#orange sofa piping

[legohlas]

Living Room - Transitional Living Room

Mid-sized transitional formal and open concept medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room photo with brown walls, no fireplace and no tv

[inkdrinkerworld]

jack of all trades

wc: 3.7k

pairing: handyman!james x teacher!reader [though can be read as any reader]

cw: fluff, life mishaps, handyman!james, mention of a break in, family dynamics [healthy], mention of food

You were fucked. You should’ve just called a plumber from the beginning.

Now your pipes were all wrinkled and your sink wasn’t draining.

Your heart was in your throat as you pulled out your phone and called your brother, Michael.

“Do you know any plumbers? My sink’s pipe is fucked,” you send him a picture and he chuckles down the line. Your brother is a mechanic, but he's got friends in many places.

Places you hope include wherever they hire plumbers.

“Yeah, I’ll call someone. Make sure you don’t use it again, dummy.” you nod, chewing at your cuticle.

“Thanks,” your voice shakes and you know your brother is frowning.

Life had been fucking you with no prep for the last couple months. Someone had broken into your house almost five weeks ago, stolen a couple small pieces of jewellery and fucked with your locks.

You’d had to change the locks, your front door and you’d taken to sleeping in the living room with a three inch knife under your pillow.

That had put you out of money for groceries and your brother had taken over doing it for you till you could again.

Now you can’t wash your dishes and your anxiety is all over the place.

“Stop it, go get ice cream or something. I’ll come over with him if he can swing it, okay?”

“You're the best,” you say earnestly and he chuckles, “I’ll buy shit to make the buns you like as payment.”

Your brother doesn’t deny himself the delicacy- it had taken a while for you to get back into doing things that made you happy and he was also a sucker for them.

“I’ll text you what he says, be safe. Love you.”

You return the sentiment and head out, double checking that you’d locked the gate and the front door.

You’d gotten a pint of orange creamsicle, and a pint of caramel biscuit and cream before getting the stuff to make the buns for your brother.

As you set them all down on your counter your phone pings off.

‘He can come tomorrow morning at 9, I’ll come with him. He’s a good guy though, don’t worry.’

You send your brother a thumbs up and then he sends you a photo of the man you suppose is coming to fix your pipes. He’s good looking, his hair is long in the photo, tied back in a low bun but there’s curls on his forehead. Another thing you notice is how massive he is. He’s broad and muscular but in the photo you’re looking at he’s got a warm smile on his face that shows off a dimple.

He looks friendly enough. Maybe tomorrow won’t be so bad.

You try to sleep in your bed, you don’t want your brother to notice that you’re still on the sofa in the morning, but being so far from the door makes your heart clench and you find yourself dragging your blanket out to the sofa that you’re sure by now has your body’s impression.

“Last night,” you say to yourself as you cuddle your pillow and tuck your blankets under your chin.

Your alarm has you groaning. 6:30 is a nice time, but not so nice when you don’t actually have to go into the preschool to teach, but for parent meetings at 11. Rubbing your eyes, you sit up, legs already moving to the kitchen to set the kettle on.

You go through your morning routine and only feel alive when you have a cup of tea and a bite of the last of sourdough toast you’d made last week. Your phone rings and you already know it’s your brother, “Yes I’m awake, dork.” he might be older than you by four years but you’re really close so the teasing is nice.

“Open the door then, and make sure you have on your glasses.” you flip him off over the phone but walk across the floor, glasses on, to unlock the door.

“Where’s your key?” you ask as you open the door, finding your brother holding two brown paper bags and the man in the photo standing next to him in grimy coveralls.

“I hooked it on the look of my pants, James was being prudish about touching me.”

“I wasn’t,” the beefy man starts, jingling his toolkits as an answer. His voice is nice, deep, cherry and his drawl is a little slow, but still very pleasant.

“Come in,” you step to the side and open the door wider. “Don’t worry about him, he just likes people touching him.” your brother scowls but doesn’t deny it.

“Don’t laugh when you see it, this one already did. I know it’s bad.” you say nervously as James sets down his stuff.

“S’fine, can’t be much worse than some of the other stuff I’ve seen.”

“Come eat, I got you that breakfast cake thing you like.” your brother sets the box before you, sliding over your cup of tea and a bottle of orange juice.

“Did you eat?” you eye him as you sit on the island.

“Shanice made eggs and toast.” you love your future sister-in-law, but the mention of her in the kitchen has enough merit to make your stomach roll in discomfort and your body to produce a gag.

“There’s chicken salad in the fridge and the bread’s there too,” you turn to James, “Do you want anything to eat, James? There’s vegan stuff in the fridge too if you don’t eat meat.”

Your brother rolls his eyes, “He could eat an entire chicken if he really wanted to.” You’re positive there’s a small blush on James’ face. He’s even prettier in person and you’re really trying not to stare.

His hair is tied back like it was in the photo, inky curly spirals slipping out around his ears and the nape of his neck. His eyes are a shade of brown that reminds you of sand- dark but flecked with lighter hues; he’s captivating.

He’s almost as wide as your fridge and his arms are huge, but he looks soft, even with all the corded muscles. You will your eyes not to linger on his hands.

Your brother makes himself a triple sandwich and takes one of your iced teas.

“I’m alright,” he eyes your cup of tea, “I could do with a cuppa though.” you nod and set the kettle on.

“One sugar or two?” He holds up a single finger before opening the cupboards. He hisses and you suppose that’s better than the laugh that bursts from your brother.

“S’not that bad,” you can tell he’s being extra nice when he sees the embarrassed look on your face, “I’ll have to change all the pipes though. Whoever installed these ones used really thin PVC so under the heat it crumpled.” James stands and accepts the tea from the dainty mug without a complaint.

“Will it be super expensive?” you ask, and your brother flicks your forehead. “What? You know I can’t afford many more swings right now.” You only feel a twinge of embarrassed heat licking at your neck as you look between James and Michael.

“You’re such an idiot, I’ll go half with you.” He says and you nod, giving him your best smile but your brother draws the line when you try to hug him.

“It won’t be, but I can’t do it today. The better pipes have to be ordered in, but they only take like a day to get here.” James explains and you nod.

“That’s fine, I’ve got most of my stuff already cooked so there won’t be much dishwashing.” James finishes the tea and pulls out a pen and paper from his bag. “Here’s my number, you can text me in like two days about it if I don’t call Michael first.”

You nod again, thanking him as he gathers all his stuff and moves for the door. Your brother waves him away and then turns to you, frowning.

“You still sleeping on the sofa?” It’s then that you realise you hadn’t put your blanket or your pillow away and scowl.

“I can’t sleep in the bed, my mind just runs wild.” you say as you finish your tea and cake. “I’ve been trying though.”

The door shuts and you realise James has probably heard what you’ve said. Your mouth can’t seem to not run away from you when he’s around.

You brush the slight shame away with the semi-reassuring thought that ‘at least he doesn’t know why a grown woman can’t sleep in her own bed,’ it doesn’t last long, but it mellows the initial sting.

Michael ruffles your hair and you shrug, “It’ll just take some time,” he says softly, “Want me to get a security system?” You shake your head at that.

“You’re already going half and half with me on this, and you paid for my groceries for like three weeks. I’ll be okay.”

Your brother doesn’t look convinced, but he can’t argue with you because his phone rings.

“Work, I gotta go, but think about it okay? Shanice won’t mind either,” you nod but you both know you won’t be thinking about anything.

“Have a good day at work, I’ll bake those buns the second the sink’s all good.”

-

You’re coming back from work the next day when your phone rings, an unknown number. You frown and then realise it might be James.

“Hello?”

“Hi, angel. This is James,” he says, like you’ve forgotten his name over the last twenty four hours.

“Hi James, is everything okay?” you ask, shoving a couple folders into your bag from the passenger seat of your car.

“Yeah, was calling about the pipes. I’ve just picked them up and I’m near-by. Would you mind at all if I came to install them today?”

You stick the key in the ignition, “I wouldn’t mind, but I’m about twenty minutes from my house, would you wait?”

You really hope he can, you want this problem resolved as soon as possible.

“I can, angel. Don’t sweat it,” he says before he hangs up. You do a happy shimmy in your seat before pulling out of the school’s parking lot.

Next, you call Michael.

“James is coming over to fix the pipes today, just in case you know, I go missing or something.”

Your brother laughs, “He’s a sweetheart. Maybe stop listening to your crime podcasts, you’re getting even more morbid.”

“Oh whatever, I’ll stop by tomorrow with the buns.”

“Make sure you get some sleep,”

“Yeah yeah, I’m going now.”

James is in his car when you pull up, a bronco that looks very well kept. “Sorry for the wait,” you say as you unlock your door.

“S’fine, had enough time to have a late lunch.”

You check your watch, “It’s almost four James, that’s more like an early dinner.”

The man lifts his shoulder and drops it with a smile, “It’s been one of those days.”

“Do you want a cup of tea or iced tea?” you ask as you open your fridge. “I should warn you though, they’re addictive.”

“What flavour iced tea do you have?” you smile, James might be someone else you get hooked on them.

“Peach, hibiscus and I think I see one last cucumber melon.”

“Which is your favourite?”

“Peach! It’s not really that sweet though, but if you like it super sweet maybe hibiscus would be better.”

James smiles at the way you ramble as he opens up his toolkit and then the pipes.

“I’ll take the peach angel,” you pass him the glass bottle after tipping it upside down. James takes a long sip and sighs, “That’s good.” you nod and then move to take out a bowl of rice and chicken.

“Do you need me to get anything? To help?” you ask and James shakes his head.

“Not right now,” you think about going to eat before asking,

“Can I watch? Just to know what you’re doing?” then you back track as James doesn’t say anything.

“Not because I don’t trust you to do it well, I just like knowing. Like with my door, I learned how to put it up when I had to change it,” you realise you’re rambling when James smiles and his dimple is visible through his stubble.

“You can watch angel, you can hand me the tools I’ll need.”

You and James make a good team- you’d been nervous at first and then when James was so close you could smell his coconutty cologne you felt your head go a little light but almost two hours later, your pipes were changed.

“Moment of truth is if the water goes down,” you say as you stand, knees cracking in the process.

James nods, “You’re not a bad assistant, if you ever change professions I’ll put in a good word for you.”

You beam at that before opening up the tap and letting the water flow. Not even a drop of it pools in the sink and your heart feels like a feather floating away in the breeze.

“You did it!” you turn to James with a pleased smile and he blushes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” you exclaim and he chuckles, already packing up his toolkit.

“You’re welcome angel, Michael already paid by the way.”

You shake your head at your brother’s actions, but you can’t find it in you to be upset, not when your sink is fixed. “Can I entice you to have dinner then? I’ll feel bad if you just go,” you tack on when James doesn’t answer. “I’ve got pizza or taco bowls.” you sing-song and that breaks him.

“What kind of pizza?”

It’s how James ends up on your sofa, overalls hanging off his hips, revealing a dark red compression shirt as he holds his plate.

Your blanket is still on the sofa, but you shove it to the armchair.

“Wanna watch anything specific? I’m going through Christmas movies right now,” James’ eyes are wide at your confession.

“It’s the middle of August,” you nod and bite your bar-b-que chicken pizza.

“I’m making a short list of Christmas movies for this Christmas. Last three years in a row I did one.”

James grins, “So I take it you like the season.”

You nod, “If you ask Michael, he’d tell you I was obsessed with it,” you shrug, setting down the slice of pizza.

“When we were kids, I used to go crazy about it. Write letters to Santa with our address and mail it, play Christmas songs all through the month and I was a little excessive with the decorations- especially when I started working and could buy the ones I wanted. It just always feels like a good time- eternal joy and hope and all that jazz I guess.”

James looks around your house now and finds a few trinkets in the space and for a moment he can imagine it decked out for Christmas. “I can see it,” he groans as he takes a bite. “That’s delicious, angel.”

Your face gets hot under the compliment and you give James a small smile.

“What are you watching now?” he asks, taking another bite.

“The Holiday,” you search for the remote and find the movie. “It makes the shortlist every year, but it’s so good.”

James and you watch the remaining forty five minutes, and he nudges your shoulder during the sad parts so you don’t let the tears in your eyes fall.

“Do you think people rent that cottage?” He asks you and you frown.

“I dunno, but if it’s for rent it’ll be so nice! It’s so cosy looking.”

James doesn’t point out that your house looks just as cosy. It reminds him of the houses you see in magazines- not the boring ones that’s all one colour and minimalistic, but the ones that seem to be alive with colour and things.

He’s sure they all serve a purpose- the small statues in one corner near your window, the coasters that look like flowers, it all seems to complement you and your home and James thinks to himself, ‘this is what a home should be.’

He stretches as he stands and you do as well, reaching for his plate that he doesn’t give. Instead he takes your own and walks to the kitchen.

“You’re a guest, guests don’t do the dishes.” you try to get your plate back but it’s no use, James is already washing them and stacking them in the draining board.

“Thanks for dinner angel,” he picks up his toolkit and the bucket of parts that need to be tossed out.

“You’re welcome, thanks for fixing my pipes.”

James waves it off, “I’d say we should do this again sometime, but changing your pipes so frequently isn’t ideal.”

It isn’t till after you hear the innuendo in his words. You do laugh a little in the moment, so James counts it as a win. Your laugh reminds him of that fairy in the show his niece loves- a sweet tinkering, bell-like sound that makes him smile.

“It was nice though. You’re good company.”

You walk James to the door, “Make sure and lock up,” he says kindly and you nod.

You notice that you don’t hear his boots don’t move till he hears the locks click and your heart flutters stupidly at the action.

You can’t like him already, you barely know him. A voice in the back of your head says, “But he’s already so dreamy,” you’re very inclined to agree.

-

You’d thought that would’ve been the last time you saw James too, but three weeks later, he’s at your brother’s house for his summer party and you’re fucked all over again.

He’s not a bad sight to be greeted with, arms exposed in his black tank top and his thighs. They’re thick and you can see the outline of muscle on them, even from far away. There’s a couple smattering of tattoos that peak from the hem of his shorts and you have to stop yourself from drooling.

He’s laughing at something Shanice is telling him, and he looks even more gorgeous.

It should be illegal, you think to yourself, for the man to look that effortlessly beautiful.

“You made it!” Michael says, handing you the drink in his hand before gesturing for you to follow him.

“You said if I didn’t come you’d have called me non-stop. I love you, but that’s annoying.” Michael leads you over to his fiance and James. You hug Shanice and wave politely at James.

Conversation is easy, and James hopes he’s being discrete as his gaze falls to you a little longer than necessary. You catch him once, and the look in his eyes confuses you just a little.

You don’t think badly of yourself, but you’re just in a pair of jean shorts and the top of your bikini- a pretty pink colour, after you’d read an article about lifeguards having a hard time spotting people in pools and the ocean if they had on blues and greens- is exposed by your lack of shirt.

In any case, you didn’t think it was cause for his stares to linger and look so… primal if that was even the right word.

Michael says, “James, do you know any good alarm systems?” as you sip your peach iced tea and vodka. You elbow your brother as James nods.

“There’s a few out there that I’d recommend, why?”

“Don’t,” you murmur to Michael who ignores you entirely.

Your brother doesn’t hesitate as he says, “Someone broke into her house a couple weeks ago and she hasn’t been able to sleep in her room since.”

“Yeah, just talk about me like I’m invisible,” you mutter and James feels anger and fury for you fester in his chest. It blooms rapidly and takes him by surprise.

“You’re not invisible, you’re just a hard head.” your brother says, James is inclined to agree as well- especially after the portion of the conversation he had overheard that first day you met.

“I can stop by the hardware tomorrow if you want, should have some of the ones I usually recommend.”

Your brother smirks and you feel shame and something you can’t yet name balloon your belly.

“Thank you, James,” you say as you finish off your vodka iced tea, already feeling for another one.

As the food comes out, you help yourself; ensuring to avoid James’ gaze because over the last couple weeks he’s seemed to come to know a lot of the bad things about your life. You pile watermelon and pineapple on one side of your plate before picking some fries and a bar-b-que chicken breast. Your hand reaches for a lemonade when a bigger one grabs it.

“I got it angel,” James’ own plate is full too. More meat than fruit but it’s fuel either way so it doesn’t bother you. “Where’re you sitting?”

You point to the seat near the pool.

“You don’t have to be so nice, James. Michael’s mouth is just too big for his own good.”

James rolls his eyes, “I’m not being nice because of him,” he says, taking the seat beside you and handing over your lemonade after cracking the seal. “Or because I fixed your pipes, or anything else.”

You frown as you chomp on a piece of watermelon. “You’re not?”

James shakes his head, digging into his food.

You squint at him and James chuckles, “No, you should feel safe in your house.”

You don’t say anything much after that, overwhelmed by his care- even if you’re stopping yourself from reading too far into it.

“You’re real sweet, James.” you say after a while, spearing a look at him to find his eyes already on you; that same kind of hungry look in his eyes like earlier.

“Yeah?” he hums and for a moment you want him to kiss you. You want to feel the press and the heat of his lips on yours, then you catch the thought. You hardly know him. But you want him and him coming over to install the security system might not go as smoothly as the plumbing had gone. You find you wouldn’t mind if James does something other than install the alarm system.

“Yeah.”

[star2fishmeg]

ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀ

[3.3k]

Pairing: Song Mingi x afab!reader

Summary: mingi and y/n discover that you can still relight candles once the flame flickers out...even at sweaty crummy fratty parties

Warnings: 18+ smut, university!au, fratboy!Mingi, angst, comfort, inaccurate frat description probs, exes to lovers, happy end, drugs (weed), alcohol, mingi and reader are in their 20s, making out, grinding, thigh riding, swearing

Authors Note: I remembered I never posted this fic from Oct '23 so here's the last mingi fic for a while. Ngl if one half of this is better than the other it's bc the first half was written last year. This is a work of fiction, the activities involved are fictional and none of what the boys are doing is real or based on real events.

Request: none!

♫ party monster - the weeknd

It wasn’t her first time attending one of the boys’ parties, she’d been going since they joined the university. It was never any different though, the same music, the same games, rarely any new faces but when you’ve got alcohol in your system you never notice anyway. She completely understood why people loved the parties though, after a week of uni it was the one place for some people to escape to an entirely different world, each room had its vibe and you just gravitated to yours. Or chameleon through them all, which is what she did with her friends because they liked to make the most of a potentially messy night.

Getting into the parties was the hard part, they were picky due to their seniors mentoring. You had to be directly invited, and luckily, she was. Growing up with Yunho and Mingi wasn’t so bad after all, they were the ones to thank for the inclusion, but she got on with the others just as well.

Y/n sat outside in one of the plastic garden chairs, also known as Yeosang’s smoke circle. Yeosang was serenity in human form, his personality was on the quieter side, and he’d recently dyed his hair a neon green after losing a bet but looks could be deceiving, he had a notorious streak for coming out with the most outrageous sentences and shots targeted at Wooyoung. Despite his company, she hadn’t taken a drag of anything. It’s not that y/n disliked the vibe, she very much cherished it, despite the face of thunder she donned at that moment, swirling the booze in her cup. Hand rested under chin, elbow on her knee while this girl she – and the others – had never seen before in her life complained about the noise and smell protruding from the house. The girl being oblivious to the side-eyes, and the sweet aroma of weed and suffocating fumes of cigarettes indicated that none of them were listening to anything she was rambling on about. Yeosang took a heavy drag from his joint, giving y/n a pained look.

“If you hate it so much, fucking leave.” She spat, throwing the rest of her drink over her before walking inside, listening to the circle giggle and the girl yell out ‘bitch!’.

Sliding the back door open and stepping in, her senses were violently hit by the living room’s blaring music, which she liked to call the club zone. It’s where the speakers were located, sofas moved to the sides to create a dance floor and where you’d find Wooyoung and Mingi bouncing around in the ambient lighting. That room moved in slow motion, and very much did for y/n when she weaved her way through it to the kitchen, which was quieter, with an orange lowlight and the island littered with cups and various bottles and pleasantly, a Yunho blissfully pouring himself another cup of beer with rosy cheeks.

“Hey, n/n!” he piped, taking a sip from his cup before leaning his hip against the counter, “You okay?”

She nodded with a small smile, standing next to him, “Refilling. Threw mine over sourpuss over there.” She pointed out the kitchen window, to the girl who had moved from Yeosang to another group of people, presumably still complaining but now about the fact y/n had thrown cider over her. Yunho chuckled, it being contagious until both were releasing tipsy giggles while sipping fresh drinks. Yunho was tall, reaching over six feet and loomed over her, his eyes almost puppy-like and soft.

“Never seen her before, and neither I nor Mingi invited her, and going by Yeo’s face, he didn’t.” He joked, watching the rest of the people outside.

“Nah, Yeo didn’t. He wanted me to get rid of her. You think San or Woo did? Joong’s definitely out of the picture, I’ve seen him actively avoid her. Speaking of, where is Joong?”

Yunho pointed to the games room, which you could just about see from the kitchen window. It was more like an old garage they’d turned into a games room with a singular window. From where they stood, Jongho’s figure moved past it.

“In there with Jongho. Mr. I-won’t-drink-tonight pre’d too hard and got roped into beer pong from the beginning. Jongho’s being relentless, it’s nice seeing him have fun.”

“Yeah, and fucking hilarious seeing Joong on the ropes. Thank God it’s Sunday he’ll be hungover on.”

In what was supposed to be a quick refill turned into shots with Yunho and because of that decision, y/n found herself being twirled by him on the ‘dance floor’. The living room was always hot, sweaty, drunk bodies bumping and grinding into each other, music so loud her ears just blocked it into a silence, and it was just her in the moment, in another headspace with whatever drink flowing in her system. Her friends were long gone, which was fine, they’d been in that house before, they knew most of the people there and had their ‘if lost go here’ areas. Besides, Yunho wouldn’t let anything happen to y/n, they had a solid friendship, a siblingship at most.

Eyes bored into the back of her head, she felt the presence too well, it was too familiar. Mingi, slouched on one of the sofas with his legs spread and eyes squinting a primal gaze, watching her every move. His hands loosely sat on his thighs, as if he was giving the memo that he was not anyone’s seat, not that he ever sat down enough for girls to drape themselves over him. But this time he sat to watch.

