#please vote for her i spent so much time on this
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woodelf68 · 10 months ago
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Lili Damita propaganda -- she was hot enough to snag current Shadow Realm occupant Errol Flynn as a husband, and was the mother of their son Sean. Their marriage was an 8 year long volatile off and on affair. Of her, Flynn said: "We were poles apart, except in bed. Mentally, woefully inadequate. Sexually, fabulous, wonderfully exciting, beautiful."(She also had a relationship with Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia.)
She was born Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré in Bordeaux, France, and became a music hall star at age 16 with the Folies Bergère before moving on to the Casino de Paris revue. Her name change was the result of King Alphonso XIII of Spain (a notorious womanizer) seeing her in a red bathing suit on the beach in Biarritz, and asking who the "damita del maillo rojo" (girl in the red bathing suit) was. Now Lili Damita, she became a star of silent films in Europe, before being invited to Hollywood by movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn in 1928, where she continued to star in films with the leading men of the day, like Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, and Cary Grant. (She was the one who was the superstar when the still unknown Flynn first met her on an ocean liner.) She appeared in 33 films in total between 1922-1937, when she retired from acting after her marriage. She's got a beautiful face! She's got nice legs! She could speak five languages and spent time entertaining the troops in WWI! What more could you want?
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(Obligatory Lili and Errol Flynn picture on bottom right for those who would like to see her in something more casual.)
Somewhat NSFW picture beneath the cut, of Lili photographed at Studio Menasse Foto Salon in Vienna in 1930. wearing an art deco- patterned, partly sheer assiut shawl, a fabric where cotton or linen mesh is combined with strips of metal. At the time It was very popular for well travelled women to be artistically photographed nude or, in this case, nearly nude.  (Source)
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Propaganda
Jessie Matthews (Evergreen, First a Girl, It's Love Again, Gangway)—known as “the dancing divinity”, jessie matthews was a british musical star of stage and screen in the 20s and 30s - if you're an enjoyer of lavish art deco musicals of the likes of fred and ginger, busby berkeley etc, definitely give her movies a try they are delightful! (tantalizingly there were multiple attempts made to pair her and fred together that never came to fruition - gaumont-british tried to get fred for evergreen and mgm wanted jessie for a damsel in distress.) and for the women in tuxedos enjoyers, her 1935 movie first a girl was the first english language remake of viktor und viktoria, famously later remade with julie andrews.
Lili Damita (Brewster's Millions, Goldie Gets Along, Fighting Caravans)—no propaganda submitted
This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut—there is one NSFW photo]
Jessie Matthews:
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Star of British 1930s stage and screen, she introduced classic songs by Noel Coward and Rogers and Hart to English audiences, and then played perky heroines, but today it’s her genderswapping role in First A Girl that probably gets most attention.
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Lili Damita:
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ettadunham · 3 months ago
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sometimes i remember the hunger games and how nobody actually paid attention to what was in those books
#americans close your eyes and ears right now#i'm well aware that my political takes are way too spicy for you all#and i really do wish my media diet didn't contain so much us-centric shit#but alas we're all suffering here#and i could say that 'oh actually it does matter who your president is for us in the world'#but it doesn't. it really fucking doesn't. that's kind of the point.#oh i'm sorry my spicy takes are already starting#anyway it is wild that you all can understand katniss assassinating coin at the end of mockingjay#but get super upsetty that chappell roan won't support your favorite presidential candidate with her full chest#like come on none of you actually thought that her using the phrase both sides meant that she was a republican or even a centrist#that's just copium#you all knew exactly what she meant#but i guess encouraging people to think critically and get involved with their local elections and politics as well is... bad now?#also... why do you all care so much about a random pop star's opinion and whether or not she dares to criticize a government#like... she's right but i'm sure 5 years from now if she survives in the limelight her edges will be completely chipped away#by all this insane reaction#and before anyone comes for me... no i'm not saying you shouldn't vote. please fucking do.#neither am i saying you shouldn't vote strategically or encourage other people to do so#but if all your energy is spent policing people who criticize your chosen party because of their own principles#then there's something seriously wrong with your politics#and all you're signalling is that you truly do not fucking care about the issues that they care about#if anything..... you RESENT them#and then the same people bring up the parable of the 'unjust man'#or how it's never the right time to talk about gun violence in your country#harm reduction is all good and based but attacking people who are leveraging their support to push your party left#is not. it's not even fucking helpful#anyway. don't base your lives and politics around pop stars.#even if they are more based than you 🤷#i think i'm done now thank you tumblr for letting me have insane rants in my tags that hopefully no one reads#idk i just find this all depressing. i wish you all cared more about the world outside of your bubble. i wish we all did - myself included.
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fairybluedreams · 2 years ago
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Hi y'all! Here is my finals campaign on why you should vote for Nani Pelekai in the @eldest-sibling-tournament today!!
Edited to add***
Poll just dropped vote Nani today!
https://www.tumblr.com/eldest-sibling-tournament/712608371217481728/eldest-sister-tournament-final-round
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lancestrollsgf · 6 months ago
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# THE BETTER NORRIS ! F1 GRID X ADOPTED NORRIS! READER, SMAU
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introduction master list request list
part one, part two, part three.
# WARNINGS : cussing, i know nothing about the parents of lando so everything is fictional. lowercase intended, spelling errors (english isn’t my first language). lando's actual siblings are not really mentioned in this since I don't know anything about them. reader hitchhikes. an excessive usage of emojis such as “🙄, 🤫, 😝, 😭,😊,😉”. reader is 17 in the story btw (the age isn’t really mentioned so i guess you can imagine it however you want)
# SUMMARY: the adventures of the formula one driver lando norris adopted sibling, y/n norris.
# AUTHORS NOTE : this is my first smau (that i’m posting). there’s no meaning behind this story i really just wanted to make it for fun. backstory for how reader (you) were adopted is not explained. reader is kinda of portrayed as bisexual, sorry only like three times. pretend lando is a soccer/football fan (and likes messi). some of these scenarios/comments actually happened to face claim.
# FACE CLAIM : marian guevara/theatomicbabe on instagram (i love her so much)
VOTE FOR FUTURE LOVE INTEREST (now closed)
— instagram !
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liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc and 529,289 others
thebetternorris visited jamaica once again, spent every moment with the children and made memorial memories that i will remember forever, thank you @junglenonprofit for making this event happen🤍🇯🇲
landonorris: very cool hair style in the last photo is that your new look?
-> thebetternorris: maybe it is. you should also try finding a new look instead of looking like a washed up mop you have on your head that you call curls
-> carlossainz55: ay no, she got you with that one 🤣
-> landonorris: I WAS LITERALLY BEING NICE. WHY DID YOU COME AFTER ME??
landonorris: since when did you go to jamaica???
-> thebetternorris: since two days ago, man keep up with the times 🙄🙄
maxverstappen1: y/n does your mom know you’re in jamaica??
-> thebetternorris: no.. don’t tell her, she doesn’t have instagram 🤫
-> ciscawauman: y/n norris.. you said you were with friends for this week?
-> thebetternorris: hi mama 😊😊 im with bsf/n. but im on my way home! (max emilian verstappen this is all your fault, im coming after you)
-> maxverstappen1: sorry y/n.. hi mrs.wauman!
-> ciscawauman: hello max 👋 y/n please don’t threaten someone through comments
username1: y/n’s interactions with the drivers will never fail to make me laugh
username2: i love you y/n!!!
username3: will forever appreciate how y/n is not pr trained. her posts and comments heal me
-> mclaren: that will change very soon, sadly.
-> thebetternorris: @.mclaren YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE
lewishamilton: good work, little norris, very proud of you, keep doing good in the world 🥰
-> thebetternorris: I LOVE U SIR LEWIS
-> lewishamilton: love you too
-> landonorris: lewis please ignore her
username4: y/n’s reply to lewis’ comment is so real
username5: the third picture is so cute 🥹
view all 5201 comments
april 21, 2024 (dates are for the post above ^^)
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liked by landonorris, oscarpiastri, and 661,201 others
thebetternorris 🍸🪩🌃🍾
landonorris: who is that guy in the last photo?
-> thebetternorris: i have no clue, i js chose it because i looked good. i think he was trynna lure me into a cult?
-> landonorris: WHAT?? CALL ME RIGHT NOW
username4: you can always rely on y/n to never disappoints with her outfits 😫😫
oscarpiastri: how come you never invite me to party out with you?
-> thebetternorris: because you steal all the girls and guys too 😕😕 also you’re too old
-> oscarpiastri: i’m barely 23??? and thank you or sorry idk man, you confuse me
username6: y/n’s life is so entertaining
username7: i wanna be like y/n when i grow up
username8: my goal in life is to party like y/n does
view all 6229 comments
april 25, 2024
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liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, girl3, and 786,929 others
thebetternorris no caption 🌞 👤: @.girl1 @.girl2 @.girl3 @.guy1
girl3: i had so much fun y/n see you soonnn
-> thebetternorris: me too! see you soon 😊😊
-> landonorris: y/n what is this???? what do you mean see you soon???? ANSWER MY CALLS Y/N
landonorris: who are those girls and guy on the last two photos???
-> charles_leclerc: leave your sister alone, as if you weren’t doing crazy stuff this week either 🤣
-> thebetternorris: @.landonorris they have names you know, you shouldn’t just call them “those girls”. i thought mama taught you better. 🤨🤨
-> landonorris: @thebetternorris sorry..?? but you didn’t answer the question.. also please @charles_leclerc don’t expose my doings of this week onto the internet
username9: you’re the loml in a another universe 😔
-> thebetternorris: why not this universe 😉
-> danielriccardo: damn little norris has more rizz than her brother 😭 @.landonorris
-> landonorris: why do i keep getting attacked 💔
username10: having the caption as “no caption” is having a caption
-> thebetternorris: 🤓🤓
username11: does y/n like girls cause that third photo is a bit suspicious LMAOO
-> username12: i think so, especially because of her response to oscar's comment on her previous post
view all 3620 comments
april 27, 2024
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liked by landonorris, newyorkcityfc, and 887,292 others
thebetternorris thank you @.newyorkcityfc for inviting me to document the New York City fc vs charlotte game. visiting the new york city fc game made me want to try out soccer, turns out it might be time that i change career path 😝
landonorris: you’re in new york??? since when. and @.newyorkcityfc just invited you???
-> thebetternorris: since two days ago and is that an insult?
-> landonorris: who are you staying with?
-> thebetternorris: man stop asking so many questions 😕
charles_leclerc: weren’t you in jamaica like less than a week ago?
-> thebetternorris: weren’t you in china less than a week ago? why you judging where im traveling, i don’t judge you. you literally fly somewhere each week for your go karting 🙄
username13: y/n’s post are so unpredictable each time 😭 she was just helping children in jamaica and is now at a soccer game in nyc
-> thebetternorris: gotta keep y’all on your toes 🤫
-> username13: toes 🤤
-> thebetternorris: NAH GTFO LMAOOO
username14: y/n becoming a soccer player when??
username15: all of the norris siblings are so talented
view all 2928 comments
april 29, 2024
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liked by landonorris, maxverstappen1, and 997,929 others
thebetternorris miami grand prix day 2 & day 3 🤙. found out some guy with the same last name as me won? idk but congrats @.landonorris
username16: dang her brother just won his first race and she doesn’t even make a post about him?
-> username17: for real, like everyone congratulated him right after but not even his own sister
-> username18: @.username17 well she is adopted 🤣
username19: it was so fun meeting you y/n!!!
-> thebetternorris: thank you pretty
username20: thank you for the water y/n 😊😊
-> thebetternorris: of courseee, had to give you that rich voss water 😉😉
-> landonorris: you gave a stranger water?? when?? you were with me the whole time???
-> thebetternorris: hey man you gotta start appreciating the people that support you, he was a worker ✊🏼
username21: hey i was the guy you were signing “way 2 sexy” with lolll
-> thebetternorris: AYY MY MANNN, i posted u on tiktok look at it 😉
jamescharles: omg i met you!! you’re gorgeous 🥰
-> thebetternorris: JAMESS HEYYY, i put you in my tiktok 🤙🤙
username22: omg you hugged me, remember i picked you up 😭
-> thebetternorris: I REMEMBER YOUU, that hug was great thanks man i needed that 🫵🏼 posted a full tiktok abt you
username23: your first outfit is so art teacher-coded
-> thebetternorris: is this a compliment or?? thank you though 😭
-> landonorris: @.username23 THATS WHAT I TOLD HER
landonorris: the number of people commenting that they met you is insane. @thebetternorris
-> thebetternorris: what can i say i'm js that guy 😼
view all 6282 comments
may 5, 2024
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liked by landonorris, maxverstappen1, and 1,000,010 others
thebetternorris congrats to @.landonorris for winning your first grand prix, in america 🦅🇺🇸, i’m so so proud! turns out having an adopted sister isn't so bad for your racing career after all 😜. btw to everyone in the comments section getting their gears all tangled because I didn't congratulate him sooner, chill out. I was busy practicing my own racing skills. yk, just in case he needs some real competition 😴 sorry @.maxverstappen1. i’m so proud of you, i'm forever grateful that i got picked from the “bin” i was found according to you 18 years ago, and it resulted in me being your sister :) 👤: @.landonorris @.oscarpiastri
landonorris: thank you for the congratulations, but did you really have to use those photos of me?
-> thebetternorris: damn you got your congrats just be grateful man 🙄
oscarpiastri: so this is why lando was crying, btw thank you for using a good photo of me
-> thebetternorris: OSCAR ARE YOU SERIOUS. @.landonorris YOU CRIED?? LMFAOOO
-> landonorris: @.oscarpiastri YOU SNITCH.
maxverstappen1: thank goodness you’re not a f1 driver, you’d be some real competition. we need to try go karting together soon 👍🏼
-> thebetternorris: i know this is a joke but thank u max 😔 we should go karting soon so i can beat you at it 😈
-> username24: i would pay to see y/n kart against max
username25: i don't even know anything about f1 but this made me tear up
username26: y/n getting hate for not congratulating her brother is insane
username27: people getting mad about y/n not congratulating lando as if they know anything about them
username28: y/n was one of the first people to congratulate lando, yall are hating a literal kid for smth so little 💀
view all 4593 comments
may 7, 2024
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liked by landonorris, leomessi, 1,102,920 others
thebetternorris pov that one unemployed friend on a tuesday (saturday). thank you @.mles for the invite and for letting me meet the goat @.leomessi 🩷🩷
joyboy: finally found someone that is everywhere like me
-> thebetternorris: paris fashion week next 😉?
-> landonorris: NO???
username29: IS THAT LIONEL MESSI??
-> thebetternorris: that’s literally oomf what are you talking abt 🙄
ueername30: y/n is literally everywhere but home
username31: y/n's smile 🥰🥰
carlossainz55: Real Madrid CF>>>
-> thebetternorris: carlos get outta here 😕😕
username32: te encantaría ser un hombre nunca lo vas a ser y eso es lo que te jode (you’d love to be a man and you’ll never be a man and that fucks with you)
-> thebetternorris: @.username32 me encanta ser mujerrr (i love being a womann)
-> username32: @thebetternorris pues lo disimulas fatal (well you hide it well)
-> thebetternorris: @.username32 que es ser mujer para ti? (what is being a woman to you?)
-> username33: SHE GOT YOU THERE 💀@.username32
landonorris: you meeting messi before me insane 😔
leomessi: gracias por tu apoyo 🩷 que chistoso la caption 🤣 (thank you for your support 🩷 how funny the caption is)
-> landonorris: oh you’re joking.
-> thebetternorris: @.leomessi 🩷🩷 (i’m so normal abt this..)
username33: i wanna be y/n's camera man
username34: who is taking these pictures of y/n
-> thebetternorris: for this game, some guy named jarvis took these photos idk but we're homies now
-> landonorris: WHO IS JARVIS???
view all 12920 comments
june 5, 2024
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liked by landonorris, maxverstappen1, and 1,293,021 others
thebetternorris i look sunburnt, swear it's just the lights 👤: bustarhymes
bustarhymes: it was nice meeting you little norris
-> thebetternorris: it was great meeting you man, your music is great
danielriccardo: mate i think you need a new cameraman because most of these are blurry...
-> thebetternorris: my pictures look better than yours, you're letting your jealousy show
landonorris: nah bro how did you meet busta rhymes before me.
-> thebetternorris: because i'm better than you
username35: you dead ass look like han jisung omg
-> thebetternorris: thank you, idk who that is but i get that a lot 😭
username34: y/n looks so much like young miko it’s insane
charles_leclerc: you look scary in the first picture
-> thebetternorris: i saw your paparazzi picture from the beach, your shoulders look scarier, learn how to put on sunscreen 😬
username36: y/n’s style is so 🥰
view all 5934 comments
june 30, 2024
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liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, and 1,304,393 others
thebetternorris back at the big apple 🍎🏙️
itsyoungmiko: hi twinn
-> thebetternorris: hey twin, we should meet up soon
lancestroll: how do you travel everywhere?
-> thebetternorris: walking and hitchhiking
-> lancestroll: hitchhiking? be safe norris
-> thebetternorris: yea hitchhiking. not all of us have private planes that our daddy pays for🙄(just joking, love u @lawerence_stroll pls give me money)
-> lancestroll: your brother literally flies private. please don't ask my dad for money 😭
lawerence_stroll: hello y/n, how much money do you need?
-> thebetternorris: HI MR.STROLL, thank you for the offer I was just joking, you're so nice. see you at the next gp 😊
username37: who is that on the last photo?
-> thebetternorris: THATS ME. LMFAOOO
username38: ain't no way you're in new york city rn, you were in florida a day ago.
-> thebetternorris: that's what hitchhiking is for, duh
-> username38: you dead ass hitchhiked a ride from florida to new york city. that's like 20 hours...
-> thebetternorris: “that’s like 20 hours…” ☝🏼🤓
username39: are you gonna go to the british gp?
-> thebetternorris: yes sadly 💔 lando is forcing me against my will 😕
oscarpiastri: don’t forget my keychain pls
-> thebetternorris: ofc man ill give it to you soon 🤙
zhouguanyu24: very cool pictures y/n and cool outfit
-> thebetternorris: HI ZHOUUU, i got you something for you and sweet corn 🥰 thank u for the compliment 😙
username40: future mom lore is gonna go insane
-> thebetternorris: 😈
landonorris: y/n are you ever not in the US. come back home..
-> thebetternorris: USA 🇺🇸🦅🦅
-> logansargeant: USA USA 🇺🇸🦅🦅
-> landonorris: @.logansargeant logan please don’t lure my sister into your cult that you americans have
-> logansargeant: @.landonorris we don’t have a cult in america 😭 well… don’t quote me on that 😔
-> username41: “you americans” is crazy 💀
view all 4402 comments
july 1, 2024
comment to be tagged in the next part 🤫🤫
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kousanosgf · 1 month ago
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men, minors dni
‧͙⁺˚*・༓☾ ☽༓・*˚⁺‧͙
councilor!sevika x assistant!reader
you and sevika have to attend a banquet. and yes, sevika is wearing a dress
part 2
tags: sfw
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‧͙⁺˚*・༓☾ ☽༓・*˚⁺‧͙
"behave. promise?" you look up to sevika, finishing your work of smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress and brushing off little dust dots.
she is basically pouting, the prospect to waist the night at some rich folks banquet seems hellish to her.
you spent hours convincing her to go. "you have to go, we worked so hard for the council to like you, gotta uphold the image." eventually, sevika agrees and you're surprised that you didn't have to butter her up more.
it appears to be she just wanted to save energy for further arguments. because as soon as you suggested her wearing a dress, she enthusiastically refused, which led you to more bickering.
you won, of course. as soon as you started dating, sevika was never able to say no to you. so when you came to the last resort of "please, babe, you'll look so hot", when all the logical arguments of "you'll seem more aproachable", "they'll notice your effort to try and fit in" etc. didn't work.
you understood, though not fully since your backgrounds were so different, how hard it was for sevika to be on the council, fighting for her people's right to live happily, at times bending her temper and swallowing harsh words said her way. but piltover's elites are a bunch of snobs and you have to make them tolerate you before you can do anything productive.
"we need to get the budget for exchange programme and for that you need the votes." your recent project to help zaun's teens study abroad that both of you've been fighting tooth and nail for several months now.
sevika huffs out and brings her head down, nuzzling in the crook of your neck. "alright. promise."
finally getting the confirmation, you pat her head gently, to not ruin the wet hairstyle you've done yourself, practicing for days in advance.
"remember what i told you?"
"be nice, let you do the talking." sevika raises her head to look at you again.
"good girl" you smile and turn to grab your clutch from the vanity. you look over yourself in the mirror one final time and make your way to the door, not bothering to check if sevika follows you.
"will i get something as a reward?" she asks, her voice deep, as she catches your arm and presses your body into the corridor's walls, towering over. and, gods, she looks divine. the black fabric hugging her body in all the right places, highliting her curves for your eyes to feast on. your hand runs up her bare spine, fingers lightly touching the muscles. "is the prospect of helping your people not enough of a reward, councilor?"
both of you giggle, and you get this buzzing in your stomach as you feel sevika's body shake slightly from laughter against yours. gone were the days when you avoided her for that exact feeling, making you two miserable. you found that sedating your conscience and work ethics was very easy around her, in her arms. hiding your relationship wasn't much of a trouble since sevika didn't seem to like explicit pda, the most you got is a peck on the cheek or a stroll hand in hand, when you knew you're away from any colleagues. and sevika definitely doubled down behind the closed doors, basically attached to your hip, unable to keep her hands off you.
"come on, time to head out." you push sevika lightly on the shoulder to head to the door.
‧͙⁺˚*・༓☾ ☽༓・*˚˚⁺‧͙
the evening was going smoothly so far. you and sevika arrived fashionably late to attract enough needed attention. people were starring, you knew that much even though the glances were not addressed your way. they were in awe, looking sevika up and down, taking in her broad shoulders, crosses by the black straps of the dress.. you had to hide a smirk every time you noticed, knowing you were the one to dress her up in all the nicest things that suited her so much.
your time was mostly spend by sevika's side, floating between this and that groups of people. the wealthiest merchant's family. an ambassador, seemingly finally able to return to piltover and enjoy his home's elite life. some carefree and arogant flock of politician's kids.
sevika was growing bored and restless by a minute. the best you could do is snatch a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray and push it in sevika's hand. "give me half an hour. an hour at most." you promised her.
"i don't know how you do this." she sipped her champagne and rolled her eyes.
"it's fun really, if you know how to play-"
"councilor sevika! wasn't expecting you to join us tonight." a cheery man interrupted you, making you take a step back from sevika for a more appropriate distance. you looked the man over and recognized him as pavle peric, the owner of the biggest precious metals mines in piltover, he didn't seem to even adress you.
"my conscience wouldn't let me stay away from this." sevika answered and smiled, sharing a look with you.
"yes, yes. great you're finally taking time to fit in the society." it looks like pavle took sevika's smile as his accomplishment as his smirk widens. "we all were wondering when you finally open up to some local culture."
you notice sevika tense slightly at the comment, as she catches the jab. a way to ruin a perfectly fine evening, you sigh inside your head.
"a new position, especially such as a councilor can take some time to get used to the new responsibilities." you're quick to smooth out the situation before the disaster happens. your hand touches sevika's lightly, asking to let you handle it. she stays silent.
pavle finally seems to notice you. his face scrunches, the man isn't happy that you dared speaking to him. "well, i suggest councilor expand her social circle. my advice to you, you can't always drag servants with you at events like this." he laughs cruelly, looking you up and down.
"she's my assistant." sevika cuts out, immediately starting to boil with anger.
"a servent, an assistant, same thing really. my advice to you, councilor sevika. first thing you gotta do is meet right friends. you're in piltover now, time to find people your level."
it all happens too fast. one second sevika stands by your side, the other she launches for the man, grabbing him by the lapel of his suit. your group gets couple of surprised gasps, the only thing that saves you is that you're standing behind a massive column, which hides you from the rest of the hall.
"do you think the same of the workers in your mines?! some consumable material to fill you pocket, while they lay their health and lives for their families to have a chance to survive?!"
you're panicking. sevika's right of course, pavle is a real scum and doesn't hide it. the way he runs his business, the way he treats his employees. but such an outburst can cause you and sevika months of hard work. you approach sevika, feeling guilty for your next words.
"councilor, please. mister peric is only giving his feedback as a more experienced man in these matters."
"no." her brows frown more, she doesn't spare you a glance, still fixated on the man. yet she gives in a little, letting go of him but still towering over pavle's figure. "you will apologize to my assistant."
"no need. mister peric didn't offend me in any way."
sevika persists, waiting for men to speak up but he's definitely too scared by her force now to say a thing.
"we still need to meet councilor shoola, councilor sevika." you try again, your hand carefully touches her back, and you just hope that the gesture would go unnoticed by others. it seems to work, goosebumps rise up sevika's spine as she relaxes a little, her expression still furious though.
a silent moment passes between the three of you before sevika turns with a low growl and storms away, heading for the massive glass doors which lead to the manor's gardens.
you take your time to say sorry to the man and hurry outside after her.
it's dark already, the hours come closer to midnight. still it's not hard to find sevika outside, she chose a place for you to notice her immediately when you walk out.
"say it." she huffs out and crosses her arms on her chest.
"what do you want to hear?" you smile slightly as she reminds you of a pouty kid. only to you though, if someone would see sevika in a mood like this, they'll think twice before even coming closer.
"i ruined it."
"you didn't ruin anything, vika."
you chew on your lip for a moment, thinking what to say next while sevika just stays quiet.
"i'm thankful, really." you look around for the unwanted witnesses and, after making sure no one is watching you, put you palm on her cheek.
"there were no person in my life before, who would've stand up for me like you did there."
"cause all of them have their head up their ass." sevika's anger seems to calm down, words less harsh. she covers your hand with hers, pressing her face deeper into your touch.
"but you need to understand-"
"here it comes." she rolls her eyes but doesn't let go.
"-i'm able to handle people like him." you continue, putting pressure into your words.
"your people's well-being is more important than my honor."
sevika just sighs, neither denying nor agreeing with you. you just stand there, waiting for her to process what she needs.
finally, something in her face shifts, she takes a deep breath and hits you with a quiet "i love you."
it's not the first time you hear it, you say that to each other almost every day. but this time just feels different, like it has more meaning to it. you have not much to say in the response except for simple "i love you too, vika."
both of you hear footsteps somewhere near, making you let go of each other, an intimate moment between you not ruined completely, bit it reminds you that you're not alone.
