though it had been too big when my mother bought it) he nodded and said: “Good idea, that.” “What?” “Makes you look less homeless.” “It’s November,” I said. I’d only brought one warm sweater from New York; I put it in the bag and zipped it up. “It’s going to be cold.”

Boris leaned insolently against the wall. “What will you do, then? Live on the street, railway station, where?” “I’ll call my friend I stayed with before.” “If they wanted you, those people, they’d have adopted you already.” “They couldn’t! How could they?” Boris folded his arms. “They didn’t want you, that family. You told me so yourself—lots of times. Also, you never hear from them.” “That’s not true,” I said, after a brief, confused pause. Only a few months before, Andy had sent me a long-ish (for him) email telling me about some stuff going on at school, a scandal with the tennis coach feeling up girls in our class, though that life was so far away that it was like reading about people I didn’t know “Too many children?” said Boris, a bit smugly as it seemed. “Not enough room? Remember that bit? You said the mother and father were glad to see you go.” “Fuck off.” I was already getting a huge headache. What would I do if Social Services showed up and put me in the back of a car? Who—in Nevada —could I call? Mrs. Spear? The Playa? The fat model-store clerk who sold us model glue without the models? Boris followed me downstairs, where we were stopped in the middle of the living room by a tortured-looking Popper—who ran directly into our path, then sat and stared at us like he knew exactly what was going on. “Oh, fuck,” I said, putting down my bag. There was a silence. “Boris,” I said, “can’t you—” “No.” “Can’t Kotku—” “No.” “Well, fuck it,” I said, picking him up and tucking him under my arm. “I’m not leaving him here for her to lock up and starve.” “And where are you going?” said Boris, as I started for the front door. “Eh?” “Walking? To the airport?” “Wait,” I said, putting Popchik down. All at once I felt sick and like I might vomit red wine all over the carpet. “Will they take a dog on the plane?” “No,” said Boris ruthlessly, spitting out a chewed thumbnail. He was being an asshole; I wanted to punch him. “Okay then,” I said. “Maybe somebody at the airport will want him. Or, fuck it, I’ll take the train.” He was about to say something sarcastic, lips pursed in a way I knew well, but then—quite suddenly—his expression faltered; and I turned to see Xandra, wild-eyed, mascara-smeared, swaying on the landing at the top of the stairs.

We looked at her, frozen. After what seemed like a centuries-long pause, she opened her mouth, closed it again, caught the railing to balance herself, and then said, in a rusty voice: “Did Larry leave his keys in the bank vault?” We gazed horrified for several more moments before we realized she was waiting for a reply. Her hair was like a haystack; she appeared completely disoriented and so unsteady it seemed she might topple down the steps. “Er, yes,” said Boris loudly. “I mean no.” And then, when she still stood there: “It’s all right. Go back to bed.” She mumbled something and—uncertain on her feet—staggered off. The two of us stood motionless for some moments. Then—quietly, the back of my neck prickling—I got my bag and slipped out the front door (my last sight of that house, and her, though I didn’t even take a last look round) and Boris and Popchik came out after me. Together, all three of us walked rapidly away from the house and down to the end of the street, Popchik’s toenails clicking on the pavement. “All right,” said Boris, in the humorous undertone he used when we had a close call at the supermarket. “Okay. Maybe not quite so much out-cold as I thought.” I was in a cold sweat, and the night air—though chilly—felt good. Off in the west, silent Frankenstein flashes of lightning twisted in the darkness. “Well, at least she’s not dead, eh?” He chuckled. “I was worried about her. Christ.” “Let me use your phone,” I said, elbowing on my jacket. “I need to call a car.” He fished in his pocket, and handed it to me. It was a disposable phone, the one he’d bought to keep tabs on Kotku. “No, keep it,” he said, holding his hands up when I tried to give it back to him after I’d made my call: Lucky Cab, 777-7777, the number plastered on every shifty-looking bus-stop bench in Vegas. Then he dug out the wad of money—his half of the take from Xandra—and tried to press it on me. “Forget it,” I said, glancing back anxiously at the house. I was afraid she might wake up again and come out in the street looking for us. “It’s yours.” “No! You might need it!” “I don’t want it,” I said, sticking my hands in my pockets to keep him from foisting it on me. “Anyway, you might need it yourself.” “Come on, Potter! I wish you wouldn’t go this moment.” He gestured down the street, at the rows of empty houses. “If you won’t come to my house —kip over there for a day or two! That brick house has furniture in it, even. I’ll bring you food if you want.” “Or, hey, I can call Domino’s,” I said, sticking the phone in my jacket pocket. “Since they deliver out here now and everything.” He winced. “Don’t be angry.” “I’m not.” And, in truth, I wasn’t—only so disoriented I felt I might wake up and find I’d been sleeping with a book over my face. Boris, I realized, was looking up at the sky and humming to himself, a line from one of my mother’s Velvet Underground songs: But if you close the door… the night could last forever… “What about you?” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Eh?” he said, looking at me with a smile. “What’s up? Will I see you again?” “Maybe,” he said, in the same cheerful tone I imagined him using with Bami and Judy the barkeep’s wife in Karmeywallag and everyone else in his life he’d ever said goodbye to. “Who knows?” “Will you meet me in a day or two?” “Well—” “Join me later. Take a plane—you have the money. I’ll call you and tell you where I am. Don’t say no.” “Okay then,” said Boris, in the same cheerful voice. “I won’t say no.” But clearly, from his tone, he was saying no. I closed my eyes. “Oh God.” I was so tired I was reeling; I had to fight the urge to lie down on the ground, a physical undertow pulling me to the curb. When I opened my eyes, I saw Boris looking at me with concern. “Look at you,” he said. “Falling over, almost.” He reached in his pocket. “No, no, no,” I said, stepping back, when I saw what he had in his hand. “No way. Forget it.” “It’ll make you feel better!” “That’s what you said about the other stuff.” I wasn’t up for any more seaweed or singing stars. “Really, I don’t want any.”

