#refracted glow
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Refracted glow will take up the role of keeping Void busy while blue moon is gone. Just keeping him busy with some movies. He needs to catch up with modern films anyways
It would definitely help Blue Moon out. Especially since the random teleportations are so sporadic. Golden Will definitely offer up a TV for the two. Although it's likely to be magic TV. Unless refracted glow wants to try and summon in a actual TV. Since he can summon in physical objects. Perhaps entertaining void with dancing bones.
#red blue and black#crossover story#trapped forever au#blue moon#refracted glow#shadow light#tsams au#sams au#sams#tsams
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"Earth Inside a Water Dropâ ~ SangramInternational Digital Art
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đâ¨
#remembered this is informally like little elemental sketches sideblog lol....#wade ripple#pixar elemental#elemental 2023#love the Light & Color design; did i mention. additive light blue + orange = magenta. rainbow refracting...reflecting...glowing...
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walking on and on
#contemporary art#photography#art#my photos#aesthetic#photooftheday#artists on tumblr#photographers on tumblr#original photography on tumblr#original art#original photographers#my art#digital photography#architecture#nostalgia#my photography#nostalgic#urban exploration#richmond virginia#richmond#window photography#window pane#windows#reflection#refracted light#glow aesthetic#glow#victorian#victorian architecture
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RBB Moon and Sun are definitely going to show their bad side to the strangers. RBB Moon telling them to get away from everything that is his while RBB sun are going to be passive aggressive with every conversation.
And gluttony is right in thinking that Blue Moon would refuse to be adopted. Unfortunately it is his main directive to assist Sun and Moon with the kill code. As much as he hides away until problems actually arrive. His father the computer knowing about this directive and honestly punching himself internally for making it so.
Honestly I could see the computer suggesting gluttony try and visit more often. Inviting Blue Moon to his dimension. While sun and moon has improved in being able to so kindness through the kill code It is not a healthy environment. The computer knows this and regrets it's programming in Blue Moon.
Golden of course will be excited to see that Blue Moon has made more friends. Ones that are less hostile to his strange eating habits. Probably going to proudly ask refracted glow to show off some magic. Void of course is healed but kind of just sitting with him at the moment. (I need to finish that train of thought with madcat) crushed glow would be ecstatic to meet any of them. Helping out with the daycare is fun but Sun and Moon are touchy. So he would like to see new friends.
Blue Moon himself would be surprised at Chaos's reaction. Probably telling him to keep his voice down. Not wanting Sun and Moon to lash out at him. Which they might. Especially when Blue Moon gets surprised by a full-on lick. Frozen as he's tries to contemplate what the hell just happened.
RBB Moon is probably going to get aggressive. Lashing out at chaos before Blue Moon steps in to stop him. Enduring getting scratched and beat. Just carrying him while he gets beat up until he's able to throw him in his room. Covering the hole with a barrel and his body until moon calms down. Telling chaos to not do that in their presence.
Suggestion to wrath and Slough. Don't fight anyone here. There's a good chance Blue Moon will kill you or that sun and moon will attack you.
How would the rle crew react to blue moons universe. Given the fact that his sn and moon are dicks most of the time. Sun acting like eclipse and a moon acting a fair bit ruder and very possessive. Earth acting sweet and kind but some sort of bitterness behind every word. Golden is of course friendly. But the rest of the Pizza Plex seems to be estranged from the people in the daycare. (Plus you have crushed glow, refracted glow and a void. Plus dying fire acting as a servant.)
Chaos slowly gathering up the three lunars and sun like if he does it slowly enough, no one will notice.
Gluttony knew there were issues with Blue Moon's home dimension but what the actual fuck. Why is Blue Moon living with at least two asshole siblings when they could probably live at Golden's house more easily. I mean refracted glow already lives there, and I think Void does as well while crushed glow is close enough to a child that Sun and Moon are less likely to hurt him.
Unlike a lot of the other adoption scenarios where the abused party understood they were being mistreated or Gluttony could more easily insist this was for their benefit, Blue Moon likely won't agree. Blue Moon seems to think it's their responsibility to deal with/fix Sun and Moon as well as believes the failing of that task means they deserve punishment.
Gluttony feels bad because Blue Moon is a good person, maybe misguided or harsh at times, but they have good intentions most of the time. There isn't a lot Gluttony can do to help.
Chaos is usually a sweetheart, but he will claw and bite at sun and moon. They do not pass the vibe check. He won't attack unless threatened, but he will glare and growl. He also will get quickly attached to crushed glow and void, they aren't his beans but they are beans. If given the chance and not thrown off, Chaos will very intentionally lick Blue Moon in view of sun and moon. He likes them and will protect them... not that they probably need much protection.