Yunho leant into her ear, “I’m gonna spin us, I can feel daggers into my soul right now.” And he did casually, twirling her again to switch places. Y/n’s eyes briefly fell into Mingi’s trap, a couple of seconds feeling like an eternity again when falling into his eyes. She missed it. Missed the butterflies of drowning in someone, getting lost peacefully, and having someone feel so passionate about her.

“Yunho, what do I do? He’s getting up, it’s been so long-“ she stammered, eyes widening upon catching a glance of Mingi weaving through the crowd, ignoring everyone who tried taking his attention with the gaze of a predator hunting its prey. Yunho giggled, slipping away.

For a split second, she was alone, watching the room sway around her and a white noise fill her ears, body numb as the world fell into slow motion. The way he moved with his confidence, chest out and eyesight on her, no smile. Cheap disco lights doing him too much justice, the blue haze bouncing off his cheekbones, a soft glint in his eyes and sparkle bouncing off the chain that sat sound on his collarbone. Y/n’s eyes flickered his stature, up and down, from his t-shirt that wrapped snug around his chest down to his jeans that hung off his hips in a way that shouldn’t have flipped her stomach the way it did. She swallowed, a thumping in her chest and head still in a slow pace until her hips were firmly gripped in large palms, hot breath in her space and his eyes softening as they caught hers. As if by default, she placed her hands on his chest – intimate but cautious and prepared to reject him – and his lips found their way to her ear.

“You still light up the room.” His voice was deeper than the last time he’d whispered his sins in her ears. Not a nibble, not a kiss, no unasked-for contact. Just like back then. Just two bodies swaying in a rhythm in comfort.

“Were you jealous?”

“…maybe. Haven’t seen you in a while, thought you were avoiding me. Then I see you cosied up with my best friend, what man wouldn’t be?”

“And why would I avoid you?” Her questions lingered in the thick air. Tingles ran through her nerves as Mingi’s thumbs traced small circles over the fabric of her shorts, his favourite denim shorts that sent him back to adolescent afternoons in the summer, where they drank cheap beer at family barbecues. One hand slid itself over the curve of her spine until it drew itself away and cupped her jaw gently, holding her like his precious treasure, like she was his again. Nuzzling into his palm, she looped one finger under his necklace, toying with it until their eyes met once again. Mingi’s breath hitched, air knocked from his lungs under the familiarity of the gesture.

“Come, I want you to myself tonight.” The rumble of his voice vibrated her fingertips, flushing heat down her body and hitting her pussy all over again. His voice was too sexy to think straight, the determination that ran through his eyes bringing back a reason why she loved him in the first place. Y/n nodded, taking his hand on her cheek into her own and letting the man guide her through the bodies and towards the staircase.

People go through phases as they grow older, but the way Mingi’s room still had his favourite music producer’s posters stuck over his walls gave his space a warmth to it. It did smell like Lynx Africa, it still seemed to have curtains drawn shut and although they sat against the headboard on unmade grey sheets, it all still screamed Mingi. Their shoes lay scattered on the floor, the music from downstairs muffled in the silence as their thighs pressed together and hands awkwardly played with their clothing.

Mingi’s eyes softly gazed down at her features, at her eyelashes she always complained about, down her nose bridge to her pouted lips he’d first kissed at her best friend’s birthday when they were sixteen.

Her breath rattled, voice deeper in the silence, “I missed you, y’know.” His gaze remained on her face, as he’d never seen anything as beautiful since last seeing her. Y/n’s cheeks flushed, unbeknownst under the lowlight but regardless her chest swelled, like a hole inside her started patching itself together suddenly.

Y/n’s head hesitantly turned to look up at him, taken aback when her eyes met his so soon, noses barely touching. She licked her lips, “Me too. My friends talked so much shit for ages, but I had nothing bad to say about you,” she chuckled with a slight smirk, “I think they were just rooting for us deep down and hurting more than we were.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” he murmured, shifting slightly to face her more, shoulder leaning on the headboard.

She shifted with him, facing him too but still with a closeness that they could hear even a whisper from each other. Her hand slid to his, her fingers tracing over his chunky rings, “We were sixteen-seventeen. At the time we didn’t even know which university we wanted to go to, we didn’t know anything.” Her heart pulsed in her chest, if it weren’t for the volume downstairs she was sure he would hear it. Mingi’s throat felt dry, a restless feeling in his legs as the soft touches of her fingers on his skin lit the fireworks in his stomach.

His arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her body into his side while she cosied up onto his chest, his hand finding home on her hip. She slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. It felt wrong, so wrong to be cuddled up with an ex-boyfriend, but at the same time, the comfort of having heartbeats fall in sync spoke more words than she ever could.

“I don’t regret dating you,” she whispered, taking in a whiff of his cologne and she smiled, even after all those years, he never changed. “Sometimes I wish we hadn’t called it off, I really liked you.”

His grip pulled her tighter into his body, “I know. I hate my younger self. You were the best girlfriend anyone could’ve asked for, so attentive and thoughtful, you were full of so much love. And I made you fucking cry, and then people wouldn’t look at me and my friends got involved when they shouldn’t have. And we never spoke again.” The words tumbled from his mouth and breathing became shaky. The exact scene of the moment once again replayed in his head, the exact moment he saw her eyes gloss over and her lip tremor on a Friday afternoon in mid-November when they were seventeen. Now, it was him whose eyes watered, his free hand gently holding her cheek as she relaxed into his palm. God, it felt so wrong, it’d been so long and here they were, acting as if no time had passed at all.

“Min…”

“I cried that night. Cried like a baby to my mum about what I did. I’ve regretted it ever since…” He leant in, drawing their faces closer, lips ghosting. Y/n’s tummy flipped, tongue darting to moisten her lips. His eyes flickered to her lips, her eyes boring into his, waiting for his decision. Her hand (the one not gripping his), hooked a finger around his chain roughly, pulling him close and closing the ever-long space between them. Goosebumps ran along her skin in a shockwave, the kiss finally setting his inner fireworks exploding beautiful colours within him. Slow, and sweet. But also short, they pulled back with time.

“We were stupid,” she exhaled, his hand moved to cup the back of her neck, “c’mere.” Their lips melted into one another’s like putty, teeth chattering but hands finding their ways to keep the other close. Y/n’s hands balled his t-shirt into fists, Mingi’s fingers tugging the roots on her hair and pulling her body onto his lap, thighs straddling his own while their tongues lapped, and saliva leaked down the corners of their mouths. The taste of cheap alcohol wasn’t enough to repulse, the raw taste of each other made up all the night they lay awake, hopelessly waiting for a goodnight text that would never arrive.

Pulling back with a string of saliva, they panted, giggling ever so slightly. Mingi’s hands fell to her thighs, tracing shapes on the bare skin while hers squeezed his shoulders, fingertips dipping into the ripples of his muscles. She yelped, his hands squeezed her thighs and lips dove straight into her neck, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses up to her ear and down to the collarbone, finger sliding the strap of her tank top off her shoulder. Despite biting her lip, a soft moan slipped from her throat, his teeth nipping ever so slightly at the skin.

“No marks-“

“-I know, baby. Only in places you can hide them.” His voice vibrated on the column of her neck, heat pooling straight to her cunt and throbbing. Baby. Baby. That came from his mouth for her. He pulled away, opening his mouth slightly only for her to take his jaw into her palms and push him back into the headboard, slipping her tongue hard into his mouth and knocking the air from his lungs. Somewhere between a growl and a moan rumbled from his throat, hands holding a bruising grip on her hips as she made an experimental roll of her hips into his dick.

Shit.

Mingi bit her bottom lip, not hard enough for blood but enough to convey his attempt for dominance. God forbid y/n make him wither to pieces, that’s easy defeat. She rolled her hips again, feeling his cock grow hard in his jeans. Fuck his own body for betraying him.

Drawing back ever so slightly, pressing their foreheads together with hot, tangled breaths and hazy eyes, she giggled at his expression: a lost puppy whining for affection, big, beautiful eyes all glossy.

Her body adjusted to sit on his thigh, never breaking their eye contact as her lips tugged into a smirk. Her finger traced along his jaw slowly, with a featherweight to it, to his chin until disconnected entirely to place her hand over his crotch, palming his painfully solid cock.

He threw his head back, squeezing his eyes shut and mouth threatening to let a whimper slip with every grope.

“Mmm, feels nice, doesn’t it?” she teased, grinding down on his thigh, the friction igniting an intoxicating sensation between her legs, “But you did make me cry. So, I think you owe me.”  She pulled her hand off him, clutching his shoulders again to swing her leg over and off him. Fumbling with the button of her shorts, y/n hooked her fingers around the waist, wiggling the item of clothing down her legs, panties with them.

“You’re a pretty thing.” He muttered ears tinted pink and the throbbing of his cock almost becoming unbearable. She slung her leg over his thigh again, slowly lowering her cunt onto his jeans, hands firm on his broad shoulders and scrunching his t-shirt. Mingi’s hands held her hips with a soft touch, feeling the bare skin of her thighs as she rocked lazily, lulling her head back when the warm fabric caressed her clit, the attention clearing her mind. With a dark glaze coating his eyes, his lips met her neck with short, hot breaths and sloppy kisses leaving spit along her skin in their wake. “Doin’ s’well.”

Her stomach fluttered when he flexed his thigh, her pussy dragging along his jeans and arousal leaving dark patches along the fabric. Her breathing shuddered the more she rolled her hips, moving from a slow pace to a faster one, her stomach twisted and turned at the pleasure filling her senses, Mingi’s kissing and nipping along her skin only guiding the build-up in arousal.

“Mingi…” she moaned, tilting her head to allow him more access.

“God you’re so fucking hot when you say my name,” he smirked into her neck, squeezing her thighs.

“Mingi, Mingi,” she whimpered his name like a mantra, feeling her core throb as she ground her hips at a sloppier pace, “Mingi!”

“That’s it, baby, pretty pussy’s doin’ s’well.”

“M’gonna cum-“

“-cum, make a mess, y/n. Show me how I make you feel.” Gripping his jaw with her hand, she forced him to look her in the eyes and watch her whine with every rock of her hips, his chest hammering at the way her moans slipped through her lips, like a song he’d play on repeat. Never did he expect to be back with her, let alone sit on his bed, tangled in each other like nothing ever happened. Like they were still in love.

Y/n was shocked that she’d given in to a man, let alone bask in the sensation of her pussy clenching around nothing but seeing him get so worked up over her soaking his clothes. He looked so hot with pink cheeks, frustrated at her bare cunt in front of him, one he couldn’t rut his cock into.

“Fuck! I’m so close, Min.” her grip on his jaw tightened, crashing their lips, and emitting a low but desperate moan from the boy. He bounced his leg slightly, goosebumps running along her skin. He flexed his thigh again, grinning wide like he was enjoying it more than she was, when she cried out, releasing his jaw, and dropping her head into his shoulder, the coil in her stomach winding tighter until her legs trembled. His thumbs rubbed circles over her hips, helping her ride out her orgasm, relishing in having the honour of having her mess treacle over his jeans.

“So fucking hot,” he kissed her hair, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her limp body into his chest, laying back on his bed, “did s’well.” Y/n hummed, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Despite the smell of sex and sweat coaxing their skins, his cologne still allowed her muscles to relax in comfortable silence, just the sound of their panting in the room. They say that the further you are, the closer you become—right person, wrong time, all that. Y/n and Mingi were just that as they lay on the bed, of his ratty frat house with his friends and a collective of almost strangers below them in their romantic tragedies (or comedies). Feeling his fingers trace delicate heart patterns on her back, she smiled and placed a warm, gentle kiss on his cheek before catching his gentle gaze. A look only a man who was in love could give.

[Masterlist]

[Requests are CLOSED]

2024 © STAR2FISHMEG All rights reserved - do not plagiarise/copy, translate, or repost any of my works. Please let me know if you notice that any of these have been done to my work.

Banners & dividers belong to @/cafekitsune

[thetriplets3]

https://www.tumblr.com/thetriplets3/744008605000417280/send-requests-for-matt-and-chris

#10 matt 🥹

❝𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞❞

this jumps back and forth from third to first person i didn’t specify when but it just makes sense in my head writing it this way sorry if that bugs you

ps. white cat is you, orange cat is matt

i huff as i yank my hoodie off and chuck it at the end of the sofa for what felt like the 100th time in the last hour, nearly smacking chris with it, leaving me in my tank top.

“for fucks sake” i grumble, too focused on how warm i am to think anyone’s paying attention.

“easy now. watch were you’re throwing things you’re gonna take my eye out” chris overexaggerated.

“it’s a sauna in here i feel like i’m gonna combust”

chris chuckles and shakes his head, turning his attention back to the movie that took ages for us all to agree on watching. chris and nick were far too engrossed in the movie to care about the antics going on in the corner of the sofa. little did you know matt has had his eye on you all night watching as you fuss with your hoodie, being too distracted to pay attention to the movie. when you all sat down to start the movie matt kept a slight distance between you two sensing something was bothering you, unsure if it was something he did or if you were just overwhelmed and couldn’t get comfortable. either way he didn’t want to make it worse for you. seeing how much you’ve been fidgeting in the last hour finally made him pipe up.

“sweetheart is something bothering you? you haven’t been able to sit still for the past hour. please tell me so i can help you” matt asked just loud enough for you to hear but not loud enough for his brothers to hear, not wanting their yelling for him to shut up to make you more uncomfortable than you already are.

“can’t get comfortable” i mutter.

“is the hoodie not comfy? you can have mine if you want”.

“s’okay i’m just annoyed i’m warm with it on but after a while i’m cold without it then i get too warm if i put it back on” i exasperate. “i can’t decide if i’m hot or cold”

without a word matt reaches towards me and places the back of his hand on my forehead. i look up at his hand before looking at him inquisitively.

“yeah you’re hot” he says with a stupid grin on his face and a little chuckle.

“i already knew that” i quip. “i’m warm? what does that mean? do you think i’m sick?” i start rattling off questions, dreading the thought of being sick.

“i actually have no idea how to tell by your forehead. my mom used to do that to us figured i’d give it a shot”

“well i’m still hot and cold and it’s really starting to piss me off if i can’t get comfortable” i huff.

matt holds his finger up to me letting me know he’ll be back. seconds later he returns with a ringed it wet rag he ran under cold.

“scooch over i’m coming in”

i make room for him to lie down before placing half my body onto of his with my head on his chest. his hands delicately gather my hair and brush it over my shoulder, clearing my neck. he places a kiss to my head before placing the cool cloth on my neck letting it rest there for a while before gently rubbing it across my bare back, cooling me down. when i got cold he pulled a fuzzy blanket lover top of us, hugging me closer to him as his one blanket covered hand rubbed across my back keeping me warm. he kept this up for the rest of the movie, cool cloth and blanket for whatever you were feeling.

“thank you matt. i love you” i whisper, giving him a squeeze.

taglist: @antisocialties @iluvmatt @dwntwn-strnlo @fake-coolbeans @opheliaofficial07 @angelcake-222 @oneirophobic @strniolo @lollibumblebee @ssturniolo @20nugs @strniolo @luvsturniolo

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Ran over here as soon as i could!

Imagine Tan with his baby girl (4 years) and shes playing with his hair, putting clips and bows and ties in his hair or making tiny braids? Mum an Lem are trying not to laugh out loud when they see them, Lem asks his niece if she wants make-up which she finds a such a great idea! Mum has to stop Lemon. Tan trying his best not to upset his baby girl. And so on and so forth...

Have fun with it🍊❤️🫶🏻

this is the cutest!!! I forever love dad tan!! and with all dad tan stuff, mandy is his daughter (it’s like mandarin, another baby orange) thank you for requesting, hope you like it 💌

BOWS AND BRAIDS.

dad tangerine x fem!reader — fluff

word count. 532

Lemon and Tangerine often acted like they were twelve - the everlasting phase of wanting to annoy each other, joining them into adulthood. They were the others' biggest windup, and now Lemon was having the fun poking at Tan, knowing there was nothing he could do to retaliate. 

Uncle Lem had popped by to see you all - to spend time with his family during the week off. All gathered in the living room: you on the sofa beside Lemon, Mandy, your daughter, sitting on the coffee table with Tangerine cross-legged on the floor facing her. 

Mandy had her tiny hands in Tan's hair, placing accessories and ties in his curls - cutesy pink and purple clips attached in clumps around the front of his face, messily placed bows at the back of his head and knotted half-braids starting midway through his hair. It was admirable, really.

"Don't daddy look pretty," Lemon teases, crouching beside the coffee table to get closer to Mandy. "He'd make a pretty girl, won't he?"

"No," she shakes her head, shoving her finger into Tan's moustache. "He has a hairy face."

You resist the temptation to laugh, instead leaning closer, resting your elbow on your knee to cover your mouth. 

Lemon snickers before continuing, watching the displeased expression grow on his brother's face. "That's right. You should shave it off, Mands. Make him all pretty looking."

Your eyes widen. "No, no, absolutely not. We're not doing that."

"Boo, mummy. Mandy boo her," Lemon eggs your daughter on, lovingly brushing over her face.

"Why can't we shave him, mama?" Mandy asks, turning around to look at you, her face sweet and innocent. 

"It makes him look pretty. You know how it doesn't make him a pretty girl? Well, it's the same thing. He's not a pretty boy without it," you tease, looking over at Tan. Your words are harsh, but nothing like the soft, loving expression on your face. 

"Do I not get a say?" Tangerine adds, looking between you all with lightly furrowed brows. 

"No. You're a mannequin. Mannequins can't talk," Lemon pipes in, immediately dismissing his twin. "How about some make-up instead, Mand? That'll make him pretty."

"Yeah," she smiles, her grin wide and genuine. "Mama has some," she adds, climbing off the coffee table. 

"What a great idea," Lemon encourages, standing up to follow after his niece.

You look over to Tan, noticing the 'help me' face he is giving you - silently asking you to stop it.

"I think daddy's had enough for now, no? He looks so pretty, and you did such a good job," you pick your daughter up, placing her on your lap - kissing her cheek. 

"Mands," Tangerine calls, dragging out her name. "I just had the best idea," he looks between you and Lem knowingly, a small smile forming. "We should give Uncle Lem a makeover, too. Wouldn't that be fun?" 

She gasps, her face lit up in excitement, grinning as she climbs off your lap. Tangerine stands, following his daughter. 

"I'll help you, poppet. We'll get all your mum's make-up, yeah?" he chuckles, hitting his brother on the way out. "He's gonna look so pretty when we're done."

[mytheoristavenue]

GOTG Rocket x Reader 🍋 - Heatwaves

Summary: Long from home, the ship's air conditioner breaks, resulting in hallucination-inducing heat. Your obvious crush on Rocket doesn't make things any better.

Warnings: Inspired by a series of TMNT fics I did a while back, sexual innuendo, dirty talk, degradation, praise, illness from excessive heat, daydreaming/hallucinating, suggestive situations, sexual tension, judgment impaired by arousal, fem!reader, non specified species!reader, humanoid/anthro!reader, takes place between vol. 2 and infinity war

You were so dizzy, melting into the sofa, sprawled out with no regard for anyone else's comfort. Your head rested against Mantis's leg, while your legs invaded Drax's bubble, not that he minded. His people didn't really understand the concepts of personal space anyhow. You were all in this boat though, Gamora splayed out on the floor as it was the coolest surface in the ship. With this heat, all there was to do to bear it was strip down to the littlest clothing possible before becoming indecent and napping to make the time pass quicker.

"C'mon, you guys, cheer up," Peter forced a cheerful tone from the cockpit. "Rocket said he should be finished with the repairs on the AC tomorrow."

"Thank God," you groaned, pinching the fabric of your tanktop to unstick it from your chest. "I can't take this shit anymore."

"Yeah, I'm so sweaty, it feels like I showered in my clothes." Mantis agreed from above you, doing the same and wiggling all over to have her shirt sit right.

"But you didn't," Drax gave her a lead-poisoned stare. "I have been watching you for hours and you haven't moved, let alone gone to shower." The empath's head very slowly turned towards him, her glare and pursed lips screaming that she was done with his nonsense.

"Ya know," the captain called again. "If you're hot, just think how Rocket feels. It's probably way hotter down there in the boiler, plus he's covered in fur."

"I am Groot." The sapling said, raising his head off Gamora's chest as she nodded, agreeing with him.

"I don't care that fur is like insulation, if you're hot, he's hot. And I don't see any of you trying to help him, so stop whining." Peter's light reprimand, admittedly had pulled on your heartstrings a bit. It was awfully nice of Rocket to fix the AC all by himself, even if he was the only one with the know-how to do it.

"He's right," you sighed, begrudgingly tearing yourself off the sofa, your exposed skin having stuck to it. Finally separated from the mound of leather and flesh, you stumbled over to the kitchenette and threw open the fridge before grabbing a few bottles of water. "Rocket might need some help, I'll go check on him."

-----

You had never been in this part of the ship before, slinking through halls and around protruding pipes and fixtures. It was much hotter down here, closer to the water heating systems. You had to halt for a moment, pressing your hand to the wall for stability as you hunched a bit. If you were already feeling faint, you couldn't imagine how Rocket was feeling. For all you knew, he could have passed out and nobody would have known.

Suddenly you began to make out a distant, distorted racket that echoed and reverberated against every surface. It sounded almost...melodic? Following as it became louder, it led you to a warm light that streamed out from beyond a closed door. You halted for a moment, now being able to separate the noise, which you now recognized as a voice, singing lazily. Rocket never sang in front of people and you almost felt perverted as you listened to his rendition of Silver's 'Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang'. "Now that it's said and we both understand," he softly crooned, voice carrying to far reaches. "Let's say our goodbyes before it gets out of hand."

Inhaling sharply, you finally found it in you to grip the door handle and let yourself in. Orange light flooded out of the small room and the music became as clear as it was going to get, loud enough to conceal the sound of the door opening. Your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

Everyone had always been able to tell you were sweet on Rocket, and you'd never done much to hide the fact but seeing him now, bathed in marigold neon, laid flat on his back up underneath a large fixture...shirtless- it was too much for you. His fur was slicked against his chest from sweat and his jumpsuit was tied loosely on his hips, revealing much more of him than you ever could have been prepared to see. Adding to that his admittedly lovely, gruff singing voice, the scene was a recipe for an upset tummy.

