#or really tiny because I have another idea while writing the tags (or two actually lol)

[mentallyunstablethembo]

You know I just love rambling about random little au's and ideas I get, but nobody to ramble to

So enjoy my messy and non-sensical rambles about another au/idea at 11pm! :D

So I was thinking, 'what it we make Shen Yuan freakishly tall?' like... Taller than all the cast, kinda tall.

And so that spiraled into SY being a biblically accurate angel, since I have a soft spot for those suckers and any other little freaks like that.

He's a giant ass floating eyeball with millions of little eyeballs over some weird rings floating over his body, while he has multiple wings that are covered in, you guessed it, more eyeballs.

Maybe he has a human and semi-huamn form

Human form could be around SQQ's height, semi-human is raller than all the cast

He's probably just a big cat too

Maybe some of the disciples climb him like a monkey bar? Or maybe they ask him to sing and stuff

All the other sects are probably scared shitless of him, even if it's just his human form and nobody knows he's an angel (there's just something very off about him, and none of them can tell you why)

Note: I started writing this like a few days ago (almost a week ago, I think?) and didn't post it because it wasn't finished and I wanted to add more to it

Tho now I think 'screw that' and am gonna post it instead, maybe add more ideas if I get any or remember that this even exists

[fiastomatocheek]

STILL GOT YOU EVEN WITHOUT THE RING

pair: dad!luke hughes x f!reader

genre: domestic fluff, romantic comedy, slow burn, slice of life, tooth-rotting sweetness.

warnings: excessive fluff, marriage shenanigans, mild secondhand embarrassment, very sweet domestic scenes (may cause soft sighing), mentions of parenthood (baby care, toddler toys), luke panicking over nothing.

summary: one thing luke never takes off is his ring, unless it’s to bathe lucy or play a game. so when you find it sitting, almost too carelessly, on the bathroom sink one night, something about it feels… weird. not bad. just weird. luke never misplaces things like that. but instead of asking about it, you pocket the ring and decide to have a little fun.

fia’s note: okay so this totally wasn’t in my plan to write like at all but i found this little thing tucked away in the depths of my google docs (seriously, it was buried), and i thought… huh. why not finish it? i forgot how much i actually liked the vibe of it. there’s just something really fun about teasing luke, and once i got back into it, the words kinda wrote themselves. also! just want to say that the original spark for this came from a fic i read by @/rafedarling. some scenes and ideas here are inspired by her work, so all the love and credit for that brilliance. anyway, i hope you enjoy this little unexpected piece, it’s playful, a little soft, and very luke-coded.

tagging team fia ! — @iloveyoutodeathbutimdrowning @dancerbailey3 @mashmashi @hopefulsuitcasemoneyzonk @kell9rs @alwaysclassyeagle @nokiaholland @macka @smiley-roos

You were tired, achy in that full-body parenting way, but the hot water soothed every edge.

And that’s when you saw it.

Luke’s ring.

Just sitting there. On the edge of the sink.

Not in the drawer. Not on the little trinket tray you kept for moments like this. Not neatly tucked away like he always did when he had to take it off for a game or to bathe Luce when your hands were full.

Just… abandoned. Carelessly. Recklessly.

And something about that made you stop.

Not because you were mad, Luke was never careless with his ring. He was thoughtful in ways most men weren’t. He wore that ring like it was a second skin. Kept it on during interviews, on the team plane, even while chopping onions (and getting emotional, but that was another story).

He’d only ever take it off for two reasons, one is to avoid scratching Lucy’s delicate skin during bath time and two is for hockey games.

Even then, he handled it like it was breakable. Like it meant something beyond gold.

So to see it just sitting there, like he’d shrugged it off without a thought… it not with jealousy or fear. Just a strange kind of what happened here?

You stared at it for a moment. Then slowly, quietly, you picked it up, held it in your palm then you just slipped it into the pocket of your pajama pants.

He wouldn’t lose it. You’d never let that happen.

But he didn’t need to know that yet.

By the time you stepped out of the bathroom, Luke was sprawled across the bed. Luce sat on his chest in her footie pajamas, one sock halfway off and a tiny, soggy cracker clutched in her fist like it was treasure. She was mid-lecture, baby gibberish pouring from her mouth as she tapped her hands against his cheeks.

“Luce, Daddy’s in trouble,”

Luke murmured quietly to her, as if she were the only one who could understand.

“Mommy’s gonna be so mad.”

You smirked to yourself. So he did realize.

You didn’t say a word. Just padded across the room like you hadn’t heard anything, wrapped a towel around your shoulder, and began your usual nighttime routine at the vanity.

Luke was watching you like a man watching his life flash before his eyes.

You dabbed toner onto your cheeks, applied your moisturizer. Ran a brush through your hair, all while he squirmed under Lucy’s weight, pretending everything was fine.

He offered nothing. No apology. No confession. Just a really nervous silence.

When Lucy finally settled, thumb in her mouth and head drooping, you scooped her up and whispered goodnight after tucking her into the crib, and then you climbed into bed beside Luke, who was now unusually quiet and very still.

You reached for his left hand, tracing the bare spot where the ring should have been. Pretending not to notice about his missing ring.

“You know, babe,” you said thoughtfully,

“I read this story today. A woman found out her husband lost his wedding ring. She didn’t even yell. Just filed for divorce. Said it was a sign.”

Luke visibly stiffened.

His voice was strained. “That’s… harsh.”

You shrugged, still gently playing with his fingers.

“I mean, I guess when something meaningful just goes missing, it makes you question things.”

You could practically feel his heartbeat pick up.

He opened his mouth, probably to confess or explain, but you simply kissed his knuckles and whispered,

“Anyways, goodnight babe. It’s late.”

In the early morning, Luke was already an anxious mess.

You didn’t have to say a thing. He was already tearing through laundry baskets, peeking under the couch, and retracing his steps like a man who’d lost his passport on a travel day.

Lucy sat in her high chair chewing on banana slices while you nursed your tea and tried not to laugh.

You noticed he checked the pantry. Twice.

“Hey babe,” you said casually, so innocent. “Where’s your ring?”

Luke froze mid-step.

“My… uh. My ring?”

You blinked at him innocently. “Yeah. Your hand’s kinda… naked.”

“Oh… I just took it off for Luce’s bath last night,” he said too quickly.

“Didn’t wanna accidentally bruised her.”

“Totally understandable,” you said.

“Can you grab it? I have to take mine in to be cleaned this evening. Might as well bring yours too.”

He nodded stiffly. “Yea. Absolutely. Be right back.”

You sipped your tea. And he never came back with the ring.

By lunchtime, Luke had checked the fridge again.

Jack’s betrayal came just before dinner.

‘Jack: @You girl have mercy on my dumbass brother he really didn’t mean to lose it 😭😭😭’

You stared at the message and bit the inside of your cheek. So that’s what this had come to. Luke had gone to Jack for help. Not you. Jack. The human with zero ability to lie.

You didn’t respond.

Instead, once Lucy was asleep and the house was quiet, you called Luke into the living room.

“Luke Hughes, we need to talk.”

He looked like he might cry.

“I just want to understand,” you said, sitting across from him.

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

Luke’s hands fidgeted in his lap.

“I didn’t mean to lose it. I swear. I thought I left it in my shorts pocket, and then I checked and it wasn’t there. I didn’t wanna stress you out, and—”

“I panicked! And then you said that thing about the divorce and I thought you knew and—”

You held up a hand.

And then, slowly, pulled the ring from your pajama pocket and held it up between two fingers.

His jaw dropped.

“You had it?”

You nodded. “Found it last night. Thought I’d let the drama play out.”

He buried his face in his hands. “You are so evil, babe”

You giggled, getting up to sit in his lap.

“You should’ve come to me. Not your brother.”

“I thought you’d be easier on me if I had backup!”

You snorted. “Since when do you need backup?”

“I don’t know!” he moaned.

“I’ve never lost anything important before.”

“You lost your car keys three times last week.”

“Yeah but this is the ring. You know the one thing that shows the world I’m yours,”

You slid it back onto his finger. “Well. Now it’s back where it belongs.”

He kissed your shoulder, arms wrapping around you tightly.

“You’re never letting me live this down, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

“And Jack?”

“Oh, he’s not safe either.”

From upstairs, Lucy let out a soft wail.

“I’ll get her,”

Luke said quickly, pressing one last kiss to your cheek before jogging upstairs.

[desperate-daydream]

can I request Seth Clearwater x male shifter reader

plot male reader is jared brother and Seth imprint but is a complete himbo slowly but surely the pack see seth becoming more and more himbo like male reader and jared

🍎 Twilight

❀ Seth Clearwater x male (shifter) reader ⚣︎

A/N: thanks for this request, I really love writing Seth even though this was a bit of a challenge for me. I hope you like how I presented them. Sorry if it's a bit short and that you had to wait so long for it, this is the first request that I wrote In what feels like a very long time.

tags/warnings: reader is a shifter and imprinted on Seth, reader is Jared's little brother, both Leah and Jared are annoying older siblings, Seth, reader and Jared are himbos

Wait, you got more?

“Here, made you some cookies”, you placed the plate in front of Seth, “For your extra calories.” Your boyfriend gave you a thumbs up after stuffing his mouth with one. You laughed and went to finish cleaning up the kitchen. You had not only baked extra protein cookies but also prepped another meal for Seth, your brother Jared and yourself. After you had come back from a trip through the country you had quickly found out that you were a shifter too. And on top of that you and Seth had imprinted on each other the first time you were introduced to the pack after shifting. 

Jared and Seth were currently working on your boyfriend’s workout plan. He had gotten more into sports because of you and your brother quickly. The three of you trained together very often and if Jared wasn’t with you for whatever reason, Seth and you called it workout dates. 

You had helped Emily and the others that were cooking for the ever hungry pack in the kitchen from the moment you had been introduced to this world. And slowly but surely you pulled the other two into it. 

But the thing you were most enthusiastic about was that you could watch Seth catch up with you every day. His muscles became more defined and he grew hunkier fitting quite well with his last growth spurt. Your phone background changed frequently thanks to that - almost every week you changed to the newest gym selfie of you both. Man, you had a whole separate folder in your gallery for gym pics of Seth and you while also having one for any other pic you collected of Seth. 

Seth knew about the folders but what he didn’t know was that you were also planning to make a booklet full of those pictures and written down memories. (You had been really proud of yourself when you got the idea.)

When you had the kitchen all cleaned up again you took off the apron that actually belonged to Sue and was a bit too tiny for your body. Then you sat down next to your boyfriend who was munching on another cookie and ate one too while leaning your head on his shoulder.

“You finished?”, you asked and Seth handed his phone with the plan on it over to you. “Yeah, it’s great. Watch out, soon I’ll overtake you”, he said with a self-confident smile. “Sure”, you grinned back at him mischievously and exchanged a quick kiss. 

“Hey”, you heard Jared, “if you’re gonna make out, you can at least hand over the cookies.” You threw one in his direction and turned back to Seth who was still looking at you with a dopey smile that you returned. “Did I hear cookies?”, Leah stepped inside and turned to the three of you sitting at the small table. 

“Yeah, but you gotta wait until they’re making out again if you want some - only way to get them without insulted looks”, your brother said. Well, Seth looked a little insulted at that and you probably too when you spoke up: “Okay, first, I made them for all of us and second, stop being so annoying.” You threw another one in Jared’s face and then pushed the plate in Leah’s direction who had sat down in the meantime. 

Another surprise for the whole pack after Seth and you imprinting was that your older siblings had started to form some sort of bond at that and became insufferable a lot of times. Like it wasn’t enough to have one sibling bugging you, both of you now had yet another ‘sibling’ joining in or taking over. 

Leah had gotten lighter over the time again; she seemed happier and more content again which Seth was very glad of. What he wasn’t fine with was that she had started making jokes about him becoming more like you and your brother. He didn’t have anything against that but her saying that he lost some brain cells for muscles got added to the imaginary list of sisterly annoyance just because it had been repeatedly said. (He even ‘admitted’ that he wasn’t the smartest, but to you and many many others his actual intelligence was reflected in his utter kindness.)

Yeah, the four of you were slowly forming a subgroup in the pack simply because of the imprint and sibling bonds. You were glad to have them and the whole pack; you were like a huge family. 

“The others called in a quick pack meeting in half an hour”, Leah informed them after eating up a cookie. “Alright, I’ll pack up the other cookies for them”, you said and stood up. Seth went after you, asking: “Wait, you got more?” “Of course”, you got a box to put them in, “this crazily strong metabolism because of shifting really is something.” 

You placed a kiss on his pouty lips and gave over the filled up box. “Don’t eat them all by yourself”, you commented and followed behind him and your siblings. 

-

The others basically devoured the sweets and after fishing off the actual meeting the most of you went to just chill on the beach. 

“Y/N”, Seth gently shook you awake. You had been dozing off with your head on his stomach. You grumbled and he continued with: “There’s a kitten.” You could hear the same excitement that took over you when you finally opened your eyes to look around. Your gaze followed Seth’s and then you saw the little ball of fluff sitting on the grass that bordered on the sand. 

“I wanna pet it”, you whispered. “Me too”, your boyfriend said just as mesmerized, “And maybe she needs help. We should check.” 

That said, you got up and then helped Seth to stand up as well. You slowly sneaked up to the kitten, not wanting to scare it. 

“Hey, kitty”, Seth said in a sweet tone.

You didn’t fully remember how it happened but when the kitten ushered away both of you were already leaning forward while reaching out. You instinctively tried to still get to it but that way you and your boyfriend slipped and fell face down in the still damp grass. 

You heard Leah laugh about you and others chuckle as well. Sam asked if everything was okay and Seth threw back a “yeah” after turning on his back. You propped yourself up on your forearms and looked at your boyfriend who was already laughing lightly. When you made eye contact you burst into full laughter. 

[vxlenst3in]

Guess who's stuck | Kuroo x Reader

If there's someone you can't stand, it's your co-worker Kuroo Tetsuro. So, what could be any more inconvenient than getting stuck with him in an elevator?

|

tags/warnings: fem!reader, timeskip!kuroo obv, getting stuck in an elevator, you're a kenma fan, you cannot stand kuroos guts, groping sorta, but reader likes it?? a teeny tiny bit dub-con before it gets established, kuroo is as charming as ever, he’s also an annoying tease, it's only suggestive really, there's no actual smut, only the build up sorry ^_^

wc: 1.3k ish

a/n: hi! i will add the proper colors and actual design of the post sometime tomorrow, i'll also update the master list then..like i said tho there's no actual smut in this, only like dirty talk and stuff so. i'll maybe write a part 2 with the actual smut based off of feedback.

Your eyes shot up from your phone when the elevator abruptly stopped. Luckily, you were leaning against the wall of the elevator already, otherwise you might‘ve tripped. Your rooster head co-worker was already groaning.

„Ah…Again? Guess that’s another meeting I'm not attending” He mumbled to himself. Not that he seemed primarily upset about it. His eyes just lingering on his wrist, where his expensive watch could be found.

You frankly ignored him to the best of your abilities. Something inside you was praying that the elevator would start moving again soon, so you wouldn‘t be stuck with this tease of a man.

„Heyyy?? Aren‘t you bothered at all?“ Kuroo addressed you, his hands waving in front of his face to get your attention.

„The only bother right now is you.“ You responded nonchalantly. He was aware that you weren‘t the biggest fan of his. Not that he’d ever understand how you could not find him utterly charming.

The two of you started working at this company around the same time. Later you found out, you guys even went to the same high school - It was only because he looked through the yearbook from the 3rd year and eventually found you in one of the rows. It made sense, the timelines matched up, from graduation, the years in uni, till you two started to work at the same company. Ever since then he‘s been constantly talking about old teachers and students, who you had no idea of, and especially about his volleyball skills and achievements. He even made it to the nationals, Wowww.. You didn‘t really know anything about volleyball, despite working for one as of right now, you were only an accountant in this company and it paid well - nonetheless he decided to tell you all about it, which eventually made you dislike him.

But your opinion about him never mattered to him, you thought, if he had something to say, he‘d say it. Even if it meant having to make up excuses to stay in your office all day, only to wait for the right moment to tease or lecture you about something. That was just the way he was. Always making things up and all sorts of excuses just flowing out of his mouth.

„Some girls would kill to be stuck with me in an elevator, y’know.” He remarked, with a cheesy grin decorating his face. His arms crossed in front of his chest, while leaning against the elevator wall.

„Good for them.“

His expression dropped, as he just watched you swipe on your phone. What could you be possibly doing on your phone at this moment? Shouldn’t you be worried to death, what if you never make it out again? Kuroo raised his arm to check the time on his watch. There was no way he’d make it to the meeting on time, at least he’d have a good excuse.

It did annoy him that you were just ignoring him all the time, that you were so seemingly calm about whatever happened. You were the first woman to actually make him question if his pick-up lines were too cheesy, or if his hair actually looked like a mess. It was the first time he ever had to worry about what to say and what to do, he so desperately tried to just land a singular hit on you, just to get you flustered for a blink of a second. But all of it just seemed to go straight past you. Hit some other girl who wasn’t supposed to get hit at all. But even all of that, you didn’t notice.

Of course you thought he was attractive, everyone who didn’t, would be a fool, but there were plenty of other attractive men out there - that aren’t your co-workers. So you just tried your best to ignore his cheesy remarks and terrible attempts at flirting. Sometimes it felt like you were talking to a high-schooler. You wondered if he matured ever since he left high school really.

“Wowwww…” He groaned, “How utterly boringggg~ Whatchu you doing over there?” Kuroo said before snatching your phone. His eyes lit up when he saw a post of Kenma Kozume on your phone screen. A million thoughts suddenly consuming his mind, how he could possibly tease you about this for the rest of his life, but also to this advantage.

“Give that back, Kuroo!” You yelled, trying to get your phone back, but he was already gasping in shock and laughing in amusement at the same time. His hand coming up to cover his eyes, while his hair rhythmically bounced, while his other hand held the phone out of your reach.

“Kenma, huh? Whatchu doing on his instagram profile?” Kuroo grinned at you. “Me and him used to be best friends when we were younger, y’know. He was in the year below us. You watch his streams now or what?” Oh, how you wanted to smack that stupid smirk off his face.

Kenma was a big celebrity now. He was a very well known streamer, for especially his skill but also his non-chalant act during it. Many people admired him.

“What’s it to you? Now give me my phone back”

“Nuh-uh, answer my question first - do you watch him? Are you a fan?”

“I watch him sometimes, after work, when I'm bored. But I’m not a fan! His post popping up on my homepage was a pure coincidence.”

“I mean if you like him, I could prolly arrange some-“

“Absolutely not.”

“Awhh, why not? Doesn’t sound like that much of a coincidence to me. Come onnnn~”

This absolute asshole. Can’t he just let it go? Another pathetic reach for your phone followed his words. Geez, this damn man was built like a street lamp.

��Are you gonna give my phone back, or nah?”

“Tell me that you’re a fan first. Like I said, I could probably arrange something - for something in exchange of course.” He looked down at you half lidded, he flashed his teeth, mimicking a mischievous grin, before wrapping a hand around your waist to pull you closer.

“Something in exchange?” You gulped, trying to writhe yourself out of his grip. Beads of sweat already forming on your forehead.

“Yeahh~ I mean, if we are already locked in this little elevator for at least a couple more hours, then we should make use of it, don’t you think?” Kuroo swiftly shoved your phone into one of his pockets, before his hand, which was placed on your waist, moved further down to gently grope your ass. “We could start with something like this..Hmmm?”

A quiet squeal fell from your lips, as his big hand cupped your ass. Kuroo thought that the tight pencil skirt, you always wore, made it look so perfect. He had no idea how much longer he would’ve been able to hold back, when your ass was always just smiling at him so enticingly.

A bead of sweat rolled down your face, when Kuroo gently pushed you further against the elevator wall. He was now towering over you. “Tell me you want this too, Kitty.” Kuroo’s knee wandered in between your legs, pressing against the puffy and sensitive area of yours. “Tell me how badly you want me.”

It felt like he just flipped around your entire world with two actions, your entire view on him with just such simple words. A gasp sounded, when his knee pressed against your weak spot.

You never agreed to this deal, did you? Yet, why couldn’t you push him away? He was quite literally asking, if you wanted it, so if you pushed him away he’d- No, you did want this. All of your internal conflicts with him slowly lose their importance, as you mindlessly gave in.

His sharp cat eyes were staring down at you, a waiting look on his face, while he waited for your approval. All of Kuroo’s movements were still.

“Do your worst.”

“Mhmm~” Kuroo hummed. “Now that’s what I like to hear kitty~”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling someone that roleplays are a two-way street and refusing to re-engage with them?

Occasionally, if I'm in the mood to write but I don't really know what, I'll browse ship tags on Omegle. Its become synonymous for roleplays, and I've found its (typically) pretty fun.

As with every social thing, there's the odd... Less than pleasant experience. Last night was one such experience. I connected to someone on a ship tag, they sent a prompt, and it was actually a pretty interesting one, so I responded.

It was an AU prompt, but I generally kept my characterisation as close to the character's canon as I could, while still matching it to roughly what someone's personality in that profession and location would be.

(E.g; if the character was a proper old-country style cowboy, or a socially awkward secretary, ect.)