"i think it's time to head home." sevika suggests and you can't do anything but to agree.
—————————————————————————
tbh wanted to write this as oooh sexy sevika in a dress but it took completely different turn. but i guess still gonna write sev in a dress smut (i feel like she definitely needs to be strapped for being so good), cause that's what sevika stans deserve 🫦
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harryslittlefreakk · 8 months ago
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favourite crime
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summary: a chance meeting between y/n and her professor leads to a dare… which leads to a forbidden affair neither of them will forget
wordcount: 8k!!!! can you even believe it!!
warnings: smut (exhibitionism, foreplay) , inappropriate relationship (lol)
a/n: i love professorry & you guys voted for this one so i hope i’ve done him justice! this was going to be a one shot but i wrote so much more than i planned lol so it will be a mini series. please let me know if you enjoy <3
my masterlist and taglist can be found here 🥰
“I’ll give you £50 if you go over there.”
“Not a chance, Courtney. I’m not sacrificing my education for £50.”
“I’ll buy your drinks for the rest of the year then.”
You wrapped your hands around your glass, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of your mouth. Your eyes had been glued to the back of your professor’s head since he arrived, jitters coursing through your body. He’d stayed frozen at the bar the entire time, a neat whiskey in one hand and his nose deep in a book.
“He’s so fucking sexy,” you muttered, a blush creeping up your cheeks as you watched the way his tongue jutted out just slightly, wetting his finger so he could turn the page. “Alright, wish me luck,” you beamed at your friend, sliding out of the booth.
You wove through the crowd around the bar, making sure to stay out of Harry’s sight. Your voice was barely audible as you ordered two drinks, a spicy marg for you and a neat whiskey for him. Even the roar of music and chatter was dimmed as your heart pounded in your ears, still watching Harry like a hawk in case he was suddenly joined by a girlfriend.
The coast was clear when you got the drinks, the barstool next to him still invitingly empty. You turned back to your table, pulling a mock nervous grimace as you held the drinks up in the air. After a final check for anyone heading towards Harry, you decided to make your move.
“What would a handsome young man like you be doing here alone?” you teased, slipping into the seat next to Harry as you set down a new drink in front of him. His eyes lingered on his book for a second before looking over at you, an expectant smirk quickly replaced by a frown.
“Miss y/l/n,” was all he managed to say, his mouth drying up as he scanned your body, green eyes lingering just a second too long when they met your cleavage.
“Professor Styles,” you replied, tapping the rim of your glass against his. “Cheers.”
“It’s wildly inappropriate to buy your professor a drink,” he told you, voice stern but a small smile playing on his lips.
You turned away from him, craning your neck to look around the bar. His eyes followed yours, brows knitted when you eventually looked back at him with a satisfied grin. “Just checking. No university higher ups here, so you’re free to act inappropriately.”
“Thank you for the drink,” Harry smiled, folding over a corner of the page he was reading before reluctantly closing the book.
You snatched it from his grasp, a mocking gasp falling from your lips as you flicked through the tattered book. Almost every page was dog-eared, the spine broken and sellotaped back together, half the book bent out of shape from water damage. “You’re an English teacher. And you treat your books this way?”
He chuckled, stretching out an open hand to silently ask for his book back. You clutched it close to your chest, hands splayed across the book to protect it from his touch. “You can’t be trusted with it anymore.”
“This is so inappropriate,” Harry muttered, covering his smirk with a tanned hand as he shook his head. Every second you spent at his side felt like a step closer to unemployment, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn you away. After all, you were in a bar out of town, and the likelihood of anyone seeing you was low.
You grabbed a napkin while he mused, pulling him out of his thoughts when you shoved a hand into the pocket of his slacks. Harry's eyebrows raised in surprise as you pulled out a pen, a mischievous glint in your eyes. He couldn't help the rush of adrenaline he felt at your touch, sparks tingling where your fingers had brushed against his thigh, the silk lining of his pocket suddenly warm.
He cleared his throat, trying to regain some semblance of composure as he leaned one elbow against the bar. "I think it's time you head back," he said, his husky voice tinged with a mix of amusement and apprehension. The tension between you was palpable, and he knew he needed to put some distance between you before things went too far.
You scribbled something on the napkin, folding it in half and slotting it into Harry’s book, taking time to lovingly smooth out the crease he had folded into it before handing it back to him.
“Nice seeing you, Professor,” you winked, downing the remainder of your cocktail and setting the glass down next to his book before making your way back over to your table.
Harry watched as you sauntered back, your hips swaying in time with the music. There was an air of danger about you that lingered just out of his reach, intrigue creeping through his bones. He’d noticed your natural charm from the day you joined his class, the way you were a friend to everyone who gave you as much as a glance, and an enemy only to the girls who cared more for their looks than their popularity. You’d always submitted good papers, asked important questions, and listened when he asked you to stop your incessant chatting to the people around you. But he’d never noticed this side of you, and now that he had, he didn’t think he could go without it.
With a final glance over in your direction, Harry finished his whiskey and stalked out of the bar, desperate to cool off before he got carried away with the idea of you.
By the time you looked over at him, he was gone, and your friend was interrogating you about what had happened.
“Nothing,” you mumbled, drawing on your greatest acting skills to feign a pout.
“I don’t buy that for a second,” Courtney poked, grinning excitedly as your frown morphed into a smirk.
“You can’t tell anyone, I mean it.”
“Swear on my life.”
“I gave him my number,” you grinned, unable to keep your cool for even a minute.
Courtney gasped, banging her hand down on the table. “You didn’t!”
“I did. But I don’t think he’ll use it,” you laughed, silently hoping that he would.
You’d checked your phone the entire way home, waiting for a text that might never come. But the second you climbed into bed, reluctantly accepting your love affair had died a premature death, your phone let out the most glorious little ding it ever would.
unknown number: did you get home safe?
You thrashed around the bed for a second, jaw snapping so low it could have smacked against the floor. You read and reread the message, eyes wandering over every letter.
y/n: safe and alone if that’s what you’re asking
You watched as the little white dots appeared and disappeared, over and over again, until they finally vanished for good.
But you’d already taken it further than you’d ever planned to, so you added Harry’s number to your contacts, and called him.
He answered after a few rings, his voice low and husky when he finally spoke. “You shouldn’t be calling me.”
“And you shouldn’t be answering,” you teased, giddy at the realisation that you were now having a late night phone call with the hottest man on the planet.
“How else am I going to tell you how inappropriate this is?” Harry sighed, though you could hear the reluctant amusement lacing his words.
You rolled onto your front, grinning at your phone like a love drunk teenager. “You can tell me to back off if you really want,” you offered, fingers crossing in a desperate plea for him to do the exact opposite.
He stayed silent for a minute, the cogs almost audible as he weighed up the pros and cons. “It’s already gone this far,” he murmured eventually. “Thank you, by the way. For the drink and the bookmark.”
You bit down on your lip in a desperate attempt to control your grin from splitting your face clean in half. “That’s two gifts from me now, what do I get from you?”
“You get to keep your education and not be reported to every higher up there is,” Harry laughed.
“And what else?” With every word you felt like you were falling deeper into cuckoo land. It was so out of character for you, never the one to blindly make your move on a man. And not just a man, the professor you’d harboured a juvenile crush on for the entire academic year.
“Nothing else. You’re bad news,” Harry replied. You pictured him sitting with his phone in hand, a stern frown and warm smirk juxtaposed on his chiseled face.
“Am I really?”
“Definitely.” Even the sound of his voice had you weak at the knees. You’d never make it through tomorrow’s lecture, melted to a puddle in your seat within five minutes.
“Maybe you should delete this number then.”
“Bold of you to assume I’ve saved it,” Harry replied, his turn to tease now.
“Well then what are you worried about? There’s no evidence of your crime,” you mocked.
“Don’t call it a crime.”
“Can I at least be your favourite crime?”
Harry sighed again, a real exasperated sigh this time. Your grin fell as he stumbled over what to say, the potential repercussions of your chase suddenly weighing heavy on you both. “Look, I’ll be honest with you here y/n, I don’t know what I’m doing,” Harry confessed, his voice soft as he spoke.
“Can we not just worry about it later?” It was a plead you hoped the both of you would take notice of.
“Not when my career hangs in the balance.” He went quiet again, only shallow breaths and the drumming of his fingers audible from the other end of the line. “Meet me in my office at the end of the day tomorrow,” he finally muttered. “And not a word of this to anyone.”
“Goodnight, professor,” you smiled, heart pounding so violently you feared it could burst through your chest as you ended the call.
Either he wasn’t done with you yet, or he was really done. And if the tone of his voice and the reluctance that laced it gave you any clues, you had your money (and hopes) on the former.
You spent the whole morning in a daze, pulling your phone out every few minutes to check your message history in case you’d made the whole thing up. It felt like a bizarre fever dream, an alternate reality you’d stumbled into. Every time you saw the read the text from Harry your heart skipped a beat, doing nothing to calm you. Whatever he wanted to see you for was eating away at you, your fate resting in his hands. You didn’t even notice the campus barista calling your name, over and over again as your head and your heart argued loudly in your mind.
When you finally snapped back to reality, grabbing your coffee with a stream of apologies tumbling from your lips, you saw Harry watching you, an amused smirk curling the corners of his mouth.
You winked at him as you left the cafe, unnoticeable to anyone but him, but just enough to make him uncomfortable.
“He looks good today,” Courtney mused, pushing open the lecture hall door and leading you towards the nearest empty seats. They were too near the front for your liking, especially today, but at least Harry couldn’t miss you.
“How do I look?” you asked Courtney, glancing down at your outfit. You’d tried to be cute, in case that swayed him towards fulfilling your dirtiest desires, but not too over the top. You weren’t going to force him into bed if that isn’t where he wanted to end up with you.
“Like the little slut you are,” she teased, grinning as you rolled your eyes.
“He told me to go to his office at the end of the day. What if I get there and he’s sitting with the head waiting to grass me up?”
“Then you can blame me,” Courtney smiled, always ready to shoulder your academic and personal failures.
“What if he’s not?”
“Then you can thank me.”
You rested your chin in your hands, eyes glued to the head of whoever was sat in front of you as you grumbled and groaned. You were too busy freaking out to notice Harry coming in, his eyes continually flicking to you as he set up the projector.
“I really want him,” you groaned, just loud enough for the words to reach Harry’s ear, a tiny blush creeping up his cheeks as he read your lips.
“Silence, please,” he called out, eyes still locked on yours with his lips curled into a barely noticeable smirk.
He kept his eyes trained on you the entire class, not even attempting to look away whenever you caught him staring. If you were crazy, you’d notice that he’d paid a little more attention to his appearance that day. His brown curls were pushed back with a little gel, his ringed fingers falling to his side every time he reached up to brush a hand through his hair. He’d ditched the v-neck sweater for a crisp white shirt, hints of tattoos you didn’t know he had poking through the material.
-
You didn’t even notice it was the end of the day until your subconscious carried you out of the crowd of students heading for the exit, and you found yourself knocking on Harry’s door.
He called you in, straightening up as you pushed open the door and looked around expectantly. The university higher ups weren’t there to escort you off campus immediately, and you felt a little weight fall off your shoulders.
His office was quaint, littered with books and notes. Harry sat behind a tower of papers, an old fashioned table lamp illuminating his desk in warm orange hues. He waited for you to sit down in front of him, grinning as he handed you an uncapped pen. “I thought you could help me with some marking since you’re so desperate to harass me outside of lessons,” he smirked, nodding to the stack of papers.
“Any excuse to spend time with me,” you muttered, grinning as you dropped your bag down next to you. Harry handed half of his pile to you, and you work silently for a while, your mind running a million miles an hour. He hadn’t shut you down, hadn’t made any effort to tell you to stop. And he found a way for you to spend more one on one time together.
Harry cleared his throat suddenly, pulling you out of your thoughts. “Need to ask you something,” he murmured, setting his pen down on top of the paper he was working on.
You looked up at him silently, brows knitted and pouted lips falling open as you waited for him to continue. He was shifty, eyes squinted as if he didn’t want the words to come out. “You’re not trying to get something, are you?” he paused, tensing up in his seat. “Like… I don’t know. ‘Let me get some dirt so i can blackmail my professor for good grades.’”
His mouth hung open as he waited for you to reply, watching you go from confusion, to anger, to hurt in the time it took you to comprehend what he said.
You rubbed a hand over your face, trying to maintain your composure as you took in the weight of his words. “If that’s what you think then-”
You stood up, pulling your bag onto your shoulder. Harry jumped to his feet, circling around his desk as he read the hurt in your eyes. “It’s not, I have to ask-”
He reached out, grabbing a hold of your sleeve as you turned to walk away. Part of your brain willed you to stay, to not cause a scene and show him the immaturity that came with being tangled up with a younger woman. But you couldn’t stay there, not with him and his absurd view of you.
You pulled out of his grip, shrugging your sleeve back into place. “That’s not who I am,” you murmured, heading for the door as quickly as your shaky legs would take you. You left Harry standing there dumbfounded, face screwed up as you tried to make sense of him.
-
“Come on, please. Just one little boogie,” you pleaded with Courtney, already rifling through her wardrobe for something to wear. You’d promised each other to slow down with the nights out this year, try and use your evenings for important things like studying, or swiping through each other’s Tinders. But you were still a little pissed off, just enough that you required a best friend boogie to shake it off.
“Fine.” Courtney rolled her eyes, dragging her body off the bed to get changed.
The bar was busy when you got there, as noisy and as crowded as it was on the weekends. You groaned as you sunk into your seat at a corner booth, too irritated to deal with handsy men and having to shout about your problems over loud music.
unknown number: are you home?
Your phone lit up as you pulled it out your bag, a scowl taking over your features as your eyes gazed over the words.
unknown number: ?
“Who’s that?” Courtney asked, searching your frown for answers as you turned your phone face down on the table.
“Who do you think?”
“What the hell happened in his office?”
“Nothing, seriously nothing. He asked me if I’m trying to get dirt on him. So I can get better fucking grades.”
“It’s a valid question,” Courtney shrugged.
You groaned, holding your head in your hands. “I know it is. I’m just offended that he thinks I’m that kind of girl,” you explained.
“I’m sure he doesn’t. But if anything were to happen, there’s more for him to lose.”
“Well I don’t think I’d be finishing my education anywhere near here if it ever got out.”
“No, you’d be the town whore. Young women would come from all over the world, desperately seeking advice from their hero. Professors would fear even looking you in the eye,” Courtney teased, well prepared for your dramatics.
“You’re making me regret it before it’s even begun.”
“Stop pursuing him then.”
“You’re the one who dared me in the first place!”
Courtney patted your arm fondly, swilling the last of her drink around the walls of the glass. “While you’re brilliant company, I’d rather have a full glass while I talk to you. Same again?”
You picked up your phone hesitantly, as if it would detect your fear and automatically message Harry. He was too confusing, messing with your head already despite having spent less than an hour with him. You didn’t want messy, but somehow you needed him.
You threw your head in your hands, groaning as you peeled through your fingers. Courtney was taking too long, and naturally your eyes found her twirling her hair and grinning in the direction of the man with his arm around her waist.
He was cute, the exact kind of beachy blonde man you knew would leave Courtney in love after five minutes. She turned to look back at you with wide eyes, her excitement palpable even through the crowds between you.
You gave her a thumbs up, smile only faltering when you spotted a familiar face behind Courtney, the same brown curls that seemed to haunt your every move. Harry looked up from his phone at just the right moment to catch you staring. Busted. His warm gaze met your frosty glare, his cheeks tinged pink as his eyes focused on you.
You couldn’t exactly continue to ignore his texts now, especially with your phone quite clearly placed in front of you, so you broke eye contact, glancing down to type out a text to Harry.
y/n: no, busy riding the university head at the minute. thought i’d do go for the big dog 🤷🏻‍♀️
unknown number: come outside .
You watched as Harry slipped out of his booth, stalking towards the entrance. And like a little lap dog, you followed, eager to know what he had to say.
You slipped an arm around Courtney’s waist as you passed her, whispering in her ear about getting some fresh air. She nodded, but her eyes were glazed over, too deeply interested in this man to really hear what you said.
Harry was leaning against the wall outside when you reached him, head turned upwards towards the late evening skies. You stood next to him, back pressed against the brick with your eyes resting on him. Scanning over his features like it was the first and last time you’d ever see his face. The little mark of his glasses on the bridge of his nose, curls in tatters after a full day of running his hands through them every five minutes. He was attractive from the second you first set eyes on him, but most of his pull was in his personality. You didn’t know much of him, but what you did know was charming. He always told a stupid dad joke at the start of class to draw everyone in, his feedback was always positive even on the worst essays. No one ever felt stupid or less than around Harry, he made that his mission. And yet somehow now you felt like the most ridiculous little girl, chasing after someone she can’t have just for any benefits it might bring.
Harry had turned to face you at some point during your musing, silently watching your features soften and then change, moulding into different emotions as the cogs turned in your mind.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” he started, shifting his body slightly as you looked back out onto the street.
“Then you shouldn’t have asked an offensive question.”
You knew you were showing your age, only aiding his perception of you, but you couldn’t help acting petty for a minute. You weren’t the adult in this situation, not the one who needed to be mature.
“I’m sorry. I just needed to know your intentions before-”
“You had every right to ask.”
Harry frowned, mouth opening in preparation to disagree with you before your rambling cut him off.
“No, you did. A lot more is at stake for you, I should’ve thought about that before I- I didn’t think you’d accept the drink, but you did, so I pushed, I was-”
“Testing the boundaries,” Harry finished for you.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t think we’ve hit them yet,” Harry mumbled, pulling his gaze away from you. You kept making him shy, painting an uncomfortable blush upon his skin, trailing goosebumps down his back. He was supposed to have the power here, yet he felt completely surrendered to you.
“Do you still want me to help you with marking?”
“If you want to. Was actually really helpful for me today.”
Your phone started buzzing in your hand, a stream of texts flashing up on the screen. “Courtney says she wants to go home with her new boyfriend, he has a roommate who can ‘have’ me,” you told Harry, face screwing up as you read the last words.
“That sounds nice,” he chuckled dryly, glancing down at his watch.
“Sounds horrific, no thank you. Haven’t even had my boogie yet,” you groaned, quickly tapping a similar yet softer message to Courtney.
Harry turned on his heel, stalking back towards the entrance of the bar as you dawdled behind him, eyes still glued to your phone screen.
“Where are we going?” you asked, following him to his table. Courtney was leaned against it, the new drink she’d meant to bring you long forgotten next to her. Her new lover was attached to her like a conjoined twin, his lips hitting places you’d dreamed of finding Harry’s. “Your table’s been taken over,” you mumbled, watching as Harry interrupted the snogging session with a firm tap on the back of the beachy blonde’s head.
“Y/n, Josh. Josh, y/n,” Harry beamed, inwardly cringing at having to explain his connection to you and Courtney.
You shot her a puzzled look, mouth hanging open as you looked between the three of them standing across from you. Courtney’s face mirrored yours, smile morphing into a smug smirk as she realised. “He’s your roommate?” she asked Josh, thumb pointing towards Harry.
“Yeah. How do you-?”
“Story for another time mate,” Harry laughed, patting down his pockets to check he had everything before leading you out of the bar.
“Did you plan this?” you laughed, cocking your head in mock suspicion. Josh and Courtney had disappeared into his bedroom before you’d even taken your shoes off, leaving you and Harry alone for the evening. In his house.
It was cute, a tiny but spacious two bed. He had books littering every surface, all as tattered and worn as the one he’d been reading in the bar. And the shut of him fixing you some dinner, a tea towel thrown over his shoulder… it was a good job you were propped up against the breakfast bar for how weak your legs had become.
Harry held his hands up in defence, turning round to look at you. “I swear on my life, no. I invited Josh out for one, he went to get our drinks and they must’ve bumped into each other at the bar.”
“Why did you go back to the same bar?”
“Why did you?” Harry countered, the pasta water bubbling dangerously high as he abandoned the jumble of pots and pans on the hob, leaning on the countertop in front of you.
“I asked you first,” you smirked, reaching out to swat at his face. He caught your wrist in one quick movement, pinning your hand down between you both.
“I’m older.” Harry cocked his head to the side, a playful curl tugging at the corners of his mouth. There was something soft about him, an air of domesticity that you dreamed about in a man but rarely saw.
You wrapped your fingers around his, pushing your hand against his until they sat just between your faces. “How old are you?”
“I am… old enough to be your teacher,” Harry grinned, pulling his eyes from your face to frown at your hands. “Are you seriously trying to arm wrestle me?”
You felt his arm tense up, his grip on your hand tightening as he slammed your hand back down on the countertop, a laugh rising out of him. “Seriously,” you frowned, making no attempt to loosen your grip on him as he rounded the breakfast bar, stopping when his face was only inches from yours.
The food was long forgotten, the pasta water sizzling as it overflowed onto the hob. Neither of you noticed, too enthralled by your proximity and the crackle of tension in the air.
“Thirty four,” Harry replied finally, his breath tickling your skin.
It didn’t matter anymore. He could’ve been fifty, seventy even and it wouldn’t even reach your ears. You couldn’t think with him this close to you, couldn’t force your brain to do the mental maths when the scent of his last coffee of the day lingered on his breath, the woody notes of his aftershave clinging to his shirt, deep grey ink drawn onto the inches of exposed tan skin.
“Dinners ruined,” Harry murmured, nodding his head back towards the hob, eyes still glued to yours.
“I’m not hungry,” you whispered, breath hitching as Harry moved closer. He cupped your jaw, running his thumb along your lower lip. And then he was moving around the corner, stepping into you as you opened your legs to let him closer. Your heart was hammering in your chest, eyes wide as you stared up at him.
Harry’s lips had barely met yours before the smoke alarm set off, barely given you a taste of him before he was across the kitchen, stabbing at the smoke detector with pain etched into his features.
Your eyes met when the wailing finally stopped, his frustration turning to amusement as he looked up towards the ceiling. “Maybe that was a sign,” he smirked.
You rested your head in your palm, brows knitted as you watched him lean against the sink, too far away from you. “Maybe we should follow the universes rules,” you whispered. “So you shouldn’t cross this,” you pointed to the breakfast bar.
“What if I need to get to that side of the room?” Harry countered, throwing his head back on his shoulders.
“You can ask me to pass you something.” But he was already moving closer, already rounding the countertop. And then his lips were on yours again, your makeshift barricade already forgotten. He was stronger this time, his tongue faster as it wrestled against yours, the sweet nectar of his mouth like honey as he kissed deeper into you.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” you whispered, pulling away for a second to catch your breath.
“No, we shouldn’t,” Harry echoed, pressing fervent pecks to your swollen pout.
“It’s really bad.” The words were tumbling out like a reminder to you both, your brains final plea for some display of sanity before it went too far.
Harry’s hands were wandering over your body, his eyes locked on yours as his mouth trailed down your neck. “I fear the line is too far behind us now,” he murmured, husky voice muffled against your throat. You were sure he could feel your heart working overtime to try and calm itself down, thumping against the walls of your ribs as if it were about to break free.
“I can’t see it”, you mumbled, tangling a hand in his hair. You were panting, your mouth gaping open as Harry’s fingertips clawed and kneaded at your doughy hips, his other hand cupping the nape of your neck. His mouth was magic, his tongue grazing over the spots his teeth would nip as he moved further down your body. It was as if he’d been starved for years, your skin his lifeblood, the food he so desperately craved.
But footsteps at the top of the stairs broke your spell, you and Harry forced to tear yourselves away from each other like repelling magnets. You could see the regret in his eyes, the hesitance of his touch as it left your body. He stumbled across the room to the sofa, throwing himself down as if physically pained to be out of your reach. You forced a smile onto your mouth, straightening out your skirt as Courtney rounded the corner into the living room.
“Nice night?” you smirked.
“I was just explaining to Josh that we’re being responsible now. Which means no sleepovers with boys you meet in bars, especially when you have classes the next day,” Courtney shrugged, putting on her best puppy dog eyes for you.
“I’m not your mum,” you laughed, turning to face her properly. “If you want to stay then stay.”
Courtney’s eyes flicked to Harry, as if waiting for him to tell her to leave. “Stay,” he told her, raising his eyebrows suggestively to Josh. “Even if it’s a bit weird,” he mumbled, low enough for only you to hear.
“Text me!” you called after Courtney, though her and Josh were already running back up the stairs for round god-knows-what.
“You can stay too if you like,” Harry told you, settling back into the sofa cushions.
“Mmm, maybe not. One boundary crossed in a day is enough, no?” you shrugged, busying yourself by fiddling with a loose thread on your tights.
“Who said anything about crossing boundaries?” Harry smirked. He passed your jumper to you when you rolled your eyes, grabbing his keys from the side table as he stood up.
-
The air was tense when you got in the car, only speaking to direct Harry to your flat. His fingers danced along your thigh at every red light, his eyes lingering on you every time he glanced to the left.
“It’s just here,” you murmured, gesturing to the building ahead of you. You didn’t know why you kept talking yourself out of something you so clearly wanted, something that came to you both so naturally. It was right with a hint of wrong, wrong with a little right. But you couldn’t shake the feeling of his lips on yours, the taste of something you so desperately craved.
Harry pulled into your driveway, questions written all over his face. You looked at him wordlessly, setting your hand on top of his.
“Do you trust Courtney?” he asked, rubbing his temple with his free hand.
“With my life.” It wasn’t Courtney finding out that bothered you, and he knew that. If you were sloppy, anyone could see you together and realise what was going on. Or worse, other students could find out and use it against him in the very way he’d accused you of. Or worse still, you could be only one of many students he did this with.
“Then as long as we’re careful, there doesn’t have to be consequences,” Harry murmured, somehow knowing exactly how to dispel all of your worries. “Unless you’d rather leave it where it is. No harm, no foul,” he offered, squinting slightly as he tried to gage your reaction. He so desperately didn’t want to leave it, to put it aside as a twenty-four hour romance, never to be spoken of again. But it was clear that neither of you wanted to suffer the consequences.
“I don’t know if I can just close that door,” you sighed, the thrill too addictive to put aside. “Keep an eye on Courtney for me, please,” you whispered, slipping out of the car before you could manage to confuse yourself further.
He stayed outside until you get in the door, a small smile playing on his lips. You hadn’t wanted to leave it, and you weren’t trying to get something out of him. It was still dangerous, still as threatening to both of your lives, but you were both in it.
You’d barely met Harry’s eye for the entire class, willing yourself to forget he was that hot before your foolish desires turned into something unforgivable. Even still, your legs had carried you to his office at the end of the day with urgency. The warm glow of his lamp was too familiar, the woody aftershave you could smell from outside the door too inviting. You stepped into his office silently, pushing the door closed behind you.
