#or eat it all before anyone else gets some

[hyunebunx]

˖˙ ᰋ ── you, clouds and rain (and the wine on your lips)

﹙ʚɞ˚﹚. genre: fluff, slightly suggestive

﹙ʚɞ˚﹚. a/n: my mindy requested something soft and domestic with a slice of spicy tension with hyun and who am i to say no? enjoyyy <33 and let me know your thoughts <3

When shooting your tired boyfriend a message this morning, inviting him over for lunch and a cuddle sesh by the television, the last thing you expected was a power outage. Even though it was still light outside, the sun and its bright rays were obscured by dark and angry clouds that could only mean one thing: rain.

Hyunjin was a fan of rain, loving the silence and how the whole world seemed to slow down and hurry home. He could be as silly as he wanted and nobody would judge him, too busy to remain dry to care about anything else. You, on the other hand, hated rain. It usually ruined all of your plans and kept you stuck inside, depriving you of sunlight and everything you loved. Including seeing your beloved and going on cute dates, holding hands throughout the day while exploring new and exciting places neither has seen before.

And now it ruined another one of your plans because things could never go your way, now, could they?

“I’m so sorry, Hyun.” You sigh, playing around with the food on your plate, absolutely dejected.

Hyunjin shakes his head and tries to hide the smile threatening to stretch across his features, freshly dried hair bouncing with his every move. “You’re sorry for what exactly?”

Thunder interrupts before you can even begin, souring your mood further as Hyunjin reaches for your fork, twirls it around expertly and brings it to your mouth to eat before it gets cold. You’ve worked hard on this pasta, letting it go to waste would be a shame.

“The rain.” You mumble before chewing, pouting. He waits patiently for you to finish before leaning over the table to wipe some sauce that has somehow landed on your chin.

“You can’t control the weather, baby.” He smiles, fondness spilling from his eyes as he watches you reach for your drink. Your apartment was no longer bright, engulfed in this darkness that would fool anyone into believing night was about to set at any moment. Fortunately, you managed to prepare everything before the power went out so at least your lunch date wasn’t completely ruined.

To set the mood and try to lift your spirits, Hyunjin has lit a lone candle between you on the table – a romantic till the end, you’re convinced your boyfriend would shrivel up and die if he couldn’t spoil you somehow.

“Well, I want to control it all to make you happy!” The statement is a bit childish but not far from the truth. For Hyunjin, you would do anything to see that beautiful smile of his lighten up every room. Control the weather, move mountains and even give him the moon which he embodied without even realizing. As bright as he was, Hyunjin was the moon in your eyes, illuminating every dark corner of your world with his ethereal glow that left every passerby in awe.

Breathtakingly beautiful, both from the exterior and from within. There was no other person like him in this universe.

This time, he laughs, eyes turning into two crescent moons as if to prove your previous point. “I’m the happiest as long as I’m with you, no matter the weather, time or place. I thought you knew that?”

You’re aware yet your heart still skips a beat, as it always does whenever he opens his mouth and hits you with such a line. Hyunjin wasn’t shy in the slightest when it came to you and the love that was overflowing out of him. All of it was yours, of course. He could never love another in the way he loved you for as long as he lived.

“Doesn’t matter.” You still shake your head, deciding to be stubborn. “It still ruined our plans. I was looking forward to finishing that show together and now we can’t.”

He takes a sip of his wine, the condensation on the glass proof of the warmth in the apartment. “It’s not like we can’t watch it another time, baby.”

“I guess.”

“Don’t pout.” His bigger hand settles on top of yours on the table, bringing it to his plump lips to plant a lingering kiss on the smooth skin. “I came over to see your beautiful smile and talk each other’s ears off. Don’t make me sad.”

Hyunjin makes a face, dramatizing his sadness and you finally laugh, returning to your meal with newfound vigour. He always managed to make even the gloomiest days happier, and you suspected your boyfriend might actually be an angel in disguise, sent from above to watch over you.

“So,” he starts, happiness radiating off of him at the delicious food, his hand still holding onto yours, “did you finish that new book you were telling me about the other day, yet?”

The rain was hitting your windows heavily, creating a curtain of sorts that kept you and Hyunjin separated from the outside world, protected from all evil in your little love bubble that continued to grow with every moment spent together. Excited, with your whole face lighting up, you stand abruptly and make your way over to plop yourself onto his lap without shame, just so you can snuggle while granting his wish. You were about to talk both of his ears off until he begged you to stop. And knowing Hyunjin, he might actually like that.

Time flies as you’re having fun with your other half, while he listens attentively to your every word, so drawn to you and the way your mouth moves that he can barely look away as he remembers to keep feeding you and himself until both of your plates are empty. If it were up to him, Hyunjin would glue your hands together so you’d never have to be more than a foot apart at all times. But reality is cruel, and spending all your time with your beloved was not socially acceptable – for some reason, you couldn’t make money this way. He really hated capitalism for keeping you away from him.

After a while, you both stand to wash the dishes, with him on your trail and being assigned to drying duty.

You’re laughing together as Hyunjin tells you more stories from work, something that happened the other day at the company, not leaving anything out. He was so honest and open about his feelings that nothing he said surprised you anymore.

Your back is to him as you wash the last glass when you feel strong arms pulling you to a sturdy chest, wrapping around your middle to ground the man as he leans over to hug you with all his might. You smile, genuinely, and rest your head on his shoulder just to plant multiple kisses on his cheek. He giggles, and you quickly shake the water and bubbles off your hands to turn around in his embrace and face him.

“Hi.” You smile, briefly kissing his nose. Thanks to the smaller windows, the kitchen was even darker than your dining room, creating a cosier, more intimate atmosphere one could only dream of basking in. Romantic with a pinch of tension neither could shake off - the pleasant kind.

The rain showed no sign of stopping any time soon so for the time being, you were the only two people in the world.

“Your smile is my favorite.” He’s staring deeply into your eyes, strong hands following the outline of your body downwards to rest on your hips and bring you closer, wanting to make you one. The butterflies start going crazy, flapping their colorful wings against your ribcage in a desperate attempt at being let out, longing to be touched by him just like you were.

Your arms come around his neck, and you’re nose to nose now. “You’re my favorite.”

Hyunjin breaks into a grin, one he can’t contain before closing his eyes and burying his face in the crock of your neck, hugging you close.

“You know what I really want right now?” His voice is low, the vibration against your skin sending a shiver down your spine as his hold on you tightens.

You shake your head, one of your hands moving to tangle into his hair and massage his scalp. “Tell me, so I can make it happen.”

He chuckles, thumbs drawing random shapes on your sides you could make out if concentrating on anything else other than his voice was possible. “You don’t even know what I want to ask for yet.”

“It doesn’t matter.” You respond a little too quickly, tenderly coaxing his head out of hiding just so you could see his eyes again and marvel at their beauty. “I’ll do anything for you.”

“Anything?” Hyunjin leans closer, trapping your body between him and the sink as he towers over you, few strands of his hair tickling your forehead. Your breath catches in your throat and you try shallowing, anything to get rid of this sudden lump that’s preventing the oxygen from reaching your brain.

When you nod, his eyes soften, warm hand sneaking beneath your shirt to feel skin, needing this contact to remind himself you are real and the possibility of you disappearing right before his very eyes were slim.

Then, without waiting for his next line, your hand grasps at his fluffy sweater and yanks him forward to connect your lips in a sweet kiss, one that has you both releasing a relieved breath, that acts like the lifeline you need to cling to, to survive.

His lips are soft and warm, and you can faintly taste the wine he indulged in, lingering on his skin. The hand that isn’t under your shirt finds solace at the back of your neck, gingerly deepening the kiss as thunder strikes once again. Not like you care anymore; not when he’s kissing you like he’s trying to burn to memory every nook and cranny of your physical existence.

Heads tilted, his tongue sneaks in to greet yours for the briefest moment before Hyunjin pulls away with great difficulty, chest heaving as he struggles to regain his composure.

“A blanket fort.” He almost croaks out, voice raspy and heart very much disappointed when he tears himself away from you to make some room.

You blink, confused and a little dazed, hands darting to latch themselves onto his sweatshirt so he won’t go too far. “What?”

With a laugh, he throws his head back for a moment, calming down before clarifying. “I want to build a blanket fort. Since the power isn’t back yet, I thought we could have some fun doing that.”

You’re bamboozled, almost spinning around in search of the hidden camera that will confirm this is all a prank.

“But I thought…” You trail off, arms falling to your sides as you look down in embarrassment.

Hyunjin is quick to raise your head, with a finger under your chin and another dazzling smile. “Didn’t you just say you’d do anything for me?”

What a fucking tease. How were you ever supposed to say no to that smile?

[thethingsnerd]

This one. I like this one. Fic under the cut

“Your input is not necessary.”

It’s not the first time Bruce had said that to Dick tonight. It would be less frustrating if B was making better calls- he’s not really listening to anyone else tonight, not just Dick, and his decision making is suffering for it.

Everyone's tempers are suffering for it, too.

It starts with Oracle, who hates when Batman falls back into bad habits like this as much as Dick does, and has twice as less patience for it. She's curtly professional from the word "go" and when Dick offers to bring her a pint of cherry garcia later, Barbara tells him to shove it up his ass instead. Dick doesn't take it personally.

Next is Cass, who's always extra stressed when Barbara's upset. Even so, it blindsides Dick. They'd ended up at the same shootout, they'd efficiently gotten the surrounding civilians to safety, they'd worked together beautifully. They de-escalate the gun fight next, and Dick knocks a gun out of a gangster's hand before he can shoot Blackbat in the back. He doesn't think twice about it until Cass starts castigating him on the roof.

"I didn't need help."

"He was behind you. That's the whole point of a patrol partner, Blackbat, so someone can cover your six."

"No."

"No?"

"You were out of rhythm."

"I was not-"

"You're throwing me off."

She's running before Dick can say anything else. He could catch up with her, if he really tried, but he's still not sure what that was about. Maybe Dick is as out-of-sync as Cass insisted, or maybe Cass is feeling off-kilter herself. Either way, he doesn't go after her.

The rest of the night shift is uneventful, aside from the snipe over comms. Back at the Cave is a different story. Steph and Tim are arguing when Dick rolls in, and Dick gets all of three steps toward the computer before they round on him instead.

"Dick! Tell Tim that-"

"No, Dick, inform Stephanie-"

"Oooh full name, I'm so chastened, Timothy-"

"You should be embarrassed-"

"Okay!" Dick interjects. "What is the problem?"

Steph glances between Dick and Tim, glances at her feet, then sighs aggressively. "Nothing," she grits out. "Absolutely nothing, so for once in your life leave it alone, you busybody."

Dick watches as she stomps away. Just a bad night, he has to remind himself that it's just a bad night. Tim shakes his head when Dick glances at him, so Dick heads straight to the showers.

Clean, warm, and dressed down in comfy sweats, Dick feels much better than has all day. He'd passed Damian on the stairs, but something was clearly eating at the kid- he'd taken one look at Dick and turned sharply in the other direction. Hiding. Dick's been there, and valiantly tries not to take it personally.

He decides to make himself some chamomile (he'll never take sleeping pills again after don't think about it) and takes a moment to check in with himself. His therapist would be proud. Alfred would be proud of how nicely his chamomile turns out; Dick almost always understeeps herbal tea but tonight he's gotten it just right.

Dick sips his tea. He takes inventory of his injuries; minimal bruising, achy lower back, tender left wrist. Pretty good. Then takes stock of the rest of him; tired but not yet sleepy, agitated but not too badly. All in all, considering all the tension, tonight definitely could have been worse.

Famous last words.

Tim walks into the kitchen just as Dick gets to the dregs of his chamomile. Dick nods at him in greeting, and Tim does not take it well.

"Oh, now you acknowledge me?"

Dick does not sigh. He doesn't but it is such a near thing. "Did I not acknowledge you some other time tonight?"

"I asked you to back me up downstairs and you totally ignored me!"

"I did no such thing. You were in the middle of an argument I didn't catch the start of, so I asked what the problem was. How is that ignoring you?"

"I asked you for backup and you didn't come through," Tim hisses.

"Backup in the field and backup in a lovers' quarrel are not the same-"

"It wasn't a- a lovers' quarrel, asshat!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know when you don't say what's really going on?"

"You shouldn't need to know! I asked for backup-the only thing you're good for is backup and you couldn't even do that right!"

......yeah, alright, there's no getting around it. Dick is going to have to take that personally.

Dick deliberately turns away from Tim. He rinses out his teacup so the porcelain won't stain. Then, he takes a long, centering breath, and decides to do something he hasn't done in a long time.

"That how you really feel, Tim?" One more out.

"Yes."

Dick decides to cut his losses.

"Okay then."

"Okay?" Tim asks. Clearly still angry but now confused as well. It's a bad look for him. "This is not an 'okay' kind of situation."

"Not from your angle," Dick says. It's the only reply Tim gets before Dick makes his way upstairs.

Last time he left Gotham at dawn, Dick had nothing but a backpack and stolen emergency cash. This time, Dick is a grown man and a lot less desperate, not to mention a lot less injured, so he digs out his civilian suitcase and actually plans out what he wants to take.

He packs jackets, pajamas, shaving razors, plenty of socks- the kinds of things that are only expensive when purchased by the Wayne Estate, and that he won't buy for himself. All shoes go in a beach bag he has stashed in his closet, except for his loafers which go in the bottom of the dress bag with his most tolerable black tie suit. That had annoyed him last time, he remembers- Alfred had always been so militantly insistent on perfect tailoring that the baggy fit of Dick's off-the-rack replacement had been an unbearable insult to injury.

Other personal affects get tucked in the suitcase with care, bits and bobs, odds and ends, and he zips up everything just as the clock hits 4:00. Even the most workaholic bats should be in bed by now, or at least upstairs, so he should be good for a pop down.

Dick has a Nightwing stash on the edge of the city, and he'll get most of his kit from there, but his costume and his current favorite pair of escrima sticks are going with him now, neatly folded into a briefcase. Dick also nabs a keyring on his way out of Bruce's office.

The car keys used to stay in the garage with their respective vehicles, but one too many joyrides had prompted Bruce to hoard all the keys in a desk drawer instead. The first time Dick had seen them under the monogrammed stationary Bruce never uses, he'd laughed out loud.

It pains Dick to leave his bike behind, but even though Dick doesn't have a lot of luggage, it's still too much for a motorcycle. He'd considered which car to take carefully; no flashy sports car, obviously, but also not one that Bruce is particularly fond of. He needs a car for practical reasons, not spite, so Dick settles on the least ostentatious Audi and tries to think of anything else he might want in the next five-to-ten years.

Dick takes the box of chamomile tea bags.

__________

Donna opens her apartment door on the fourth knock. The look on her face is superficially friendly that Dick's proud of her- of course, she smiles for real when she registers just who it is at her door. Dick finds himself smiling back before he decides to.

"Hey, Donna. Mind if I crash here for a minute?"

Donna raises a curious eyebrow, and Dick bites his lips to keep from grinning. Donna ushers him inside without a word, locks her door, and all but pushes Dick into a bar stool. Donna sits herself up on her counter in front of him and demands eye contact.

"When you say a minute, do you mean a New York minute?"

Dick slides his eyes away and toward her couch. "I mean a lot of minutes. I'm cutting Gotham off."

"AAAA!" Donna picks him up and spins him in the air for several more turns than he thinks this really warrants. Then Donna sets them on the floor just to twirl Dick around even more, and he giggles. Part amusement, mostly relief; Donna wouldn't be so excited if he'd come at a bad time.

"Was the scream of delight necessary?" He asks, still laughing.

"Entirely," she says, mock serious. "This is a delightful day."

Donna sobers a bit at her own words. She eyes him more thoroughly, "It is a delightful day, yes?"