It became very clear, very fast, that the other person had very, very specific ideas about the roleplay, what happens, what my character was supposed to say/do, ect. To the point where (as I later told them) they should've just written fanfic so they had complete control.

Near enough every time I responded, they'd "correct" it or argue against it both in character and in brackets as themselves. For example if I noted something about the background or story of my character, theirs would immediately say "no that's not what happened" or they'd say [hey actually can you change that, it doesn't fit/I don't like it/its not what I envisioned].

After about fifteen minutes of this I got incredibly vexed and decided I was done. I don't mind a roleplay having certain goals/main points/guidelines, but they were literally trying to control every tiny aspect of what I did. So I sent them this:

[I'm sorry, the RP sounded interesting in the prompt you sent, but its rapidly becoming clear you don't actually want a roleplay, you want to be the sole one dictating everything that happens. Honestly I think its best you turn this idea into a fanfic and not a roleplay. It kills off any enjoyment of the roleplay when I have you contradicting every tiny detail I include or dictating what I'm allowed to do or say. I'm not going to sit there waiting for you to approve of everything I intend to say. Thank you for your time, but good night.]

I disconnected, and decided I'd spend another fifteen minutes browsing the tag before I did something else. Well apparently, the other person decided they were going to spend fifteen minutes stalking the tag trying to find me again, spamming every connection with messages ranging from extreme insults and threats to demands I 'speak up again, bitch, I wanna talk' and so forth. After connecting to them for the tenth time, I sent:

[I'm not going to re-engage with you. I said what I did, and frankly, it was a valid statement. If you can't handle the fact that roleplaying means a 50/50 creative allowance with someone else, and that you can't micro-manage or bulldoze every single detail, then you shouldn't roleplay. Frankly, knowing how vile you can be from simple criticism, I'm glad I disconnected. Take a breather and re-evaluate yourself. I'd be embarrassed.]

Well. This morning I logged onto Tumblr and after some browsing, I actually came across them again. Here. By means of a post where they included screenshots of everything and are even going so far as threatening to stalk Tumblr and AO3 to 'match up the writing' so they can find me and presumably say their piece or whatever.

I talked to a friend about it, and surprisingly, they think I'm an asshole. Not for what I said in the first place, but for not re-approaching the other person (through DMs) so they'll stop filling the ship's tag with negative stuff. (They've made 3 posts about it all so far.)

I don't want to do that because it means opening up my private social media to this obviously unhinged individual. I know I can expect to be spammed, sent hate mail, have them try to track down my other socials, ect. I could make an alt account for it, but honestly that's effort I don't see the point in making. If they can't let this go, its not my problem.

AITA? Should I make an alt account just to let them get it out of their system? I don't know how to proceed with this.

What are these acronyms?

[annaonthemoon79]

Why I stopped writing TNG Fanfic, and why I've returned.

In 2018 during NaNoWriMo, I decided I wanted to write an epic TNG fic in celebration of my 40th birthday in 2019. And I did. I published the story over the 40 weeks before my birthday in 2019 and it was a success along with the other long and short stories I wrote. 2019 was pretty much the peak of my TNG writing, with over 250 TNG fics under my belt in 2 years. I was gearing up to get myself an agent to make a pitch to the folks at Shuster & Shuster to write my own TNG tie-in novel. It was amazing. It was incredible...and then the walls crashed down.

The announcement of Star Trek Picard had everyone excited. We wrote speculative fic based off the tiny snippets and 30 second trailers, we wrote tags for existing TNG novels, we continued to speculate about the direction Picard would take....and then the bombshell was dropped that actually, the TNG post-series novels we enjoyed and the world those authors had created (the world that I often played in!) was not going to be considered canon. No Beverly/Jean-Luc marriage. No child. None of it. It all went POOF and was ending in an epic three-parter written by some of my favourite authors/friends to then make way for Picard tie-in novels instead. My idea(s) for any TNG novels were now completely up the spout. (And no, I still haven't read the 3 books. I own them, but I don't want the series to be over)

The first Picard tie-in novel I didn't even finish reading and I haven't read any of them since. It abruptly ended the friendship between Beverly and Jean-Luc, let alone any possible romance between the two of them. IMHO, the situation should have been dealt with better.

I was lucky enough to attend the premier of Picard with my friend John in London. I liked it, and I even had a few ideas for adding Beverly onto episode tags. (the series is unfinished)

Then, the pandemic hit and with it, my ENTIRE love for Star Trek TNG. What was once a comfort watch for me didn't appeal. I would stare at the curser, looking at my unfinished works and just trying, barely, to keep it together, to hold on and to keep writing in my world.

It didn't work. I'll get into the other reasons in a minute. Instead, I found myself falling into the Snupin fandom for Harry Potter and writing small bits here and there. I wasn't as prolific as I had been writing TNG. but I was still writing something.

Another reason I became a bit distant with the franchise has to do with the fandom at large. Or rather, a few individuals in the fandom.

The first was a man who I became friends with through my fanfic. He enjoyed my writing and wanted to help me and while I DON'T DO COLLABS, I found myself pushed into collabs with him. He would add bits to my stories (which I've mostly edited out), ask me to write bits for his (which I have and am working on editing to republish as my own), and at one point became so influential over my writing that I was writing a character I didn't even want to write anymore to appease him. The relationship on my end was nothing more than friendship, and I assumed it was on his too. I'll never know if he expected more (even though he knew I was quite happily married) because I finally gained enough of a backbone to cut him out of my life, and to remove anything he and I had co-written. (this is where I've lost about 5 stories because I apparently didn't have them saved anywhere)

The second reason has to do with one of the semi-local clubs. I hadn't attended one of their meetings in several years (and of course, the pandemic cancelled I think 2 of theirs), but because I had made ONE comment in my other local club regarding organizing a get together (for our club!), it got blown out of proportion by the organizers of the other club who then accused me of trying to...I don't know...take over? It was weird and I didn't really understand any of it, but the long and short of it was that I lost a few friends through it and our localish club has pretty much broken up.

The UK has also struggled in recent years (since about 2018) to actually hold a UK trek convention. Without seeing my trek friends all in once place, it felt like I was out here on my own trying to keep my nose in the fandom.

And so, as I said above, I stopped writing.

But why am I back?

Honestly...I don't know. I was clearing through and trying to organise my files when I came across a 68-page document containing an unpublished colab with the above man. I want to edit it and make it my own. I also found bits and pieces I had written for him for HIS works that he has since removed that I think I can make work. Then I found the recent tid-bit, or rather, piece of a story idea. And through looking in my files, I found i had vague outlines for 3 stories within one of my series, and I found my TNG fic notebooks that still have loads of unwritten ideas.

So I'm back. Ish. Will I be as prolific as I once was? Time will tell. But I'm older and I have other responsibilities. I also want to try to pull a EJ whatever her name is and try to edit one of my fics into a publishable story (though I haven't decided which one yet!)

Thanks for all your support.

[flowersforthemachines]

Asking #2 for OC questions!!

How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

Tell me everything about our girl

thank you for the ask!! question from HERE

Omg, our girl... Honestly still can't believe anybody cares enough about Ghilasara to ask something. Like she can be *interesting* to other people. Insane.

This is going to be kind of long, but in my defence: you asked!

It took a really long while for me to figure her out. Like she wan't originally even intended to be a fleshed-out character - I just picked the options in the CC that (I presumed) would provide the most involvement with the plot: elf for the relevance regarding elven gods, grey warden for the relevance regarding... blighted elven gods, and mage because mages are typically the only class that gets special dialogue options. I thought I'd run through the game once with a very loose idea of a Rook, see what it has to offer and then make another Rook who could meaningfully fir the narrative at large with the help of hindsight.

And then I tragically got attached. By the time I finished my first run with her in the middle of November, I already knew I wanted to write something about her, even if I didn't really know what. In December, I wrote a tiny oneshot to nail down her dynamic with Lucanis (there was actually a time where I thought that maybe he wasn't the best partner for her, and she would be better off with Davrin. Maybe she would've been better off with him, actually, but it is what it is).

Then, I really got on working with her - I made a timeline covering her life from brith to joining the Veilguard (minus the 09:44-09:46. one day I will find out what she was doing at the time, but that day is not today), thought more about what kind of life she could lead in the Montsimmard and Ansburg circles (spoilers: not a very good one), what it meant for her to be a city elf, a mage, a warden, and wrote a bunch of pseudo-codex entries with tidbits about her life - how she got her face scars/lost her eye, what happened to her during the mage rebellion, some post-canon letters to/from her/Bellara/Lucanis, and so on. Which I haven't posted anywhere and should really find the excuse to pull myself together to do so.

The Ghilasara featured in the mercy-killing fic was inspired by the combination of the many discussions on how Lucanis was a poor fit for the position of the First Talon, and me once seeing the words "Rookanis" and "Divorce" mentioned under the tags of one post and then going wild with the concept. (kinda insane to think that one post altered the course of my thinking and writing so dramatically. I'd thank the user that made it but I feel like that'd be super weird)

Then it was just a lot Thinking. I didn't intend to be cruel when writing the fic - but I did want to make up a complicated dynamic between two flawed characters that had a history I could sprinkle around the work to show how much has passed between them. Which meant that she had to develop more flaws, which is where the guilt and self-flagelation (over Davrin's death and everything else she's done in her entire life), anxiety (over openly confronting some of her feelings and trying to avoid asking questions for fear of hearing answers she wouldn't like), and a sort of selfishness (of trying to have things on *her* terms at all times, even if the terms aren't always self-serving) came from.

Something like that!

[brilla-brilla-estrellita]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on you WIP(s)

Whoaaaa thank you for the tags @shrekgogurt, @bookish-bogwitch, @thewholelemon, @cutestkilla, @monbons, @drowninginships, and @blackberrysummerblog! I'm pretty sure that's everyone! I love being tagged in shit.

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s): So you just like... have names for them? Before you post them?

I will say that for once, a name did come to me, so one of them is tentatively titled Fettuccine and Foreplay, but I might change it because Foreplay is misleading. I'm sorry to say that it is not smutty, and the events are questionably even foreplay. But the alliteration. And Fettuccine and Flirting just doesn't have the same ring to it.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___” God, why am I so bad at this?

Nevermore Academy + Penny = offensive assumptions, defensive students, and a magical breakthrough waiting to happen

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it? uhhhhhh. I don't usually think about tags until I'm ready to post, so I am not prepared for this question... I can't really think of anything. Which makes me feel like my stories are hella boring.

Update after finishing and rediscovering an old wip: fluff! yay fluff.

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)? Alternative titles??? So not only do you have titles, you also have extras laying about????

I guess I already talked about it in #1, but Fettuccine and Flirting. I do not like it.

5. ⚠️Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next? Probably the Fettuccine one. It's a one-shot and a good portion done (almost ready for a beta, I think?). I like to write the whole story before I start posting, so the Wednesday x CO crossover is going to take a goooooood while. Idk how many chapters it is yet, I just know it's more than 3.

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as) I think my most interesting one is called Sundays With Gran. It's more of a drabble that I might work into a story at some point than it is an actual WIP though. But my actual WIPs have uninteresting names.

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

It’s especially hard to believe in this reality when there’s a glow, a sparkle, a buzz around even the most mundane of sights when Simon is involved.

That's not even from a WIP I've already mentioned. I rediscovered this one while looking at document titles for this post!

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP. I have one fic, the one from #7, where I originally wanted musings from each of the main 4, which each describing what's happening through focusing on a different sense or set of senses. Like Simon would be taste or touch, Penny would be sound, Baz would be sight, and Shep would be touch or smell. But that felt too restrictive. Senses are still a big part of it, of course, and there may still be strong affinities for one sense over another for each character, but they'll experience with the most appropriate sense for the moment.

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet? I really want to write more CO x Heartstopper (which we're calling Snowstopper because we're so clever) fics, but I'm making good progress on these other two and I'm afraid I'll lose the momentum if I start on the next Snowstopper idea. So I'll leave that for Kat to start in the meantime.

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on? At the beginning of this post, 2. As of #7, 3!

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now? So many! I think I need to rewrite much of what started the Wednesday x CO fic. The entire first two chapters don't feel quite in character for Penny.

And then most of this rediscovered fic, for now called Tiny Dots. (Hey look! A title!) Like I said before, it's character musings, and I'm not sure how to string them together in a way that feels cohesive.

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

I feel like I procrastinated on this procrastination game for so long that everyone else has already done it! I'm sorry if you've already been tagged 100 times, and especially if you've already done it and I missed it, buuuuut: @onepintobean @martsonmars @facewithoutheart umm... if you haven't been tagged, but want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged (or tell me and I'll update this post with your tag and no one has to know).

[spinnerprincess]

Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn personal summary

(lots of negativity ahead, so just scroll on past if you're looking for fun tales of arise content in the tag please!)

Auuuuugggggggghhhh it's such a relief to be done. Okay.

Dear future Liz: don't replay this DLC. I know you might be curious and you might not want to let go of the characters after a replay of the base game, but don't do it. It's not worth it. It's simply not.

If you really feel like you want to play the DLC, read this instead of doing that. I'm serious and I'm going to lay out just about as many impressions as I possibly can so that you don't have to.

Nazamil

Nazamil is just... such a miss. It's actually impressive how well they managed to make such an obvious Shionne/Alphen kiddo stand-in feel so, so frustrating.

She's a teenage girl who has a really hamfisted abusive past plotline. She's half-Dahnan, so her Renan Lord father, the guy who preceded Vholran, hated her. We're introduced to this idea with Nazamil straight up saying out loud to the party "he would come into my room and hit me." No subtlety, no abusive child mindset, she just states this soullessly and everyone goes "wow that's awful" and that's it.

They get to know her for all of like, a week or two, while treating her as the most specialest girl in the world, and continue for the rest of the DLC to treat her like they've known her forever and grew a really close and important bond with her.

Rinwell can't stop talking about how she wants to be friends with Nazamil, to the extent of having no real content or character arc in the DLC because all her time is taken up by that.

When Nazamil's missing, they keep talking nostalgically about her. "Remember that meal we had with her?" "Remember the first time she smiled?" It's surreal. You barely knew her!

There's a point in the game where Alphen generally acts like people's treatment of Nazamil is or should be representative of how successful the complete and absolute integration of Renan and Dahnan society is. Sure, he's stressed out, but... what?

For another example, in the final dungeon, there are secret posters of all six of the cast members to find, which they all find super touching.

Those drawings are clearly inheritors of the Tales tradition of "badly drawn wanted posters" but the context just kinda makes them... bad. Everybody is like "wow, Nazamil's so talented!" and they're just... Not very good! They're fine, but they're not amazing! They're a kid's art!

Glitz says, the posters feel like they're writing for a theoretical invisible player who is young enough to worry that their friends or family wouldn't like their art. It mostly doesn't really feel like how adults or people in general would respond to art. It has a really weird energy.

One good exchange does come out of finding Dohalim's drawing, though. It goes like:

Dohalim: "It's rough work, but it's an accurate depiction." Kisara: "She even drew you tilting your head the way you do sometimes." Dohalim: "Huh, I didn't think anybody but you would ever notice that."

Like, these lines are so good. Best thing to come out of anything Nazamil does, ever.

But that's one tiny good part when the rest feels so awkward and forced. The game needs you to know that Nazamil really loves them and they really love her back, and uh... tells you this, all the time. Perhaps because there would be no reason to believe it if they didn't!

She bonds so hard to these six people as the first people to ever show her a speck of kindness. Except they aren't, Baephon is, but we need Alphen to have a person to have complicated feelings about!

Every beat in the plot and all the others' characterizations bend around her. Alphen struggling with his role as a hero is fine, but at one point in defense of her he draws his full-ass blazing sword power on a bunch of regular human chumps and threatens them while dealing massive damage to part of their city. It just doesn't feel right for him at all and was genuinely fucked up.

She has scary hollowing powers. This comes up once as a problem because it frightens Niez citizens. Then it's never addressed again.

Once we get past the point where she leaves the group, for really thin reasons, she goes off on her own wanting to make the world more peaceful for Alphen. She decides to do this by uhhhhhhh going to the Mausoleums, discovering the Suppressor masks (like the one Alphen wore at the start of the base game), and launching a project to create them en masse and distribute them to everybody on the entire planet. That way, nobody will ever think their own thoughts again and all differences between people will be erased. This is what Alphen wants, right?

Actually, Alphen never gets to even once have an emotion about this whole Suppressor mask business, come to think of it. You know. The guy who wore one for much of his life and much of the base game? They just... don't have him react at all? What??

Oh by the way, she maybe can read minds and she read the minds of the Helganquil maybe, which is how she learned about the keystone (fancy mausoleum controlling all other ones). This is also never addressed again.

She goes full creepy little girl mode the first time the party confronts her about this, which was actually kind of fun for half a second because it wasn't the expected angle. I expected more of an "everybody hates me so I'm going to eliminate all hate" angle but that comes later. Specifically, her motivation is entirely centered around "if everybody thinks like me, then everybody will like you guys, too." Which is a slightly fun twist on that.

Unfortunately right after that part, deciding to take Alphen and the crew's words as "they hate me" instead of the things they're actually saying ("please don't brainwash people"), she puts on a fancy controlling mask that takes her mind over, too. She expresses wanting to erase herself.

From that point forward, the fact that possibly hundreds of people have been harmed by Nazamil's decision to impose mind-control masks on them is barely addressed again.

Instead, the focus is on how "we didn't properly understand Nazamil's pain and this is our fault." Sometimes it dips into better rhetoric, but mostly it's just... taking on her bad mental health as our fault, while simultaneously ignoring the harm she's done. Because she's the real victim, I guess.

The game ends with some textbook shiny light shows with a big boss fight against her while we try to tell her we actually love her and want her to be who she is, and not who others tell her to be... Never mind that ultimately, it doesn't seem like Nazamil has actually been told what she should be by anyone? That has never been her problem? They have just hated her, which is different?

Just before you think it's done doing gross things with her character, they also have her transform into a final-final boss monster by way of a classic Tales violence against women scene. She screams a lot (a lot) while dark magic transforms her into a massive beast, making it clear that the transformation is torturous and grotesque. Cool. I don't like this character but that still doesn't mean I want to see a teenage girl in massive amounts of pain for no reason. Awesome. Say hi, Estelle from Tales of Vesperia, we haven't learned a thing.

Also??? Some of those final lines feel. Targeted? Like I can't say for sure that they are, but playing some DLC released post-COVID that has Shionne saying things like "I want you to take off your mask and talk to me face-to-face" is... not apolitical, perhaps... Mm. It didn't feel that way most of the time at least but I do want to mention it.

I really wish in all this that Nazamil had a single personality trait. There could be, in something better written, something to be said for how you can't be yourself under threat of abuse, but they just don't earn it. At all.

Oh, right, she does have one trait, I forgot. She likes drawing. My bad.

Glitz wants me to add that that "you can't be yourself under threat of abuse" was already done interestingly with the part where Vholran takes Shionne and you have to confront her thorns about it. The ways that abuse and neglect can create isolation, and you way you can build a cage around yourself because of it... This is such a worse rehashing of that!!!

So, yeah. If you're a cute enough girl, never mind the mass brainwashing, oppression, and war crimes you do because you're hurt: you can just be yourself! What's accountability?

It's a far weaker recovery from suicidality plotline than Harvestella and a far weaker I fucked up and need to learn to be myself better without you than Rapunzel (Cassandra). It feels gross and cheapening of both concepts, and does it all at the expense of the main cast being able to just... exist without suddenly having their entire world revolve around someone they've known for three seconds.

Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. The worst part is I might well have forgotten yet another bad part of all this, because of how bad so much of it was.

Sidequests

Some good, some bad.

TLDR on the cities, especially for if you ever need to write fic:

Pelegion: mostly Renan, Dahnans exist but are struggling. Dohalim is in charge and trying to slowly integrate the Renans into society and life there. Major WIP though. Dohalim's NPC friends are here and they're kinda cute.

Viscint: Wonderful A+ 10/10. Kisara and Lagill's group are in charge and trying to keep peace. They have an application process to live there because it's popular for a good amount of food, weather, and peace. Renans and Dahnans both are only permitted to move in if they're willing to sincerely try coexistence. Not perfect and overcrowded, but doing the best by far. (Joke: also Dohalim legalized gay marriage there)

Niez: Explicitly segregated between half Renan and half Dahnan, and having a really bad time of it. Poor Baephon.

Calaglia: Had such a bad time of slavery that for the most part they're just not permitting Renans, sending them on to Pelegion. Slowly recovering and may have more ability to farm in the future.

Cyslodia: Had such a bad time of informant problems that they couldn't handle Renans if they tried; they're still all suspicious of each other as it is. There's a quest where one idea for helping with the social climate is the get everybody drunk and talk about the trauma collectively. This is not a bit, it really happens, you provide supplies for it. Kinda funny.

Most of this is built up through sidequests of varying quality. The best random sidequest is probably from Cyslodia, where it turns out a former Snake has a Renan friend who's been living outside the city walls, and they ask Alphen to go look for him because he knows Alphen has Renan friends and might care. They're two adorable little NPC guys who should date.