“Hi,” Harry smiled from behind a stack of papers. He watched as you pulled out the chair in front of his desk, dropping into it with a content grin. “I had a very fun chat with Josh this morning.”
“I bet. What did he say?”
Harry halved the papers in front of him, placing the smaller pile in front of you. His fingertips brushed against your hand as you reached for the top one, lightning bolts streaking through your skin from the point of contact.
“That I’m a creep. And someone should’ve told him yesterday,” Harry grinned, reluctantly moving his hand away from yours.
“Did Courtney not say anything?” you laughed, screwing your face up as you imagined that conversation. Harry shrugged, running a hand through his tousled hair.
“I can’t believe she’s stayed at your house,” you cringed, nose wrinkling as you thought about it. It was enough of a boundary crossed to stay there if you were sleeping with him, but to have your professor know you’d been having sex under his roof… eurgh.
“You could’ve stayed too,” Harry murmured, shifting his marked papers to the empty space beside him.
“You know I couldn’t, Harry.”
“Remind me of your reasons.”
You turned the name plate on his desk round to face him, pointing at the word ‘professor’ with raised eyebrows.
“That didn’t stop you kissing me.”
“It was an act of charity!” you protested. “How can you turn down an old, lonely man who keeps trying to kiss you?”
Harry chuckled, leaning his forearms on the desk. “I’m old and lonely now?”
You nodded, a tiny smirk emerging as you chewed on the end of your pen. The more you got to see the playful side of Harry, the more you needed him. He seemed to have just the right dose of everything you wanted, your perfect man right in front of you and yet just out of reach.
“If that’s what it takes to kiss you, I’ll gladly be the oldest and loneliest man in the world,” he mewled, eyes sparkling as he leaned closer, his grin only centimetres away from you.
But then came a knock at the door, leaving you both springing away from each other once again. Harry cleared his throat as he walked over, straightening himself out as he tried to come up with a million plausible reasons why you would be in his office.
You craned your neck to see who had chosen to interrupt that moment. It another student from your class, asking about the assignment he’d set that day. You’d never spoken to her much, and from the way she was flicking her hair at Harry, you probably wouldn’t push for a friendship. Something lit up inside of you when you watched how professional and curt he was with her, a far cry from how he’d ever acted around you.
He got rid of her fairly quickly, wishing her a good weekend. Harry slammed the door behind him, giving it a second before walking back towards you. He stopped in front of your chair, crouching down just centimetres away from your face.
“I have a proposition. I think my house will be occupied this weekend, and it doesn’t seem like luck is on our side here. Why don’t we go somewhere? Out of the city obviously. If you’d like,” he was blushing slightly as he spoke, his fingers anxiously tapping on the armrests of your chair.
“That would be nice,” you smiled, the fire inside of you only growing warmer at the thought of spending proper alone time with Harry.
He leaned forward, pressing a quick and gentle kiss to your lips before flashing you a grin. “Sorry. Just had to do that once,” he mumbled.
You watched as Harry circled around his desk, hips swaying in mock seduction when he felt your eyes on him. “Did you ever notice me before?” you asked, curiosity lacing your words.
“Of course I did.”
“No, like, notice me, notice me,” you were gesturing wildly, hoping he’d catch on to your insinuation. Asking a man if he ever fancied you was embarrassing even for you, never mind if you had to physically spell it out for them.
“I never thought about you that way, if that’s what you’re asking. You’re my student, it never crossed my mind,” Harry told you, placing his glasses at the of his nose as he resumed grading.
“But now?”
He paused for a moment, gaze dripping with lust as it dragged over your face. “Now… I am beginning to think about you that way.”
‘Beginning’ was good enough for you. You leaned back in your chair, lips curling into a satisfied smile as you fiddled with the pen cap, anticipation coursing through your veins.
“You realise you’re supposed to be helping me? You’ve only graded about four papers,” Harry teased, head nodding towards his towering ‘finished’ pile.
You thumbed through your pile, counting under your breath as Harry watched with an amused smirk. “Five, actually,” you shot back.
Harry’s only response was to raise his eyebrows, arms folded across his chest as he leaned back in the seat. “You shouldn’t be rushing me anyway. The longer I take to grade, the more time you spend with me,” you grinned.
Harry stood up again, circling around the desk to tug your chair - with you still in it - next to his. You looked over at him as he sat back down, his eyebrow raised as an amused giggle bubbled out of you. “You’re clearly distracted by looking at me,” he shrugged, grinning as you slapped a hand over your mouth to stop the laughing fit.
“Now I’m more distracted by my proximity to you,” you grumbled, tearing your eyes away from Harry to stare back at the paper. That lasted all of 5 seconds before you were turning to face Harry again, knocking your pen against his shoulder to get his attention back on you. “Since you never replied, do you not want me to take forever, so you get to spend all that time with me?”
“Do you think I’m ever going to run out of papers?”
“You could always stop setting assignments,” you shrugged.
Harry swatted at the tip of your nose, his eyes bright behind his tortoise shell glasses. “You are just full of suggestions that all end in me being unemployed.”
“You chose this career,” you murmured, voice faltering as Harry placed a finger under your chin, pulling you up to face him properly. “I wouldn’t mind if you took forever,” he smiled, his eyes dark as they landed on your mouth.
Harry’s thumb was running across your bottom lip, swiping a tiny bead of spit over it until the rosebud skin was reflecting the glow of the lights. Your heart was hammering in your throat, almost willing someone to catch you in such an innocent yet inexplicable position. You stayed frozen for a few minutes, eyes caressing every shape on the other’s face, until Harry sucked in a deep breath, springing to his feet. “Let’s go,” he grunted. “Walk over to the bus stop and meet me there.”
-
“Are you kidnapping me?” you laughed as you slipped into the passenger seat.
“Damn. You got me,” Harry grinned, his smile not quite hiding the frustration in his eyes, his eyebrows knitted as he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “Couldn’t take one more second in that fucking office,” he groaned, tires squealing as he sped away from the bus stop.
He was a man on a mission as he raced across town, desperate to put as much distance as he could between you and the university. You stayed silent, the anticipation threatening to burst out of you if you dared open your mouth.
You couldn’t help but feel a sting of disappointment as he pulled up in a secluded car park, any signs of life obscured by overgrown bushes and trees. You so desperately wished for Harry to take you home, to do the things that you’d dreamed about.
He lead you over to a bench just behind the trees, wildflowers and unkept grass tickling at your bare legs as you set next to him. He was still silent, brows still knitted in frustration as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicking open the lid and holding it out to you. You took one, eyes flitting between the box and Harry’s face as he watched you.
“Only when I’m stressed,” Harry murmured, answering your puzzled look. You handed the lighter back to him, turning to face him fully as you exhaled the first drag. “And you’re stressed why?” you asked, watching the frustrations fall from his face as a wisp of smoke trailed over the pair of you.
“Because you’re dangerous,” he smirked, watching the ash fall as he tapped the cigarette. The remnants of chipped nail varnish on his fingertips, the prominent veins in his strong hand. You never thought watching someone smoke could turn you on, but the growing wet patch in your panties was proof that there wasn’t a thing Harry could do that wasn’t overwhelmingly sexy.
“How?”
Harry turned his attention back to you after a beat, resting an arm behind you on the bench. “Because you look at me like that,” he groaned, his voice husky as he spoke. “You sit there with something so filthy yet innocent in your eyes, making me want you when we both know you’re out of reach.”
He dropped his cigarette at his feet, stumping it out as you took a final drag of yours before mimicking him. “I’m not out of reach,” you whispered, reaching up to push a curl from Harry’s face.
“I can’t have you,” Harry murmured, wrapping his fingers around your wrist and pulling until you were straddling his thighs. His hands found your hips as you settled on top of his bulge, the cotton of his trousers melding to the slick coating your panties. You wrapped your arms around his neck, relaxing into his touch.
“You already do.” You knew what Harry was saying. You just couldn’t bother caring any longer about who might see you, or what would happen when you’d given him your all and yet couldn’t take it any further. He was exactly the kind of person you shouldn’t get involved with, and if you were a better person, you would have paid attention to that rather than finding yourself perched atop his thighs, leaning into his mouth as he pressed urgent kisses to your neck.
His fingers traced a question along the neckline of your jumper, his green eyes pleading with yours to let him uncover more of you. You couldn’t speak, couldn’t function for a second longer unless Harry released some of the energy built up inside of you. All you could do was grab a hold of the curls at the nape of his neck and hope what Harry saw in your eyes was permission.
He wasted no time in yanking down the top of your jumper, taking your bra with it until your nipple was exposed, inches from his lips. You ground down on his hips as he took you into his mouth, breathy moans clawing their way out of your throat as his tongue swirled around the pink bud. His hand was squeezing as he suckled, the perfect blend of hard and soft. Your whole body was electric, lightning bolts sending shudders through your system from where he touched you.
Harry’s lips popped off your nipple, his fingers still groping and massaging the exposed skin of your breast. He kissed his way back up to your jawline, his free hand slipping under your skirt. “Gonna do so much to this body when I have the time,” he murmured against your lips, pushing his hips up against yours. The moan that slipped past your parted lips was animalistic, your fingertips clawing for a hold on Harry’s crumpled collar.
You let his forehead push against your cheek, putty in his hands to be molded to whatever he needed you to be. His lips met yours with pure desire, your whole body limp as you succumbed to him. His lips, his touch, his cock throbbing under your core, it was too much to bear. The evening breeze that trailed over your exposed skin barely made a dent in cooling you down, did nothing to alert you to where you were or who you were with.
You reached down, leaning back until your shaking hands met the cool metal of Harry’s belt buckle. His hips bucked, nudging his clothed tip closer to your core, drawing a deep moan out of him when your fingertips brushed over his length. “Not here, princess,” he groaned, sinking his teeth into your swollen bottom lip.
You wanted to touch him, to make him feel as needed as he did to you, to feel the burn as his cock broke through your walls. The disappointment that throbbed through your core was short-lived though as his fingers moved to your entrance, plucking your panties to the side as your slick coated his lap. You were soaked through, ready for him in a way that you’d definitely be embarrassed by later. His fingertips had barely grazed you, yet you were writhing and panting as if you’d never been touched before.
You dipped your head onto Harry’s shoulder, reluctantly pulling your hands away from his hips as he presses his thumb against your clit. Your gasp was quietened by your lips pressing into his collar, your teeth tugging against the material as he rubbed slow circles over your sweet spot.
You barely managed to croak out a plea for more, your voice failing you as every muscle in your body contracted, your walls begging for Harry to touch you deeper.
He answered with a groan, shifting you in his lap until two fingers sunk into you, piercing through the tension in your core. You were rocking against his hand, lips ghosting along his jawline as you chased the high you were already so close to. Every buck of your hips pressed your clit into his palm, the contact making your hair stand on end. He was electric, his fingers fucking into you with a power that almost had you fearing what he could do in bed.
You were burning, your heart pounding in your ears. It was too loud, the sound of your slick, your moans and Harry’s breathless pants mixing together in a filthy symphony spurring you closer to your release. You wanted more of him, for him to fuck you in every way possible, but it was overwhelming. You couldn’t focus, pleasure rolling through your body in waves as his mouth found your nipple again, the added sensation pushing you over the edge. You were too weak too hold on, too close to do anything other than succumb to your high, tensing in his hold as you cried out his name.
It echoed around your mind, your eyes screwed shut as he rode you through it, your inner walls clamping down on his fingers. Your thighs were still trembling as he pulled his hand from your core and pushed his fingertips past his lips, sucking every bit of your come from them.
You were frozen, staring at Harry through heavy eyes with the ghost of a smile curling the corners of your mouth. You felt lifeless, trapped inside a body that didn’t feel like yours, even as he tucked your exposed breast back into your jumper and pulled you into his chest. You’d given him everything you had, and you’d happily stay on that bench in your blissful bubble for the rest of your life.
“Should get you home,” Harry murmured, his voice as he pressed a kiss into your hair. You hugged him tighter, unable to get up and walk away even if you wanted to.
eee guys what did you think ?! this was a bit choppy and weirdly written but 🤪 it will all come together in the next part
taglist: @angeldavis777 @softestqueeen @jerseygirlinca @palmettogal508 @drewsephrry @vonnexann @austiebuttbutt @indigo24hughes @peterparkerbae @im-an-overthinker @daphnesutton @loveableidioticweirdo @harryshotpocket @thegrapejuiceblues1982 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @swag13r @ashleighsss @tswiftsgf @chesthairrry @nikkisimps @hannah9921 @lilfreakjez @prettygurl-2009 @s-h-e-l-b-e-e @indierockgirrl @cicicavill7 @harrystylesluverrrr @cohnfusedarling @ell0ra-br3kk3r @stylesfever @stylesbrock @harry-nialllover @fanfic-whore
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dorotheataylor · 3 months ago
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Sneezes with kisses
Pairing- Nanami Kento x Reader
Summary- What’s better than to have your husband take care of you once in a while? Especially when you’re sick.
Warnings- FLUFF OMG, domestic vibes, Kento is such a husband material (omg i love him sm), reader annoys nanami but he’s whipped for her, please I need Nanami in my life😭, my poor english as always :p
Word count- 750+
A/N- OMG I LOVE NANAMI SO MUCH I CANT DESCRIBE IT IN WORDS. Also here’s the fic for Nanami Kento as it got the most votes from the poll I posted monthsss ago (im late as alwayssss). I’m so sorry this is shorttt but I promise to make it up. I got lazy :p. Enjoy the domestic bliss y’all! This is totally not a self-insert fic.
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“Love, you need to lay down-”
“No-”
“You need to rest-”
“I’m fine, Ken-” Sneeze!
“See? Listen to me for once in your life and lie down.” Nanami sighed, shaking his head at your stubbornness.
“Fine.” You huffed and laid down on the bed, while Kento arranged the pillows beneath you for you to feel comfortable.
Nanami looked at you for a few moments. You were really stubborn and reckless when it came to your health. After watching you sneezing and almost losing your consciousness because of your fever, he had to practically force you to lie down and get rest. You tended to overwork yourself almost every time, much to his dismay.
“What?” Sneeze. Damn, you really needed to get better soon.
“Nothing, just watching how stubborn you are.” Nanami sighed, his expressions turning soft. “Love, you need to start taking care of yourself.”
“I’m fine, Ken. It’s just a little cold.” You shrugged, before sneezing again.
At this point, Kento Nanami was so done with you downplaying your sickness every time. Kento loved you, he really did, but sometimes your habits and actions made him want to pull out his hair.
Nanami first met you when he was still a grade lower than his current. You had just joined the Jujutsu Society and were paired up with him for your first ever mission. And when you had gotten injured, Nanami was the one who took care of you because he held himself responsible for your injuries. And ever since then, you became good friends and eventually lovers.
You were always the type to get excited over little things and had a loud personality, just like one of your colleagues Satoru Gojo and totally contrast to Nanami's personality. But still somehow you two got along and here you were.
You sneezed again, your face turning a bit red from the cold. "Ugh I hate being sick!"
Nanami sighed again. "That's why you're going to take a few days off and rest. Your body needs it, love. You can't overwork yourself."
You sighed and looked up at him, your expressions softening. "But Ken, I can't just sit at home in the bed while you are out fighting those damn curses." You whined.
Kento rolled his eyes. "Love, sitting at home in the bed for a few days isn't the end of the world."
"But-"
"No buts. You're staying at home for a few days. End of discussion." Nanami said a bit sternly, leaving no space for arguments.
You pouted and Kento could feel himself melting a bit seeing your expressions. He sighed. "Would it make you feel better if I took a day off too? I'll prepare you a nice ginger honey tea and warm bath. How does it sound?"
Your eyes lit up at his words and you immediately smiled, your pouty expressions no longer seen. "I'd love that, Ken. It's been a while since we spent some quality time together."
Kento smiled, something he did only with you around, and leaned down to kiss on your forehead. "Rest. I'll bring you something warm."
As he was about to stand up, you pulled him back down with his arm and kissed him softly, smiling against it. Kento didn't hesitate to kiss back, another one of his favourite things to do with you.
He didn't know how he got so lucky, having such a wonderful woman as his wife, loving him through everything. He didn't deserve you, really.
You pulled away and grinned, a mischievous glint in your eyes. "Now we're both sick. Meaning another two days off. And more cuddles! So lay down with me."
Nanami rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile at you, your cheekiness being one of the many things he loved about you.
He got under the covers beside you, wrapping his arms around you as you rested your head on his chest. He kissed your head before whispering, "I love you."
You smiled, these three words coming from his mouth never failing to make your heart flutter. You looked up at him with that adoring gaze you always had for him and whispered back, "I love you too," before burying your face back into his chest.
And as they lay together, Nanami couldn't help but sigh in contentment. He loved such moments, having the love of his life in his arms and her saying she loved him. He'd do anything just to have this domestic bliss with you.
Maybe you falling sick wasn't so bad after all.
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millersfinest · 2 months ago
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the thing in your chest that beats ² | e.w
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santa barbara!ellie williams & ex-firefly!reader
wc: 4.5k
mini-series: california | oregon (you’re here) | idaho | wyoming
blurb: you put up a good fight with those rattlers, but it wasn’t good enough—all it got you was strung up near a beach where the sun scorched you dry. abruptly, their set-up gets fucked by their own prisoners, saving your life by only a thread. but the wrath that lingered under your skin was immense, and you’re not the only one to experience that phenomenon. when another damaged soul encounters your brittle state; the dreams that put you in a tough position manifest into reality. along with a few extra miscellaneous things…
cw: angry!r, slow-burn romance, eventual smut, proximity trope, both reader and ellie on a path of redemption, afab body parts mentioned, vulgar language, reader being complicated, mentions of attraction, inner guilt, use of ‘y/n’ and ‘woman’.
note: honestly i just can’t wait for them to kiss (spoiler: not this chapter). but they’re learning to trust each other. just know in the idaho ch we’re gonna be UP! please, enjoy this for now!! (also: i hope the lot of you voted for the presidential election. these are very very important times #harriswaltz2024)
Oregon
Several days and nights were spent on a boat, cruising up the coast of California. It was one of those livable boats, where you could hide from the sun in a room with stable furniture to eat on, and a bed to sleep on. You spent a lot of your time inside the hatch, analyzing a map that Ellie had labeled with a marker. Hoping that you’d maintain your luck enough to actually see Wyoming for yourself.
Ellie had confessed that she came from Jackson, but she still hadn’t told you the why. Instead of asking about it, you refrained, in turn, asking about the settlement. Were the people kind? Did they have horses? Because you heard they had horses.
Those were the questions she could answer easily, with little to no hesitation. Until your questioning began to irritate her—which, in turn, irritated you.
The two of you bickered over the smallest of things in those days on the water. It could’ve been the heat, or the rationed food, or even your similar personalities. You couldn’t help but clash every chance you got. By the time the two of you drifted onto the coastline of Oregon, the conversations had diminished—because of your stubborn attitudes.
Leaving behind the boat was a drag, but there’s wasn’t much of a choice. The rest of the journey toward Wyoming was going to be on foot. Over cracked pavements and between dewey trees. If only the trip could be simplified by the use of a boat—it would be less extraneous.
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The weather had gotten significantly cooler the more north you traveled. The mornings were the coolest, and the days were chilled with a gentle breeze. It would rain eighty percent of the time, which made it harder for you and Ellie to continue the trek. But both of you were resilient.
Somewhere between Salem and Portland, you found yourselves looking for a place to stay for the night. You had run across some nefarious people when you first arrived at the coast; and you’ve been recovering ever since. Trying to collect as many things as possible on the road to make up for the lost ammo and supplies. Which is what led to you looking for a place to crash in, basically, pitch black darkness. Navigating the dewey wood with nothing but the lights attached to your bags.
Droplets of water slipped off the waxy green leaves of the trees above. Splashing onto you—and it was shocking every time. The climate sent a gentle chill up your spine, so the water was even colder. Ellie walked ahead of you, mumbling under her breath from the lack of shelter. Her agitation was ruminating off her skin like a furnace. “We should’ve never gone this way— there’s nothing out here!”
Her agitation was obviously laced with panic. Ellie was exhausted from all the traveling and worries about conflict. “We entered a campsite a few miles back. At the very least there should be a cabin out here.” You surmised, squinting your eyes trying to defy the darkness. The auburn-haired woman scoffed under her breath, adjusting the hood of her raincoat. “If you wanna take a break, just say that.” You reached for her wrist, pulling gently. “It’s been a long day…”
“Absolutely not. We need a place to sleep tonight— with a roof.” Ellie pulled her arm away, placing her hands onto her hips. Her head hung low, clearly fatigued.
“How about this: you park it by this tree for a little bit, while I walk around to see if I can find somethin’ for us.” You offer, shrugging your shoulders, casually. The both of you were exhausted, but it seemed that Ellie was suffering a bit more than you were. Was that not that point of a team? To tap in someone else when you need it. Plus, you really felt that there was a cabin nearby. There had to be one. Most campsites had cabins that hikers and campers would go to before they began their adventures. For supplies or even important notices about wild animals.
Or, maybe, you watched too much tv at the firefly base.
She shook her head. “No chance. Separating in the dark doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What? So, you can get lost and give us another problem to deal with?”
Pinching the bridge of your nose, you press your lips into an irritated line. “Are you seriously insulting my intelligence, right now?” You raised an eyebrow, glaring at the woman in front of you. “I was a firefly for six years of my life—“
“Oh, my God! The whole world knows that you were a fucking firefly, y/n. No need for the reminder.”
Ellie began to walk in another direction, sternly. You scoffed, following after her like confused duckling—which was an embarrassing thought. “You’re so insufferable. All I was trying to do was help you out— because to be honest, you’re not handling this well.” You quip, walking by her side with your hands shoved into your pockets.
She scoffed. “How could I handle this well? Please, tell me.” Stopping in her tracks, she glares at you. Olive irises blown out from the darkness around her, boring into your aggressive frame.
Taking a step closer to her, the corners of your lips curled, mischievously. “You could start by taking a fucking break and letting me take the lead.” There was something that differed between you and Ellie’s versions of frustration and anger. She took it up a level, while you brought it down. It could fool an idiot into thinking you weren’t mad at all, when really you were fuming. The pace of your voice was slow, almost menacing. True fire remained behind your eyes, in your posture—the way your lip twitched as you spoke.
“I’m not some damsel in distress you pull everywhere then blame when shit goes wrong.” You added, taking in her battered features. The scar in her eyebrow and her top lip. The freckles under her peeling skin from the days aboard. “I have a great sense of direction; I’ll have you know.” As you spoke, she examined your features the same way you did. “Stop arguing with me, sit your ass down, drink some water— and i’ll be back in twenty minutes tops!”
Ellie rolled her tongue in her mouth, averting her eyes from you. She was too stubborn to admit her own exhaustion to you—she’d rather be in control of the situation than someone she barely knew. Someone, who at the start of this trip, was, in fact, a damsel in distress. Your body had healed in the days since departing Santa Barbara. Not completely, but in progress. You were walking better, even though you still had a bit of a limp.
Her focus on you made it easy to forget her own ailments. The missing fingers on her left hand, the wound on her abdomen. They were healing, surprisingly. However, her attention still remained on your well-being.
She sighed, itching her nose with her index finger. “Fine. Whatever.” Ellie shrugged her backpack off, leaning against the tree. “Just come back in one piece, yeah?” Somehow, she managed to sound insulting with her hidden words of weariness.
You snickered, narrowing your eyes. “Is that worry I’m sensing or…?”
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
With that, you backed toward the path, chuckling under your breath. Adjusting the hood over your head, you focused to begin looking for the cabin that you just knew was close by. Feet crunching over dead leaves and sticks that were imbedded in the mud.
The light attached to the strap of your bag began to flicker as you pushed between the trees. “Come on…” You hit the light to stabilize it. “Now is not the time.”
When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.
Your past affiliations haunted you like a ghost. Somehow, you always found yourself looking for that light. Perhaps, in this case, it’s Jackson, Wyoming—a place far from what you know. That was more of a long-term goal, though. The light you were currently looking for was a building made of wood, preferably insulated.
Ahead of you, you weren’t sure if you were seeing things, but what you were hoping for was coming into view. The brightness of the moon illuminating the starry sky outlined the top of the cabin, exposing its silhouette. In excitement, you rushed toward the building, peaking through the foggy windows. From what you could see, there was nothing inside but old furniture. Thankfully, no infected. You were beat; the last thing you wanted to do was fight that damn virus.
As you peeked through every window you could find, jiggling door handles to try and find a way in, you realized it was a home. Not some hiking administration building you surmised would be around the trail. Spending enough time circling the cabin, you pick up a rock from the ground to crack a window. You were getting in that house one way or another.
The rectangular shape was rather high for your reach. Huffing, you dug your fingers into the divots of the logs. It wasn’t the best grip, but it was enough to get you into that window. After throwing your body through the hole, you landed on the ground with a thud. A shallow pain throbbed in your thigh—the one that Ellie had stitched for you back in Santa Barbara. Shutting your eyes, you took in a breath from the slight pain. You weren’t one hundred percent just yet.
Exhaling, you stood tall on your feet to get a look at the interior. A long plaid couch was placed in front of what used to be a fireplace. Burned logs was still lying in the pit, but they burned to a crisp. You were certain that if you touched them, they would fall apart under the weight of your hand. The dirt shapes on the walls symbolized that picture use to fill this space—the cabin was drained of life.
It’s only source of existence was the fact that you were standing in it.
Before leaving to retrieve Ellie, you jogged up the steep stairs of the cabin. To check the upstairs rooms for any infected or people. You must’ve been one lucky woman, because there was nothing but dust occupying those rooms. Quickly, you went through the front door to grab your partner.
Crunching on leaves and sticks, you startled her. Ellie was spotted sat in front of the tree, leaning her back with her eyes closed—which was the least smart thing to do, but she was tired. The sound of your boots crushing the elements of the forest jolted her from her light sleep. She gripped her switchblade in a fist, looking at you with determination. “Fuck,” She sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. “I thought you were someone else…”
“Nope. Just me.” You breathed, watching her as she stood to her feet. “There’s a cabin about ten minutes from this spot.” Crossing your arms, a slight smile rested on your lips. A smile screaming I-told-you-so.
Ellie slung her bag around her shoulders, dusting off her jeans; doing everything to ignore your antics. “Are we just gonna stand here, or are you gonna show me where it’s at?”