“But this is different. Completely different. It will sober you up. Clear your head—promise.” “Right.” A drug that sobered you up and cleared your head didn’t sound like Boris’s style at all, although he did seem a good bit more with-it than me. “Look at me,” he said reasonably. “Yes.” He knew he had me. “Am I raving? Frothing at mouth? No—only being helpful! Here,” he said, tapping some out on the back of his hand, “come on. Let me feed it to you.” I half expected it was a trick—that I would pass out on the spot and wake up who knew where, maybe in one of the empty houses across the street. But I was too tired to care, and maybe that would have been okay anyway. I leaned forward and allowed him to press one nostril closed with a fingertip. “There!” he said encouragingly. “Like this. Now, sniff.” Almost instantly, I did feel better. It was like a miracle. “Wow,” I said, pinching my nose against the sharp, pleasant sting. “Didn’t I tell you?” He was already tapping out some more. “Here, other nose. Don’t breathe out. Okay, now.” Everything seemed brighter and clearer, including Boris himself. “What did I tell you?” He was taking more for himself now. “Aren’t you sorry you don’t listen?” “You’re going to sell this stuff, god,” I said, looking up at the sky. “Why?” “It’s worth a lot, actually. Few thousand of dollars.” “That little bit?” “Not that little! This is a lot of grams—twenty, maybe more. Could make a fortune if I divide up small and sell to girls like K. T. Bearman.” “You know K. T. Bearman?” Katie Bearman, who was a year ahead of us, had her own car—a black convertible—and was so far removed from our social scale she might as well have been a movie star. “Sure. Skye, KT, Jessica, all those girls. Anyway—” he offered me the vial again—“I can buy Kotku that keyboard she wants now. No more money worries.” We went back and forth a few times until I began to feel much more optimistic about the future and things in general. And as we stood rubbing our noses and jabbering in the street, Popper looking up at us curiously, the wonderfulness of New York seemed right on the tip of my tongue, an evanescence possible to convey. “I mean, it’s great,” I said. The words were spiraling and tumbling out of me. “Really, you have to come. We can go to Brighton Beach—that’s where all the Russians hang out. Well, I’ve never been there. But the train goes there—it’s the last stop on the line. There’s a big Russian community, restaurants with smoked fish and sturgeon roe. My mother and I always talked about going out there to eat one day, this jeweler she worked with told her the good places to go, but we never did. It’s supposed to be great. Also, I mean—I have money for school—you can go to my school. No—you totally can. I have a scholarship. Well, I did. But the guy said as long as the money in my fund was used for education—it could be anybody’s education. Not just mine. There’s more than enough for both of us. Though, I mean, public school, the public schools are good in New York, I know people there, public school’s fine with me.” I was still babbling when Boris said: “Potter.” Before I could answer him he put both hands on my face and kissed me on the mouth. And while I stood blinking—it was over almost before I knew what had happened—he picked up Popper under the forelegs and kissed him too, in midair, smack on the tip of his nose. Then he handed him to me. “Your car’s over there,” he said, giving him one last ruffle on the head. And—sure enough—when I turned, a town car was creeping up the other side of the street, surveying the addresses. We stood looking at each other—me breathing hard, completely stunned. “Good luck,” said Boris. “I won’t forget you.” Then he patted Popper on the head. “Bye, Popchyk. Look after him, will you?” he said to me.

Later—in the cab, and afterward—I would replay that moment, and marvel that I’d waved and walked away quite so casually. Why hadn’t I grabbed his arm and begged him one last time to get in the car, come on, fuck it Boris, just like skipping school, we’ll be eating breakfast over cornfields when the sun comes up? I knew him well enough to know that if you asked him the right way, at the right moment, he would do almost anything; and in the very act of turning away I knew he would have run after me and hopped in the car laughing if I’d asked one last time. But I didn’t. And, in truth, it was maybe better that I didn’t—I say that now, though it was something I regretted bitterly for a while. More than anything I was relieved that in my unfamiliar babbling-and-wanting-to-talk state I’d stopped myself from blurting the thing on the edge of my tongue, the thing I’d never said, even though it was something we both knew well enough without me saying it out loud to him in the street—which was, of course, I love you.

[peridothoe]

March Mayhem One-shots ~

I. Love. This. One. For. Today. 😊 because it’s one of my favorite ships that @bwayalexander recommended!!!!!

Also, i am not that good at French since I studied Spanish sooooo if I did something wrong then please tell me I hate when I mess things up!