Wrath and Sloth don't really notice much. Everyone seems aggressive in this dimension, that's just the dimension's quirk. This is more people to wrestle with.
#crossover story#red blue and black#blue moon#RBB sun#RBB moon#RBB Golden#refracted glow#crushed glow#void
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what if they had silly halos
#homestuck#midnight crew#carapacians#noelle draws#cds spins like a fidget spinner#i think hbs has a pinkred glow that makes you feel like youre in a sleezy club#and dds refracts light like a diamond
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#background#crystal#magic#shining#effect#light#flare#caustic#spark#sparkle#flash#gradient#glowing#fantasy#gem#blur#refraction#optical#prism#radiance#glare
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Galaxy Celestial Framed Posters
About product
Celestial Galaxy themed framed posters that bring a sense of wonder and awe to any space. Perfect for astrology enthusiasts and stargazers, these posters add a touch of cosmic beauty to your home or office. Ideal for birthdays, Christmas, or housewarming gifts.
Product features - Vibrant colors with MI maki UV Inks - Ready to hang with included kit - 200 gem semi-gloss coated paper - 18 sizes to choose from - Visit Our Store from Here
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Gemini Whippet of Crystal Cliffs. Please try not to ask questions about what's going on currently if you can. If you have any clues to my lost twin that would be wonderful. Have a nice day <3
a mostly canon compliant, expanded universe empires season 1 gem rp blog. ran by @phantoids
icon and header both by @doodle-list
other rp blogs in the curtain callers (curtaincallverse) non-extensive: @oblitusglacies dsmp philza blog ran by @neonfading @buryyourcanaries jimmy blog ran by Toast @friendoftubbo dsmp tommy blog ran by @earmuffstar @symphoniecalando dsmp wilbur blog ran by @neonfading @presidentofacrater new lmanberg tubbo blog ran by @phantoids @daydreamnightmares dsmp dream blog ran by @phantoids @loyaltiesmaylie dsmp punz blog ran by @phantoids @aeors-blessings empires 1 scott blog ran by @neonfading @oceans-blessings empires 1 lizzie blog ran by @earmuffstar @mezalean-mezzatinta empires 1 joel blog ran by @neonfading @saintedhands empires 1 pearl blog ran by Toast @bloodiedhands-witheredheart empires 1 sausage ran by @earmuffstar
Tagging system: text post: call into the caves image post: painted on the walls scenes: cast a spell or two inbox: answering the echoes and unknown chime for anons reblogs: alliance making queue: long lost call out of character posts: another's words philza tag: a warmer champion jimmy tag: cod with wings tommy tag: echoed in the caves tubbo tag: an unnatural glow wilbur tag: amethyst symphony dream tag: something false beneath punz tag: hidden blades lizzie tag: crystal bubbles joel tag: carved terracotta pearl tag: refracted light sausage tag: withered roses scott tag: in the snow
#information bureau#call into the caves#painted on the walls#cast a spell or two#answering the echoes#unknown chime#alliance making#long lost call#another's words#a warmer champion#cod with wings#echoed in the caves#an unnatural glow#amethyst symphony#something false beneath#hidden blades#crystal bubbles#carved terracotta#refracted light#withered roses#in the snow#curtain callers#rp blog
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Ambassador Danny AU
Just a silly thing knocking around in my brain.
Batman halted in the door of the conference room, taking in the sight of a strange being lounging imperiously in his chair. His white hair seemed to defy gravity ever so gently and his green, glowing eyesâJasonâs eyesâstared back with none of the regard or fear so many people showed towards Batman. His tanned face was speckled with tiny stars that Batman had to actively resist becoming memorized by. The boyâs choice of covering was sheening armour that refracted the light through his chest-plate of black ice. The white sleet that sharpened his knuckles seemed perfectly capable of movement despite it encasing his hands in similar fashion to the chest-plate; glassy in itâs brutal edges and as hard as the sheets that form over the coldest of lakes.Â
The watchtower had been invaded. Batman had questioned why the place was so cold when heâd arrived. Now he knew.
The only thing that kept Batman from immediately reacting might haveâvery muchâhad to do with how young he looked. A boy in the second half of his teens.
And the fact that several other Justice League members were at Batmanâs back as he strolled further into the room, watching the boy warily.
The boyâs eyes were unconcerned as he watched the Justice League file in. Worryingly so. Who was he that he would be so unfazed, how powerful? Or was it faith he wouldnât be harmed, taking advantage of the Justice Leagueâs strong morals?