Sucking your teeth, you pivoted, rolling your eyes. She was such a sore loser. It felt good to be right, and for her to be wrong. You didn’t get lost like she thought—instead, you carried out exactly what you planned: finding shelter for the night.
The two of you approached the cabin, Ellie releasing a sigh of relief. Hallow sounds of your shoes walking up the steps of the wooden porch sounded. You opened the door, allowing her to walk through. Staring her down with same smile you had a few minutes ago. “Nice place, huh?” You asked, shutting the door behind you, turning the lock.
She meandered inside, surveying the interior. Her fingers slide along the dusty bannister above the fireplace, pursing her lips. “Not bad…” Ellie lifted an eyebrow, peering over her shoulder at you. Lifting her finger, she eyed the dust that stuck to her skin.
“Told you there was a cabin around here somewhere.”
“I knew you were gonna say that.” Ellie chuckled, dryly. Taking moderate steps toward the kitchen. Every time you stopped, she insisted that inventory was taken of all of your supplies. She achingly tugged her backpack off, sighing. You followed behind her, leaning your arms against the counter—watching her tired movements.
“Why are you looking at me?” She dropped her hands onto the counter, with that familiar irritated glint in her eyes.
You purse your lips. “You know I could do this, right?” Shrugging off your bag, you swing it onto the counter. There was a slight sway to Ellie—the only reason being her exhaustion. “We’ve done this a number of times; you can go rest up. There are three bedrooms upstairs— take your pick.”
Ellie scoffed, continuing the work in front of her. Counting under her breath. You grit your jaw, glaring at her. She was truly insufferable—moments like these really highlighted that. Her stubbornness and pride amounted about the same to yours; causing you to wonder… Were you just as bad? You pity the friends you had in your youth if that was the case. Releasing a meditative breath, you placed a hand over hers. “Seriously, Ellie, I got it. Go get some sleep.”
She looks at you through her eyelashes, allowing your skin to remain on hers. “Aren’t you tired, too?”
“Yeah, but not as much as you… I could stand to be up for a little while longer. You on the other hand…”
She pulled her hand from under yours, pushing off her wet hood. Her auburn strands were damp, sticking to her freckled skin. “All right. Make sure to write down the things we don’t have that we need.”
“I know.”
“And mark the items that we’re running low on.”
“Again, I know.” You motion with her hand to run along with amused eyes. Waiting to begin, you watch as she hesitantly walks toward the steep wooden stairs around the corner.
It was like pulling teeth for Ellie to willingly hand over responsibility to you. In her mind, she was still doing you a favor—she was working for you. But being that she was extremely tired, her inhibitions loosened. The touch of your skin to hers, surprisingly, comforted her concerns; made her sleepier. She heavily stepped up the stairs, leaning on the railing for support.
She walked into the first bedroom she saw. The light from the moon cascaded through the window that the queen-sized bed was pushed against. Shedding her damp clothing, she spread them out onto a dresser before getting into the bed. Before nodding off, she peered out the window with a burdened mind. Remembering the bulk of her actions leading up to Santa Barbara. With the added misfortune of Santa Barbara. Then… You.
The moon reflected over a sparkling pier, that was down a hill behind the cabin. The lake was completely in her view, rippling subtly from the fish beneath the surface. She cracked a smile, peering at the beautiful sight. Rolling up a pillow, she propped it up enough to let that be the final thing she sees before sleeping. Using the elements of the earth as a night cap.
She’d woken up many times throughout the night, but she was used to that habit. When the sun peaked through her window, Ellie had gotten as much sleep as she could have. The smell of cooked fish had wafted into her nostrils, pulling her from the old mattress. With a groan, she swung her legs over, rubbing her eyes.
In a blur, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure walking toward the pier. Blinking, she leaned on the pillows against the window, watching as the figure began to remove their clothes—it was you. Ellie watched as you dropped your items, carelessly, before jumping into the water. For the first time in awhile, her mind went blank. Completely empty.
Well… Not that empty.
She checked the clothes she had on from the night before, and for some reason, they still were damp. Enough moisture resided in her jeans that she didn’t feel comfortable putting them back on. Sighing, she began searching through the drawers for anything she could put on in the meantime.
Finding a pair of plaid pajama pants, she slid those on, throwing her holed band t-shirt over her sports bra. “What time is it?” She patted her jeans for the watch she carried with her. Cursing under her breath, she realized it was left in her backpack.
Quickly, Ellie found herself navigating to the first floor. Her eyes widened at the organized sight of all of your supplies. You had grouped similar items together and left a piece of paper with the amounts in each group. At the bottom of the page, you had written a list of the items you needed more of. Ellie’s watch was sitting on the end of the counter, properly placed. “You have outdone yourself…” She muttered, picking up the paper you scribbled on.
When she flipped it over, the subtle grin her lips faded. Seeing the sorrowful words written on the page. Since leaving Santa Barbara, she noticed you pulling out this letter a lot. The one you fetched from under that infected woman. You had never gone into what this letter or note meant to you—probably, because she never asked. That didn’t mean she wasn’t curious about it, though. Ellie never would’ve expected that you’d write on it over something as silly as taking inventory.
There were so many things she didn’t understand about you.
The aroma of fish filled her nostrils again, leading her to slab of rock placed on the counter. A coverage of cloth was placed over the fish to ward off flies. She peeked under it, seeing a perfectly scaled and grilled fish. Hunger got the best of her, and she began to eat the fish with her hands. Humming at the satisfaction of filling her stomach.
After, she grabbed the cracked watch to check the time. It was ten in the morning, the both of you should’ve been back on the road.
Pressing her lips into a line, she walked out the back door to alert you. Her fingers fiddling with the plaid cotton on her legs.
The air was fairly cool, but the sun warmed you up. Basking in the lake was like splashing your face with cold water in the morning—it was a wake-up call. Something that you needed after the night you had. In the room across from Ellie’s, the bed was too firm, and the sheets were too prickly. Your mind kept you up with the image of Honey’s infected body. And, whenever you did shut your eyes, you were back on those pillars again.
You had no choice but to get up early and occupy yourself. So, you fished for a little while, then cooked what you caught—for yourself and the sleeping woman upstairs. After that, you thought you could use a bath. And there was nothing more satisfying than cool lake water—nature’s finest.
You allowed the water to engulf you, embracing your body like a chilled hug. Breaking the surface, you swam comfortable laps around the lake. As you lazily backstroked, you noticed Ellie walking down the steps that led to the dock.
Her auburn hair was spiked all across her head—she must’ve slept well. You chuckled, swimming up the edge of the dock. Placing your hands against it, to pull yourself up a little. Bare shoulders glistening from the sunlight reflecting off your wet skin. “You have a bad case of bedhead, my friend.”
“What?” She immediately became self-conscious, running her hands through her hair. Shaking her head, she adjusted her features, trying to uphold her naturally irritated persona; scrunching her eyebrows and clenching her jaw. “You let me sleep too late; it’s ten. We should start packing up.” Her eyes avoided you, instead, focusing on the plants surrounding the lake. Or your pruned fingers holding onto the dock.
Looking up at her with squinted eyes, you dramatically sniffed. “Why don’t you hop in? You smell like shit.” You ignored her small jabs of blame, coating your lips with a smile. Perhaps, you’ve been spending too much time with her, but her little irritations were beginning to amuse you more than bother you. Or, from the angle that you were peering up at her, she looked really… Pretty. Bedhead and all.
“Excuse me?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows, finally meeting your eyes.
“I’m serious. Let’s resume the trip smelling better than a sewer.” You began to paddle backwards, almost forgetting about your own nakedness. “Take off your clothes… I‘ll give you privacy. Unless you’re too… Chicken.”
She hesitated, watching you swim backwards. Catching an accidental glimpse of your breasts as you turned around. It was true that she didn’t smell the greatest. Before she could formulate her thoughts properly, Ellie spoke. “Chicken? Really, y/n?” She sighed, punching the bridge of her nose. “Fine. But not for long— I wanna make it to Idaho within the next two days…”
Ellie shed her clothes, dropping them close to yours. She jumped into the water, keeping her head from going under, loudly reacting to the coldness of the lake. “Shit!” She exclaimed, treading water.
You turned around, chuckling, noticing her hair still disheveled. “You’ll feel better if you dunk yourself under water.”
“Hell, no! It’s too cold.”
“This doesn’t have to be another I-told-you-so moment…”
She rolled her eyes, clenching her nostrils with her fingers, lowering herself under water. Allowing the cold, earthy, lake water to encapsulate her. The first few seconds were chilling, but her body began to adapt. It became rather comforting—easing her sore muscles and healing wounds.
The lake did the same for you, which was why you were still inside of it. Time stopped at the pier; at least it felt like it did. Existing felt normal, for once. There weren’t any violent rogue people, or hungry infected. Just you and Ellie bathing in a lake.
Ellie broke the surface, running her hands over her saturated strands. Her pale skin was flushed, from what you could only assume, was the briskness in the air and the chillness of water. However, that may not have completely been the case. “Feel better?” You ask, waving your arms under the water to keep yourself afloat.
The corners of her lips curled, subtly. You had to squint to really notice her amusement. She rolled her eyes in a way to avert her gaze. “Yeah, a little.” Ellie finally peered at you, pointing a dripping finger. “Don’t say it.”
“Say what?” A grin plastered on your lips. “I told you so?”
“Do you realize how annoying you are, or just me?”
You pursed your lips, feigning thought. “Just you, I think.”
Honestly, you’re proud of yourself. A lot of the relationship blossoming between your traveling partner and yourself had been developing under the pressure of your attitudes and circumstances. The fact that you could get her to crack a smile, even if it was faint, felt good. It was either the dock’s magic, or your own.
A beat passed while the two of you circled each other. Barely looking at the exposed skin above the water, trying to be distracted by the world around you.
Surprisingly, Ellie was the first to speak—or the first to question you. She rarely every asked you anything. “That letter you carry with you…” The woman awkwardly began. “I saw it on the counter— who wrote it?”
Her voice grabbed your attention immediately at the mention of the note. You held onto it like a totem, a piece of memorabilia from your past. Hesitating, you moved your eyes from left to right in thought. “I know that it came from Santa Barbara. From that house…”
“It’s from an old friend.” You started, lips parting slowly as you spoke. Mouth going dry at the question she asked. You’ve yet to physically get the chance to talk about Honey. From the days aboard the boat, you’ve been trying to forget what you saw. Maybe, you could convince yourself that she was off living the life she wanted—instead of spending her last days suffering under the hammer of infection. “Some girl I met at that God-forsaken resort…” You attempted to casually respond.
“She got infected?”
“Yeah…” You nodded with avoidance, shutting your eyes and moving your head with a cadence of I-don’t-wanna-talk-about-it.
Ellie pursed her lips, nodding. “Why’d you write on the letter? I don’t know… It looks like it means a lot to you— I don’t understand why you would write on it?” She spoke, thoughtfully, as if she didn’t want to say the wrong thing. That was certainly the first time.
You shrug, wanting to hide somewhere, even though there was nowhere to do so. “I just want to forget about it… I guess.”
“If you cared about her, why would you wanna forget about it?”
The muscles in your forehead twitched, bunching your eyebrows together. Your face burned, lips scowling. Ellie’s voice evolved from a soft curiosity, to a judgmental version of it. You sensed the difference the moment it fell from her lips. The intention of her words didn’t matter—it was what she said that bothered you. Did she think you were cruel for wanting to forget about seeing her in that state?
“If I cared about her?” You started, evenly, but with warning. “I did care about her— I do care about her! If I choose not to remember her as a fucking corpse, that makes me a bad person?” Your voice raised, for the first time in awhile, rasping.
Ellie sighed, shaking her head with pleading eyes. “I didn’t say that.”
You scoff, swimming toward the dock. “Well, I’m sure that’s what you meant, right?” Pulling yourself out of the water, you don’t think twice about the exposing of your naked body. Cold air pricking at your wet skin. “I’m the asshole for wanting to remember Honey alive rather than dead…” You wrapped the towel you brought with you around your body, balling your clothes into your arms.
Lamely, Ellie called for you from her place in the water as you left her behind. Before you covered up, she eyed the scars and bruises on your body—maps of what your vessel has been through. Perhaps, she should have entered the conversation with more caution.
Watching you stalk back into the cabin, wiping at your eyes felt like a punishment. A worse punishment than the fact that she didn’t have a towel to dry off with.
“Nice work, Ellie.”
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weaveandwood · 5 months ago
Text
Midnight at the Elfsong
Pairing: Gale x Female Tav Words: 3.6K, NSFW Summary: After arriving at the Elfsong Tavern a few nights ago, Gale and Tav spend the night drinking with their friends and reconnect after facing the realities of their new sleeping situation. AN: Here is the Community Choice Smut One-Shot you all voted for to help me celebrate 300 followers! I hope you like it - I really am pleased with the options that won my poll! Winning Prompts: A whispered "please" slipping out of kiss-bitten lips & Held back noises because they don't want anyone else hearing them
comments and reblogs are very appreciated!
Warnings: NSFW (fingering, vaginal sex)
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Midnight was a magical time when one was drinking. It was late enough that everyone was in high spirits, yet not so late as to really regret anything the next day. Tav’s new favorite way of passing any evening she wasn’t utterly exhausted was with all of her friends sitting around a large table at the Elfsong Tavern while wine flowed from the bar. Taking a long swig from her cup, she felt a hand brush along the outside of her leather clad thigh before resting on it, halfway between her knee and her hip. She smiled into her cup, glancing at the handsome wizard seated next to her. Of all the times to find love, it never crossed her mind that an abduction by mindflayers would lead her to someone like Gale of Wat- no, Gale Dekarios, as she had learned a couple of days ago on the rooftop in Rivington. She rolled it around in her mind. Dekarios. She meant what she had told him as he pleaded with her to keep it secret - she liked Gale Dekarios better than Gale of Waterdeep.
“Have I ever told you how much I love the leather pants you favor?” his warm voice said softly in her ear, sending a tingle through her body that settled deep in her abdomen. She sat her drink down and turned to face him while the rest of the group was watching an arm wrestling match between Wyll and Halsin. She thought she saw Astarion taking bets in her periphery.
“Only every morning. And every night, before you take them off of me,” she smiled wickedly. She knew from the look in his eyes that he was in a certain kind of mood this evening. She didn’t blame him - she was as well. Staying at the Elfsong, while nice, was also…tricky. They were staying in a large communal room with no privacy at all. She never thought she would miss a tent, but after two nights spent alone…she missed her tent. She missed her bedroll. She missed Gale’s weight on top of her. 
She felt his fingertips slide higher up her thigh, the one thing on his mind now the only thing on hers. Cheers erupted as Halsin bested Wyll, his fists above his head pumping in celebration. A small line of would-be contenders for the arm wrestling champion began to form, each hoping for their chance to take on and beat the ridiculously muscled elf. Gale and Tav clapped and cheered as a defeated but laughing Wyll walked over with his head hung low, Karlach following closely behind.
“I must say, Wyll, you lasted much longer than I would have,” Gale said, pouring some of the nearest bottle of wine into Wyll’s cup before raising his own. “A toast to the Blade of Frontiers, for inspiring the competitions we are all about to witness,” he said, motioning with his eyes to the person currently straining red-faced against Halsin.
Tav leaned in while everyone was sipping their wine after the toast. “I certainly have no complaints about how long you last,” she whispered, smiling to herself when he choked a little on his wine before straightening back up in her chair and refilling her cup with the remains of a bottle. 
The night passed, wine flowing from bottle to cup to mouth, laughter filling the main room of the Elfsong. Gale’s fingers had traversed nearly every inch of Tav’s thigh and were currently snaking under her shirt, toying with her soft skin around the waistband of those leather pants he loved so much. Tracing featherlight circles on her spine. Making her body feel like a coil ready to snap. If she could, she would clear off the table and ride him into oblivion right then and there. 
She reached over, her fingertips brushing his thigh through his pants - a sturdy canvas that fit him well. She made sure to tease him in exactly the same way as he did earlier, slowly moving her hand closer and closer to his hips. She could not resist the temptation to brush across where she could feel the fabric starting to strain against him, his sharp intake of breath indicating her teasing was working. It pleased her to know that her touch had that effect. That it wasn’t just her who felt like she was on fire. He reached across her, his arm brushing against her breasts as he grabbed a bottle of wine before filling both their cups, the small hint of contact causing her to gasp softly.
He looked at her from the corners of his eyes while sipping from his wine, his fingers resuming their lazy journey across her lower body from their previous location on her back. They traced a slow, agonizing path around her, using the waistband of her suddenly too-tight leather pants as a guide. Goosebumps trailed across her soft, sensitive skin in the wake of his touch. She was intently focused on each sensation - the prickling of her skin, the heat of his fingers, the din of the Elfsong becoming muted as her heart pounded in her ears. Everything was amplified, everything was beginning to become too much.
Karlach leaned across the table and began a conversation with Gale, though from the way he applied slightly more pressure as he reached the fastenings of her pants, Tav never would have guessed his thoughts were doing anything other than figuring out ways to make her feel like she would be set ablaze. She took another drink - how many bottles had they gone through this evening? Not that it mattered - every day they ambled back into camp was worthy of celebration. Another battle survived, another day won. Her thoughts came back to the present when his fingers began their slow descent down the front seam of her pants over her lower stomach. She looked at him out of her corner of her eyes, but he was fully engaged in conversation. She felt his hand reach the meeting of her thighs, and her breath caught in her throat while her legs parted slightly for him in her chair. Thank the gods there wasn’t a chair next to her, she thought while feeling his fingers touching her through the thin leather. Surely her cheeks were going pink by now, but she would easily be able to blame that on the wine. 
She closed her eyes as she took another sip. Nothing existed outside of the feeling of his hand now resting between her thighs, his middle finger pressing against her in a smooth, slow motion. Her breathing slowed and she willed herself to maintain her composure, no matter how much she wanted to rip her pants off and make him kneel before her and use that practiced tongue he bragged about so often. Cheers sounded out again around them - Wyll was going back for a rematch and Karlach left to be his moral support and coach. They were alone again. She smiled to herself and leaned over. 
“Having fun tormenting me?” She teased, placing a gentle kiss on the side of his neck, her hand moving back to his lap where his pants now strained even further. She wasn’t sure how much more they could take. How much more she could take. 
“I always delight in making you feel good, my love,” he said in that smooth way of his, the devilish look in his eyes betraying the innocence and sincerity of his words. She felt him twitch beneath her hand. It would be so easy to tease him, to torment him the same way he was delighting in tormenting her…but it had been two days, and she needed him inside her. Desperately. 
“I’m going to the room. It looks like everyone is going to be occupied here for some time, and I’d like to get these pants off,” she whispered into his ear, feeling him still as she nipped at his earlobe lightly, hoping her message got across. Follow me, while we have it to ourselves. He made eye contact with her and nodded. He placed two fingers on top of her hand. Two minutes then. Plenty of time to make it look like they weren’t leaving together just to go defile their new campsite.
She kissed his cheek and stood up, saying goodnight to no one in particular as she made her way through the crowd and up the staircase to their room on the top floor of the Elfsong, the sound of lively music and cheering following her. She could feel his eyes on her back, burning through her as she walked. 
The door to their room creaked softly as she opened it, the vast space lit only by the dim moonlight coming from one side of the sleeping space. She padded over to her area of the room, the most communal of all the spaces with no semblance of privacy - just four beds against the walls. More beds were scattered in the other sections of the room with a sitting area in the center. Who would ever need a room this large? She sat on her bed, testing the angle. The door was difficult to see from where she was - at least if someone came in unexpectedly, they wouldn’t be immediately exposed.
Tav quickly stripped out of her clothing, not wanting to waste a second of their precious time alone. It lay in a heap on the floor - out of the way and carelessly discarded as she made herself comfortable and waited. Not long after she found herself settled on the bed, the door to their room creaked slowly open, the warm light of the hallway flooding the entry of the room briefly before it shut, the faintest silvered glow coming in through the windows across the room now the only light once more. The floor creaked softly as  Gale made his way to her. A delighted smile grew on his face once his eyes adjusted to the almost darkness and he saw her waiting for him, completely naked. 
“Gods, Tav,” he whispered, climbing on to the bed beside her. “I will never get used to the sight of you before me.” He kissed her deeply, roughly, their lips immediately parting and their tongues sliding against each other, while hands grasped at each other like they hadn’t touched in months. “I have been wanting to do that all night,” he smiled before kissing her again, his fingers trailing up her thighs as they had all night. With no leather to act as a buffer, Tav’s skin blazed in their path as if he was branding her with his touch. Her body could only be his, she wanted it to only be his. His fingers continued the path they traveled down in the tavern, quickly finding her center and parting it to find her already slick with want for him. He kissed her neck, moaning against her skin as he easily slid two fingers into her, needing to feel her around him. 
“Please,” she moaned softly, the sound slipping through her kiss-bitten lips. “I need you, Gale,” she whispered, pulling his shirt from his tight trousers so she could put her hands on his skin, warm from drink and arousal. Her hips rocked as his fingers slid in and out, curling against the sensitive spot inside of her. Gods, he knew just how to touch her to drive her wild. 
Abruptly, he pulled his hand out of her, bringing the two fingers to his mouth as he licked them clean. “It is a travesty I won’t be able to taste you fully tonight. I long to have your legs slung over my shoulders and my face buried between your thighs.” He gave her a wicked grin and he quickly pulled off his shirt, tossing it on the heap of discarded clothing before unfastening his trousers and pulling them off along with his underwear in a motion so smooth and quick, Tav was mildly convinced he used magic. 
Tav took a moment to appreciate him - his lean athletic build, his muscular thighs, his perfect forearms, the fine dusting of hair that covered his chest and led down his stomach to one of her favorite body parts. Pulling him out of that portal was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Since that night beneath the stars a tenday ago in the Shadow Cursed Lands, she had never known such pleasure though she had been with plenty of others in the time before the tadpole. That was how her life was divided now - before and after the tadpole, and looking at Gale, resplendent and naked before her, she wouldn’t change a thing.
“You are a work of art,” she smiled before grabbing his arm, pulling him on top of her. She could feel how hard he was as he brushed against her thigh, leaving a small drop of moisture on her. He was as turned on as she was. Good, she thought. “Now, Gale Dekarios,” she emphasized the Dekarios, “would you please fuck me until I see stars?” 
He laughed and kissed her deeply, using his thigh to push her legs further apart so he could settle between them more comfortably. His tip brushed against her, and grabbing the base, he parted her just as he did moments ago, sliding up and down from her entrance to her clit and teasing her as he loved to do, “My love, when you put it like that, how can I resist?” he said before pressing into her just enough for her to close her eyes and moan loudly. He looked down, watching himself enter her fully. Her warm tightness wrapped around him and she fit him like a glove. There would never be a better feeling than this, even the Weave itself could not compare to the magic between Tav’s hips. He pulled back out, leaving in just the tip, admiring the way his length glistened with her wetness. Knowing he affected her that way, that she wanted his body as much as he wanted hers…that more than that, she wanted his love, his soul, his mind - it drove him crazy. He couldn’t hold back. He drove into her, their bodies hitting as he fully seated himself inside her. He repeated. In, out, in, out. His gaze was drawn to her breasts as they bounced with each thrust, those lovely breasts he loved to knead and suck. His eyes moved to her face, her eyes closed and head thrown back in absolute pleasure. He sped up. He wanted so many things - wanted to take her roughly tonight, wanted to make up for wasted nights spent in solitude, wanted to hear her scream his name so all the Elfsong could hear. She panted and writhed underneath him, her nails digging into his thighs and marking him with little half moons. 
“Please…Gale…more…I nee-”
Warm light flooded the room again as the door opened, the sound of drunken companions stumbling in. 
“Shit,” she whispered while Gale summoned a sheet to quickly cover them entirely as he leaned down and laid on top of her. They both stifled giggles at the ridiculousness of the situation. 
“Do you want me to…?” Gale asked, starting to pull out of her. She grabbed his arm tightly. 
“Don’t you dare. Finish what you started, wizard,” she whispered before kissing him deeply, pulling away slowly to minimize any noise. “We will just have to be quiet,” she smiled against his mouth. Luckily no one would be using this area beside her tonight. The area of the room was also where Dame Aylin and Isolbel usually stayed, though they were not here tonight. Probably doing the same thing Tav and Gale were. Good for them, she thought to herself before her focus was pulled back to her current situation. Gale had pulled out of her and was turning her so she was on her side, facing the outside of the bed while he pressed against her back. He reached down, lifting one of her legs, balancing it on top of his before guiding himself slowly back into her. 
His body was so warm and it felt like he was everywhere. His chest was pressed to her shoulder blades, one arm was wrapped around her, just under her breasts, and the other grasped her thigh tightly to keep it in place as he moved in and out of her once again - slower, less frantic. His hips rolled against her, and he let out the softest moan into her ear. This was even hotter than being taken roughly. Their friends were half a room away and here she was, feeling the highest bliss imaginable. He adjusted his arm, grabbing one of her breasts. His fingers kneaded the soft flesh and pinched her hard nipple. Tav had to bite her lip to keep from moaning out loud - he knew how much she liked that. She could sense his playful smile against her skin as he kissed her shoulder. 
“I can’t resist,” he whispered, pinching her other nipple and kneading her other breast while keeping his steady pace, making her bite her lip again to keep silent. The hand that once held her thigh was now gripping her hips, pulling her back against him with each slow, steady roll of his own hips - he wanted to get even deeper inside her, as if that were possible. 
“Gods,” Tav whispered, finding it nearly impossible to keep quiet - she was overloaded with sensation. She felt his hand move from her breast down the center line of her stomach, further and further until he reached her clit, circling it lightly. She jerked roughly back against him and clasped a hand against her mouth, turning her head into the pillow. She wouldn’t be able to keep it in much longer. Her free hand clasped around the wrist on her hips, using it as leverage to grind back against him as those wonderful, magical fingers rubbed her in time to his thrusts. Her body flowed against him and she was molten, lava filling her veins. The sheet trapped their body heat, a thin layer of sweat now coating both their bodies. She felt herself starting to lose composure, her hips moving quicker as the fire in her veins settled low in her abdomen where the two of them were joined. Soft pants were the only noise filling the space surrounding them.
“Come for me, Tav,” he whispered, so soft she almost couldn’t make it out. He knew she was close, he could feel how tight she was getting around him. He pressed against her clit a little harder, his fingers bringing her closer and closer to the edge. She felt every inch of him slide in and out of her, a perfect fit. 
“Gale…I don’t..I don’t know if I can keep quiet,” she whispered, desperation in her words as she got closer and closer. 