Enjoy this Laflams!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Babe wake up!’ Laf heard but didn’t respond as he turned over letting out a groan “Come on birthday boy we have a big day ahead of us. Don’t make me get re-enforcement.” John tsked giving the younger man one last chance. He sighed when he got no response.

“Alex! It’s time!” he yelled towards the door before stepping to the side. Laf didn’t even have time to think of what was going on, footsteps coming faster and faster until he felt a heavy weight on top of him. “Ow, what the hell?” “Wake up loser, it’s your birthday!” “If you could get off of me I would.” He murmured into the pillow. Alex looked back at John grinning before climbing off of the sleepy man.

“Ok, I’m up.” He sighed a small smile on his face. The two boys took a dramatic breath before singing a horrible cover of ‘Happy Birthday’ and pushing a small gift towards him. “Aw guys, you shouldn’t have!”  Laf gushed tearing away the tissue paper and pulled out an apple watch “Wha- You really didn’t have to get me this!”

“We know that you said you didn’t want anything, but we couldn’t resist.” John beamed sitting next to laf on the bed “Well thank you both for this lovely gift.” Laf said giving both of them a kiss on the cheek “And, we have one more present for you.” “Oh, that is unnecessary!”  He tried to argue but the two boys shook their head.

“No laf this will be great! Besides, you only turn 25 once.” “Yeah so stop being coy and get dress!” “Okay, okay!”

•••••••••••••••••••••••

“Where are we going?” “See, if I tell you then it would ruin the surprise. “Lafayette groaned but still let him be dragged down the street by the boyfriends “You can’t see through that right?” John asked waving his hand in front of the blind man “No.” “Good.”

“Can I at least get a hint?” “It’s a place.” “That’s it? I only get that?” “Yes, now stop asking questions and enjoy this journey!” Alex said while John snickered in the background “I hate you both.” He mumbled but said nothing the rest of the way. He tried to analyze where the destination by listening to the world around it but all he got was the sound of traffic and the two boys talking in front of him

‘This is going to be a long day.”

They finally stopped making Laf shake in excitement. By now he was beyond thrilled to figure out where they took him “Ok, you ready?” “Yes! Show me already!” crowed Laf bouncing on his toes drawing a laugh from the others. He felt one of them step behind him and start to untie the back of the blindfold. Once it was off, the boy blinked a couple of moments getting use to the sunlight and looked at the sign in front of him.

“Ta-da!” John squeaked doing jazz hands in front of the building “Animal shelter? I-I don’t understand.” “Oh my god laf we’re getting you a dog!” Alex said rolling his eyes at his big goof “What? A dog?” Laf whispered looking at John to see him nodding his head enthusiastically before turning back to Alex so quick, you would have gotten whiplash “Ne joue pas avecmoi en ce moment.” He threatened “I’m not! We really are getting a dog.”

A high pitch squeal came from Lafayette ‘s throat as he ran over and hugged his boys “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he cried before setting them down and running inside

•••••••••••••••••••••••

“You sure this is a promising idea?” “Yes! Just look at him,” John stated pointing at the man walking around the kennel looking like a kid in a candy store. “You know he has always wanted one.” “Yes, but I don’t like dogs that much,” Alex grumbled but gazed at Laf with soft eyes. As much as he didn’t like dogs, he couldn’t deny that Lafayette looked so cute gushing over the variety of dogs.  

It didn’t take long before the boys heard a gasp and the sound footsteps coming towards them “I found the one!” Laf approved pulling them both to the pin that held the dog. It was a Jack Russel terrier mixed with a chihuahua or as some people call them a “jackua.” It was tri-colored with brown, white and black. She only had one eye and seemed to be blind I that one.

“That one? You’re positive?” “Yes! She is perfect!” Laf jumped up and down. He could barely contain himself “Ok. I’ll go get the worker.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••

The park was a lovely place to hang out with their new buddy. She laid her body in Laf ’s lap enjoying the attention she was getting. It was almost like she couldn’t get enough “What are you going to name her?” John asked patting her head. Loving the way she pushed herself into his hand. He could already tell that he was going to love this dog. “I don’t know yet,” he hummed scratching her back.

“How about Sophie?” “No,” “Lexie?”  “Nuh-uh.” They paused for a moment thinking of more names “What about Millie?” Alex commented not looking up from his magazine “Yeah, yeah I like that.” Lafayette smiled looking down at his little baby. She looked up and laid her head on her stomach. Her eyes never looking away. His heart couldn’t handle all this cuteness “Little Millie.” He whispered before looking back up at his boys.

“Thank you, guys. I really appreciate all of this even though some of us,” he paused and looked at Alex who had a tiny blush “Do not care for dogs, you looked past that and got me what I have been wanting since I have moved here, and I could never repay you all.” “Well you could,” “Alex, “John warned but still had a smile on his face

“No problem baby. It was the least we could do. Happy birthday.” He beamed and leaned in planting a kiss on his lips with Alex following suit. The rest of the day went by very well. They went back home to find everything they needed for a dog. Laf shook his head but didn’t say anything. Just appreciating all the gifts his wonderful men have gotten him.

He spent the rest of the day taking selfies with Millie and the boys posting them all on Instagram. You could say that this was his best birthday yet.