Unfortunately some quests just go a little too hard on the whole "wow, it's hard for Renans not to treat Dahnans like slaves" or "wow, Dahnans sure do want to do violence to Renans because they were slaves" stuff. Which... some of it is fair and fine, but it's just a lot worse than the base game for those attitudes.

Marriage Plotline

A throughline of EX Quests lays out that Alphen wants to marry Shionne. Some parts of this plotline are cute, but unfortunately, all of them fall short of the cuteness and excellent relationship already depicted in the base game.

They just consist of Alphen going around "researching marriage" for "no particular reason." He enlists the help of the party, always leaving somebody on Shionne distraction duty. There's an accompanying set of diaries where Shionne worries that everyone is doing this because they found out her secret. Late in the questline she reveals that her "secret" is something everybody already knows: she always sneaks a full plate of food while cooking for everyone. (And then has seconds later, but they're actually thirds.) But it turns out it wasn't that, and it was just Alphen feeling clueless about marriage things like weddings, homes, decorations, etc.

If you complete these quests you get a scene at the end where they fade to black on Alphen clearly proposing to Shionne. They couldn't even write it?

It's not awful, but it's just not worth it given how bad the rest of the DLC is. The base game's ending cutscenes, kiss, and cute post-game artwork more than do the work here.

One more thing... Traslida Highway: canonically this is where Alphen and Shionne build a house and live. Alphen clears out a huge boar zeugle to make future space for it. It's a lovely spot with little cobblestone walls and fields, with Viscint visible in the distance. It's around the corner from the ranch. I love it for them.

Character Quests

Everybody got some extra character quests! They were... fine.

Law and Rinwell have some cute moments, but unfortunately most of it is overshadowed by ship teasing that cheapens their characters. Law still can't avoid being overly teased by everyone, and it definitely grates after a while.

Shionne's was fine. It kind of established that she might love to sell and especially share donuts or other food someday, which is cute for her.

Alphen's was slightly interesting, having him reckon with his role as a hero to Dahnans and a destroyer to Renans, and have to face that he just needs to move past their expectations and do what he wants for himself. It wasn't super well handled, but I think the broad strokes are interesting and play well with his intrinsic kindness when they aren't about Nazamil.

The highlight is definitely Kisara and Dohalim. Not their character quests per se, which are alright, but in general in the DLC they have some really fun stuff going on.

Dohalim stepped up to lead Pelegion so somebody who isn't a huge asshole could be in charge, but he doesn't love it or want to do it forever. Meanwhile Kisara has been leading Viscint, but a handful of the Renans living there still respect Dohalim more and call him Lord Dohalim. So it can sometimes be a tricky dynamic for both of them.

They have this really fun, flirty close vibe. If they're not watching their words they admit constantly to knowing each other super well. They have extended metaphors around caring for each other's cities and people and what will happen when their obligations are met.

At one point, Dohalim pleadingly looks to Kisara and asks, "Will you someday call me Do again?" and she says more or less, "Yes, of course, but after things are better with our cities." Tease, tease.

My strongest interpretation remains that they slept together on that one night before base game endgame, but haven't really done anything together since. But like... they're gonna. Super fun dynamic.

A lot of larger main party interactions are cute in the DLC, when they're not being tainted by Nazamil coming first. Unfortunately that's not as common as I'd like.

Everyone is very pretty. Abuse the power of color changes on accessories; it's better than in other games.

Combat and Final Dungeon

Combat is fun because it's just an abbreviated part of the base game, basically.

The last dungeon is kinda super fun in parts, a little undercooked in others. The fire palace area was gorgeous and several of the staircase views are stunning. But the wind and water areas felt especially weak, and the light area was clearly cut entirely for content. It felt like a fun classic Tales EX dungeon for all of one section. Sigh.

In summary, future Liz, don't play the Beyond the Dawn DLC again, you just don't need to. The bad parts do not make the good parts worth it at all.

But, one final gift to you. If for some godforsaken reason you do play this DLC again, when you're done, go to the Berg Volcano for a final skit as the very, very last thing to do. It's a cute skit called "Beyond the Dawn." I like it as a final note very much.

[themswritinwords]

Songs and Ships

Tagged by @athenswrites (many thanks!) and tagging @stesierra, @silvertalonwritblr, and @arigalefantasynovels (if you want, no pressure)

rules: write two to five songs that represent a ship between your ocs (it can be platonic or romantic or a secret third thing). then add a quote from said wip (if possible!) underneath it.

I know you shouldn't play favorites with your (brain)children, but I'm going with my all-time favs, Evan and Rowan, from The Rockbridge Experiment.

I Guess I'm In Love by Clinton Kane

I mean, the title says it all. He fell first, she fell harder, a little obliviously mutual pining (and everyone around them rolling their eyes) later, they're the embodiment of "this might as well happen." But make it romance.

Have Rowan's "oops! Feelings!" moment.

If she’d been anyone else, he might have just done it. Acted on impulse and kissed her right then, two-weeks-acquaintance be damned. But if there was a way to ruin everything, that would have been it. You didn’t just accept having a crush on your brand new coworker, let alone act on it. Is that why he was so hung up on her? He saw a pretty girl, but she was automatically off limits, so his brain threw a fit and refused to let the idea go without closure. That was then misinterpreted as attraction. Desire. Whatever this was. Was that really it? The thought gave him a peculiar, distasteful feeling in the pit of his stomach and he frowned to himself, turning another corner. He… didn’t want it to be just some fleeting attraction. And it wasn’t, was it? Yeah, sure, that came with it, but… Oh gods, he liked her. As in, ‘I want to kiss you because I really like you,’ not ‘I like you because I really want to kiss you.’ He stopped midstep, heart pounding with both joy and terror at the realization that this wasn’t a cut and dry case of having the hots for his coworker. “Well,” he said, putting his hands on his hips, “shit.” What did he do now?

Pas Peur by L.E.J.

Is it cheating if it's in a different language? Not if the character speaks said language. A song for the spicy Cajun girl who built a huge chunk of her identity on being Not Scared Of Anything, but is deeply terrified of the fact that she's crushing on someone for the first time in her life. (Bonus points because she literally didn't realize it for 3/4 of the manuscript. I'm not getting over that.)

Have the Terror of Realization.

She glanced surreptitiously to the side, scanning Rowan for any hint of how he was interpreting it. He had his hair down, running his fingers through the ends as he watched the alley ahead of them with a residual smile. Evan’s stomach did that weird twisting thing again, and a tiny jolt went through her as something shifted into place in her mind. Something totally foreign to her, a murky, terrifying unknown slowly fading into focus as her eyes traced the angles of his face.

Falling, by Florence + the Machine

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the scared-of-vulnerability and helpless-descent-into-madness vibes. This one applies to both of them. They're both terrified in different ways and for different reasons-- Rowan because he's usually the smooth talking player who dates around and is always chill, and now he's totally off his game with the facade stripped away. Evan because she's never actually cared for anyone like this, and she also doesn't know how to be the vulnerable, needy one.

Alas, there's not a ton of other quotes I could draw from because Major Spoilers, but have a snippet of a lil heart-to-heart that was particularly fun to write.

“You know,” she said after a moment, “a while back you told me that if the detective thing didn’t work out, I had a future as a therapist.” She looked up with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you were projecting.” “Side effect of your mom having a doctorate in psychology,” Rowan said with a smile. “The analysis, anyway. The awkwardly saying it out loud uncalled for is all me, unfortunately.” “Hey now, you don’t get to give a speech like that and then go calling yourself unfortunate.” With no witty comeback to be had, he just chuckled quietly. “Thank you,” Evan said, quickly and quietly. “I… I think I kind of needed that.” “I meant it,” Rowan said. “You really are incredible.” Their eyes met and lingered in a warm, fragile silence.  “I don’t know why this feels like the time to say it,” Evan said after a moment, “but for all the insanity and general screwed-up-ness of this whole situation… if nothing else, I’m glad it means I got to know you.” “The feeling’s mutual,” Rowan said quietly.

.

Maybe it's time to get back to focusing on rewrites and shortening this one. I forgot how much fun I had writing these kids.

[stridingseer]

cant say i have any specific asks about inception ships but i am more than happy to hear you talk about rarepairs because there is simply not enough content here <3

Okay this uh, admittedly might get long (I am going to do this in point form for the sheer rambles). Very Long Thoughts Under the cut!!

Eames/Robert Fischer

One thing that keeps on swinging around to me every time I write them or read about them is this one constant theme, aka the idea of Identity.

Who is Robert supposed to be after the inception? How does he reconcile with breaking up his inheritance? Who is he outside of his father? Who is he besides being the son of Maurice Fischer?

For Eames, it's a bit funkier but Eames is a forger. His identity is anything that the job needs him to be. But then, who is he really? Is he a combination of his forges? Yes he plays a role for the others but what are his thoughts about it?

(I recently got a reply back from another writer for this ship that pointed out that Eames got to deal with the psychological aspect of the inception and I can't help but wonder: how does he feel about having to do this to Fischer in the first place?)

What happens post canon between these two is SUCH an oasis for writing ideas. Have them meet years later at a bar! Maybe Robert chooses to break up his empire and then go AWOL before running into Eames (maybe Eames steals his wallet for the THIRD FUCKING time, admittedly it'd be funny)

Similarly: what did Eames see at Fischer-Marrow while he was there? The two of them probably did meet which means the first meeting is one of infinite possibilities. I just love the idea of Eames introducing himself, calls Robert by Fischer, and then Robert corrects him to use his first name. (names as intimacy and trust!! NAMES AS INTIMACY AND TRUST)

I do have this headcanon that Eames also has like similar-esque issues as Robert which is why he's the one who more or less starts digging in from the angle of the father-son relationship. In a way it's him getting his own catharsis when Robert gets his but again, it can get really messy. It's also why he keeps on bringing it up. Anyways they both have family issues and they're foils your honor.

Would like to thank This Fic for getting me into the pairing though there are som Very Good Ones in the tag. I love them all dearly.

Anyways I have a cannibal + shapeshifter roadtrip fic in my drafts and it's actually an exploration on identity. And also a second person fic from Robert's POV that tackles his relationship w/ his father like my relationship with both of my parents. Consider it an alternative reading of sorts

Arthur/Dom Cobb

Basically they're inception's reasonable right hand man/mastermind who has Big Ideas (aka Rusty and Danny from Ocean's 11 though admittedly their dynamic is way different)

Read them as exes who can't leave each other alone and it suddenly becomes quite funny to watch the movie in that way. Cuz then it makes Arthur's constant :/ funnier but he's STILL hanging around.

I like the idea of the two of them living together to take care of Cobb's kids at the end of inception! Arthur comes to visit and ends up staying way longer. They are now common in laws.

And given his logical brain, if any of the kids needs him w/ history or math or geography, Arthur is There because his whole job

One thing that does rotate in my head is just the sheer loyalty that Arthur has for Cobb? Like the Fischer job goes wrong on the first layer in and he, like Eames, can say that he can voice that he's walking off the job. The Thing is his choice to Not to. Tiny thing but it speaks volumes. Also if they go to hotels, these two basically live together even on the job.

So Arthur 100% knew Mal which means that I imagine that it's Cobb who first dragged him into dreamsharing. I just like the idea of the three of them testing limits and whatnot (it's very Ocean's 11 in its parallels but it also gives more depth and food to think about. Of course Mal and Cobb get married and Arthur is not bitter about it, not at all)

I also raise you the idea of Eames calling Arthur a 'nanny' for watching over Cobb's kids. And then Eames gets called 'gold digger' for getting with Robert. Neither of them are wrong about it technically but it could be that it's a fun in joke/dig at each other.

MORE FICS ABOUT THEIR FIRST EXTRACTIONS TOGETHER AND WHATNOT!! There is so much food for thought about how they managed to find their place in their extraction world.

On a similar note: their first adventures in the dreamscape. Basically the question of 'how many times has Cobb shot Arthur to wake him up'.

[saintobio]

sincerely not. (15)

↳ gojou satoru/reader

with an arranged marriage set in place, the sacred bond is doomed with a wife who wants to make the relationship work and a husband who’s ready to ruin it all. unbeknown to him, a tragic fate already lies within the pages of his romance book.

genre. heavy angst, unrequited love, arranged marriage, modern au, 18+

tags/warnings. profanity, mentions of illness, mentions of miscarriage, pregnancy

notes. 10.2k wc. i enjoyed writing this chapter. enjoy !! beta read by rae as always <3

series masterlist -> episode sixteen

“Your wife is seven weeks pregnant.”

You didn’t mean to wake up at that exact moment. When your eyes had barely adjusted to the fluorescent lights and your mind could not register what you were hearing, you weren’t sure if you were still in a state of REM sleep or if this was reality. You could easily recognize Dr. Mori’s voice and notice how your husband had fallen silent behind the curtains that reflected his lean silhouette. I’m pregnant, you repeated the thought in your head until you finally processed the very idea that a life was budding inside of you. How can this be possible? Your own hand flew straight to your tummy, caressing the bump that wasn’t even visible to the naked eye because all this time, you thought that you were just gaining weight. You thought that your missed period, your sore breasts, your cravings, and all your other symptoms were just byproducts of extreme stress.

How could you have overlooked the possibility of getting pregnant? The last time you had been intimate with your husband, or at least when he last released into you, was when you were in his office on the day before his father’s birthday celebration. Could you have conceived by then? It would make sense because you had forgotten to take your pills on two consecutive mornings which could have lessened its overall effectiveness. It would also explain why they failed to detect your pregnancy when you were diagnosed with stable angina because it would have been too early to show in your blood results.

On a one in a million chance, your conception was actually a shocker.

But more than that, what were you supposed to do with this information? Why—instead of rejecting the thought—were you actually fluttering with indescribable bliss? Each time you caressed your belly, your heart was bursting into flames and you could feel happy tears pooling your eyes before you blinked them away. No, you should not cry. Not when you still had no idea what your husband would say to this.

I have his baby. We have a baby.

There had been a long-standing argument between you two regarding the topic of pregnancy and you were dreading to have another round of conflict and outburst about a baby that you have accidentally created together.

Gojou seemed to be quite shaken, too. After a few more inaudible exchanges with your doctor, your husband came back and slipped inside your section of the ER with a ghostly expression. His eyes briefly scanned your face, somber as he pulled a chair close to your bed and rested his head on your tummy as though he was listening to his unborn baby. His actions left you taken aback while you could see how hard he was suppressing the pensive sadness in his mien—afraid that you weren’t happy, afraid of the worst case scenario. What was he thinking of, really? Why were his eyes forlorn?

Because he couldn’t break the silence, you were the one who made the effort to do so. “Is that the face you make after finding out that I have your baby?”

He was cognizant of your little attempt to lighten up the mood, but he could not hide the faint tear that left his eye. “D-Did you know? Before this…?”

“No. I wasn’t aware.” It was true. Just like him, it was your first time hearing about it and you had no idea how you should take it. You knew deep inside that you wanted to cry out of joy because you didn’t expect that carrying a tiny human would bring this much felicity to your heart, but the circumstances were quite different. Your lassitude had gotten the best of you and rendered you powerless to react strongly about your pregnancy. “I didn’t know I was pregnant all this time.”

Gojou’s eyes were glazed with pain and your caring instinct prompted you to run your thumb across his rosy cheek. “How about your heart condition? Were you aware?”

What answer would not spike up his guilt? You had to tell him the truth either way. “I was,” you gave an honest answer. “I found out after Bora Bora—”

You couldn’t finish the sentence because he closed his eyes in despair, burying his face on your stomach and painfully mouthing the word ‘sorry’ with a soundless voice. It seemed like he was apologizing to both you and your child. “I caused this. I’m sorry. I know saying sorry won’t even cut it. I hurt you so much and now you… you’re suffering even more because of m-me.”

“Satoru… Look at me.” Your voice was calm as you caressed his cheek. “About my heart, it was hereditary. It’s not because of you.”

“The doctor himself told me that stress was also a main factor.” He wiped his face and looked up at you as if his world was collapsing in front of him. “I’m unforgivable, aren’t I? I know you don’t wanna keep our baby—”

“Stop.” For a moment, you had to draw in a deep breath because the gravitational force of your pain could bring you six feet under. He mustn’t have realized that there was a wave of ache in your heart after he assumed that you didn’t want your baby. Maybe it was your motherly instinct, maybe you just loved the thought of being a mother in general. In the midst of your husband’s breakdown, you kept your palm on your belly. “As long as I can carry safely, I wanna keep the baby.”

There, you made your decision. And him? Well, Satoru was suffering from the demon inside his head. You could sense his mind going haywire while possibly recounting the poignant memories of the unforgivable things that he did to you, forming his own conclusion to trace down how your heart condition had ultimately worsened because of him. “You’re fragile. It’s all because of me. I destroyed you.”

You pulled him by the arm, watching how helplessly distraught he had become. “Don’t punish yourself. It’s in the past.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Maybe you don’t,” your blunt response merited its own reason, “but our child deserves a father.”

Wasn’t it ironic that you were the one with an ill-heart and yet you could handle your emotions far better than a six-foot tall man? But then again, you couldn’t blame him. He was going through a difficult period and he hasn’t even fully healed from everything that happened yet. Several weeks ago, you swore to yourself that having Gojou as the father of your child would be an absolute nightmare. But now that it happened, now that it came true, all you wanted was for him to man up and take the responsibility of being the head of your future family.

After the death of a loved one comes the birth of another. After the rain, the sun would shine again. Instead of being sucked into a black hole, your stars were still bright despite not being aligned. Your marriage had its own vicissitudes and your marital relationship was far from anyone’s definition of perfect, but your child was a blessing that you ought to cherish and protect and nurture. Surely, it was a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching thought to realize that Nana didn’t even make it in time for the news of your pregnancy, but some things were uncontrollable and the universe simply loved its cruel games. Nana’s death was the supernova and your baby was the precious new star in a stellar nebula.

You hadn’t even moved an inch before your husband’s forehead was already pressed against yours. His crystalline blue eyes were seeking your forgiveness. “Satoru. We’re not in the best circumstance, but we need to be good parents.”

“What about your heart?” His inner turmoil had risen tenfold.

“I’m sure it’s not fatal to carry a baby,” you reasoned, trying to look at the bright side like you always did. Hopeful? Positive? God, let it manifest. You didn’t want to hear about any negative outcomes that could affect your baby. “I’m gonna need to consult Dr. Mori about this.”

Considering the number of medications that you were taking, you already knew that the doctor would lessen the amount of medicines prescribed to you. You would also most likely deliver the baby through c-section because it would guarantee both you and your baby’s safety a lot more than a normal delivery could offer. There were many things that had to be discussed to avoid further complications and you needed to make sure that your baby’s health would be prioritized above all.

“I’ll take care of you.” Satoru’s voice cracked as he made his vow, clutching your hands as though he was holding on for dear life. “I’ll take good care of you and our baby. I promise I’ll repay your kindness and be there for you. I know I’m awful as a husband, but I won’t fail as a father.”

You acknowledged the desperation in his voice, the seemingly repeated chants of promises and apologies that his mind was torturing him with, and pulled him for an embrace to provide his much needed comfort. “I know you will.”

Later that day, you were free to go home but you chose to speak to your doctor about your condition who informed you that a) he would lessen the dosage of your medications b) you would need to follow a strict healthy lifestyle and that c) cardiopulmonary bypass could be dangerous if your condition worsened and your heart deteriorated significantly throughout your pregnancy. The maternal death rate and fetal loss for these situations were not alarming, but it was still something that you would need to prevent.

“There is only one report of coronary artery bypass surgery during pregnancy in a thirty six-year old patient with severe angina and a 90% stenosis of the left main coronary artery,” explained Dr. Mori as he enlightened you and your spouse, “The patient was twelve to fourteen weeks pregnant and later delivered a normal child.”

Your hopeful husband squeezed your hand. “How do we ensure that my wife’s going to be safe all throughout like her?”

Dr. Mori tilted his head and looked at you behind his thin-framed glasses. “Coronary angioplasty is a good alternative especially in a case of essentially single vessel disease with a proximal lesion in the left anterior descending coronary artery,” he considered. “Although there is a small risk of complications that can lead to the need for urgent operation, angioplasty does not require a general anaesthetic and cardiopulmonary bypass.”

So what you were getting at was: you could eliminate your angina by means of angioplasty?

“How about the exposure to radiation?” you inquired, touching your belly protectively. “If I’m gonna get angioplasty, that’ll subject my baby to radiation.”

The doctor took notes as he continued to discuss the possibilities. “We will reduce fetal irradiation by limiting the exposure time and we’ll protect the fetus with lead shields. Everything will be well within the limits of acceptable risk to the fetus.”

You traded looks with your husband and said nothing else. Zero words. It was obvious that he was overthinking while you were keeping your silence because you just realized how complicated things actually were. And it seemed that as soon as you would consent to undergo coronary angioplasty, the doctors would be ready to administer the procedure to you in a heartbeat. But how about your dad? How about your sister? Would you simply hide all of this from them? What would you explain to them once you get admitted to the hospital?

“It’s not urgent. I’ll place your wife's condition under thorough clinical case study together with other veteran doctors,” the doctor reassured, interlocking his fingers above his desk. “We’ll ensure that enough research will be made so that the application of this technique will allow Y/N to have an angina free pregnancy and delivery. In the meantime, she needs full care and has to avoid angina triggers because taking nitrates can affect the fetus.”