Deciding you couldn't handle this, you silently tried to back out of the room, eyes trained on him like a deer in headlights. You may have gotten away with it, had one of the water bottles not fallen from the crook of your elbow, alerting him to your presence. Instantly, he rolled out from under the machine, set down his tools, and sat up, staring at you. "(Y/N), what are you doing down here?"

Now that you could see his face, you were in even worse shape. The white stripes on his cheeks were smeared with grease, whiskers crumpled, and fur unkempt. He looked incredibly rugged- more so than usual. "Hello? Knowwhere to (Y/N)?" he croaked again and waved a hand in front of him, voice hoarse from unrestricted use. "You okay?"

At last, you shook out of your trance, flustered to hell and back, and eagerly swooped down to grab the bottle. "Y-Yeah, I'm great! You're just really hot!" Rocket stared at you for a second, waiting for you to correct yourself before owning the compliment and mocking you for it. Obviously, you didn't take the hint, so that was his cue.

"Well thanks, dollface," he smirked, standing up and sauntering over to the doorway, taking the dropped bottle from you before popping off the cap and chugging it. About halfway through, he stopped with a deep, relieved sigh. "I always thought I was pretty hot but it's still nice to hear it from someone else." That's when your stomach dropped, realizing what you'd said. Time to backtrack.

"Oh my God, no!" you gasped, once again dropping what you were holding to slap your hands to your face. "I don't think you're hot!" Rocket looked at you quizzically, hand on hip. "I-I mean I do think you're attractive, b-but not in a weird way! More like a friend way!"

"Uh-huh," he teased, crossing his arms and leaning on the doorframe. "Friend attraction's the best kind, ya know? And don't sweat it, Quill says I'm hot all the time."

"Rocket, please..." you finally gave in, physically crumbling. "I meant like- you're probably getting hot down here and I wanted to bring you something to drink."

"I know, dollface, I'm just yankin' your chain." he laughed, pushing off the wall and walking back farther into the room to sit on a bucket. "I needed a break anyway, thanks princess."

"Princess...?"

"What?"

"N-Nothing!" You finally let out a sigh of relief, following a bit closer and sitting on the floor. "So how's it coming?" you asked, uncapping your own bottle after passing him the last one.

"Well, I've identified the problem, but I don't got the right parts to fix it. Good news is, I think I was able to work up a temporary replacement that should at least get us back to Knowwhere. I know if we can just get home, I can get a brand new part for cheap-" You weren't sure when, but at some point, you'd stopped listening, mind and eyes wandering.

" Ah, fuck, (Y/N), easy! Yeah, j-just like that, keep movin' just like that for me princess..."

"Are you even listening?" Rocket's annoyed tone brought you out of your daydream. You must have zoned out without realizing it, how embarrassing. "Jeez, you're hopeless, ya know that?" He chided, standing up and grabbing a rag to wipe his hands on.

"Sorry..." you slumped shamefully before trailing him as he got back into position. "H-Hey, is there anything I can do to help you out?"

"Hmm," he paused, laying back down on the creeper, ready to roll back under the unit. "I guess you can keep me company, hand me tools," he proposed, disappearing under the machine. Suddenly his voice dropped an octave, words echoed against metallic surfaces that made you freeze. "I know my girl is very good with my tools."

You squeaked at his sudden turn in demeanor, falling on your behind and scrambling away from him. "W-What?!"

Rocket rolled back out, propping up on an elbow, eyeing you with concern. "What, what'd I say?" he asked frantically. "What's up with you?"

"Y-You said-" you stammered, not even comfortable with repeating what you heard. "Y-You said...I'm g-good with your tools!"

He looked at you like you were the biggest moron he'd ever met. "Well, yeah?" he chastised. "You help me in my shop all the time, so I know you know which ones are which. You're good at knowing which ones to hand me." Your chest heaved as he once again returned to his position, reaching his hand out. His small fingers curled, a sign for you to hand something over. "Gimme that ratchet." Quickly, you placed it in his hand, before clicking open the socket set.

"What size socket?"

"Twelve millimeter." He answered, settling the tool on his stomach to use both hands for whatever he was doing. Scanning the set, you plucked out the shallow twelve millimeter piece and set it on his chest, waiting for him to grab it. He did and growled in dismay, giving it back.

"No, princess," he corrected, gasping through clenched teeth. "Need it deep."

"You...w-what?" you carefully asked, feeling incredibly dizzy and unable to discern truth from hallucination.

"I need the deep twelve millimeter, not the shallow one." Rocket scolded, giving a frustrated sigh as he listened to you scramble for the correct piece, profusely apologizing all the while. Finally, you found the right one, presenting it to him just in time for him to roll out from under the fixture again. "Okay, dollface," he titled his head, worried. "What's your deal?"

"Deal? There's no deal!" you played dumb, laughing nervously, hoping he'd just drop it. "I'm fine, really!"

You went rigid, watching him silently creep closer to you, unsure if this was real or not. Finally, he placed a paw against your cheek and whispered in close: "You're burnin' up, baby."

"Rocket, I don't feel good." you stated abruptly. "I-I think something's wrong with me."

"I'll say," he cooed, dragging his knuckles down the side of your face. "How about you let me change that, hmm?" The world around you began to blur, and all you could make out were his words. You understood that his hands were on you, but you couldn't say where; you couldn't feel it, you couldn't even see clearly. "Yeah, baby just lay down, lemme do all the work." He soothed seductively. "Let daddy take care of you, 'kay, (Y/N)?"

That last word, it was your name, right? He kept repeating it, like a broken record, and suddenly all the gruffness left his voice. You listened as intently as you could, hearing it morph from lustful to monotone, and then increasingly more worried- desperate even. "(Y/N)!" There it was again.

Slowly, as his voice became more clear, the cloudiness in your vision dissipated and your senses began to return. Your cheek burned against hot metal, and you could feel patting on your face. A figure hovered over you, close enough to breathe on you. "Goddamnit, (Y/N), wake up!"

"R-Rocket...?" you stuttered, recognizing the figure. "What's going on...?"

"Nevermind that," he hushed. "Lay back down," Suddenly, he turned away from you, yelling out the door, presumably to the oncoming footsteps stampeding down the hall. "In here!" Your eyelids began to get heavy as the world began to fall away again. The last thing you remember was being lifted into the air by a second, hulking figure, then nothing.

-----

You awoke in your bunk, arctic air breezing by your face. What had happened, how did you get here? Where was Rocket? Your fingers twitched, sore from lack of use and the tips of them caught the sensation of something foreign. Multiple fibers connected to one source, soft in mass but wirey when you singled one out. Letting your hand travel up the organism, you froze, realizing you'd answered one of your questions. Glancing down, you found Rocket, curled in a ball at your side. That was odd, you did share a room, but Rocket never slept in your bunk.

Your movements must have roused him as he stirred under your touch, slowly unfurling himself and stretching out. "You're up," he noted, smiling a bit. "You'll be happy to know the AC is fixed."

Now that you took notice of it, the room was cooler, cold even. "Wow," you yawned, smiling back sleepily. "How long was I out for?"

"About eight hours," he copied, yawning as a reaction to seeing you do the same. You halted a moment, confused.

"Wait, I thought you said it'd take you another day to fix it?" you rubbed sleep from your eye waiting for his explaination.

"Nothin' an all nighter couldn't fix." He laughed exhaustedly, curling back up into your side. You'd usually question his sudden cuddliness, but it made your bed that much cozier. "Honestly, your little heatstroke..." his voice softened a bit. "It scared me a little. I was worried about ya."

"Heatstroke..." you repeated. "That makes so much sense," At least now you had an explanation for all those hallucinations from earlier. Though you were glad to be well again, Rocket's attention was nice, even if it was all in your head. "That explains me hearing and seeing things that weren't there down in the boiler. Sorry for acting so weird.." you confessed sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry," he chuckled cockily, eyes peacefully resting. "We'll definitely be having a lengthy, private conversation about all that after I catch up on some sleep." Your stomach dropped at that, imagining all the terrible outcomes that could result from said conversation. "And for the record, dollface, I do think you're very good at handling my tools, ya know," he smirked, nuzzling your ear. "When you follow directions."

Your stomach did flips as your head began to feel heavy again. "I-I must still be hallucinating...I swear I just heard you say-"

"Did I fuckin' stutter?"

[mariamakeslemons]

Spooktober 2024: Day 12 Clowns

Warning: Threat of breaking and entering, mention of FNAF (I know some people are tired of the game series, it's still super popular, I'm sorry), mild description of violence and gore, mild body horror

Yes, it's Art the Clown from Terrifier. Only reason Reader lives is that Nikto ruins his fun.

You sit on the couch, watching Halloween as Sputnik lays her head on your lap, blinking big pleading eyes at you to feed her some popcorn. You huff, giving her a scratch behind the ear when the doorbell rings.

“Hup,” you grunt, gently pushing Sputnik’s head off your lap to grab the candy bowl off the high table. Making your way over to the door, you can’t help but smile as you open it.

“Trick or treat!” the gathered kids cheer, holding up plastic pumpkins and pillowcases.

“What do we have here?” you gasp, grabbing some candy for each kid, “A pirate, a witch and--”

“I’m Freddy!” the smallest kid pipes up, wearing a top hat and bear ears.

“Oh!” you gasp, as if startled, “Well excuse me, Mister Fazbear.” You give the kids their candy and send them off with a wave. Chuckling, you return to the sofa after putting the candy bowl back on the table. You settle into the couch and return your attention to the movie, never noticing the shadow that moves to the back door.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nikto had planned to surprise you by knocking on the front door. They’d even practiced saying ‘trick or treat’ with an accent, all to make you smile and laugh in delight. However, all of those plans stopped when they saw a strange man in a black and white clown suit skulking around the house. They pause and watch as the clown tiptoes cartoonishly into the backyard, pausing to shush at no one behind him. Without a thought, Nikto pulls out the sniper rifle they had brought home to tuck into the safe and raised the scope to their eye.

The clown makes a show of trying to decide what to do at the backdoor, rocking back and forth as if thinking, before snaping and raising a finger in the air before rummaging through the bloody sack he was dragging around. Nikto narrows his eye before it widens as the clown carelessly throws a decapitated head to the side, one that Nikto recognizes as the neighbor that constantly bothers you in an attempt to make you leave them. He pulls out an air pump, a piece of rebar, and some a tied kerchief rope before seeming to pull out what he planned to use. A bloody kitchen knife.

Nikto focuses on the man’s head and pulls the trigger, no thought in his head other than protecting you. The silencer works as the man’s head explodes with a pop. However, instead of falling over dead, the man’s body raises his hands and grabs at the air that was once occupied by his head. The body flails around, reaching blindly for something before grabbing the jack-o-lantern you had made before they left. He places it on his neck and nods with it. Nikto blinks, trying to make sense of what the hell was happening, as the clown seems to huff and put his hands on his hips. The clown eventually drops his fist against his palm, before clawing at the pumpkin that he made into his head.

Instead of the orange guts of the pumpkin Nikto knows should be coming out, red blood spurts out with each claw at the pumpkin. The fruit is slowly torn apart, eventually revealing the exact same head that Nikto just blew off. The clown shakes his head, dislodging the remainder of pumpkin from his head before looking up at the tree Nikto is currently in. The clown frowns and puts his fists on his hips, going so far as to shake his fist at Nikto before huffing and stomping out of the backyard. Not before regathering the items he pulled out of his bag, thankfully, but Nikto remains vigilant. They follow the clown until he disappears down the street. Clenching and unclenching their fist in time, Nikto eventually turns to the door to your home and enters, his plan gone in favor of focusing on your safety. They relax upon seeing you cuddling on the couch with Sputnik, the two of you focused on the television until Nikto enters the room. Sputnik perks up and lets out a gleeful laugh, catching your attention. When you see them, your face lights up at their arrival, and Nikto relaxes a little.

“Andre! Welcome home,” you chirp, beaming up at them. They nod and walk over to the couch, settling beside you and not flinching when you move in for a cuddle. You start to ramble about what’s occurred while they’ve been gone, and Nikto is only able to half focus on your words. They can’t relax too much, in case that clown reappears and tries to hurt you. They’d rather suffer through more torture than see you hurt.

[moorishflower]

this is for @softest-punk because I remember I mentioned this idea before and you were interested and now it's being written :3

Lucifer is still on her sofa when she steps back out into the living room, and still out cold, which works just fine for Jo, because the only clothes she has that are clean are some leggings that she vaguely remembers wearing once and a vividly orange tank top that says 'Beefcake' across the front with armholes so large they show the sides of her tits, and she is not putting a bra back on for the bloody Devil. She doesn't owe them that much respect.

Mazikeen hasn't come back. She supposes that would've been a bit of a pipe dream, though. 'Turns out Lord Morpheus is a bit less of a wet sack than we thought, let me just take that fallen archangel off your hands for you, ta.'

She edges closer to the sofa. The Morningstar isn't moving, isn't even breathing. The only movement, in fact, is the sluggish drip of ichor from their wings. Her sofa is going to be ruined. There's probably magic that could clean it, but maybe it’s time to get a new one anyway.

She crouches down next to Lucifer's head. They still have their face turned into the arm of the sofa, a stray curl fallen perfectly in front of their eye. They really do look like a work of art, except for the bruises. Or maybe because of the bruises. It makes them look almost human.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asks. Lucifer doesn't answer. She'd half expected them to open one baleful eye at her for the audacity of asking, but no -- silent as the grave.

Well. First thing's first, putting down some wards. So much for sleeping until two.

Lucifer doesn't wake up when Jo starts hauling boxes around, looking for reagents and tomes and chalk, why is she always lacking bloody chalk, and they don't wake up when she starts inscribing spellwork over the lintels, and they don't make so much as a peep when the Tesco receipt that she'd scrawled a rune of protection on goes up in sparks, indicating that the spell's taken, at least. They don't move, and they don't breathe, and they don't sigh or fart or blink or any of the other things that she would expect from someone who's unconscious. They're just...there.

It's gone 4:30am by the time she's done, sweat beaded on her brow and dripping down her sides under her stupid tank top. The flat's warded, ha, to hell and back, and short of sitting by the front door with a knife there's not much else she can do. Magically, Lucifer is as protected as she can offer, and isn't that what she'd specified in the deal? Only as much as she can humanly offer?

She doesn't owe them anything beyond common hospitality.

What the fuck is common hospitality, though? She'd said the words without thinking because she's still a bit drunk and exhausted and she'd been covered in ectoplasm and piss-your-pants-scared, but now she has to actually think about what it means. Hospitality. Making whoever it is...comfortable? Feeding them. Sheltering them. She doesn't think she's responsible for clothing them, but...but probably she should make sure they don't...bleed out? On her sofa?

How does one doctor the Devil?

[bqrdercarnival]

⌒⌒﹕love, again.

( EN- ) jake x fem reader

playlist ;; orange flower // tfw // highway 1009

admin notes at the bottom

︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶

“Fuck. We’re all out of gas.” Jake muttered under his breath, trying to start the engine up again. Sunoo walked over to him, a worried look on his face. “What’s wrong?” Jake looked up at Sunoo, sweat dripping off his forehead. “Out of gas. ”He stood up and walked past Sunoo to the sofas in the camper, taking a seat next to Jungwon, who was chatting away to y/n. Y/n noticed Jake’s presence and smiled at him. “Are you okay? You’re sweating like crazy.” Jake sighed and wiped the sweat off his face. “I'm fine.” He reached for the water bottle Jungwon was holding and chugged it down like there was no tomorrow. “I’m gonna go shower.” He said, standing up and heading for the back of the van, leaving Y/n and Jungwon to talk once again.

── .✦

The four of them gathered around the small dining table, chatting about the day and trying to keep a positive spirit since the van ran out of gas. Sunoo checked his phone from time to time to check for reception, but there was no sign of anything. “Let’s play something,” Jungwon suggested. “It’s so boring, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. My phone’s dead, and even if I charge it there won’t be any reception. The car’s basically dead too, so we won’t be able to drive anywhere either.” Y/n smiled. “Sure,” she said. “That sounds fun. What should we play?” “Ooh!” Sunoo piped up, his face lighting up. “Let’s spill secrets!” Jake looked at him, flabbergasted. “Hell no! That’s too risky for all of us, and you know that. How about a classic game of truth or dare? And if you back out of the question, you have to take a sip of your drink.” Jungwon looked at Jake, slightly side-eyeing him. “Seriously, you want to get us all drunk again?”Jake laughed. “C’mon, Jungwonnie. It will be fun! Just let loose a bit won't you?” Y/n smiled. “Alright,” her gaze flickering to each of her friends one by one, however lingering on Jake for a bit longer than it should have. “That would be nice.”

── .✦.

Time: 1:00 AM. The camper’s lights were still on, the four friends drunk and laughing about almost everything each other said.”Okay.. My turn to ask someone!” Sunoo said, slurring his words slightly as he spoke. “Y/n! T..Truth or dare!!” Y/n, who stayed sane and sober throughout the whole game until recently, hesitated for an unusually long time at Sunoo’s question. “Um.. dare?” She had picked truth for the entire game, and having nothing to hide answered all the questions in an instant.Sunoo laughed after hearing Y/n pick dare; this gave him a chance to mess up her perfect streak of well—staying sane.”Hah… I.. I dare you to..uh, kiss the person on your right!” Y/n stared at him, not believing what he had just said. “Um. what? No! I’m backing out.” She reached for her cup in front of her, only to see that it was empty. She reached for the bottle for liquor, only to find that empty too. Damn it, she had to do it now. There was no chance of her backing out now.

She looked to her right, and there sat a red-faced, beaming and drunk Jake.Y/n shifted her chair closer to him, grasping his face once he was in her reach. She then moved away suddenly, hesitation taking over her. “Ugh… come on, y/n,” she told herself. “They’re all drunk. It’s fine.” She leaned back in and touched her lips to his. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t anything she’d expected either. Y/n had always taken a liking towards Jake; however she never expected herself to even be this close to him, let alone kiss him. Y/n pulled away awkwardly, immediately turning away and shifting her chair back to its original position. “Okay,” she looked around the table. “My turn.” She pointed at Jungwon. “Jungwon! I dare you to uh.. Stand outside for five minutes!” Jungwon, who was also red-faced, looked at Y/n, a giddy look on his face. “Uhm.. sure..”

── .✦

Time: 2:30 AM. Everyone left to go sleep, y/n to her room, and everyone else to theirs. Y/n tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep. “Aurgh.. Fuck. My head hurts..” She stood up, throwing her blanket onto the floor. She walked over to her desk and picked up her ipod. People rarely used ipods these days,but y/n still liked it because she could download anything she wanted on it, and it didn't require wifi. She plugged her earbuds in and clicked on her playlist. As the music started to play, y/n sat there and gathered all her thoughts. She thought about how they were going to get out of the forest, how Sunoo, Jungwon and Jake were managing to sleep, and how she was going to manage to study once she got back home. She thought about her parents, her siblings, about life, school, and everything else. Once the song ended, y/n breathed out a sigh. She set her things back on her desk and walked back over to her bed, picked up her blanket and headed to sleep.

── .✦

The sun crept into the room, bathing y/n in golden glory. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, glancing at the clock on her bedside table as she woke up. Desperately needing the extra minutes, y/n pulled her blanket back over herself and went back to sleep.

Around an hour later, Y/n woke up and headed for the main area. When she stepped into the area, she was greeted by a smiling Sunoo, and Jungwon and Jake who were eating their breakfast. Y/n sat down at her seat, sandwiched between Jake and Jungwon. “Hi,” She said, grabbing a piece of toast. “Did you all sleep well?” “Yeah I did,” Sunoo said. “Not gonna lie, the alcohol kinda helped put me to sleep.” Jungwon smiled. “Me too.” Y/n looked over at Jake, who was munching away on a piece of bacon on toast, the sunlight rushing in through the windows and hitting him at just the right spot, making him look more dashing than he already was. Y/n caught herself staring for a little bit too long; she shook her head and turned her attention back to the plate in front of her. However, just as Y/n turned away, she caught Jake’s eye and he smiled. Shifting closer to y/n, he leaned his head in, lowering his voice into a whisper. “Lost in the moment, or were you purposely staring?” He moved away, shooting a wink towards y/n, leaving her stunned.

── .✦

Monday. Everyone’s most dreaded day of the week. Sunoo, Jungwon, Jake and y/n had finally managed to get back home after that road trip, and everything was back to normal. Sometimes, y/n found herself thinking about the events that happened on the weekend, in that camper van with her friends. How they laughed, how they tried new foods, and… Y/n let her thoughts stop there before she let herself think about him. About how she had always preferred him over her other friends. About how they'd always hang out during breaks. About how.. How she’d kissed him. It was just a dare, but it meant more to y/n than just a dare. She’d never thought that she’d be thinking about this; about how she could possibly have a slight crush on her best friend. That thought didn’t go too far before the bell rang, signalling that it was time for lunch.

Y/n sat at her usual table with her closest friends- Yuna, Chaewon, Sakura, Winter, Rei, and Gaeul. “Hey y/n,” Chaewon greeted her with a warm smile, passing y/n a slip of paper across the table. “This is for you, I spent all night last night writing it up. Happy birthday, bestie!” Y/n froze. How could she forget that today was her birthday? She smiled back at Chaewon, her face lighting up as she replied. “Thank you.” The table proceeded to talk about all sorts of different things; like how they were going to celebrate y/n’s birthday, the latest drama at school, teachers they hated, and everything else.

Just then, Sunoo’s voice came from the table next to them, calling y/n over. Y/n walked over to Sunoo’s table- consisting of Sunoo, Jungwon, Heeseung, Sunghoon, Jake, Jay and Ni-ki, and sat down, squashed between Sunoo and Jake. “What’s up?” Sunoo beamed at her, his smile lighting up the whole room. “Happy birthday, y/n.” Y/n returned his smile, laughing. “Thank you.” Jake placed his arm around y/n, hugging her with one arm. “Happy birthday to you. I couldn’t ask for a better best friend.”