He knows that Donna knows he wouldn't decide to cut contact for no reason, that's not the real question. The answer to her question, which is 'are you reeling from what it was', is thankfully 'no'. Not today.

"Yeah," Dick says honestly. "Peachy, even."

Donna smiles at him.

She deposits him back at her kitchen counter, declares she's going to make real breakfast- apparently she's been breaking her fast with fruit jerky all week- and starts grilling Dick the same time she starts frying up sfakianopita.

"So which straw broke the camel's back?"

"My brother implied I'm mildly useless and I took offense."

"Only 'mildly' useless convinced you to get out of hell? I'm not complaining, but that doesn't sound like you."

Dick bites down the instinctive urge to deflect, to push her away. Donna wouldn't care even if Tim insulting him had been his only grievance. Donna is happy to have him here.

"Nah, it was more of a... death of a thousand cuts kind of thing. Yesterday was a bad night, and I thought about it some- which, you know how that usually goes- I thought about it, and I'm tired of not taking any of it personally. Even if they don't mean it, I don't want to put up with it. Then Tim comes in with an unmistakably personal attack and...."

"And you made the best decision."

Dick's mouth twitches up. "They wouldn't call it that."

"They have terrible decision making skills."

Donna starts stacking the sfakianopita on two plates.

"That's not true, they just don't always pay attention."

"Who does these days?" Donna gripes.

"You," Dick says.

Donna turns toward him, one hand on her hip, one hand pointing her spatula at Dick's face. "You don't make it easy, Dick."

Dick shrugs emphatically. "What can I say? I was born difficult."

"Not difficult," Donna shakes her head. "Just challenging."

"And you like a challenge?" Dick grins.

Donna bops him on the shoulder with the spatula. "Get it right, Dick. I love a challenge."

Well, doesn't that make Dick feel warm and cozy? Donna smirks at him like she's won something (she has and they both know it) and turns to root through her fridge for cheese. Dick gets out of his seat to find the honey while she does.

__________

Dick crashes on Donna's couch for exactly nine days before she tells him they're getting a new place together. Dick tells Donna that he always intended on getting his own space- a misstep, since Donna argues that's exactly why they should get a new apartment. A two bedroom, where Dick can have more privacy.

"I don't want to impose, Donna."

"Have you ever considered what I want?"

Dick sighs. "What do you want, Don?"

"I want company. It's been a lonely year, D. I enjoy when my friends impose."

There's not much he can say to argue that. Isolating himself never leads Dick anywhere good, anyway.

Between apartment hunting and catching up, Donna and Dick fight supervillains. New York City never lacks for things to do- smugglers to send packing, wannabe world conqueror to thwart, assholes to kick in the face. Dick had honestly forgotten how fun it is to patrol during the day.

He adds some some gold back into his costume. Dick's surprised by how much he likes it- it was his idea, yet when he catches glimpses of blue and gold and black all blurring together in high rise windows, beside Donna's sea of stars, Dick feels more like himself than he has in long, long time.

He starts picking up a lot of dropped habits. He makes dinner; real dinner, like Madam Vasilyev used to make on the train's little stove, and like he would sometimes make for the Titans for family team dinners. It's so much easier to make things when it isn't for him alone. Donna is happy to let him, having no great love of cooking herself, and always supportive of non-cape hobbies.

She's full of surprises, though. Dick had tried to teach all of his friends at least one or two meals they could make from scratch themselves, just in case. He hadn't thought about whether any of it had been retained, though, not now, so many years removed. Not until Donna one day bestows upon him a pot of chicken paprikash and he almost cries.

It's delicious. Just like his parents used to make, whenever they could find a grocer who sold paprika. Just like he taught Donna to make it in the Tower an entire lifetime ago.

"Did I get it right?"

"Did you make it with love?"

"Of course."

"Then you got it perfectly right."

Other than dinner, he starts gardening. Nothing serious, but the new apartment has a couple of windows, so Dick plants a window box full of herbs.

He plants cilantro first. The seeds were on sale at the hardware store, so the whole box was just cilantro, for a while. Donna buys live basil from a grocer she likes, so one of the cilantros gets pawned off to a neighbor, and their pasta sauces taste awesome.

It's not the most exciting hobby, but it gets him out of bed on Bad Days.

Those days, it's hard to do anything at all. It hits him, when the clouds are just the wrong color, that he and Bruce are on the outs again. He hates being on the outs with Bruce, hates that it means another bond between them has snapped. Makes him catastrophize about whether or not this is finally the fence that can't be mended.

At least it's not nearly as bad as it was Before. Dick hadn't understood, back then, what Bruce's problem was. Now that he's older he knows Bruce had never had to let someone walk away before- even with Talia, B had been the one to walk away first- and took Dick's bid for independence badly as a result.

He'd swung by Gotham exactly once for Jason, and stole the kid away to Tower at every opportunity. He'd made sure Jase was present in Dick's space the way Dick was no longer welcome in Bruce's.

He'd gone back to Gotham exactly one other time, after Bruce held Jason's funeral without so much a ping on Dick's pager. All that accomplished was losing Dick his house key. Until Tim barged in.

Donna and Dick were winding down for the night, enjoying a nice bottle of wine and a shared bowl of plantain chips, when Dick makes another decision.

"Donna."

"Dick." She tosses a chip in the air so she can catch it in her mouth.

"I've had an epiphany." He swirls the wine in his glass playfully. Donna leans forward in her chair.

"Do tell."

"Every time I don't want to talk to Bruce, he finds a new stray child to bring home. And I always go, because what I am supposed to do? Not keep an eye on them? But Bruce has a billion orphans-"

Donna snorts. "A billion?"

"Okay, fine, half a dozen orphan children roosting in his house full of ghosts, and it's probably inevitable that there will be another and you know what, sister?" He drains the rest of his wine glass while she stares at him.

Donna seems to consider him, or maybe she zones out, but after a moment she similarly liberates her glass of its wine.

"Lay it on me, Robin."

"I'm not going back this time. Not until someone actually apologizes, not if there's a new bat, not if there's another secret baby, not for any of that bullshit. Tim's as old as I was when Tim first came around, so he can deal with it. Or Cass. Or Babs. Or Bruce can keep his act together for longer than two weeks at a time I don't care. I won't be lured back for family drama. Not this time."

Dick stops to breathe. A mistake, really, as it's the perfect opportunity for stinging anxiety to start buzzing under every inch of his skin. He's an idiot. What a stupid thing to say, what a stupid idea to even have-

Donna is in front of Dick. When did she get out of her chair?

"Richard John Grayson."

"Donna Hinckley Stacy Troy."

I've come to a decision, too. Tell me if it's a good one."

Then she pulls him into a hug. Dick swallows heavily and lets himself be held, for a while.

"Good decision?" Donna asks.

"I think so," he says. He wraps his arms around Donna, reciprocating- God, how long has it been since he's had a reciprocal relationship? Donna squeezes and he throws the thought out of his mind. The awful pull against his insides has subsided, so now he's just warm and loose.

"Donna, do you like my decision?"

"I really really do."

__________

When they were still in Donna's old apartment, various Gothamites tried to contact him. A lot of voicemails are angry and accusing. He listens to them once just in case and deletes them right after. He gets texts from Tim that he knows are meant as olive branches, but they're all offers of joint patrols, or going over case files together, or similar Mission oriented activities.

It's hard to turn him down, especially since he knows Tim won't understand. It's easier to ignore Bruce's messages, sparse as they are, demanding explanations.

Cass had broken into Donna's apartment. Donna had been out with a friend she met in her photography club, doing yoga maybe? Dick had been making egg fried rice for lunch when a wild Bat appeared.

Dick had smiled politely, which seemed to confuse her. Dick had offered to share his lunch, which seemed to make her feel better.

They’d eaten in silence for a while, Cass occasionally staring hard at him while Dick waited for her to make the first move; exactly how Dick would treat a hungry kid he didn’t know. You never know what will spook a stranger, after all.

Bowls empty, Dick had gone to pick hers up to wash when she caught his wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to wash up after our lunch.”

Cass squints at him, exaggerating her expression to make sure he gets her memo.

“You know what I mean. Don’t pretend.”

“I’m not pretending to do the dishes,” he answers calmly, blandly.

“Stop pretending you don’t know me!”

“What would you prefer I do?”

“Go home.”

“No.”

That doesn’t seem to be what she’d expected him to say. She’d expected pushback, for certain, but flat refusal, nothing else? An unwelcome miscalculation.

“Why not?”

“At the moment, I won’t feel at home in Gotham. As far as I’m concerned I’m at home right now.”

“Liar,” she’d hissed. Dick was watching, tho, and saw the confusion in her stance. Her eyes told her he wasn’t lying at all. Deliberately on Dick’s part, not entirely truthful, yet not entirely manufactured- the apartment may not be special to him, but Donna always will be.

“I have no reason to go to Gotham right now.”

“Your team is there.”

“I’m not on Team Bat at the moment.”

“You can’t quit-“

“Cassandra. My roommate will be home soon. I suggest you leave now, if you have nothing to say on your own behalf.”

It’s a low blow to call her a messenger, to write her off as nothing but a mouthpiece for Bruce or Tim or maybe even Damian. Dick wouldn’t feel bad about it if they weren’t close, so he won’t feel bad about it now; she’s the one who didn’t want partner, Dick’s just respecting her wishes.

Cass stares and keeps staring so long he’s worried she’ll refuse to leave, but then they both heard footsteps in the hall, and by the time Dick turns back toward her she’d already gone.

The next morning, Dick had a new message from Bruce. It was an email, that time, instead of a text, which more than anything actually written lets Dick know Bruce has caught on to what’s happened. What is still happening. The email begins ‘Mr. Grayson-Wayne’ and Dick doesn’t read a single word further.

__________

Wally visits the new apartment shortly after they move in. Apparently, Nightwing being in town again has caught the interest of an opinion columnist or two, and Wally had wanted to see him with his own eyes.

“You’re hanging out with people again!”

“I never stopped,” Dick protests. “We see each other once a month, Wally.”

“Scheduled visits- ugh, it’s like you were in prison, and I only got to see you during your time in the yard.” All of this is dramatically declared as Wally flops on their couch, taking up space and definitely bothering the neighbors.

It should annoy Dick. It should at least hurt his ego. Instead, it makes him bloom into a smile, and throw himself onto the couch next to his friend.

“Donna and I have been having a great time without you,” he teases. “We could have an even better time with you, if you’re up for it.”

“Dickie, I thought you’d never ask.”

The Flash joins Dick and Donna for a fight every now and then, patrolling as often as work and Central City will allow. It’s good- it’s really, really good.

“Why did we disband?”

“Because we grew up?”

“Terrible decision.”

“Adulthood is overrated.”

“I don’t know, I certainly wouldn’t want to be a teenager again, would you?”

“Nah.” “NO!”

Wally looks away from the conversation he started, and his eyes find the window box. “Hey Ds, is that a garden?”

“It’s mine,” Dick says. “Right now it’s just cilantro and basil. I’m open to suggestions.”

Wally gives him a once over, looks again at the plants, then changes the subject. The next time Wally comes over he’s holding a pot of chives.

A couple of months later, there’s a siren hiding out in the Harbor. It kicks Dick’s ass and Donna almost drowns. It occurs to them that they are idiots, and that they should’ve called Garth. Garth, thankfully, both answers his communicator and has time for them, so they get to watch Tempest absolutely destroy the siren.

Afterward, they go for pizza. They ask Garth if he would want to come around more often maybe, just because?

Garth smiles brighter than the moon.

The first time they stop a supervillain downtown together, it’s all the papers will talk about the next day. Someone got an excellent picture of all four of them in action. Flash is about to pounce, so he’s still enough to see. He’s tagged in with Donna, distracting the giant rat monster from the air so Flash can trip it into the river. On the bank, left of center in the photo, Tempest and Nightwing and are on standby. Garth will drench the awful thing, all fifteen stories of it, once it’s close enough to the water, and Nightwing will fry the thing with all the electricity his sticks have got.

They work together smoothly, and they cheer when they win, and the papers all ask, ��Titans Back Together?’

After a while of mulling it over, they unanimously decide to answer ‘yes’.

Listen I love the ‘dicks being ostracized from his family and self destructs’ trope in fics however

I would like an inverse just once (I could write it but I want this fic to be good so I can enjoy it and I am not the greatest writer) where everyone blows up at him and flat out lays into him and he just goes… okay… if that’s how you feel?

Takes himself off of the patrol routes and rosters. He’s off the emergency calls and his ‘call for city wide emergency’ has been down graded to ‘call for world wide emergency’ he’s no longer on comms with oracle

He stops offering assistance to the other kids teams, doesn’t send info for investigation and doesn’t go within 100feet of Gotham.

Takes himself off the den-mother, baby sitter, trainer for all the younger teams lost that involve any and all bats

In the beginning he vacates his apartment and temporarily moves in with Donna in New York and things are good because of course they are. They’re Dick and Donna a world doesn’t exist where they aren’t okay.

And then his presence in New York leads to a lot of the og core five titans interacting and they realize that they miss each other like hell and start to work together more and more. Until news sites are like ‘teen titans grown up??’ ‘Original titans spotted doing hurricane aid in Florida!’

Because Dick loves his family but he knows when to bow out. And he chose the family he made in the new teen titans.

And then one day one of the bats track him down in nyc and breaks into what is now Dick and Donna’s apartment and are ready to argue that they need him back and need him there for a huge Gotham wide event.

And Dick says ‘sure okay let me get my stuff and we leave in half and hour’ as soon as the first sentence is out

No convincing or begging or asking for money (cough Jason cough)

Dick is patched into their comms and he’s working efficiently except he’s not… acting like himself.

He’s collaborating with whoever they tell him too, no problem, he’s discussing ideal plans and co-ops and teams and how to best get it under control.

But he’s talking to them the way he talks when he’s offering aid to teams he’s not a part of.

Like the hero version of an acquaintance and no one can call him out on it because he’s doing good work. Work that’s on par with his work before this whole fiasco. He explicitly isn’t letting their personal issues affect his work.

He’s speaking but not talking

And Bruce remembers this… he’s probably the only one who does because last time he was the only one included. The last time Dick acted like this is when he first visited Jason and him after he had been fired.

Whenever Bruce was in the room and Dick was forced to speak with him, the conversation never strayed past business casual especially around Jason.

Batman and Nightwing got into screaming matches

Bruce and Dick were strangers

And now they’re back to this, 7 kids later, a million ends of the world stopped, they’ve bled together, cried together and clung to each other in pure relief after they managed to clutch victory.

And Nightwing was treating Batman Inc like a new team stepping onto the scene.

Once they’ve secured everything and managed to keep Bruce from self destructing and making it worse. Dick just leaves and tells oracle that he’ll send over his debrief in 3-5 business days and it was nice working with them.

And then he’s gone

No cave, no manor, no Alfred, no med-bay because Dick doesn’t stay places he’s not welcome.

And after they all talk about that and how weird it was and Bruce reveals Dick did this before when he was Nightwing after Bruce fired, where Dick Grayson didn’t know Bruce Wayne.

And one of the kids asks when he broke and stopped the act and Bruce just says ‘the day he found out Jason died’

And the Batkids kinda freak bc what do you mean?? What is he only going to come back when someone dies? Thats not? There has to be another way?? And Bruce is like yeah no idea sorry (bc he’s helpful like that)

So then Steph the next day resolves to go visit him, Tim isn’t the only professional stalker. And she finds Dick and Donna’s apartment and well it’s daylight and she’s in civvies she’s if she climbs in through the window she might get reported to the NYPD and she doesn’t wanna get arrested or shot to door it is!

And so she goes and knocks and Dick opens the door and just lights up

Something something this is such a nice surprise something something it’s so good to see you.

Dick had taught Donna how to make some of his mother recipes when they were kids. So now whenever they’re together for a long time they cook together.