Satoru offered a nod, planting a kiss on your knuckles as the trajectory of his emotions finally arrived at a calmer state. “Can we request Dr. Ieiri on this, too?”

“Dr. Shoko Ieiri?” the doctor clarified.

“Yeah. She’s a close friend of ours,” you confirmed, already feeling relieved that Ieiri would be part of the primary doctors that would look after you because she was one of the few who had been aware of your heart condition. “Doc, I’m still hoping that you won’t disclose my condition to Gen and my father. I’ll find the right time to tell them.”

“You have my word.”

The change of atmosphere was almost tangible. It appeared that Satoru had decided to change his demeanor when you came home that night, ridding himself of his unstable emotions and working on being a more resilient spouse. It was noticeable because he was treating you with utmost sensitivity knowing how twice as fragile you had just become. You could tell that the revelation of your illness overlapping your pregnancy still messed with his mind, but you constantly gave him the reassurance that you would feel more at ease if he wasn’t stressing himself out.

To put it in another perspective, Gojou was a businessman and an excellent decision-maker. When a company is seeing a loss of revenue, his immediate decision would be to find the root cause before making an action plan. There was no point in moping around and finding someone to blame. This was a tactic that he could also apply to your difficult situation now. Actions, not by words, but actions progressing instead of regressing.

Despite the negative aspects of your life, there were also positive things to note about this change of atmosphere. For one, your husband—someone who has rarely cooked his own dinner before—was the one in charge in the kitchen tonight to make you a nice, healthy meal. It was nothing big, but certainly a great first step towards his lifelong vow. When he was standing behind the stovetop, a hand on his hip and an apron that he so unwillingly tied around his waist, how could you complain? It was the very image of a househusband that stretched your lips into a smile.

“Kale salad with Meyer lemon vinaigrette,” you read the recipe on your phone before you took another spoonful—or in this case, a fork full of leafy greens into your mouth. The concoction of Meyer lemon and avocado already satisfied your cravings perfectly and this wasn’t even considered your dinner yet. Chef Satoru was still cooking your requested pan-seared sirloin steak in rosemary garlic and just the smell of it alone was making you drool. “I’m so hungry. It smells so good.”

“Almost done, baby.” He neatly transferred the thick chunk of sizzling no-gristle meat into a plate, slicing it in bite size to lessen your work before he placed the meal in front of you. “Don’t judge my cooking skills.”

“I won’t.” You were thankful enough that he was even making the effort in spite of the abyss of depression that was trying to pull him down. So in gratitude, his efforts shouldn’t go unnoticed and you rewarded him with a quick kiss. “Thank you.”

He smiled into the kiss as if he was melting inside, like a block of solid butter that had been absorbed by the steak he just cooked not more than a few minutes ago. “One more kiss,” with a hand on your back, he pressed his lips down into yours once more. “I love you.”

Your heart was full even when you hadn’t started eating yet. Satoru as a husband was generous at throwing I love you’s and you wondered if he had always been like that around other women. Was he? The thought stirred some doubt in your head and you were already glaring at him before you knew it. Look at that jerk’s face. He could have said meaningless words of affection to hundreds of women before you. No, you stayed calm. Pregnancy hormones. You were laughing to yourself at the realization. Laughing, shaking your head, and drinking your strawberry banana smoothie on top of your brain’s newfound humor.

“Are you okay?” Satoru’s confused expression was nonetheless one that said: is my wife crazy?

The lean meat was both buttery and savory when you took your first bite. “Yeah,” you later answered, gesturing for him to sit on the bar stool across from you. “Does it make you feel weird when I’m irritable around you?”

He used his thumb to wipe the grease on the corner of your lips. “Not really. You have reasons.”

Good. You continued eating then, engaging yourself in small conversations with your husband about your certain cravings and symptoms until the clock struck eight and he was already putting the dishes away. He wouldn’t even let you move an inch from your seat. “We need helpers around the penthouse. You can’t be doing this all the time,” you pointed out. Okay, but considering that, you two would have less privacy. Having maids would mean that you could no longer walk around the penthouse half-naked, or do the deed with your husband in every possible location inside the spacious apartment. “Nevermind. I think we’re fine by ourselves.”

Satoru didn’t pick up the hint on your last sentence. “No, you’re right. I need someone to look after you while I’m at work. I’ll make sure they give me updates every hour.”

Crazy how fast a night could change. The memory of you walking out of the grand ballroom after announcing a divorce was still vivid in your mind. Now, here you were, pregnant and unwarrantedly ill with a husband still recuperating from his loss.

“Okay,” you ended up agreeing, “I can focus on designing new clothes in the other room while you’re in the office so you don’t have to worry too much.”

But adamant was your husband at saying no. “You can’t be left alone. I’ll probably lessen my time in the office and do online meetings whenever possible.”

“Satoru, don’t do that. You have work responsibilities.”

“But I can—” Yep, he realized soon enough that arguing with a pregnant woman was futile, which in result, made him discontinue his sentence. What he did was wrap his arms around you from behind, rubbing your tummy with his large hand and kissing the surface of your temple along with it. “I can’t wait to see our little munchkin.”

Why, just why did his nickname for your baby make your heart jump? “Little munchkin.” You giggled. “I’m gonna be a mommy.”

He buried his face on the crook of your neck—a trait he always did whenever and wherever. “You’re fulfilling a husband’s dream right here, wife.”

You never truly expected that being pregnant would make you this happy. Not just for you, but also for Satoru who had always kept his childhood promises close to his heart. The realization that not just two, but three people with the tiny one inside you, were in the confinements of your home transported you to a euphoric paradise. This was your family now.

The two of you decided to adjust to your new life by taking gradual steps since then. For the next five days, Gojou was shown to be a lot more hands-on than you initially thought. Of course, moments of wistfulness still visited him especially whenever he remembered his late grandmother because the wounds were still fresh and they constantly carved a searing burn in his tortured mind. There were instances where Satoru would also get lost in thought, pondering about the suspicions that Nana’s caregiver had told him about her death. He hasn’t even spoken to his father for a week now despite the constant phone calls that he received from him and the only time he would ever respond to anyone on his rectangular gadget was if it was either from his mom, secretary Miwa, or his best friends.

His five days, however, were entirely spent with you. It was enough to let him decide that your staff of four maids could live in the smaller apartment next door so you two could technically still have some couple’s privacy when necessary. An intercom system was there for you if you needed your maids’ assistance and you had chefs coming over day and night to make you all the healthy meals that your body required. Your husband was quite strict with the food you would consume on a day-to-day basis as he constantly reminded the staff to ensure that all ingredients were completely safe for a pregnant woman. That meant no raw or undercooked meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, and eggs. Gone were the days of sushi and sashimi, and everyone must comply with your husband’s orders or else they would be fired.

You were treated no less than a queen in your household. Satoru was making sure that even he, the king, would bow at your feet with every request you made. Lemon bar at 3 AM? He stumbled half-awake into the kitchen in his boxers just to bring your cravings to you. Throwing up early in the morning? He was there to hold your hair and rub your back while you puked into the toilet bowl. The funniest, perhaps most ridiculous of all, was whenever you got a wave of hormonal changes that you never noticed before. Your husband was the recipient of your annoyance when you nagged at how disgusting he was for drinking straight out of the milk carton, and then proceeded to cuddle with him on the couch as if none of it happened. At some point, you even teared up when he read your baby a bedtime story despite the so-called story being a book on how to create uncontested market space and making good business strategies.

“It’s a boy. I can feel it. He’ll be my heir.”

You disagreed, smiling as you raked your fingers through his snow white hair. “I think it’s a girl.”

According to C.J. Hamilton, ‘Happy women, whose hearts are satisfied and full, have little need of utterance. Their lives are rounded and complete, they require nothing but the calm recurrence of those peaceful home duties in which domestic women rightly feel that their true vocation lies.’

This life with Satoru might be too good to be true.

But you being the hopeless romantic, you cherished every minute of it. Your heart was content and blissful all the more.

On the last day of your husband’s extended bereavement leave, reality hit you. Tomorrow, he would be back to fulfill his duty as the Vice President of a large conglomerate while you would spend your day in the fashion studio together with your seamstress to finish your gift for the Zen’in kids.

Actually, reality slapped you harder when you realized that you and your husband weren’t the only people living in this bubble of domesticity. You had families to communicate with and your situation certainly required your father and sister’s enlightenment who have all been patiently waiting for your next visit to the mansion.

As for Satoru, it was inevitable to hide your pregnancy when his mom entered the penthouse that day just before lunchtime and brought you ramen noodles, gyoza, and kikufukus from her husband’s restaurant downtown. He wasn’t going to reveal it to her, but she had accidentally walked into her son in a kneeling position while feathering kisses to your belly which fueled her otherwise untimely surprise. Obviously the elephant in the room had to be addressed and you were the one who unfolded the not-so-secret news.

“You’re really pregnant?” Her mouth fell agape as soon as you revealed it to her.

You responded with a meek nod. A proud husband was standing next to you, holding the slope of your shoulder in an affectionate stance. “Two months by now.”

“Oh, my! I’m gonna have a grandkid!”

Yes, she did cry. You figured that this was a normal reaction for a parent to have knowing that her child was now, in fact, soon to be a parent, too. Her reaction made you believe that this would’ve also been your own mom’s reaction if she had found out that you were expecting. It was amazing how an unborn baby could put someone into happy tears. Moreover, it was heartwarming to the absolute core to know that your baby was the focal point of another person’s joy.

“Satoru, you’re going to be a father now.” His mother cupped his cheeks. “I know you’ll be a wonderful dad. I trust that you will.”

Your mother-in-law’s words also translated to: ‘you better not turn out like your dad’ and maybe ‘treat your wife the way you want to be treated’. Except, she wasn’t aware of her son’s earlier infidelity but that was something she didn’t need to know.

Even with little Nina running to greet her favorite and apparently ‘most generous and handsome’ uncle, Gen didn’t have it in her to acknowledge her brother-in-law with the same enthusiasm.

It had been a week since she last saw you and she was still expecting an explanation regarding the supposed divorce that got halted because of Nana’s sudden death. Your father was kind enough to greet the Gojou heir, welcoming him into the living room as you sat next to your husband with intertwined, ringless fingers. Was Satoru nervous? He should have no reasons to be anxious if he didn’t do anything wrong, right?

Gen had chosen to remain silent with Nina on her lap, scrutinizing Satoru’s every move while your father tried to gauge the said son-in-law’s emotions. For the most part, his vivid cerulean eyes were dull and they met the tips of his arctic white hair with his lack of usual styling.

“Son, how’ve you been?” your father asked out of courtesy, sipping on his Arabic coffee soon after.

The white-haired man cleared his throat and sat straight. He couldn’t even look at Gen’s eyes. How funny. “It’s been better, dad. Y/N has been with me all throughout.”

“It’s her role as a wife,” Gen stated the obvious with a stern voice. Why bother beating around the bush when they could go straight to the damn point? “My sister’s such a good wife, isn’t she? Way too good, even. How come she’d want a divorce?”

“Gen.” Your father warned, and thus garnering the awkward silence in the room.

When you took a deep breath, Gen already expected that you would be speaking on behalf of your cowardly husband. “Dad, Gen… I know things may be confusing, but I just wanna clear out that Satoru and I are fine. The divorce was… Well, we had an argument and I said things I didn’t mean.”

Lies, thought Gen. Even your dad didn’t believe your bullshit because, for goodness sake, you can’t fool the family you grew up with. You were a kind, patient, and sympathetic woman who would never decide on things rashly unless provoked. So, why were you lying for Satoru? And why the hell was your husband looking so regretful? He was like a cat with folded ears after being caught stealing food on a table.

“I just need to hear it from you, darling.” Although your dad spoke in a calm tone, he was anything but. “Are you happy?”

The repeated blinks. The breath you restrained. Satoru squeezing your hand. Gen caught it all. Whatever reason would leave your mouth, she would no longer believe it.

“Yes,” you said your lie just as your sister expected. “I’m happy, dad. Don’t worry. I’m actually here to deliver some news.”

News? Gen glanced at Satoru who was gazing at you with eyes full of overwhelming love. It seemed genuine yet so hard to trust. “What is it?” your sister probed, hoping that it was something to rejoice about.

The hand on your belly was the answer. No wonder you were wearing a prairie dress today, but there was nothing much to show on your barely-there bump either way. Just the unusual radiant glow on your face and the clear attachment to your husband. Gen has had her fair share of this experience, so she knew all too well that a man would be ten times more attracted to a pregnant wife. It could explain the hearts in his eyes whenever he looked at you.

“Pregnant?” your father’s eyes lit up. “Darling, you’re pregnant? Is that right?”

“Mommy, I have a cousin!” Nina cheered on.

As for Gen, she smiled for you and you only. “Congratulations, Y/N. You finally have a baby!”

It was a bitter feeling that, not long ago, Gen always had conversations with Satoru on how to get his wife to conceive a boy. They were a lot closer back then and she treated him like a younger brother not just by law, but by blood. Now, she could barely smile at the guy, much less trust him.

But setting her feelings aside, the expected fusillade of questions happened after and they all came from your dad: since when? Is it a boy or a girl? Are you healthy? Are you craving anything specific? Oh, boy, was your father ready to send a truck full of groceries to your house. Gen hasn’t seen him go through a whirlwind of positive emotions like this since your mother was still alive and it was almost difficult for Gen to cut the wholesome scene. Keyword: almost.

“Y/N, can I have a word with you in private?” Unfortunately for you, Gen’s smile was evanescent. And your husband? He was encouraging you to go, though he was clearly hurt by his sister-in-law’s ice cold treatment towards him.

Your father agreed nevertheless. “You should go. Satoru and I have to talk, too.”

Ah, the business talk. Gen heard about it beforehand. The Chairman of CFG was to let Satoru Gojou know that the merger would not push through. That even if his wife was pregnant, it was not worth risking the business ties that they already established prior. Of course, Creston would still hold a large part of the Gojou Group’s core investments so that was not entirely a ‘cut-off’. It was merely a business decision to keep two companies from clashing and hence, a merger could only be detrimental than beneficial.

To you, it wasn’t about business. When Gen guided you into the balcony, she leaned against the balustrade while you looked ahead towards the familiar view of the Tokyo bay.

Only the susurration of the wind and the chirping of birds could be heard until Gen opened her mouth. “Tell me honestly. Are you staying with him because you have a baby? I’m sure you wouldn’t have asked for a divorce if you knew you were pregnant beforehand.”

“Gen.” A deep sigh crawled out of your lips. “I already told you, we had a petty fight and I announced the divorce on a whim. It wasn’t anything serious.”

Your protective sister crossed her arms. “I fight with my husband too, but it’s never to a point where I ask for a divorce,” See? Gen hit bullseye with that, “and let’s not forget that you’re far more patient than I am.”

What else could you expect from a CEO of a huge financial conglomerate? She was a calculating and perspicacious leader. Even more, her husband earned the title of being one of the top lawyers in his firm. Imagine the logical, systematical, and methodical conversations they had to have shared in bed. There has to be a sensible answer to all her queries. Otherwise, you were clearly submitting to her suspicions.

“I’m pregnant.” You were sighing as you responded, a hand on your belly as you met your sister’s eyes. Gen felt bad somehow. “My emotions were fluctuating, that's why I gave him the ultimatum of a divorce. I didn’t mean it. Those were my hormones.”

Regardless of that, she was still doubtful and could not even hide it. “Did Satoru cheat on you? He’s not treating you right, isn’t he?” She released a heavy exhale. “Your marriage is arranged after all. You don’t even wear your rings.”

To think of it, your immediate reaction when Gen mentioned the rings was to hide your hand behind you. “It’s my marriage, Gen. I really appreciate that you’re so protective of me and I love you for it. So much. But when I say we’re fine, please trust me.”

That answer was not a direct response to her questions. It was vague with a clear inclination to convince. In other words: mind your own business, Gen.

Fine. Whatever, then. Gen still ended up embracing you into her arms and giving you all the advice that you needed as a previously pregnant woman herself. You were able to soften up into the conversation when she delighted about how blissful it would be to hear your baby’s first heartbeat or feel its first kick. The excitement was pretty much visible on your face and you were deeply in love with the thought of being a mother—Gen could feel your happiness exuding. Your radiance, blinding. Your husband? Revolting. But Gen decided not to show her animosity more than she already has.

Satoru had it easy with your dad because the old man was kind enough to explain the business matters with his son-in-law. Although Gen suspected that he was only in a good mood because of the news of his grandkid, whereas he would have been less genial to your husband while the questionable divorce was on the table.

From what Gen gathered here, no divorce would proceed to happen. The merger was no longer in further consideration. A new baby would be welcomed into the family in seven months. That was it? Why did it feel like she was missing a puzzle piece?

“Take care, okay?” Gen wished you well as your husband guided you into the backseat of your Rolls Royce. “Eat healthy and avoid stress.”

“I will, nee-chan.” You chuckled, addressing your older sister with that tone that she used to feel annoyed with. She loved you, though. And she liked seeing your smile.

Satoru was giving a respectful 90-degree bow to his wife’s father and sister just before he got inside the car. “We’ll get going.”

Sure, you have cleared the air about your marriage, but that night when Gen was preparing for a good night’s sleep, she had to bring up the topic to her husband. He was surprised about the pregnancy, nothing special. But that was not the main dish on the 8-course meal.

“Adultery is marital misconduct, so that means alimony will be shouldered by the suspected spouse once proven, right?”

Her husband flipped the pages of the case report that he was reading in bed about a defendant’s alleged tax evasion. “I don’t have other women, you know.”

Gen let out a soft chuckle. “I know.”

In a more serious answer, her husband continued. “Where adultery is proven, the respondent will pay for a hundred percent of the costs of the divorce. Alimony will depend on a case-to-case basis. It should be specified in their prenuptial agreement.”

“Do the math here,” she proposed the financial situation by using the most dominant currency in the world, “Satoru has a two-billion dollar net worth prior to their marriage and that’s excluding his overall shares in their company. My sister only has seven hundred million dollars as of now, but that’s because she hasn’t received the total inherited assets yet.”

Her husband seemed intrigued with the mention of yours and Satoru’s name. “Any assets brought into the marriage will remain that person’s separate property. He can walk away with his two billion and Y/N can keep her seven hundred million, but any assets earned during the marriage are subject to division.”

Shit. Gen knew that, but still… “In ten years time, my sister will be worth eight billion. So, how’s that—”

“Satoru will more or less be worth twenty-five billion by then,” he stated his point to counter Gen’s logic. “If he’s set to be the sole inheritor of the Gojou Group, he has more to lose than she will.”

Gen was thankful as hell that she married a lawyer because this would be greatly advantageous to their family on the grounds of a divorce. She might be overreacting about this, but she truly just wanted the best for her sister. She wouldn’t let her be trampled upon and stripped of her rightful assets just because of a failed marriage. No, Satoru should be the one to suffer from the consequences.

All she needed for now was concrete proof.

So with that in mind, she headed towards the balcony to get some fresh air before she dialed her assistant’s number who quickly answered the phone in less than three rings. Gen did say sorry for calling her so urgently at this time of the night, but she had to.

“Do you have any means of getting a good source of information from the Gojou Group?” she ordered, breathing deeply into the phone. “I need you to look into Satoru’s potential affairs.”

Eula was surprisingly a good actress.

It wasn’t like she had no conscience, but she was left with no choice except to hide any possible trace of being the cause of Nana’s death. She even had to pay the pathologist a butt load of money just to ensure that the autopsy would confirm a heart attack as the primary reason. She was off the hook because of her cunning personality and her clueless husband was still an idiot who couldn’t see beyond her lies.

However, the guilt was still eating her alive each time she would wake up in the morning because the so-called guilt was on the physical existence of her son, Yuuta Okkotsu—the very son she raised on her own after her partner knocked her up and abandoned her. It was the same son who was the only person aware of her crime.

She couldn’t trust her own flesh and blood. With the way Yuuta was acting weird since that gruesome night, she knew that she had to do something to prevent him from spilling any suspicious information. He’s a kid, she considered. Such an honest kid like him could be a dangerous threat to her.

“Don’t you think you should fly to Massachusetts soon?” she asked the carrier of her guilt, patting the dust on his shoulder as they stood at a distance out of earshot from her husband. Thankfully, the golf course was wide enough from any prying ears and the old man was too busy swinging his club towards his aim that he paid no attention to his wife.

Yuuta adjusted his cap and barely saw his mother eye-to-eye. “I leave in three months, mom.”

“I know, but wouldn’t it be better that you settle early and make some friends?” Her tone made it seem as though she was concerned.

Her son, on the other hand, had a face filled with remorse. “Mom, you should just admit to your—”

“Do. Not. Start with me right now, Yuuta Okkotsu.” She put a heavy emphasis on every word, panicking internally as she looked around to see if anyone had heard.

Yuuta flinched from her voice and slumped his shoulders while scooting away from his mother. “It’s not right that you’re putting the blame on my brother.”

She snorted. “Satoru? To hell with that. He’s been treating you like a dog because he knows he’s the legal heir. Don’t feel bad for him.” Legal by law and blood. If Eula had the option to bring Nana back to life, she would be willing to exchange that bastard Satoru in return. He was the main obstacle that she couldn’t seem to get rid of.