── .✦

Sakura was the first to arrive at y/n’s house. Y/n had a lavish, large mansion that could fit the whole school if she wanted to. The moment Sakura saw y/n, she immediately rushed to her and gave her a big hug. “You look like a greek goddess,” she said, admiring y/n’s dress. “Awh, thank you! You look gorgeous yourself, Saku.” The two of them sat down on the sofa in the exquisitely decorated house, waiting for the others to arrive.

As the people started piling in, y/n was getting tired. She walked out to the patio, holding a cup of water. She was doing really well in regulating her drinking habits; she couldn’t let something like last time happen again. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her, and she turned around to see Jake join her on the patio. “So,” he said, taking a seat next to her, “Sixteen, huh?” He smirked, making y/n smile. She hit his arm playfully, laughing as she did it. “Yeah. I guess I'm old now.” Jake laughed as well, matching her energy. “Yeah. guess you are.” Y/n took a sip from her cup, and stared at him, trying hard not to laugh. “You’re older though.” “Ugh, shut up.” Jake slapped her on the arm jokingly and the two of them stood up, looking out on the patio.

“You know,” Jake whispered, putting his arm around y/n’s shoulder, “I heard you talk that day.” Y/n turned to face him, confused. “What day?” Jake smirked. “Oh, you know, when you.. Kissed me.” Y/n felt her face heat up immediately, and she turned her head back around to try to hide it. “Oh.” Jake leaned in closer, his breath brushing against y/n’s skin. “I like you too, you idiot.” Y/n turned around to face him, shifting away. “How the fu- how did you even know I- Wha-? I haven’t even sorted anything out and you’re hitting me with this?” Jake laughed, sitting back down on the chair. “The truth is, I've always liked you. Since we were ten. I just never noticed it until now.” Y/n sat down next to him, taking one last sip from her cup. They sat there like that in silence for a while, but the silence wasn’t awkward. It had a sense of warmth, of understanding, and everything unspoken; things that couldn't be expressed in words, and everything in between. Y/n finally spoke up, breaking the silence. “I guess I could say the same for myself.” She turned her head to look at the dark brown-haired boy in front of her. “I’ve liked you too, Jake.”

“Since we were ten.”

── .✦

admin’s note. !!

for the Jake to my Sunghoon, christina. </3

please keep in mind that I have no experience at all in writing fics, and this is my first one. It’s not very good, but I will try to improve as time goes on and who knows, maybe I’ll do a rewrite. I spent quite a long time thinking of the plot, and when I did I decided to go for a classic friends-to-lovers trope.

to everyone who has read this, thank you.

— aeri xo

[ichorai]

blueberries ; four.

pairing ; joey tribbiani x gn!reader chapter synopsis ; the one with break ups, sex dreams, and hospital waiting rooms. wc ; 10.8k warnings / includes ; talks of sex/suggestive content, mild cursing, goodbye to connor :( , ross is a loser but wbk, hospitals, carol gives birth in this one !!

series masterlist. main masterlist.

“And that’s why mustard is the best condiment to go on hot dogs,” concluded Chandler, swinging Monica’s fridge open to grab a carton of orange juice.

You tilted your head, about to reply with a counter-argument, when the bathroom door creaked and Rachel stepped out.

Only, she was naked from the torso and up. 

Immediately, you threw your hands over your face, blurting out a string of apologies as both she and Chandler screamed in surprise. She grabbed a loosely knit throw blanket on the back of the sofa to cover her chest. 

“What are you guys doing here—you don’t knock, you don’t call, or—! Ugh, this is ridiculous, do I have no privacy at all?”

“I’m sorry!” exclaimed Chandler. “But, uh, that blanket is, uhm… rather holey. I can still see your, uh, your nippular area—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Rachel groaned in frustration before crossing her arms and rushing off to her room.

“Can I look now?” you asked, peeping through the thin gaps between your fingers. 

Chandler pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a long swig of orange juice straight from the carton. “It’s just me in the room—fully clothed, by the way.”

“Do you guys want anything else to eat?” queried Rachel, pen and paper in one hand, and the other propped up on her hip. 

Chandler raised a hand. “Yeah, can I have—”

“Nope, sorry, we’re all out of those,” snapped the brunette. “Anybody else?”

Phoebe’s new boyfriend, a rather eccentric shrink named Roger, tilted his head. “Did I miss something here?”

“She’s just upset because we saw her boobies,” said Chandler. 

Rearing back, Ross began tripping over his words, appearing troubled by the newfound information. “Wh-what? What were you doing seeing her boobies? And what do you mean we?”

Shrugging, Chandler began explaining, “Well, it was an accident! It’s not like I was across the street with a pair of binoculars and a box of donuts! Besides, Y/N was there, too.”

You tutted, lifting a finger, leaning against Connor on the couch. “I didn’t see anything. I covered my eyes—like any decent person would’ve done.”

“Thank you,” said Rachel, smiling at you genuinely, before rounding her glare back to Chandler. “Can we change the subject, please?”

Nodding emphatically, Phoebe gestured vaguely to Rachel’s torso. “Yeah, because, hello, these are not her boobies, these are her breasts.”

Connor’s chest rumbled with laughter and you had to hide your own amused smile behind a cup of coffee. 

“Okay, Pheebs, I was hoping for more of a change, here.”

“I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed!” Chandler piped up. “They were very nice boobies.”

Lips parting, Rachel sat down beside you, fists clenched. “Nice? They were just nice? That’s it? A pair of mittens can be nice!”

“Don’t listen to him, Rach, I think you’re very beautiful,” you said, patting her knee consolingly. 

Grumpily, Chandler uttered, “Okay, rock,” he gestured with one hand, “hard place,” he gestured with the other. “Me.” He stuck his head between his palms with an exaggerated scowl.

“Heh, you’re funny,” said Phoebe’s boyfriend. “I wouldn’t want to be there when the laughter stops.”

It took you a moment to fully register his words. 

“Woah, back up there, Sparky, What do you mean by that?” Chandler said.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the shrink began to explain, “Well, it just seems as though you maybe have intimacy issues, you know—you use your humor as a way to keep people at a distance.” At Chandler’s mildly offended expression, he raised his hands defensively. “I mean, hey. I just met you! I don’t know you from Adam, you know what I mean?”

There was a beat of silence.

“You’re an only child, right? Parents divorced before you hit puberty?”

Genuinely spooked, Chandler gritted out, “Uh huh. How did you know?”

Roger bit into his egg salad sandwich. “It’s textbook,” came his stout reply.

It was then that Joey came into Central Perk, his father in tow. He waved at the entire group. “You guys know my dad, right?”

“Hey, Mr. Tribbiani, long time no see,” you greeted with a warm smile, getting up from your warm spot beside Connor to give him a hug. There was a time a couple months ago where you had given him a ride back home because Joey had an important audition he couldn’t miss and you offered to take him, and the two of you hit it off fairly well during the car ride. “How long are you in the city for?”

“Bah, just a couple days. I got a job in midtown! I figured I’m better off staying with the kid than hauling my ass back and forth on a ferry. That’s a new face, eh?” He pointed at Connor, who also stood up to give him a firm handshake. “And who might you be, pipsqueak?”

“Connor Berne—I’m Y/N’s boyfriend, sir.”

Joseph Tribbiani’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Nice to meet you, pal. Break their heart and I’ll break your spine, you hear?” The older man burst out into laughter when all the color drained from Connor’s face, cuffing him on the shoulder. “I kid, I kid. No, I’m not. Oh, another new face! Who’s this, now?”

“That’s my friend, Roger,” Phoebe chimed.

“Ah, what happened to the puppet guy?” 

Phoebe made a discontented, garbled noise at the question. 

“Dad,” warned Joey, shaking his head.

The sofa sank beneath your weight as you sat back down, this time making space for Joey and his father on the other side, which meant that you were tightly sandwiched between the actor and your boyfriend.

“Oh, my apologies,” said Mr. Tribbiani. “So, Ross, how’s the wife?”

Your friend muttered incoherently under his breath and rested his head on Chandler’s shoulder. 

Wincing, Joey’s father nervously laughed. “Zero for two, eh? Uh, Chandler, quick, say something funny!”

Stone-faced, Chandler firmly shook his head—he didn’t want to give Roger more ammunition to fire at him.

Joey tossed the pillows onto the couch, grinning when he saw his dad on the phone.

“I love you, but it’s gettin’ real late now—”

“Let me say hi!” he exclaimed, grabbing the phone from his dad. “Hey, ma! Listen, I made the appointment with Dr. Bozita, and I—wait. Excuse me?” Shocked, Joey pulled the phone away from his ear. “Dad, did you know this wasn’t ma?”

Joseph winced, sitting up straighter on the couch, before nodding.

Disgusted, Joey immediately hung up the phone, huffing out a long sigh. There wasn’t much that he could think to say—should he be angry? Should he yell? Should he call his ma and tell her what was going on?

Numb, Joey made his way to the kitchen and resumed chopping up mushrooms for the nice dinner he had planned—you know, before he found out that his dad was a cheating scumbag. 

“Her name’s Ronni,” said his dad. “She’s a pet mortician.”

Joey frowned. “How long have you been…” He trailed off, shivering at the thought. 

“Remember when you were a little kid, I used to take you down to the navy yard and show you the big ships?”

Blanching, Joey barked, “Since then?!”

“No! It’s only been six years. I just wanted to put a nice memory in your head so you’d know I wasn’t always such a terrible guy,” assured the older man. He walked up to Joey and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Have you ever been in love before, son?”

The memory of Ross telling him that he knew Joey was in love with Y/N flashed into mind. He swallowed uneasily, practically turning the mushrooms into a paste with how much he was dicing them.

“I don’t know,” replied Joey, uncharacteristically somber. 

“Then you haven’t,” his dad said. “Joe, your dad’s in love big time—and the worst part of it is that it’s two different women.”

The chopped mushrooms crackled as he tossed them into the hot pan on the stove. Joey hung his head, eyeing his father. “Oh, man, please tell me one of them is ma!”

“Of course one of them’s ma, what’s the matter with you?” his dad barked. 

Joey sighed, plating a hefty amount of the dish for himself. He didn’t really have the heart to eat anymore, but he was going to, anyway—he’d worked hard to make that food, and his grumbling stomach could definitely attest to that.

“Food’s on the stove,” he sullenly said to his dad, trudging to his room with his plate in hand. “G’night.”

“It’s like if you woke up one day and found out your dad was leading this double life! He’s, like, actually some spy working for the CIA!” complained Joey, seated beside you on Monica’s couch before smiling at the thought of it. “Hey, that’d actually be kinda cool. Ugh, but this blows!”

You snaked your arm around him, leaning your head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Joey, that must’ve been really hard to hear.”

“If it’s any consolation, I know how you feel,” added Connor, across from the two of you. “My dad left my mom for another woman when I was a child. I haven’t seen him in nearly a decade.”

Rachel gasped. “That’s terrible! You know, why can’t parents just be parents? Why do they have to become people? Why—Chandler, stop staring at my breasts!”

You snapped your gaze to said man, who unsurprisingly had his eyes trained to Rachel’s chest. 

“What?” he asked, as if snapping out of a daze, clearly not paying attention to whatever was said for the past minute. 

“Did you not get a good enough look last time?” hissed Rachel, crossing her arms with a scowl. 

“Alright, alright,” Ross placatingly said before an argument could break out. “Since Chandler saw her boobies, I think it’s only fair if you show her your pee-pee.”

Cackling, you clapped your hands together. “That’s a great idea, Ross.”

“No, yeah, I don’t see that happening,” he protested.

Rachel seemed to enjoy the thought of that, as well, nodding. “Come on, he’s right, it’s only fair! Tit for tat, you know?”

“Well, I’m not showing you my tat—that has to be earned,” said Chandler, sticking his nose up in the air and harrumphing. 

Before anybody could say anything else, the buzzer rang, and Monica got up to answer it. 

“It’s Phoebe!” it said. “And Rog!”

Chandler scowled. “Oh, great. It’s Rog.”

“What’s the matter with Rog?” Joey questioned.

“Ah, it’s nothing, just a tiny, little thing—I hate him.” Chandler grinned sarcastically.

Shrugging, Ross added, “What, so, he was a little analytical! That’s what he does for a living, you know. It’s not that bad.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” yelled Ross, pointing a finger at Phoebe’s boyfriend. “Why would I marry her if I thought on any level that she was a lesbian?”

You tried to smother your laugh into a cough, but failed miserably, earning yourself a glare from him. Not wanting to make it worse for yourself, you left the table, heading over to the couch to watch him hash it out with the shrink. Soon, Monica joined in on the arguing as well, under the impression that Ross thought she was a failure. 

Not even half an hour later, Roger was talking to Rachel, and had somehow had her dissolving into tears and blubbering recounts of her childhood trauma of falling off of a cruise ship when she was a child.

When you attempted to comfort her, Roger turned his attention to you, much to your dismay.

“Why are you always doing that?” he asked bluntly.

You furrowed your brows. “Doing what?”

“You’re always rushing to make people feel better or fix the problem, even though they might just be overreacting or when there’s no problem to fix at all.”

Almost immediately, Rachel halted her sniffling. “I’m not overreacting!”

You cocked your head, frowning. “It’s called being a good friend,” you retorted.

“Really?” countered Roger. “Because I’m not always seeing it reciprocated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying your friends don’t like you—I’m saying you’re not letting them reciprocate it. It just looks like you have issues with opening up and telling the people closest to you bad things that’s happened to you, so you overcompensate by trying to fix their problems for them. But, heh, what do I know?”

“I—”

“Oh, and you omit important details about your life from some of your friends because you don’t want to taint the perfect image they have of you, right? You don’t want to be a burden to them? I mean, it only makes sense that you have a perfect partner who lets you walk all over him—”

“Hey!” Joey interrupted, bristling. “Don’t you talk to Y/N like that. What’s the matter with you?”

As if he hadn’t just spewed out the most hurtful psychoanalysis you’ve ever heard, Roger stood up, nonchalantly checking his watch. “Oh, Phoebe, sweetie, we’re gonna be late for our movie!” 

“Oh, we should get going, then!” the blonde chimed from the kitchen. “Bye, guys!”

Right before Roger slipped out the door, he pointed a finger at Monica. “Remember to go easy on those cookies, alright? They’re just food, not love.”

The door shut just as she chucked a handful of biscuits in his direction. The rest of the group groaned in relief at his departure.

“Are you okay?” asked Connor. “That was… harsh.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose between your fingers. “Harsh, but true. Sometimes I don’t tell you guys things because I’m ashamed of it.”

“It’s okay to have secrets, honey,” Rachel reassured sweetly, eyes still red and puffy from her sob session a few minutes ago. “We don’t have to know every single detail of your life, even though we’d be happy to hear it.”

You blew out a shaky breath. What Roger had said really didn’t sit well with you. “Thanks, Rach. And you, for sticking up to him, Joey.”

The Italian saluted, before shooting you a genuine smile. “It was uncalled for! He’s a real jerk.”

“I hate that guy!” exclaimed Monica. 

Chandler snorted from the corner of the room. “Welcome to the club.”

“Stop kicking,” Chandler admonished his roommate.

The two of them were lying down on the pull-out sofa bed they had, because Joey’s dad’s girlfriend, Ronni, had shown up and taken Chandler’s room for the night. Joey had forced his father to sleep in his own room—that way he could be sure there’d be no shenanigans going on while he was asleep. 

Only, he wasn’t sleeping.

“I’m sorry, I’m just tryna get comfortable,” huffed Joey. The blanket was too short and his feet were poking out the other end. The sofa bed was lumpy and something was digging into his back at an awkward angle. “I can’t sleep with my underwear on!”

“Well, you’re gonna,” snapped Chandler warningly. 

With a resigned sigh, Joey gave up trying to find a good position and sat up. “I’ve been thinking…”

“That’s a first,” his friend snorted.

Joey glared at him, before continuing, “I don’t know, this whole ordeal with my dad’s got me thinking about how I’m always going out with all these different people. I always figured that when the right one comes along, I’d be able to be a stand-up guy and go the distance, you know? Now I’m looking at my dad and I’m wondering if that’ll be me.”

Landing a soft punch on his shoulder, Chandler sat up as well. “Hey, you’re not him, Joey. You’re you. When they were all over you to go into your father’s pipe-fitting business, did you cave? No! You decided to go into the out-of-work actor business. And that wasn’t easy, but you did it! See, I’d like to think that when you’re married to the right person, you’d have the courage and the guts to say, ‘no thanks, I’m married!’ to whoever makes a pass at you.”

“You really think so?” Joey mumbled. “Hey, you wanna hear something funny that happened a while back?”

“Shoot,” said Chandler, intrigued. 

Chuckling slightly, the actor said, “Ross thinks I’m in love with Y/N.”

“That’s…” Chandler was about to laugh as well, before his brows furrowed, and he jerked upwards, eyes widening. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”

Quick to backtrack, Joey began shaking his head vehemently. “No, no, not you, too! I’m not in love with Y/N! It makes no sense at all, that’s why I said it was funny! You know Ross, always talking about made up things, like aliens and the jurassic era—I mean what the hell is that?”

“No, it makes complete and total sense! That’s why you’ve been so weird around Connor! Why the two of you used to sleep over in each other’s beds all the time despite having your own places! It’s all so obvious!” 

Joey began shushing him, slapping a hand over his mouth. “I’m not in love with Y/N. Besides, even if I was, they’re with Connor, remember? I wouldn’t want to get between them.” His hand fell away from Chandler’s face.

“Y/N loves you, Joey,” his roommate said, uncharacteristically serious. “In a romantic or a platonic sense, they love you—and I think that if you love them, too, you need to tell Y/N how you really feel.”

Joey raised his eyebrows. “Since when did you become all shrink-y?”

Chandler grumbled under his breath. “Roger’s had a bad influence on all of us, okay?” he snarked, before lying back down and turning around. “Good night, Joe.”

“Night,” he replied.

Joey didn’t get any sleep for the hours to come, plagued by the idea of watching you fall in love with Connor from the sidelines.

“And Rachel just tore the shower curtain open, and saw everything!” Joey retold the story, whilst sipping on a mug of coffee. A smile slipped across his face when you doubled over laughing, nose wrinkled with amusement. 

“Gosh, that’s funny. Why don’t any of you lock the bathroom doors?”

Joey rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious. “Duh, in case of an emergency, how am I supposed to unlock the door with my wet, slippery hands? And I thought you were the smart one here.”

“Where’s Connor?” asked Chandler, side-eyeing Joey.

You waved your hands dismissively. “He’s out of the city for today—has a big work event. Offered for me to come with him, but I had an important class to teach this morning, and I couldn’t miss it, so I had to decline.”

It didn’t miss Chandler’s notice when Joey seemed to brighten at that. 

“That’s a shame,” chimed Monica. “I really like having him around—you’ve got a great boyfriend, Y/N. He’s a keeper,” she said, genuinely.

Flushing, you smiled into a mug. “I really like him, too. Though… ugh, we had a disagreement right before he left. I wouldn’t call it a fight, because we didn’t really have time to let it escalate, but we definitely had differing opinions.”

“Oh, no, what happened?” Ross queried from beside you.

“Well, we just got to talking about the future and all and he mentioned that he never wanted to get married or have kids—ever. He seemed pretty firm about it, too. And… I don’t know, that just kind of threw me for a loop, you know? It’s not like I ever really thought about having kids or getting married—I’m definitely not ready for either at the moment, but I don’t want to completely take those options off the table,” you explained, twisting your hands in your lap. 

The group fell into an uncertain silence. 

“I’m really sorry, sweetie,” said Rachel, resting a hand on your shoulder in consolation. “Hopefully you guys can talk it out! If not, then… well, there’s always more fish in the sea.”

You looked uncertain, but nodded along anyway. 

It was then that Phoebe marched into the cafe, jewelry noisily clacking against one another as she strode towards the group. “Hey, guys!” she exclaimed. “Roger’s having a dinner thing and he wanted me to invite you guys!”

Awkwardly, none of you responded. Chandler whistled under his breath, pretending not to hear her.

“What’s going on?” the blonde asked, confused.

“Nothing,” said Monica. “It’s just…”

“We hate him!” piped Rachel. 

Wincing, you shook your head. “Sorry, Pheebs.”

“Okay, don’t you think that maybe he’s so perceptive that it freaked you guys out?” 

“Mm, no,” Ross bluntly confirmed. “We hate him.”

The next night, pizza boxes were spread over Monica’s coffee table as the entire group chowed down on dinner together. You’d just finished your second slice, wiping the grease away from your fingers with a napkin before curling up beside Connor. Neither of you had had the chance to be alone yet and talk about the mini-argument you’d had before he left for work.

“So you talked to your dad?” Monica asked Joey, reaching for another slice from the pepperoni box.

“Yeah, he’s gonna keep cheating on my ma like she wanted, and my ma’s gonna pretend she doesn’t know, even though she does, and my little sister, Tina, can’t see her husband anymore because he got a restraining order! Which has nothing to do with anything except that I found out today,” Joey said around a mouthful of Hawaiian.

Sympathetic, you tilted your head. “You sure you’re okay, Jo?”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just… you know, they’re parents. After a certain point, you gotta let go. Even if you know better, you gotta let them make their own mistakes!” 

The rest of the group chuckled at his words.

“And just think, in a couple of years we get to turn into them!” exclaimed Rachel.

Snorting, Chandler remarked, “If I turn into my parents, I’ll either be an alcoholic blonde chasing after twenty-year-old boys, or… I’ll end up like my mom.”

Ross choked on his pizza slice as he laughed.

Phoebe walked into Monica’s apartment then, shedding her large coat and taking a seat next to Chandler. 

“Hey, Pheebs, how’s it going?” greeted Rachel.

“Oh, okay—except I broke up with Roger.”

You suppressed the urge to cheer, but cooed in disappointment with the rest of the group.

Rachel placed her plate full of uneaten pizza crusts on the table. “What happened?” 

“I don’t know. I mean… he’s a good person, and he can be really sweet. And in some ways, I think he’s so right for me. It’s just… I hate that guy!”