So Dick who is usually living in a cluttered apartment with no clean dishes and an exclusively grab and go food is now trying to force feed her some of his cooking.

Because he picked up the habit again since he’s the better cook between him and Donna.

And it’s delicious and he wants to catch up and hear everything that’s going on in her life, is she working with new people, dating anyone? How is her relationship with her mother etc etc.

It’s a nice day and she stays late and never confronts him on anything until she sees how long ago the sun set and she needs to get moving.

He hands her paper with his number and makes her promise not to give it to the others or she will lose access to it, he offers to help her on a conditional basis as nightwing but only her, she can call him about the rest if it’s an end of the world or they’re near death and need immediate aid.

And that’s like the fic because the key to winning nightwings assistance is like breathing (optional) but if you’re Dicks family you have to care or else. He’ll love you and help you, when you need it but he won’t tie his life up with yours, he’ll spend his time with people who value his opinion and the person behind the mask.

Anyway cue all the Batkids trying to do what Steph did and fail because they’re neurotic shits who think bonding involves doing casework together or a steak out.

(The next person to crack it is Damian, completely unintentionally he has a fight with Bruce and can’t ask him how the fuck he’s supposed to solve this equation in the new stupid way they’re teaching him no he can’t use the old method they’re supposed to show their work so he pulls up to Dick and Donna’s in a ratty ass hoodie like plz wtf do you mean you work top down explain Grayson- and dicks like awww no problem kid)

[cosmerelists]

Cosmere Characters at Disneyland

As requested by @jellybeanzrock :)

Listen...I'm sure that SOMEONE on tumblr already did a post like this but I CANNOT find it. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, let me know so that I can link it! I think it was maybe about roller coasters...?

Anyway, here's my take!

1. Steris: Arrives with the perfect plan

Yes, it is in a binder.

Steris: Breakfast: acquired. Steris: We are all sunscreened, we have full water bottles, and we're already 8 minutes ahead of schedule. Steris: According to the plan, this is the optimal time to use our Fast Pass for Space Mountain. Wax: Space Mountain just closed for repairs! Steris: Tch. Turn to Plan C, everyone. I was ready for this.

2. Shallan: Mostly wants to sketch the wildlife

Shallan: Guys, stop! There's a new cat over there! Kaladin: Are you sure? It looks just like all the other cats. Adolin: Are you blind? That one's a tabby. The last one was gray, and the on before that was orange! Kaladin: ...Tabby and orange are different? Shallan: Both of you, hush! You're going to wake him!

3. Lightsong: Won't leave the Tiki Room

[Full disclosure: This is my wife's favorite "ride."]

Llarimar: Your Grace, are you sure you don't want to do...anything else today? Lightsong: This is the only part of the park that's empty and air-conditioned, Spook! Lightsong: Plus, I like the singing birds. Lightsong: They remind me of home.

4. Adolin: Gets too into the Mickey ears

He really should have brought an extra, empty suitcase.

Kaladin [eyes narrowed]: Those aren't the ears you were wearing yesterday. Adolin: Well, duh! These are my breakfast ears. The ears are sunnyside-up eggs! Shallan: He'll change into his midmorning ears after. Adolin: Plus, I have some fun ones for lunch! Not to mention my afternoon ears, my slightly fancy dinner ears... Kaladin: You have a problem. Adolin [waving a hand airily]: You just hate fun.

5. Kaladin: Just really likes the Soarin' Ride

[Full discloser: that is my favorite ride]

Syl: ...You know this is kinda an old man ride, right? Kaladin: I like it. It's peaceful. Syl: We're not even flying! We can fly for real! Kaladin: I like the part where they spray orange-blossom scent. Syl: I can't believe I bonded an 80-year-old man...

6. Syl: Really likes the characters

[Light spoilers for Wind and Truth -- just skip to #7 if you want to avoid!]

Syl: [full-size, now wearing a princess dress] Syl: Children keep asking for my photograph! Syl: I'm not sure who "Elsa" is, but I think I'm flattered!

7. Vin: Just really likes the Tower of Terror ride

It's the one that's just a huge vertical drop.

Vin: It's like jumping off a tall building, only there are more people around you, screaming. Elend: And nobody dies! Vin: And nobody dies.

8. Lift: Is mainly interested in eating every type of churro

She heard there were seven unique types, and she's determined to eat every one.

Wyndle: T-This is reminding me of you and the pancakes in Yeddaw. Wyndle: ...There isn't a dangerous Herald hunting us, is there? Lift: No, but I think that giant Mouse was lookin' at me funny.

9. Kelsier: Keeps ending up where he's not supposed to be

Kelsier: Why would they even HAVE a "forbidden" island clearly visible called Discovery Island if you're not supposed to sneak over to it? Kelsier: It's like they put up a big flashing sign that said "Secrets Here! Come and get 'em!" Dockson: I can't believe you got us kicked out of Disneyland. Kelsier: They started it.

10. Gavinor: Is the most serious child at Disneyland

Gavinor: [Gazing at the Haunted Mansion, unsmiling.] Dalinar: Do you want to go on that ride, Gavinor? Gavinor: Okay. Gavinor: Do you think one of the ghosts might be my dad? Dalinar: ... Dalinar: I don't think mouse ears can fix this.

[pedrosgrogu]

Born Too Late - Chapter 5

pairing/au: neighbor!joel x reader // no outbreak

Warnings: MDNI!!! SMUT (2 chapters in a row :0.. So much for slow burn), age gap, no use of y/n, i think thats it fr, dirty talk, unprotected p in v (be smart yall, wrap it up). thats it i think, lemme know if i missed something :) 

Summary: Sarah's conference is this week and seeing Joel is not on your list of things you want to do. Then he invites you over to talk. You need to set the boundary now, what could go wrong? (1.6k+)

a/n: i tried to write a lil more than usual bc i feel bad about inconsistent posting. (shoutout no personal life bc work/school) hopefully with winter break i can post a couple times a week. also trying to figure out how to make a taglist so if you want to be notified of new chapters, lmk!! If you have any suggestions, give em to a girl. i love to see/hear feedback :) <3

Yet again, you’re avoiding Joel like the plague. You have an unknown amount of missed calls from him. You also have conferences today. This means you have to see him, and you feel like you could throw up. He’s your last one at 5:30 p.m. The day goes by slowly, and you have lunch duty so you don’t have time to finish planning your conference notes. After lunch is the worst part of the day. Kids are tired and barely give a shit, but you have a couple good ones that you try to focus on. Sarah being one of them. The 2:30 bell rings and by 2:40 your class is empty. Conferences start at 3:30 so you finish your notes and try to eat your lunch but that sinking feeling is still there. 

By 5:15, you’ve talked to so many parents that they’re all starting to blur. You’re exhausted and would rather be quite literally anywhere else by now. You gather Sarah's notes and sit them on the table, one stack in front of you and a copy of your stack in front of where Joel will sit. Sarah really enjoys a select few books from your classroom library so you sit them on her desk for her in case she's with Joel. 

Before you see him, you smell him. The air in your classroom fills with hints of cedarwood and lavender. You look up and Sarah is already at her desk looking at the books. You stand to greet Joel. “Good Evening Mr. Miller” you reach to shake his hand but he doesn't move, he is staring right through you. “Sweet girl, you don't have to call me that.” He says, still staring. You smile and invite him to sit. “So” you start “Sarah is doing phenomenal, she loves to read and write, and is always very engaged. I pulled a few samples of her writings from the last couple weeks so you could read them. They’re the first sheets inside your fold-” “Babygirl” he says gruffly “I know my daughter, and she has excelled and exceeded every year. I'm here for you. Why have you been avoiding me?” You look at him, wide eyed. Half wanting to laugh and half wanting to cry. Your door is open and anyone could walk by and hear him, Sarah could hear him. “Joel I promise I'm not trying to avoid you” you say quietly, lying straight through your teeth. And he knows it. You stand up and walk to close the door and can feel his eyes burning through you. “I just dont think-” “I've called you more times than I can count, and you aint returned a single one. Shit baby, your bra is still on my bedroom floor. Taunting me every night.” You can feel the warmth begin to rise on your face, and between your legs. “Mr.Miller, now is not the time or the place for this conversation. If we could please get back to Sarah.” He looks at you, deadpan. “Alright, come to my house tomorrow night at 8. Sarah will be with her mom for the weekend.” Internally, you groan. Externally, “Yes sir”. You watch him stir in his chair at your words, repositioning himself. 

The rest of the conference goes well, Sarah reads some of her writings to her dad, and shows him her favorite books. He asks her so many questions about her work and she is extremely detailed in every answer. He seems like a great dad, and it puts him in a different light for you. Now he isn't only hot, and great at sex, and great at aftercare, but he's a good dad. You are so fucked. 

Friday comes and goes, yet again you're exhausted. You take a steaming shower when you get home. Shaving your legs, just because. NOT for Joel. Once out of the shower, you change into a pair of blue biker shorts and an oversized Texans crewneck. You throw your hair up in a bun and make yourself some coffee. Hoping the coffee will help combat the sleepiness, you throw yourself onto the couch and turn on some Grey's Anatomy reruns, and begin to drift into a nap. You try to fight it, but it's inevitable. 

You wake up to your phone ringing. You check the time. 8:17. “Shit” you grumble. You flip your phone open without even checking the caller ID. “Hello?” you say, groggily. “There's my sweet girl.” He says, pausing briefly. “You’re late. Better get here fast, dinners gonna be cold.” And before you can get a word out, Joel hangs up. “Fuck fuck FUCK.” You say, frustratedly. This has gone too far, and god forbid your work gets wind of this disaster. You’d be screwed. You throw your shoes on and walk next door. 

Joel opens the door right as you walk up the steps. The smells instantly take you back to that morning. You still remember how he felt inside you, how his lips felt on yours, how his hand fit around your neck so perfectly how- “You gonna come in or you just gon’ stand there?” Joel snaps you out of your trance. You follow him the rest of the way in, kicking your shoes off at the door this time. “I made spaghetti with garlic bread. Stuck it in the oven to stay warm since you tried to stand me up.” He says, grinning. “Joel look” you start, “I really appreciate this, and I really had a” “Sit down and eat. We can talk after.” He says, pulling a chair out. He walks around to the fridge, opening the door. You can't stop staring at him. His shoulders so broad, and biceps borderline busting out of his shirt. You’re in a trance. “Red or white?” he says, but you don't hear him. You’re too busy eye fucking him, completely forgetting that the only reason you’re here is to end this before it starts. He turns around and sees you still looking straight through him, undressing him with your eyes. He grins a devilish grin and you snap back to reality. “Huh? Sorry I was-” “No need to explain, I asked if you wanted red or white wine?” he says, grinning “Oh.. ummm.. White please!” He sits the glass next to you, along with your plate of food. 

Dinner goes well, you talk about Sarah and how great of a student she is. You realize Joel could go on and on about her, because he does. Before you know it, its 10:00 and you're fighting sleep again. But this conversation needs to happen. You gather the plates and wine glasses and begin doing the dishes. “Darlin’ don't worry about those. I can do them in the morning.” “Joel, we need to talk.” You say, hoping it doesn't come off too harsh. You turn the sink off and dry your hands. “Joel, I had a lot of fun a few weeks ago. But I don’t think-” he cuts you off. “Why’re you thinkin’ baby? Thinkin’ don’t never lead to nothin’ good.” He says, wrapping his hands around your waist. As much as you don’t want to, you lean into his grip. “Joel, please.” you almost moan. “I don’t want to get in trouble at work, it's a huge ethical misconduct if the school were to ever find out, especially since Sarah is in my class.” He’s kissing up your neck, and you aren't doing anything to stop him. “I just want to taste you, just one more time.” He groans into your ear, nibbling on the tip. “This has to be the last time.” you think to yourself.

You don't fight it, you give in. And you enjoy every second of it. Joel picks you up and lays you on the table. The same table you just had dinner on. Your shorts are thrown across the room and your sweatshirt is being used as back support. He’s devouring every inch of your body. Leaving bite marks in unseen places. You hear his belt hit the floor and watch his shirt peel off of his body. You moan at the sight. He lines himself up with your aching cunt. “What was all that earlier about you gettin’ in trouble at work?” he says, comically. “Joel, please not-” and before you can squeak the rest of your sentence out, he's ramming his cock inside you. Over and over. “What's wrong baby? Can’t speak?” he says, laughing. Hes fucking you so hard that the goddamn table is moving. “I need something more stable.” He grunts, picking you up and throwing you on the island, his cock never leaving inside of you. He rubs vigorous circles around your clit, watching your eyes roll into the back of your head. “Dont. Stop. Joel.” You manage to say in between breaths. “I don’t ever plan to babygirl.” He says, rubbing faster. Your release is on the horizon. Everythings gone white and all you can focus on is the sound of skin slapping skin. Your back arches and you scream with pleasure. “Let it out babygirl, cum for me.” Just as you begin to come down, you feel Joel's cock tense up inside you, and he falls to your ear, moaning. He pulls out and you moan gutteraly. You feel the warmth of his seed dripping  Yet again, he disappears and reappears with a warm washcloth. Cleaning and kissing every inch of your body. 

You get cleaned up and dressed. Joel puts on a pair of sweatpants, no shirt. You could go for round 2 but 2 times is 2 too many. You begin to put your shoes on. “Darlin’, why don't you stay the night?” You instantly get nauseous, and feel tears? Maybe? You barely know this guy, what the fuck? “Joel, I told you. This cannot happen. Not again.” You say, trembling. “We can-” You cut him off. “No more Joel.” and you open the door and walk out. Leaving him just as quickly as you found him.

Masterlist - Chapter 4

[writingtraumaforever]

Home Alone: Courtship Mini-Sequel

Notes: Just a crack oneshot I wrote out of pure boredom while waiting for the Sonadow Twitter Takeover to start. This is purely silly energy. Rated T for language and slight suggestiveness.

Summary: Sonic is left at the Wachowski house alone, and Shadow returns from a GUN mission early. Embarrassment ensues.

Read Courtship Here!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

Sonic has been talking about for weeks how he’s gonna finally get to have the house to himself a couple days. Maddie is taking Tails to an inventor’s convention a state away, and Tom is taking Knuckles to a wrestling match that Knuckles has been talking about for months. Sonic was invited to both but declared he’d rather dogsit Ozzy a couple days and just chill. 

“And no boyfriends allowed while we’re gone,” Tom had warned with narrowed eyes just before climbing into his truck.

“Can’t invite over what you don’t have~,” Sonic had cooed back teasingly, still in full denial that he and Shadow were exclusive even though quite literally everyone else pretty much had accepted it by now.

While they never made it official, ever since Shadow had had dinner with the Wachowski’s several months back, Shadow was a regular part of Sonic’s life. It was rare the two didn’t see one another at least once or twice a week. Only time there was an exception to this was when Shadow was away on a GUN operation— which he currently is. He’s pretty much their biggest asset these days.

“You know what I mean,” Tom warns through his rolled down window, eyeing his middle son with a stern look but a teasing smile as well.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t have anyone over,” Sonic concedes with a little shrug, rubbing the dog’s head beside him. They’re standing in the front yard, seeing the remaining two members of his family off for their trip.

“Counting on you, Sonic,” Tom winks, “You’re the man of the house the next few days.”

“Only because I will not be there,” Knuckles can’t help but antagonize from the front passenger seat.

“Not my first time,” Sonic assures with a shrug.

“Yeah— and last time we left you alone, we came home to half our house demolished.”

“Hey! That was his fault! Not mine,” the blue blur defends, pointing accusingly at Knuckles peeking out from behind Tom.

“I was being misguided and used!” Knuckles argues immediately with a little furrow of his brow, “I can’t believe you would bring back such a clouded time of my past!”

“Whatever, dude, it was still your fault,” Sonic rolls his eyes to which Knuckles growls.