“Onto the next course!”

The caddie’s announcement forced Eula and Yuuta to cut their conversation because her husband was now fast approaching, rotating his gloved wrist while heading his way towards the golf cart. His caddies followed him like a tail as they carried all of his clubs and sealed him from the afternoon heat with an umbrella.

“My love, you did great!” Eula praised and drowned him with compliments, sending Yuuta a sharp wary look before looking back at her husband. “You’re so athletic.”

The old man stretched his arm, chin nodding forward. “Yuuta, don’t you wanna give it a shot? Satoru never lets me score better than him.”

Satoru, again. Her husband always mentioned that stupid son of his whenever she accompanied him for his weekend leisures. It was always ‘Satoru is great at tennis, Satoru is great at polo, Satoru is great at horse racing, Satoru this and that’ — Who the fuck cares? The kid grew up playing all of the rich people's sports accessible to him so her husband shouldn’t compare him to her humble son, Yuuta. Besides, wasn’t he the one physically abusing his own son whenever he wasn’t pleased?

“I’ll try my best, dad.” Yuuta’s answer received a pat on the back.

But before they could get in their carts and move to the next course, an approaching cart from three familiar faces caught the Gojou family off guard. The dark hair, scarred lip, feminine lashes, muscular build.

“Ah, Toji Zen’in.” Her husband greeted the man as soon as he, his son, and Yuuta’s friend got off their golf cart. Eula’s heart was rapid inside her chest and her curious eyes looked around to see if a certain blond with sharp eyes was here, too.

“Mr. Chairman. Good to see you.” There, they exchanged a few words of fake acknowledgement while the kids greeted each other. Toji was never one to display an antagonistic demeanor towards his business rival, but there was still tension whenever the two families crossed paths. “I didn’t know you played golf here.”

The older man smiled. “I didn’t know you played golf at all. You made me think you’re gonna be a Formula One driver.”

The shared chuckles—fake. Eula gave no shit about their pretentious friendship. Or business connection. Or whatever act of courtesy they were pulling. She didn’t join the conversation because rich people always used highfalutin jargon that she couldn’t keep up with. All she cared about was whether Naoya was with them because she hasn’t seen the man for a few days now and neither was he responding to her text messages. Was he with another woman? Perhaps younger? Eula was boiling, seething inside. If she ever caught him entangled with another beautiful woman, God forbid what she would do to that girl’s face.

“—it’d be nice to play with you next time, Toji,” Eula cut out of trance as she heard her husband say those words to the Zen’in guy. Well, that was until her husband received a phone call, excusing himself from the conversation to immediately take it. “Hello?”

During that moment, Toji was looking at his son and pulling the younger man by the nape. “Greet your elders, Megumi.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Gojou.” The boy with long lashes immediately gave her a courteous bow while Yuuta and Maki (?) or was it Mai (?) were busy having their conversation on one side. Megumi certainly took after her dad and Eula couldn’t deny the flawless genes that flowed through the Zen’in bloodline.

“Nice to see you two.” She returned the gesture towards the father and son, soon taking her chance to ask about Naoya. “That other man, the blond… Is he not with you?”

Toji’s eyes were humorless, but the sly curve of his lips said otherwise. Was he aware? “Naoya? He’s not with us.”

“Hates golf,” added Megumi. “He’s with S—”

The young man’s father chimed in. “Your outfit looks good on you, Mrs. Gojou.”

While she appreciated the compliment, Eula wanted to hear what Megumi was about to say. However, she never had the chance to ask again because her husband’s imposing voice scandalized the rest of the people within the stretch of green fields in that golf course.

“What do you mean Y/N’s pregnant? Why didn’t Satoru tell me right away?!”

A gasp from Yuuta. A smile from Maki. A mirroring image of wide eyes, parted mouths, and immobile bodies from Toji and Megumi combined. The caddies, the staff, and the rest of the others were in total shock from the sudden news and Eula almost fainted because of it. She was far from pleased to hear about this because a) the baby would be another obstacle when it came to matters of inheritance and b) that baby would definitely bring Shinzo closer to his son.

But then again, it could become a good distraction from Nana’s death.

How in God’s name should Eula even react to it?

The information about your pregnancy had spread like wildfire to the point that it even reached the local news.

Satoru clearly didn’t want to stress you out, but it seemed that his father had apparently found out about your pregnancy in a very public place, which of course gained the curious interest of keen bystanders. Rumors were always quick to circulate, especially on a web of internet space, that was why you already expected the notifications that blew up on your phone when the information got leaked. It didn’t stress you out per se. You even found it humorous how much of a celebrity you had become overnight while Satoru was the one pacing back and forth all night, overthinking whether the attention would be extremely bad for you and your baby. You couldn’t even count the downpour of apologies that left his mouth and you had to shut him up with a kiss just to calm him down. What a cute husband and daddy.

The lovely messages from the public have been really touching. They all wished you a healthy pregnancy and offered enthusiastic words towards your baby, with even some memes about you and your husband adopting them or claiming that the baby was already richer than they would ever be. In fact, the words ‘Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Gojou’ was the top trending topic on Twitter last night and it astounded you just how much more popular you were as a couple than it seemed.

Satoru was used to the spike of attention because he had always been a known bachelor who earned a rightful spot on the Forbes Under-30 list before he married you. What you didn’t expect was how you would also have to deal with a portion of his own fame now that you were his wife. But as long as the attention wasn’t harmful, as long as people still gave you privacy, nothing should pose a problem to you and your baby.

That essentially still didn’t manage to dispel Satoru’s fears. And here came The Deal—in his words, ‘mommy would have to come with daddy to his office so he won’t worry too much about leaving her behind’. There was nothing wrong with his request because you would be glad to come with him. What he just failed to realize was how awkward it would be for you to be around the same people who witnessed your dramatic moment at the 50th anniversary. That, and the fact that your baby was literally made in his office.

The fresh memory of you sitting on his cock—hands pressed against his office table while his fingers dug deep into your hips—was still as vivid as though it just happened yesterday. You remembered how stable his rhythm was, how he played with your nipples under your blouse, how he covered your mouth to prevent your whimpers, how he pounded through your walls roughly, and how he spilled every drop of semen straight into your cervix. Oh, Satoru. You were so full of cum that it even dripped down to your thighs until the devilish husband wiped them with tissues.

Perhaps there was no need to be graphic about that spicy recollection of sexual adventures. It was just funny to think that a quickie was what resulted into the most precious angel inside your womb.

Your bump was not at all prominent and if people looked closely, it looked like you had just eaten two quarter pounders. Because you still maintained your previous figure, you were able to wear your favorite pair of vintage Chanel together with your snakeskin Birkin and Ferragamo shoes.

As your husband pointed out, “Baby, you look like you’re gonna be walking on a fashion runway.”

“You’re one to talk, Mr. I Only Wear Zegna Suits.”

When you stepped out of the elevator to the C-Suite floor, lo and behold were the series of congratulations and the gleeful faces of the executives and their staff. You had no other words for them except to smile in gratitude as your husband held your hand while you two walked along the corridor towards his office. It was a celebration indeed because this baby was not at all ordinary. Regardless of the gender, your child would be the next heir of the Gojou Group and Creston combined. Your little bean wasn’t even aware of the immense power and status that it had and would have once it was born.

For now, mommy has to be in great health in order to deliver safely.

“I have a meeting,” announced your husband as he guided you to sit on his expensive leather couch. “I’m sorry. It’ll be quick.”

You sent him a nod, already browsing through one of the magazines on his coffee table. “I’ll be alright. I’ll wait for you.”

Gojou seemed to be having a dilemma about whether or not he should leave you alone and the way he glanced at Miwa gave you the impression that he wanted his secretary to stay with you. “Miwa, can you—”

You cut him off. “Absolutely not. Miwa has to go with you to take some notes. I’ll be fine, Satoru.”

The blue-haired girl bowed at you in return while your husband had finally given up on whatever plans he had. He probably would still ask his other employees to look after you, though. You knew him that well.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He leaned in to meet your lips with a peck, later crouching down to be at face level with your belly. “My little bug. Protect mommy’s heart while I’m gone, okay?”

The cute scene tugged at your lips. “Go now. You’re late for your meeting.”

Gojou was still in a cold war with his father who unfairly blamed him for his Nana’s death so you could understand why your husband didn’t want to contact him firsthand to deliver the news of your pregnancy. He simply didn’t deserve to be a grandfather especially since they have serious issues at home. In business, not so much. Satoru’s father would of course want him to continue with work instead of completely neglecting his duties because his decisions gravely matter to the company. They could avoid each other in the office, but they have to put their personal feelings aside when it comes to the company.

Thankfully, though, your father-in-law was out somewhere doing field work.

You were pretty much fine to spend the next twenty minutes alone in your husband’s office. You didn’t have enough energy to walk around so you remained on the couch while looking through the magazines that took your interest until you noticed a small frame atop his oak desk that you hadn’t  seen before. The clicks and clacks of your heels then filled your ears as you walked towards his office desk to see the photo on the said frame—it was your wedding photo. The same huge portrait that took a significant space in your living room. It may look like you were both happily married in that picture, but the camera failed to capture the real feelings that you two had that day—that he hated the marriage while you were heartbroken from the realization.

Your attention was quickly snatched away when you heard a notification on your phone signaling a text from a good friend of yours who was also your beloved breath of fresh air.

Toji: I can’t believe Mrs. Zen’in has a baby!

It was embarrassing how quickly you laughed.

You: How shameful of Mrs. Zen’in!

Toji: Very. I wonder if she’s taking care of her health, though.

This third-person talk was so entertaining that you didn’t notice how big your grin was.

You: Worry not, she is healthy and doted on. She’s also wondering if you can meet with her some time soon.

Toji: I would love to meet with her. Maybe she can explain this act of infidelity to me.

How could Toji make you laugh through texting alone? However, the joy in your eyes and the expanse of your beam were only fleeting when an uncomfortable presence had set foot inside your husband’s office.

“Hey.”

Sera was entering with a tray on her hand that had snacks in the form of biscuits, a teacup and a saucer. You realized that you have totally forgotten that she was still relevant to your life at all. No, seriously. You didn’t mean that in a bad way. Only that you haven’t been paying attention to the outside noise ever since you found out about your pregnancy and you nearly erased Sera’s existence from your mind.

That being said, how did Sera react to the very pregnancy that plagued every news channel? You prepared yourself for the forthcoming insults, screams, and perhaps violence that she would throw at you.

“Did someone send you here?” you asked, walking back into the couch to take your seat. She prepared tea and cranberry biscotti for the wife of the man she was head-over-heels for. Were you dreaming?

As a matter of fact, there were no traces of melancholy on her face. Her cheeks were free of tears and her face was as fresh as morning dew. You had to admit that Sera was one of the prettiest women you’ve seen in your life.

“I heard about the pregnancy…” she began. Here we go. “Congratulations.”

Did you hear that right? “Thank you,” you said. I mean, what else could you have said? Her congratulating you was already shocking in itself. What kind of self-reflection did she have since your last encounter? It was hard to believe how much her stance had changed. Maybe the news about your baby knocked some sense into her and she realized that it was futile to keep holding onto a man who had already given up on her.

“I can’t wish you well since this is hard for me to accept,” she said, holding the tray in her hand as she stood just a few meters away from the coffee table. “But I hope that you’ll take good care of Satoru.”

She deserved nothing but a nod from you. “I will.”

You at least appreciated that she lowered down her pride to talk to you calmly like this and you had high hopes that Sera still had minuscule kindness inside of her. Even more, she seemed genuinely interested in your pregnant belly with the way she was glancing at it.

“Oh, I’m not showing much yet,” you told her as you read her expression.

She displayed a small smile. “I prepared you tea since coffee is bad for pregnant women. It’s a hundred percent herbal and helps prevent anxiety. I know you need it since… the whole thing with Nana.”

“Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it.”

You grabbed the teacup and saucer, indulging yourself on the sweet aroma of the tea before sipping its sweet and somehow bitter taste. Sera then decided it was best to leave you alone without anything else to say because the air was awkward enough and you weren’t exactly willing to converse with your husband’s old flame. You were nice enough not to disclose her participation in Satoru's adultery at the start of your marriage, so she should understand that you and her could never be the best of friends.

As you placed the teacup back on the table, the door flew open again, but this time it was a six-foot tall man with albino hair and glowing blue eyes who greeted you excitedly.

“I’m back!” He spread his arms wide, ready to embrace you once you got up. “Miss me?”

You shot him a teasing grin. “Not really. You interrupted my snack time.”

“My bad. Tea time?” His eyes trailed down to the teacup on the table, quickly scrutinizing the content and even smelling the liquid inside the cup. His reaction was within the grounds of ‘normal’ until the ever-so-protective husband actually took a sip of the tea. In less than a second, the cup was on the carpeted floor and the content had spilled. You were far too frozen to react, but very much conscious to see the way Satoru’s face contorted into anger. “How much did you drink?!”

You panicked. “I-I… Just a little sip. Why?”

“Do you know how fucking dangerous that is? That’s chamomile!” he was yelling, not really towards you but to your careless decision to drink the said herbal tea. Was he overreacting? You weren’t even aware. “It’s not advisable for pregnant women. If you drank too much of that, you might have a misc—”

“But I didn’t know!” You approached your husband and reached for his hand. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I really didn’t drink a lot. Sera told me that the tea could help…” you trailed off in realization.

Gojou, too, had the same look on his face as he spoke with gritted teeth. “Sera gave that to you?”

His eyes scared you, but you recognized what brought those terrifying anger in his cold blues.

Sera just tried to kill the baby.

Was there any other way to sugarcoat it? Satoru was already stomping out of the office, hand clenched into a fist while you ran after him. Scared, nervous, befuddled—your mind was a mess. You couldn’t understand what was happening and just how shocking it all was. Even the employees looked intrigued as to why their boss was walking along the corridor with a fixed scowl that ultimately drove them away from blocking his path. No one else dared to approach him as you silently followed behind until Satoru stopped halfway to talk to one of the bodyguards near the reception.

“Call the security team, now!” he ordered in a domineering voice that made the other receptionists flinch and they all folded as soon Satoru’s piercing gaze scanned the two of them. “Where’s Sera?”

The poor girls couldn’t even look at your husband’s eyes and one of them had a quivering voice as she answered, “O-On the fax machine, Mr. Gojou.”

It was difficult to catch up to Satoru’s pace, especially when he was hellbent on confronting his ex-lover who had just tried to cause his own wife’s miscarriage. You wanted to be angry, and damn you did feel the fire burning in your head, but you had to maintain your calmness for the sake of your baby. Let Satoru deal with her and all you had to do was see what kind of excuse Sera would pull after attempting to harm your baby.

When you saw the brown-haired woman on the fax machine, guilt was clearly there on her face. She knew what she had done and she was masking her remorse with a rigid face.

“I’ve been nothing but good to you,” Gojou stood at a safe proximity away from her while he uttered his words with clenched fists. “I even let you hit me and begged you not to hurt my wife. I tried to end our relationship in the most civil way possible and this is how you… how you repay me?”

Did he really do that? You suppressed your gasp from coming out as you stayed silent behind your husband.

Sera averted her eyes. Although it was impossible to hide her trembling hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Gojou.”

“Hell! Don’t fucking lie to me! You know exactly what you did! You disgust me.” The emphasis in those three words that left his mouth were the same words that finally brought tears in Sera’s eyes. “I’m going to file a restraining order against you if you don’t leave my wife alone.”

“Satoru, wait n-no. It’s not what you think—” Sera tried to appeal, but the security guards had already arrived and were pulling her arms like a prisoner who had just committed a crime.

It was easy to tell that your husband felt betrayed that his ex—someone whom he once truthfully loved—would do such a thing to you. And while you were the victim in this situation, your anger had subsided into momentary pity because Sera was breaking down.

“I didn’t mean it!” she cried and begged for his understanding, heavy tears cascading down on her cheeks in such a pitiful state. “Don’t do this. Don’t.”

Without another word, Satoru protectively pulled you closer and gestured for the security team to escort her out of the office. There was no sympathy in his sadistic gaze and you knew that this was when your husband truly saw how, since the very beginning, Sera would only be the cause of his own downfall.

“Send her out of the building,” he spat, turning his back on her and pulling you by the hand as you could hear his ex-lover crying for forgiveness. “And throw her shit out of the office. She no longer works here.”

jjk general taglist: @kity @deeznutss @suhkusa @wonyoschubs @the-golden-jhope @6mattsun9 @hokageyamz @ermahgerd-larry-and-ziam @crashica @aizawap @juniorhooter @atsumusoup @gxtitobxby @strawberries-en-cream @dora-the-grownup @softy-woo @tsumume @kac-chowsballs @anime-nymph @kageyamakock @onlyonew @underratedmage @katsulovee @crapimahuman @alicia-1725 @fatal-impact @drippedcream

sincerely not taglist: @itsnotsoni @pluviophilefangirl @daphnxy @Icveaesop @choso-bee @sparklingblacktea @omisemi @captainchrisstan @http-strawbebbies @buttercups145 @xllance @jonsncws @and-you-found-me @tobiotetsu @jeonjungkookismyfuture @d-efend @honouredsatoru @my-reality-is-in-my-head @blueowl51 @misslovingpearl @cuteissei @japanesevenom @borpcorp @ushi-bakatoshi @idyllicodyssea

[evilwickedme]

I saw in the tags you mentioned spideypool fic recs 👂 I'm listening

breaking the DC streak to go to Marvel because fun fact I've been into DC for six months and into Marvel comics for eight years so

anyway a majority of my spideypool bookmarks are from 2015 and I have no idea if most of them are any good which is an interesting problem to have but I still have a solid list for y'all

Say Anything...Except That - I was following this from the first chapter and I'm now mutuals with the author which was very fanboy moment for me (if you're seeing this, hi!). it has a lot of old school fanfiction.net quirks to it which might be a bit difficult to swallow if you've only been reading fic for a few years, but honestly I think this fic is really good and holds up to this day. it's been a while since I read it last but iirc Deadpool has to protect Spider-Man or Peter from assassination attempts and there's a lot of pining involved. also mattfoggy ended up having a nice arc because this was 2015 and Daredevil had just aired (this is technically incomplete there's one chapter left but if I had to reread it multiple times when there were only like ten chapters you can handle it)

under attack - more fics by people who are wayyy too cool to have followed me back and yet somehow did? anyway this is part of stackthedeck's team red slash series (ELITE ship fyi) but this one is spideypool focused and has some nice fluff. fighting as flirting idk what else to say it's golden

#NoPlaceLikeHome - do y'all know ask-spiderpool? you should it's one of the best blogs on this damn website and a must-read for spideypool shippers. anyway this is that version of spideypool's first time together which is cute :D short and sweet basically. sciderman has a lot of fics for the spiderman fandom in general and their ask-spiderpool au in particular and they're all worth reading

Dissonance - another longfic that took half a decade to write about deadpool protecting spider-man from harm. I actually don't know why this trope is so good peter really can defend himself but there you go

Perfect Enough - ohm y gOD this fic series is so good. this au hinges on such a tiny difference in peter's history but it makes ALL the difference. anyway in this world basically nobody has a functional secret identity anymore except for spider-man. meanwhile, wade wilson and peter parker start dating. so much plot, two separate longfics each around 140k, good luck this CONSUMED my life

speaking of consumed, rippling - this is part of a series called Into the Multiverse and is based on the Spiderverse film so it's Peter B. which I LOVE (spideybpool FUCKS). the series spun out of the authors' other series and it is, in fact, a pain to read the main entries in the series without reading the other serieses which means that I did spend two weeks doing little to nothing except reading deniigiq's work, but a. it was worth b. this one can be read as a standalone! wade jumps in front of a bullet for peter b and he angsts about it I love it

finally ahem speaking of Peter B, did you know I've been writing spideypool fic since 2015 and I wrote one specifically for spiderverse? I'm a mess (but I'm the mess that you wanted) is really a mix of spiderverse and comic canon like, five years into the future, and deals mostly with like, depression and suicidal ideation on Peter's behalf, but hey there's also a plot AND a happy polyam ending which, what else could you want really

anyway sorry the list isn't longer I didn't bookmark so many of my favorite spideypool fics and now they're lost in the void forever :/

[sukirichi]

— there’s always a price to pay when you get your hands on a work of art.

PAIRING: tattoo! artist megumi x reader

REQUEST. tattoo artist au + mutual pining + size kink, praise kink, thigh riding + reader is shorter than megumi and isn’t shy 

WARNINGS: feral megumi, scratching, vaginal sex, size kink, praise kink, mature content, slight overstimulation, sexual tension lol, unedited story

NOTES: ah thank you so much for this request, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Here is my third contribution for FERAL MEGUMI FRIDAYS! and oh wow tattoo artist megumi uh no thoughts head empty

WC: 5.4k+

The tattoo saloon loomed over you, the neon signs almost blinding in the darkness. You could feel your heart pick up its pace in your chest as you hitched your bag up higher, the excitement settling in your toes. Mustering up the brightest smile you could have, you cleared your throat and pushed the door open, the tiny bell on top jingling to signal your arrival.