The rest of you nodded your agreement, before offering Phoebe some break-up pizza. 

Once the pizza was gone, you, Monica, Phoebe and Connor moved to the kitchen table to talk some more. Joey and Chandler and Ross had retired to their own apartments, while a sleepy Rachel claimed that she needed to take a shower, but went to her room to pass out anyway. Phoebe was telling the three of you a story about the time she got stuck in the trunk of a car, before you gently excused yourself to the bathroom, meaningfully glancing at Connor.

He took the cue and got up as well, smiling charmingly at the two women. They seemed to understand and shooed him off.

“Hey, sweetie,” he said, catching up to you in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. “Wow, this bathroom is really organized,” he commented, admiring the neatly laminated labels on the cabinets and drawers.

“Yeah, that’s Monica for you,” you hummed, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. “Sorry for pulling you away—I just wanted to talk to you about what we discussed before you left.”

Connor took a seat beside you. “No, yeah, uhm… I just wanted to apologize for not telling you about me not wanting to have kids and get married before. I guess that’s the catch with me, you know? I just—I really like you and all my previous partners have broken up with me because of this very reason and… you were different, you know? I should’ve told you, and I’m really sorry. If you want to break up now, I completely understand.”

A part of your heart splintered at his words, and you lifted your face to cup his hands gently. “Oh, Connor, you not wanting to get married or have kids isn’t a catch, it’s very valid to feel that way. Sure, you should’ve told me, but it’s not like we’ve been dating for that long, anyway. I’m not mad at you.”

He winced. “But…?”

“But…” You sighed, retracting your hands from him so you could bury your face in them. “Argh, this is so much harder than I thought it’d be. I really like you, Connor. It’s hard letting go.” Tears pricked the corners of your eyes and your nose stung as you staved them away. 

Arms winding around your waist, he brought you into a warm embrace. You wiped away a stray tear, locking eyes with his big, brown ones. Then he kissed you, hard and desperate, pouring every bit of unvocalized emotions into the exchange. His fingers dug into your side and you whimpered against him, just about melting into his hold. 

Momentarily pulling away, you whispered over him. “I think it’s best if we stop seeing each other—maybe if one day I find myself okay with never marrying or having kids, then I’ll come find you.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he muttered, before slanting his lips against yours once more. You knew you shouldn’t be kissing him—it would only make the inevitable goodbye much worse. But you just couldn’t stop. One of his hands began snaking beneath your shirt, his cold fingers skimming over your stomach and ribs made you gasp involuntarily. With a muffled noise grumbling in the back of his throat, he hoisted you up, pushing you against the wall, slotting one of his thighs between yours and kissed you rough—rougher than he’d ever kissed before. With one hand fisted into the collar of his shirt to tug him all the closer, the other slithered to the back of his neck, where you pulled at his dark, slightly curled hair. He nipped your bottom lip in response, nose bumping into yours.

It was hot and heavy and definitely the last thing either of you needed right now for a breakup.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, and the two of you whipped your heads to the entrance, wide-eyed and puffy-lipped. 

Joey stood at the doorway, horrified. His eyes roamed over the two of you intertwined in a rather compromising position. “Oh—uh—sorry, I was looking for Rachel’s boobies. I was getting back at her, since she saw my… I’m gonna go now.”

He scurried away without closing the door, and you reluctantly let go of Connor, straightening your clothes. 

“We should, uhm…”

“Yeah.” He nodded, exiting the bathroom, and rushing to the door with you hot in his heels. You could feel both Phoebe and Monica’s stares burn into you as the two of you left her apartment and into the hallway for some privacy. Joey was nowhere to be seen.

Tears welled up in your eyes again, dimly reflecting the flickering light by the stairs, like snow on a wintry tree branch. Connor cradled your face in his palms. It hurt you even more to see a film of unshed tears warble in his own glassy eyes. 

“Take care of yourself, okay?” he whispered. “I know we’re breaking up, but if you ever need anything… I’ll always be there for you.”

“Okay,” you croaked.

He dipped down to kiss you one last time, but you turned your head away just in time, and his lips landed on your cheek. You didn’t want to let him kiss you properly again, afraid that you’d just cave and immediately take him back.

“Bye, Connor,” you mumbled, pressing a swift kiss right beside his nose. 

And with that, the two of you let go of each other. He walked backwards slowly, before turning and jogging down the stairs, wiping his damp cheek with the sleeve of his shirt.

You leaned against the wall, biting into your bottom lip as it quivered uncontrollably, wrapping your arms around yourself. After about three seconds, you began crying, silent sobs wracking your frame. 

The door opposite you creaked open, and you were greeted with a concerned Joey, who immediately wrapped his arms around you, stroking the back of your head soothingly.

No words were exchanged—none needed to be.

He led you into his apartment, passing by Chandler, who had put down the newspaper he was skimming over to unabashedly stare at the two of you, heading into his room. 

This time, Joey didn’t ask if you wanted him to sleep on the couch, knowing your answer would be to stay.

You slipped beneath the covers as you cried, furiously wiping away at the tears, only for more to fall in their stead. The actor lied down beside you, and you immediately turned to face him, burying your sodden face into his shoulder. Joey held you close, wishing he could drown himself in your lovely blueberry-scented shampoo, and stroked your head until the thundering sobs subsided into easy, deep breaths of sleep.

It took you around a week of holing up in your apartment until you started going out to see your friends again. They were all worried sick about you, constantly calling and dropping by to give you homemade baked goods, or offering to take you out to the movies or to the arcade or something that’d cheer you up. Phoebe had given you about a dozen dreamcatchers that she had crafted herself, Rachel came by to watch cheesy romance movies with you while cuddling up on the couch, and Monica had given you tupperwares full to the brim with chocolate chip cookies. Chandler and Joey dragged you along to a hockey match, and Ross took you to the science museum. Really, you were eternally grateful for every single one of them.

Though the thought of Connor still hurt, you were feeling much better, and ready to slowly start moving on. 

It did, however, take you by surprise to learn that Joey and Chandler had bumped into Ursula, Phoebe’s estranged twin sister, and Joey had taken a rather keen interest in her and asked her out on a date. Chandler had asked him if he was overcompensating and trying to prove that he wasn’t in love with Y/N by getting together with Ursula, but Joey brushed his friend off with a scoff and stuffed his face with food so he wouldn’t have to present him with an answer. 

Phoebe clearly wasn’t happy with the predicament either. 

“Are you seeing her again tonight?” asked Rachel, helping Monica unwind a ball of lavender yarn as she worked on knitting together a scarf.

“Yup,” said Joey. “Taking her to the Ice Capades.”

Chandler crossed his arms. “Wow, this is serious, huh? I’ve never known you to pay money for any kind of capade.”

Almost defensive, Joey shrugged. “I don’t know, I like her. She’s different, you know? There’s, uh, something about her…”

Phoebe bristled. “That you like—we get it, you like her! Great.”

“Pheebs, I asked you, and you said it was okay!” retorted Joey.

“Maybe now it’s not okay!” she replied.

Joey frowned. “Well, maybe now I’m not okay with it not being okay.”

“Okay!” huffed Phoebe. “Can I just ask you one question, though? Have you two… you know… like—you know?”

Cocking his head, Joey responded, “Well, not that it’s any of your business, but no, we haven’t.”

“Good,” retorted the blonde. “Don’t!”

“Well, maybe I will!”

“Okay!”

“Okay!”

The two attempted to storm out of Monica’s apartment at the same time, stopped to glare at each other by the doorway while gesturing the other to go out first, before squeezing through simultaneously and going their different ways.

You exhaled lowly, not realizing that you’d been holding your breath the entire time they were fighting. “Remind me to never date one of your siblings,” you remarked, which earned you a murmur of agreement from the rest of the group.

It turned out Phoebe had left her bag at the apartment, so she came stomping back in about an hour later. She sat beside you on the couch, and you reached up to pull a leaf out of her hair.

“You okay?” you asked her.

“Yeah, I just… it’s this stupid Ursula thing. I’m sorry, I know I’m like complaining about something stupid when you just went through an awful breakup, but it’s just driving me up the wall!”

“My breakup wasn’t that awful,” you replied, laughing nervously.

Phoebe arched an eyebrow. “You didn’t leave your apartment at all for the first three days. All you ate were stale Ritz crackers.”

Waving her away, Rachel queried, “Can I just ask, though, Pheebs—so, Joey’s going out with your sister. Is it really so terrible?”

“Well, yeah,” Phoebe bluntly answered. “I’m not saying she’s evil or anything, she’s just, you know, she’s always breaking my stuff! When I was eight, I wouldn’t let her have my Judy Jetson Thermos, so she threw it under the bus. And then there was Randy Brown, who was like—have you guys ever had a boyfriend who was like your best friend?”

All of you shook your heads. 

“That’s what he was for me. And obviously, she kinda stole him away and broke his heart. And then he wouldn’t even talk to me anymore because he said he didn’t want to be around anything that looked like either of us. I mean, I know Joey’s not my boyfriend or my thermos, or anything, but…”

“Oh, honey, you’re not gonna lose him,” you assured. “Joey may be an idiot but he’s not that much of an idiot.”

“You gotta talk to Joey,” chimed Monica.

“Yeah, right,” sighed the blonde. “You guys all saw how he reacted when I tried.”

Ross shook his head. “Come on, I mean he doesn’t know this stuff. If he knew how you felt—”

“He’s falling in love with her!” Phoebe exclaimed.

You stiffened. Joey was falling in love with Ursula? 

Suddenly, it felt as if there was a rope tied around your throat, and it was getting tighter by the second, slowly constricting you.

“Oh, please, they’ve been going out for a week! They haven’t even slept together yet, I mean, it can’t be that serious,” Rachel reasoned.

“Fine, alright,” Phoebe relented. You squeezed her hand reassuringly before she got up, and headed to the door, knocking on Joey’s apartment across the hall. The group craned their necks to watch from inside, not bothering to be at all secretive about it. 

Your stomach dropped to the floor when it swung open to reveal Ursula behind the door—wearing nothing but Joey’s shirt.

“Suddenly, I’m downfield, and I realize that I’m the one who’s supposed to catch him! Only, I know there’s no way I’m gonna get there in time, so I’m running and running and that’s when I woke up. See, I am so not ready to be a father,” said Ross, paling at the mere thought of having a kid.

Chandler shook his head. “Hey, you’re gonna be fine. You’re one of the most caring, responsible men in North America!”

“Which doesn’t say much,” you whistled, flipping the page of the book you were reading. When you looked up to see the two glaring at you, you were quick to reiterate, “You’re gonna be a great dad, Ross.”

Joey nodded. “Yeah, Ross! You and the baby just… need better blocking,” he concluded. “Oh, have either of you ever been to this restaurant, the Rainbow Room? Is it expensive?” 

“Only if you order stuff,” quipped Chandler, sardonic as ever. “Why?”

“I’m taking Ursula there—it’s her birthday today,” the Italian exclaimed, grinning widely.

You placed a napkin into your book as a makeshift placeholder, before setting it down on the coffee table. “Woah, what about Phoebe’s birthday? We’re throwing her a surprise party, remember?”

Joey blinked. “Well, when’s that?”

The three of you regarded him with sharp glares. 

“Tonight,” said Ross.

Joey dragged a palm over his face. “Oh, man. What are the odds of that happening?”

“What are you gonna do?” Chandler queried, clearly not happy with the entire situation, either. 

“I mean, what can I do? I don’t want to screw it up with Ursula!” Joey replied defensively.

“Well, what about Phoebe? You can’t just blow her off on her own birthday,” you argued, crossing your arms. “Really, Joey, I don’t understand why you’re acting so weirdly with Ursula—you guys have barely known each other for two weeks! You’re never this way with all the other women you’ve dated before.”

Both Chandler and Ross looked at each other knowingly. 

Brows furrowing, he snapped, “Well, maybe I just really like her. Is that so bad?”

“No,” you sighed, deflating. “I just don’t want you hurting your friendship with Phoebe over something that may not even last.”

“Well, if she’s my friend, hopefully she’ll understand,” Joey stiffly replied. “Wouldn’t you?”

Chandler rolled his eyes. “If you tried something like that on my birthday, then you’d be staring at the business end of a hissy fit.”

Phoebe’s party was ready—all you needed now was the birthday girl. You hid behind the couches, ready to spring up and surprise her as Rachel and Monica opened the door.

They screamed, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” right into a shocked Ross’ face, which made the custom cake he was picking up from the bakery fall straight onto the floor. 

You all stared at the cake on the ground with disdain.

“You scared the crap out of me,” huffed Ross as he bent down to pick up the box. “Thanks a lot, guys, I got a lemon shmush.”

A faint grin befell your face. “Phoebe loves lemons—maybe she won’t notice its shape because it tastes so good.”

“Come on, she’ll be here any minute,” said Monica, ushering everybody to get back into position. Ross placed the cake box on the coffee table, opening it up to take a look at the damage.

“Happy Birthday, Peehee,” read Chandler, peering over your shoulder.

“Close enough,” you surmised.

Monica pointed to the decoration. “Why don’t we just make a B out of one of those roses?”

“Yeah, let me just break out my special cake tools,” Ross sarcastically bit back, jiggling the box in an attempt to make the lemony smush look more like a cake than smush.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Phoebe asked, which made all of you flinch at her unexpected appearance. 

“SURPRISE!” you all yelled in an uncoordinated fashion. 

The blonde seemed genuinely shocked, and she began hopping up and down, grinning widely. “Oh, thank you guys! This is so great! Oh, my god, thank you!” She gave Chandler a side-hug with one arm, and you with her other. “This was not at all scary! Oh, wow, look at everyone—hi, Betty! I can’t believe you found Betty! Oh, gosh, this is so great! Everybody I love in the same room…”

Your stomach curdled at her words, dreading when she’d ask—

“Where’s Joey?”

The smiles melted off all your faces and you lapsed into an awkward silence. Chandler was the one to break it, exclaiming, “Hey, look, it’s Betty!”

Phoebe smiled again, but this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Later that night, when all the party guests had gone, and all that was left were the close members of your friend group, you all gathered on the couches, watching Phoebe open the last of your gifts. She had gotten a lovely brown watch from Ross, a book on origami from Chandler, a thrifted pair of overalls from Rachel, a sleek hair straightener from Monica, and a set of new paint brushes and oil colors from you.

As she was thanking you profusely with a bright smile, the door opened and Joey trudged in, dragging his feet along behind him.

“Trouble in paradise?” Phoebe snarked, rolling her eyes. Despite this, she gingerly wrapped her arms around him when he approached her and gave the blonde a quick, brief hug.

He sank into the couch beside you, crossing his arms. “Happy birthday, Pheebs. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the party—your sister stood me up tonight.” 

“Oh, no,” she said, not at all surprised. “Don’t you just hate it when people aren’t there for you?”

“Did you try calling her?” Ross asked from his other side, tapping a pen onto his knee. 

“Nonstop!” huffed Joey. “When I tried the restaurant, they said she was too busy to talk! I can’t believe she’s blowing me off. I guess I should’ve listened to you, Y/N—this never was going to last, anyway.”

Sympathetic, you shuffled closer to him, rounding your arms over his wide shoulders and pulling him into an embrace, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. “I’m sorry she didn’t show, Jo. She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”

Phoebe had told you about her little plan before she went into the cafe—she was going to pretend to be Ursula and properly break up with Joey so he wouldn’t be left hanging. She’d already talked to her sister and the identical twin was clear on having no intentions to talk to him ever again, so Phoebe decided to take matters into her own hands so as to not utterly devastate her friend. Though you were fairly doubtful that Joey would be able to tell apart his ex-girlfriend and her sister, you wouldn’t really put it past him.

You spied on the two talking it out from the couch on Central Perk, sipping on a large mug of hot chocolate. 

“Yeah, so it’s not gonna work,” Phoebe, pretending to be Ursula, tried to calmly explain as she side-stepped Joey’s hands reaching out for her.

“Why?” asked the Italian. “Is it because I’m friends with Phoebe?”

“If it was, would you stop hanging out with her?” the blonde rebutted. 

Without hesitating, Joey shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. “No, I couldn’t do that. She’s one of my closest friends.”

Phoebe cleared her throat. “Then, yeah, it’s because of Phoebe! So, you know, it’s either her or me.”

Surprise filled your expression when Joey bowed his head. “Then… then I’m sorry,” he said. 

Phoebe’s facade faltered for a moment. “You know… you’re gonna be really, really hard to get over.”

“I know,” he said, nodding solemnly. “I don’t know if it’s just us breaking up, or what, but—you’ve never looked more beautiful.”

Something twisted in your stomach when he leaned in to kiss her goodbye one last time. Phoebe’s eyes widened and she glanced at you, hunkering down on the couch, before shutting them tightly.

When Joey pulled away, he tilted his head, holding Phoebe away at an arm’s length. 

“Phoebe?” he asked.

She pried one of her eyes open. “Yeah?” she winced. Sheepishly, she grinned apologetically, before beginning to explain everything to him.

Once she was done, Joey nodded in understanding, roping her into a hug.

The two walked to the couches, and Joey did a double take upon seeing you there. “Oh, Y/N! Were you, uh… were you here this entire time?”

“Yup,” you chimed, a grin tugging at the corner of your lips.

“Did you see—”

“You sticking your tongue down Phoebe’s throat? Yup,” you responded in a jesting manner, punching him in the bicep. “A sibling a day keeps the doctor away, right?” 

He wrinkled his nose, prodding a tickling finger into your side, which made you squawk unattractively, squirming away. “Oh, shut up.”

The group filed into your spacious office, marveling at the rows of organized books on the shelves, the plethora of calculations on the whiteboards, and the miniature models of your work propped up on another shelf. 

“You know, up until today, I never really realized that you actually worked,” said Phoebe, poking a bobblehead Einstein on your desk. “I just thought people gave you money because they liked you.”

“I don’t know if that’s an insult or a compliment, but thanks, Pheebs,” you chuckled, sinking into your seat and watching the rest of your friends mill about the office. “You guys don’t have to stay for long, it’s just bring your kid to work day but—seeing as I’m the only physicist who’s not an old white man with a wife who hates me and two robot children, I decided to bring you guys instead!”

Joey stood in front of one of the whiteboards, his hands on his hips. “What’s all this?”

“Oh, those are just some calculations for the concept of quantum gravity—see, if we wanted to do an experiment with a particle accelerator of that caliber in real life, it’d have to be larger than our entire galaxy, which is why we can’t test anything out and have to rely on pure theory. Gravity becomes a really tricky thing in a relativistic-quantum sense, which is why we have famous theories like the String Theory and the Loop Theory,” you explained, promptly shutting your mouth when you realized you were rambling.

Joey stared at you, dazed, a small smile forming over his lips. “I didn’t understand a single word you just said, but you’re hot when you talk all smart.”

Scoffing, you cuffed his shoulder fondly, before making your way to Ross. 

“You know, I really respect you for being such a renowned person in science,” he said. “Folks like us have to stick together, right?”

Rachel laughed. “You guys are such nerds!” This earned sharp glares from the two of you, and the brunette was quick to add on, “Which is a good thing! It’s very, uhm, very cute.”

“Cute? Just cute?” Ross bristled. He began berating Rachel for reducing his work to just cute, and you rolled your eyes at both of their behavior.

“Gosh, guys, it’s not that serious. Don’t make me send you home,” you warned, wagging your finger at the two as if they were children. Ironic, because it was bring your kids to work day.

Monica propped her hands on her hips, looking at the sorted array of books on your shelf. “Looking at all these gives me a headache. I don’t know how you don’t drive yourself crazy in here,” she said.

“I love working here.” You shrugged, wrapping your arms around yourself. “I mean, I know I do very different things than all of you, but it’s what I love doing.”

Joey, sensing that you were a little downtrodden, wrapped his arms around you from behind. “Well, I might not understand anything you do, but I’m very proud of you,” he stated, pressing a kiss to your cheek. You playfully pretended to gag and wiped the kiss from your cheek, before pulling away from him. 

“Alright, guys, since none of you are actually my children, I should probably kick you out now. Wouldn’t want the other guys in my department to think I have six fully grown kids at my age!”

“Tell him!” urged Monica and Phoebe, which prompted Rachel to roll her eyes in exasperation. “Look at you, you won’t even look at him!”

“Tell me what?” asked Chandler, setting down the magazine. “Come on, Rach. I could use another reason why women won’t look at me.”

Huffing, Rachel hooked her hands on her apron. “Alright, alright! Last night, I had a dream that you and I… we were—”

“Doing it on the coffee table!” Phoebe blurted out, smiling brightly.

“Wow!” Chandler exclaimed, clearly impressed by his dream-self.

Joey nudged his friend’s arm with his elbow. “Hey, excellent dream score, buddy!”

“Was I any good?” the mousy-haired man asked. 

Rachel chuckled, cheeks burning a faint shade of crimson. “Well, I’d say you were pretty damned good.”

“Interesting, because in my dreams, I’m surprisingly inadequate,” he quipped. 

“You know what’s funny,” you commented, nonchalantly flipping through your book. “I had a, uhm, a dream with Rachel in it last night.”

The rest of the group looked at you, interests piqued.

Joey grinned teasingly, prodding your side, “Ooh, Y/N had a sex dream, Y/N had a sex dream!”

“Oh, yeah? What was I doing?” the brunette asked. 

“We were, uhm,” you scratched the back of your neck and cleared your throat, rather embarrassed, “doing it on the kitchen counter.”

The group burst out into a frenzy of exclamations and questions.

“Oh, my God!” Rachel clapped her hands together, clearly excited. “Was I good, was I good?”

Heat crawled up your skin and seeped into your cheeks. “Well, I can’t really say—I was the one going down on you.”

Rachel made a surprised choking noise in response, about to ask if anything else happened in your dream, when all of a sudden, Ross stood up, swinging his arms back and forth. “I love it when we share!” he exclaimed shrilly, before heading over to the cafe’s counter.

Rolling your eyes, you stood up to follow him, Chandler hot on your heels. 

“I can’t believe you two had dream-sex with her!” Ross spat out.

Chandler did a double-take. “I’m sorry, it was a one time thing, and I was very drunk—and it was someone else’s subconscious.”