“This is what you wanted,” he whispered, his hot breath warming her ear and the side of her neck before he kissed it in that spot she loved and continued rubbing her clit, fucking her slowly, deliberately, deeply…so deeply. Gale knew she was normally loud when she came, and he loved it. Hearing her cry out his name as her body shuddered around him, knowing he could bring her to such heights was a thrill for him. He was so close to his own release, and had been thinking about spilling inside her all night. The thought of feeling her pulse around him was enough to drive him right to the edge. “Come for me,” he whispered again. “Now.”
As if on command, he felt her tighten around him before crashing over the edge. A gasp sounded from her, and he quickly clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle it, to avoid alerting anyone to what they were doing. She turned her face back into the pillow and panted against his hand, breathing heavily as she came. Her entire body shook as she contained what would normally be exclamations to the gods about how good he fucked her. He buried his head against her shoulder, using her skin to muffle his own pants and stifled groans as he felt himself topple over that same edge, filling her just as he longed to do these past days. He held on to her tightly, pressing every inch of her body against him as he pulsed inside her. 
Their breathing slowed and he pulled out of her, laying on his back and throwing the sheet off of them to feel the cool air of the room against his skin. The room was silent except for the sound of drunken snoring from their companions, their plan a success. Tav turned to her other side, facing him, and he traced the curves of her body with a finger. He would never tire of it, every dip, rise, curve, and scar was part of the topography of her body he wanted to memorize. Her breathing slowed and her eyes fluttered - sleep was near for both of them. 
Pulling the sheet back up, he kissed her softly. He pulled her in next to him - the bed was hardly big enough for the both of them, but it was worth it to feel her next to him.
“I love you, Gale,” she whispered before sleep took her. 
“I love you, Tav,” he smiled and whispered back. He stayed awake for a few moments before sleep overcame him as well, the night’s events replaying through his dreams.
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yeoldenews · 6 months ago
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I don't know how much you think about it, but you wrote a post back in Mar 2020:
"A sincere request from someone who has spent her entire adult life wishing people had kept better records…In the coming weeks and months… RECORD WHAT IS HAPPENING."
That post got me to start properly journaling properly, after trying and failing when I was younger. A majority of it is 'just' day-to-day progress updates on my fiction writing, but there's a bit of stuff about my life, and some briefer stuff about the world beyond. Not a lot, but some. Four (and change) years, and my journal is just short of 186K words.
I remembered your post, seeing today's SCOTUS decisions. I remembered your post, and I remembered a line you'd written: "Are you scared to death? Write it down."
I just...I don't know. I just wanted you to know your post made an impact, and I don't know what the fuck is coming over the next week and month and year and decade, but...I'm writing shit down. I'm writing shit down, and it's all because of your post.
You have no idea how much this means to me, and how badly I needed to hear it this week - so thank you. Truly. I am genuinely moved, and so proud of you for your 186k words.
History is made up of the stories people decided to save - and the first step to making sure a story gets saved is writing it down.
I really, really hate writing. Like more than just about anything. I'm a chronic perfectionist, and it can take me a whole afternoon to finish a single paragraph I'm satisfied with. (I spent three days writing this response, and you don't even want to know how long I spend on some of the things I post.) So keeping a journal is not a task I'd ever felt the need to afflict myself with before the pandemic. When I made the post you referenced, my journaling habit was all of ten days old but, against all the odds, here I am over four years later having never (to my recollection) missed a single day.
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My daily records of what my cats are doing, and your day-to-day writing progress may not be extensively poured over by future scholars, but for only a few minutes of effort a day we now have recorded hundreds of stories.
And who knows what the people of the future might find fascinating. I'm sure the teenage girl in Philadelphia who smudged the letter she was writing in 1897 because a bee scared her would be absolutely baffled that thousands of people were still laughing about the incident 125 years later.
So much of history, and life in general, doesn't become clear until long after the fact. Historical records are full of people overreacting about events that ended up having very little significance in hindsight, and under-reacting about events they no had no idea were about to change the world. But being able to go back and see what people wrote in the moment, preserving their honest thoughts and hopes and fears, is about as close as you can get to time travel.
Maybe what we fear will come true and we're recording history, maybe we'll look back on what we wrote today and go "phew! that was a close one!", or maybe nothing will come of it at all - I pray it will be the last one, but, whatever the outcome, it's worth writing down.
(Also voting. Please, please vote.)
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storiesofsvu · 6 months ago
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Decadent Desires Ch 10
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Emily Prentiss x reader Warnings: language, alcohol, semi public make out sessions, smut, threesome, fingering, oral, face sitting. Once y'all read this hopefully you'll see why it took 2 weeks to get done, a whopping almost 7k words. woof. im planning on starting the next chapter asap and focusing on this series as it is about to pick up and a shift is coming so that tends to keep my brain more into writing. Happy Friday! <3
After spending a handful of weeks exploring luxury hotels around the Washington area, Emily had sent you a text asking which one you liked the best. She had come to the conclusion that she wanted to put down a standing reservation at one location rather than continue to hop around across the city. You spent a bit of time reflecting on your experiences and finally replied with your favourite three, the Waldorf being at the utmost top. She couldn’t help but let out a laugh, one that was of slight relief as she had the exact opinions. It was just far enough away from her place to feel like a mini vacation, but still close enough to not be a hassle of a drive, the amenities were stellar, with the best food and late night menus. It didn’t hurt that it was the hotel the bureau usually held their big galas, meaning it would be more than easy enough to sneak away at any of those, or to simply have you waiting for her when she was done.
Overall, it just made things easier to have the standing reservation, you both had key cards and were graciously welcomed by concierge anytime throughout the week when you swung by. You were both able to come and go as you please instead of having to wait in the lobby or hotel bar for the other to arrive. While Emily was happy to leave things in the suite over the weekend, she was still a little bit apprehensive of leaving certain things when neither of you were there and her worries were solidified when you ran through a list of things that Heather would never leave in her suite. It may be permanently booked out, but it was a hotel, no matter how much the price tag was you never knew who else could have access. Like Emily had said earlier, a Benjamin could get you into a lot of places privately that you weren’t supposed to be in.
When the weekend finally rolled around, both of you were more than ready to indulge, barely able to keep your hands off each other Friday night, just when you thought one round was finally done it simply melted into another. Emily caught herself up in some work Saturday morning but chose to hand you a credit card and told you to go have some fun and you took the day to shop. She was rewarded that evening when you were getting ready, catching a glimpse of some very lacy lingerie before you slipped into your dress, scolding her in a teasing manner for spying.
You were sat at a semi secluded corner booth at the hotel lounge where you shared a mushroom and black truffle flatbread, scallops and a plate of oysters. Cocktails were easily flowing, with no concern of how many refills were had considering you were only planning on walking to the elevator. Not that you weren’t pacing yourselves, but there was more of a sense of letting loose this time. It was almost a celebratory evening, the bill you’d been busting your ass for, for Heather had successfully made it through two rounds of voting, and the BAU had finally caught their nationwide killer, finally leaving time for more hours at the home office.
“You know,” Emily began, her hand resting on your bare thigh, fingers tickling at your skin, “I really have to say thank you for getting Bailey off my back.”
“I take it the date went well?” You asked, leaning into her touch.
“I thought you would know?” She raised a brow and you laughed.
“I haven’t heard from the girl in three weeks.”
“Well it does certainly appear that things worked out in our favour.” She replied, leaning in close enough to steal a kiss.
“Good.” You murmured, pressing your lips to hers once more before leaning away to pick up your drink.
“Between that and catching our unsub I feel like my workload has been cut in half.” She sighed happily, sipping at her cocktail, “I don’t have to nitpick through every piece of paperwork and worry about having to redo it all after Bailey sees it. He’s actually leaving the office at clock out time and not hassling me on the weekends. It’s practically heaven.”
“Now if only you would leave the office at a reasonable time.” You teased and she laughed, a hand reaching up to play with the hair at the back of your neck, guiding you back toward her.
“That’s bold coming from someone who was still working past midnight three times this week.” Her lips brushed against yours as she spoke, yours curving up into a grin before you closed the gap and kissed her, lips moving with grace together.
“Late nights mean I get to go in late the next day.”
“Yeah?” She raised a brow, her face only inches from yours, “and how late is that?”
“Ten,” you laughed, “maybe noon if I’m lucky.”
“She works you too hard.” Emily commented with a slight frown before kissing you and you chuckled into the kiss.
“And you work yourself too hard.” Your hand found her leg, gently squeezing at her thigh, managing to get one last peck in before Emily huffed. The playful eyeroll pulled a laugh from you, she knew you were right, she couldn’t exactly clock you for something that she was way worse at.
“I guess you’ve got me there.” She replied with a small laugh and you squeezed at her leg again.
“I’m pretty sure the saying is ‘work hard, play hard’ so as long as you’re keeping a healthy balance.” You suggested with a smirk and she grinned across at you.
“It’s not like I keep you around for nothing.”
“Though, considering how much work you’ve been doing, maybe I need to up my end of the bargain.”
“Yeah?” She raised a brow, “and what exactly have you got in mind?”
Before you could figure out a full answer, the server swung by to offer another round of drinks. The two of you briefly glanced at each other before selecting a new cocktail off the menu to try. After all, this weekend really was about having some extra levels of fun.
There was a new sense of electricity in the air tonight, it was difficult to keep your hands off each other even out in the eye of the hotel lounge. Though the crowd was dwindling with each hour that passed and it wasn’t long before your server was making a round past the table, mentioning that it was last call, wondering if you wanted another round to take to your room with you or if you just wanted to settle up. The two of you immediately glanced around, realizing you were the last two people in the lounge before apologizing and saying you would settle, Emily making sure to add a more than generous tip.
Her hand caught yours as you stepped into the lobby, your fingers linking together as she let out an almost whiney sigh.
“What?” You asked, turning back to her with a laugh.
“I dunno, it just feels too early to turn in.” She replied with a frown and you glanced at your watch.
“It’s barely two…” you murmured before glancing up at her with a sparkle in your eye,” I know a few places that would still be open.”
“And still serving by the time we get there?” She asked with a small laugh.
“They let people in ‘til three, serve ‘til four thirty, even later on long weekends. Think of it as an…after hours club.”
“The kind of after hours club that promotes fraternizing?”
You chuckled softly, tugging Emily closer to you to steal a kiss, “stop thinking like a fucking fed, it’s nothing illegal. Just people socializing, having fun, making new friends, having some drinks, no drugs, scouts honour. Prestigious enough you need a membership to get in. We don’t have to go,” you shrugged, “I’m sure if we just go upstairs I can entertain you until you’re tired, you just seemed a little extra feisty tonight.”
“Speak for yourself.” She laughed back.
“So should I call a car?” You asked, your brow raised while you watched her think it over.
“Fuck it. It’s about time to have some fun and let loose.”
“That’s what I thought.” You grinned, pulling your phone from your purse to make the call.
Emily wasn’t surprised when a Dunbar car was out front of the hotel mere moments later and you spewed off a cross street to the driver who gave a knowing hum before peeling off down the street. Even in the back of the car it was nearly impossible to keep your hands off each other, your hand quickly finding her clothed thigh before hers was inching up your bare one, daring to sneak under the hem of your dress. She was certain the divider was going to have to be lifted but you were suddenly pulling into a strip mall parking lot.
“This it?” She asked, her brow furrowing.
“Best way to keep a secret, isn’t it?” You replied, a grin on your lips as you leant in to kiss the corner of her mouth, “don’t be freaked when they ID you, they’re just making sure everyone inside is safe. And if you see the President or his wife… no you didn’t.” You slunk out of the car after that, leaving Emily wide eyed before she quickly followed after you, thanking the driver before the door shut behind her.
Your hand found hers as you wandered up to the seemingly closed front door, rapping against it before it swung open and you were let inside. Just as you’d warned her, both of you had your ID’s scanned before you slid your membership card across the counter and the attendant welcomed you with a warm smile and the curtain concealing the next set of doors was opened.
It was darker than Emily had expected, coloured lights shining through the rooms, changing their patterns and pathways sporadically, not particularly strobes, but enough to keep the darkness a mystery. The walls were lined with semi circle booths, tables scattered throughout the open space with a large bar in the middle, it appeared there was a VIP area in a little loft area and she could see heavy strobe lights coming from down a short flight of stairs where the main dance floor was and a longer dark hallway that either led to staff areas or something she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about. The music was loud, bass strumming through the space, reminiscent of her days spent in various clubs around the world. She started to wonder if it was her age showing that was making her think it was entirely too loud or too many years of excessive headphone use coupled with field work damaging her ears when your hand darted out, reaching into a fishbowl on the end of the bar. Her heart leapt into her throat, for a second thinking that you’d either dumped your keys or picked up god knows what before you turned to her with a pack of earplugs between your fingers.
“They keep it abnormally loud in here.” You shouted over the music before leaning in so close your lips were brushing against her ear, “harder to eavesdrop on secrets when you’ve got to be this close.”
She laughed with a nod, opening the packet to put the earplugs in as you did the same, following you up to the bar. With the plugs in the heaviness of the bass was muffled, but she could still hear you clearly, hear herself think rather than be completely clouded by the noise. A couple of cocktails later and you were nestled into one of the smaller curved booths, Emily’s hand once again finding a home on your thigh, fingertips tickling at your skin.
Between the volume and it being her first time there, the first little bit at the club was spent doing the best people watching you could in low light and relaxing, embracing the vibe and the atmosphere. Every so often one of you would lean in to say something, earning a laugh from the other, a more private moment to steal a kiss or make a comment about someone eying their prospective date for the night. Cocktails were replenished without even having to ask, the perfect balance of fruity and strong, though you both knew those were the dangerous kind, you may not be tasting the alcohol tonight, but you’d likely be feeling it tomorrow. But in the moment, it didn’t matter, you were simply enjoying the different environment, feeling frisky and not having to worry at all about watching eyes. Emily felt more free relaxed and uninhibited that she had in years and she was fully enjoying it.
“How did you find out about this place?” She asked, her head ducked toward yours.
“Heather.” You took a sip of your drink, “and before you ask, it’s about a sixty-forty split business-pleasure for her depending on the day. I don’t come too often, it’s not really my style, plus some of the governor’s aides really don’t know how to keep their mouths shut. Doesn’t matter if you were actually talking deals, the next time they see you in the hallway it’s all smarmy grins and waggly eyebrows as if you’d taken them into the back room or something.”
“For a place with so many politicians I’m surprised you haven’t seen anyone tonight.” Emily mused and you laughed.
“Em, please, I’ve clocked at least eight people I know between the door and the bar. But since it’s just all about discretion, no one will approach unless they’re interested,” your finger tapped the bottom of her chin, your breath hot on her lips when you spoke next, “especially when I came in with someone.”
Your lips hit Emily’s with ease and she let herself relax into the kiss, her tongue easily sinking into your mouth, the sweetness of your cocktails swirling around your mouth. You shifted on your seat, a hand sliding up the side of her neck to tangle into her hair and the hand she had on your thigh slipped under the hem of your dress. You let out a soft moan into the kiss, your leg nearly draping over Emily’s knee as her hand slunk higher, finger tips daring to trace patterns on your bare skin and you retaliated by nipping at her lower lip.
“Certainly are feeling frisky tonight, aren’t you?” You asked with a tease and she playfully rolled her eyes at you before leaving a kiss on the side of your neck.
Your hand remained at the back of her head, tickling at her neck, gently playing with her hair while you fell back into the mix of small talk and observing the club. The next time you got your cocktails refilled, the server dropped them off along with two shots of top shelf tequila and a folded cocktail napkin with a pain tucked into it. Emily raised her brow in their direction, watching as your eyes flicked from the napkin out into the bar, surveying the room.
“Let me guess…” you asked, your elbow resting on the table, your chin propped in your hand, “brunette at the end of the bar?”
The server nodded with a small laugh, swiping the empty cocktail glasses from the table and wandering back through the room. Your free hand was still toying with Emily’s hair as she leant in,
“Jackie, right?”
“Mmmhmm.” You replied, turning to her to brush your lips against hers, “looks like we caught someone’s eye.” You slid the tequila shot toward her, “you ever had a threesome?”
“Not in about thirty years.” She chuckled, watching the way your head tilted, the sparkle in your eye as you picked up your tequila shot.
“Intrigued?” You asked, watching as Emily’s eyes finally left yours, looking across the club to Jackie. Her gaze flicked up and down the other woman’s body, taking in the smirk of her lips over the rim of her martini glass, a similar shot of tequila waiting in font of her. She turned back to you, a small grin breaking out on her own lips,
“Very.”
“Thought you might be.”
Looking over toward the bar you raised your shot glass, Emily doing the same beside you and you nearly laughed at the excitement that flashed over Jackie’s face as she raised her own before all three of you shot the liquor back. Glassware slid to the edge of the table you picked up the pen, scrawling your hotel name and room number across the inside of the napkin, folding it and placing it beside the empty shots before grabbing your phone. A moment later the server was back, collecting all of the items and bidding you a goodnight.
“Don’t we have to pay?” Emily asked and you laughed softly, pinching at her chin to steal a kiss.
“It’s charged to the membership card and there’s an auto grat, don’t worry. Now c’mon.”
*
Introductions were made, flirty small talk was had as hefty glasses of bubbly were handed out, the three of you all surveying the vibes in the room as you got more comfortable with each other. You didn’t shy away from physical contact, your hand lingering on the small of Emily’s back when she moved passed you first, then your fingers loosely wrapping around Jackie’s wrist as you complimented a bracelet. You were the invisible string between the two of them, the one making sure everyone was comfortable and understood the situation and dynamics that were to come with it.
Jackie watched out of the corner of her eye as you murmured something to Emily, your finger curling under her chin before you kissed her. Rather that intruding on the moment she redirected her gaze out the large window over looking the city, the Washington Monument alit in the night sky.
“It’s quite a view you’ve got up here.” She commented, pulling a soft laugh from Emily.
“What can I say?” She replied, smoothing back a piece of your hair as Jackie turned back to face you, “pretty girls deserve to look at pretty things.”
“They certainly do.” The dark haired woman smiled, closing the distance between the three of you as she moved through the room. “You know, I am curious…what is the dynamic between the two of you?” She glanced to Emily, “because you simply exude power and control, but this one..” Her finger tilted towards you, “has been known to put up a fight occasionally.”
Emily laughed, her hand sliding across your lower back, “luckily that’s not something I’ve had to worry about.” She pressed a kiss to your cheek that you leant into before raising an eyebrow at Jackie.
“Funny it should matter to you at all considering it’s a known fact you’re a bit of a pillow princess.”
Jackie’s lips twitched up into a grin as Emily hummed beside you, “huh… just here to get fucked, are you?”
“Oh I’m sure she’ll participate.” You replied, glancing toward Emily before stepping closer to the other woman, “she likes to earn her fucking, isn’t that right?” Your finger tapped Jackie’s nose, “looking all pretty down on your knees, just absolutely begging for it.”
A slight flush took over her cheeks as her eyes darkened, “so you have been listening.”
Emily’s hand slid up your back, fingers almost tangling into the roots of your hair as she stepped ahead of you, her free hand raising to tap Jackie’s chin, “don’t worry, you’ll both get what you deserve. But right now I do think there’s a little bit too much clothing involved, head to the bed and get things started.”
A small nod from both of you before Jackie’s hand was tangled with yours and you were tugging her toward the bed. Her hands cupped your cheeks, pulling you to her for a kiss, lips moving frantically against yours as you backed the rest of the way to the bed. She whined into the kiss when you nipped at her lip before sliding your tongue into her mouth and the whine drowned into a moan. Your hands slid around her shoulders, pushing down the straps of her dress, fingers finding the zipper on the back and tugging it down. The fabric loosely fell around her shoulders, the desire to keep her hands on you too strong to let it fall to the floor quite yet.
Jackie’s hands gripped at your waist, backing you the final couple of steps before your knees hit the bed and they began to wander your body. She eagerly groped at your chest, lips curving up into a grin at the soft moan you let out into the kiss. Her fingers pinched at your nipples through your dress, continuing to toy with you as your hands grabbed her hips, rolling your own against her. Satisfied that your moans had began to morph into whines one of Jackie’s hands wrapped around you, quickly pulling down the zipper of your dress and shoving it down your body. She pulled away from the kiss just far enough for her eyes to flick down, a smirk taking over her lips.
“I just knew you’d be the type to dress up for the occasion.” She murmured, her fingers toying with the lace, “such a pretty set.”
“Guarantee you it looks better on the floor.” You husked back, arms reaching behind you to undo the bra, letting it fall to the ground as you stepped out of your dress and dropped back onto the bed.
You heard Emily huff out a laugh from the corner of the suite but your eyes were on Jackie as she shimmied out of her dress and crawled over you on the bed, your head dropping back into the pillows a moment later when her mouth wrapped around your nipple. Your own hands wandered her body, pinching at her nipples, toying with the waistband of her barely there panties while she continued to suck, bite and pinch at your chest. She moaned against your skin when you palmed at her cunt, her hips grinding down into the touch, just barely starting to rock in a rhythm against your hand.
“Certainly are eager… aren’t we?” Emily’s voice broke into your thoughts and your eyes flickered open, your breath catching in your throat when you realized she was at the base of the bed, stripped down except for the strap. Your hand tangled into Jackie’s hair, pulling her off you, breathlessly stealing a kiss as you sat up and nudged her toward the end of the bed.
“I think it’s time for you to prove what a good girl you are and get on your knees for Emily.”
“That’s it angel…” Emily purred as Jackie crawled off the bed, “get my cock nice and wet.”
“Yes ma’am.” The brunette murmured, settling on her knees in front of the other woman.
She parted her lips, her tongue licking Emily from base to tip before wrapping around the silicone and sinking down inch by inch until she was completely buried in her mouth. Jackie began a steady pace, bobbing on Emily’s cock and the older woman’s hand gently wrapped into her hair.
“Good girl.”
Jackie hummed around her cock, the tip hitting the back of her throat as she gagged, saliva pooling in her mouth as she continued. Emily’s hips rocked toward her, sinking her cock deeper into her mouth as her eyes flicked up to you.
“If you’re just going to take in the show you should probably play with that pretty little pussy.”
Your cheeks heated, a blush shooting through you as if you had just been caught staring at something you weren’t allowed to see and you eagerly nodded at Emily. Adjusting on the bed so you were resting against the headboard you yanked your panties down your legs to join the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Emily’s fingers tightened in Jackie’s hair, pulling her off her cock with a gasp and turning her head toward the bed,
“She’s got such a pretty pussy, doesn’t she?” She asked and Jackie nodded.
“Oh, fuck yes…”
“Spread your legs princess, let her see that gorgeous cunt.”
You did as asked, your legs spread wide as your hand slunk down your body, settling between your legs where two of your fingers spread your pussy lips apart for the two of them to get a better view. Jackie let out a needy squeak, sitting further up on her knees so she could rub her thighs together and Emily didn’t let the motion go unnoticed.
“You’re allowed to touch yourself.” She cooed, dropping her hair so she could caress her cheek, pinching at her chin to redirect Jackie’s eyes back to hers, “get yourself nice and messy while you suck my cock.”
Emily’s eyes were immediately redirected back to you as you let out a low moan, two fingers sinking into your cunt as you began to lazily finger yourself. A moment later and she felt the base of the toy brush against her clit and she let out a breathy sigh, Jackie’s lips wrapped around her length yet again. The pace Jackie sucked her off matched the rhythm she was bouncing on her own fingers, with more urgency than you were fucking yourself, eager to both prove herself and get as close to her peak as she could. She began to moan around Emily, muffled and needy, drool beginning to pool in the corners of her mouth, droplets dripping down her chin while the sounds of your wetness echoed through the room. Emily groaned at the sights, her hand tugging Jackie’s hair again and the woman let the toy drop from her mouth with a gasp.
“Good girl.” Emily praised, gesturing for her to stand. As she did, Emily’s hand closed around her wrist, pulling the fingers slicked with juices to her mouth and Jackie watched with wide eyes as Emily sucked them clean. “So sweet.” She spanked at her hip, “up on the bed, you’ve earned a reward.”
Climbing onto the bed, Jackie grinned, her hands soothing up your legs, spreading them even further apart, watching the way you fingered yourself.
“Such a gorgeous cunt.” She murmured, ducking down to nip at your inner leg and you chuckled, sliding your fingers out as you shifted on the bed.
“Pretty sure you already proved yourself babe.” Pinching at her chin you pulled her to you for a kiss before glancing over her shoulder at Emily who tilted her head at you.
“C’mere.” Once you were at the foot of the bed she grasped your hips, pinching gently, nodding towards Jackie, “take care of her, but you don’t get to come yet.”
“Of course.” You nodded, smiling sweetly and she chuckled.
“Then flip over.”
It wasn’t a command as much as a warning as Emily was the one who flipped you over onto your stomach, landing with a soft oof as you adjusted yourself, legs dangling off the bed, feet braced on the floor. Smiling, Jackie crawled back closer to you, fingertips drawing patterns across your back,
“Bet you just make the prettiest sounds while you’re getting fucked, don’t you?”
Emily took the cue, the head of her spit slicked cock nudging at your entrance and you let out a whine, pulling a teasing laugh from both of the other women. In one heavy thrust, Emily’s cock was buried in your pussy and you moaned, your eyes fluttering shut until her hand spanked the curve of your ass.
“Go ahead, get her off. You’re just keeping me warm.”
With the tiniest of grumbles, your hands scrambled for Jackie’s hips, yanking her toward you and she was quick to flip onto her back, sliding half underneath you with widespread legs so her pussy was perfectly aligned with your mouth. Emily’s hands on your hips squeezed, nudging you even closer to her and the movement shifted her cock inside you, your pussy fluttering around the toy, clouding your brain just in the slightest.
Doing your best to focus your hands trailed up Jackie’s thighs, thumbs pressing against her pussy as they ran up it, spreading her lips open for you before briefly rubbing over her clit and her head fell back onto the mattress. Your tongue then followed the path your thumbs had just made, swiping through her cunt slowly, lapping up the juices already dribbling out, a small groan leaving your lips at her taste. The tip of your tongue flicked against her throbbing clit and she gasped.
“Oh fuck!” One of Jackie’s hands shot to your head, tangling into your hair as her hips began to grind against your mouth.
Your lips wrapped around her lower ones, moaning and groaning into her pussy, vibrations shooting through her, bringing her pleasure pulsing more south with each move of your mouth. Your tongue dipped into her, swirling the best you could before licking through her again, pressing harder and moving faster with each pass of your tongue.