Your eyes roamed around the walls covered with intricate drawings, the leather seats dark and kept in pristine. Now that was rare – your leather couches always wore out in just a few weeks.

Making your way inside, grip on your sling bag still tight, you bit your lip as you peaked behind the counter. Empty. No one was there, and the nearby opened rooms were empty as well. Scratching your head, you scrunched your nose in confusion. You were sure you got the right place.

With a heavy sigh, you turned to leave, then stopped in your tracks when a dark-haired man exited a door you hadn’t even noticed at first.

He was tall – taller than you; his arms stretched until the sleeves of his black hoodie were pulled down, revealing a sliver of black tattoos that marked his skin. Upon hearing your awed gasp, his cold blue eyes fluttered to yours, the man – who was absolutely handsome despite his frown – froze in his spot.

You waved a hand to him, your smile bigger than ever. “Hi!” So you would be working with this cute guy? Maybe job-hunting wasn’t such a bad experience, after all.

“Hey,” he drawled out hesitantly, approaching you with his ink stained fingers pointed at you. He was still frowning, which was a damn shame, since you were sure he’d look even hotter if he smiled. “So...you’re Y/N.”

“Yeah!”

“And you...” he tilted his head to the side, inquisitive eyes studying your form. You would’ve felt conscious with the way his brows furrowed, eyes unreadable and lips pressed into a thin line, but you were sure you dressed to impress on your first interview. You admitted, however, that maybe wearing a white collared shirt with a pink tennis skirt made you stand out like a sore thumb in the heaviness of the studio. “...want to be a front desk man here?”

“Yeah!”

“What makes you think you’re qualified for this?” he crossed his arms on his chest, and you didn’t miss the slight bite of his voice. So he was handsome – but cranky. Great. “You don’t look like you fit in here.”

“Judging someone’s appearance and inferring that it has any relation to their credentials isn’t such a professional thing to do, you know,” you raised your chin proudly, jutting a pointer finger to his chest. He clearly didn’t expect this because he scowled and took a step back, while you fought the grin that threatened to paint your face. “Would you like it if people told you that you’re not qualified to be a lawyer because of your tattoos and piercings?”

He scoffed, “I don’t want to be a lawyer. As you can see, I’m a tattoo artist. And to answer your question, no, I don’t give a fuck what people think about me.”

“I can tell,” you muttered to yourself before smiling back up at him. He was too easy to read; his brow quivering and lips firm at your faux enthusiasm. “But yes, I do believe I’m qualified! I’m a fast learner and I’m even quick on my feet! I’m really good at talking to people too so I believe I can help schedule client appointments really well and guide them with this whole process.”

“Being front desk man doesn’t mean serving the clients tea and biscuits.”

“I know.”

“You know?” he snorted with a roll of his eyes. He then gestured you to follow him all the way back to the front desk. You expected he’d teach you about how to handle the appointment books or pick up phone calls, but instead he plopped down on the leather couch of the waiting area, his legs crossed on top of the other.

Your eyes followed the patch of pale skin exposed from his ripped jeans before you looked away, not wanting him to see that you found him attractive despite his less than welcoming personality.

“What exactly do you know about this industry?”

“Nothing, to be honest, but I’m not here to be a tattoo artist or anything. I just really need a job and I assure you I’ve got plenty of experience and knowledge when it comes to manning front desks or counters,” you stated confidently, “I know I look out of place, but I really need this job.”

The man only narrowed his eyes at you. Contemplation was written all over his face, probably wondering why you couldn’t just work somewhere else. “Why come here, of all places?”

“Because it’s the only one that has a flexible schedule,” you sighed, “I can’t work shifts anymore because I’m too busy at university. From when I talked to your boss – Geto, was it? – he said that the salon was open 24/7 and I could work until before my classes start. He’s not really strict about that kind of thing.”

“So you mean to tell me,” he leaned forwards, looping his fingers with one another while his ice cold gaze slithered over your desperate ones. “You’ll be at university for half the day, sleep until midnight, and then come here to work and attend class a few hours later? Isn’t your schedule a little irregular?”

“Oh no, it’s not like that! I also have mock classes after uni and it lasts until late at night, then I help clean at the local shelter. They’re running out of volunteers and the dogs are really adorable and take my stress away so...I make sure to come by when I have time.”

“You are one odd creature,” he noted loudly, almost as if he wasn’t completely aware he vocalized his thoughts. Well, at least now you knew he wasn’t the type to think his words over, which either made him more entertaining – or insufferable the longer you worked with him – if you began working anyway. “You could’ve used your spare time to rest. Do you even eat?”

“Yeah, I have a granola bar right now with me! I actually brought two,” you pulled out the snack from your bag, “You want some? I only got the oats, though.”

“Keep it to yourself,” he rolled his eyes, slapping his hands over his knees before rummaging over something behind the counter. “Fine. If Geto said he’s okay with you, then you’re hired.”

“Really, that easy?” your eyes widened, but then you chuckled when this strange man glared at you in response. He sighed as he pulled out a piece of paper, a pen on top of it. The papers read something about application forms and credentials, and you beamed, happily writing your information away with a slight bounce in your toes.

Unable to keep your happiness to yourself, you looked back at the bored man, wiggling your eyebrows playfully. “Huh. I was kind of expecting you would grill me – you’ve got that scary look in your eye. Let me guess, you often scare clients off?”

It seemed he could never get tired of glaring at you, because his eyes fuelled with heat as he leaned against the wall.

You hated to admit that he looked ridiculously handsome like that – the guy wasn’t even doing anything remotely attractive in the first place!

“I’m the most booked artist here, and I ask that you don’t get too comfortable with me. You haven’t even started working here and you’re already riling up on my train,” he groaned when you merely laughed in response. He made quick work of signing something in your form before handing you a key. “Here’s for your locker. Come to work tomorrow. Geto won’t be around for a week so I’ll be the one judging your performance. If you fuck up in the slightest – I won’t hesitate to fire you, you understand? We always have Yuuji coming around anyway, you’re really not that needed for the front desk.”

“Oh,” you nodded at his harshness, unsure whether to feel threatened or amused. “O-okay. I’ll do my best then. I look forward to you – ah, wait, what’s your name?”

“Fushiguro Megumi.”

“Oh, that’s a pretty name,” you muttered to yourself, uttering his name over and over again until it rolled smoothly on your tongue. “Shame you have a shitty attitude along with that handsome face, though.”

“You trying to say something?”

You faced him, about to laugh when he scowled at your not-so-subtle comments. Waving your hands to him, you made your way out the door, your smile only irritating him further. “No, I wasn’t. I’ll be taking my leave then – see you tomorrow!”

Seems like working in a tattoo studio wouldn’t be so bad.

You came to work the next day early and pumped with adrenaline. The idea of meeting the moody tattoo artist caused you to be giggly and happy the whole day, not even feeling the exhaustion of a long day of hard work as you made your way inside the shop.

Clocking in at exactly two in the morning, you proudly tugged your name badge on top of your left breast, patting it for good luck.

The bells jingled, making you look away from your tag. “Good morning – oh, where’s Megumi?” The man standing in front of you was taller than Megumi, his head nearly knocking over the doorframe if it wasn’t for his poor, slouched lanky frame.

He had white hair that brushed atop his cerulean blue eyes, and your eyes widened because wow, he was beautiful.

“Hey, you must be Y/N! Megumi told me you came around yesterday but he didn’t tell me the counter girl was this pretty,” He was in front of you the next second, his nose nearly grazing over yours that had you leaning back into the wall for space. “Hmm...he didn’t tell me that at all.”

“Oh, thank you. You are...?”

“I’m Gojo Satoru, one of the senior artists here. Since Megumi isn’t here yet, let me give you a tour!” Before you could react, Satoru already had an arm wrapped around your shoulder, his other arm waving and pointing to all the hung paintings and labels on each door. You found it odd that he treated you like you were an old friend, but you weren’t going to complain. Nice co-workers were always welcomed.

“Here is the holding area where clients wait to get their session done. This is Geto’s studio and right next to that is his office where he does all the finances and all that jazz, while this is my studio. Cool, isn’t it?”

Your mouth fell ajar as Satoru led you inside his studio, the walls painted the same aquatic shade of his eyes, but what caught your attention was the galaxy themed tattoo designs he made. They came in different shapes – a volcano head, a dragon, a worm, a four-armed monster – but inside them were all galaxies with sparkling and burning stars. You could see everything and nothing all at the same time.

“Whoa, you made all this?!”

Satoru’s chest puffed out proudly, “Yeah, I did. I’m flattered by your reaction, I really am, but you haven’t seen Megumi’s yet. There’s a reason our salon boomed even though he’s only been working here for two years.”

At the mention of his name, your interest was piqued, all ears and curious smiles directed to Satoru. “Oh, can I see Megumi’s studio?”

“You can – if you book an appointment.”

“But I don’t plan on getting any tattoos,” you frowned.

“You’ll never get to see his work then,” he chuckled to himself, the sound growing louder when you visibly deflated. What was the point of getting your hopes up like that then? “Megumi doesn’t like letting others in his studio without permission or an appointment.”

“Why not?”

“He’s just iffy about it,” he shrugged, “Don’t bother trying to decode his personality anymore, Megumi’s very hard to understand. Though if I were to make sense of it...” he rubbed his chin, eyes looking out into the distance. “I guess you could say Megumi’s not the type to be showy when it comes to his work of art. Did that clear it up?”

You blinked back blankly. “No, not really. But it’s fine – I don’t plan on getting to know him anyway.”

That was the biggest lie of your life.

The moment Megumi came around a few minutes later, a loud groan upon your animated greeting over his arrival, your chest bloomed with a different kind of fluttery warmth. He rarely came out after that, clients swarming in to both his and Satoru’s studios, but each faint glimpse of his door cracking open that allowed you to see him focused as he worked, you could no longer deny the heat burning down your legs.

You crushed on the grumpy tattoo artist.

And the more you came around work, greeting him zealously and teasing him to no end that he’d look hotter if he smiled, your crush only intensified for him – completely unaware that he too, couldn’t get his thoughts off of you even with his door closed.

In fact, he kept his door closed all the time because your voice distracted him too much.

“Hey, Y/N, you free?”

You looked up from the textbook you were reviewing, slamming it shut when Satoru’s head peeked out from his studio. He was still wearing gloves with a pen between his fingers, most likely still in the middle of a session.

“Yep! We don’t have appointments yet and I’ve already closed it for non-appointees. Did you need me to get you something?”

“Yeah, could you get Megumi for me? He isn’t picking his phone up and one of our special clients are coming soon. I’m packed right now so I can’t fetch him. I’ll send you the address and you get him, yeah? Just open the counter if you need money for a cab.”

You blinked owlishly at him. On one side, you’d be more than glad to see Megumi again. He hadn’t arrived despite it being four in the morning already, and you were worried, but you also didn’t have his number to ask how he was doing. Progress with Megumi was...slow, to say the least.

He still holed himself up in his studio, coming out only for bathroom breaks, although you noticed a drastic improvement when he finally began to mutter an almost shy “good morning” under his breath for the past few weeks.

It wasn’t much, but you’d have to make do.

“Uhm, when is this client of his coming? Should I run...?”

“Yeah, you need to fucking run. They’re coming in an hour and a half!” Satoru exclaimed, flailing his hands around like a madman.

Even after working with him for some time, you still couldn’t believe the older man was practically a man child, even asking for head pats sometimes. He would lean down with a pout, using a squeaky voice to call your attention, which always succeeded in Megumi fake gagging before he locked himself inside his studio.

“Forwarded you his address. Really sorry for the inconvenience, Y/N!”

“It’s okay!” you jumped out of your seat in an instant, not bothering to take your name tag off anymore as you left the salon, hailing the nearest cab.

Megumi lived quite far from the salon, which had you wondering why he chose to work there when there were plenty of salons in his area too. His place looked shady, as well, his apartment in a high-rise building with endless graffiti and several drunk stragglers hooting for you.

You ignored them all, taking two steps at a time from his staircase, your hands on your knees as you panted for air. Why did he have to live on the tenth floor?

“Megumi! Megumi!” you banged your fist on the door, throat parched from your sudden cardio session. You were sure you burned ten calories just from that sprint, and you sighed in relief when Megumi swung the door open, still looking handsome – and sleep-deprived – as ever in his black shirt and black skinny jeans.

“What?” he demanded. After seeing that it was you, he quickly snatched a water bottle and passed it your way, closing his door behind him. “Y/N? What are you doing here? How’d you know where I live?”

“Satoru said you had a really important client. You weren’t picking your phone up so he sent me to come get you.”

“It’s my day off,” he grumbled, answering your silent questions, your worries dissipating into thin air. Once you’d satisfied yourself by basically dunking the entire bottle, Megumi rolled his eyes, his hands flat on the small of your back while he guided you downstairs. The sudden touch flamed your cheeks; a stupid smile on your face. You were shameless, though, leaning back closer to him in the darkness of the early morning. “Why does he send a girl out of all people?”

“Something wrong with that?”

“It’s unsafe. My neighbourhood isn’t the best and who knows what would’ve happened to you if some goons came out?” Megumi hailed for a back, surprising you when he let you get in first and paid for the fee despite your outstretched hand prepared with the bills. “I can’t believe Sukuna chose this day to come of all times. I can never get a damn break.”

“Sukuna?”

“A special client. He’s a really huge tipper and comes on odd schedules – I didn’t think he’d come now.”

“Yeah, I checked the papers and he wasn’t there,” you frowned to yourself.

Megumi pressed his head against the window, eyes closed as his chest heaved up and down rhythmically. With the sun slowly shining from behind you, the golden stretches of it outlined his sharp features you adored, and you rested your chin on your palms, eyelashes fluttering at his beauty. “You know, Megumi, you’re really pissy sometimes – but you’re quite nice, aren’t you? I’d say you were even worried for me.”

He cracked one eye open, those blue eyes still shining with irritation, but make no mistake since his ears were flushed red. “I’m not. I just don’t want to be involved in a police investigation if they find your body near here.”

“How sweet of you.”

“Shut up.”

You and Megumi were beginning to get closer. You couldn’t pinpoint where he started to grow more comfortable with you, but it was definitely there and it was painfully evident that even someone stupid like Satoru noticed the sexual between you two.

He would always sniff the air whenever you and Megumi sat next to each other during lunch breaks, a wide grin on your face while Megumi buried his face in his hands, groaning because he knew the moment Satoru opened his mouth, nothing but dumb comments would come out. And dumb comments they were; the white-haired man merciless as he teased Megumi for acting like a cute little kid around you.

You never took it to heart, though. It was Megumi you were talking about; he was hot and cold; sweet then distant from one moment then an entire person the next.

Not that you minded, it only added to your fuelling crush on him, but you couldn’t control the way your heart fluttered every time Satoru whispered that he did like you, excusing that Megumi just wasn’t the best with words. Apparently, Megumi had spent too much time holed up in his apartment and studio that he had zero to little knowledge on how to talk to pretty girls – especially one that was clearly attracted to him as well.

Satoru encouraged you to go for it – that you should confess or break the ice first otherwise Megumi would never do anything about his raging boner every time you came around.

You only flushed at his statement, but you couldn’t deny that you too felt the same way.

One morning where Satoru and Geto were out restocking supplies, you and Megumi were left alone in the salon. Of course, he still resorted in the comfort of his studio, muttering under his breath that he wanted to try some designs before disappearing. Only this time, he left the door slightly open, the lights peeking through the slight crack.

Walking up to him with muted footsteps, you leaned over his shoulder, glancing over a sketch of...you? “Are you drawing me?”

Megumi yelped at your voice right next to his ear, throwing the paper away on the other side of the room before glaring at you. You laughed at his reaction, because how was it possible he was both so criminally sexy yet adorable? He looked terribly gorgeous today, as well, wearing a short sleeved black hoodie and black sweatpants, looking so comfortable and boyfriend like – and you couldn’t even begin to express your appreciation over his new lip piercing.

“Why do you always sneak up on me?” he snapped, “Didn’t I tell you I wanted privacy?”

“Then why aren’t you pushing me away?”

Megumi sighed exasperatedly, turning back to organize his pencils before glaring at you. “What do you want? Got no one else to bother since Satoru isn’t around?”

“I just wanted to see your art,” you mentioned, but kept your eyes directed on him instead of the plethora of sketches and designs hanging from his wall as to not offend him. “Satoru told me to never come inside. He said you’re really...private when it comes to your works,” you furrowed your brows at the last part, feeling your heart beat pulse at your tongue.

It was now or never.

“Can I see your tattoos too?”

“Why do you want to see them?”

“A work of art on a canvas who’s also a work of art himself?” you finally gained confidence to tease him again, getting riled up further when Megumi stiffened at your curious hands travelling under his shirt. His breath sharpened as his glare only deepened, though he didn’t make a move to stop you. “Why wouldn’t I want to see that?”

“Being flirty doesn’t work on you. It’s not cute.”

“You’re blushing though,” you remarked. Megumi groaned and pushed your face away until your buttocks landed on his recliner. Satisfied with Megumi not completely kicking you out, you swung your legs back and forth, still staring at his hoodie as if it was an offensive material.

“Can I...see?” Megumi rolled his eyes before he lifted his shirt up, revealing to you intricate patches of black ink splattered over ripples of muscles. Your mouth salivated, and somewhere down there, you drooled too. Tentatively, your hands reached out to finger the image of canines, Megumi shuddering over your cold touch on his warm skin. “It’s beautiful. What does it mean?”

Megumi pursed his lips before whispering, “These are the dogs I had as a child. My father got me them so I wouldn’t be too lonely when he’s away from work.”

“They’re very pretty. They look like black and white wolves,” you smiled, elated that he was opening up in more ways than one. Your touch flitted over to a winged creature under his left collarbone, small letters beside the image. “And this bird? Nue? He’s so majestic,” Your hands never stopped in trailing over his skin like a lost wanderer, sweeping over ink ink until Megumi completely discarded his hoodie to the side, his back faced to you.

A white viper tattoo stood large on his broad back, crawling until over his shoulder with the fangs ending just above his pecs. Megumi swallowed at each slivering touch, your fingers dipping and caressing every dent and curve of his body.

You couldn’t get your eyes off of him, your breath hitching in your throat as one of your hands gripped his biceps subconsciously. “You’re so beautiful.”

Megumi stiffened when your thumbs grazed over his nipple right next to the viper’s fang. Almost as if a switch was triggered inside him, Megumi growled, ducking to capture your lips with his in a sloppy, heated kiss. His hands tugged at the ends of your hair to arch your neck to him, his knees slapping your legs open before he settled comfortably between you, his low groans mixing with your breath moans.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. From the moment I met you,” he nibbled your lips, hands trailing down to thumb at your hipbones. “I knew that innocent good girl look was nothing but an act.”

You smiled through the kiss, a tiny gasp falling from your lips when Megumi pulled you closer until your heat grinded against the hardness inside his pants. Laughing at his harsh movements, you let Megumi tilt your head back, his lips sucking and teeth gently nipping at the sensitive flesh of your neck.

“Innocent girl?” you echoed, legs now wrapped around his waist to pull him closer. “What makes you think I am?”

“White lace panties? Short tennis skirts and sunshine smiles?” Megumi clenched his teeth, his hands eager as he tugged the white lace down until it looped to your ankles. You gasped, back arching when he thrusted two fingers inside you, curling and fingering against your bumpy walls. “You’re not fooling anyone, baby, especially not me.”

“Took you long enough to understand I wanted you though,” you chuckled through broken moans, eyes shut tight while your legs opened wider, heels digging into the hard cushion of his seats. “I was wondering when I’d get to break you from that tough guy act of yours and have you fuck me good,” Megumi growled at your words. You leaned forward to scratch at his chest, your tongue licking the shell of your ear as you rasped, “And on a side note, I am a good girl – only to those who can make me feel good, of course.”

Megumi cupped his palm to collect your arousal dripping of his, finally shutting you up when his fingers grazed over your sweet spot that had you clenching around him. And those were just his fingers. “You’re something else, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I know,” you nodded smugly, hands coming up to tug harshly at his hair. Megumi hissed at the sharp pain, prompting him to fuck his fingers in and out of you faster until you leaked down to his chair, thighs trembling and your high-pitched moans coating the walls of his stupid. “Megumi, ah! Just shut up and fuck me already – been wanting you long enough.”

“Needy little girl,” He pressed you down on the reclining seat, settling between your legs before he spread your lips open with two thumbs. At the sight of your bare cunt clenching around nothing, Megumi groaned, teeth biting his lip because he could cum right then and there. “Fuck, look at you. So wet already,” he ran a hand over your slit to collect your arousal, eyes dark with lust as your juices webbed between his fingers. “All this for me? You’re so good.”

“Fuck – yeah, yeah I am,” you leaned back harder into the seat, groping at your own breasts while you nodded dumbly, too fucked out to even form a coherent response. “Going to be good for you, Megumi, gonna make you feel good.”

“Sorry, babe, maybe next time. I’m too impatient to not feel your pussy around me,” he pushed away at your hands that planned to pump his cock, his hand coming down to push you hard against the seat until his weight loomed over you.

You felt Megumi begin to align his tip at your center, dampening his mushroom head with your arousal first that had you both moaning left and right.