[rileyomalley]

Rootin’, Tootin’, and a Cowboy Goofin’

From a silly headcanon came a one shot. Not my best but I hope ya’ll enjoy!

Pairing: McCree/Non-Binary Reader

Word Count: 1543

Rating: SFW, Fluff, goofing all around

With a click the door swung open, the rumbling sound of the storming rain to follow as you stepped in your small home soaking wet. Your only saving grace was the large coat that kept you dry, despite your feet feeling soaked. Kicking off your boots, shrugging your coat, you made way to the kitchen to get a few things before settling down in the living room.

You didn't want to move. After the past couple days (especially today) you wanted nothing to do with the outside world. When you weren't running off on missions, you had side jobs to take care of for part time work, which was perfectly fine by you. You'd slept in a little longer than needed, transportation was against you, the weather ESPECIALLY seemed rampant against you, and above all else- you felt like the work was only piling up no matter how much you got done.

Were you just going to give it all up? Was it really the sort of thing for you? These questions always riddled your mind when life was getting heavy, but further contemplation seemed to set in. You couldn't shake it and you felt like it was finally getting to you. That you were going to break and feel you weren't right for Overwatch. Perhaps you just spread yourself too thin throughout everything you did. Whatever it was made it difficult not to feel the tears well up in your eyes, stuffing some ice cream in your face as you zoned out on the TV. Moments later a figure moved through your periphery, and though you didn't look up you knew it was your boyfriend. Either he'd been back to the apartment before you, or he just stepped in.

"Hey there, pumpkin. How was your da-" Cutting his question short when his eyes flit up to look at you, seeing how tightly curled and utterly exhausted his partner looked. He moved into the room keeping an eye on you before speaking once more. "Something wrong hun?"

You almost hadn't registered that McCree was talking to you until those few words brought you back to reality. Everything felt like noise to you at this moment. Rubbing at your eyes you glanced up at him, smiling weakly in an attempt to deter any concern.

"It's nothing I just...I've had a really long day...days, I don't know anymore." A quick ruffle of your hair followed by a groan, you stared down at your ice cream in defeat. You wanted to stuff this entire container in your face, but no matter how much defeat you felt, you knew that gaining a brain freeze would be the last straw.

You were tempted.

McCree on the other hand held a concerned expression, hands resting on his hips in thought. Usually when you weren't feeling all that great he'd take to settling in for the night with you, forgetting what they day had brought and look forward to the next day. But as of late though he may not have said much, he could tell how much it had been weighing you down. The nights you weren't in bed and desperately trying to focus on your various jobs. Designing, paperwork, scheduling, hearing the faint whines you made and hoped to stifle so you didn't wake him up.

It was a pained noise he was all too familiar with. He admired your determination, but at the same time he worried over your well being. He shifted his weight from side to side.

"Well, how 'bout I get myself settled and we'll watch a movie together hm? I'll get some extra blankets so we can be allll cozy." He gave you a smile, to which you tried to return and gave a nod.

McCree was the sweetest damn man you were fortunate to know, and even more so to love. His personality at first was something that threw you for a loop, and at times his flirtatious nature left your eyes rolling. But...he was fun. He was lively, but most of all he expressed it all from the heart, even in his most stubborn moments. You loved every bit of that man. 

Assumedly your boyfriend was off getting blankets to which you went back to zoning out on the TV, but found your attention was being pulled away by the sound of...jingling? Where was it coming from, and more importantly...what was McCree getting into?

Your questions would be answered in no time flat. Foot step by footstep, leg by leg and a swagger that would make a drunken man jealous out came Jesse McCree, dressed in a casual t-shirt, cactus pattern  pajama pants with a belt haphazardly tightened around it leaving the top to hang on him like some goddamn clown. He went as far as wearing his boots with this ridiculous look, toting in his hands NERF guns designed to look like his own. Your eyes could not be squinting harder at this man.

"Jesse...are those my gu-

"Reach for the skyyyyyy..." He says in a quick flurry, having spun those guns and pointing them straight at you. You huffed a soft laugh, your face straining hard in trying to comprehend all this.

"Hun are you seriously wearing those joke pajama pants I got you last year?" You managed to ask, granted it was hard to get the words out with the noises you were making watching as he moved closer to you. Still pointing those guns. Still slouching in the weirdest fucking way ever.

"Now now, we ain't here to discuss attire, sugar. This cowboy has come for a very, very nasty bugger who's been causing a lot of ruckus these past few days." He gave a curt nod, looking to you with a raised brow and motioning for your hands to rise. As silly as it was, you obliged raising them above your head. "Okay cowboy, what trouble has this person caused then? Surely you don't mean me."

McCree chuckled, spinning one gun after the other before returning to their position. "Not at all. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this bothersome sort has been plaguing you with the blues. We can't have that now." You bit your lip in an attempt to stifle your laughter, lowering your arms a bit. Jesus he was the biggest dork ever, it was very, very difficult not to snicker with how he danced about even with how 'serious' he was in playing the part. "What exactly...are you gonna do, oh savior of mine?" Might as well play along. Better than being distracted by all that was stressing you out as of late.

He stood tall, showing off as much flare as he could with those guns before placing them in the holsters, then slowly crouching to meet your eyes. That classic quirky grin of his, a tilt of his head and reaching up to gently take your chin in his hand.