“Anyway! We’ll be back in three days,” Tom interrupts before the two’s bickering gets carried away, “Be safe and responsible,” he instructs, already slowly backing out of the driveway.

“When am I not??” Sonic grins, watching the truck back up into the street.

“We love you, kiddo! See you soon!” Tom calls, Knuckles waving begrudgingly behind him.

Sonic grins and waves back, “Love y’all too! You crazy kids have fun!”

And then they’re gone.

Sonic looks down at his favorite doggo, Ozzie looking back up at him.

“Let’s do this.”

And just like before, Sonic takes full advantage of his time alone. Bubble party in the living room, all the snacks he can eat, pizza and chilidogs galore, jumping on beds, grinding down the stair rails, the whole shebang.

Nothing he can’t undo in a few minutes with his speed.

He even goes into Knuckles’ shed and plays with some of his forbidden weights the echidna always declares he’s not allowed to touch. Just for shits and giggles.

Once the night befalls them, though, Sonic and Ozzie lounge on the couch covered in snacks and empty wrappers. He has a gaming headset on, trash talking some punk on Call of Duty named ‘Robots4Life623’.

Ozzie is snoozing beside him, obviously tuckered from their antics of the day. 

Ending the match to the competitor yelling angrily like a lunatic, Sonic snickers and turns off the game. Stretching his arms above his head, he then pats his dogs head and places a little kiss on his ear, “You’re the goodest boy that ever gooded, Oz.”

The dog just lifts his head to lick Sonic’s face before laying it back down.

Sonic chuckles and hops up from the couch. It’s not too late as of yet. About 8:45. He’s not tired, but he’s running out of ideas on what to do.

So.. walking over to the speaker system, he hooks up his phone and decides on a jam sesh. Turning on his ‘Gotta Go Fast’ playlist, the hero starts hopping and dancing around the room to his fast paced favorite songs to hype himself up. He does this for probably a good five songs: Don’t Stop Me Now, Speed Me Up, Stars In The Sky, Uptown Funk, and Barracuda. Once those are over, he finds himself very much re-amped for his next three days alone.

His gaze temporarily moves to his phone, picking it up off the speaker to make sure he hasn’t missed any calls or texts. There’s a new picture in the Wachowski Family Group Chat of Tails and their mother taking a selfie in front of the stage they’d be listening to some old guy Sonic forgot the name of speak at tomorrow. Sonic smiles and sends back a simple thumbs up.

Flipping over to his photos after saving the one just sent, he browses through them a moment. One of Knuckles drooling in his sleep during a nap on the couch. One of Ozzie with a vest on that made him look like a proper gentleman. One of a selfie of Tails and Sonic and Knuckles all at the top of separate trees in the forest at the end of one of their races. One of Tom and Maddie covered in cake batter after a baking incident.

And then there’s one of Sonic and Shadow..

Sonic taking the selfie with Shadow behind him, Sonic’s arm around Shadow’s shoulders and pulling him close with a wide grin and a peace sign at the camera, Shadow looking at Sonic with his arms crossed and a small hint of a smile.

Sonic sighs, staring at the picture a little too long before he locks his phone again and sets it back on the speaker. As This Is How We Do It starts playing, Sonic’s gaze falls on the black leather jacket hanging by the door. He wears it often when it gets a little chillier.. Or when he’s simply missing Shadow.

Now is one of those instances.

Moving to the jacket, he swipes it off the coat hanger and slides it onto his own arms.

Popping the collar up, he buries his nose into the leather and breathes in deep.. The distant scent of lavender still there. Subtle but not absent.

He smiles a little to himself and moves back into the living room, about to skip to the next song when he spots his mom’s iPod sitting on the shelf behind it.

His curiosity gets the better of him, eyeing it only for a moment before deciding to see what taste his mom prefers. Plugging the iPod up, he presses play on the playlist very eloquently titled ‘Slay’. 

The first song comes on, and it’s Water by Tyla. Sonic tries extra hard  to not think about what his mother might be thinking about while listening to this song, and instead just listens to the beat and starts moving. It’s not bad for a girly playlist. She has some nice tunes in here, and Sonic doesn’t discriminate music tastes based on what people deem mainstream or not. Music is music, and if it speaks to someone, so be it.

Though, he’d be lying if he didn’t say his mother’s playlist had him going from dancing with energetic bounces and headbangs and silly moves to smooth and suave dancing. Letting the music flow through him as he moves his hips and swayed his tail to the beat, a lot more fluid and possibly seductive. Oh well. It’s not like he’s dancing for anyone, so let him be a little raunchy! He’s nearly 18!

Little does he know, he soon will be dancing for someone, a certain ebony hedgehog pulling up on their motorcycle outside. 

His mission was long and boring, but Shadow is finally back in town. He’s honestly just thankful the op ran smoothly enough for it to finish early. He was going to go home and rest for the night, but his brain kept running to a certain blue hedgehog. And he figured he’d surprise him. The thought of the hero’s face lighting up like Christmas at his surprise appearance made him feel warm inside, and he frankly needed the positive turn after having to have zero contact while away.

Climbing off his bike, he sighs as he walks towards the front door of the Wachowski residence, running his hand back through his quills and fiddling with a small item in his pocket with the other hand. 

He took only two steps up to the front door before realization dawned on him.

The Wachowski vehicles were gone. He couldn’t see any lights on.

Was anyone home???

Frowning a bit, he tried to recall if Sonic had mentioned going away only to remember that he would be home alone. 

A slow smile forms on Shadow’s face, his quills resembling devil horns behind him.

He could hear the sound of muffled music coming from the side of the house, stepping back down the steps to walk around and peer through the window to see if he could spot the hedgehog.

Sure enough, there was Sonic. Wearing his jacket. Dancing very lewdly.

Shadow swallows hard and feels his body tense up a moment at the sight, unable to take his eyes away as he watches Sonic’s hips sway and his arms move fluidly around himself. Quite literally feeling himself. Shadow has never seen Sonic act such a way, though he supposes dancing is different  than acting. Still, it left his throat dry and his tail stiff for reasons he couldn’t quite name.

The song switches to a new one, Sonic grinning and jumping up and down excitedly since he seems to know this one. And much to Shadow’s surprise, Sonic doesn’t only dance to this one, but he sings. Swinging Shadow’s jacket off his shoulders, he places it on a nearby vacuum cleaner to make it stand on its own, placing a basketball on top of it to act as a head. 

“How can it be? You and me

Might be meant to be, can't unsee it

But I don't wanna 'cause no scene

I'm usually so unproblematic

So independent

Tell me why

'Cause the boy is mine, mine”

Sonic sings all playful and sweet, strutting over to the jacketed vacuum that Shadow can only assume is meant to be himself. And the way Sonic walks can only be described as seductive.

Swallowing again, Shadow leans a bit closer to the window, the glass fogging up due to his breath.

“Somethin' about him is made for somebody like me

Baby, come over, come over (over)

And God knows I'm tryin', but there's just no use in denying.”

Sonic slowly walks around the Shadow dummy, fingers trailing along the basketball only to grab onto the jacket collar when he’s back in front of it and tug it towards him,

“The boy is mine

I can't wait to try him

Le-let's get intertwined

The stars, they aligned

The boy is mine

Watch me take my time

I can't believe my mind

The boy is divine

Boy is mine”

Sonic turns around then, pressing his back to the jacket’s front and slowly sinking down while letting his hands rub down the leather. Shadow’s crimson eyes have never been wider, his heart pounding in his chest, and his stiff tail now slowly beginning to wage behind him without his consent. 

Swaying his hips, Sonic slowly comes back up with his tail rubbing against the front of the jacket, 

“Please know this ain't what I planned for

Probably wouldn't bet a dime or my life on

There's gotta be a reason why

My girls, they always come through in a sticky situation

Say, "It's fine"

Happens all the time–”

Sonic’s eyes open from their half-lidded daze and are locked directly with Shadow’s.

Immediately, the blue hedgehog lets out what can only be described as a mortified yelp, collapsing onto the ground with his hands over his head as if that’ll hide him from Shadow.

Shadow’s own lips part in a gasp at being caught staring like a creep, quickly backing away from the window with a “Shit!” and rushing around to the front again and straight to his bike.

He needs to go.

He needs to go now.

He only makes it to his bike, cranking it up before two large, gloved hands that don’t belong to him are landing firmly on the handlebars. 

Damn. Almost got away.

He looks up wide-eyed to find a glaring Sonic the Hedgehog standing in front of his bike, straddling the front wheel.

“Shadow! What the hell!?” “It-it’s not what it looks like,” Shadow tries, stuttering his defense only for Sonic to not be having it.

“Spying on someone through their window??? That’s way past not cool!” he looks quite perturbed, his cheeks glowing red with both humiliation and anger, Shadow is sure.

“I wasn’t spying, I was–” his ears fold back sheepishly as he mutters, “I was going to try and scare you. I forgot you were home alone, and came to visit because my mission ended early.” Sonic huffs at this, “That’s still no excuse to violate my privacy like that! You could’ve knocked instead of watching!”

“I know, I know, I–” Shadow blinks, his own shame slowly melting into something else. Something more smug. His lips slowly curl into a smirk as he looks back up at Sonic, “What exactly.. was I watching??”

Sonic’s eyes widen at that, tensing up and looking thrown off by the question only for his cheeks to go even more rosy, “Uhh..” “Because it looked to me like you were dirty dancing on my jacket..”

“...Wanna call a truce and never talk about it again?” “Truce,” Shadow nods, shaking Sonic’s hand in agreement. 

Sonic just offers a sheepish smile and sighs, speaking after a moment of silence and continuing to hold hands, “I’m glad you’re back safe, though..,” his eyes look down bashfully before looking back up to Shadow through heavy lashes, “I missed you..”

Shadow swallows hard again, feeling that familiar sense of tension swell in the pit of his stomach and pound at his chest, the soft thumping of his tail against the seat of his bike coming from behind him.

“You did?” “Of course, I did,” Sonic snickers, rubbing the back of his neck looking at their still interlocked hands, “I’d uh.. I’d invite you in, but Dad had a strict no visitors rule..” “Wanna go for a ride??” Shadow offers without giving it a single thought, eyes hopeful and locked on the blue hedgehog in front of him.

Sonic looks a bit surprised by this before he then gives a little grin, “Let me lock up.”

He dashes off to the house again to lock the doors and check on Ozzie before leaving, Shadow watching him with a little hummed chuckle.

That boy is his.

[midnightshard06]

Sonic

Sonic grinned proudly. “Well Tails and me have been family for a long time now. Practically raised the kid myself heh. We’re close as you might expect. We also help keep each other in check. He, usually, keeps me from doing anything too reckless and I make sure he actually gets enough sleep and eats at least two meals a day.” He put his hands behind his head before a contemplative look came over his face. “If I have any blood related family out there I have no idea where they are. Not that I really care to find them anyway.” He put his hands down and shrugged. “Plus Shadow, and I guess Eclipse too, is in the picture now. Me and Shadow are on really good terms.” He chuckled. “Spending all that time helping him adjust to earth and doing my best to undo everything he’d been taught to think about himself helped with that. We’re… really close yeah.” A fond smile slipped onto his face for a moment before it slipped into a more cocky grin. “Eclipse is ok too. Fun to mess around with plus he makes a decent game partner when I can’t rope anyone else into it. He’s about just as competitive as me which makes it fun.”

Shadow

Shadow looked down for a moment before sighing. “Well not long after I was created I suppose I only considered Maria and perhaps Black Doom and some of the Black Arms my family. No one else at that point mattered to me. With Maria gone now though… well I find my family has expanded quite a bit. I think she would be happy to know that.” He cleared his throat. “Of course there is what is technically my biological family with Eclipse and the Black Arms. Eclipse is… a lot, but I am happy to have met him. Without his help I fear the confrontation with the Black Arms would have ended in tragedy. The Black Arms now look up to me like a leader, but I believe our relationship is positive.” He crossed his arms and scowled. “As for Black Doom… well he’s dead now so I suppose there’s not much of a point in speaking about him.” His ear twitched as his expression turned into something more neutral. “There’s also the Biolizard, which I suppose in a way could be considered my sibling as well. I… am doing my best to help them. Going back up to the Ark is hard though.”

His expression softened. “Then I suppose there’s Sonic and Tails. The two who took me in and took the time to help me.” He glanced around as if looking for something, or someone. “Sonic and I are very close. I admit I’m not sure what I would do without him at this point. His steady presence has helped me adapt much quicker I think. As well as realize some things.” He sighed. “Tails I’m far less close with but I still appreciate everything he’s done for me. I believe some of my lingering unease with the fox may be due to his connection with science. It… reminds me of the Ark. It’s something I’m working on though.”

Silver

“Oh! I’m really close with my family. Especially my parents.” Silver grinned. “I’m really grateful Sonic and Shadow decided to take me in when they found me all those years ago. It’s a little hard sometimes to get them to let me do things that might be dangerous, but I’ve been working on getting them to downplay their protective steaks for a while now.” He puffed his chest out. “Clearly it’s been working since they’ve let me start going to the past with Mephiles on a regular basis. Plus even before that they’d let me go out and scout the nearby ruins.” He tapped his chin. “There’s also uncle Eclipse. I don’t see him too often but Shadow likes to call him a bad influence on me. I think he’s fun.”

For characters!

If any of you have family, what's your family relationship like?

More character questions!!

[theloveoffootball10]

sᴛɪᴄᴋᴡɪᴛᴜ - ᴛ ʜ ɪ ʀ ᴛ ʏ ᴛ ᴡ ᴏ

m a s t e r l i s t

ᴛ ʜ ɪ ʀ ᴛ ʏ ᴛ ᴡ ᴏ

Come Monday morning I am physically drained. I don't want to go into the office, I can't face anyone so I decided on working from home not that I can say I'm doing much work. I find myself staring blankly at the screen more than anything else. I should still be in Austin or at least just arriving back from Austin if all of this didn't happen.

I don't have it in me to text my friends and let them know what has happened. I've had some messages after the pictures of me slapping Lando were posted but no one has any idea I've came home early. They'll all just assume I'm quiet due to the time difference, it wouldn't be the first time.

Sitting in the kitchen during my lunch break I pick at the salad in front of me. I have no interest in eating food lately but I eat the bare minimum when I have to. A break up has never hurt me this much. I don't want things to be over but I don't see any going back from this for me and Lando. I don't know how I could ever trust him again. Hearing the doorbell I look at my mum alarmed, neither of us are expecting anyone and I have a gut feeling who it is. As I open the app for our camera system my heart sinks when I see Lando stood there.

"It’s him" I say bluntly looking up at my mum.

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"Mum I can't see him. I don't want to talk to him" I'm stood in the kitchen and despite Lando being stood on my doorstep I'm not strong enough to even look at him.

"I'll answer it but I'll tell him where to go Lucía. I'm not going to make an effort to be nice to him" my mum says pointing her finger at nothing as she makes her way to the door. I might not want to see Lando, but I can't help but eavesdrop at what he has to say "What are you doing here Lando? My daughter doesn't want to talk to you and I certainly don't want you here"

"Stacey I know I fucked up"

"You're right you did but you weren't the one holding your sobbing daughter in your arms. The daughter who was so upset and crying so much she vomited and had a panic attack! Over you! Someone with so little respect for her!"

"Stacey I love her so much I just need to tell her how sorry I am" hearing Lando plead with my mum I feel the tears threatening to spill over.

"Lando you don't stick your tongue down the throat of a different girl when you claim to love your girlfriend”

"I just need to talk to Lucía. No one knows I've fucked this up more than I do"

"Do yourself a favour Lando get back on the plane you flew here on and go to Mexico. Lucía doesn't want to see you and I'm not going to make her see you. I've been in your world, I know how easy it is for you to fall for it when you've got girls throwing themselves at you but you're not doing it at the expense of my daughter"

"I don't want other girls I want her" Lando sounds on the brink of tears himself and hearing his words I silently cry. I want to hear him out and give him five minutes of my time but I can't.