Hands scratching down his back as your teeth dug into your lips, Megumi pushed into you with one thrust, the sudden stretch making your legs shake and your body writhe underneath him. “Shit, why are you so tight? So fucking warm and perfect,” he rasped next to your ear, and you could hear how hard he was breathing as he thrusted into you, his cock hitting all the right places.  “Could fuck this pretty pussy all day, baby, shit.”

“Me-Megumi – t-too big!”

“Shh, you’ll be fine. You’ll take it like a good girl, won’t you?” he cupped your cheek, grinning sinisterly as he watched the way your greedy walls sucked him in. “See how you take me so well? You’re so small and pretty wrapped around my cock. I could break you if I wanted you,” he growled, his hands gripping hard at your hips when you clenched around him, enticing the man above you to quicken his pace.

Megumi watched with a lust filled gaze as your breasts bounced at the relentless pace he started, his balls slapping at your ass. “Oh, you’d want that, wouldn’t you? You want to be stuffed with my fat cock in you? Fuck you until you’re a drooling mess? You’re so gorgeous when I fuck you stupid.”

“Yes, Megumi, agh. Keep going, keep going, I’m so close!”

“Oh, you feel like heaven around me,” he praised at your neck, his cock stretching you wide and pushing into you. Megumi groaned lowly at your ear as his palms flattened over your stomach that bulged every time he thrusted in, his balls tightening at the sight. “Look at how big I am for you, baby, but you’re doing so well. You were made for me – made to take my cock, shit, you’re so perfect around me. Gonna make you feel good, yeah? You’re such a good girl for me. Cum, baby, that’s right – I’m allowing you to cum.”

“Gumi, Gumi, fuckkk,” your legs tightened around him as Megumi panted with each harsh thrust, the black marks over his skin expanding and stretch when his forearm rested beside your head. His muscles clenched as he fucked into you deep, over and over again until he pushed you over the edge.

A silent sob left your lips when you came around him, your juices creaming around his cock. A few thrusts later, Megumi fell on top of you as you felt him spill his seed inside you.

He had too much that you felt both your cum dripping down your ass; Megumi pulling out with a slight wince from the oversensitivity. You struggled to catch your breath as you laid there, legs wide open and the cool air hitting your bare pussy. The door was still open, and Satoru and Geto could walk in on you both looking like this, but you couldn’t care, not when you could barely feel your legs.

You dropped your arm over your face, hearing Megumi pull his pants back up. “That was...”

“Intense?”

“Yeah,” you chuckled, wincing as you sat up. Your hair stuck to your forehead in sweaty clumps, dawning on you now that you were still very much covered in your sticky cum. You recoiled from the seats as you realized Megumi hadn’t even put on a towel underneath.

“Shit. Is this chair even clean?”

“I sanitize it every after session. Don’t worry about it,” he rolled his eyes, his tattoos covered and hidden from your sight once more when he pulled his hoodie over his head. Megumi retrieved a clean towel from his drawers and wiped at your sensitive pussy, your legs immediately closing around his hands when the towel accidentally grazed your clit.

Megumi gripped your knees with a silent glare. “Stay still. I’m cleaning you up.”

“I didn’t peg you as an aftercare guy. Thought you would leave me hanging here,” you teased, but really, you were feeling warm all over again as you watched Megumi wipe you all the way down to your other hole, your legs still tensing up.

Once he left to wash his hands, you could relax, tugging your panties back up with immense struggle. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d fuck you good – you could barely feel your legs now.

“And have you make a mess by ruining my seat?” he sighed as he returned, helping you seady yourself while he snapped the slightly soaked panty back to your core. “No thanks.”

“You’re so mean, Megumi. I’m hurt.”

He rolled his eyes at your pout, leaning down to kiss you square on the lips. This time around, the kiss wasn’t rushed; it was slow and sensual, firm yet gentle, and his hands carefully massaged your sore hips that would soon bruise from his grip before.

“No, you’re not,” he mumbled through your lips, mimicking that lovesick smile on your face as he pulled away. “But babe, you know the rules. Now that you’ve seen my work of art – what tattoo would you like me to give you? My name on your inner thigh?”

[dailytatsu]

Heya! Can I request an Aether/Lumine & reader?

So reader is basically an immortal half-elf who've lived for centuries and a well refined fighter. Well at the beginning even tho they volunteered to tag along on traveler's journey to find their sibling, reader is rather obnoxious and a lazy-dork who only help when actually needed. But as the journey continues, they began to act like traveler's bodyguard after witnessing (archon quest spoiler!) traveler almost getting killed by the Shogun? And maybe random shenanigans happen between them (ft.Paimon). I don't mind if you do either Aether or Lumine if you feel pressured 🙏

Hi! This kind are my favorites! Tysm for requesting! (๑>◡<๑)

I did this with Aether since he is my favorite is who I chose, and I feel more comfortable writing with guys than with girls.

I know they have some different personalities but I can help but see Lumine as the all mighty abyss princess.

Hope you enjoy!

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Aether & Half-elf! Reader

GN! Reader

Inazuma Archon Quest Spoilers!

Request are open; sorry for any mistakes!

Genshin Impact Masterlist

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Aether always thought that immortality brought with it wisdom, beings who live for much longer than an ordinary human tend to gain an understanding of life and changes in the world after years of appreciating the passing of the ages.

But when he met you he couldn't help but feel that all his beliefs were based on fiction and old rumors from other worlds. You were anything but wise, not even his first choice to be the voice of reason.

Even Paimon takes her role as his guide seriously.

But what was so wrong about you that get him on his nerves all the time? And most important, why does is he still dealing with you?

To be fair, maybe he was waiting a little too much from you. After all, he always forget that you still have half of a human’s nature.

“Mmh? What are you doing?” You asked Aether the first time he removed your hair from your ears to see if they were pointy. They were, and Paimon yelled kind of a objection when she realize she had to pay for losing their bet.

Not a human, not a elf, but a hybrid between them.

The first encounter was really something he would never forget. Rumors about treasures and requests from the guild made them follow some clues to find a cave that was marked as lost, impossible to enter and explore.

But “impossible” is a word that doesn’t exist their vocabulary. Yet is common that regretting comes along when you’re that bold and risky.

At the very end of that strange cave there wasn’t a treasure waiting, not even a new clue to keep going with the mystery. Instead, was a humanoid silhouette, they seemed to be meditating, not showing a single interest in their voices neither getting nervous because of Aether and Paimon taking some steps forward to have a better look.

But they were breathing, and both could see the pupils moving slightly under their eyelids. Eyebrows twitching now and then, like they were having a nightmare, one of which they couldn’t wake up.

Paimon encouraged him to get even closer to shake that person's shoulder, while she was hiding behind some rocks, obviously.

Aether summoned his sword and then he approached slowly until touching them with his fingertips, waiting for some kind of jumpscare.

The stranger raised their arm, carefully but also in a robotic way. Their fingers were tense, as much that it was painful just looking at them. Like a quiet call, like a order that couldn’t be heard, from the pile of rocks where Paimon was hiding something emerge, breaking through the stone and letting a rusty polearm to be seen.

Their fingers closed around the weapon, bringing them back to reality.

“Master and weapon, reunited again, rise so the world can meet their end!”

Or at least that's what he would have preferred to find. A servant guarding a lost relic, a soulless body moving by a curse, perhaps even a fate that death could not prevent.

But instead it was something really underwhelming, something that broke the mystical and strange atmosphere. That person opened their eyes, annoyed by the light of the torches and disoriented by the situation.

With their body in pain and numb at the same time, how long have they slept in that position?

The first thing they did after waking up was sneezing.

‘So much dust…’

Never accepting missions for exploring legendary caves ever again. Nope. Negative. He refuse to.

What if they find another (Y/N)? Thanks, but no. One is more than enough.

“So what you mean is that your parents' families exiled you and locked you up in the cave for being an ‘abomination’ to both species?” Paimon confirmed once the three of you were back in the surface again. Her hands moving side to side to explain -in a very expressive way- everything you told them.

“It seems that we found the remains of an ancient race that used to exist in Teyvat.” Aether said, still surprised by the way you roamed to feel the wood of the trees and the grass under your bare feet. Kind of heartbreaking.

“Like the boar we found with Xiangling!”

He wasn’t sure if it was okay to compare both encounters but he could see her point.

“… ‘Wait for us’, they told me, ‘think about your existence and find the answer to why your conception is not the atrocity that everyone says you are. May their words not reach you, because we have long ears to hear the words of the gods and not the ones of those who defile earth’… ” You pronounced after decades of not needing to use the language you were taught, with one hand on your chin and eyes closed to concentrate. All you had left was the few memories you preserved inside your mind and heart.

“With ‘they’ you mean your parents?”

You nodded.

“And what happened next?… ” Asked back the tiny companion of the blond guy that rescued you.

“I got bored and I fell asleep.” You admitted, carefree about it, shrugging your shoulders and sighing.

A total waste of your youth.

“Eh!? Then you didn’t thought about those things? That sounded important!” Paimon seemed disappointed for your answer, while Aether held his forehead, without having a clue of how he was supposed to react.

That was the day you joined their party! New team member, (Y/N) strikes in!

Or something like that,,

“H-Hey! We could use a hand over here!… woah!” The little white girl scold you but from your high sit on the top of a big rock only a exaggerated yawning can be heard. Paimon crossed her arms to almost immediately duck down to dodge a fire bullet from the Fatui. Aether didn’t say anything, he was concentrated fighting.

“Oh, yeah… You’re doing great. Go, Aether, go…”

“Was that supposed to be a cheering?!”

“Hey, calm down” You said “He doesn’t need my help. Just take a look, he’s an adventurer. If I meddle it will be really boring for him.”

“Hmp! Now Paimon believes that you were lying when you said that you were a well refined fighter!” She was floating around you, ignoring the battle of his blond friend. Like a pesky bee, the only thing you did was avoiding her furious gaze. “Don’t ignore Paimon! How can you not hear with those ears!? That’s it! Paimon will give you a ugly nickname!”

“What about ‘extinct deaf elf-der’?”

“Yeah, that’s a good one!” She agreed immediately, then she shook her head, pointing at you like a guilty criminal. “Wait, Paimon doesn’t need your suggestions!”

When the last Fatui was defeated Aether turned back to face both of you, sighing because of the new arguing between you two. His sword disappeared and some steps were took to get closer.

Your eyes met each other, a slight smile in your face after looking him safe and sound. So confident but so unaware of the remain danger hiding. Your expression became a surprised one, then your gaze sharped like a killer sight.

You left Paimon on top of the rock when you jumped down, summoning your own weapon you ran straight to where Aether was. The traveler panicked just a fraction of second before loosing sight of you.

Next thing they know was that a you were behind him, facing at the nothing with a defensive pose, just a second of silence before a impact could be heard. Some dirt and dust was lift as the pair of Fatui Pyro Agents became visible again. They stayed there, defeated in one hit.

“Like I said. It would be pretty boring if I meddle...” Aether and Paimon were shocked, none of them felt their presence, not even the heat of the pyro delusion. Your weapon disappeared in the air, and your hands rested on your waist. “Dear Seven, that was intense.” Looking at your friends you sighed, with the laziness on your body language. “It was my turn to cook dinner, right? What a pain having to eat again… ”

Acting that relaxed after that really made them went Ô_Ô and Ö

A silent speech, where devotion and gratitude are the best topics of conversation. The message that is heard even if there’s no words in between. Just a exchange of gazes. Little signs of affection that are shown when it’s necessary.

Your family was gone. No clues about their whereabouts could’ve found in that cave of where you came. Not even the skeletons of a couple holding their hands and petrified in a sobbing position. Not even ashes.

When you have been thinking about the most unimportant things in the universe for so long you can deal with the lost faster than anyone else. Getting the idea of no remain evidence of your parents and feeling that it wasn’t that heartbreaking.

Maybe because you gained a new family almost immediately.

Still you could empathize with Aether, he still had his precious memories with his sister, still remember her face and her voice. And most important was that he knew that she was still roaming Teyvat, waiting for him.

Even if they leave behind Paimon and you at the end of the trip.

Or even if they just leave you behind.

‘I’m okay with that.’

You thought, stroking Paimon’s hair when her head found a comfortable place to rest in your lap. You thought, moving your shoulder so Aether wouldn’t have neck pain. Both sleeping peacefully and you staying awake night by night.

You’ve slept enough, for so long besides.

Somehow the flames of the campfire are warmer now that you have someone to look how the fire dance in the night.

➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹ ➷➹➷➹ ➷➹➷➹ ➷➹ ➷

“I see, so you were serious when you told me that your companion was a mystical extinct creature, weren’t you?” Albedo’s hand went up to hold his chin, analyzing you from distance.

“They are half of it, actually.” Aether answered back, notice how Sucrose was asking you permission to check your features. The sparkle in her eyes made you accept her petition after feeling with the back against the wall.

“Your ears are like mine! Look, look!” Klee pulled your shirt, then she pointed at the side of her head.

“… Still the shape of both are quite different, the length too.”

Years of isolation really are hitting hard right now. You felt overwhelmed and somehow shy when Sucrose hold your face to have a better look.

You follow the traveler to everywhere, no matter the place, you were there. Like a shadow, sometimes just a spectator, other times like an actual active team member.

“Who would’ve tell that our Honorary Knight also has his own knight watching his back.” Kaeya’s voice has that joke but charming tone, as always.

Day after day, it’s the same, everyone talking you through Aether. Like some kind of translator.

“More like a human shield.” Your hand landed on top of Aether’s head, not agreeing with his explanation.

Bonk.

“I guess everything’s better than being Emergency Food.”

“Hey!”

“Haha! You three are quite a team, aren’t you?”

Of course you were. Mondstadt, Liyue, you name it. You could assure that every place in this two nations have at least one story about the team.

You knew that the most brave and magnificent outlander in Teyvat didn’t need a guardian, he can defend himself (somehow even if he’s still using that dull blade).

Bodyguarding also sounds like such a hassle…

You only provide a last resource help when was needed, sometimes also helping with some puzzles and mysteries.

The long eared people was known to be wise and smart people that searched for the full comprehension of the world. Also such a nerds and fans of knowledge. So, even if you considered yourself dumb, in your blood was the instinct of looking for the truth, and sometimes that impulse could be really annoying.

You were always near enough to reach him. Pulling his scarf from behind to move him away from danger. Countering after he gets hit.

Always in a place where you could reach him.

You just needed to extend your arm and you would catch Aether. It was always like this. Always with you jumping in the middle of the crossfire to shield them if it was necessary.

It’s always like this.

Until the day you three set a foot in Inazuma’s land. And a bad feeling of a imminent catastrophe made your shiver.

A new nation, a new problem to solve. But a war? Boldness and stupidity sometimes looks like the same thing, but no matter how many times you repeat this to Aether, he would still ran into problems.

And you would follow him, until your debt is paid, until his travel is done.

It used to be like this.

But then you failed him after being unable to move because of the fear that paralyzed your body. The day Aether faced Shogun Raiden in the ceremony. The day you heard the broken voice of a god inside the Shogun you also fell apart. It was painful, cruel, a void of anger and sadness.

Jumping into danger, without you behind.

You tried to ran between the goddess and your savior, you tried to get closer to at least be useful one last time as the shield you promised to be.

You tried.

But, for the first time, your hand didn’t reach him.

The void of despair and darkness that could be heard inside the Shogun devoured him.

The tears of panic and fear in Paimon’s eyes. The way the Shogun lifted her sword to end his life. The way you were paralyzed because of her presence, forced to be part of the crowd and presence his execution.

That day your facade of laziness faded away, the real feeling of being a knight burnt along your proud. It was so annoying, it was so unnecessary, but still you couldn’t ignore it.

“Are you… are you sure that you’re okay? We don’t have to find the Sangonomiya resistance today. If you need to rest then-” Your hands were shaking when you placed them in Aether’s shoulders, holding yourself for tearing up.

“We have to keep going. I’ll be fine.”

“Besides, if we stay near Inazuma this night they could find us! Paimon won’t be able to sleep like that!” Your mouth opened to counter their arguments, but not a single word dared to go against Aether’s plans.

They could see it in your face. The worry, the remains of shock and fear, the guilty.

“Don’t try to look strong then. If you get tired, tell us. I can carry you in my back.” Even if you were offering help your voice was serious, so cold but so hurt at the same time that nor Aether or Paimon knew what to said to bring the old you back.

➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹➷➹ ➷➹➷➹ ➷➹➷➹ ➷➹ ➷

“… Aren’t you coming?” You could hear how the door was slid to let him saw you. The lighted spots on Aether’s clothes were purple, just as the lighting that almost end him. Your lips made a concerned and stressed grimace.

The young traveler took a seat next to you, outside the structure, sitting on the wooden steps and looking at the starry sky. The wind was cold but still the soldiers of the resistance were talking normally and the slight feeling of discommodity because of the excessive presence of other people was climbing up your back.

“(Y/N), there’s no need of guard us every night. You also need to sleep.”

“I'm not tired, I think I've gotten enough sleep, at least not to need it until the next century.”

Aether’s expressions went into a sarcastic one, asking if you were serious with just his gaze.

“That’s not how it works.” He said, trying to change the mood. “And if it does, then why are you always snoozing during the day in every chance you get?”

You had the answer to that, but you weren’t sure about telling him.

“Because everything supposed to be boring. Nothing really changed a lot and… looking at the familiar places was depressing.” So easy, so simple, but still enjoying the company, still enjoying the sound of theirs laughs and their own shenanigans. “… Lately, I’ve been thinking that I should not had left the cave. Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that you two helped me to be back at the surface, and I really want to help you on your journey, but if you still run into the chaos by own decision I think I could not follow you any longer before being a burden in your adventures.”

Overprotection, an unbreakable shield, frequently avoiding fights, always being pulled back to not be part of the battle. Enemies of the braveness of the traveler.

Worry, panic, an overreaction due to fear of loosing everything again.

‘let me do it’, ‘I got it’, ‘wait here’, ‘don’t get close’.

These day could be described like that.

“So, before I do something worse as an excuse of defend you, please let me find a cave to await. You do what’s is needed and… call me back, or leave me there, anything you think it’s better… ”

You could be pronouncing the words from the very bottom of your heart, but still your face was the same seriousness as the accident almost happened.

And even with that you felt his gloved hand removing the hair that was covering your right ear, revealing how it slightly leaned down, showing sadness unwittingly.

“Hey, cut it out… I’m serious about this… ”

“It doesn’t matter if you think that it’s the best option, you’re still sad about leaving.”

“… That’s cheating.” Removing his hand away from your hair you tried to act indifferent.

“You know the reason why we invited you to came along?”

‘You felt sorry for me.’

“I can’t totally tell the exact reason, but it wasn’t for you to pay us some kind of debt because of saving you.” He crossed his arms, looking at the stars, wondering if his sisters was doing the same. “We don’t need a guardian, we need our friend back. And I know you care about Paimon and me, but still you must enjoy the journey. It’s not fair that you are always aware of every potential danger while we mess around lately.”

An eternal silence, your response is late to appear but somehow Aether can tell that you already have something on your mind.

“Then apologize.”

“… Why?”

“For believing that playing as the hero and jumping to face the Shogun was something you had to do.”

“… but-”

Neither Aether nor you slept that night, the blonde had to listen for hours to all the things that you ever wanted to complain about since you arrived in Inazuma.

You made your position on joining the army of the rebellion very clear, you had no intention of fighting to seek "justice" or "peace". Because after all, that fight did not correspond to you, but if he asked you to, you would protect some soldiers or help to guard the barracks, if he asked you to, you wouldn’t complain about it (at least not that much).

Both had enough of each other’s attitude, but it was okay. Because that was what all of you chose in first place.

[heyhihellowhatsup0]

Hooked On Your Feelings - Chapter Two (FWB! Tom Holland x Reader)

SERIES MASTERLIST

Warnings: Some angst, language, eventual smut in future chapters, fluff

Word Count: 5255

Summary: After a bad breakup, making an agreement with your womanizing neighbor, Tom to be friends with added benefits and no strings attached seemed like the perfect idea. Until things become messy, emotions caused your agreement to crumble.

A/N:  I am HYPE to post this new chapter! Omg I just love writing this series so much its so fun writing Tom like this lol. Also low key...this chapter has an easter egg to a pervious series of mine and I’m v curious if anyone catches it but probably not because its superrr tiny but either way I hope you guys like this one! Obviously, smut is in this chapter! DM me to be tagged and I cannot wait to hear everyone’s thoughts! (Also .gif is not mine. DM me for credit please, I found on google!) Thank you xx -N

“What happened to that girl you took home the other night from The Lace Rabbit?” Harrison asked as he ordered his lunch before he took a seat at the table with Tom. It was typical for them to meet up during the week on their lunch breaks and catch up when they were not busy being wingmen for the other while bar hopping on the weekends. 

Tom shrugged off Harrison’s question as he took a bite of his sandwich, “She got a little clingy so I had Y/N help me get rid of her,” he smiled as he said your name out loud. His friends knew of you as the hot girl who lived next door who bailed him out of sticky situations. Always teasing Tom how he could never actually get you. The irony made it all too funny for him, “How’d it go with that blonde girl?” he asked to change the subject off of him.