"I'm gonna give 'em a warning. I'm nice enough to do that. But I want them to know this- they keep telling you ya can't do what you're up to, well that’s not their decision. That's your own. They outta be shuttin' their mouth whether or not you can take a lot on, or when you need a break. And honey...it's about time you needed a break."

You chuckled softly, reaching up to brush your fingers over his own. His smile grew warmer, his dark eyes staring back into yours with that all familiar love you both had for each other.

"I don't want anything to overwork you. You're stubborn, and I love ya for it. But no matter what - don't forget to do for yourself. If I could I'd drag you away from it all to make sure you did."

Gently you nuzzled his hand, closing your eyes for a moment. He was silly as an be, but once again proved how deeply he affected you. He grounded you as much as you would do for him. Perhaps you were taking on too much than you were truly able. A time for re-evaluation was definitely in order - perhaps planning for a vacation as well.

"Oh ah...just one more thing..." He placed a kiss to your forehead before standing up again, fiddling a bit with one of the NERF guns. "If that bugger ever comes around again, I won't let 'im off so easily."

You laughed softly, ready to reach out to pull him back down when you suddenly felt a -PLUNK- to your forehead. Eyes widened, looking up to the dart that stuck so prominently on your forehead like a unicorn horn, the goddamn man snickered like a mischievous child tossing the gun near you before darting off.

THAT MOTHERFUCKER.

As though you weren't in a slump at all, with a newfound vigor you dashed after him screaming in fake rage, shooting after him back and forth throughout your apartment. It turned into an all out showdown, from shouts to laughter to shooting an eye...and McCree accidentally kicking his own ass with a spur. Still though, it made the heavy weight of the day almost nonexistent. You loved him and his spur poked butt for it.

[asntmc5recap]

EPISODE 6: The Girl Who Has a Dirty Little Secret

Two things that ruin America’s Next Top Model: social media frenzy and too much focus given on drama.

THE FAREWELL

After the elimination, Shikin questioned the judges’ decision to give Maureen the FCO, making her the new face of Maybelline, saying Valerie’s photo was more expensive. I guess because saying her photo was better would be a little too vain?

I get why Shikin was frustrated. Last week, she got the highest challenge score, and her photoshoot was fucking flawless (she didn’t get BOTH the challenge prize or the best photo reward). But hey, like I said, in the end, Maybelline is the one who has a say in who would be picked as the winner, considering that she’ll be featured in their campaign, and they picked the prettiest one. So don’t be afraid to say it Shikin. “Don’t cha think mah pic is da best?? Dat Maureen bitch is just lucky she’s so pwetty and shaaaiitteee...”

Shikin’s disgruntlement continued after that when she saw Alicia wrote that she’s rooting for Maureen in her farewell note. (So nobody’s shipping Alicia and Maureen?) I really hope this won’t get pushed as another feud/catfight because dang I’m tired of it.

THE CHALLENGE

Another social media challenge, JESUS. I enjoy last week’s challenge. It was fun. And I guess this too, didn’t stray too far from modelling, BUT HOLY SHIT if I ever hear social media again, Imma lose my shit, y’all. I mean, whatever happened to fun challenges like, um, doing yoga on a surf board? Or KPop dance?

Fiona Fussi, Acuvue (contact lense) ambassador gave them the brief for this week’s challenge - Acuvue Uniquely Me social media challenge.

Acuvue released a line of products that cater to every type of girl - and by every, they mean only five - and using Polaroid camera, the girls need to style themselves and submit three of their best photos that embody the type of woman they were assigned to. The five different personality style are: cosmopolitan woman (Maureen and Tu), the girl next door (Cindy and Veronika), the artist (Shikin and Dorothy), the career women (Clara and Valerie) and the socialite (Nametha).

Using the Polaroid camera proved to be a challenge for some of the girls, especially those who have never used it before. There was a bit of a tension going on since they were only given ten shots to get the best photos. Shikin and the twins struggle a little bit with their groupmate taking shaite photos of them.

But one group’s “conflict” strikes me the most:

So, Clara got a lot of hate for the shenanigans that she pulled during last week’s challenge, but how is what Tu did any different from Clara? Okay, granted, Tu showed a higher level of maturity (she’s much older anyway) and Clara’s much louder, but when Tu called Maureen’s photography skill a “fail” and claimed that this is why she “can only be a model,” it is portrayed as two ladies affectionately joking around with each other (despite Tu looking genuinely dissatisfied by the final products), while Clara, who’s clearly looking like she’s goofing around, is portrayed as this annoying loudmouth beeyotch who everyone loves to hate.

I’m not saying that we should hate Tu, but I’d say the same about Clara too. Last week, the tension was built up from Maureen taking too long with the makeup so I understand how she reacted differently with Clara playfully calling her stupid for not getting the right photo than with Tu saying that her photos are bad (Maureen takes bad photo, we get it). However, I think it’s unfair Clara got portrayed as the “bad” one simply because Maureen reacted better to Tu’s (seemed legit) criticisms than Clara’s playful (yet clueless) remarks because she got to work in a calmer environment.

Anyway, Dorothy won the challenge because she embodies her personality - the artist - by biting a brush(?) and looking super indie-artist-chick-like. Not too crazy about the third photo.