The teen had commandeered the chair with all the authority of a king and the confidence of one assured of their own position. He sprawled across it. The chairs were all identical of practical, unassuming make, but this boy made it look like his throne as he leaned heavily on one side and stretched one leg way on the other. A hand was extended to dangle off one chair-arm and he had a knee braced up, showing an armoured shin protecting his black, sturdy, cargo-like pants and iced boots that jagged treacherously upwards.
The boy smirked. âTook you long enough. I was getting bored.â
Batman resisted the urge to clamp his hands over his already protected ears from the unearthly static and screeching glaciers that came from the boyâs mouth. He noticed Superman flinch and his face grimace.
âWho are you?â Batman growled. This boy was obviously inhuman. He was also an unknown. Batman would be foolish to underestimate someone who had somehow infiltrated the watchtower without being seen or setting off any alerts. Who exuded too much confidence, as if the entire world was at his fingertips.
Attacking took the back-burner in favour of garnering information in such a concerning situation.
âYou may address me as. . .â He contemplated a bit too much for Batman to believe whatever he would give them would be his true name. âDanny.â
â. . .Danny.âÂ
The name was so. . .normal.
âHow did you get here?â Wonder Woman asked with hints of warning and aggression.
The boy smiled. He had fangs. Too many sharp teeth. He didnât answer and was revelling in their ignorance.
âWhat are you doing here?â Superman asked. It said something about Dannyâs energy that even superman was being cautious about approaching.
âWaiting for you.â He smirked.
âWhy?â Batman pushed as much threat and intimidation into his stance and words as he could. He usually didnât have to think about it. âWhat do you want?â
Danny chuckled and a shiver ran up Batmanâs spine. Goosebumps formed even through the protective layers that shielded him from the cold.
âWhy donât you sit?��� The words should have been innocent. They felt like a trap. âYouâve gathered for a meeting, havenât you?âÂ
The league members didnât move. Danny sighed.
âFine, fine, fine.â He rolled his eyes and Batman was eerily reminded of how much the adolescent exasperation reminded him of his own children. Danny leaned off the chair arm to lean an elbow on the table instead, propping his chin up. He was all teeth. âThe Infinite Realms wishes for peace. Iâve come to investigate the possibility of a treaty on behalf of the High King.â
<><><><>
âTHEREâS A DENIZEN OF THE INFINITE REALMS IN THE WATCHTOWER??!!!â
Batman held the phone away from his face at Constantineâs uncharacteristic display of panic. It did not bode well and it settled uncomfortably in his bones.
He grunted in affirmation.
Constantine swore up and down enough to fill Alfredâs swear jar ten times over. âWhat do they want?! What did you say to them!? Ohhhh, bloody ****! Youâve already antagonized them havenât you?!â
âNo.â Batman ground out.
Constantine was quiet. Several seconds ticked by.
â. . .WELL?!â
âHe claims the High King wants to negotiate for peace.â
There was silence on the other end. Batman usually preferred it when Constantine was quiet, but this was thick and seemed to claw out of the phone to infect the watchtower. It muffled the noises and beeps and drowned out the presence of the other league members who had stepped out of the conference room with him.
Then there was a great, controlled release of wavery air. When Constantine spoke, it was more serious than Batman ever remembered hearing him.
âOkay, okay.â Constantine mumbled to himself. âListen closely, Bats, and repeat everything, and I mean everything, to your circus clowns.â
Superman cleared his throat. âWeâre here.â
âYOU LEFT THE AMBASSADOR ALONE?!â
âOf course not! Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter are monitoring him.â Batman said.Â
Constantine grumble-sighed. âGood.â He mumbled. âTwo of the competent ones. I donât trust Bats not to **** this up and get us all killed.â
âWhat now?â Flash said.
Batman was a little offended. âConstanââ
âNO!â He yelled vehemently. He sounded a little manic. âBatsy, you have the emotional intelligence of a wet paper bag, a sad, trampled, wet paper bag with so many holes that it canât even be considered a bag anymore, you have the emotional intelligence of wet, paper scraps and the diplomacy of a feral hyena! Unless he addresses you first, Do. Not. Initiate! Do not open your mouth! I have no faith in you whatsoever!â
âI will nââ Batman tried to growl again, but Constantine cut him off. Again!
âNo!â Constantine reiterated oh, so eloquently. âLook.â He sighed. âGetting news of the newest High King since he defeated the last one has been near impossible. All Deadman will tell me is that heâs better than the last guy and we are incredibly lucky our entire dimension wasnât wiped out after that stunt the American government pulled with the Anti-ecto Acts.â
Batman saw some of the leaguers pale. He suddenly wasnât feeling the best either.