“More…” she whined, her nails scratching at your scalp and your mouth moved up, sucking her clit into your mouth. “Fuck! Yes! Right there.”
As your lips wrapped around her throbbing nub, your tongue danced patterns across it with varying speed and pressure. Jackie’s noises became louder with each lick, her lip tugged into her mouth to help muffle the sounds. Behind you, Emily, proud of the work you were putting in slowly circled her hips, causing the toy buried inside you to move just enough to get you moaning against Jackie’s clit, pulling even more noise from the dark haired woman. Just as she was about to start begging for more, two of your fingers pressed into her opening, rubbing softly, just enough to be more than a tease and give her what she wanted.
“Oh my god…” she sighed, hips rocking down to the touch.
“That feel good sweetheart?” Emily asked her, leaning over you just enough to pinch at Jackie’s thigh, “you like it when she eats your cunt?”
“Fuck yes.” She moaned in response.
Your fingers slid in and she gasped, her back arching off the bed as your tongue pressed harder against her clit and you began to fuck her. Your fingers twirled, twisted and scissoring around in her cunt, stretching her out, teasing her just enough to have her a whining mess against the bed before your hand began to pump back and fourth. You crooked your fingers just enough and she swore, a near cry leaving her throat.
“Fuck! Right there.”
You pressed against the spot again and her thighs trembled around you and you knew she was close. A heavy groan from you muffled against her cunt as Emily circled her hips again, her cock dragging against your walls as she pinched at your hips. Your mouth popped off her with a gasp of breath as you thrust your fingers into her faster, curling with each pump and your free hand rubbed her clit.
“I know you’re close sweetheart.” You pressed down on her clit harder, “come for me.”
Ducking your mouth back down you replaced your hand with it, sucking her clit hard into your mouth as your fingers pushed into the sensitive spot in her drenched cunt. A few more pumps of your hand and Jackie was crying out, her back arching off the bed as her body tensed, orgasm rocking through her. You let up with your mouth, leaving a gentle kiss just above her clit as your fingers slowed.
“So good for us.” You purred, kissing across her thighs, “so pretty when you come.”
Your fingers slipped from her and you crawled back onto the bed, letting out a low whine when Emily’s cock slipped from your cunt. You trailed kisses up Jackie’s body while she caught her breath, finally landing with one on her lips.
“Holy fuck.” She muttered, still panting.
“Such a good girl.” You cooed, leaning down to nip at her neck, “now… are you finished or do you think you can go for on more?”
“More.” She pouted a whine leaving her lips and you chuckled.
“Yeah?” Sitting up you glanced over your shoulder to where Emily was slowly rubbing up and down the toy, “you want her cock?”
“Mmhmm.” Jackie scrambled to her knees, her eyes wide and pleading.
“Want Emily to fill up that tasty fucking pussy of yours?”
“Fuck. Please.” She looked between the two of you, eyes darting down to Emily’s cock coated in your juices, “please oh god, I need it.”
Emily chuckled, crooking two fingers at the other woman, “you can have it. But you don’t get to come until you’ve made her come, understood?”
“Yes.” Jackie practically pounced down to the end of the bed, sprawling out on her back and spreading her legs wide for Emily, her pussy still dripping with wetness.
You watched as Emily slid the tip of the toy through her folds, smearing her wetness with your remaining juices, teasing her just enough so that Jackie was out of breath again.
“Well?” she glanced from her cock up to Jackie’s face and over to you and the other woman’s hands scrambled to your waist, tugging you to her as Emily yanked her to the edge of the bed and sunk her cock into her.
Jackie let out a low moan, nearly forgetting the task at hand at the sensation of being full and stretched before her head rolled towards you, “sit on my face.”
You didn’t waste any time, quickly straddling her head and a second later her hands were clawing at your waist, tugging you right down onto her face, her tongue lapping at your pussy. Behind you, Emily set a steady pace, her hips thrusting into Jackie with precision and skill, watching at the way you started to grind down onto her face. As much as you had wanted to watch Jackie come undone on the other woman’s cock you were utterly lost in your own world as she started to eat you out, your pussy throbbing around nothing as pleasure began to shoot through you.
“Oh my god…” you groaned, your head falling back as you hands began to wander you own body, aching for something to latch onto as Jackie’s lips wrapped around your clit. “Fuck!”
Each time Emily circled her hips, or began to toy with the other woman’s clit, Jackie’s moans got louder and longer, vibrating right into your cunt. Her nose would brush against your clit, rubbing at it as her tongue explored as much of your dripping pussy as she could. Your hands pinched at your nipples, rolling them between your fingers as you rode her face, matching the pace that Emily was fucking her. Jackie’s tongue flicked at your clit again and you gasped.
“Fuck.”
“That’s it.” Emily husked from behind you, thrusting harder into her, “she likes that, keep going.”
Jackie’s mouth latched around your clit and you shuddered, your thighs trembling around her head and you could almost feel her lips curving up into a smirk. Her hand snuck between your legs, sinking two fingers into you, curling immediately and you moaned, this one louder than the last.
“Keep that up and you’ll make her come.” Emily urged, and Jackie didn’t waste a single second.
Her tongue pressed harder, dancing its patterns faster as her hand began to move quicker, her free hand gripped your waist so tight you knew there would be marks tomorrow. She pulled you down so tight onto her face if you’d been thinking straight you would have been worried about suffocating her but all you could think about was the way your pussy was clenching around her fingers, how her hot mouth felt on your cunt and the noises of Emily fucking her harder and faster with each time you ground down onto her face.
“Oh my god…oh my god…” you weren’t sure how much longer you were going to be able to stay upright, your hips jolting as pleasure soared through your body.  Your hands scrambled to catch yourself on the mattress, clawing at the bedspread as Jackie continued to hold you down, her fingers fucking into you faster as what you thought was your oncoming orgasm suddenly resurged up again, building even higher and hotter under your skin until she sucked on your clit again and you cried out, thighs shaking around her head.
Your entire body shuddering you were finally able to break free from her grasp, collapsing down onto the bed beside her with your chest heaving as she panted, a sly grin on her lips as she was more than satisfied with her work.
“That’s it sweet girl.” Emily praised, her hands soothing up Jackie’s thighs as the other woman was able to fully focus on her pleasure.
“Fuck…harder… please.”
Emily’s hips rocked forward, a particularly sharp thrust that had Jackie gasping for air and you chuckled softly, rolling onto your stomach to cage her into the bed. Your lips caught hers, tongue dipping into her mouth to suck your own juices off her tongue, swallowing down each others moans. Giving her a chance to breathe, your mouth made its way down her neck, sucking and biting into the crook of it while she let out more noises.
“God,” Emily groaned, “you look so fucking good taking my cock. Such a pretty girl.”
Jackie could do nothing but whine in response, her senses on fire at the multiple touches against her skin. Your free hand quickly sunk between her legs, beginning to play with her clit in the same speed Emily was fucking her, alternating between pressing hard or rubbing softly.
“Can feel you trembling baby.” You murmured into her neck before biting down hard and she groaned, her hips launching up off the bed. “You gonna come for us? Let us see how fucking hot you look?”
“Fuck.” She muttered, “s-close.”
“Mmhmm.” Your tongue swiped at the already darkening mark on her skin before sucking at it again and she whimpered.
Emily’s hand was suddenly on top of yours, pressing down even harder against Jackie’s clit, urging you to rub faster and she circled her hips again. The small circle along with the combined pressure of both of your hands was all it took for Jackie to be crying out, her body shaking as it jolted off the bed and she hit her peak. Your hand softly trailed up her body as you gently kissed across her skin, finger tips drawing patterns while she panted.
“That’s it…” you cooed, “so good for us.”
“Such a pretty girl.” Emily murmured, her hips slowing and she fully sunk into Jackie one last time, holding there for a moment, “takes it so well even from two at once.”
“Mmhmm.” You nodded, placing a gentle kiss on her collarbone, “kinda gives me ideas.”
“Really?” Jackie asked breathlessly, her eyes cracking open, a small smirk on her lips.
“Ones I just know you’d like.” You teased, leaning over her with a grin and when Emily pulled out you capture her lips in a kiss, muffling the whine.
Emily disappeared into the bathroom for a minute, no doubt cleaning off the toy leaving it to dry and freshening up, coming back a few moments later wrapped in a fuzzy robe. Opening the mini fridge she picked out a few bottles of water, passing them over to you to take a few sips.
“Christ…” Jackie muttered with a small laugh, “that was not how I expected my night to end.”
“Not expected maybe, but it was what you were hoping for.” You laughed back.
“I told myself I would stay for one drink, just happened to be a lucky one.” She retorted, “I was there for business. Speaking of,” lifting her wrist to check her watch she let out a sigh, pushing up to sitting, “I’ve got an early meeting, I need to get going.” Slipping off the bed, she quickly redressed herself, scooping up her purse before leaning over the bed, leaving a kiss on your lips, “I’ll see you.”
“Mmhm.”
Crossing to Emily she left a kiss on her cheek, “thanks. Here’s hoping to running into you again.”
“Only time will tell.” She smirked, watching as the other woman vanished from the hotel room.
You let out a sigh, finally sitting up from the bed, groaning as you stretched out your body before disappearing into the bathroom. In the short time it took you to freshen up, remove your make up and brush your teeth Emily had ridden herself of the robe, opting to slip under the sheets naked instead. She was about to pick up the remote when you spoke,
“You know… something doesn’t totally feel fair.” You stated as you climbed back into the bed.
“What? That she just gets to leave?”
“No.” You laughed and she caught the devilish gleam in your eye, “you didn’t get come…”
Your hands were on her hips before she even realized it, letting out a quiet shriek as you flipped her onto her back with a wicked grin on your lips. Though there was no time to even think about protesting, your mouth and hands were on her before she could even think, eagerly and very energetically repaying her for all of the pleasure she’d given out that night.
____________________
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roguerogerss · 1 year ago
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The President; ‘Something Sweet.’
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Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Reader
W/C: 2.1k
Warnings: SMUT!!
(HEY! this is the second part to The President, part 3 will be out soon so plssss stay tuned, hope u luv it, luv you, bye) (requests r open! send me stuff here)
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“Where did you go?"
Clemensia snatched your arm and stopped you in your place. You'd been trying to ignore all of the girls, weaving your way in and out of the crowd, accepting the odd congratulations or hug as you went, you thought you might find Tigris and stick by her until at least dinner time. You wanted nothing more than to be at home.
"Oh." You started but stopped short. If you even stuttered you knew she'd know, your legs were shaking and, if she looked at you closely, she'd be able to see that your hair wasn't nearly as smooth as it was an hour ago, and your lipstick had smudged over your chin and you'd spent longer than you should've trying to wipe it off. "Just had a few photos to be taken, Coryo wanted them out of the way."
Clemensia turned you to face her, gripping your forearms as she eyed you suspiciously. You held your breath a moment, she wasn't the type to keep her mouth shut. "Of course. Photos."
She was smirking at you, and you nearly hung your head in shame out of pure instinct. You teetered backwards slightly in your heels, and Clemensia barely stifled a laugh. "Did these photos involve you being bent over something?"
"Clemmie!" You burst out, hands clamping over your mouth, cheeks burning red. And then you couldn't help but laugh. "Don't say anything, please."
"I won't!" She laughed and took hold of your hand, starting to lead you back towards the rest of your school friends. “I didn’t say anything when you’d disappear for every free hour we had in school, did I?”
“Clemensia!”
Okay! I won’t say anything. Promise. It's your day, and Coryo's President now. I can’t say anything."
You laughed as you approached the other girls, Clemmie was your friend, as much as you hated to admit it, and you did actually like spending time with her, after you got over the initial idea of it. The other girls, however, were a different story.
"Where did you guys go?" Lysistrata whined when you rejoined the circle. She wasn’t the worst of the bunch, but, god, could she moan about anything. "Felix had an interview and they basically said that he actually would've won, had Doctor Gaul's vote not counted-"
"Well, her vote did count." Clemensia defended and sent you a small smile. "Why dwell on it, Lyssie?"
"Because it's unfair." Livia practically snarled, lip curled upwards like a growling dog. "Coriolanus will be president until he either steps down, or dies off. And we all know he won't step down, so none of us will even have a chance at it."
"You wouldn't have a chance at anything anyway, Livia. Festus is a slob." You snapped. You'd remembered why you so hated going to school, and then University with these girls. Livia especially always seemed to bring out the worst in you. You heard Clemensia sigh, and Lysistrata sucked in a breath to be held.
Livia looked as though she was about to lunge for you. "He is not a slob!" She threw her hands in the air and started to say something else, when Clemensia butted in, to avoid a public argument between two powerful men's wives.
"Ladies!" She held her arms out between the two of you in a calming manner, and you almost scoffed and walked away from them, but you knew you had to be here. For Coryo, you thought. "Let's just all be friends, okay? You managed it for seventeen years before today, you can certainly last another two hours."
"Oh, look!" Lysistrata pointed excitedly at the grand hall, drawing the attention of the conversation to something else entirely. "I think we've to go for dinner, now. Aren't you all excited? It'll be lovely."
You were definitely excited. The University provided three square meals a day, if you stayed long enough - you always did - but, since you'd graduated, it had been back to Tigris' cabbage soup and the occasional luxury like a loaf of bread or some beef mince, if Coriolanus helped Doctor Gaul with something she believed warranted an extra payout. The food was guaranteed to be something special, and, even better, you could leave your school friends behind for at least an hour and sit by Coryo instead.
An avox appeared by your small group, and gestured for you all to follow them, leading the gathering of wives to the dinner hall first. Clemensia, Livia, and Lysistrata were positioned at a table together, each one chair apart from the other, and you almost laughed out loud when Livia's scowl deepened further and Clemmie sighed disappointedly at her space between the other two.
After seating the three other women, the avox gestured for you to follow them even further, to a long, rectangular table overlooking a sea of smaller round ones. The hall really was magnificent, all marble and hardwood, a string quartet playing in the far corner, and Coriolanus' Grandma'am's roses decorating each table, in small glass vases. You smiled at the touch, assuming it was Tigris' doing, Coryo would love it.
"Thank you." You nodded to the avox as they tapped a chair for you to sit in. The table was laid with a white tablecloth and lace runner, and six plates, with dainty little place cards placed neatly atop them. The ones on either side of you read Tigris Snow and President Coriolanus Snow. You assumed the one next to Coryo would've been for the Grandma'am and the other two chairs for other government officials.
The room started to fill up with people, celebrities, guests, reporters, game makers. You tried to make out anyone familiar in the sea of people, but faces blurred into one another, distant chatter became almost deafening, and you found that, not only could you not decipher one person from another, but you'd given yourself a headache trying to do so.
The chair beside you pulled back, startling you from your squint-eyed staring, and then Tigris appeared, beaming and touching a hand to your shoulder. "He did it!" She cried and you embraced, squealing as you did so.
“I know.” You mused. “Did you do the roses?”
Tigris nodded, a satisfied smile crossing her face. “Yes, do you like them? I thought it’d be nice, something familiar.”
“They’re beautiful, he’ll love them.” You plucked one of the stems from the vase in front of you, inspecting the perfect flower, so familiar. You’d always loved the Grandma’am’s roses, almost as much as Coryo did.
You were only able to talk for a moment, Tigris complimenting the way you'd done his hair, you gushing over his suit. You loved Tigris, really. But the national anthem began playing, and then there were cameras on you both and you tried to remember to sit up straight and keep your chin down.
The entire room erupted into cheers and claps and cries as Coriolanus entered, looking dazzling as ever. You even noticed Livia giving a hand, which sent a sense of satisfaction through you. "There he is! Our brand new President, it's Coriolanus Snow!" Lucky Flickerman had appeared out of nowhere again, and you could just hear him over the sound of the crowd. "And he's making his way over to his gorgeous first lady! I heard they've only been married three days."
You stifled a laugh at Lucky's overly dramatic performance, and then you felt almost self conscious, seeing all of the people looking towards you, the cameras pointed in your direction. Tigris touched a gentle hand to your arm to soothe you, and you just about managed a grin as Coryo approached.
He sat down next to you and you found his hand placed on the small of your back, thumb rubbing soothing circles just beside your spine. You let out a sigh of relief and smiled until the cameras turned away and the starting course of the meal served. "That was good, darling." Coryo spoke quietly. "Are you okay? You seem nervous."
"I am nervous." You turned toward him and placed a hand on his knee. "I'll get over it, though. First day jitters."
"Of course you will." And then he leaned down to whisper in your ear, hand creeping up your thigh under the cover of the tablecloth. "What do you think I could do to calm you down, hm?"
"Coryo." You hid a small smile and wrapped your fingers around his wrist. "People are watching."
"All the more fun." You turned to face him, noticing the half-concealed grin playing on his lips. Your eyes flickered out towards the crowd and cameras, guests were all chattering and eating, but the cameras stayed put, and Lucky continued his constant commentary of you. You imagined him, broadcasting to the entirety of Panem, that the brand new President was fingering his wife at the dinner table.
Coryo's hand wandered up even further, underneath your skirt, into your underwear. You sucked in a breath and made a sort of uncomfortable grunt, biting back a whine as two familiar fingers pressed into you. You gripped onto the tablecloth and Tigris turned to you, concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked and you nodded, too enthusiastically.
"I'm okay." You answered, but you knew your face wasn't communicating what you said, and Tigris' hand was pressed to your forehead before you could tell her again.
"You're hot, have you drank enough water today? And you're flushed, too-" Tigris was in the middle of pouring some water into the glass in front of you when Coryo cut in.
"She's okay, Tigris." He smiled at his cousin. "Wasn't feeling too well last night, were you, love?"
You shook your head, trying to act convincing while Coriolanus' fingers continued their assault inside of you. "Oh, honey! Well, get some rest tonight, okay?"
And then Tigris had turned back to her conversation with the Grandma'am, and you made a mental note to continue the narrative that you were sick, at least in front of Tigris. And then you noticed that Lucky was staring right at the two of you, massive grin on his face, as always, and the camera beside him was fixated on your table.
"Coryo, the cameras!" You hissed, but he silenced you, curling his fingers against your sensitive spot. You made another strangled sound, but Tigris didn't turn around this time, too invested in conversation with the Grandma'am.
"Shh," Coryo comforted you, nuzzling his forehead against your cheek in a way that could've been mistaken for a loving gesture for the cameras. "Let them see, honey. Just be quiet for me. My good girl."
He curled his fingers faster inside of you, so that you had to clamp your hand on your thigh to stop your legs from shaking aggressively, every now and again he'd lean down and say something like, "You're doing so well." or "So good for me." and your head would spin.
"Coryo," You whispered, a breathy moan falling from your lips, almost loud enough for everyone at the table to hear. "I'm getting close, you know how loud I get."
Dessert was being served, now, and you were almost glad that the avoxes didn't have tongues, because you were certain that the one placing your lemon tart in front of you had made a strange face whilst doing so.
Coryo's fingers brushed your sensitive spot once again, and you felt his hand on your back as it arched off of the chair, dimming the appearance of your arousal to the public. "I know. Not going to let you finish, not yet."
He pressed a short kiss to your temple and then pulled his fingers out of you, at which you huffed and pouted, he felt his cock throb, seeing you looking so bratty.
"Coryo!" You whined, bottom lip still jutting out. "That's not fair."
"Isn't it?" He asked, smirk playing on his face. He made you watch as he looked you straight in the eye, lifted his fingers to his lips - still glistening with your slick - and sucked them clean. "Mmh, so sweet, my girl. Now, I want you to go home, familiarise yourself with the mansion - you'll love it, by the way - and wait for me to get there. No touching yourself, you know the punishment for that."
A small smile grew on your face as you nodded. Coryo kissed your face, picked up your dessert fork and handed it to you, gesturing to the food in front of you. As you took your first bite, he slid his own across to the Senator sat next to him. The larger man looked at him with confusion in his eyes.
"You can take mine, already had something sweet."
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thebestofoneshots · 9 months ago
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Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)
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Series Masterlist | Previous episode
Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 7.8 K Warnings: ANGST! Prompt: Meanwhile, on the other side of the line... This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. Proofread by lovely: @aremuslupinsimp
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Chapter 45: Hold the Line
Love isn’t always on time
Tuesday, December 24th
Christmas at the Potters was always a blast. Sirius had learned that when he turned 12 and got invited to their house to celebrate Christmas after he got a dreadful howler about being a disgrace for the Noble House of Black and getting detention for the prank they had done to the Slytherins.
James had overheard Sirius cry at night over the fact that he’d have to spend Christmas alone in the school and decided he had to do something about it. He wrote a letter to his Mum and Sirius got officially invited to their home for the break. Now, the Potters sent the invitation to Sirius and Sirius only, and he got on the train as if he were going home without telling anyone about it. He got another howler when Walburga found out, but it had been worth it. 
He hadn’t been allowed to the Potters for Christmas next year, and he made sure to make a show out of it, wearing muggle clothes to the family dinner and acting so irreverent that Orion locked him up in his room, after giving him a scold, slashing him with diffindo, and making him write “I will behave,” over and over again with a black quill. It didn’t work, Sirius made sure to behave even worse on the New Year’s event and he got officially banned from December celebrations by Walburga. 
Next year, he was back at the Potters and happier than ever before. The scars he’d gotten (already long gone) had been worth it. Since then, he’d spent Christmas with them, and every year had been better than the last. Effie was always nice to him, and even with how much she was like James, she was still motherly, especially in comparison to Walburga. 
And she had treated Sirius like her own boy since they met. In fact, there was never a difference in the way neither Monty nor Effie treated the two boys, they were their kids, and they treated them as such. Sirius appreciated it deeply, he’d found love, care, and appreciation there and he considered Effie more his mom than Walburga ever was. BIood be damned, family isn’t about what’s running through your veins but about the way you care and treat each other, and if anyone was family to him, it was his brother James, and his parents Effie and Monty. 
This year had been no different, from the moment they arrived at the house, the smell of Christmas filled the air. Effie had prepared cookie dough for their yearly making of gingerbread houses. It was a small competition –Effie loved competitions– but they all had to build elaborate creations (with a magical twist) and then they’d set them all on the counter and have the house elves judge and pick the best. Whoever won the contest got an extra gift on Christmas.
Sirius had won once, but Monty was always adding clever new magical things onto the houses, like last year when he made a snow globe house, with magical snow  –actually sugar– that would swirl around in the air sending positive Christmas words like “Joy” and “Mirth” and even “Happy Hannukah!”, which according to him, was a muggle tradition from a different religion than the one Christmas had spawned from. 
This year though, Effie’s recreation of the Big Ben, alongside the magic stars she had made float all around it had gotten the best of both Mellie and Picksie, the Potter’s house elves. And they had unanimously voted her the winner. She had been really pleased about the results, so pleased she had made a little victory dance, showing off her creation and making it the centre of the table. 
Sirius saw the adoring look Monty had given her as she danced around, boasting her triumph, and he thought he’d never met a couple more loving than the two of them, but he wanted to match it, he wanted to make you feel the same way Monty made Effie felt all the time, but then he remembered Remus, and felt a pang on his chest, since he too wished he could make him as happy, which was obviously a contradicting thought to the first one. 
“Darling, are you all right?” Effie asked when he noticed his frown. Sirius had relatively subtle expressions when he wanted to hide his feelings, something he had learned to do at home, the Stony Black look, but Effie knew that look well enough, and she instantly knew something was up with her boy. 
Sirius turned to her with a short “Hm?” as he got driven away from his own thoughts. “Yeah, I was just thinking if she’ll like the gift I made her.” 
Effie smiled softly at that, she’d been one of the people to encourage him to draw something for you, especially since she knew you’d been one of the first people he’d shown his art to. James had been very offended when he found out Remus had seen his art before he had and complained to his mother about it while they were making the gingerbread houses, which is how she’d found out. 
“I know I’d love it if Monty made me a drawing, and he’s terrible at it, so I’m certain she will,” she reassured him, “If you want we can go out later and you can get her something else, though.” 
Sirius shook his head, he didn’t want them to spend even more money on him than they already had, “No, don’t worry about it, I’m probably just self-conscious.” 
Effie smiled, there was something heartwarming at seeing Sirius like this, he had never been nervous about a girl, in fact, she wasn’t sure he’d even bothered to get a gift for one before, he looked like a love-sick puppy, it reminded him an awful lot of James, except you liked him back, unlike that Evans girl. Talking about that Evans girl. “So, James is dating Lily now?” 
“He somehow convinced her to go on a date,” Sirius said with a shrug, “they went to the Slug Party together.” 
“Really?” Effie asked with raised eyebrows. 
Sirius nodded in return, “But I cannot give you any more details.” 
“It’s all right,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, “I can pry them off of him later.” She then turned back to Sirius, “You’d think she’d come if we invited her over for dinner with everyone or something? Maybe on New Year’s?” 
Effie knew Lily, she had seen pictures of her and she had crossed a few words with her on those occasions she visited the school for a quidditch match. She thought she was a nice enough girl, but she had never had an actual conversation with her and she certainly wanted to do it now. Although, with how much James talked about her, she felt like she knew a good deal and she considered her a delightful young lady, except for the fact that she kept rejecting James. 
“I’m not sure, she might if Vix comes,” Sirius responded with a shrug, “they’re really good friends.” 
Effie smiled in a sort of devilish way, the same smile Prongs had when he had a good idea for a prank, and gave a short pat in the head to Sirius (which she had gotten a habit of doing back when he was much shorter than her) and walked towards the kitchen. 
Sirius decided to go for a broom ride to clear his mind, James and Peter tagged along with him and they ended up racing around the house at insanely fast speeds, fast enough for Sirius’ hair tie to loosen up and leave his hair flowing wildly behind him, and somehow also fast enough to have his mind be cleared of those thoughts he kept having of both you and Remus. Peter left early since his parents called for him, while the other boys decided to play a game of Magic Chess back in the living room. 
By dinner, both of them had already eaten half of the gingerbread houses they had made, and some other fancy treats Monty liked to cook for the smaller Christmas Eve dinner they always had. Sirius thought it was fantastic since they almost had two parties instead of one. The first time he stayed at the Potter’s he had been so thrilled that he had accidentally blown up some of the decorations. Effie taught him an advanced version of reparo, and the two of them fixed the place together after that.
This time, Monty had asked for their help with the cooking, since Effie had gone out with the elves to buy more stuff for tomorrow’s dinner. It would be rather small, very few people had been invited due to the war and the fact that not many wizards knew which side the other was on, but Effie was set on having the place be as nice as ever. 