The taller man crossed his arms like a petulant child. “Okay, fine, but Y/N actually dreamt it themself!” 

“Okay, Ross, jealousy is a really ugly color on you,” you said, arching a brow. “It was just a harmless dream, can you relax? Besides, I’ve had weird sex dreams with practically all of you!” 

“What?” Chandler asked, butting his head between you and Ross. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this? Have you had any dreams about me?”

Laughing, you patted his shoulder, before making your way back to the couches.

“Come on, you told me about the last dream!” Chandler pestered Rachel after she had fessed up to having another wet dream about him. 

Crossing her arms, Rachel hotly replied, “No, forget it!”

“Why’d you tell him you had another dream if you didn’t want him to ask about it?” you chimed from across the pair, looking away from your book, an amused glint to your eye. “Seems to me that, deep down, you want Chandler to know.”

The brunette glared at you whilst Chandler nodded emphatically. “Yeah—was I doing something particularly saucy?”

Huffing, Rachel shut the fashion magazine issue she was reading, placing it on Monica’s coffee table. “Alright, fine. But, first, lemme preface—you weren’t the only one there.”

Ross suddenly lifted his head, interested.

“Joey was there, too.”

The Italian grinned widely, rubbing his hands together. “Ooh, lemme hear it!”

Chuckling nervously, Ross interjected, “Was there, uh… anybody else there?”

You snorted at his obvious jealousy, hiding your smile behind your mouth when Rachel innocently shook her head. Then, she jumped slightly from the couch. “Oh! Wait, no, Y/N appeared for a bit, I think.”

With a teasing grin, you arched your eyebrow at her. “Oh, really? Four people in a sex dream—man, that’s wild.”

“You sure there weren’t five people there?” persisted Ross. “Because, you know… four and five can be easily mixed up—was there nobody like, I don’t know, handing out mints or anything?”

“So what was it like?” Joey leaned forward, grinning. “Was it like you and Chandler, and then you and me, and then you and Y/N, or was it like all four of us at the same time?”

A mischievous smile crossed Rachel’s face. “You know what? There were times… when Y/N and I weren’t even there.”

The two men laughed at her statement, before slowly turning to each other in horrified realization.

“Gross!” exclaimed Joey, pulling a face. “Chandler’s like my messed up older brother. A mentally unsound uncle, even!”

“I’m not old enough to be your uncle!” protested Chandler.

“Didn’t you kiss him on New Years?” you put forth, grinning at him. 

He scowled, huffing, “That’s beside the point.”

“Okay, okay, let me spell it out for you,” interjected Rachel. “Really, most of it was just Chandler and I again, and then Joey showed up, and then Y/N showed up, and then Joey and Chandler went at it, then it was me and Chandler again—”

“Alright, we get it!” squeaked Ross, standing up and marching away from the couches and to the kitchen to sulk.

Rolling your eyes, you pressed on, “And then?”

“Well… that’s kind of it. Chandler and I took most of the runtime—though, I think you and Joey left the dream together at some point.”

Phoebe cooed, “Ooh, they were off to have their own personal dream-sex!”

Joey’s cheeks turned red and he waved their teasing comments away, before slapping his palms on his thighs and getting up. “Well, if any of you want to recreate whatever you saw in your sex dreams… I’m all ears.” 

“Ditto, but I do have to say I’m quite averse to some things,” you added, getting up as well and grabbing your coat. It was getting pretty late, and you were looking forward to going home and crashing. 

“I don’t know what averse means.”

You smiled at him. “Things I don’t like.”

“Oh, yeah, and what would those be?” asked Joey, offering his arm to you as the two of you walked out together. 

“Watersports would definitely be one of them,” you said, wrinkling your nose at the thought.

Evidently confused, Joey’s brow furrowed and he tilted his head. “What, like surfing and stuff? I don’t know how you’d have sex while surfing, but—”

“Oh, god, Joey, not those kinds of watersports!” You burst out laughing, shoving him in the shoulder. The two of you stopped by his door. “Well, I’d love to continue sex-ed with you, but I should get home now.”

Flirtatiously, Joey grabbed onto your hips, biting into his lip in an overly-lustful way. “You know, there’s gotta be a physical component to sex-ed, too. I think a demonstration is in order.”

It’d been a long time since Joey was flirtatious with you—neither of you had really been single or emotionally available up until now, since you’d so recently broken up with Connor and he’d finally gotten over Ursula. It was nice to have your old friend back just the way things used to be before your relationship had gotten so complicated with other people in the way.

“You’re gross,” you chuckled, leaning forward to quickly press a kiss to his cheek, before pulling away. “Bye, Joey.”

“G’night,” he said, smiling brightly. “Get home safe, okay?”

His hands slipped away from your hips, and a part of you was surprised to find that you wished he’d pull you back.

You’d already showered, changed, and snuggled beneath your warm covers and on the very brink of slumber when your phone rang. When you answered with a grumbly tone, you were surprised to hear a panicked Ross on the line, yelling that the group was taking too long to get ready to go to the hospital and you needed to meet them there as quickly as you could because Carol was due to give birth any second now. Shocked, you shot out of bed, haphazardly yanking your pajamas off and tugging on your day clothes once again.

“I’ll be right there!” you answered, before clamping the phone down and rushing to grab your keys and a bag. 

Fifteen minutes later, you were at the hospital, greeted by Ross running around like a headless chicken, and the rest of the group anxiously sitting in the waiting room.

“Hey,” you greeted, giving the taller man a hug. 

“She’s not here yet!” he screeched, face red as a tomato and slickened with nervous sweats. “She’s having my baby, and she’s not here!”

Placatingly, you placed your hands on his shoulders, but pulled them away with mild disgust to find that he had soaked through his button-up shirt. Absent-mindedly, you wiped your palms on your jeans. “Ross, I’m sure she’s fine. Has her water broken?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” He was quaking, voice trembling with every word. “But when I spoke to her, she said she’d already passed the mucus plug!”

Joey made a noise of disgust from the seats, gagging. “Damn it, Ross, do we really have to know about that?”

Glaring at him, Ross ran out of the hall to call his ex-wife once more, blubbering incoherently under his breath.

“Look what you did, you made him all weepy!” you hissed, moving to sit next to him. 

“Joey, what are you gonna do when you have a baby if you get grossed out by things like that?” scolded Monica. 

Shrugging, the Italian responded, “I’ll be in the waiting room, handing out cigars.”

“Yes, Joey’s made arrangements to have his baby in a movie from the fifties,” Chandler sarcastically remarked, playing with the strings of his large hoodie.

Sprinting back into the room, Ross buried his face into his hands, frustrated. “I don’t believe this! I mean, she could be giving birth in the cab!”

“Oh, relax,” Rachel said, lighthearted in an attempt to calm him down. “It’s probably only two dollars for the first contraction and then an additional fifty cents for each one following that!” 

The group stared at her silently.

“What, it’s okay when Chandler does it?” she gruffed, crossing her arms.

“You have to pick your moments,” he explained, wincing at Ross’ broken expression.

Phoebe ran in at that moment, asking if she’d missed the birth. 

“She’s not even here yet!” Ross cried out, looking ready to yank his hair out of its roots.

As if on cue, Carol was wheeled in, sat in a wheelchair. 

“Where the hell have you been?” barked Ross, rushing to greet her.

“We stopped at the gift shop! I was looking at stuffed animals, and Susan wanted one,” she explained calmly, as if she wasn’t in literal labor.

“Stuffed animals! God, you’re having a baby, there’s no time for that!” he fretted, disappearing into their designated hospital room with the two women.

Four hours later, you were still lounging in the waiting room, falling in and out of sleep. You muffled a yawn behind your palm, blearily blinking your eyes open to see Monica longingly stare after a couple walking past, holding a little baby carrier. 

“I want a baby,” she huffed, flipping through the same magazine she’d been reading for about an hour now. Chandler, who had his head on her shoulder, groaned at the sudden jolting movement. 

“Not tonight, honey, I’ve got an early day tomorrow,” he joked, already drifting back into sleep.

“Ugh, get up, let’s go get some coffee,” Monica admonished, tossing the magazine back onto the table.

Rolling his eyes, Chandler lethargically got to his feet, dragging himself behind her. “Okay, sure, because we never do that!”

From beside you, Joey was yelling at the television hanging in the corner of the room, eyes glued to the basketball game on the screen. Your head fell forward as you fruitlessly staved away sleep, shocked awake by the sound of Chandler and Monica trudging back in, fresh coffees in hand.

“I just saw a couple with twins,” she told you, grumbling. She handed you a steaming cup of joe and you murmured your thanks. “It’s not fair! I don’t even have one—how come they get two?”

“You’ll get one,” you assured her, righting yourself up by leaning on Joey so you could sip on your coffee. 

“When?” she asked, crestfallen.

Too tired to provide her with an articulate response, you just pursed your lips and shook your head. 

“Tell you what, when we’re forty, if neither of us are married, what do you say you and I get together and have one?” proposed Chandler.

Oh, how sweet, you thought. 

“Why won’t I be married when I’m forty?” questioned Monica, crossing her arms.

Panicked, Chandler was quick to backtrack, “Oh, no, no, I just mean, like, hypothetically!”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, hypothetically, why won’t I be married when I’m forty? Is there something fundamentally unmarriable about me?”

This left Chandler blundering for words, and he spat out a lousy excuse to check in on Ross, before scurrying out of the waiting room.

“He said if, Monica,” you snorted, drinking down the rest of the coffee to keep you awake. “He was just trying to be nice—which is something you know very well he does scarcely often.”

The woman pursed her lips to the side, before nodding, and getting up to go after him.

Joey turned to look at you, tilting his head, and jokingly said, “Hey, what do you say we get together if we’re single when we’re forty—”

“Shut up and watch the game, Joe,” you scoffed, pushing his face away with a grin. His day-old stubble scratched against your palm. Clearing your throat, you retracted your hand and swung up onto your feet, hastily saying, “I gotta go to the bathroom real quick, I’ll be right back.”

When you came back to the waiting room, having dropped by the hospital’s cafeteria for a stale croissant because your stomach was rumbling loudly, you were met with a crying Monica, a stressed Chandler, and Phoebe playing her guitar. 

“Where’s Joey and Rachel?” you asked, before adding on, “And what did you do to make Monica cry this time, Chandler?”

Offended, Chandler shook his head vehemently. “It wasn’t me, I swear! She just saw another couple with a baby and burst into tears! Then Phoebe started singing to try and cheer her up, but then she just started crying harder! Also, I have no idea where Joey is, and Rachel went off to chase some hot doctor guy.”

Sighing, you grabbed hold of Monica. The watery film of tears over her eyes warbled as she fixed her gaze on you. “Alright, Mon, I promise you’re going to be just fine. One day you’ll meet someone who wants to have a baby with you, and you’ll have the baby! You’re only twenty-six, you have so much of your life ahead of you! Now quit crying, there’s enough of that here with all the newborn babies around.”

She ceased her cries into minute sniffling, and you wrapped your arms around her comfortingly. 

The rest of you lounged for another hour, Rachel appearing again, draped over Carol’s doctor’s arm. He told the rest of you it was probably going to be a couple more hours, and you buried your face into your hands. 

It was then that Joey walked out of one of the hospital rooms, sweaty and mildly traumatized. 

“Joey? Where the hell have you been?” you asked, scooching over on the couch so he’d have room beside you. He sank down with a groan, draping an arm over you. 

“I just had a baby,” he said. Eyes widening, he looked to you and clarified, “Obviously not mine—I just held her hand as she gave birth. It was gross—and really beautiful.”

The rest of you stared at him, shocked.

“Mazel tov!” exclaimed Chandler.

“Alright, there’s too many people in this room, and there’s about to be one more,” the nurse barked. You glanced at Ross, who had his damp eyes trained on his ex-wife. “Anybody who’s not an ex-husband or a lesbian life partner, out you go!”

You patted Ross’ shoulder and murmured your old friend good luck, before getting ushered out by the nurse. 

About an hour later, Monica knocked on the door again, peeking her head in. “Can we come in?” she quietly asked, and Carol nodded with a smile.

The group filed in slowly, gently cooing upon seeing the little bundle in her arms. Carol passed the baby to Ross. He looked to the rest of you with watery eyes, before saying, “Guys, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is Ben.”

As if on cue, the little thing let out a small cry, wiggling around in his blanket. 

“Oh, hi Ben,” all of you replied, faces twisted with adoration.

“Susan, he looks just like you!” chimed Phoebe, which earned her a small laugh.

Rachel reached out to touch the baby’s feet through the blanket. “God, I can’t believe one of us actually has one of these,” she breathily said, mesmerized.

“I know,” agreed Chandler. “I still am one of these.”

The group watched with bated breath as Ross passed the baby to his sister. “Hi, Ben,” she whispered, sniffling. “I’m your Aunt Monica. Yes, I am.”

You peered over her shoulder, smiling. The corner of your eyes began to sting, much to your own dismay. You just couldn’t believe your old friend Ross had a son now.

As the first tear fell, you furiously wiped it away, and Ross roped his arms around you, hugging you to him tightly. It took you another moment to realize that he was crying against you. That only had you holding him all the tighter.

[toyybox]

Spiderwebs #29: Conscience

Masterlist

content: immortal whumpee, captivity, stabbing

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

When his eyes fluttered open, Heather was right there. 

She was right on top of him. In her hand, she held a knife.

He was too stunned to even scream. But he really, really wanted to! Because why the fuck was she there? Oh God. He was so close to her. She was so close to him. His pulse went machine-gun fast. He could smell the orange blossom soap on her skin, the conditioner in her hair, the faint coffee scent of her sweater. He thought, for a moment, that he was dreaming, but this was too vivid to be a nightmare.

He swallowed. His throat was raw, arid and scratchy. He wanted to beg but he couldn't even bring himself to move. His limbs felt like they were wrapped in cellophane.

She pressed the knife lightly against his shirt. The point of the blade twisted against fabric.

His breathing slowed, the longer he stared at it. He was not in any danger, he realized, not any worse danger than before. If she was going to kill him, he didn’t mind dying again.

Well, then, this was a walk in the park! This was a slice of pie. Skittles and beer and vanilla ice cream. Life was going great. He was out of the basement. Everything was going to be okay.

He could even see sunshine! The curtains no longer covered the window. From his left, light spilled over the window ledge with reckless grace. The living room was much less dim and dreary. He could even see the blue sky, a merry robin-egg shade stretching over the snow. Jackie could get drunk on that sight.

She narrowed her eyes, as if just noticing he was awake. “You're quiet.”

He shook his head and left it at that. He felt much better, compared to last night. Sleeping in the basement was hard. He would wake up in bursts and starts, easily startled by a noise he’d imagined or a spider darting across the wall. This was his first deep rest in a while.

“I was checking if you were asleep,” she said.

Jackie nodded distantly, already thinking of other things.

Just then, the doorbell chimed. She cleared her throat and stood up, off the sofa, and walked around the corner. The door opened. He didn’t get up. Back then, he would have taken this opportunity for escape with eager arms, but escape was a distant pipe dream now. He was so much older, so much more exhausted. Shameful, to give in so easily, but…

Outside the window, a cardinal flitted across the snow. He closed his eyes and put his head back down. The sofa was so comfortable. Shameful, this docile sort of life, but he was happy.

The front door was not far from the living room. Jackie could hear the faint murmur of conversation. Nobody he knew, nobody he could recognize.

It was brief. Only a couple of words were exchanged, then the door was shut again.

There was the dull crunch of footsteps in the snow, and the lock clicked into place. He heard more footsteps, echoing against the wood floors. Outside, a bird tittered its song, piecing together a hesitant melody. Branches crackled in the cold.  

He heard a heavier thump, closer to him. Jackie started upright. There was a white box at the foot of the sofa. Kind of like the boxes bakeries used for cakes. It was heavy, judging from the sound, but not too big. Only about five inches tall, five inches wide. There was no label on it, no shipping company, not even an address.

Heather hadn’t put the knife down. Did the visitor notice? Did they not care? Her stare was boring holes into him. She stepped closer, until they were no more than a rat’s-tail apart, and he did nothing.

Before he could even register what had happened, he flinched. There was a blur of movement. A sharp motion. The ache in his chest flared up to a burst, and he clutched the wound on instinct. A spurt of blood dripped down the knife and across the curve of her hand. She had stabbed him. He could hear his pulse get weaker, feel its sad convulsions in his throat.

“A—ah. Shit.” He would never get used to the pain of dying, no matter how often it happened. He pressed a shaky hand to the knife’s handle. “Good morning t—to you too.”

Heather made a slight, small choking sound. Her hair hung down like torn rags around her face, brushing the edges of his jaw. She staggered, then… put her head down on his shoulder. Tears wetted his shirt. Their cold, salty sting bled through the fabric to his skin.

“Oh.” He cringed. This was not his idea of a good morning.

“Jesus…” She shuddered against the crook of his neck, against his chest.

“Yeah. It happens. Do you want a hug? Or… what’s in the box?”

"Morphine.”

Not all her drugs were homemade, then. “Do you want some morphine too?”

“Yes.” She sniffed. “Yes to both, please.”

He didn’t know how to administer morphine, or how to reach them with Heather leaning on his shoulder, so he settled for the hug. Around her waist, around the thick maroon fabric of her sweater.

He patted her back, a rhythmic motion below her shoulder blades. “There, there. It’s okay. Why are you sad?”

“I—“ Her voice hitched. “I stabbed you.”

“I’m fine. I’m immortal, remember? I’ll be okay.”

“It’s not that, it’s—I don’t know why I’m being so cruel to you, Jackie. I don’t know! I wish you would—” Another hitch. “But it’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just scared.”

“Yeah…” He glanced down at the knife. His slow-dripping blood had an odd viscosity to it, and it was so dark that it nearly shone black. The blade was embedded so deep in him that it was barely visible, rimmed by the slightest glint of light. It was one of those kitchen knives. They usually came in a set. Three silver circles dotted the handle.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even want to keep you here. I was going to kill you. But I don’t—what was I supposed to do? I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I forgive you.”

“No, you don’t,” she snapped. “You’re saying whatever you think will make me happy. You hate me. You should hate me.”

Such a picky girl. Take the forgiveness and leave, or else say nothing, because there was nothing he could say back. If he kept acting cute, she would hurt him regardless, and if he started spitting insults at her, she would probably bash his head into the wall. But it wasn’t his opinion she was searching for—no, he was a prop for her guilty conscience, and he’d have to play along.

“I love you, Heather.” He pressed up against the side of her face. “Don’t go.”

“You…” She let go of the knife. This shifting caused his wound to sting anew, but he made an effort not to wince. “You don’t love me. I hurt you.”

“I don’t care. Just… don’t leave me alone again. Please. It was horrible. I don’t want to go back.”

“I won’t.”

A prop, a perfect prop, never complaining or talking back. A doll, a sweet and shallow toy. Maybe that was what she wanted. Jackie probably couldn’t do that for her, but he could try.

The doorbell rang again.

She sat up straight almost instantly, tearing away from him. He felt a dizzy ache clog up his throat, as her heat left his skin. She scrambled off the sofa, conjured up yet another tissue. After impatiently rubbing at her eyes, she threw it on the coffee table. Off and around the corner she went.

There was a shrill sound—it was the door swinging open. “Good morning, ma’am.”

“Hello, officer.”

Officer. 

Jackie froze like a deer. 

He clutched the knife still stuck between his ribs until his knuckles felt sore. If he screamed now—no, Heather would lock him alone again, and she’d kill the witnesses, whatever it took to silence him. He stared at the crumpled tissue instead. A torn, crushed, fragile thing. So immaterial in the glaring sunlight.

“Hello.” The voice was rough but reedy, husky but not deep. “I wanted to ask a few questions—“

“Questions?” Heather’s voice was calm, even confident. “Ask away, officer. Is something wrong?”

“There’s been a disappearance in this neighbourhood.” Jackie’s heart pounded like snares in a metal crusher. “Have you heard anything about Matthew Markham?”

Oh. Of course. The dead body. The unlucky guy who had annoyed Heather. Of course nobody was looking for Jackie. He swallowed the sinking feeling in his gut and continued to listen.

“No, I haven’t heard anything. My apologies.”

“That’s alright. We've been searching the area, you know how it goes. Would you mind if we talked inside your home?” There was a tiny creak—Jackie imagined him leaning forward, trying to push through the doorway.

“Do you have a warrant, officer?”

There was a curt, painfully obvious pause. “I'll return in two weeks or so. I appreciate your help.”

“Okay, officer. I hope you can find Matthew.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” 

The door closed. He wasn’t a dirty cop, then. Not some pig. What luck. Jackie wanted to kick the guy. If only he were a brute! The law was fair, but it was not always kind. If only he’d barged in, shoved Heather aside, and taken Jackie home…

Home? What home? The apartment was gone. Repossessed, returned to the landlords, rendered to dust and white-wash wood. This was his home now.

“Jackie!” Heather ran back into the room. All that confident composure had crumbled away. Panic warbled in her voice. “Fuck! What should I do?”

He sat up straighter. “Why are you asking me?”

“Who the fuck else should I ask? Matthew?” She began to pace beside the table, back and forth, tracing her steps over and over. She ran a tensed hand through her hair. “Shit, shit, this is bad.” She paused her pacing to glance at him. “Don’t just stare at me. You have a plan, right?”

“Not really. Sorry."

This was not the answer she wanted, but she finally stopped running laps across the living room. Instead, she stood against the wall opposite him, looking more haggard than ever. Jackie seriously doubted that this mysterious cop with a missing warrant could rescue him. If Heather thought he was in danger of being discovered, she wouldn’t simply give up and let him go. She’d stuff him in a closet, or hide him in her trunk, or lock him up somewhere equally uncomfortable. It was in his best interests to nudge her towards a plan that didn’t involve being shoved into small spaces.

“Heather. Do you trust me?”

She laughed without mirth, her head bent down, her ruffled hair falling over her eyes.

“Okay,” he said. “I get it. It doesn’t matter. More importantly—you have a lot of money, right? You’ve got a rich daddy who up and died or something. That’s why you can afford this house and all those drugs and still never go to work. That’s how you got all those nice chiffon scarves. Am I wrong?”