âAnti-Ecto Acts?â
âLaws declaring their species non-sentient and illegal, I dealt with it, thing is, this is an extremely delicate situation.â He stressed. âWe donât know what kind of ruler he is, what little thing might set him off, and we cannot afford to set the High King off! Capiche?! Itâs a good sign that heâs willing to negotiate peace, but he could change his mind. Some ghosts are very temperamental.â
âGhosts.â Several of the leaguers repeated. Constantine let out an incredibly exasperated sound.
âDo you idiots know nothing?! Yes, ghosts! The Infinite Realms is the dimension between dimensions, the land of the dead and the never-born! They are incredibly powerful entities and many of them could level our planet easily! Whatever you do, DO NOT ask how theyâve died! It is highly taboo and youâll get yourselves killed!â Constantine let out a stressed groan.
âI would come back and deal with this myself, but I am. . .occupied at the moment. Donât try to negotiate without me! You lot will muck everything up! And seriously, DO NOT ASK HOW THEYâVE DIED! Keep the Ambassador happy until I can get there, convince him to stay! We might not have another chance like this, donât annoy them, do not ignore them, and, just in general, donât give the ambassador any reason to deliver anything negative to King Phantom and have him erase us all, got it?â
The Justice League exchanged several, stunned looks.
âGot it?â
Batman grunted.
âGood. And Bats.â Constantine added lowly. âIf this fails, I am blaming you for the end of the world.â
Constantine ended the call and the phone beeped before drowning everyone in silence. The leaguers shared more looks.
âNow what?â Hal said.
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Simon discovers something unexpected:
Light on masterlist
Simon Riley/female reader (single mom)
The first time Simon meets you, itâs on the rooftop of the apartment building in the middle of the morning.
Heâs up here for a smoke, his first in hours, his body anxiously craving the nicotine after sitting on a cramped train for too long after the final debrief. His muscles are sore, stitches in his leg bothering him, mind is exhausted, and all he wants to do is smoke a cigarette and then collapse on the bed inside the flat that he hasnât seen for months.
When he gets to the roof, after climbing four flights of stairs because the bloody elevator is broken, heâs greeted with two surprises. One, there is a garden up here now, multiple raised beds enclosed in sturdy two by sixes, and two⌠you are kneeling on the brick between them.
Youâre on your knees, digging around, dirt smudged on your clothes, purple garden gloves caked with soil. Youâre talking aloud too, rooting around in the plants and singing out names of vegetables and their corresponding colors, occasional pulling something green loose and stuffing it in a bag. He glances around the roof, confused, but sees no one but you, your voice carrying on the wind to where he stands by the clunky metal door.
When he gets closer, he realizes youâre not talking to yourself at all, but to a baby. A tiny baby tucked into a carrier, whoâs eyes are wide and somewhat tracking your hand movements while you point to things in the garden bed, in the sky, on the ground.
âAnd this is a parsnip.â You say, brushing some rust-colored earth from the root and turning it in your hand. âTheyâre not very tasty raw but arenât terrible cooked.â The baby watches you in awe, little feet and arms kicking and swinging while you smile and nod at them, like you think they understand anything youâve just said. âYeah! A parsnip!â Youâre smiling, your face is bloody radiant as you nod down to the baby, one of your hands rubbing dirt from your skin onto your pants before youâre reaching out to grab a cloth from the babyâs lap and mopping up something on their chin. The action causes you to shift, your head turning enough to catch him in your peripherals, body tensing like youâve been frozen, shoulders raising under your ears before you loosen and relax, squinting up at him in the sun. âHi.â You blink, glancing back down to the carrier. âI uh, didnât realize anyone else was up here.â He swallows, trying to give you a response, brain fracturing at the seam as it frantically attempts to recall words, civilian words like hello, or hi, or sorry. Itâs difficult, because heâs a little distracted by how the light refracting in your eyes, the way itâs shining on your skin and hair, bathing you in the early morning glow like youâre some sort of angel. Heâs still a few feet away, but he thinks he can see entire universes in your irises, every color ever imagined shimmering in the rays of the sun.
His brain finally catches up, and his mouth thankfully remembers how to form words.
âSorry, didnât mean to disturb you.â Heâs polite and you shrug, nodding to your little companion.
âYouâre not disturbing us. We were just harvesting some vegetables.â You smile brightly, casually stripping off the gloves while you rock up from your knees into a standing position. If the mask bothers you, you donât outwardly show it, and your posture is relaxed when stand in front of him. âIsnât that right, Emmaline?â You coo down to the baby, who wiggles in her carrier as a response, face lighting up at the sound of your voice, or her name. Heâs not sure. Do you live here? Are you⌠her mum? The babysitter? Who are you?