Monty loved cooking, he had at some point mentioned that it was like making potions and that there was something oddly satisfying with how a bit of heat and a few spices could make even the most boring of dishes get filled with flavour, and he was set on teaching James, and by extension Sirius, how to cook. 
“Perhaps you could make a cake for Lily,” he said as he passed James the measured flour for him to add, “your mother loved it when I sent her homemade cupcakes.” 
“You did that?” Sirius asked with raised eyebrows. 
“Mhm,” Monty nodded, “beat that a bit faster,” –he said politely as he pointed at the egg whites Sirius had been tasked with fluffing up– “She said she liked men with cooking skills and I asked my mum to help me with it, she sent me a bunch of cooking books and here we are now. James, have you added the cinnamon?” 
“Eh…” James thought about it for a second and looked around the counter. The cinnamon was pretty far from where he stood, “don’t think so,” he admitted. 
“That’s all right, I’ll add it for you,” he said and waved his wand, in an instant the cinnamon container was lifted up and after shaking softly three times and after dropping some cinnamon over James’ dry ingredient mix, it went back to its place on the table. Then Fleamont went back to cutting the apples into small pieces. “When you’re done with that James, please add some butter to the pans.” 
“Okay,” James said with a nod and got busy with his task. The three of them were surprisingly efficient in the kitchen. They hadn’t been like that the first time around, but Monty decided they had to know how to –at least– make soup if they were ever going to live alone one day and had them take an intensive course a couple of summers ago. Both James and Sirius had gotten much better grades at potions after that, especially because Monty, being such an expert potioneer, had taught them to cook with potion-making techniques. 
He hadn’t done it intentionally, but he was pretty satisfied with the result, especially when Effie praised him for being so clever and entertaining the kids with cooking while also teaching them something. He took the credit for being slick with a smile. 
By the time they were done with the cake preparations, the food was ready to pull out of the oven. Monty and Sirius took the stuff out and passed it to James who took it to the table that Effie and Picksie were setting up while they focused on revising the temperature and placing the cakes in the oven. They had made three cakes, a chocolate cake that was James’ favourite, a carrot cake that Monty loved and an apple crumble one that both Sirius and Effie were mad about. 
Effie had gotten some extra treats for the boys, and she had even gotten some Shepherd's Pie from a muggle place called “The Wingmore” that Monty loved. They had a delicious family dinner together, with cookies, pie and baked potatoes. They caught up with each other, and both Monty and Effie teased James about Lily mercilessly. Then Monty mentioned something about having “The Talk” with James and Sirius had to cough it in order to hide a cackle. 
Prongs had kicked him under the table while Effie had appeared a glass of water for him so he could take a drink, and Sirius had thanked her with the soft charming smile of his that made all the girls swoon, James glared at him for it, and the other boy winked at him brazenly. If it went something like the talk Monty had given him 2 years ago when he started dating around, James might not survive it. 
Sirius walked back to James’ room and decided to wait there for him to tease him once his talk with Monty was over, but Sirius was pretty tired from a day filled with fun, and he fell asleep pretty much the second he hit James’ bed. 
He woke up a few minutes later when he felt a heavy leg over his own. He opened his eyes confused, thinking it was warm, but also that it smelled weird. Or perhaps not weird, just… not the way it should smell. It smelled of cedar, firewood, mint and summer breeze, not like books, parchment, chocolate and you. He blinked his eyes open and spotted James’ arm draped over his chest and his leg on top of both of his own. He was cuddling Sirius like he cuddled his pillows. 
“Prongs,” he said softly, but the boy just snuggled deeper into him. “Prongs!” he repeated. “Prongs, what the fuck!” 
James frowned and looked at Sirius as if he had been wronged, “What do you want?” 
“Why are you cuddling me?” 
“You’re in my bed,” the boy responded with a shrug. 
“So what? Don’t you know about personal space?” 
Bold fucking words for Sirius Black, James thought.
“Just shut up, I’m tired.” 
“No, get off me!” Sirius said as he tried to pry James’ legs off of him, but James was heavier, and at this point, he was determined to piss Sirius off after being so wrongly accused. 
“Pads!” James complained. “Just let me sleep, mate.” 
“Not until you get off.” 
“You never tell Remus to get off,” James huffed and tightened his grip. 
What?
You never tell Remus to get off.
You never tell Remus to get off.
YOU NEVER TELL REMUS TO GET OFF!
Sirius opened his eyes wide as he looked at the ceiling, completely in shock as he let the words sink in. He looked to the side, trying to hide the panic, “That’s different,” he managed to muster. 
“How is it different? I’m your best mate anyway, if you’re giving hugging concessions around, it should be to me.” 
How is it different? Yes Sirius, HOW IS IT FUCKING DIFFERENT?!? He wondered to himself. “It’s because of the smell of the pack?” 
“Is it? Really?” James asked, he was annoyed, and sleepy, and not quite thinking what he said, let alone how much it was affecting Sirius. 
“Of course,” Sirius said defensively and pushed James off of him, turning his back to the boy as James rolled his eyes and did the same. 
Prongs knew Sirius would be fine in the morning, but it would be a lie if he said he hadn’t been a little offended by the way he got pushed off, he had seen how close he was to Remus lately, and it wasn’t that he was jealous, but since when was Sirius closer to Moony than to him? Vixen he understood, he was head over heels for you, but Remus?!? 
Since when was Pads so close to him? 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bed, Sirius had started to PANIC. There was something so raw about the words half-asleep James had said. Is it really about the smell of the pack? Was he using you as an excuse to cuddle Remus? Was he using his girlfriend… to cuddle his crush? 
Perhaps he was a Black after all, it ran in his bIood, all wicked and malicious, cunning and devious. How could he shamelessly cuddle into Remus while you were right next to him? As if he didn’t have a crush on his friend? As if he hadn’t already admitted to himself that Remus was bIoody handsome? With his big broad shoulders and his intoxicating smell of books and chocolate, and a hint of you. With his messy brown hair and his kind smile, it was unfair really, for him to be so pretty and for Sirius to only have realised it now, now that he was happy, now that he had found someone. 
When Sirius woke up, there was a pile of gifts on his side of the bed. James had decided to let him sleep in since he had been kind of annoyed at night and he didn’t want to deal with cranky Sirius on Christmas, which is why he was quietly opening his gifts on the other side of the floor. 
Sirius leaned over and threw him a look while peeking his head over the bed. When he noticed he smiled. “Look at this” – he pointed at a box of muggle Christmas-themed chocolates– “Lily sent it, they even came with a small note, look,” he said as he passed the note to Sirius. 
Sirius eyed him incredulously and took the small card in his hands before turning around on the bed to get himself comfortable, he cleared his throat, “Dear James, I was walking along this Christmas market and they had these chocolates, the adorable elf on the side that looks way too excited to be in a box kind of reminded me off you. Hope you have an amazing Christmas. Love, Lily.” 
“You read that? She said ‘Love’.” 
“Mhm,” Sirius said with a smirk and turned around again to pick the box from the floor, “Oh god is this the over-excited elf?” he said as he spotted a green-dressed short man on the side, he was wearing a very muggle Christmas outfit and had funny features, although his smile and eye colour did kind of match James’, it was like a bootleg version of him. Sirius couldn’t help but cackle. 
“Oi! Don’t make fun of it! She sent it with love.” 
“Not laughing at the gift, I’m laughing at the resemblance,” Sirius added while he tried to catch his breath, James had snatched the box from him and carefully placed it next to his leg. 
Sirius was still laughing when he saw some light coming from a small hand-held mirror he had placed on his nightstand. It was reflecting a small beam on the ceiling. It was an enchanted mirror he had stolen from his parents back when he still lived with them. He had used it to communicate with James on the longer summers, even if he couldn’t actually talk through it. 
Sirius frowned, “You have the sister mirror to someone?” 
“Remus,” James said as he stood up and leaned across the bed, “since he was going to be alone this Christmas,” he added. Sirius rolled to the side and then on the bed to reach the same belly-down position James was using and looked inside. 
Remus, looking as handsome as ever, was on the other side, shirtless –to Sirius’ dismay– and with his hair slightly messier than usual. Even his smile was so wide it looked like it would burst out of his face. 
He waved at the boys and then pointed at a card he had in his hand. It said, “Merry Christmas”. 
Sirius looked around and pulled James’ box from the floor, showing him the exact spot where it said “Merry Christmas” as well. 
Remus then picked up a small pen and wrote “Thank you for the gifts” on the side of his Christmas letters. Sirius winked in response, he knew Rem would like the book he got him. But he knew he’d especially love the drawing he made for him as well: it was a Wolf, a dog and a fox playing in the forest. 
“You made him a drawing too?” James asked with a gasp.
“You’re telling me Mum got a drawing, Vix got a drawing, and Moony got a drawing, but I didn’t?” 
“Didn’t have enough time,” Sirius responded with a shrug. Remus, who was trying to read the boys’ lips and kind of got that he was among the few to get a drawing, couldn’t help being filled with joy at the fact that Sirius had done something especially for him. 
He then showed the boys all the music you had sent over and spent a while trying to sign something to James that neither he nor Sirius got properly, but he gathered something about you getting him a bunch of books. 
“What did she get you?” James asked, turning to Sirius who frowned. He had been so busy looking at his friend’s gifts, that he had forgotten he had also received a few himself. 
James placed the mirror at the end of the bed so Remus could see and they all finished unboxing their gifts. Sirius had gotten a CB radio from Remus. There were rather specific instructions on what to do with it, it had even been charmed so that it worked, even in Hogwarts. 
“Hello?” he asked as he pressed the button. 
“Hey!” Remus replied from the other side, he had a wide smile on his face, thrilled that it actually worked. 
“Oh, that’s horrifying,” James said as he looked through Remus in the mirror and Sirius playing with the radio back in his room. “Like dark magic.” 
“Just science,” Remus said.
“Didn’t you have to press a button so he can hear?” James asked as he took the radio from Sirius’ hand. 
“I can read your lips, you dumbass,” Remus responded, and Sirius started to laugh. 
James frowned and covered his mouth with his hands and turned to Sirius “Pretend I said something awful about him.” 
“He said you’re a smartass,” Sirius said as he pressed the button, Remus gave James a look, eyebrows raised. 
“I didn’t–” he started and took back the radio, snatching it from Sirius with a lot more purpose, “I didn’t say that! He made that up.” 
“Why would I make that up?” Sirius said innocently. 
“To fuck with me.” 
Remus started to laugh from the other side, and then pressed the button, “What else did you get?” 
Sirius pulled another box while James started to play with the different buttons of the radio, “Read this first,” the longer-haired boy said as he passed the instructions to James who groaned but did as told. 
Sirius had gotten a good deal of stuff. It wasn’t weird that he got a bunch of gifts since he stayed at the Potters, his mother used to reject most of the gifts, but he had gotten tons of chocolate from girls every time he stayed over with James. Most of them would end up with Remus’ stash later on. This year he didn’t get as many chocolates, but he still got a good deal of stuff, some from people he didn’t even know. 
“I swear every year he gets more stuff,” James said as he shook his head in disbelief. He had been partly to blame since he had gotten him a massive quidditch gear kit for morning practices. Peter had gotten him a magic puzzle that changed every few minutes. Andromeda had sent him some other cool muggle things she’d found, and he was absolutely fascinated by the 8 ball she’d gotten him. It was a ball that you could ask things to and when you turned it around it responded, like a divination device, except with no magic involved. The best part was the ridiculous things it said: “Outlook not so good, try asking your cat”, “Ask again later, I'm napping”, “Signs point to tacos. Always tacos” and his personal favourite, and the main reason Dromeda had gotten it “Are you serious? (No, seriously, are you?)”.
She had also gotten both James, him, Remus and Peter, pet rocks. Now neither of them had a clue what that was, but Dromeda said all the cool kids had one of those with the muggles. The rock came in a box and had a rather detailed manual on how to take care of it, and even a back story claiming that it had been “trained” in Mexico by a pet handler named Pedro.
“You also got a rock?” Remus asked as he pulled one from the side and showed it to the boys through the mirror. Remus’ rock had his eyes slightly further apart than Sirius’. “I named mine Cornelius.” 
“Cornelius?” Sirius asked with a frown as he stared at his friend’s rock through the mirror, “Now that you mention it, it does kind of look like a Cornelius.” 
“Mine will be Lily,” James said as he took him out of the box. It was a red-ish rock. 
“You can’t name your pet Lily!” 
“It’s a rock,” James said with a shrug, “I can name it however I want.” 
“What’s yours?” he asked as he pointed at Sirius’ rock.
“It’s… Bowie.” 
“Hm… love it,” James nodded as he stared at his friend’s rock. The two of them carefully placed them on the side table, as if they were actual, delicate pets and not just, rocks. 
They continued opening their gifts, Sirius was absolutely fascinated with yours. He loved the drawing books and pens and markers, the mixtape that you’d gotten him and the watercolours, but he was pretty much obsessed with the penknife. He loved that it had his name on it and he used it to open the rest of his gifts, then he pocketed it and kept it with him the rest of the day. 
He was helping Monty peel some potatoes –with his penknife instead of a spell– when James decided to tease him about it. 
“You’ve been carrying that around all day,” he said as if it were a throwaway comment while he tried to make a pile of oranges. 
“It’s super useful.” 
“Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact that it was a gift from Vixen?” 
Monty eyed Sirius with a knowing smile and went back to his cooking. 
“That’s just a bonus,” Sirius responded and placed the finished potato in the bowl. “It’s got my name on it, mate,” he said as he moved the knife to the side. “Also, she mentioned she charmed it, but she said I had to figure out what the charm is.” 
“Maybe she just said that to have you think about it for ages, and it’s not actually charmed.” 
Sirius stopped moving for a second, looking at nowhere in particular as he considered the possibility before letting a short breath out and shaking his head, “Nah, it’s got some kind of magic, I can feel it.” 
James, just to tease his friend, further shrugged with an unconvinced air, “If you say so.” 
Sirius just took another potato and started peeling it with a small frown. He was about 80% sure he could feel magic on the knife. But he was surrounded by magic, in an extremely magical household, literally every single person around him could wield magic, so it was possible the knife was just reflecting the energies from his environment. 
By dinner time, there were some more people in the house. Andromeda, Ted and their daughter Dora had been invited by the Potters since they knew how much Sirius loved seeing his cousin, but she had to skip the dinner since Dora had gotten a fever from playing all day in the snow. The Weasleys had also been invited, Dumbledore had introduced them to Monty a few years back and they were rather fond of each other, even if Arthur was much younger. He had arrived with Molly and their 3 sons: Bill, Charlie and the newborn Percy. 
Bill had followed James around the moment he spotted him, and James had shown him some of his old toys, and they all played a game of Exploding Snap with Sirius. There were other Wizards there too, Alastor Moody, who had a very animated conversation with Arabella Fig, Elphias Dodge and both Seraphina Nightshade and her boyfriend Roan Elmore, whom James had met at the party shortly after you and Remus did. 
“That’s Roan, Seraphina’s boyfriend.” 
“She’s dating someone?” Sirius asked, amused. Seraphina was beautiful, the entire school knew that, but he had no idea she had been dating someone. 
“Yeah, he was at Slughorn’s party,” James said and snapped his fingers and took a pair of identical cards, the cards shuffled themselves back onto the table. 
“Who’s Slughorn?” asked Billy as he snapped his fingers, Charlie just behind him, was attempting to do the same as his brother, but not quite managing to make a sound. 
“The Potions teacher,” Sirius responded as he placed his wand on top of one of the cards and snapped his fingers as well. The rest of the cards on the table started to explode and then they shuffled themselves back together. “You probably won’t like him.” 
“I won’t?” Bill asked, his red eyebrows furrowing just a little bit, Sirius thought he looked cute, and he didn’t like little kids all that much. 
“He might,” James said with a shrug. 
“He won’t if he’s one of the good ones,” Sirius retorted and then snapped his fingers and took a pair of cards. 
“I don’t like him at all then,” Bill said with determination, he definitely wanted to fit in with the cool crowd, that obviously being the older boys: Sirius and James. He didn’t need to do much, both boys already liked Bill, if he were their age, he’d probably be part of their gang. 
“Me neither,” Charlie added, “Unless he has a dragon.” 
“Charlie, people don’t have dragons,” Bill said in a rather exasperated tone, as if it wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that and then snapped his fingers, taking a pair of cards. 
Charlie tried to do the same and snapped his fingers, only for them to make no sound again. “But they could,” he insisted, sighed as if he too was tired of having that same argument with Bill and then walked towards Mrs. Weasley, she was talking to Effie about something in a rather hushed tone while Mr. Weasley struggled to get Percy to stop crying a few feet from them. 
Sirius was about to snap his fingers again when he felt a sharp pain in his hand, “ah fuck,” he said as he pulled his hand from the table. 
“You all right?” James asked, as he snapped his fingers and took the cards Sirius was going to take. 
Sirius was staring at his palm confused, the scar from the scary witchcraft store had hurt almost in the same way it had when the necklace burned it on his hand. It was a lot less visible now, but the pain had been the same.
It wasn’t the first time it happened. It had sometimes bothered him back in the day, but it had never been as sharp as today. And it had kind of stopped since you came to Hogwarts.  He assumed it must have been some kind of protean charm, but he had no idea how, and if he could use it at all. All he knew was that it hurt sometimes, and it reminded him of you, which he really didn’t like thinking back when you weren’t around. 
“Yeah, I think I bit myself or something,” he lied and turned back to the game, snapping his fingers and taking another pair of cards.
James eyed him suspiciously and then the cards shuffled on the table again, completely stealing his train of thought, especially when Bill snapped his fingers and took the pair of cards he was about to take. 
In the end, Bill won the game. He was awfully good for a six-year-old, and both Sirius and James were a bit out of practice. 
“There you go,” Sirius said as he passed him 3 sickles. 
“Thank you,” Bill said, by then Charlie had already come back and was tugging on his brother’s pants. “Charlie, I won them,” he complained as James paid up. 
“If I could play, I’d win too!” Charlie complained, “I want to save for the toy dragon at Whimsy Wonders.” 
“Well, technically, he helped Bill, didn’t he?” James asked, eyeing Sirius. 
“Oh yeah, moral support,” Sirius agreed. “I feel like we owe him for that as well.” 
Charlie’s face glowed looking at them. “No, he wasn’t playing,” Bill said. 
“Oh, but he was,” James said and handed Charlie a sickle, Sirius did the same. “You wouldn’t have won without him, right?” 
Bill frowned, as if about to say he was perfectly capable of winning without Charlie pestering him about dragons, but there was something on James’ gaze that had him hold it. He sighed, “Of course, Charlie helped…” 
Charlie smiled widely and ran towards Mrs. Weasley. “Mom, Mom, Look!” he said. “We beat the older kids!” he repeated. James chuckled as he saw the small boy jump about, and then Monty called everyone towards the table. 
The Potter’s party table was long and round, with different panels that rolled inside to have the food and snacks pass around and stay within everyone’s reach. Of course, wizards could just float whatever they needed their way, but both Monty and Effie thought it was annoying to have the salad dressing and bread basket cover the face of the person they were trying to talk to so they designed the table to be able to have a pleasant conversation. 
Sirius was sitting in between James and Charlie, who was determined to sit with them even if he was meant to sit with his brother. Sirius didn’t mind it much, Charlie mostly talked about dragons, and for a 4-year-old, he seemed to have encyclopedic knowledge of them. While Bill, who was always listening to him go on and on about dragons, found it annoying, Sirius and James thought it was actually interesting. 
He was telling Sirius about the Ukrainian Ironbelly and how he wanted to get a wand with a dragon heartstring core when he turned 11 when Monty stood up and thanked everyone for coming to the party, which prompted Charlie into silence. 
Monty’s speech was heartfelt and honest, just like he was all the time, and while he didn’t explicitly say anything related to the war, he did mention that they were living in dark times, and for such reason, it was time to keep those whom you love at an arm’s length, to take care of each other and to check up on them as often as possible. He said that sometimes even the simplest of messages made the difference. 
When his speech was done, there was a small toast, and then they got to eat. Sirius dived straight for the potato souffle since he had helped with the preparation and thought the amount of cheese they had added was mouth-watering, he also waited a couple of seconds for the inside panels of the table to spin around so he could reach for some of Monty’s special turkey. He had tried it the first Christmas he spent with the Potters and since then he always waited eagerly for dinner time to be able to eat it again. 
He had even asked Monty for the recipe, but he had never gotten around to preparing it himself, although this Christmas Monty had him do some of the garlic mincing and spices blending for him, so he learned all the techniques. Sirius was more than happy to help, he found the kitchen to be a relaxing place (as long as it was the Potter’s kitchen and Monty was the head chef).
Effie was a lot more demanding in the kitchen, and if he had never dared to enter the one in Grimmauld Place, he was sure to come out as a roasted chicken instead of with one. Kreacher had always been awful to him, and the kitchens were his and Walburga’s territory exclusively. 
Sirius was about to take another bite of his turkey, Charlie was talking about a Common Welsh Green and how elegant he thought they were when he felt another pang on his hand. Sharper and a lot more concentrated this time around. He dropped his fork and it clanged against the plate. He looked up, worried, out of habit more than anything, only to realise he was at home, and not with Walburga where he might have been awfully reprimanded. 
With the Potters it was different, in fact, Monty gave him a short questioning look, clearly asking if he was all right, to which Sirius nodded. Monty went back to his talk and allowed James to check on Sirius instead. Meanwhile, Effie raised her voice just a little, covering up for the loud sound Sirius had caused and Molly laughed loudly at something Alastor said. Sirius looked around with a small smile. 
Yeah, this is home, he thought as he pulled his hand towards him and placed his thumb over the already faded scar.
“Mate, that’s the second time today,” James said, looking at Sirius with a frown. 
“I don’t know what’s with it either,” he admitted with a shrug. 
“You wanna skip dessert? Go sleep?” 
“Nah, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Sirius lied, trying to push aside the unsettling feeling gnawing at his mind. It had been months since it last troubled him, and this time it felt worse, not even in the aftermath of Mexico when he discovered how annoying it could be, but back then he assumed it was just the healing process, he didn’t know about Protean charms and, even now, he didn’t know why it was happening, perhaps then he would have reacted faster. 
Regardless of the uneasiness, Sirius intended to enjoy the dinner, and he did, in between eating, joking with James and hearing Charlie talk about dragons, he was distracted from the pain so often that by the time he went to sleep, he had almost completely forgotten about the discomfort. That was until he actually fell asleep. 
In his dream, Sirius found himself in an eerie scene, surrounded by his family, yours, Evan, Arkalis, and even the Dark Lord. Regulus was speaking to him, then he cast a hex on his brother, and suddenly they were torturing Muggles. That’s when he realised he wasn’t himself; he was seeing things through your eyes as if you had lent them to him.
He saw his cousin Bella and then your friend, Nina who was being tortured with an unforgivable. That’s when you reacted, there was a fire. Not any fire, Fiendfyre. The massive Chimera you created was burning everything in its wake. Chaos ensued, lives were lost, and you fled.
He saw how you ran alongside Nina until you were further enough away, but Lucius showed up out of nowhere. You duelled him, almost won, but Nina was hit by a stunning spell and you lost it, throwing yourself over her and crying, desperate to bring her back, but she wasn’t responding. There was a blinding light and he heard Barty’s voice.
“Sirius!” a voice called from a distance. “SIRIUS!”
He jolted awake, with a confused gaze as if trying to get back to reality, “James?” 
“You’ve been muttering Vixen’s name over and over, and you’re sweating,” James said, his hand on Sirius’s forehead. “I think you were having a nightmare.”
Sirius frowned, his pulse fast and his breathing short, still struggling to ground himself. The dream had felt so real as if he really had been you, as if he really had gone through all that stuff, perhaps he had drunk too much of that Dragon Wine after listening to Charlie go on and on about how the process of slowly heating the conserve with dragon breath was “so fascinating”. 
It’s not that he didn’t think it was interesting, but no matter what you said, Charlie found a way to connect it with dragons and after a while, it did get dizzying.  
“Yeah, it was awful,” Sirius admitted. “Thank Merlin it was just a dream.”
James nodded and threw himself next to Sirius, taking the rock Andromeda had given him and tossing it from hand to hand. Back when they were smaller, James would sleep with Sirius whenever he had a nightmare. It reminded Sirius of Reggie and he always felt a lot more at ease when he wasn’t alone on the bed. He didn’t do it much anymore, Sirius’ nightmares had decreased, and he had also gotten a lot better at hiding when he had some. 
“I’ll go take piss,” Sirius said as he stood up. James threw him a side glance and watched his friend walk all the way to the bathroom attentively. He wasn’t sure when had been the last time Sirius had had such a distressing nightmare, and the fact that it had to do with you, must have been even more upsetting. 
He understood it much better now that he had Lily, he wanted to protect her more than anything in this world and the thought of something, anything, happening to her was enough to make his bIood run cold. He was scared of things happening to her, and he assumed Sirius must have been just as scared of things happening to you. Especially with how things were now. At least you were a pure-bIood, not as much of a target for deatheaters as Lily was. 
In truth, James had sent notes to Lily every day since he got home, not because he missed her so dreadfully that he couldn’t go a day without talking to her –which was also kind of true- but because he was terrified he wouldn’t see her again. There were rumours of death eaters going for muggle-borns now. And James had read about a student from 2nd year disappearing along with her family last month. Nobody knew where Jane Bishop and her parents were. 
Sirius walked towards the bathroom as quietly as possible, he didn’t know the time, but he didn’t want to wake up anybody by accident either. He went straight to the sink and tried to wash the sweat off his face, letting some of the water pool in the sink to be able to clean his neck better. When he dug his hand into the water, is when he realised things hadn’t been just a nightmare.
He felt like he had been hit in the stomach and stumbled back a couple of steps until his back crashed against the back wall, then he saw Barty right in front of him, throwing a stunning spell at his face. He didn’t move, but the bathroom dissolved behind him and he appeared to be sitting in the snow, looking up at the Shrieking Shack, completely surrounded by snow. His eyes, although actually opened, slowly closing and opening again. 
One moment he was there, and the next, he saw James crouching right in front of him, with a concerned expression. 
“It wasn’t a dream,” Sirius managed to mumble. 
“What?” 
“It wasn’t a dream!” he repeated a little louder, grabbing onto the towel rack to stand back up again, James helped pull him up and he bolted out of the bathroom. 
James looked at his friend and waved his wand over the mess, all things slowly going back into place, the faucet closing and the sink emptying as he walked behind Sirius. 
“What do you mean by that?” 
“I think shit went down at Rosier’s Christmas party,” Sirius muttered as he paced around the room, “And it was because of Vixen.” 