Mau’s my favourite, I’ve got to say. The first photo was beautiful, and she’s really giving me this cosmopolitan girl on-the-go vibe. Tu’s discontentment was totally justified. Lol.

And special mention goes to Veronika, or more accurately, Cindy, who took these photos. The first photo looks AMAZING. To capture a movement like that with a polaroid must have taken some mad skills and perfect timing. (Or luck. I think it’s luck.)

Valerie got the worst score and she seemed super stressed-out working with Clara. But look at these photos. Are they really a product of bad photography? She was giving the same poses and the same face angle in all three pictures. Her styling was bad too, and it was one of the main criteria for a high score.

And special mention goes to Cindy, the “Missing Girl: Last seen wearing a blue top and following a creepy-looking dude with a polaroid camera. This is the last picture we have of her. If you have any information, please call this number. Rewards will be given.”

Tu CONSISTENTLY gets low scores for her challenge. WHY??

THE DRAMA

NOW we’re getting to the good part, huh? NOT. 

It all started with Veronika moving back to the “good girls” room with some dirty dish on Nametha. After the challenge, the twins questioned Dorothy’s win, because they can’t even see her eyes. Shikin then asked them who they think should’ve win instead and they said they don’t know because they’re not the judge (dafuq?), prompting Nametha to question their logic (and calling them stupid bitches - on another cam, of course). Then, when they got back to their room, they started talking about how Nametha has no manners and decided to confront her in the “bad girls” bedroom. Nametha, being a BADASS BAWS, just told them to get the fuck over it (more or less).

This went on until after the photoshoot, where they revealed they know Nametha’s been using the wifi and she should get punished for breaking the rules. YADDA YADDA YADDA Clara got exiled to the “bad girls” room for not picking a side (because we good girls just don’t befriend everyone, ew!).

The only two people whom I feel sorry for are: Clara, whose cluelessness seems genuine, and Cindy, who really looks like she thought being in a house with 13 other girls for 13 weeks will be like a giant, super-long slumber party. 

“Why don’t they just settle this with a pillow fight?” thought Cindy.

Anyway, the “drama” was bad - super forced, poorly thought out & terribly edited. Some of the girls’ reactions didn’t even match the conversation/situation somehow. I do find Valerie’s remarks on Dorothy’s photo - “It could’ve been better.” - kinda rude and condescending BUT I get that the bigger problems here lie mostly in the language barrier. And I might add the twin seemed to be pulling the same shit Jennica was doing in the earlier episodes, with the constant criticisms and dissatisfaction over other contestants’ performance, and the way they told Clara to move into the “bad girls” room was very Queen Bee-ish.

In my honest opinion, though, this is the same shit the producers tried to pull last week - create drama out of small fights or disagreement. I don’t know any of these girls in real life, but from what I see, their clashes come mostly from the girls having different personalities. Shikin wasn’t being a bossy bitch, she was assertive and know what she wanted; Clara wasn’t being rude, she was super childish and goofy; Nametha didn’t have no manners, she’s just outspoken and emotionally expressive. Yet, week after week, they make it seems like these girls are ready to claw each other’s eye out. I mean, when your audience keep calling your show out for being scripted, maybe you’ve to consider the probability that you’ve gone too far with the drama.

THE PHOTOSHOOT

Oh, have I told you guys how much I was rooting fro Aimee during the third cycle? She has everything needed to become a top model - brain, beauty, personality, height, and a little bit of an attitude for added flavour. Glad to see she’s doing so well now.

For their photoshoot, they need to embody luxurious indulgence for a Neutrogena commercial ad. They need to show beauty, confidence, sophistication and elegance while being totally relaxed and calm in a confined space of a bathtub.

The girls need to represent three types (flavour?) of Neutrogena body wash. The girls wearing green represent Pear & Green Tea.

Gold Lush for the girls wearing, well, gold.

And Ocean Mist being represented by the girls in blue.

I have MULTIPLE issues with this shoot. When you put a tall girl in a bathtub, wearing a dress, with her having to lift her head while her body is submerged in the water, and combined that with the position of the camera, you are NOT gonna get a good picture. Yu Tsai at least should’ve known this. The dress would’ve given an ethereal, dramatic effect had it been a full-underwater photoshoot, but here, it just made the girls look either restricted, or bigger.

And I wonder if they changed the water because it got really murky at the end. It’s disgusting considering how the water got into their eyes and mouth. (And Cindy, in her Instagram post, said that Clara was submerged for twenty minutes in it due to technical difficulties!)

THE PHOTOS

Like I said earlier, the final products of this photoshoot are not my favourites. I can probably point to some that I like, but even then I think it was just OKAY. But enough about that, LET’S ASSESS (and rank’em).

1) Cindy, 1st place, 44.1 points

I’m torn between this and Maureen’s, but I have to agree with the judges here. This just screams indulgence. Plus, beauty care product is Cindy’s thing. Among the other girls, I can see her being Neutrogena spokesperson the most.

2) Maureen, 3rd place, 43.4 points

Again, she’s a girl who can nail beauty care product with ease. It’s a pretty photo, but not much opinion can be form on it. It’s pretty, but it’s an okay pretty.