“You’re… uh, you’re right. I live off a trust fund. How did you know?”

He shrugged. “Lucky guess.” Nobody who earned their own living had time to play with pharmaceutical drugs. ”Listen, if you’ve got the money, we could just leave. Go to Hawaii, maybe.”

“Leave… how? We can’t drive to Hawaii. Can’t take a plane, either. I don’t have your passport, it would look suspicious. Perhaps we could go to…”

“Kentucky?”

“No. I was thinking of somewhere temporary, like…”

“A hotel?”

“A hotel!” She clapped her hands together. “You sly devil. That’s perfect. They won’t suspect a thing.”

Sly devil. That was a new one. Sounded coy. Very suave. Better nickname than subject, anyhow. “When are we leaving, then?”

“I’d say… three days to pack, then we can leave right away.”

And he hoped, crossed his heart and hoped, that this would not backfire. Just one nice thing. Just one streak of luck. Lord knew he needed a break. He just needed this to go right. Just one good day.

“By the way,” she said, gesturing to his chest, “you’ve got a little something…” 

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” He wrenched the knife from his heart. His blood soaked the front of his shirt and smudged on his hands. For a minute, he could not feel his pulse—how odd. He did not have a heartbeat at all.

Heather took the knife from his hands. Although she hesitated, as if she wanted to speak, she left the room quietly.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Taglist:

@theelvishcowgirl

@lthrboy

@whumpy-wyrms

@yassifiedinformation

@creppersfunpalooza

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

Dear Nemo, so nice to see you back! for the meme game, can you make one for Jacob and Dottie as a ship? I miss seeing them on my dash.

Hello Hello Duckling! So nice to see you in my inbox! I was so happy to see your ask! (and sorry for taking so long in answering! I appreciate your patience! I hope you don't mind but I took the chance to make this meme for Jacob and Dottie a bit farther ahead in their story than what I usually draw/write.)

✨JOTTIE (JacobxDorothea)🎩

MOODBOARD

PLAYLIST:

"Temple of Thought" - Poets of The Fall

"Amaranthine" - Amaranthe

"My Love Will Never Die" - Claire Wyndham

"Dancing on Broken Glass" - Poets of The Fall

"Jealous Gods" - Poets of The Fall

"War" - Poets of the Fall

QUOTES

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.”

― Alfred Tennyson

“I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone”

― J. R. R. Tolkien

“You make me thank god for every mistake I ever made, Because each one led me down the path that brought me to you.” ― Pablo Neruda

“I choose to love you in silence… For in silence I find no rejection, I choose to love you in loneliness… For in loneliness no one owns you but me, I choose to adore you from a distance… For distance will shield me from pain, I choose to kiss you in the wind… For the wind is gentler than my lips, I choose to hold you in my dreams… For in my dreams, you have no end.” ― Rumi

THEIR AESTHETIC:

A walk along the Thames in the dead of the night with the stars as their companions and protectors; an impromptu dance on cobblestone and the beating of their hearts as the sole music that gives them rhythm; a sweet song he hums with his low voice; a glance that alone speaks of years spent together, of hardship fought and conquered, of peace finally found; low laughter shared at a memory of the family they created; a morning spent in bed, cuddling and laughing together; the perfume of orange blossom and smoked pipe; a stack of letters neatly preserved if a little worn out for all the times they had been read; a violin playing and a voice singing the song of their hearts, just for his ears alone; warm tea sipped together in front of the fireplace; a soft blanket shared together; falling asleep on a worn-out sofa in each other's arms, the only place where they feel safe enough to let go of all worries; hearing the beating of his heart, strong and steady, just as he is; hearing her breathing while asleep, safe and sound in his arms.

[omegawhiskers]

Dynamite 15/11/23

He's Got a Bicycle!

Full Gear is just days away, so let's get into the final Dynamite before the big PPV.

The opening match between Jon Moxley/Wheeler Yuta vs. Orange Cassidy/Hook was not a match I wanted to see. I'm not saying it was a bad match, but it 's like watching a trailer that shows too much. Let the wrestlers meet in the ring the night of the PPV. I will say, I did like Moxley eating the orange punch and not falling down. But, it does reinforce my predication that Cassidy is retaining.

Swerve Strickland and Adam Hangman came face-to-face, but they couldn't lay hands on each other. If so, they would get suspended until 2024 and the match at Full Gear would be called off. Hangman’s promo was bloody great. This is the best I've seen from Hangman since his downward spiral story. Page attacking Prince Nana was the cherry on top to this awesome segment.

Skye Blue and Red Velvet had a decent match, but it had some sloppy moments. I'm glad that Blue got the win as this sets up the three-way TSB Championship match to be an exciting bout.

Samoa Joe had a fun squash match with Jon Cruz. When Cruz leapt from the top rope, Joe moved out of the way and Cruz gave Joe a hilarious confused look mid flight. It's still uncertain at this point if MJF will choose Joe as his partner. The closing segment of the show had The Bullet Club Gold beat down Max with no one coming to his aid, so I suspect Joe will end up being his partner out of desperation.

The Young Bucks have gone full heel. In a great match, Nick Jackson ended up kicking both Komander and Penta El Zero Miedo in the balls as Matt Jackson distracted the ref. Lexy Nair interviewed the Bucks when Kenny Omega came along to chastise his Elite buddies. Matt told Kenny that they had no beef with him, and that's it's with Chris Jericho. Matt would then shove Jericho from behind ensuing in a brawl. Matt and Nick were kind of floating for a while, so I'm glad to see they're back as heels and involved in a story.

Like A Dragon Gaiden Street Fight delivered a dumb, but fun match. The highlight was Kota Ibushi riding a bike with a pipe in hand as he smacked his opponents only to end up getting clotheslined off the bike by Brain Cage. I've seen wrestlers selling some dumb shit, but Jericho selling a DDT onto a leather sofa was fucking hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Another highlight was Paul Wright getting slammed by Will Hobbs onto a car windshield. The goofy tone combined with some dangerous spots was jarring. I will forever watch Ibushi on a bike, but I can't say there's much else to take away here.

This was a decent episode of Dynamite. Even with the bad, I still found some good. I didn't think we needed to see two squash matches tough. There have been far too many as of late. We also need to know more about this Continental Classic Tournament. I mean, what does the winner get? Full Gear is shaping up to a great PPV. I do hope we come out of it with some storylines closed and a clear direction going forward.

[puddlejumpingwriter]

"The Nine Lives of Kylo"

~ A Reylo Holiday Textfic ~

Author's Note: Here's the first of the new chapters. I hope you enjoy, and, as always, thank you for reading!

~~~

PART VI

~~~

Rey sleeps well Tuesday night, feeling warm and safe in Ben’s guest room and occasionally having a cat curl up beside her. She doesn’t have to be at work until the late afternoon, so she decides to indulge and sleep in—at least until her phone vibrates.

~~~

It’s the only solution that seems plausible to Rey. She’ll give the excuse that Finn can’t meet her fake boyfriend because Ben’s working, and Finn will be too busy with his own boyfriend’s coming out to care Rey’s alone for the night.

~~~

Ben’s at the station, covering the morning shift. It was a quiet night, so he managed to catch up on a few hours of sleep in a bunk. Amazingly, he’s not tired, and he knows it’s because of what’s waiting for him at home.

~~~

Ben notices the clock on his phone. It’s still early, and he’s running out of ways to say no to her.

But he has one idea she may be willing to accept.

~~~

Ben has a number of things in mind he’d like to do with Rey, but he chooses the one he’s confident will be of interest to her.

~~~

Ben counts down the minutes until he can see Rey again, but a message from a friend distracts him from thoughts about his new roommate.

~~~

Ben suddenly realizes what his friend’s talking about—a secret Poe keeps from practically everyone.

~~~

One downed power line, and Ben’s home later than planned.

He doesn’t see Rey when he opens the front door, but the light fixture he planned to install is now lit up above the foyer.

“Perfect place to hang mistletoe,” Ben’s depraved mind thinks, as his hand finds the small plant in his pocket.

“You’re home!” Rey says from the top of the stairs. 

Ben watches her bright red sweater and skinny black jeans cling to her body as Rey hurries down the steps. There’s a smile on her face that warms Ben’s heart, and apparently Rey likes to hug when she’s happy.

It’s surprisingly natural for his arms to curl around her. Perhaps he squeezes just a little too tightly for just a little too long, but Rey doesn’t seem to mind. She waits a minute before pulling away, and Ben reluctantly lets her go.

Rey takes a step back, her cheeks a bit rosier than expected given the temperature inside. 

“If you’d been here sooner, I would’ve made you lunch,” she comments.

“I already ate,” Ben replies. “Besides we have limited cooking options around here with the stove not connected.”

“Oh—about that,” Rey says, “I hooked up the stove today.”

Ben’s eyebrow lifts. “You did?”

“I told you, Kylo doesn’t need much,” she says, pointing to the orange cat sleeping on the sofa in the living room. “And I guess I can’t stop myself from keeping busy.”

“Hence the working light above us.”

Rey beams at him. “You noticed!”

“Of course, I noticed,” he says. “That wiring has been giving me a heck of time.”

“Your fingers were probably too big for it,” she replies. Rey reaches for his hand and places her palm against his, illustrating the size difference. “See?”

His eyes linger on their joined hands before returning to her eyes. Once her gaze meets his, her cheeks turn a shade redder, and she pulls away from him.

Ben instantly regrets the separation, but he doesn’t reach for her. She isn’t his…yet.

“Any other repairs I should know about?” he asks, trying to end the awkward silence.

“The lights are working in the laundry room now, but there was nothing I could do about the pipes in the back.”

Ben knows what she’s talking about. There’s exposed wall near his bedroom where he’s trying to replace some older plumbing.

“That’s an ongoing project,” he admits. “I have it rigged so my shower works, but I have to be careful until I can get a plumber in here.”

“So that’s why you have wrenches all over the place back there?”

“Yeah. It’s functional but temporary.”

“That’s fair. I’ll leave that project for you then,” she says with another grin.

“Do you want to go grab coffee or something?” Ben asks.

Rey’s smile falters. “Sorry, but I can’t. I have to be at work soon.”

“Right,” he replies, as his eyes turn toward the window. The sky’s already turning dark, and he can’t hold back a question. “How late are you working tonight?”

“I’m covering the full evening shift,” she says. “I’ll close up the shop at ten.”

“You’re going to be on your own?”

“People are taking time off for the holidays, but I don’t mind. I’ve handled the shop on my own dozens of times.”

There’s a weight in his stomach that Ben can’t ignore. “Do you mind if I go with you?”

“Why?” Rey asks, a crease appearing on her forehead.

Thinking quickly, Ben offers the first excuse that comes to mind. “I littered the town with signs about Kylo the other night. I should probably take them down, and it might be easier to start near the store and work backwards.”

“Oh right,” Rey replies. “That makes sense.”

Ben doesn’t add that he plans to be at the store at 10:00 to make sure she gets to her car safely.

~~~

By Thursday, Ben’s friends want an update on his living arrangement.

~~~

The frigid air can’t drive the smile from Rey’s lips. She’s too amused by the overwhelmed look on Ben’s face.

“You’ve never picked out a tree before, have you?” she asks him.

“I’ve set them up before,” he answers. “Usually with my dad or uncles while mom or nonna supervised, but I’ve never chosen a tree before.”

The seriousness in his eyes strikes Rey, and she realizes Ben may need help with this.

“There’s no pressure here,” she tells him, placing a gloved hand on his arm. “You can’t pick the wrong tree.”

“Then how do you find the right one?”

“It probably varies from person to person, but I follow a very scientific approach.”

“Which is?” Ben asks.

Rey pulls him toward a tree. “First, I check to make sure the tree is Christmasy enough.”

He chuckles, and some of the stress leaves his face. “Is Christmasy an actual word?”

“Of course,” she answers. “It means filled with Christmas spirit.”

“Right,” he replies, before gesturing to the tree. “So is this one ‘Christmasy’ enough?”

“What do you think?”

“I guess so,” Ben says. “It looks tall enough, and I think the branches could hold lights and ornaments. But is that enough?”

“There are other tests.”

“As important as the Christmasy test?”

Rey laughs, before removing a glove. “There’s also the freshness test.”

Her fingers feel the needles of the tree, and Ben’s fingers follow her example.

“They don’t feel dry,” he comments. “Seems like there’s still some life to them. And the color—they’re a nice Christmasy green.”

“That’s my favorite part,” Rey says, her gaze fixed on Ben.

“What?” he asks, still focused on the tree.

“The green,” Rey replies. “I spent part of my childhood in a house out in the desert. Nothing grew. I remember being transferred to another house and finally seeing plants….I thought they were beautiful.”

Ben’s eyes turn toward her, and Rey can see something there. Worry, maybe? Need? Interest?

She’s seen the same look in his eyes before, but she isn’t sure how to read it. 

He’s a handsome, sweet firefighter who dates models. He can’t want her.

And even if he does, Ben doesn’t want commitment. Maybe he wants a quick fling with Rey, but he said he wasn’t interested in marriage or anything like that.

Ben wouldn’t want to build a home with her.

Rey quickly looks back to the tree, unable to bear the intensity in his eyes any longer.

“We should plant it,” Ben says, and Rey feels her brow furrow.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“After Christmas—when we’re ready to take the tree down—we should plant it in the backyard,” he explains.

“But you’re going to sell the house, aren’t you? Is there really a point in keeping the tree?”

“I don’t know,” Ben replies. “I’ve been thinking about keeping the house lately.”

“Really?”

“Kylo seems to like the place,” he says, and Rey turns back to look at him in time to see those devastating dimples. “So what other tree tests are there?” Ben asks.

“Just the last one—the lean test.”

“Which is?”

“You look directly at the tree, then lean to the left, then to the right, and then come back to the middle,” Rey says. “If the tree still feels right from all angles, you’ve found the one.”

“Okay,” Ben replies, a hint of doubt in his voice.

“Don’t discount it until you’ve tried it,” Rey says, before they both turn toward the tree.

Ben seems willing to try it, but he starts by leaning to the right first, while Rey leans toward the left.

Their bodies collide, and Rey tries to overcorrect. 

Ben’s hands are suddenly on her waist, catching her before she can stumble.

“I think I’ve found the one,” he whispers, looking at her rather than the tree.

Rey’s breath catches. It would be so easy to kiss him. She already knows how good his lips feel.

But she also knows she’d fall for this man…and it would hurt too much if he asked to keep their relationship casual. 

Rey pulls back from him, and Ben lets go. “We should have them ring the tree up for us—if this tree’s your choice,” she says.

“Yeah, it is,” he replies. “I plan to take good care of it.”

Rey can only nod as they make their way back to Ben’s truck.

~~~

Ben needs to figure out how to do this right.

It feels so good to be near Rey and to touch her, but he doesn’t want to push her too far—not when it seems like she may bolt at any second.

He can take his time with this. She’s worth it, and Ben’s going to make her see how much he cares for her.

He’ll plant her a garden in the backyard if that would make her happy.

Ben just needs to find out what she wants, and he’ll give it to her.

And he’s going to start by making her feel like she’s part of his life.

“So what do you do for Christmas Eve?” Ben asks when they’re back in his truck.

“My brother and I usually hang out together,” she replies.

“Any interest in Nonna Padme’s annual Christmas Eve party?”

“I imagine that’s just for your family, isn’t it?”

“No,” he replies. “Nonna’s invited fifty people before.”

“Oh,” Rey says, not sounding sold.

“Your brother would be welcome to join us too,” Ben adds, before remembering the reason for their first kiss. “It may help with the whole fake dating story.”

“But then you’d have to pretend I’m your girlfriend that night.”

“I think I could manage,” he says.

“I’m not sure my brother will be happy to meet you by Christmas Eve.”

“What?” Ben says, not understanding. “Oh no, did you tell him what happened earlier this week? Does he think I’m an asshole?”

Ben’s worried. He doesn’t want Rey’s only family member hating him already.

“No,” Rey says. “He doesn’t know about that. All he knows about this week is that I’m living with you now.”

“Oh,” he replies. “Is that what your brother’s upset about?”

Ben feels a sudden need to track this guy down and tell him that his intentions toward Rey are honorable—for the most part.

“No, he’s not upset with you yet, but I’m not sure how he’ll be after Saturday.”

“What’s Saturday?”

“My brother’s big pre-Christmas party,” Rey answers. “The one I told him I’d bring my fake boyfriend to. He may not be happy with you after you don’t show.”

“What? Why won’t I be there?”

“Do you actually want to be there? Pretending like we’re dating, and you acting like you’re happy I moved in with you.”

“I am happy you moved in with me.”

“To watch Kylo,” she corrects. “It’s not like we’re living and sleeping together.”

Ben wants to pull over and tell Rey he’d sleep with her whenever she wants him to.

But Ben keeps driving. He’s not sure how she’d respond to that—and he can’t screw this up. Rey means too much to him.

“I could go with you, though,” he offers. “I wouldn’t do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. Maybe I could just hold your hand all night?”

“And that wouldn’t bother you?”

“Not at all,” Ben answers honestly.

“But are you even free that night?” Rey asks.

“I’m not working Saturday,” he replies, thinking of who else could help cover any emergencies so he can make sure he has the entire night off.

But then he remembers Poe and the dinner he’s supposed to attend.

“Crap,” he says. “I promised Poe I’d help him that night.”

“That’s fine,” she says. “It may be a bit of a chaotic party this year anyway.”

“You could still come to Nonna Padme’s for Christmas Eve. It could be my way of apologizing to your brother.”

“We’ll see,” Rey replies. “But first we have to make it through today.”

“I thought we already did the hard part,” he says. “We picked out the tree.”

“Yes, but now we have to decorate it. How are your decorating skills?”

Christmas decorating was usually orchestrated by his mother in the Solo house, but Ben’s looking forward to sharing this activity just with Rey.

“I’ve been told I make a decent staircase,” he replies. “I think I can handle anything you want to put on the tree.”

“Is that a challenge?” she asks mischievously.

“Name it, and we’ll make it happen.”

~~~

Rey recommended shatterproof ornaments at the store, and her suggestion turns out to be for the best after the first ornament goes on the tree.

Kylo jumps up to swat the red bulb, and it’s bouncing on the floor the next second.

“Told you,” she says to Ben, as he returns to the living room with a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

“You were right about the ornaments, but do we really need this much popcorn to decorate the tree?” he asks.

“You have another bag in the microwave, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good—that should cover both our decorating and snacking needs.”

“Right,” he says, a dubious look in his eye.

“I know how to make garland. Now do you trust me or not?”

The microwave beeps in the kitchen behind them, and Ben doesn’t bother answering. He merely turns around.

Rey takes a moment to inspect their supplies. Looking at the bags strewn across the living room, her eyes land on something green on the floor. 

It’s a sprig of some kind of plant, and Rey picks it up, unable to help her curiosity.

With a closer look, she realizes it’s mistletoe.

Her mind jumps to the possibilities. This could give her an excuse to kiss him again without all the complications of a relationship.

He doesn’t want a real girlfriend, but maybe he’d at least be willing to kiss her like he did in the cafe under this plant.

While she hears Ben still working in the kitchen she moves to the front hall and grabs the step-stool she used yesterday.

In a matter of moments, the mistletoe hangs from the new light fixture.

Before Rey can second guess her decision, she hears Ben returning to the living room. She does the same, leaving the plant in place in case an opportunity arises.

~~~

They work on the tree until Rey decides it’s time for Christmas cookies. 

She wants Ben to have the full holiday experience—the kind she and her brother have always tried for since leaving the last foster home.

And Ben doesn’t stop smiling. 

Even when she drapes lights over his arms to keep them from tangling as she wraps the strand around the tree…

Even when she coats his nose in flour while they bake…

Even when he pulls Kylo out of the tree for the third time that night…

Ben’s always grinning, and Rey’s stomach is doing flips.

Why does this man have to be so perfect, but completely uninterested in a committed relationship?

And how long can she stay here knowing she’ll never have him?

“So the tree is decorated,” Ben says before reaching into the oven. “And the cookies are baked,” he adds putting the pan on the stovetop. “I think we managed to survive today.”

“We did,” Rey agrees.

“And you said you’d think about Nonna Padme’s Christmas Eve party if we survived today, so…?”

Rey takes a step closer, her eyes focused on the little trees and candy canes on the baking sheet. “Do you still want me to go?”

“Yes, Rey. I—”

Ben’s phone pings three times in a row, stopping whatever he was going to say. Rey looks at him, trying to decipher from his features what the messages say.

“There’s an accident on the interstate ramp, and a Christmas tree caught on fire on the other side of town,” Ben says. “They need backup.”

“Of course, you should—”

Ben’s hand grips hers, and Rey goes silent.

“I want to finish our conversation,” he says.

“We can talk when you get back.”

“It may be late,” Ben replies. “Do you want to grab breakfast?”

“I’m working the morning shift,” she says. “Lunch?”

He shakes his head. “I’m at the station most of the day tomorrow. Dinner?”

“It’s a date,” she says before taking a step back. “Not an actual date,” she corrects. “Just…”

“Two people who live together having dinner together?” Ben offers.

“Something like that,” Rey says before following him to the front door. 

He puts on his coat and then his eyes turn back to her. “Would you mind watering the tree—making sure it’s okay? I don’t want anything happening to you or Kylo while I’m gone.”

It catches her off guard, how protective he is. Kylo’s his cat, but the way Ben shows concern about her too—Rey’s not used to that from anyone but her brother and Rose.

“I’ll make sure we’re okay,” she says, before realizing where Ben’s standing.

Her eyes go to the light fixture above him, and Ben’s eyes follow.

“It’s mistletoe,” she explains, before standing on her toes and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. It’s tentative, but he doesn’t pull away, so she brushes her lips against his a second time—asking him through the contact if he wants more.

She would’ve stepped back and let that kiss be enough if he didn’t respond, but one strong hand finds her waist and another goes to the back of her neck.

Suddenly, Rey’s body is flush against Ben’s, and the kiss deepens. His tongue is in her mouth, and Rey can’t hold back soft, needy moans. Her fingers are in his hair, and he’s pulling her closer until there’s no space between them.