"You're too late Lando. Do yourself a favour, go to the next race and leave my daughter to move on" my mum doesn't give Lando the chance to respond as she closes the door in his face.

The next few weeks pass in a haze. I might be around but I'm not present. My mind doesn't focus on anything and I just shut down. Lando does try to call and text but I don't answer the calls and I can't bring myself to open the text messages, he's even sent flowers to apologise. I've been hurt before but I've never felt it this badly before.

My friends have been incredible. I barely respond to them but they're all still there for me. They'll come over and sit with me but if I just want to sit there not saying anything, they still stay. If I cry they stay. I've been a drain on them but they've all stayed by my side.

I tried going to the wedding Lando should've been my plus one for but couldn't do it. I left not long after the ceremony. I was sat staring into thin air most of the time, thankfully my dad understood and left me to go back to his house without arguing that I should stay at the wedding. I'm a shell of the confident independent woman I was.

f1gossip

Liked by user178 and 15,072 others

f1gossip Lando Norris and girlfriend Lucía Alonso both posted cryptic comments on their instagram stories suggesting there's trouble in paradise for the paddocks favourite couple. The pair haven't been seen together since Austin when Lucía was seen angrily slapping Lando across the face. Has it reached the end of the road for the McLaren driver and his girlfriend?

View all comments

user294 Lucía definitely sent him that cake they must still be together ����🏽

↪️ user193 cakes like that have to be ordered weeks in advance she probably just forgot to cancel the order

user935 Lucía has got to be hinting at wanting to forget everything

↪️ user499 my take from that song is that Lando has done something that has caused them to break up and Lucía isn't coping well with the situation 💔

↪️ user935 I think you're possibly onto something! You don't slap someone the way Lucía did for no reason

↪️ user499 he has 100% hurt her

"He's an absolute wreck because of what's happened. He knows he fucked up and it's killing him" Max practically screams at me as we stand in my kitchen. It's the weekend of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Liv has brought Max over with her but I knew this conversation would come at some point. Max is always trying to get me to speak to Lando.

"No, don't even go there Max. Don't come in here and tell me how upset he is when he's the one that caused this" I don't want to know how Lando is feeling, quite frankly I don't care "we wouldn't be in this situation if he could keep it in his pants"

"Lucía please just talk to him. I'm not saying you have to get back with him or anything but please talk to him. You even ordered him a birthday cake!"

"That was ordered in September when we were still together! I don't want to talk to him. He's broken me and shattered me into pieces. I've never loved anyone the way I love him and I thought he loved me back. This isn't how you treat someone you love"

"Max babe just leave it yeah?" Liv says looking at Max and I can tell she's ready to play referee.

"I'm just saying Lando's hurting as well"

"Fucking hell! How many times do I need to say it! He has no one but himself to blame! He could've had anyone in the world, he could've had a different girl at every track but he strung me along. If he didn't want to be with me he just had to say instead of getting with her under my nose! He even had the fucking audacity to do it a weekend I was there! He has no respect for me Max"

"He fucking loves you! I've seen how much you're both hurting and it's fucking awful. I listened to him and I sat with him as he cried. I think it would do you the world of good to listen to him" Max says holding his hands up in defeat "I'm leaving now because you clearly don't want to hear this and I can see the looks Liv is giving me"

"I'm sorry Lucía I'll phone you later okay?" Liv says knowing she has to leave with Max but I'm not mad. I'm not going to put her in the middle of this. I have no doubt she's heard Lando's version of events but I'm not ready for that.

After another restless night I pull a blanket over myself as I settle on the couch to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix. I haven't watched any of the racing since I left Austin, I haven't felt like it. I didn't want to see Lando's face all over but I can't sleep which always seems to be the case lately so I've decided to brave it and watch the race alone.

I feel like watching the race alone is the best thing for me to do, it means if I want to turn it off at any point I can without upsetting anyone. My friends all offered to be with me the next time I watch a race but I don't want to bother them anymore. The darkness of the early Sunday morning leaves my sole focus on the tv in front of me. I've got a steaming cup of tea in my hands but I think that's mainly to keep my hands busy.

As the race starts I find it hard to concentrate on what is happening. I've turned it on last minute to avoid all of the build up, my thinking is that I can switch off as to who is in the car if I don't see their faces first. Stupid of me I know. It goes well until we're four laps into the race and all I can do is stare at the TV in horror. Watching as Lando's car hits the wall and continues into the runoff area hitting the barrier at full speed time slows down and I let out an audible gasp as my breathing stops and the cup of tea in my hand ends up on the floor. He's slow to respond to the calls of the team and he sounds in pain but he isn't getting out of the car.

The seconds feel like hours as I wait to see Lando's body emerge from the cockpit of his car. When he does climb out I can see he's visibly in pain. He might be walking away to the medical car but I'm not convinced. Picking my phone up I dial Chelsea's number. I don't know who from Lando's family is there but I need to know he's okay.

"Chelsea? Can you hear me?" I ask as the call connects and I hear the noise of the garage in the background.

"Lucía are you okay? I can hear you fine"

"Chels I need you to find out if Lando is okay. Please Chels do what you can. That was the worst thing I've ever seen I need to know he's okay" as I'm talking to Chelsea my eyes fill with tears. I've seen crashes over the years in formula one but knowing it was Lando makes me feel sick to my stomach, I still love him the last thing I want is for him to be hurt.

"I promise I'll do what I can. I know he's been taken to the medical centre and there's talk of him being taken to hospital as a precaution but I'll confirm it as son as I can. I think his dad is here but if I need to I'll send your dad"

"Hospital? Fuck! I knew it was bad when he wasn't responding. If you see Adam please as him to phone me. I appreciate this Chels" letting Chelsea go I watch the aftermath of the crash. The more I see it the more I feel sick. I want to watch for my dad but I know don't know if I can.

"What happened in here?" My mum asks walking into the living room not even surprised I'm up so early. She's found me in this position multiple times over the last few weeks.

"I dropped my cup when Lando crashed. Chelsea thinks they're taking him to hospital to get checked" I feel numb from what I've just witnessed "I feel so helpless mum"

"He'll be okay Lucía he has the best medical care at his fingertips"

"Mum you didn't see it. He hit the barrier with so much force. He couldn't answer the radio" feeling myself start to cry I think I'm in shock "I need to know he's okay mum I love him"

"I know you love him Lucía. Don't panic and wait for someone to call you. Don't think the worst until you know what is happening. I'll get something to clean this up" as my mum walks out of the living room my phone begins to ring and I see Adam's name on my screen.

"Adam? Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay" I can't even say hello I'm so panicked.

"He's okay Lucía. He's in pain and on a lot of pain meds but he'll be okay. There's going to be some bruising but it's the best we could hope for after a crash like that" hearing Adam's words I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for letting me know. You didn't have to but I appreciate it"

"Lucía I'm not going to keep this information from you. I know how much you care about Lando. Forget everything that has happened lately, that doesn't take away from the fact you care about each other more than anyone else" something about Adam’s words hits home. His son is the love of my life.

“Adam can I ask you something? You can say no” I don’t want to come across as needy but I need Adam to do this one thing for me.

“What is it? Whatever I can do I’ll do it for you Lucía”

“Once Lando has rested and he’s in less pain will you ask him to phone me? I need to talk to him” I finally suck it up and decide I’m ready to speak to Lando. Maybe it’s the thought that every time he gets in the car I could lose him forever, I don’t know. All I know is that I need to speak to him. It’s been a long 5 weeks of not hearing his voice.

“Of course I will. You have my word. I know he’ll be happy to hear from you” it sounds like Adam has a smile on his face at my request. I don’t know what will come of talking to Lando but I’m as ready as I’m going to be. I just have to hope he still wants to speak to me.

[n3wstxd]

cis virgin 81 james x trans experienced dave and dave talks him through giving him head, fucking him, etc as the dom? 🙏🙏🙏🙏

𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒/𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄 - 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐲

warnings: loss of virginity, first time(s), vaginal fingering, pussy eating, p in v, topping from the bottom (kinda)

nsfw under the cut :)

Dave’s picked up the ability to sense whether people were experienced sexually, and James was a virgin if he’d ever seen one. The way he’d blush and avert his gaze when himself and Lars would talk about their sexual escapades just screamed that he’d never been with anyone ever.

So when James had eventually gotten comfortable enough to open up to the guitarist about his lack of sexual encounters, Dave was more than happy to help him out.

How the hell has James gone this long without a single hookup? He was not only cute, but he exuded a certain charm—one that had the power to turn Dave weak in the knees. And here James was, eighteen and a bloody virgin. It was such a waste of a lovely specimen like James, Dave thought.

Dave was already starting to form a plan of some sort to help James get some action for once in his life, and he was more than eager to get started. He had some great ideas in mind, and he was confident that they would work like a charm on a sweet, innocent boy like James.

The very next day, Dave wasted no time in putting his plan into action. He invited James over to his place, under the guise of helping him with a guitar lick he’d been struggling to master.

Once James had arrived, Dave pretended like he was going to help out with the guitar... But he didn’t. Instead, he steered the conversation towards a very different topic. He started asking James questions about his love life, wanting to get a better idea of what they were working with here.

He found out pretty quickly that James was pretty naive and lacked the experience that most guys at his age would have already had. 

He also sensed the younger boy’s nervousness and anxiousness whenever the subject of sex came up, which gave Dave plenty of opportunities to tease him.

Dave continued to poke fun at and flirt with James, watching the cute blush spread across his cheeks and the way his eyes would widen with every suggestive comment. Dave loved seeing the boy squirm; it was a power trip like no other.

Then, after a while, Dave decided to up the ante by casually mentioning the fact that he’d had quite a few partners. He talked about some of his past experiences and bragged a little, just to get a reaction out of James.

Then, after a while, Dave decided to up the ante by casually mentioning the fact that he’d had quite a few partners. He talked about some of his past experiences and bragged a little, just to get a reaction out of James.

Dave decided to push the envelope even more by bringing up some of the more explicit details of his past encounters. He could see the shock and surprise on James’s face, but there was also something else hiding behind those wide eyes of his.

Arousal. Dave could see it plain as day: the way James’s breaths would get heavier, the way his tongue would dart out to wet his lips, the way he’d try—and fail—to hide the tent in his jeans.

“So, what about you?”

James looked up, confusion and embarrassment written all over his face. “What…what do you mean?” He asked, his voice cracking a little.

Dave grinned, enjoying seeing the boy all flustered like this. “I mean, have you ever hooked up with anyone before?” He asked, his tone casual but with an undertone of tease.

James gulped, his cheeks turning crimson as he shook his head. “N-no, I haven’t,” the blonde mumbled. How cute.

Dave feigned surprise, pretending like this news was a shock to him. “Really? Never?” He asked, leaning in closer to the boy.

James’s face was now so red that he was almost glowing. “No, never,” He repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. Dave chuckled, loving the way the boy was reacting to him. “Oh, sweet, innocent James.” He teased, reaching out to pat his cheek. “You’ve been missing out, you know.”

Dave could feel the heat radiating off the boy’s skin as he touched his face. He let his hand linger a little longer than necessary, his fingers tracing the curve of James’s jawline.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Dave continued, his voice low and sultry. “There’s nothing wrong with being inexperienced. In fact, I think its quite endearing...”

The guitarist inched closer to James’s ear, his breath warm against the sensitive skin. “But I can’t help but wonder what type of sounds you’d make if you actually knew what it was like to be touched by someone who knows what they’re doing.”

The boy’s eyes widened even further at Dave’s words, and he let out a small, needy whimper. Dave could practically feel the boy’s body heat increasing, the arousal radiating off of him in waves.

Dave smiled smugly, knowing that he had James completely under his spell. “You know, I could show you what I mean.”

James’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened and closed several times like a fish out of water. “Y…you would?” He finally managed to stutter out. Dave chuckled again and closed the distance between them, moving so that he was practically hovering over James now. “Of course I would, sweetheart,” he said, his voice dripping with honey.

He raised his hand and gently cupped James’s chin, making the boy look up at him. “I could teach you a few things.” He murmured, his eyes locked on the boy’s lips. James swallowed hard, his eyes flickering downwards as he stared at Dave’s mouth. 

He seemed torn between wanting to pull away and wanting to lean in closer. Dave could smell the heady mix of desire and uncertainty emanating off the boy, and it was driving him wild.

Dave leaned in even closer, his lips hovering mere inches away from James’s. He could see the younger boy’s breaths coming faster and more shallow, and he knew that he had him right where he wanted him.

But just as Dave was about to close the final gap between them and press his lips against James’, he pulled back, a wicked smile on his face. “But it’s up to you, of course,” he said, feigning innocence. “I won’t force you into anything you’re not ready for.”

James’s eyes snapped up to meet Dave’s, confusion and disappointment etched all over his face. “N-no, I… I want to,” he stuttered out, his voice shaky.

Dave raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on the corner of his mouth. “You sure about that, sweetheart?” The ginger purred, enjoying the way James was practically pleading with those beautiful round blue eyes of his.

James nodded keenly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “I’m sure,” he says oh so eagerly, a hint of desperation in his voice, eyes shining with yearning. “Please, Dave.”

The older man grins, moving to push James back against the couch and settling on his lap. Hazel eyes scan James’ face watchfully. “Well, since you asked so nicely…” he whispered, his hand going to the back of the boy’s neck and pulling him closer.

The moment their lips met, Dave could feel the spark of electricity shoot through his body. James’s lips were soft and pliant, molding perfectly against his own. Dave couldn’t help but moan into the kiss, his tongue licking at the boy’s bottom lip, seeking entrance into his mouth.

James responded fervently, his hands coming up to clutch at Dave’s shirt as he opened his mouth, allowing Dave’s tongue to slip inside. Dave deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring the sweet heat of James’s mouth, and he could feel the boy shivering in his lap.

James seemed surprised at first, but he quickly got over his surprise and returned the kiss with a fervor that surprised even Dave. The boy’s hands flew up to Dave’s chest, grabbing onto the fabric of his shirt and pulling him closer, letting out a quiet whimper as Dave deepened the kiss.

Dave smiled against James’s lips, his arms wrapping around the boy’s slender waist and pulling him tighter against him. He tilted his head slightly, changing the angle of the kiss and delving his tongue deeper into the warm, wet heat of the younger boy’s mouth.

He started slowly grinding his hips against James’ lap, eliciting a gasp from the boy. Dave could feel the boy’s own hardness forming against his thigh, and it sent a thrill through his body.

Dave knew he had the boy right where he wanted him—desperate and aching for more. He broke the kiss, his lips trailing down James’s jawline and to his neck, nipping and sucking at the tender flesh.

James let out a soft moan, his hands gripping Dave’s shirt even tighter as the man attacked his neck with kisses and gentle bites. His hips rose involuntarily to grind up against Dave again, seeking more friction.

“I wanna fuck you..” James breathes, eyes lidded with desire, fingers hooking under the waistband of his jeans.

Dave’s breath catches in his throat as the words leave James’ mouth. There was something about the filthy words coming out of the boy’s pretty, innocent lips that just went straight to his own rapidly growing arousal.

“I know, sweetheart,” he purrs, his hands going to rest on the boy’s hips. “But I think we should move to a more comfortable place first, mmm?”

James nods, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath he takes. “Yeah,” he manages to get out, voice thick with need. Dave helps him up, and the blonde takes his hand to lead him down the hall.

Dave lets James lead him into his bedroom, closing the door behind them. He watches as the boy climbs onto the bed, sitting on his knees and looking up at Dave with wide, innocent eyes.

Dave joins him on the bed, moving to kneel in front of him. He reaches out to cup James’s cheek, his thumb brushing gently over the boy’s lower lip. “You’re so beautiful…now take your clothes off.”