3) Nametha, 2nd place, 43.7 points

Now we’re venturing into me-no-likey territory. While I can see the beauty and calmness in this photo, it also shows the main problem in this photoshoot. Nametha’s tall, and being confined in that bathtub means she mostly had to squish herself to get in the frame. And in this photo we can see how that, combined with her dress, make her mid-section looks super huge. You either make the pool larger, or the dress, uh, smaller?

4) Tu, 7th place, 36.5 points

Cindy complained about how her photos are mostly too sexy. But you put a girl who just oozes sexuality without even trying in a lace dress in a bathtub and what do you think is gonna happen? She ain’t gonna turn into Mother Theresa in there, boo.

5) Shikin, 4th place, 43.0 points

I won’t say she’s not a commercial girl (she killed it last week) but I’d say she’s not a Neutrogena girl (same with Tuti last cycle). But that being said this could’ve been better. Shit I sounded like Valerie.

6) Clara, 6th place, 37.8 points

CLOSE. YOUR. GODDAMN. MOUTH. JEEZUS.

Btw, the neck looks super-strained. But that’s “trying to show neck while lifting my head to make sure my face is not submerged in the water” neck I tell you.

7) Dorothy, 9th place, 34.8 points

Can someone PLEASE explain to me this whole “sweet bubbly girl next door” thing that Cindy keeps pointing out about Dorothy? Since the first week she struck me as a sassy girl with an attitude. I don’t know if she looks cute and bubbly in real life but heck I just don’t see it.

Oh yeah, and the photo is terrible. I disagree with Cara saying there’s no emotion there, but it’s less “Come in the bath with me and experience this indulgence together,” and more “OH NO, I really don’t mind you using the toilet while I’m trying to take a relaxing bath, dear...”

8) Valerie, 5th place, 42.5 points

“Help, help, this wall is closing in on me. Oh, a camera! Pose! Help, help...”

9) Veronika, 8th place, 35.5 points

“Why bother, twin? Life’s meaningless anyway. Let’s just crawl in a fetal position and wait quietly for our impending doom.. Let’s go gentle into the good night...”

Goodbye, Nametha

So it was a pre-determined no-elimination week (yeah, right) but the issue of Nametha’s breaking the rules rose again during the judging panel. Cindy asked the girls to raise their hand if they thought Nametha should be eliminated. Tu is so affected by the whole ordeal (she wanna use the wifi too, you guys) that she looks like she’s about ready to backhand any girls who think Nametha should stay.

“You either eliminate her or feel the Wrath of Tu!”

So anyway, we say arrivederci to our blooming flower, Nametha.

She seems unapologetic about breaking the rules. But what has been done has been done, and if the punishment for breaching the contract is disqualification, then I think she got what she deserved. Plus, Tu was right. She’s from Singapore, so being familiar with the country they’re staying in, she should really be the one feeling the least homesick (think of it as going to college where you’re not allowed to use the phone or wifi or something, I don’t know). However, it’s still sad seeing her go especially when she’d been giving really good performances these past few weeks.

Damn wifi.

[bffhreprise]

Entry 163

  Maxine Montgomery… even Alma thought of her as a villain.  Mila would help me look into her and confirm her misdeeds.  I had to admit that something about her set me on edge even before I knew she was a villain.  Was she actually blind?  I saw the cane and sunglasses indoors, but those could be part of a cosplay, right?  I had my doubts.  If she were blind, could she really be much of a villain?

 I sighed.  There were people who thought a deaf girl couldn’t be a superhero, and I certainly showed them otherwise.  I just didn’t understand how someone could manage overseeing crime without their eyes.  What was hearing like?

 When I was little, Mama Vera tried explaining sound to me.  I remembered her talking about being able to hear me coming and constantly telling me I needed to “be quieter”.  She taught me to move carefully and pointed out the differences in vibrations, my bare feet feeling her music through the floor.  The idea of shutting my eyes and still knowing what was happening around me still seemed strange, like most of the world had a superpower which I did not.  They could sense the vibrations in the air with ease.  A blind girl might be capable of being a supervillain…

 I was surprised by James suddenly moving away from me.  Alma was holding up a hat with gizmos on it.  James looked at the hat for a moment and then put it on over his costume’s wig.  Seeing Aaliyah and Alma take out their phones, I was confused for a moment.

 <Pictures!> signed Aaliyah.

 Oh.  Oh!  I had a phone now too.  I quickly joined them in snapping some pictures of James.  Other people seemed to like the idea as well, but that was how things worked here.  If someone in costume posed for a picture, everyone who liked the costume would stop to get a picture.  We all had many pictures taken of us this weekend.

 Seeing Aaliyah and Alma start trying on hats for pictures too, I decided to join them.  Though many of the gears didn’t even turn, I could easily imagine them having a purpose, like a superhero’s gadgets.  I could use some gadgets…

 After several minutes of posing and pictures, James bought a hat for each of us and a cane for himself.  My hat was large with a broad brim.  Metal bands stretched across one side with interlocking gears leading to an antenna going up the top.  I couldn’t imagine where I would wear the thing, but I appreciated the thought.  We started walking along to revisit more shops.  The others had many things they wanted to get, but I could tell what was being said.

 I tapped James’ sleeve to get his attention and asked what was being said.