Is that a flashlight in his pocket? Rey can’t help but wonder as her belly rubs against something hard.

But then Ben’s cell phone pings again.

“Fuck,” he mutters, as he breaks the kiss, sounding breathless. “I have to go.”

“Right,” Rey replies, untangling herself from his grasp, just as Kylo curls around her ankles. She scoops up the cat to ensure she doesn’t reach for Ben again.

With the way he kisses, she’d probably beg Ben to stay when he needs to be elsewhere.

“Be safe,” she tells him. 

Ben takes a moment to turn back one last time, nuzzling against Kylo’s forehead and then leaving a brief kiss on Rey’s lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he whispers.

Rey nods, before watching him go. She carries Kylo into the living room and sits down on the sofa.

She’s not going to recover from that kiss anytime soon, and she doesn’t know if she wants to.

~~~

Hours later, Ben texts his best friend on the other side of town.

~~~

Ben doesn’t say he was the one close to begging. He spent the night aroused—by the sight of Rey in her holiday sweater, by her gentle caresses as they decorated, by the way she licked icing off her finger.

He would’ve done anything she asked—if they weren’t interrupted.

~~~

Ben’s determined to show Rey how good things can be between them.

What could possibly go wrong?

[coldshinypearl]

shu sakamaki x reader

Mariage Blanc

chapter 2

out of all, why her? She makes a vow, she won’t let that guy get away with this so easily, he might’ve fooled women and her mother too, but no, she won’t let him get his way with her.

disclaimers: this fanfiction contains reader insert, the reader will be presented as [y/n], for major informations click this post, english is not my first language! Im sorry if there will be misunderstandings in my writing i’m doing everything i can to improve it!

the pain is Indescribable.

apathy had completely drown her out, forcing her to lock herself in the duvets of the same bed that waked her up the previous night.

if only there was a way to stay locked in the night before, where everything was perfect, her reign of dreams still wasn’t collapsing.

if only, out of hundreds of females, he hadn’t chosen her, that imbecile was nothing worth the insults she called him, she knew that the power was in those lazy hands of his.

unlike her grey humour, her bedroom was filled to the very core with gifts, colorful fresh cut flowers landing to the sides, velvety rectangular boxes containing jewelry and gowns at the foots of her wardrobe.

she hated all this.

yes, soon-to-be brides were expected to receive all type of gifts, it was traditional in the clan that in order to not give the chosen bride the freeway to escape her destiny, she had to be showered with love and gifts.

her door was locked, that morning nobody disturbed her, certainly her maids tried to call desperately for her, but they returned in the kitchen with no response.

the ones she hoped would come banging at her door asking for forgiveness are her parents, but of course they were too much busy having breakfast with the king, her soon to be father in law.

as she gazed at her world collapsing in front of her eyes, warm tears collected in her cheeks, not a single sound out, just pure quiet sadness, how she wished to dissolve.

hold an instant, what was she doing again? Crying?

she angrily wiped off her tears with her pale hand as her figure straightened in the bed.

she sat in the bed still trying to dry her rosy cheeks, her brows curved in as her mouth trembled, in that moment she made a vow.

for how true it is that her name was [y/n] [l/n] she won’t let this man destroy her like every other woman, she won’t be fooled by his princely beauty, his sloth but elegant manners or his flawless speech. God if he’ll regret this marriage.

she spent the morning with her body and tears not moving from the bed, sheets hugging her, sadness and regret drowning her.

her new schedule had her packed for tea time, the ‘big’ meeting between the groom and the bride, she just wished for someone else to take over her.

well she knew that if it was for her to meet that man she could’ve spit in that pretty face of his, but no, her revenge was going to be quiet.

for as long as she had known, [y/n] has always been good at programing, and for the whole time she stayed inside the duvets, she thought of the perfect plan for her husband to regret choosing her.

little did she know, that man was as patient cat.

05:00 PM

finally tea time was here, [y/n] sat her slim clothed figure to one of the dark wooden chairs, in front of her a piece of table antiquarian with pastries and tea pots on it.

their tea room was quite the figure, all but dark wooden victorian furniture, soft cushion covered sofas, all in the tones of black and white, the many piping hot pastries were waiting for the two guests [y/n] and her mother were expecting.

her mother sat nervously of meeting the king himself, since the mother of the boy had been troubled by her death.

her figure was covered by a baby turquoise gown, its puff sleeves covering her pale shoulders, the skirt going all the way to her ankles, her hair curled in one single lock covering her self shoulder.

she looked at the table with her eyes emptied, like someone squeezed them like you do with oranges.

her mother gazed at the clock more than one time, then gazed back at her not so amused daughter.

-���you are permitted to smile dearest, i’m sure you are thrilled to meet his majesty and your groom” her mother said trying to curl her lips in a motherly smile, [y/n] titled her head up to her mother’s direction, her look almost disgusted.

-“impatient.” [y/n] said forcing her voice to a serious tone, she was about to jump off that damn table.

as her gaze returned to the table, her lips curled when she saw at the corner of her eye a new maid not dressed like a maid, finally they were here.

two tall figures entered, almost in slow motion as wind gently hit them.

the king of all demons, Karlheinz, who had those long pale curls that fell over his body, his tall figure towered above their maids, his crimson cape slightly moving from his figure as wind hit it, maid’s blushing as he gave them his warm but refreshing fake smile, she knew that smile, it lured women to become obsessed with him.

next to him, the prince.

there he was, it was him in bones and meat, the man who ruined her life. The man who had chosen her as the next queen. The man who dared to snort at her?

was he being serious? He chose this, he knew that hundreds of events for the two would’ve required his attendance and he was bored, unbelievable.

he could’ve represented the sin of sloth, but in contrast with his personality, that classical beauty, fresh out of the fairytale’s appearance he had rejected debutant by debutant, one more beautiful than the other.

one of their maids dared to glare at you, clearly envious of what your destiny had became, at this point [y/n] only wanted to jump her seat and slap all the people in that room one by one, no she couldn’t.

as they made their entrance, her mother jumped her seat and instantly made a court bow for the two, of course dragging her along since they had to show respect.

the king and prince made their way to the chairs, as they seated, [y/n] glared at the two signing the start of her plan.

the blonde head sighed as he fixed his figure more comfortably, she didn’t even want to make eye contact or even look at that trash laying on her furniture.

-“its amusing how we finally have a chance to talk dearest” the king said smiling at [y/n] as he grabbed the porcelain cup of tea almost cupping it from how big his hands were.

well the prince chose her, she had no reason to be mad at the king, some delightful conversations won’t get in her way, or so she thought.

-“our [y/n] is just so grateful about the life she will have from now on” her mother said clearly faking, looking at [y/n]. She sighed, if she wanted the plan to work, admitting defeat wasn’t a good start.

[y/n] tossed her head up, gazing at the king trying to hide the disgust growing inside her stomach with a forced smile.

-“i truly am, you shall allow me to be certain i understand” [y/n] said smirking in evil, her mother nervously gazed at her as she knew the things she was capable of.

-“understand what dearest?” her mother asked clearly sending signals to her daughter to be careful with her speech, as is she cared.

-“i hear that your son, who amused us with his presence, isn’t quite looking forward to move his hands?” [y/n] said giving solid expressions of fake speech, her maids could’ve barely hold their giggles.

her mother almost flinched her figure as she tried not to choke on her beverage, the king surprisingly blinked more than once, and the prince titled his head to the side, almost like he was used to people commenting his laziness.

her mother opened her mouth just about to speak, but suddenly interrupted.

-“i beg your pardon?” the king said giggling to your words giving his son confused looks.

-“i hear his idleness has been troublesome more than once for the dynasty’s honor, is that quite not right?” [y/n] acted confused as her show kept going in, maybe the king could’ve killed her right on the spot, well her mother almost fainted when she heard those words.

but surprisingly, he started to giggle instead, showing that warm smile who got women head over heels for him.

-“his majesty she’s just quite confused, we beg for forgiveness.” her mother said frightened as she glared at her.

the king continued to chuckle as his son slightly smirked.

-“it makes no problem, after all we shall have a more intimate relationship since the families are uniting, well it is only right to say that my son is quite not the lover of hardworking” he said smiling warmly.

are you joking? [y/n] thought, how was he not offended by the way she talked at him? And the son? Just standing there smirking not saying a word.

her mother calmed at his words, [y/n] took a pastry at her mouth, making sure the son was watching her she bit in it strongly almost angrily.

she took her eyes on those blue orbits that were watching her from top to bottom, with all that mighty attitude he was just begging to be punched in the face, and he smirked again.

he was making fun of her, he knew that a plan was mixed in this speech of hers and he was happy that it wasn’t working.

the evening just flew by, between jokes, [y/n]’s failed tentatives of causing rage to the king, her mother flinching every time [y/n] opened her mouth, the blondie and [y/n] glaring at each other, and Shu smirking at [y/n]’s rosy cheeks when her mother discussed about her carrying children.

tea time was almost over, [y/n]’s mother and Karlheinz made their way on the balcony as they hoped for a flame between the two sweethearts.

[y/n] coldly drank her tea, quite unsatisfied with the result of her plan, her mind started to wonder what kind of woman would’ve caused Shu’s disapproval.

ignoring that Shu was still looking at her with that mighty attitude that’s convinced she would’ve fell for him, Shu’s arm was resting on the table stretched un [y/n]’s direction, as he gazed at her his fingertip tapped a rhythm in the wood of the table.

[y/n] started to think, maybe a tramp? Well if the rumors weren’t wrong he was quite the perverse guy, or maybe a know it all, but again if she was a fool he could’ve made fun of her which wasn’t a really successful result, acting lazy like him also would’ve caused for her honor to fall, then-

her thinking was disturbed by an annoying tapping on the table.

[y/n] glared at him… and almost flinched when she saw the look he gave her, that seductive eye contact that didn’t leave her body and visage since the first step he made in this house.

her glare softened as her flustered expression melted her scary look, her rosy cheeks told how she felt violated by the way he was staring at her eyes.

-“w-would you consider being quiet?” oh god. She just stuttered.

Shu tilted his head to the side not stopping his hands.

-“i’m thinking about a classical composition, was that a stutter i heard?” he asked.

[y/n] knew this first battle wasn’t going well, the next move was hers.

[y/n] nodded admitting defeat, but not for long.

she knew better than letting him with the thought that he had the freeway with her, she sighed as she gazed him.

-“your handsome looks and seductive voice won’t do the job with me, i am quite strict with my standards, if you think i’ll completely ignore the wrong you did me, you are out of your mind” [y/n] smirked satisfied as she took a sip from her cup of tea.

Shu stretched his legs to the ground, his foot touching [y/n]’s ankles trough the gown, [y/n] looked up at him as he made that action, no man has ever dared to touch her, he did it so flawlessly.

-“so you think i am handsome and that my voice is seductive?” Shu said as he brought his arms together and smirked more.

[y/n]’s breath stopped, this man had the attitude of someone who wasn’t afraid of anything at all.

but… what was this strange… yet new velvety and refreshing feeling she felt when the tip of his shoe touched her ankle.

she was left there confused and curious of all this.

as they made their way at the entrance leaving the house, she wondered if love was to come at the core of this marriage.

would love… ever hit them..?

[ chapter - 3 - ] 23.05.23

current date : 5th march 2023

[recipro-turbo]

the blood through your bandages

Rating: T Word Count: 2.1k Notes: Inspired by a thought Cardi had on the BNHA Twitter Refuge Discord. Originally posted to AO3 January 2023.

Tags and content warnings: blood/injury, implied/referenced self-harm, engine tune-up, dadzawa

Summary:

At his brother's suggestion, Tenya Iida undergoes the painful process of tuning up his engines―the act of ripping out his baby exhaust pipes to allow for new, stronger ones to grow in their place―on his own in the forest. Unfortunately, the aftercare isn't something he can properly tend to when he's loopy with blood loss.

It's a good thing Shota Aizawa catches him just as he's returning to the dorms.

Read on AO3

In a lot of ways, Tenya Iida takes after his older brother, Tensei. Most of these were good qualities to have, in Shota’s eyes―responsible, earnest, approachable―but the worst quality they shared was the masochistic lengths they’d go to better themselves.

Shota doesn’t make it a habit to get involved in his students’ personal lives. It isn’t rational to do so, and it only leads to unnecessary attachments. Of course, his concerns about attachment had been thrown out the window long ago for this batch of problem children, so maybe it was inevitable that he’d end up finding Iida limping back to the dorms just after he finished room checks.

He’s ready to go for his capture weapon when he finds Iida’s legs are bandaged. Poorly, at that. That’s Shota’s first indication that something is wrong. The next is how unsteady Iida seems to be on his feet, every step uncertain.

“I apologize for my tardiness, Aizawa-sensei,” Iida says, his usual energy gone. He doesn’t even chop at the air. “I will accept any manner of discipline you deem―”

“Are you all right?”

Iida blinks. “Oh! Yes, sensei, everything’s fine!”

Shota approaches Iida, eyes going to the bandages wrapped around his calves. When he sees the backs, he finds that they’re stained red.

“Are you aware you’re bleeding through your bandages?”

Iida jolts. Clearly, he was not. Shota sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. These kids were going to be the death of him. “Get inside. I’ll take a look at them.”

“Ah, there’s no need to trouble yours―”

“Tenya.”

“...Yes, sensei.”

Shota follows Iida into the silent dormitory, nudging him towards one of the sofas while he continues to the kitchen. He takes a can of orange juice from the fridge, returns to the common room and wordlessly hands it to Iida, who accepts it with a nod of gratitude.

The first aid kit Iida had been carrying with him sits open on the coffee table, still stocked with more than enough supplies for Shota to tend to his wounds. Starting with the right leg, he begins to unwind the bandages around Iida’s calf, expecting to see training-related injuries.

He does not expect to find six bloody holes where his class representative’s exhaust pipes should be. The skin just inside the ports is red and irritated, broken in places. Though most of the blood remaining on his skin is from wounds that have started to close up, the two holes near the bottom of his calf are sluggishly bleeding.

“Iida,” Shota asks, managing to keep his voice steady, “what happened?”

“I was tuning up my engines,” Iida answers, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “Tensei told me it’s an Iida family secret. By removing my old exhaust pipes, stronger ones will grow in. It maximizes speed, minimizes fuel consumption, and should allow me to move at top speed for longer periods of time.”

Despite the way he slurs some of his words, Iida speaks with pride―Shota finds it hard not seeing the sweet, cheerful four-year-old he used to babysit when Tensei was called in last-minute for patrol or to respond to an emergency. Tenya’s admiration for his brother had only grown over the years, especially during the months following his involuntary retirement at the hands of the Hero Killer. It was touching and all, but that admiration lead to some incredibly idiotic decisions.

“And you chose to do this on your own in the forest,” Shota says, putting pressure on the ports still bleeding. “Why not approach me? Or Recovery Girl? She would’ve at least healed your wounds.”

Iida pauses, taking a swig of his orange juice. “I suppose some part of me assumed that you would get the wrong idea. That, ah… you might believe it was a form of self-harm.”

Shota knows he could probably make that argument. It wouldn’t be the first time Iida let himself needlessly suffer―the compression sleeve he still wears on his left arm from time to time is proof enough―but his class representative isn’t one to lie. He never has been, even when he was just a little kid.

“Tenya, I won’t say I wouldn’t have had any reservations about this,” Shota says, “but what if something went wrong? Doing this on your own could have caused unnecessary damage to your engines or to your legs. You may have already damaged something.”

Iida tenses up, tightening his grip on the can.

“You’re sixteen. Tensei didn’t tune up his engines until his third year. Why he told you now, I don’t know, but you were not ready―”

“With all due respect, Aizawa-sensei,” Iida says, “I disagree.”

Shota looks up from his work, an eyebrow raised. Iida’s expression is something stern, determined.

“Tensei’s class was not relentlessly targeted by villains. He was not put into a position where obtaining a provisional license and taking on a work study a year ahead of schedule was necessary to ensure his safety. Perhaps I did go about this the wrong way, and maybe it is too soon, but that’s no different than what we’ve already been through. What’s one more item on the agenda fast-tracked to ensure I’m equipped to keep my classmates safe?”

It’s a fair enough point. A rational argument. Shota can appreciate that. That still doesn’t change the fact that Iida has lost enough blood to make him unsteady on his feet. It was a miracle he even made it back to the dorms, even if he was late.

“First thing in the morning, I expect you to go to Recovery Girl,” Shota says, leaving no room for argument. “I can keep your wounds clean and bandaged, but I’m not the person who can tell you if you’ve caused yourself lasting harm.” He pauses for a moment before tacking on, “I also expect a written apology for not being back by lights out by tomorrow evening.”

“Yes, sensei. I apologize for causing such trouble.”

“Save it, problem child.” Despite his choice of words, Shota’s tone is fond, tinged with an affection reserved for someone he considers family. If Iida notices, he doesn’t mention it.

A comfortable silence settles over them as Shota cleans away the mess of blood. If Iida is in any pain, he makes no verbal indication of it. As he works, his mind goes to Tensei.

Shota knows that Tensei thinks highly of his little brother. He also knows that having his pro career ended far too soon had probably fucked him up a lot more than he was willing to acknowledge. Tensei wouldn’t knowingly force his own ambitions onto Tenya, but this doesn’t feel like information Ingenium would give to someone who hasn’t even completed his first year in the hero course. This feels like someone trying to live vicariously through someone too blinded by adoration and self-consciousness to see it.

He applies ointment and wraps fresh bandages around Iida’s right calf before moving to the left. The bandages are in a worse state than they were on the other leg, like they’d been wrapped by a preschooler. The bloodstains are larger, darker. Shota grimaces as he begins to unwind the bandages, wondering if he should give Recovery Girl a call after all.

The ports on Iida’s left calf are messier, but Shota is relieved to find that they don’t appear to be in any worse condition than those on the right. All six are still bleeding, but it appears that it’s slowed down to the point where he’s certain Iida isn’t in any real danger. He begins the process of cleaning the wounds, taking great care to not reopen any that appear to have just stopped bleeding.

By the time Iida’s left calf is wrapped in clean bandages and the first aid kit has been packed up, it’s roughly an hour past lights out. Shota gently eases Iida’s legs off of his lap, moving to stand up. “Alright, let’s get you to bed.”

Iida must be exhausted, because he doesn’t try to refuse Shota’s help when he guides him over to the elevator, a steadying hand on his shoulder. He all but collapses onto his bed when they reach Iida’s room, eyes sliding shut the moment his head hits the pillow. 

Shota feels the corners of his mouth quirk up into a fond smile as he pulls the blankets up over Iida. He gently pulls off his glasses, setting them down on his nightstand. Once he’s sure his student is settled, he heads for the door.

“Goodnight, Uncle Sho.” Tenya’s voice comes out soft, so quiet Shota thinks he might have imagined it. 

“Goodnight, Tenya,” Shota says, the door shutting behind him with a quiet click.

-x-

The moment Shota is in the privacy of his room in the teachers’ dormitory, he makes a phone call.

It’s late. Normal people might let it go to voicemail, but Tensei Iida answers on the second ring. “Iida speaking,” he says, very clearly still half asleep.

“You’re a goddamned idiot, Tensei.”

There’s a pause. “I’m not going to say you’re wrong, Shota, but do you mind giving a guy some context?”

“Tenya wasn’t back by lights out,” Shota says. “He came back just as I was heading out to track him down, and his calves were a mess.”

“Oh! So we have this tradition―”

“―where you rip out your exhaust pipes and let new ones grow in. I know, the kid explained it to me.” Shota sits down on his bed, kicking off his slippers. “He was bleeding a lot. I don’t even know how he managed to get back to the dormitory in the state he was in.”

“Is he okay?” Tensei asks, suddenly a lot more alert.

“He’s supposed to see the old lady tomorrow morning just in case, but as far as I can tell, Tenya’s fine. He’s sleeping it off now. I’m just hoping his ports look worse than they actually are.”

He hears a sigh on the other end of the line. “That’s good to hear.”

“Why’d you tell him about this, anyway?” Shota pinches the bridge of his nose. “Your parents made you wait until you were a third year before they allowed you to tune up your engines, and you didn’t do it on your own.”

“Hang on, he did what―”

“Tenya went out to the forest to pull his exhaust pipes. He told nobody. Not me, not Recovery Girl, not any of his classmates.”

He hears Tensei curse. “I told him to have someone there in case he passed out―”

“Did you think he would listen?”

“I… yeah, I assumed he would.”

Shota lets out a tired sigh, feeling some of his irritation towards Tensei melt away. “There’s a lot you missed, Tensei. I doubt Tenya has brought it up, since you had your own shit to sort through, but he and his classmates have gone through so much and we’re only part way through second semester.”

Shota knows that his friend has had a rough year. The one time he did manage to visit Tensei while he was in the hospital, he had been a shell of the man he was, trapped in a medicated haze while the doctors tried to save his legs. Nobody had told him about Tenya’s encounter with the Hero Killer until well after the fact, when he was recovered enough to handle the news. Tensei didn’t get to see the extent of his little brother’s grief and rage through the thick fog of painkillers, and with the dorm system in place, he doesn’t get to see how Tenya’s own trauma at Stain’s hand affects his actions even now.

“Tenya is a good kid,” Shota continues. “You’ve taught him so much. Your guidance has made him into a capable leader and has put him on the path to becoming a great hero. But I don’t think you understand just how much he looks up to you―he’s got it in his head that he has failed you, and his way of atoning is pulling shit like prying out his exhaust pipes in the middle of the forest without telling any of his teachers.”

Maybe it’s a lot to drop on someone, but Tensei needs to hear it. Thankfully, Tensei isn’t the type to get defensive―if he were, Ingenium wouldn’t have been known for being a team player.

“Shit… I’ll need to talk to him, then,” Tensei says. “Tomorrow, after he’s had some rest.”

“Please do. Tenya follows orders and takes lessons seriously, but when it comes to his mental health, you might be one of the few people in his life who can get through to him.” Shota absentmindedly rubs at his tired eyes. “I’ve got essays to grade. Have a good rest of your night, Tensei.”

“Yeah, you too, Shota. And thank you for looking after Tenya.”

Shota smiles. “I always look after my family.”