James’s breath hitches at the command, a small shiver running down his spine. He complies, pulling his shirt over his head in one swift motion before fumbling with the button on his jeans.

Dave’s eyes roam over the newly exposed skin before him, taking in the boy’s lean, toned body. He whistles appreciatively, a smirk playing on his lips as he helps James undo his jeans and pushes the material out of the way.

James takes over and Dave moves to take his own clothes off. What the younger man finds strange is the lack of a bulge in the ginger’s boxers. But it all clicks in his head when he sees the two asymmetrical scars under his pecs, barely visible.

Dave catches the look on James’ face and grins, knowing that the boy has figured out his little secret. “Surprise,” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Hope it’s not a dealbreaker, sweetheart.”

“O…oh,” James stutters out, his cheeks flushing bright red. He couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed for his assumption, but at the same time, he was intrigued. He’d never met a transgender person before, and Dave was still very attractive to him regardless.

Dave chuckles softly, seeing the boy’s genuine reaction. “Yeah, not what you were expecting, huh?” he said, his eyes watching the boy carefully. James merely gulps. “I couldn’t tell.” He admits shyly, his cheeks going peony pink.

He reaches out to take James’s hands, placing them on his chest. 

“You can touch me, you know,” he said, his voice low and sultry. “I don’t bite…unless you want me to.”James lets out a shaky breath, his hands moving on their own to explore the expanse of Dave’s chest. He let his fingertips trace over the scars first, gently touching them as if they were something fragile and precious.

Dave leaned into the touch, pleased at the feeling of the boy’s soft hands on his skin. He could see the look of curiosity and fascination in James’s eyes, and it made his heart skip a beat.

He let out a soft sigh as James’s hands continued to explore, moving lower and lower until they were resting on his hips. Dave leaned in closer to him, his eyes locked onto the boy’s. “Can I see it?” James misters up the courage to ask, looking up at Dave reverently.

Dave grins, amused by the boy’s innocent question. “See what, exactly?” he teases, knowing damn well what James was talking about.

He watches as the boy’s face flushes an even deeper shade of red, his gaze dropping down to the spot between Dave’s legs. Dave can feel the heat pooling in his core, and he resists the urge to grab the boy and pull him closer.

“Can I see your…pussy?” James asks finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “Please.”

Dave feels a shiver run down his spine at the boy’s bold question, his eyes darkening with desire. He can’t help but find the boy’s innocence and curiosity absolutely tantalizing.

“You sure you’re ready for that, sweetheart?” he teases, his voice husky. He reaches out to cup the boy’s chin again, tilting his face up to look at him directly. James nods, his eyes flicking up to meet Dave’s. “Yes,” he says, his voice shaky but sure. “I want to see it…I want to see all of you.”

Dave can’t help but feel a pang of affection for the boy in that moment, his heart swelling at the younger man’s earnestness. He smiles gently, taking the boy’s hands and guiding them to the edge of his boxers.

James takes the cue and starts to slowly pull down the boxers, his hands shaking a little as the fabric slides down over Dave’s hips. He can feel his breath catch in his throat as he finally gets a clear look at what’s between Dave’s legs.

“Wow.” Was all that was in James’ thoughts, mesmerised, his eyes wide with awe. He couldn’t believe how different it looked from what he’d seen on magazines and in movies. But it wasn’t any less attractive to him, if anything, it was even more arousing. 

Dave wasn’t clean shaven like girls in porn mags, no, he had a curly tuft of ginger hair nestled right above, a happy trail going up to just under his belly button. 

“You’re beautiful.”

Dave chuckles gently at the boy’s reaction, his heart feeling lighter at the look of wonder on the boy’s face. “You flatter me, sweetheart,” he teases, reaching out to brush back a strand of hair from James’s forehead. “But there’s more to me than just this, you know. I’ve got plenty to show you. Plenty to teach.”

James looks up at his friend, his eyes full of trust. “Teach me. Please.”Dave can feel the heat of arousal surging through his body at the boy’s words, his mind filled with all the things he’d like to do to him. He moves to lie back against James’ pillows, patting the spot on the mattress in between his legs. 

“Well, firstly, you’re going to learn how to eat someone out.”

James’s eyes widen as Dave’s words register in his head, but he doesn’t hesitate to crawl in between the man’s legs. He looks up at him, waiting for the next instructions. 

Dave smiles, clearly enjoying having the boy’s at his mercy. “Right,” he purrs, “The first thing you gotta do is get comfortable down there.”

James nods, adjusting his position so he can lean in closer without his neck hurting. He can smell Dave’s musk from this angle, and it’s both heady and intoxicating to him.

“Good, there you go,” Dave says, a hand coming up to rest on the back of the younger man’s head. He tangles his fingers into the boy’s hair, not quite pushing but giving just enough pressure to keep him in place.

“Now, the main thing you need to do is listen to me,” he says, his voice dropping an octave or two. “Just do exactly what I tell you, alright?” The blonde nods obediently.

“Now, you’re going to use your tongue,” Dave says, his voice dropping even lower. “Start out gently at first. Flatten your tongue and lick a broad stripe from the bottom all the way to the top.”

James swallows, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. He follows Dave’s instructions, flattening his tongue and giving a slow, tentative lick. He’s surprised by the taste and texture, but he finds that he doesn’t mind it. In fact, he actually rather likes it.

Dave shudders a gasp. It’s been too long since he’s been eaten out.“There you go,” he breathes out, his hand clenching in James’s hair. “Keep doing that. Try to find a rhythm. And if you remember, pay some attention to the clit as well.”

James nods again, focusing on creating a pattern with his tongue. He feels a sense of satisfaction as he watches Dave’s head fall back against the pillow, his eyes closing in pleasure.

“That’s it. Just keep going,” Dave encourages, his voice heavy with pleasure. James can feel the praise giving him a small boost of confidence, and he doubles down on his efforts. He starts to experiment with different pressures and speeds, trying to see what works best to get a reaction out of Dave.

“Good god,” Dave moans, his hips jerking up involuntarily against James. It feels amazing to have the boy’s mouth on him like this, almost like he was made for this.

“You’re a natural at this, sweetheart. You sure you’ve never done this before?”

James can’t help but preen a little at the praise, his confidence growing with each moan that escapes from Dave’s lips. He pulls back to shake his head, his mouth too occupied with following Dave’s instructions to speak. In truth, he’s enjoying this more than he thought he would. The sounds that’s Dave making is something he could listen all day, and the way the man pulls on his hair with his fingers makes him feel weak.

He pulls away for a moment to get a proper breath, panting slightly. “Mmm…can I try something else?” he asks, looking up at Dave with big doe eyes, so eager to please.

James leans back on his knees, his hands resting on Dave’s hips. He’s got a determined look in his eyes now, like he’s set on something.

“Can I use my fingers?”

Dave raises an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “You’re getting awfully bold there, sweetheart,” he teases. “But I like it.”He shifts on the bed, spreading his legs a little wider to give the boy better access. “Go for it.”

James lets out a low moan as he sees the man’s legs open up further, his mouth practically watering at the sight. He reaches out, his hands trembling slightly, and gently prods at the man’s entrance.

“Is this…is this okay?” he asks, looking up at Dave for confirmation. “You need to use lube.”James reaches over to his nightstand and rummages through it, his fingers wrapping around a medium sized, nondescript bottle. He pops the cap and squeezes some onto his fingers, the scent of artificial strawberries filling the air.

“..Strawberry?” Dave huffs a laugh, sitting up.

“Yeah..” James laughs sheepishly, his shoulders rising in a shrug. “I didn’t have anything else.” He reaches down again, his slicked fingers tracing over Dave’s entrance. “Ready?” he asks again, seeking confirmation before he does anything. He watches as the man nods and relaxes his body. 

“Take it slow,” Dave advises, guiding his hand.

James nods and slowly pushes one of his fingers in, his breath catching in his throat. It’s so warm and tight, and it’s unlike anything he’s ever felt before. He looks up at Dave, who has his eyes closed and his head thrown back.

“Is this okay?” 

“Yeah…keep going,” Dave moans out, his hands clenching at the sheets. “You’re doing good, sweetheart. You can add another one now.”

James does as he’s told and carefully pushes another finger in, gently stretching Dave out. The man below him begins to make these soft, guttural sounds that are music to his ears. He’s never heard Dave sound like this, and it makes him feel powerful.

“You’re so hot like this,” James murmurs, his eyes roaming over the man’s body. Dave merely chuckles breathlessly. “There’s all kinds of things you can do with your fingers to please someone with a pussy. You can curl them…that’s when you, well, curl them.”

James looks down, realizing he’s never done that before. “Like this?” he says, as he starts to gently curve and uncurl his fingers.

Dave whines in response, a strangled sound that makes James’ heart beat faster. The man is usually the one in control, it’s strange to see him this way.

“Keep doing that..” Dave rasps softly. “And if you move your fingers faster…fuck…that’ll feel so good.” He has his eyes closed, his thighs quivering.

James nods, picking up the speed with his fingers while continuing to move then in a curling motion. He can’t believe he’s able to make Dave sound like that, it’s the ultimate ego booster. He begins to use his free hand to rub tight circles over the man’s clit as well, not sure if he’s doing it right, but he’s determined to make it good for him.

“You’re doing perfect, sweetheart….just a little longer…” Dave’s words are slightly broken as he trembles against the bed, the back of his hand resting over his mouth.

James redoubles his efforts, trying to listen to Dave’s instructions and keep up with the speed of his fingers. It’s starting to become a little tiring for his hand, but he soldiers on, determined to see this though.

“I’m doing good?” he asks, his voice dripping with innocence, even though he knows he’s probably driving Dave mad right now.

Dave nods fervently, choking out, “Yeah, yeah—fuck, and..and you can scissor them. That’s when you spread—”

The ginger cuts himself off with a cry, back toes curling as he holds onto James’ forearm. The vocalist’s fingers spread out, scissoring him unexpectedly.

James is a little startled at the reaction, but also immensely satisfied that he got such in response. Seeing Dave like this, so out of control and completely undone, has to be the highlight of his day. His fingers brush against a certain spot that makes Dave keen, and he takes note of it.

“Like that?” he asks, his voice a little cocky. “Is that the spot?”

Dave lets out a shuddering breath and nods, unable to speak for a moment. He’s never had someone so eager to learn like this before, and it’s a massive turn on but also a bit overwhelming.

“Mmm…yeah…don’t stop..” he manages to gasp out, his eyes squeezed shut. He can feel the heat pooling in the pit of his stomach, and he knows he’s not going to last much longer. “J-James..”

James hums in acknowledgement, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. He keeps up his pace, focusing on hitting that spot that makes Dave whine out so desperately. 

“You close, baby?” he asks, his eyes roaming over the man’s face. Dave merely nods, whining out a yes in response, his breath coming out in short, ragged gasps.

There's a few moments of quiet, tension building up in the air, like lightning just before a storm. Dave's body tenses up, his muscles taut and straining as he reaches the peak of his pleasure. He comes with a cry that sounds more animalistic than human, his body going into spasm as his nails dig into James’ forearms.

James watches in awe, his fingers still inside of Dave, feeling the man’s inner walls clenching around him. He can see the tears of ecstasy on Dave’s lashes and the flush of pink covering the ginger’s sweaty face. He coaxed the older man through his orgasm before finally pulling away. Dave finally slumps back into the bed, he looks absolutely wrecked.

“That was hot,” James says, his voice a little dazed and out of breath.

Dave doesn’t immediately respond, his chest still heaving slightly as he tries to recover from the intense orgasm he just had. He feels like he’s been boneless, his limbs like jello and his brain turned to mush. 

“Yeah…” he says finally, his voice hoarse and rough. “That was…something else, sweetheart.”

The corner of James’ mouth curves up in a cheeky little smile, a smug look in his eyes. He gently pulls his fingers out of Dave, bringing them up to his mouth to lick them clean. “You taste good,” he says, the innocence in his voice contradicted by his actions.

Dave lets out a huff and rolls his eyes fondly at the boy’s antics. “You’re a tease, you know that?” he says, sitting up and pulling the vocalist in for a lazy kiss. He can taste a bit of himself on James’ tongue, and it shouldn’t be as hot as it is.

James laughs against the man’s lips, “Only for you, old man.”

He breaks away from the kiss and pushes Dave back down flat on his back, coming between his legs. He looks down at him, a wanting look in his eyes. “My turn, now?”Dave can’t help but chuckle at the boy’s neediness. “Well, you did such a good job earlier, I reckon you deserve a treat.” 

He spreads his legs wider, one arm resting behind his head, the other hand tracing up and down the boy’s arm. James’ brain fizzles out a little at the sight, his eyes automatically drifting from the man’s face down to the space between his legs. He swallows, suddenly feeling a little nervous. 

“What..what do I do?” he asks, his voice slightly shaky as he glances down, then back up to meet Dave’s eyes. Dave can clearly see the tent in James’ jeans, aching to get out.

Dave reaches down and hooks a finger in the belt loop of James’ jeans, tugging him closer. “First, you take these off,” he mutters, James’ fingers making quick work of the button and zipper. 

The vocalist squirms slightly, clearly a little eager to get his clothes off. He’s a little embarrassed at how hard he is, but Dave’s not going to tease him about it. He throws his jeans to the floor, revealing his white boxer briefs. The material is already damp from where he’s leaked precome through them, and he tossed those away too.

There’s a soft intake of breath from the man below him, his eyes roaming over the boy’s form appreciatively. “Mm…” Dave grins. “I knew you’d be big.” 

James feels his cheeks heat up red, but the look in Dave’s eyes is enough to make his head spin. “Really?” he asks, hoping it’s true. “You’re like a damn tripod,” Dave teases, a wolfish smirk on his stupid pretty face. “Bet you’re gonna break someone in half with that thing.”

The vocalist lets out a choked laugh, “You flatter me.” he says, his cheeks flushing red.“Mmm, but only when I’m telling the truth, sweetheart.” Dave reaches up and grabs the boy’s hips, pulling him closer to his chest. “Come on now,” he murmurs, nipping at his ear. “I’m gonna teach you how to fuck someone properly. You ready?”

James can feel his heart thudding loudly in his chest as he nods his head, his eyes wide with anticipation. His hands come down to find purchase on Dave’s hips, and he swallows thickly. He nods mutely, unable to speak, his hands finding purchase on the man’s broad shoulders. “Yeah..just show me what to do.”

Dave smiles and draws him closer, legs wrapped around James hips. “First thing’s first,” he says, his hands trailing down the boy’s neck. “You can’t go in dry. It’s going to hurt like a motherfucker.”

James nods seriously, letting out a small “ah” as Dave speaks. He’s trying very hard to concentrate on what the man is saying and make sure he doesn’t mess this up. It helps that the man’s hands are trailing all over his body, soft and gentle.

“So you use lube. Probably the most important part. Be generous with it—better to be safe than sorry.”

The redhead reaches over and grabs the bottle from the nightstand, squeezing some into his hand and reaching down between their bodies. The cold liquid makes James shiver, but he holds himself still.

“That’s it. Just like that.” Dave says, as he starts to slowly pump his hand over the boy’s length, spreading the lube around. He’s looking up at the boy, admiring the way he flushes a deep red, his eyes dark and glassy. The boy has his lips bitten in a pout and his head thrown back, and Dave can almost imagine what he’ll look like moaning his name later.

James’ whole body jerks at the touch, gasping as Dave jerks him off. He’s trying not to make too many embarrassing sounds, but the feel of the man’s hand is almost too much. It feels too good to contain, and a small whorish moan escapes from his mouth. “Oh..my god, Dave..”

The older man grins, and he stops after James is seemed ready enough, guiding his cock towards his entrance. His cunt throbs, aching with need and soaking wet. 