 James explained “Alma and Aaliyah want to dress up in steampunk next convention.  Aaliyah’s planning on fixing our hats to actually function first.  Alma wants to design some clothes.”

 I nodded, easily imagining how they could look.  What did a blind girl imagine?  Darkness?  Worries over Maxine hadn’t left me.  Someone Alma considered a villain was probably very dangerous.  Did Maxine have an army of minions carrying out her diabolical schemes?  What if she had incredible magical powers?  I needed information.

 When we left the show floor to go to a panel, I considered leaving.  “The Dances of Ancient Tribes of Earth” panel certainly didn’t need me, but I ended up staying to watch.  I was tempted to try them, but I could barely feel the music and didn’t have lights to follow this time.  Maybe James would be willing to show me the dances later.  I enjoyed dancing with him.

 More shopping soon came after the panel finished.  James seemed pretty excited when we reached the artists.  He talked with many and bought a number of pictures, but the shopping came to an end for me too soon.  Aaliyah and I needed to get back for another shift at the booth.

,,,^._.^,,,

  “Man-slave!” I called, finally spotting James as he entered the suite.  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.  We’re at a convention together, and yet we’ve hardly spent any time together, other than working.  You and I are doing some shopping.”

 I could see by his bags that he had been doing some shopping without me.  It was fine.  I mean, sorta fine.  I wasn’t totally okay with him shopping without me, but he was in high demand and our shifts didn’t line up well for us.

 “Sure.” he replied.  Then he turned to the others and asked “Are you all up for more?”

 “Sorry, boss-man, sir, but Portentia and I have a shift.” replied Aaliyah.

 I picked her up and gave her a big hug before letting her escape to work.  She was soooo adorable!  Watching Portentia walk away wasn’t so bad either.  That girl had a body, and she seemed sweet too.

 “Was there somewhere particular you were looking to go?” asked Alma.

 One glance, and I was certain; Alma was hotter.  I didn’t just mean in the “I can burn the world!” sense either.  She seemed surreal in her beauty, like an incarnation of beauty from another dimension that just happened to look more-or-less human.  I never got tired of looking at her.

 After both of them deposited their bags, I took their arms and pulled them to the elevator.  We were going to buy all the things!!!

 “There’s this suuuper cute store with some really frilly dresses I wanted to visit.  Alma needs to try some things on too.” I insisted, pulling them along.

 I imagined them fighting back, easily lifting me in the air for a second.  They easily could do it even if I fought.  Alma wasn’t beatable, and James was beyond me with magic and martial arts these days.  That boy was freaky good at picking stuff up.  Well, maybe not compared with Jarod.  I still couldn’t believe Jarod had only started martial arts months ago.  He was straight up dangerous now.

 “Ta da!  What do you think!?  Aren’t these the cutest?” I asked when we arrived.

 Alma’s face was unreadable, but she definitely seemed to be checking the dresses out.  James seemed amused.

 “Try one on with me!” I insisted, taking Alma’s hand.

 She didn’t look amused.

 “I’ll look forward to seeing them.” stated James.

 Alma was in!  She totally didn’t play fair though.  Claiming that she didn’t trust the booth’s fitting room, she used a number of spells.  Suddenly, I was isolated in a some black field.  Totally.  Not.  Fair.  Alma was sooo bashful.

 She still beat me changing even though I was certain she took her time.  James’ eyes were locked on her when I stepped out.  He did notice me eventually, blushing when I grinned at him.  I loved his blush.

 I bought my dress and a pair of killer heels that matched them.  Alma was all “Where will I ever wear this?” at first.  After a bit of convincing, she purchased a dress too.  By convincing, I totally pulled the James card, pointing out how much he seemed to like her in the dress.  Win for me.  We could totally be gamer princesses together in the house if nothing else.  She didn’t have to worry about money.

 I was surprised when James insisted on going to a shop of his choosing next.  He was really getting into this.  We pretty much took turns, though I cheated a little.  We all purchased enough that Alma had to call someone to take our bags to the room.  I had been on the verge of suggesting we head up to drop things off.  James was doing all the carrying and looked overburdened.

 We continued shopping until the show floor was closing.  Even Alma and I ended up carrying a couple bags to manage everything, but we had a blast.  I was going to make a shrine to this day in my room.  I sighed, thinking of Regina.  She would have been a blast here.  I missed her, painfully aware of the vacant floor above me.

 “What’s wrong?” asked James in the elevator.

 “Wrong?  We can’t do anymore shopping until tomorrow, and then I might not even catch you because of shifts and things!  One evening just wasn’t enough!” I insisted, not wanting to mention Regina.  I knew he still missed her too.

 James laughed and said, “I’m sure we’ll get some fun.”

 Once settled in the suite, everyone gathered to watch a couple movies before crashing.  None of us were prepared for Sunday.  All of us were scheduled from the start.  We had a long work day with no time for goofing off at other booths.  There were children everywhere, little cuties in costume as often as not.  I wanted to hug them all!

 Aaliyah was easily stealing the show.  In the name of her company, we were getting children involved in numerous games, helping them design their own action figures, and getting them organized for quizzes and prizes.  No child was left without at least one free toy, and many of the parents were talked into buying more.  Global Princess Entertainment dominated children’s day, and the convention was over all too soon.