He didn’t know if he should bring up the two of you sleeping together with Harrison. Harrison was his best friend and wouldn’t judge but he knew he’d give Tom shit for it. He’d want to know details of your arrangement or how it came about, if you were really that good and Tom didn’t feel comfortable answering that. Not if it was about you. He didn’t want his other friends knowing about you in the way he did. That was personal between you both and he wanted to show you he respected you.

“It didn’t,” Harrison admitted while taking a sip of his water. He let out a chuckle as he felt himself blushing, “Forgot her name and she spilt her drink on me. Can’t say I didn’t deserve that one,” he at least knew when he was in the wrong.

Tom cringed into his sandwich as he let out a cackle, “You definitely deserved it, mate,” he laughed with another bite. His phone vibrated in his pocket but he chose to ignore it, knowing like clock work what it probably was. It was going to ruin the rest of his day and he at least wanted to enjoy lunch with his friend before getting pissed off for the day.

“She’d probably love you,” Harrison teased. 

“Fuck off,” Tom rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I’m not taking your angry seconds.”

“Don’t knock angry sex til you try it,” Harrison smirked knowingly. 

Tom shook his head as he once again ignored the phone ringing, “I think I’m good, thanks,” he brushed it off with another eyeroll. 

He didn’t know why he suddenly felt weird talking about their last venture out at the club. Maybe it was because Tom knew where he ended up after that girl had left and he knew what that meant for the both of you. But Tom wasn’t done with his bachelor days, and even you knew that. Hell, you practically insisted since this was a no strings attached deal.

It just felt strange not telling Harrison about you. Like it was a weird secret. But at the same time, he felt oddly protective of you. Not wanting his friends to see you as some girl he was getting laid with. Or worse, a potential love interest. He knew it wasn’t going to happen. Hell would be freezing over before Tom decided on any sort of long term obligation. But he knew his friends and he knew they wouldn’t see this is a simple agreement between two friends. And he didn’t want to deal with that conversation.

Staying quiet was the better option. For his own sanity. And...well, would you care if he told anyone about this? Tom figured that was another rule he’d have to ask about. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries and he knew you had a list of rules as well that he was happy to follow. As long as that meant one thing and one thing only: non-exclusive.

Harrison noticed Tom’s phone buzzing for the third time. And Tom ignored it for the third time. He checked the message with a huff of his breath before turning the screen face down on the table, going back to his lunch before he had to get back to work.

“Clingy girl?” Harrison nodded towards Tom’s phone. 

Tom shook his head, “My mother was supposed to visit this weekend but you know the routine,” he mumbled into his food, not even wanting to respond to her.

“Let me guess,” Harrison began, knowing exactly where this was going since he knew Tom’s whole story inside and out. Including the bits he hated to discuss which was mainly his family, “Going skiing with Clint in Veil instead?” he questioned knowingly.

Tom scoffed out a laugh at his guess, “Surfing with Clint in Malibu but same shit,” he corrected as he tried not to let it get to him. But even Harrison could tell he was getting bothered by it once again and who could honestly blame him.

 Always the same story every time no matter what and Tom grew tired of her antics. He couldn’t even blame Clint for it anymore considering she’d been this way since he was a kid before he was even in the picture. Only now she would just use him as the perfect excuse to get out of coming to visit.

He knew he shouldn’t care anymore but he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t something easy for him to simply let go of. It was his mother. And no matter how many times he’d try she would always give him back the bare minimum and it always made him upset. She was his one final connection to him and she could care less about any of it, so why did Tom? It always got under his skin and he loathed that it did.

But he would still invite her. No matter how miserable it made him.

“Well at least now you’re free this weekend,” Harrison broke his thought while he gathered their garbage before they headed back to work, “The usual at The Lace Rabbit this Saturday then?” he suggested with a knowing smile to try and get Tom out of his mood.

Grabbing his phone, Tom clutched it tightly as he inhaled sharply. Knowing his change of plans meant doing his normal routine even though he was looking forward to the slight change this weekend, which now just seemed bleak to him

.

“Yeah,” Tom agreed as he tapped your name on his phone but hesitated when he saw his mother trying to call for a fourth time, “The usual this weekend.”

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Your chest tensed as you got into your car after your extremely long day in the office. Everything around you felt heavy and you couldn’t wait to get home as soon as you could but you found yourself still frozen in your car. Unable to move as the moments from earlier this afternoon invaded your thoughts once again while you tried your best to move in. Even though you knew you were completely grief stricken and didn’t know what the hell to do.

The promotion was yours, at least you had thought it was by the way your boss would constantly hint at it. You knew it was never a definite thing, but you were confident in the hard work you had put into your job and knew you were a top contender for the spot. You worked longer hours, took on extra tasks, you even worked on the occasional weekend to get your work done. Taking every precaution necessary to prove that you were the best fit for the role.

Everything felt like it was lining up for you. Co-workers were giving you a pat on the back for your work accomplishments, your boss was taking note of everything you were doing, and you overall felt really good about where you stood for the potential position. So imagine your surprise when you attended the big luncheon and your boss announced his undeserving son was getting the spot instead of you.

It was both nepotism and misogyny rolled into one and it made your stomach turn the longer you had thought about it. None of it made any sense and it was far from fair. You knew you were the one more deserving of the position, the whole office knew it. Even your damn boss knew but he chose his damn son over you and it felt like a stab right to your gut.

You felt so betrayed and beside yourself as you finally decided to head home. Tears streamed down your cheeks while you tried to focus on the road but you just couldn’t ignore the facts. How were you going to be able to show up and take orders now from your boss’ son? You knew the job more than he did and it felt like a huge screw you.

On your drive home, you tried to make yourself feel better by putting on some music to distract yourself but nothing helped. You felt beyond defeated and frustrated right now you didn’t know what was going to make you feel better at the moment. It felt like the world was against you. Between finding Justin with another woman and your job, you were really batting one thousand lately and you weren’t sure when you would catch a break.

Things were not going how you planned at all. The thought of just quitting your job and starting all over again crossed your mind but the fear of the unknown kept haunting you. You didn’t know which direction to go in or who to turn to for advice anymore. You were slowly drowning and you needed someone to throw you a goddamn life jacket already.

You were relieved to finally be home. Maybe some peace and quiet would make you feel a little better, you thought to yourself while you kicked your shoes off and turned some music on for yourself. Trying to put the day behind you and focus on the present moment while you got changed into more comfortable clothes to unwind.

You jumped out of your skin when you heard a knock at your door, not expecting anybody to come by right now. Pulling your hair up into a bun, you headed back towards the door and looked through the peephole. To your surprise, you weren’t really surprised at all. You were actually sort of relieved when you opened the door and saw Tom standing there holding a pizza box.

“That better have extra cheese,” you asked with a narrowed expression while you invited him inside with the pizza that he would always bring you even in normal times. 

Placing the box on the kitchen table, Tom opened it with a grin as he showed you the pizza pie with cheese practically oozing from the crusts, “Figured it was an extra toppings sort of day,” he admitted, knowing he really needed the escape from reality. Even if it was just a pizza.

“Tell me about it,” you sighed as you grabbed a piece closest to you as Tom handed you a paper plate. You headed over towards your refrigerator to grab you both a few beers while Tom leaned up against your kitchen counter as he devoured his slice, “I’m guessing you had a bad day judging by your pizza presentation?” knowing there wasn’t really any particular reason he’d be coming over with it today. Unless if he wanted something?

You slowed your pace back from the fridge wondering if he was going to pick up on how you were feeling. You weren’t entirely sure if you wanted him to notice. Whenever you and Tom had a pizza night it was merely to gossip about your lunatic neighbors or watch a game together. You talked about casual things but never really gone into depth or prying into each other’s lives. Why did it feel like suddenly you wanted something different? Would sex change that much in your friendship?

“We can just ignore that...we don’t have to talk about unimportant stuff,” you waved it off. Tom didn’t need to hear about your miserable day. And you didn’t want to pry into his. 

He swallowed the last bite of his slice, “If something makes you upset, it’s not unimportant,” he noted. But when he noticed you just looking at him, he raised his hands in surrender. “Ignore my philosophical ass. But I’d like to hear about your day, you know,” he laughed it off. 

What the hell was he doing? He thought to himself. Don’t let personal shit ruin this. Enjoy her company. That’s it. 

“I didn’t get the promotion,” you told him. You had mentioned to Tom a while ago that your boss was hinting at it but you never went into detail with him about it. You weren’t used to Tom actually wanting to be open or the other way around. And you’d be lying if you said you weren’t slightly surprised Tom even gave a crap about stuff like this. 

Tom frowned at your answer and he felt his heart sink a bit when you told him the truth about your bad day. He didn’t know much about your job but he was sure you were a hard worker. He saw how much you loved your job and how passionate you were about it when it would come up. You would share upcoming projects with him from time to time and he would see the look on your face whenever you explained them to him. So hearing that you were passed by for a promotion was upsetting to him.

“I...shit, Y/N,” he put his pizza down as he walked over towards to give you a hug. Sliding his hands around your waist he pulled you into him as he felt you relax against his chest, “You didn’t deserve that,” he added softly.

You allowed Tom to embrace you, his warmness comforting you a bit before you pulled away and started crying when telling him about your boss’ son getting the job instead of you. Making you laugh by calling him every name in the book, you and Tom finally found a common ground as you kept venting to him.

Tom pulled away slowly, his hand resting at your chin while he licked his lips, “You’re boss sounds like a fucking prick, I hope you know that,” he told you reassuringly. The small smile you formed when he spoke made him want to keep making you feel better, “I’m glad you’re smiling,” he blushed at his confession.

Stretching your mouth wider, you flashed Tom a playful yet overly wide grin to deflect the attention he gave to you. The two of you laughed as Tom pulled away with a loud chuckle, shaking his head at your sudden silliness, “That has to be the most hideous smile. But we’ll work on it,” he told you through his laughter.

You rolled your eyes before going back to your pizza, giving Tom a look as you nudged him, “Not gonna tell me about what happened to you?” you finally asked.

Tom tensed as he tried to brush it off with a simple shrug into his pizza. The thought of his mother’s texts and ridiculous apologies and excuses continued to drive him crazy as he mumbled into his bite, “It’s stupid shit,” he told you as he swallowed the crust he was chewing, “Mom stuff, not important,” he added bluntly.

You could see the look on his face and could tell it was important to him but you didn’t want to force him to talk about it. Tom was never one to bring up his family ever to you and that was the first time you had ever heard him even mention his mother. He never spoke of his father, at least to you, so you just assumed both were out of his life for whatever reason and it was none of your business to ask.

 And Tom refused to admit it but he wanted you to ask about him. Spending hours upon hours at bars, turning his focus always onto the girl; because he knew no girl would ever want to go home with a self righteous, egotistical guy. It was never something Tom minded to do, especially with complete strangers who he would never open up to in a million years. It might have been the recent development he had with you but there was something refreshing he felt around you and as much as it freaked him out, he didn’t seem to mind.

But diving into his mommy issues with you now seemed too much to deal with right now. You were dealing with more than enough problems with your job and your miserable ex-boyfriend, he figured you didn’t need to hear his bitching right now anyway. He came here to get away from those shitty thoughts, not open those wounds further. 

Tom came here for a distraction.

Licking his lips, Tom perked up as he looked at you fervidly, “Wanna have sex?” he asked matter of factly. He figured he didn’t need to beat around the bush since you had your arrangement but maybe he was a bit too direct with his request. Tom cleared his throat as he tried to save the night, “I-I mean, I just figured since we both had shitty days that maybe we could uhm-”

“Thought you’d never ask,” you cut him off with a smirk and you perked up as well, nodding as you smoothed out your hair. Standing back up as you turned your back towards him, removing your shirt in the process, “Let’s go,” you called over your shoulder as you headed towards your room.

“Oh, we’re jumping right in,” Tom mumbled to himself as he practically fell off his chair to follow you into your room, tossing his shirt beside yours as he practically froze already seeing you completely undressed, “Christ…” he breathed out while taking you in. 

You rolled your eyes as you walked over to him, bringing your lips to his now bare shoulder, “You’re really acting like you haven’t seen me like this the other day?” You laughed against his skin while you began to suck a bruise against him, hearing him let out a gasp while your hand snaked into his pants sneakily, “Beginning to really like this whole friends with benefits thing we have,” you laughed as you found Tom’s lips.

Practically growling into your kiss, Tom lifted you up and lowered you onto your back on your bed. His lips traveled from yours, to your stomach, dipping his tongue into your belly button as you moaned quietly before he brought himself down between your thighs. His lips peppering your inner thigh before he got straight to the point because this whole arrangement meant no foreplay. Another plus for Tom.

“Darling, I think you may be the best friend I’ve ever had,” Tom breathed out a laugh as he pressed his tongue flatly against your clit. Sliding two of his fingers into your core while he slowly pumped in and out of you, “This is what got me through my day today,” he told you before he brought his mouth back to your core.

You arched your back while your fingers went towards Tom’s curls. His name began to fall from your lips while he lapped his tongue carefully, letting it slip inside of you as he continued to tease you with his mouth. His fingers sliding into you again, adding a third as he moaned against your center; allowing the vibrations to roll throughout your entire body.

“Mmm, oh, fuck...!” you cried out, yanking gently against Tom’s hair as you felt the coil beginning to burn from inside of you. Biting your lip to stifle another moan, “Fuck...yo-you’re really good at that,” you breathed out with a small laugh which turned into a whimper.

With his head peering up at you, Tom flashed you a cocky smile with a playful wink as he licked your folds teasingly, “Did you seriously doubt my abilities to make you cum with my mouth, Y/N?” he raised his eyebrow while pumping his fingers now tantalizingly slow, “You’re gonna pay for that comment,” he said to you.

“Just...shut up and make me cum, Tom,” you told him through another gasp as you felt his teeth drag teasingly against your already throbbing bud. His lips wrapped around it as he sucked more harshly, doing exactly as you had asked him to do, “Ungh...oh god, okay. Yeah, keep doing that,” you instructed as you began to grind your hips against his mouth.

Tom took it as a challenge and picked up his pace, beginning to flick your clit faster while he continuously sucked on it. His three fingers now entirely coated in your warmth as he felt you clenching around them. His pants feeling tighter from his hard on while he knelt at the end of your bed trying to bring you to where he wanted.

His free hand splayed against your stomach, holding you in place while he felt you trying to squirm around from the way he was making you feel. Rubbing your clit in between his breaths, Tom looked up at you as he licked a solid stripe down your center, “Let out how you’re feeling from today and cum for me, Y/N,” Tom commanded. 

Your eyes shut as you did exactly what Tom had suggested. Completely coming undone from beneath him while you released as much of the tension from earlier as you possibly could but in the most amazing way. Your eyes rolled back into your head while your back arched as Tom’s tongue continued to work you up while you were at your highest point.

Letting out a breathy laugh as you started to come down from it, feeling Tom begin to kiss his way back up your stomach with a smug look, “Don’t give me that look,” you rolled your eyes at his cockiness as his tongue traced along your neck, “I could do what you just did to myself, you know,” you tried to knock him off his high horse a bit while he pretended to be wounded from your words.

“Ah, but you didn’t. Did you?” Tom reminded you as his lips found yours. His hands still in between your thighs as he brought them between you both, showing you his coated fingers while he tasted you off of them, “Tastes like I made you cum because you wanted me to,” his smugness only elevated as he pushed himself off of you as he laid on his back on your bed.

“Need I remind you that you came to my place like a porno with a pizza looking to get laid,” you retaliated as you shifted so you were now hovering over him. Your hands guiding towards his belt buckle to get him out of his restraintive pants. The pleading look on his face made you just as smug, “Sounds like you want me to do just about the same thing, am I right or am I right?” you sang in his ear.

Tom helped you get the rest of his pants and boxers off, feeling himself spring out as he stared back at you with uncertainty, “Did you...just call me a porn star?” he questioned as the two of you let out a laugh.

“You wish, Tommy,” you teased as you ran your tongue down his abs, placing small and open kisses against his stomach as you made your way down to his legs while your hand carefully gripped his hardened length, your thumb running the pre-cum around his tip while you already heard him gasping for you.

Gripping your bedsheets with one hand, Tom reached around to create a makeshift ponytail to hold your hair. Cussing under his breath as he watched your mouth wrap around his tip, swirling your tongue around it while your eyes searched for his. He was really trying to hold it together but you were already driving him crazy.

“Let’s see what you got, Y/N,” Tom challenged you with a heavy breath as he tightened his grip around your hair, “Sometimes, girls think they know exactly what to do but-OH FUCK!” 

His words were lost as soon as your mouth went straight down to his base. Suctioning as hard as you could before coming back up his cock painfully slow. Moaning your name as his chest began to heave, Tom felt his thighs start to quiver from under you. Even just watching the way you were working on him was enough to make him whimper right now.

“Fuck...okay, yeah I take that back,” Tom gasped as his nose crinkled up while his other hand white knuckled the sheets, “God, your mouth is fucking perfect. Why haven’t we done any of this shit before?” he was in such a fucked out haze, he wasn’t even sure if anything he was saying made any sense at all. But he felt his stress from earlier going away finally. Even if this was just a short state of bliss, he was grateful for it anyway.

“You really want me to answer that or would you just prefer me to keep sucking your dick?” you sassed while you kitten licked his tip. You watched from the end of the bed as Tom bucked his hips into your mouth to try and get more contact from your lips but you pulled away from him and just kept licking his tip.

God, you were good, Tom thought to himself.

‘K-keep going,” Tom finally breathed out, flinging his head against the pillow to brace for the impact.

Hollowing your cheeks, you pushed yourself all the way down his cock. Your tongue flicking the base in between as you began to feel him throb inside of your mouth. You could tell he was close so you moaned softly into his cock, watching as Tom shuddered from the sensation you just sent through him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Tom cried out, moaning your name as he rutted his hips into your mouth. His pupils blacked as he felt the heat rising in his body, “Shit...I’m gonna cum, Y/N,” he warned as you pulled away, running your hand down his shaft as he began to come undone for you.

His warmth spilled out into your hand and down his cock while he let go finally. The stress somewhat leaving his body as it did yours while the euphoric high peaked for him. Your lips crashed against his while his tongue parted your lips to find yours, tangling them together as he moaned against your mouth while riding out his high finally.

You waited for Tom to catch his breath before you smiled against his lips, placing a small peck against them as you pulled away with an even bigger grin, “Yeah, you’re welcome,” you gave him the same arrogant tone he gave to you moments earlier before you pecked his lips again.

After taking some time to get yourselves together mixed with the continuous fooling around underneath the sheets, you and Tom finally decided to get up and end the night. Even though he didn’t want to leave, he knew he probably shouldn’t overstay. Primarily, Tom was adamant about never spending the night at a girl’s place that he slept with. That made things complicated and he didn’t want complicated. But since you and him had rules to not make things messy, he wasn’t sure if that applied to you. For now, he wanted to play it safe so he got himself dressed again.

You pulled on an oversized t-shirt, realizing both of your hair looked a mess. Luckily you were already home and Tom was down the hall so it didn’t really matter. You wanted to say something to Tom, that you were thankful he came by tonight. You were thankful even before sex was on the table. It felt nice to have him as an ally to swing by with a pizza when he didn’t even know you needed that.

“...is it weird to say I’m glad you came by?” you gestured towards your bedroom while you walked with him out into the kitchen where the half eaten pizza was left, “I know we haven’t really made too many rules about it but…” you trailed off with a nervous laugh as you smiled at him awkwardly.

“Like we said, zero weirdness,” Tom reminded you as he padded his way over to you. He grabbed a leftover crust from the box and shoved it in his mouth, clearly starving already from the workout you had just given him. He smiled while he chewed lazily, his mouth still filled with pizza crumbs, “But I’m happy to come by when we have shit days...and make you cum as well,” he smirked deviously. 

The door opened as you smiled back, “Doesn’t have to be just bad days, you know. We could...screw whenever we feel like it,” you told him, hoping that it wasn’t too much.

“Did you just say screw?” he whipped his head towards you with a loud laugh.

“Alright then, I guess I’ll just leave you to the girls who leave you unsatisfied then,” you fought back.

Tom leaned against the door with his mouth gaped open, “They do not...leave me...unsatisfied?” he questioned himself, knowing that that was true, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

“Then why are you here?” you placed a hand on your hip, feeling the smile pulling at your lips while you messed around with him. You certainly weren’t in this mood earlier before Tom came around.

Pressing his lips together, Tom rolled his eye at you, “Fine...we can screw...whenever,” he leaned in closer to you with his eyes big as he mimicked your voice when you said it, “As long as we keep this thing strictly what we intended, you can use me whenever you need, Y/N,” and he meant it.

You didn’t back away when he sealed his words with a soft kiss, paired with his trademark grin. Tom pulled away slowly, taking in the moment as he wished you a goodnight quietly before kissing you against the cheek, “Like I said, best friend I ever had,” he said softly once again.

“Am I interrupting something?” A voice broke from behind the two of you. Both of your eyes widened towards each other as you both simultaneously pivoted your heads towards the staircase where the voice was coming from.

Tom closed his eyes with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to ignore Harrison staring at the two of you with a crooked grin. Making it known to Tom that explaining this was going to be a lot tougher than he had imagined.

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