“You gotta look when you line yourself up, okay?”

James lets out a shaky breath and nods as he does what he’s told, his hands coming down on the bed next to Dave’s shoulders to keep his balance. When he begins to press in, he has to take a moment because of the sudden heat enveloping his cock. “Shit…God…” he shivers, biting his lip to keep himself from letting out a wanton moan.

Dave groans, hazel eyes fluttering shut. James is big—lengthy and girthy in a way that stretches him out beautifully. He’s only taken half of the blonde before he’s stilling him with a hand, face scrunching up as he tries to adjust.

“Wait a minute,” he gasps out, taking a few quick breaths to steady himself. James almost worries he’s done something wrong, but then Dave’s opening his eyes and looking up at him. The man’s expression is almost fond, and he places a hand against the boy’s cheek. “Just hold still for me, okay? You’re doing great.”

The boy nods, trying to remain as still as possible as Dave adjusts. “You’re really tight..” James whispers, and he has to make some effort to keep his breathing steady. He looks down at Dave, his eyes wide with awe. He’s never seen the man look so…vulnerable before.

“Yeah…I don’t do this often.” Dave grins, his hand coming up to toy with a few strands of the blonde’s hair. He shifts his hips a little, pushing down against James’ length. “Okay…you can move now.”

James lets out another shaky moan and begins to move, his body trembling as he slowly pushes in. The feeling of Dave’s warm and tight walls is better than anything he’s ever felt before…he’s not going to be able to last very long. 

“Fuck….” The vocalist whimpers, his brow furrowing as he grips the sheets by the ginger’s head. He looks down at Dave, whose eyes are squeezed shut and mouth open in pleasure, strangled sounds of pleasure escaping his lips.

“You’re doing perfect, sweetheart.” Dave murmurs, his voice low and rough. He reaches up and runs a hand down the boy’s back, nails scraping lightly over the skin. “You make me feel so full.” The look on the guitarist’s face makes him want to keep this going on forever, because he looks so beautiful like this, chasing after his high like this is the meaning behind his life.

The vocalizations that Dave’s making is like music to his ears. It’s the most unguarded he’s ever heard the man, like the walls Dave’s spent so much time building has suddenly come down. 

James feels a deep sense of pride in himself, that he can make the man who always seems in control fall apart like this. He leans down, his chest resting against Dave’s and he starts to pick up the pace a bit, but enough that they’re still going rather slow.

Dave can feel the boy trembling, the strain on his face as he tries to hold himself back. The way his muscles are clenched and straining, holding himself up as he moves back and forth, it makes him look like a Greek sculpture or a statue from ancient times. “You can go faster, sweetheart.” He says, his chest rising and falling with each breath. He’s enjoying this just as much as James is.

James lets out a guttural moan, the noise so deep and desperate that he’s almost ashamed of it. He can’t help but piston his hips into Dave like he’s afraid he’ll slip through his fingers., pushing into him deeper and faster, chasing that feeling of bliss. He looks down at the man’s face, watching the way his brows knit together, cheeks all rosy. “You look so good like this,” James gasps. “So perfect...”

Dave hums, the sound reverberating through his chest. He’s never had anyone so eager and willing before, someone who’s so focused on pleasing him. It’s doing things to his heart and his head that he doesn’t want to think too hard about. “You’re doing so well, baby..” he croons, fingers wrapping into the boy’s hair and pulling him down. “I’m so close..”

James’ body feels like it’s on fire, the words sending sparks down his spine and setting his skin aflame. He feels like he’s going to burst at the seams any second, and the way Dave’s hand is tangled in his hair, the other roaming all around his body, isn’t helping either. “Me too…I’m so close..” he whines, biting his lip as his eyes flutter close. James is now fucking into him with reckless abandon, chasing their mounting pleasures.

Dave can feel the tension coiled in the pit of his loins, ready to burst at any moment. “James-!” He screams, and then the boy is coming with a loud and desperate cry, his whole body trembling with the force of his orgasm. Dave follows close after, clenching his eyes shut as he trembles with the force of it. It almost feels like he goes white for a few moments, and he has to gasp for breath. 

Dave’s insides feel gummy and warm with come, fluttering around James with the aftershocks of his climax. James’ lanky form collapses on top of Dave, and the older man gently scratches his scalp soothingly. 

They stay connected for a few seconds, only pulling apart when they feel James’ semen start to ooze out of his sensitive cunt. Disheveled and blissed out, Dave smiles lazily up at James. The younger man smiles back, and there’s a flash of arousal in his powder-blue eyes at the sight of Dave. 

“…Can we go again?”

[waitineedaname]

regarding tags on your last rb: i feel like ling burns water when he tries to cook but can also make a not half bad basic meal. i feel like these concepts coexist in him

I COULD SEE THAT TBH. during the camping trip from hell, he absolutely ruins several soups and is permanently removed from cooking duty, but then they end up having access to a real kitchen and he somehow pulls together a halfway decent stir fry and everyone is stunned

[mysterious-dark-shadow]

I sometimes re-read posts from "The Before Times": from before the Sewage Flood of '22, before we discovered the Slow Methane Leak that had been gassing the house for YEARS, before Felix was officially diagnosed with HOLE IN THE BRAIN.

This specific post was during a time when we were desperately trying to figure out why things were getting better in some ways and so much worse in others. Felix especially was dealing with mental and physical issues that should have gotten better after he quit his super stressful job.

The information we have now doesn't invalidate the conclusions Felix came to in the original post: his hormones were all over the place & his diet needed changing. And responding to those issues helped eliminate some symptoms that were specifically related to those problems. The changes helped him have a clearer head a year later when I ended up going crazy* from methane overexposure.

The fact that we had been working with doctors for several years actually helped us out a lot when it came to Felix's migraines. When we finally got to a neurologist, he could see that we weren't chasing painkillers. He ordered the MRI for Felix's head that we had been trying to get for soo long. And fought insurance to give us the prescription that actually made a difference in the severity of the migraines Felix suffers from.

And today we have a much better handle on our physical and mental health. We learned how to talk to each other about what's going on in our heads. We learned so much about how to help each other physically. We know what it looks like when one/both of us are suffering from methane exposure, and how to get the gas out of our living environment, so we can actually unpack boxes of stuff that we haven't touched since early 2022.

We are literally getting our past back. There are art projects that Felix was in the middle of that were boxed up alongside the reference books that were sitting on the same table. Trinkets and keepsakes that were on the shelves of bookcases and cabinets from our adventures, separately & together, are finding new spaces in our apartment. Our dried boutonnieres from our wedding day were briefly on display and then quickly put in a cabinet because our cats are rose-eating monsters.

Sometimes I wish I could reach back in time to 2020-2021 us, but I don't know what I'd say. What we went through in 2022 was horrific. We are still picking up the pieces. What kind of warning could prepare past-us for what was to come?

And then I remember a strange encounter we had early in 2021. We were in the beginning stages of our channeling experiments. I was the channeler for a specific entity that had previously given us advice that had turned out to be prophetic, so Felix at some point asked them, "What is the most important thing we should know for our future?" The entity made a painful grimace that made my face ache for a few hours afterwards, then said, "Keep going. No matter what happens, just... Keep. Going." They refused to elaborate, and Felix dismissed the entity soon afterwards. We were puzzled by the cryptic nature of the message and the swirling mass of negative emotions - anguish, fear, anger, regret - that my body felt at the moment the entity grimaced. But we followed the advice, reminding each other that we should "keep going" when times were difficult and situations seemed impossible to overcome.

I now realize that I don't have to reach back in time to warn anyone. Someone else already did. And now I pass on that advice to you in hopes that it helps you as it has helped us so many times:

Keep going. No matter what happens, just... Keep. Going. _____________

*I'm not using that phrase lightly. I completely lost touch with reality and ended up in a hospital psych ward for 12 hours. The hospital didn't handle me well (symptoms hand-waved as "THC overdose" with no tests confirming that diagnosis...), but the event did shock me back into reconnecting with reality again.

Having Mental Illness

It’s hard to talk about my experience with mental illness sometimes because I’m not diagnosed by a professional for “everything I have.” For instance, in my household we all know that I have depression and anxiety, but it’s not really nailed down on my medical chart whether I have Generalized Anxiety or Major Depression. I’ve talked to my doctor about my anxiety, my “moods” as it is usually termed in the doctor’s office, and had my spouse at my side during the discussions, and been prescribed Zoloft for my symptoms even, and the takeaway has been:

My doctor doesn’t want to diagnose me with a mental illness, because no one wants to figure out what the insurance will do. Or what the protocols for it are. Or what the exact diagnosis should be. My therapist had further insight there: finding someone who can make the right diagnosis for me is one thing. But there could be several different diagnoses for what I could have, depending on what treatment plan they wanted to bill for, or what my insurance covers, WHICH CAN CHANGE.

And all this time, we’re just trying to live this and figure out how to do right by me and the body and brain I have.

It’s why I keep thinking I need to explain myself here. There’s no catch-all term for whatever it is that I have. There’s a lot of medical interactions between my hormones, my mood, my sleep cycle, and my information processing ability. Sometimes at 2AM I decide it’s time to read a paranormal encyclopedia, and that’s just because my body is not going to be good at doing anything else at that time, because that’s what the chemicals in my body say to do.

So, I mentioned my hormones–one reason I’ve been quiet is because I don’t want people to think that transitioning will cause you harm or that transitioning people are “crazy.” But I’ve had some severe mental health effects from my hormones being way off-balance at times, and I’m finally able to talk about it. One reason I’m able to talk about it again? I’m finally GETTING my hormones.

Last year when I switched to topical rub-on testosterone instead of intramuscular injection, it was because I was unable to do the shots anymore. My needle fears ramped up and I had to switch over. Well, turns out the absorption was never working right for me because I was getting allergy injections in the same area as I was rubbing the cream on, and apparently the testosterone got into my bloodstream instead of the lymph system, and made my levels seem incorrect? Gods it was nuts. Anyway my insurance cancelled rub-on hormones on January 1 with no warning anyway, so it’s a good thing I was planning to switch to subcutaneous injection. Which I did yesterday after being without my rub-on hormones for 3 days.

My body feels like a submarine that goes up to get air and down to dive below at times completely dependent on my hormone levels and nothing else, and my hormone levels basically all last year were bonkers. It destroyed my sense of time right as I and everyone else were all locked in our homes. My stress has ramped with the news cycles, making me unable to sleep some nights until my body finally exits hypervigilance.

There’s not a cure for this, or any single diagnosis, or a treatment other than to take care of myself and keep going.

I’ll keep going.

I want to open up more about my mental illness experience, and what it does and how I get through it, but I’m going to warn you that my mental illness doesn’t follow the discourse. It fucks the discourse. I’m a person who has decided to stop driving because I don’t like how I might react to the unexpected behind the wheel, and I still vote, I make big financial decisions, heck I make winning investment picks. Sometimes I can’t walk out my front door, and it’s not for any logical reason, and I even know logically with my brain at the time that nothing bad will happen if I go outside. Still, sometimes I can’t walk out my front door, and in those times I realize that I don’t actually have to. Because last year we as a household realized that I could no longer do the things I’d done all the previous years before, that something in my mind and body had drawn a line and said I couldn’t go ignore those boundaries anymore.

I can’t watch TV like a “normal person.” Ads really mess with me and so I often avoid commercial television, for instance. But I also have trouble sitting down and absorbing something on a screen, I’ll often have to walk around, or I’ll need to watch the show out of order, or see it “filtered” through commentary or memes, because that’s how my brain decided I was processing that day. But the conversation I have with my spouse about the subject at the end of the day is still rich and fulfilling, because I’m still having an experience of the subject, be it a show or a video game or a news event. I just take it in in a very particular way, and sometimes that way changes depending on my mood and a bunch of other factors.

Heck, my diet changes how much I can focus and think. We’re still figuring out what does what. There’s a lot of rabbit holes to chase down. At some point we discuss what’s worth putting up with versus what actually needs treatment, because when things aren’t very clear-cut you need to prioritize. Also, having a lot of different medical issues at once means that you sometimes get overwhelmed and don’t know what order to address it all in.

I communicate in GIF and youtube format on here sometimes because I don’t really have a way to articulate the feeling or thought I have other than to show something that seems to encompass it all in an abstract or more psyche-oriented way. I really enjoy being able to do that here, and to get out the things I really want to express in an environment where people let me experiment with communication. Thanks to all of you for that. Except the bots. You’re not sentient, and that’s kind of weird.

Oh yeah. Mental illness and its interaction with hormones. Are completely ruining my ability to plan things and have been for like half a year now. So thank. For your pati. Ence.

[quilleth]

I guess I might as well just fuck off, not sitting at my computer, slouching like my spine is made of cooked spaghetti while scrolling Tumblr, completely not looking at anything work related, stuffing my face with dino fruit snacks on the regular at work since the obvious cues "I am on my lunch break" just get ignored anyway. JFC i'd hang a sign if I thought they'd fucking read it, but evidence has shown me they won't (also the printer isn't working).

More reasons I'm just like why the actual fuck am I here? Why did I have to be back in this godforsaken fucking office? So you can ignore the fact that I take my break at the same exact time every fucking day to ask me inane questions that could either be emails or done at other times? Like fuck I hate this. I hate it here.

[call-me-lemon]

Im still thinking about that shit my boss said like legit how dare she

I was on my hands and kneese that day scrubbing her crusty ass shelves for her yucky ass bisuness, I followed her and my managers instructions to the fucking letter and took the heat whenever the instructions conflicted with eachother

Its legit not even just a me thing, since I started working there less than a year ago shes had to replace her entire wait staff and half of her kitchen staff.

She legit hired new guys for the pizza station instead of just finishing my training. She knows Im a fast learner but she insists she cant trust me for some fucking reason. Like is she fucking stupid?

After she intruded in my personal life, asked invasive questions, and tried to mother me.

Not to mention she hasnt even been sending me pay stubs since fucking august so I cant even confirm shes been paying me the right wages. Minimum wage in my area got bumped up by a dollar in september.

[cluescorner]

Thanks so much for the recap because like...I have been actively keeping up with this bullshit (/pos AND /neg) and I literally forgot about Tim getting shot in the neck then fucking walking it off.

What the heck is going on in Batman/Gotham War?

I know a lot of people in fandom are confused and/or upset about what's been going on in Gotham War - why is Bruce acting like this, what is Selina doing, why are the Batkids taking sides. So I figured I would fill you all in on what's been happening in Batman and Catwoman since Chip Zdarsky took over with Batman #125, because it has been BONKERS and I have been enjoying the hell out of it.

Below, the quickest summary I can manage while still being comprehensive:

[Content warning: mental illness, abuse, suicide (...ish), LOTS of violence.]

The first arc, "Failsafe," starts with Batman and Robin (Tim, in this case) in pursuit of the Penguin, who is on a killing spree. In the very first issue, Tim gets shot in the neck. Bruce has to take him to the hospital, but first he has to strip him out of his costume and put him in civilian clothes to preserve their secret identities, triggering memories of when he had to do the same to Jason's dead body. There is LITERALLY NO PURPOSE TO ANY OF THIS EXCEPT WHUMP (Tim is back in action with a fucking BAND-AID on his neck very quickly), which is how I knew this was going to be good. Beat Tim up! Make Bruce cry about Jason! I want these men to suffer! (There is also SO much to be said about Tim's own Poor Mental Health Decisions throughout the entirety of Zdarsky's run so far, but that's for a separate meta post.)

Anyway. Bruce leaves Tim in the hospital and goes to confront Penguin, who turns out to be dying of mercury poisoning. He kills himself and makes it look like Batman did it, forcing Bruce to flee. (Penguin actually faked his death and is alive elsewhere under an alias, but that's not important right now.)