“When you say shit went down…” 
“I mean Fiendfyre and dеad people,” Sirus said looking up at James with a stony expression. “But that’s… she somehow ended up in the Shack, Barty stunned her just outside-” 
“Sirius–” James said in a comforting tone. 
“We need to do something, she might get hypothermia if she stays out for too long, she–” 
“Sirius!” James called again, a lot more stern now, grabbing onto his friend’s shoulders and shaking him to get his attention. “Are you sure it wasn’t a nightmare?” Sirius swallowed thickly, his eyes watering as he nodded. James took a deep breath, “Okay, I’ll talk to my parents, we can confirm with–” 
“No!! Sirius said, snapping out of James. “It was real, and she’s alone, in the snow, pretty much passed out, we have to do something. Maybe I can apparate there or–” 
“You’ll splinch.” 
“Damn it, James!” Sirius snapped. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing!” 
“Remus!” James said, looking up at Sirius. 
“Remus?” Sirius asked, confused. 
“He’s at school, he can take the passage and–” Sirius didn’t even let James finish, he had already run towards the mirror and the radio, flashing the mirror with lumos and shouting at the small microphone.
“Sirius?” Remus asked confused from the other side of the line.  
Sirius was quick to fill him in, and Remus had put a coat on in seconds. 
“Wait!” James said as Remus pocketed the mirror and walked towards the door. Remus took the mirror out and looked at the two boys. “What if it’s a trap?” 
“If Vixen’s in danger, I don’t care if it’s a trap,” Remus said, with the same determination as Sirius when he was about to risk splinching. 
“Remus?” Sirius said, doubtful. 
“Yeah?” the boy responded through the radio. 
“Just be careful, okay?” 
“I will,” the boy reassured and pocketed the mirror again. 
After that, there was radio silence. 
Sirius paced around the room, Monty and Effie had woken up and walked towards them. Effie had a note in her hand and seemed to be hesitating to speak.
“What is it?” Sirius asked. 
Effie looked to the side and wet her lips before looking back at her boy. “It’s her mother, Avis” –she hesitated– “She’s dеad.” Effie said as she let out a short breath, “there was dark magic that went out of control, Rosier Manor was badly damaged. No one knows where she is.” 
“She’s not there,” Sirius reassured. 
Effie frowned and James explained to both of his parents what had happened. Monty went to place a hand on Sirius’ back as they sat on the bed. The boy’s leg kept bouncing, but there was no news, neither from you nor from Remus. All he could see was the dark fabric from Remus’ pocket through the mirror.
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cosmicmunsonwrites · 4 months ago
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black friday
bjorn x fem!oc
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cw — nothing really
a/n — this is my new fic that you can find here on wattpad! please go read and vote and let me know how you like it. i’ll be updating very frequently!
do not copy or post my work anywhere else.
leaning into his side, he tugged her a little closer with the arm that wrapped around her waist while the other that was holding her hand traced little figures on her skin with his thumb. she pulled the blanket over them a little more to keep them warm in the darkness of her room.
they sat in a comfortable silence as the movie in front of them played. the only thing she could really hear was the sound of his heartbeat in the ear that was pressed to his chest, yet she didn't mind. she actually enjoyed the soothing sound.
he was barely paying attention to whatever was playing. he could only focus on the soft weight of her head on him and the intoxicating smell of her shampoo. he wasn't sure where they were in their friendship, whether they were still just friends or more, but he didn't really care either.
unbeknownst to him, it bothered her much more. she hated not knowing what they called this little thing they had. she wanted nothing more than to just be with him. the amount of time they'd spent together have given her enough to gather a crush on him. whether it was surface level or much deeper, she wanted to explore that. she just wasn't sure what he wanted.
"y'smell good love," bjorn mumbled with a much more coarse voice than usual, breaking her out of her thoughts as the hand on her waist rubbed up and down slowly.
she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks as she cuddled deeper into him. "thank you,"  she replied gratefully. "tried somethin' new."
he nodded even though she couldn't see him. "i like it. suits you," he said before pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
a smile took over her lips immediately as she tried to catch onto what was happening in the movie on the screen. "wait, why'd he do that?" she asked curiously when the main character shut the trap door on his partner.
"'m not sure. can't focus with you so close," he admitted honestly. he'd always been a natural flirt, though sometimes it teetered between flattering and mean teasing. it rolled off his tongue so easily.
she tilted her head up to look at him, the dim glow of the tv illuminating her features and the soft blush in her cheeks. "bjorn," she said, trying to sound serious but unable to contain her smile.
he licked his lips and squeezed her hand a little tighter. "what? have i made you blush?" he asked teasingly with a big toothy grin. she rolled her eyes playfully and turned in his grip, letting go of his hand and laying on her side. "oh c'mon, darling. don't be like that."
he followed her actions and pressed his body behind hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body flush to his. "you're lucky you're warm or i'd have kicked you out by now," she mumbled even though her threat had no real bite to her.
he smacked his lips and chuckled to himself, his breath tickling her neck. "you enjoy my company too much to do such a thing," he whispered in her ear confidently.
"yeah? you want to bet on that?" she challenged before rolling back over to face him on her other side now.
he smiled softly and shook his head. "no, you know you'll always win, love," he said. a nice silence filled the air, despite the low volume of the tv ahead of them. it was comfortable and calming, just laying in the poorly lit room gazing into each others eyes. "my girl.. so beautiful," he complimented in a hushed voice.
it was things like that that confused her. he'd say 'my girl' but the moment she questioned what they were, he'd change the subject if allowed. he avoided the conversation like the plague. but she was desperate for answers.
hesitantly, she began. "bjorn?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper. she knew she'd more than likely get shut down once more but she was still willing to try. "can we please talk?"
she visibly watched his body tense. "love, i don't think this is a—"
she interrupted him before he could continue and shut her down. "please, bjorn. you've pushed it off long enough and i just want to know. that's all. if you want nothing more than a friendship then please, just tell me that. i just want to figure this out," she said as he voice began to wave with sadness. he took a deep breath before nodding hesitantly. she smiled gratefully. "thank you. i'll be right back, i just need to use the restroom."
aurora carefully crawled out of her bed and made her way to her bathroom. she didn't really need to go, she just needed a minute to prepare. she glanced at herself in the mirror and smoothed her hair down a bit then washed her hands. she sat on the edge of the tub for a minute or two, deciding on what to say before assuming she was ready.
she opened up the door, only to find her bed now empty. that would be the last time the two had ever shared a moment alone. they never really even crossed paths anymore.
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mostlysignssomeportents · 8 months ago
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Inkjump Linkdump
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For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!
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It's the start of a long weekend and I've found myself with a backlog of links, so it's time for another linkdump – the eighteenth in the (occasional) series. Here's the previous installments:
https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/
Kicking off this week's backlog is a piece of epic lawyer-snark, which is something I always love, but what makes this snark total catnip for me is that it's snark about copyfraud: false copyright claims made to censor online speech. Yes please and a second portion, thank you very much!
This starts with the Cola Corporation, a radical LA-based design store that makes lefty t-shirts, stickers and the like. Cola made a t-shirt that remixed the LA Lakers logo to read "Fuck the LAPD." In response, the LAPD's private foundation sent a nonsense copyright takedown letter. Cola's lawyer, Mike Dunford, sent them a chef's-kiss-perfect reply, just two words long: "LOL, no":
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/19/apparel-company-gives-perfect-response-to-lapds-nonsense-ip-threat-letter-over-fuck-the-lapd-shirt/
But that's not the lawyer snark I'm writing about today. Dunford also sent a letter to IMG Worldwide, whose lawyers sent the initial threat, demanding an explanation for this outrageous threat, which was – as the physicists say – "not even wrong":
https://www.loweringthebar.net/2024/05/lol-no-explained.html
Every part of the legal threat is dissected here, with lavish, caustic footnotes, mercilessly picking apart the legal defects, including legally actionable copyfraud under DMCA 512(f), which provides for penalties for wrongful copyright threats. To my delight, Dunford cited Lenz here, which is the infamous "Dancing Baby" case that EFF successfully litigated on behalf of Stephanie Lenz, whose video of her adorable (then-)toddler dancing to a few seconds of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" was censored by Universal Music Group:
https://www.eff.org/cases/lenz-v-universal
Dunford's towering rage is leavened with incredulous demands for explanations: how on Earth could a lawyer knowingly send such a defective, illegal threat? Why shouldn't Dunford seek recovery of his costs from IMG and its client, the LA Police Foundation, for such lawless bullying? It is a sparkling – incandescent, even! – piece of lawyerly writing. If only all legal correspondence was this entertaining! Every 1L should study this.
Meanwhile, Cola has sold out of everything, thanks to that viral "LOL, no." initial response letter. They're taking orders for their next resupply, shipping on June 1. Gotta love that Streisand Effect!
https://www.thecolacorporation.com/
I'm generally skeptical of political activism that takes the form of buying things or refusing to do so. "Voting with your wallet" is a pretty difficult trick to pull off. After all, the people with the thickest wallets get the most votes, and generally, the monopoly party wins. But as the Cola Company's example shows, there's times when shopping can be a political act.
But that's because it's a collective act. Lots of us went and bought stuff from Cola, to send a message to the LAPD about legal bullying. That kind of collective action is hard to pull off, especially when it comes to purchase-decisions. Often, this kind of thing descends into a kind of parody of political action, where you substitute shopping for ideology. This is where Matt Bors's Mr Gotcha comes in: "ooh, you want to make things better, but you bought a product from a tainted company, I guess you're not really sincere, gotcha!"
https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/
There's a great example of this in Zephyr Teachout's brilliant 2020 book Break 'Em Up: if you miss the pro-union demonstration at the Amazon warehouse because you spent two hours driving around looking for an indie stationer to buy the cardboard to make your protest sign rather than buying it from Amazon, Amazon wins:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/break-em-up/#break-em-up
So yeah, I'm pretty skeptical of consumerism as a framework for political activism. It's very hard to pull off an effective boycott, especially of a monopolist. But if you can pull it off, well…
Canada is one of the most monopoly-friendly countries in the world. Hell, the Competition Act doesn't even have an "abuse of dominance" standard! That's like a criminal code that doesn't have a section prohibiting "murder." (The Trudeau government has promised to fix this.)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-an-overhauled-competition-act-will-light-a-fire-in-the-stolid-world-of/
There's stiff competition for Most Guillotineable Canadian Billionaire. There's the entire Irving family, who basically own the province of New Bruinswick:
https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/dynasties-2-the-irvings/
There's Ted Rogers, the trumpy billionaire telecoms monopolist, whose serial acquire-and-loot approach to media has devastated Canadian TV and publishing:
https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/canadaland-725-the-rogers-family-compact/
But then there's Galen Fucking Weston, the nepobaby who inherited the family grocery business (including Loblaw), bought out all his competitors (including Shopper's Drug Mart), and then engaged in a criminal price-fixing conspiracy to rig the price of bread, the most Les-Miz-ass crime imaginable:
https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2023/06/what-should-happened-galen-weston-price-fixing/
Weston has made himself the face of the family business, appearing in TV ads in a cardigan to deliver dead-eyed avuncular paeans to his sprawling empire, even as he colludes with competitors to rig the price of his workers' wages:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-12/a-supermarket-billionaire-steps-into-trouble-over-pandemic-wages
For Canadians, Weston is the face of greedflation, the man whose nickle-and-diming knows no shame. This is the man who decided that the discount on nearly-spoiled produce would be slashed from 50% to 30%, who racked up record profits even as his prices skyrocketed.
It's impossible to overstate how loathed Galen Weston is at this moment. There's a very good episode of the excellent new podcast Lately, hosted by Canadian competition expert Vass Bednar and Katrina Onstad that gives you a sense of the national outrage:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/lately/article-boycotting-the-loblawpoly/
All of this has led to a national boycott of Loblaw, kicked off by members of the r/loblawsisoutofcontrol, and it's working. Writing for Jacobin, Jeremy Appel gives us a snapshot of a nation in revolt:
https://jacobin.com/2024/05/loblaw-grocery-price-gouge-boycott/
Appel points out the boycott's problems – there's lots of places, particularly in the north, where Loblaw's is the only game in town, or where the sole competitor is the equally odious Walmart. But he also talks about the beneficial effect the boycott is having for independent grocers and co-ops who deal more fairly with their suppliers and their customers.
He also platforms the boycott's call for a national system of price controls on certain staples. This is something that neoliberal economists despise, and it's always fun to watch them lose their minds when the subject is raised. Meanwhile, economists like Isabella M Weber continue to publish careful research explaining how and why price controls can work, and represent our best weapon against "seller's inflation":
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/econ_workingpaper/343/
Antimonopoly sentiment is having a minute, obviously, and the news comes at you fast. This week, the DoJ filed a lawsuit to break up Ticketmaster/Live Nation, one of the country's most notorious monopolists, who have aroused the ire of every kind of fan, but especially the Swifties (don't fuck with Swifties). In announcing the suit, DoJ Antitrust Division boss Jonathan Kanter coined the term "Ticketmaster tax" to describe the junk fees that Ticketmaster uses to pick all our pockets.
In response, Ticketmaster has mobilized its own Loblaw-like shill army, who insist that all the anti-monopoly activism is misguided populism, and "anti-business." In his BIG newsletter, Matt Stoller tears these claims apart, and provides one of the clearest explanations of how Ticketmaster rips us all off that I've ever seen, leaning heavily on Ticketmaster's own statements to their investors and the business-press:
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/antitrust-enforcers-to-break-up-ticketmaster
Ticketmaster has a complicated "flywheel" that it uses to corner the market on live events, mixing low-margin businesses that are deliberately kept unprofitable (to prevent competitors from gaining a foothold) in order to capture the high-margin businesses that are its real prize. All this complexity can make your eyes glaze over, and that's to Ticketmaster's benefit, keeping normies from looking too closely at how this bizarre self-licking ice-cream cone really works.
But for industry insiders, those workings are all too clear. When Rebecca Giblin and I were working on our book Chokepoint Capitalism, we talked to insiders from every corner of the entertainment-industrial complex, and there was always at least one expert who'd go on record about the scams inside everything from news monopolies to streaming video to publishing and the record industry:
https://chokepointcapitalism.com/
The sole exception was Ticketmaster/Live Nation. When we talked to club owners, promoters and other victims of TM's scam, they universally refused to go on the record. They were palpably terrified of retaliation from Ticketmaster's enforcers. They acted like mafia informants seeking witness protection. Not without reason, mind you: back when the TM monopoly was just getting started, Pearl Jam – then one of the most powerful acts in American music – took a stand against them. Ticketmaster destroyed them. That was when TM was a mere hatchling, with a bare fraction of the terrifying power it wields today.
TM is a great example of the problem with boycotts. If a club or an act refuses to work with TM/LN, they're destroyed. If a fan refuses to buy tickets from TM or see a Live Nation show, they basically can't go to any shows. The TM monopoly isn't a problem of bad individual choices – it's a systemic problem that needs a systemic response.
That's what makes antitrust responses so timely. Federal enforcers have wide-ranging powers, and can seek remedies that consumerism can never attain – there's no way a boycott could result in a breakup of Ticketmaster/Live Nation, but a DoJ lawsuit can absolutely get there.
Every federal agency has wide-ranging antimonopoly powers at its disposal. These are laid out very well in Tim Wu's 2020 White House Executive Order on competition, which identifies 72 ways the agencies can act against monopoly without having to wait for Congress:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/13/post-bork-era/#manne-down
But of course, the majority of antimonopoly power is vested in the FTC, the agency created to police corporate power. Section 5 of the FTC Act grants the agency the power to act to prevent "unfair and deceptive methods of competition":
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge
This clause has lain largely dormant since the Reagan era, but FTC chair Lina Khan has revived it, using it to create muscular privacy rights for Americans, and to ban noncompete agreements that bind American workers to dead-end jobs:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/25/capri-v-tapestry/#aiming-at-dollars-not-men
The FTC's power to ban activity because it's "unfair and deceptive" is exciting, because it promises American internet users a way to solve their problems beyond copyright law. Copyright law is basically the only law that survived the digital transition, even as privacy, labor and consumer protection rights went into hibernation. The last time Congress gave us a federal consumer privacy law was 1988, and it's a law that bans video store clerks from telling the newspapers which VHS cassettes you rented:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act
That's left internet users desperately trying to contort copyright to solve every problem they have – like someone trying to build a house using nothing but chainsaw. For example, I once found someone impersonating me on a dating site, luring strangers into private spaces. Alarmed, I contacted the dating site, who told me that their only fix for this was for me to file a copyright claim against the impersonator to make them remove the profile photo. Now, that photo was Creative Commons licensed, so any takedown notice would have been a "LOL, no." grade act of copyfraud:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/the-internets-original-sin/
The unsuitability of copyright for solving complex labor and privacy problems hasn't stopped people who experience these problems from trying to use copyright to solve them. They've got nothing else, after all.
That's why everyone who's worried about the absolutely legitimate and urgent concerns over AI and labor and privacy has latched onto copyright as the best tool for resolving these questions, despite copyright's total unsuitability for this purpose, and the strong likelihood that this will make these problems worse:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/#invisible-hand
Enter FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has just announced that her agency will be reviewing AI model training as an "unfair and deceptive method of competition":
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4682461-ftc-chair-ai-models-could-violate-antitrust-laws/
If the agency can establish this fact, they will have sweeping powers to craft rules prohibiting the destructive and unfair uses of AI, without endangering beneficial activities like scraping, mathematical analysis, and the creation of automated systems that help with everything from adding archival metadata to exonerating wrongly convicted people rotting in prison:
https://hrdag.org/tech-notes/large-language-models-IPNO.html
I love this so much. Khan's announcement accomplishes the seemingly impossible: affirming that there are real problems and insisting that we employ tactics that can actually fix those problems, rather than just doing something because inaction is so frustrating.
That's something we could use a lot more of, especially in platform regulation. The other big tech news about Big Tech last week was the progress of a bill that would repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act at the end of 2025, without any plans to replace it with something else.
Section 230 is the most maligned, least understood internet law, and that's saying something:
https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/
Its critics wrongly accuse the law – which makes internet users liable for bad speech acts, not the platforms that carry that speech – of being a gift to Big Tech. That's totally wrong. Without Section 230, platforms could be named to lawsuits arising from their users' actions. We know how that would play out.
Back in 2018, Congress took a big chunk out of 230 when they passed SESTA/FOSTA, a law that makes platforms liable for any sex trafficking that is facilitated by their platforms. Now, this may sound like a narrowly targeted, beneficial law that aims at a deplorable, unconscionable crime. But here's how it played out: the platforms decided that it was too much trouble to distinguish sex trafficking from any sex-work, including consensual sex work and adjacent activities. The result? Consensual sex-work became infinitely more dangerous and precarious, while trafficking was largely unaffected:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-385.pdf
Eliminating 230 would be incredibly reckless under any circumstances, but after the SESTA/FOSTA experience, it's unforgivable. The Big Tech platforms will greet this development by indiscriminately wiping out any kind of controversial speech from marginalized groups (think #MeToo or Black Lives Matter). Meanwhile, the rich and powerful will get a new tool – far more powerful than copyfraud – to make inconvenient speech disappear. The war-criminals, rapists, murderers and rip-off artists who currently make do with bogus copyright claims to "manage their reputations" will be able to use pretextual legal threats to make their critics just disappear:
https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-i-eliminalia/
In a post-230 world, Cola Corporation's lawyers wouldn't get a chance to reply to the LAPD's bullying lawyers – those lawyers would send their letter to Cola's hosting provider, who would weigh the possibility of being named in a lawsuit against the small-dollar monthly payment they get from Cola, and poof, no more Cola. The legal bullies could do the same for Cola's email provider, their payment processor, their anti-DoS provider.
This week on EFF's Deeplinks blog, I published a piece making the connection between abolishing Section 230 and reinforcing Big Tech monopolies:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/wanna-make-big-tech-monopolies-even-worse-kill-section-230
The Big Tech platforms really do suck, and the solution to their systemic, persistent moderation failures won't come from making them liable for users' speech. The platforms have correctly assessed that they alone have the legal and moderation staff to do the kinds of mass-deletions of controversial speech that could survive a post-230 world. That's why tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg love the idea of getting rid of 230:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/facebooks-pitch-congress-section-230-me-not-thee
But for small tech providers – individuals, co-ops, nonprofits and startups that host fediverse servers, standalone group chats and BBSes – a post-230 world is a mass-extinction event. Ever had a friend demand that you take sides in an interpersonal dispute ("if you invite her to the party, I'm not coming!").
Imagine if your refusal to take sides in a dispute among your friends – and their friends, and their friends – could result in you being named to a suit that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle:
https://www.engine.is/news/primer/section230costs
It's one thing to hope for a more humane internet run by people who want to make hospitable forums for online communities to form. It's another to ask them to take on an uninsurable risk that could result in the loss of their home, their retirement account, and their life's savings.
A post-230 world is one in which Big Tech must delete first and ask questions later. Yes, Big Tech platforms have many sins to answer for, but making them jointly liable for their users' speech will flush out treasure-hunters seeking a quick settlement and a quick buck.
Again, this isn't speculative – it's inevitable. Consider FTX: yes, the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange was a festering hive of fraud – but there's no way that fraud added up to the 23.6 quintillion dollars in claims that have been laid against it:
https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/US-v-SBF-Alameda-Research-Victim-Impact-Statement-3-20-2024.pdf
Without 230, Big Tech will shut down anything controversial – and small tech will disappear. It's the worst of all possible worlds, a gift to tech monopolists and the bullies and crooks who have turned our online communities into shooting galleries.
One of the reasons I love working for EFF is our ability to propose technologically informed, sound policy solutions to the very real problems that tech creates, such as our work on interoperability as a way to make it easier for users to escape Big Tech:
https://www.eff.org/interoperablefacebook
Every year, EFF recognizes the best, bravest and brightest contributors to a better internet and a better technological future, with our annual EFF Awards. Nominations just opened for this year's awards – if you know someone who fits the bill, here's the form:
https://www.eff.org/nominations-open-2024-eff-awards
It's nearly time for me to sign off on this weekend's linkdump. For one thing, I have to vacate my backyard hammock, because we've got contractors who need to access the side of the house to install our brand new heat-pump (one of two things I'm purchasing with my last lump-sum book advance – the other is corrective cataract surgery that will give me lifelong, perfect vision).
I've been lusting after a heat-pump for years, and they just keep getting better – though you might not know it, thanks to the fossil-fuel industry disinfo campaign that insists that these unbelievably cool gadgets don't work. This week in Wired, Matt Simon offers a comprehensive debunking of this nonsense, and on the way, explains the nearly magical technology that allows a heat pump to heat a midwestern home in the dead of winter:
https://www.wired.com/story/myth-heat-pumps-cold-weather-freezing-subzero/
As heat pumps become more common, their applications will continue to proliferate. On Bloomberg, Feargus O'Sullivan describes one such application: the Japanese yokushitsu kansouki – a sealed bathroom with its own heat-pump that can perfectly dry all your clothes while you're out at work:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-22/laundry-lessons-from-japanese-bathroom-technology
This is amazing stuff – it uses less energy than a clothes-dryer, leaves your clothes wrinkle-free, prevents the rapid deterioration caused by high heat and mechanical agitation, and prevents the microfiber pollution that lowers our air-quality.
This is the most solarpunk thing I've read all week, and it makes me insanely jealous of Japanese people. The second-most solarpunk thing I've read this week came from The New Republic, where Aaron Regunberg and Donald Braman discuss the possibility of using civil asset forfeiture laws – lately expanded to farcical levels by the Supreme Court in Culley – to force the fossil fuel industry to pay for the energy transition:
https://newrepublic.com/article/181721/fossil-fuels-civil-forefeiture-pipeline-climate
They point out that the fossil fuel industry has committed a string of undisputed crimes, including fraud, and that the Supremes' new standard for asset forfeiture could comfortably accommodate state AGs and other enforcers who seek billions from Big Oil on this basis. Of course, Big Oil has more resources to fight civil asset forfeiture than the median disputant in these cases ("a low- or moderate-income person of color [with] a suspected connection to drugs"). But it's an exciting idea!
All right, the heat-pump guys really need me to vacate the hammock, so here's one last quickie for you: Barath Raghavan and Bruce Schneier's new paper, "Seeing Like a Data Structure":
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/seeing-data-structure
This is a masterful riff on James C Scott's classic Seeing Like a State, and it describes how digitalization forces us into computable categories, and counts the real costs of doing so. It's a gnarly and thoughtful piece, and it's been on my mind continuously since Schneier sent it to me yesterday. Something suitably chewy for you to masticate over the long weekend!
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/25/anthology/#lol-no
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sleepymccoy · 11 months ago
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Please choose your favourite of my (imo) niche star trek headcanons
Now that I'm writing these, I wonder if any of them are straight up canon that I've forgotten lol
I'm gonna further defend my headcanons under a readmore, but it's up to you if you want to read that or just vote on the summary 😘
Scotty's actor is Canadian. Also he's so Scottish? Like, he's called Scotty, he drinks scotch, he is Scottish, so on. Too much. I think he has Scottish heritage, maybe his mum is Scottish, so he knows the phrases and his accent work is comedic but solid. But he himself was born in like Quebec
I have a whole post on McCoy's ex wife being Vulcan, it rules, give it a read here
The way America crumbles in trek history I think opens them up to invasion. I don't think Russia is still in charge, I think they've moved on from that and country borders are less political more cultural in TOS times. But I think briefly Russia had everything and Chekhov is joking about that when he says shit like that saying is Russian. We know, Chekhov, everything was Russian once, get over it. His joke is less about things being Russian and more like someone making the same joke about how everything was Roman once
TOS writers had a little cheat sheet of characterisation rules I saw here once and one said that Sulu has many varying interests, so if you need an info dump that's not one of the other main guys things, use him. So I've taken that and gone with he isn't actually into plants, it was just a six month project to better learn how to take care of them. He spent a lot of time complaining about them to Chekhov. Basically a hyper fixation and once he figured it out he lost interest, but retained all the knowledge
Cos Rand has that trick of heating up the coffee with a phaser on low. That's resourceful with ship technology that uses batteries, not mainframe power. I think she knows what matters when a ship breaks, and food and comfort need prioritising cos she grew up on a ship that was always broken. Broken ships are easier to tolerate if the coffee is served hot
I think Chapel's fiance kinda sucks in that ep, even if it was just a robot copy, and I think she loves being in space. I think she feels both relieved and guilty about it all, it's bad
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