In the Batcave, a massive robot called Failsafe emerges. Failsafe attacks Bruce, who usually eats killer robots for breakfast, but he can't seem to get the upper hand on this one. Duke, Cass, Steph, and Dick show up to help, but Failsafe beats them all too, while Tim gets an injured Bruce away and to the Batcave.

In the Batcave, Bruce puts on a weird purple and red Batman costume and a new personality takes over: the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. Now, Zur has a very complicated history going back to 1958, but for the purposes of this story, all you need to know is that when he was younger, Bruce decided it would be good to hang out in a sensory deprivation chamber until his mind created a secondary personality, Zur, who is essentially Batman without Bruce. Zur is pure efficiency who does not care about anything but the mission. He created Failsafe, for one purpose: to kill Bruce if Bruce ever crossed the line and killed someone. And right now, Failsafe believes that Bruce killed Penguin.

Failsafe nearly kills Tim, which Zur is okay with writing off as an expendable soldier's death, but this causes Bruce to take control of the body back because "Tim isn't my soldier...HE'S MY SON!" (Tim Nation, why are you not ALL OVER this story? It's catnip.)

Babs calls in the JLA (SuperBat fans, you will also want to read Bruce's adoring description of Clark when he shows up), but of course Failsafe has kryptonite, which it stabs Clark with. The League dumps Clark and Bruce into the JLA jet and distracts Failsafe while Tim flies Clark and Bruce to the Fortress of Solitude. Bruce tells Tim he's a good boy and jumps out of the jet and into the ocean so that Tim and Clark will be safe from Failsafe. He's rescued by Arthur, who takes him to Atlantis to heal. THIS HAS ALL ONLY BEEN FOUR ISSUES SO FAR.

Two weeks later, Bruce wakes up to discover that Failsafe has taken over Gotham. He teleports up to the JLA Watchtower on the moon to lure Failsafe there, then blows the Watchtower up, hoping to catch a ride on one of the Javelins. But Failsafe has already destroyed them, so Bruce RIDES A BOOSTER ROCKET BACK TO EARTH, OXYGEN MASK CLAPPED OVER HIS FACE. The whole thing has some powerful Scooty-Puff Jr energy.

The only tricky part is reentry, when Bruce starts to burn up - his costume is fireproof, of course, but his chin is exposed. SO HE TAKES OFF HIS LITTLE BAT-PANTIES AND PUTS THEM OVER HIS HEAD. I swear to god this happened in a real comic book and the entire "Bruce falls off the moon and survives" sequence is utterly delectable goofy nonsense and I truly cannot recall a time I've had more fun reading a comic book.

Anyway, Bruce lands directly outside of the Fortress, BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DOES, and runs inside to find Clark and Tim. While Clark keeps Failsafe distracted, Bruce and Tim program nanobots to inject compassion into Failsafe. I SWEAR TO GOD. They zap him with the nanobots, but Failsafe pulls a high tech space gun out of the Fortress and shoots Bruce with it anyway, apparently disintegrating him. Tim falls to his knees in the snow, weeping. TIM NATION, WAKE UP, THIS RUN IS CANDY FOR YOU.

But of course Bruce isn't dead! That wasn't a killing gun, it was a "zap you into another dimension" gun!!! THAT was the compassion!

So Bruce finds himself in a dystopian alternate Gotham, and I'll be honest, I didn't love this arc ("The Bat-Man of Gotham") as much as I loved "Failsafe," but it has its moments. In this Gotham, Bruce Wayne is dead, so Regular Bruce is like "Oh boy, time to Batman this place up." Also he's plagued by hallucinations of a skeleton version of Jim Gordon who is still wearing a trench coat AND A MUSTACHE. Like I said, it has its moments.

This Gotham is controlled by Arkham, and anyone who is diagnosed as "crazy" is locked up. A new villain, Red Mask, is in charge, and Selina and a Venomed-up Harvey Dent work for him. Bruce teams up with an orphan kid (of course) named Jewel and goes after Red Mask, who turns out to be some guy named Darwin Halliday and ALSO...the Joker. Well, he's the Joker who hasn't been Jokerized yet. But one time he breathed in some chemicals that let him see into the main reality of the DCU (???) and glimpsed Regular Joker and now he wants to build an interdimensional machine to mentally connect with Regular Joker across universes which he assumes will make him insane, NATURALLY.

Bruce attacks Red Mask, who sics a Venomed-up Ghost Maker on him. Ghost Maker cuts off Bruce's right hand. Bruce cauterizes it with an electroshock machine and ties some spikes on it (SERIOUSLY) and goes after Red Mask again. Meanwhile Red Mask mentally connects with an alternate dimensional Joker...but instead of it driving Red Mask insane, he's what drives the Joker insane. Desperate to become the Joker somehow, anyhow, he jumps into the interdimensional portal, and Morally Dubious Alternate Universe Selina kicks Bruce in after him.

Meanwhile, Tim is in full "I KNOW I SAW HIM DIE BUT HE'S NOT DEAD" mode, which: bless. So he teams up with Jon Kent, which...gosh, what an astonishingly boring duo. I love Jon, I love Tim, they're perfectly nice and normal around each other, I'm falling asleep. Anyway Tim fights Toyman for a while and then makes a VERY stupid costume where the entire torso is a giant light-up R, because "I want him to see that Robin is coming to save him." GET A THERAPY, TIM.

Bruce finds himself first in the Michael Keaton Batman universe, then the Red Rain universe, BTAS, Batman Beyond (yes I know they're the same universe but I guess he goes there twice), Silver Age, Kingdom Come, Gotham by Gaslight, and more. Adam West gives him a utility belt. The Dark Knight Returns Bruce builds him a robot hand.

Finally Bruce and Red Mask reach the end of the multiverse, which is a Gotham asteroid floating in space, surrounded by giant Jokerized sharks. LUCKILY BRUCE HAS BAT-SHARK REPELLANT IN HIS ADAM WEST UTILITY BELT!!! Honestly this whole arc was worth it for that moment.

Bruce knocks Red Mask out, but now he's stuck. He has a device from Batman Beyond Bruce to get home, but it's only good for one person, and he can't leave Red Mask there to die. Of course, that's when Tim shows up in his stupid giant glowing R costume and they hug it out, thereby fulfilling but also compounding all of Tim's issues since 1989.

Anyway things are fine now, right? Sure, Bruce is hallucinating that his family is on fire, and the Zur personality is not going neatly back into the box where it's been all these years, and he still has a robot hand (Damian, hilariously, immediately announces that he wants one too), but he's FINE. He is a little bit mad at Selina, because she broke out of jail (she was in jail because she killed her fuckbuddy because he was trying to kill Bruce), and also because she didn't tell him Penguin was alive and that would have stopped Failsafe, and also because Other Selina kicked into another universe. Selina, very fairly, is like "Well I'm not responsible for Other Selinas and also maybe don't build robots to kill yourself with and not tell anyone about them???"

THEN we got Knight Terrors, the summer event in which a villain called Nightmare caused everyone to fall asleep and, uh, have nightmares. Bruce, specifically, had a nightmare that he met an eight-year-old version of himself that vomited up a man-sized bat with a gun for a head. I laughed SO HARD. Bruce also had his body borrowed by Deadman for the duration of the event, so while he endured the psychological toll of nightmares like everyone else, he also endured the physical toll of everything Deadman was doing PLUS the mental toll of being aware of what was happening in the waking world even though he couldn't control his body. As soon as the event was over, he lapsed into a coma so that his body could get some damn rest.

Okay. Now we're up to Gotham War.

(I know, I know. But for all of you who are like "How could Bruce do this???" about Gotham War...*points up* THAT'S HOW. HE IS NOT WELL.)

Bruce awakens from his coma and IMMEDIATELY decides to Fight A Crime even though Babs is like "Maybe don't?" But he can't find any crime, which is...weird. His kids confirm that Gotham's been super quiet since he's been out.

Selina hears that Bruce is awake and is like okay, time to pay the piper. She calls all of the Bats to a meeting and explains that she's the reason crime has been down. See, villains like Joker and Two-Face always have goons, right? But what if the goon supply dried up because the goons have better jobs? So Selina has trained All The Goons In Gotham to be...cat burglars. No violence, no stealing from anyone who can't afford it. More importantly, no helping Scarecrow or whoever commit mass murder.

All of the Batkids are like "Hmm...I feel uncertain about this, but it's working...I don't know what to think..." except for Jason, who thinks it's hilarious and is instantly Team Selina, and Damian, who is staunchly Team Bruce. Bruce, meanwhile, is like "No! NO! THIS IS CRIMES, AND CRIMES IS BAD!" and Selina's like "I mean, robbing from the rich is basically a victimless crime" and Bruce screams, I swear to god, "MY PARENTS WERE 'RICH'!" Inexplicable scare quotes and all. I laughed so hard.

Anyway this is the basis for Gotham War and it is endlessly hilarious to me because everyone in the Batfamily is supposed to be a genius and yet not one single character has pointed out that:

There are jobs the goons could be doing that AREN'T illegal. It's not just violent crime vs. nonviolent crime. There are in fact many other jobs! I am POSITIVE Gotham needs construction workers and hospital orderlies. (Yes, I know it's hard for people with records to get jobs. That isn't addressed.)

Being Batman is SUPER ILLEGAL.

They are all so stupid.

Selina's plan doesn't even work, because one of her thieves gets killed by a rich person defending their home, and Bruce is like "See? This is why crime is bad!" and like...pretty much snaps. He's particularly fixated on Jason, even (rhetorically) threatening to kill him, which is when the other kids jump into the fray on Jason's side, all except for Damian, who like I said is firmly Team Bruce. (This makes complete sense to me, Damian has been dealing with severe trauma and isolation pretty much nonstop since 2018 and he and Bruce have finally made a tenuous peace, so I can understand why he wouldn't want to lose that.)

Also, Vandal Savage buys Wayne Manor. It's so random and SO funny.

OKAY BATMAN #138. Bruce has kidnapped Jason and injected him with a variation on fear toxin which will be triggered whenever Jason's adrenaline spikes, the idea being that Jason is no longer capable of killing - but in practice, Jason is no longer capable of even getting up off the floor, he's so terrified. I want to be really, really clear here: Bruce is like 90% Zur here, and the only reason he goes this route and doesn't kill Jason is because the remaining 10% that's still Bruce loves Jason and is trying to help him. He's just incapable of good or humane help because Zur literally can't do feelings.

Dick knows something is up and is sneaking around Bruce's Secret Other House We've Never Heard Of to figure out what it is. Damian attacks him to protect Bruce. Tim attacks Damian so that Dick can do what he needs to do, and handcuffs Damian to a parking meter:

THERE IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE!!! TIM GO TO THERAPY! DAMIAN GO TO THERAPY! EVERYONE GO TO THERAPY!!!!!

Dick figures out what Bruce did to Jason (it's on the computer, for...some reason?) and absolutely loses his shit on Bruce, beating the crap out of him, which tbh is the only thing that felt off to me in this run because frankly I don't think Dick likes Jason that much. BUT WHATEVER.

Tim pulls Dick off of Bruce. Bruce leaves them both tangled in a net and flees as the cops approach. Zur's like "Good, fuck 'em" in Bruce's head, because the cops will expose Dick, Tim, and Damian's secret identities and Bruce will be free of the dead weight of a family, but the little bit of Bruce still in there throws Dick a batarang so he can free them all in time.

Then Bruce leaves. Damian is devastated.

I WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THIS PAGE. Damian really thought he could have Bruce's love and loyalty if he turned on everyone else! Tim is going to be a therapy dog to a Wayne even if he has to settle for the one he doesn't like! That unresisting, blank hug made me SCREAM when I turned the page. Incredible. (Also the art fucking S L A P S, god bless you Jorge Jimenez.)

ALSO it turns out that Selina's second in command has been Vandal Savage's daughter Scandal Savage the whole time and they are turning Selina's cat burglar army into their own personal army WHOOPS. (This also feels very OOC for Scandal but at this point I trust Zdarsky with my life so let's see where things go.)

SO THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON IN GOTHAM WAR. TL;DR:

Bruce is unhinged because he nearly died like 19 times in a week and it unlocked the smaller, meaner purple Batman that lives inside him.

Selina is unaware that you can get money legally.

Tim is going to have a nervous breakdown if he can't fix someone, ANYONE.

Damian needs a hug but ideally from someone he actually likes this time.

Jason is so scared.

THE END.

[dredshirtroberts]

god. no one prepares you for the irritation and anger that comes when assistive devices and medical equipment actually fix your problems.

[lastoneout]

Like I know we all love making ADHD seem cool but like, don't forget it's actually a disability? My ADHD is bad enough I've nearly been evicted for forgetting to mail the rent check to the property manager, I've forgotten to pay the utility bills and had my water or power get turned off or had to pay fines bcs I missed a credit card payment. Once I was supposed to cat sit for a friend and I lost the house key she gave me but didn't realize until she was already out of town, and she had to call the apartment office to get someone to give me the spare so her cats would have food for the week. When I'm unmedicated I can't even get myself to shower half the time, forget eating or cleaning. Before I started living with my fiance I'd just like, not eat for days because I didn't have anyone to remind me to eat or go buy me food. I've forgotten to turn the stove off so many times and ruined kettles and tbh been DAMN fucking lucky the house didn't burn down. I've done stupid, impulsive shit that's nearly gotten me KILLED. I can't remember to close the shower curtain reliably even through my fiance points out every single time I forget, and he's almost out of soap rn bcs for the last MONTH neither of us have been able to remember to order more once we get out of the shower.

I've had such bad memory my entire life that to this day someone suggesting I forgot something because I simply didn't care enough is a legitimate trigger that, in the worst cases, makes me have a breakdown.

I get that for some of you this is just something that makes studying hard or you forget to take a pee break when you're playing Minecraft or whatever, that's still a valid struggle and you do deserve help and understanding, but like, ADHD is a disability. It's disabling. It's not impossible to improve and learn coping skills, meds help a lot, there are great accommodations out there(LIKE CLEANING SERVICES), but not every case of ADHD is the same, and a lot of them are pretty ugly ngl, and just because you managed to do something doesn't mean someone else is gonna be able to manage it too, or that they're being lazy for struggling. And that obviously doesn't mean ADHD people have a free pass to never work on themselves and make everyone cater to their every need or whatever, but we do deserve some understanding when we explain that our disability is actually disabling in ways that aren't palatable to you. So like, idk, maybe don't immediately recoil in horror when you find out that someone with ADHD can't keep their house clean. And for fucks sake don't ridicule them for it.

[chenisthebestkitty]

Tiffany couldn't quite work out how Miss Level got paid. Certainly the basket she carried filled up more than it emptied. They'd walk past a cottage and a woman would come scurrying out with a fresh-baked loaf or a jar of pickles, even though Miss Level hadn't stopped there. But they'd spend an hour somewhere else, stitching up the leg of a farmer who'd been careless with an axe, and get a cup of tea and a stale biscuit. 

It didn't seem fair.

“Oh, it evens out,” said Miss Level, as they walked on through the woods. 

“You do what you can. People give what they can, when they can. Old Slapwick there, with the leg, he's as mean as a cat, but there'll be a big cut of beef on my doorstep before the week's end, you can bet on it. His wife will see to it. And pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter, and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”

“You do? What do you do with all that food?”

“Store it,” said Miss Level. 

“But you-”

“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”

“But that means they'll owe you a favour!”

“Right! And so it just keeps on going round. It all works out.”

“I bet some people are too mean to pay-”

“Not pay,” said Miss Level, severely. “A witch never expects payment and never asks for it and just hopes she never needs to. But, sadly, you are right.”

“And then what happens?"

“What do you mean?”

“You stop helping them, do you?”

“Oh, no,” said Miss Level, genuinely shocked. “You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant. Everyone's poor round here. If I don't help them, who will?”

"A Hat full of Sky" - Terry Pratchett