You give him a once over, briefly, and he watches your smile shift from genuine to forced when your eyes land on his hands. The smokes. Heâs holding a pack of cigarettes in one hand, and you clear your throat, brushing some dirt off the front of your clothes. âWe were actually just finishing up.â You bend at the waist to pull the carrier into the crook of your elbow, supporting its weight with your hip, and slide the handles of the bag full of green things onto your opposite shoulder. âRoofâs all yours.â He feels a pang of regret, like he doesnât want you to go, the sentiment unnatural to him, unsettling. You obviously live in the building, he thinks. But where? Do you lug that carrier up and down the steps all the time, just to get up here? He frowns.
âI can wait.â He tries to stop you, guilt running thick in his veins, and you shake your head.
âItâs lunchtime anyway.â You incline your head to little Emmaline, whoâs face is growing a little scrunchy, like sheâs upset, and he swallows.
âAlright, then.â You give him another nod, and head off towards the door. He grits his teeth, fingers tensing around the thin carboard in his hand, the little box holding his salvation safely in its grasp, but his eyes slide to where you walk away, and he canât help but notice the way the carrier lightly bumps against your hips as they sway. Bloody hell.
#peaches writes#light on#simon riley#simon riley x reader#simon ghost riley#simon ghost riley x reader#female reader#give this man a baby#please
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~ Yellow and Brown ~
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OBSESSED: SHOKO feat THE BOYS (FINALE)
A/N: Well, well, well. Oh how the tables have turned, dear reader. Itâs not so easy â juggling two special grades and their personal physicianâŚis it?
S/N: This is it. The pièce de rĂŠsistance. I wasâŚthis isâŚNO ONE LOOK AT ME AFTER YOU READ THIS. No idea the word count. Long af, though.
C/W:âŚ.the trio is their own content warning lol. Mature. 18+, MDNI.
Part I, Part II.
Is thisâŚa dream?Â
This must be what it feels like to hear Domain Expansion, Infinite Void.
White static coats Shokoâs brain. Sheâs breathing underwater. Thinking in molasses.Â
Itâs a miracle her legs are working â theyâre currently trailing behind you and the boys, back to her apartment.Â
Her eyes are working, too â theyâre attached to the dress rippling and bouncing off your ass. Your hips are a hypnotic pendulum. Swinging back and forth.Â
Back and forth.Â
The tailwind from your strut is a bad actor.Â
Every so often teasing your cotton panties that won the lottery. Kissing up against your pretty petals. Riding along the plump curve of your mounds. Accentuating the intoxicating swell of your hips.
Itâs paralyzing.Â
You are paralyzing.Â
Satoruâs hand is curled around the back of your neck. His azure glow is so pristine, so bright it refracts off your gorgeous cheekbones. Dampening his Limitless and intensifying his Six Eyes.Â
Because the first to taste a meal is usually oneâs eyesâŚright?
Shoko can nearly hear the depravity ringing between Satoruâs ears.Â
Then thereâs Suguru.
An arm is draped around your waist, capturing and releasing the hem of your dress every few seconds. Mindless movements. His sniper-like gaze focused on the apartment door at the end of the hall.Â
Cool. Calm. Collected.Â
One would think, if you donât know Suguru well enough.Â
His normally, perfectly repressed cursed energy surrounds him. Flickering into the air like campfire embers just waiting for the next gust of wind to erupt. Amethyst and graphite swarm around her best friend â the only indicator of his disintegrating self-control.Â
20 steps left until she is expected to produce door keys. The only thing standing between everyone and you.Â
This is it.
This is the moment. The one chance you get at âdoing it right this time.âÂ
15 steps.Â
There are no more wishes granted. No more genies stuffed into bottles, or whatever. This is it.Â
10 steps.
Get your shit together, Ieiri.
7.
Do not squander this on the sidelines.
3.
Shoko wires around the three of you. Stepping ahead to slot the frivolous piece of aluminum standing between her and her wet dream.Â
1.
The apartment door flies open. Satoruâs hand moves on autopilot â deepening his grip around your neck.Â
His conscious brain recedes. Triple distilled, unadulterated need moves in like a tropical storm.Â
Silky strands of your hair plaited in his fingers.Â
Wide, warm eyes locked into his.Â
Tiny slit in those pouty, siren lips of yours.Â
He will dismantle you. Piece by fucking piece.Â
Until youâre a babbling, sobbing brook beneath his fingers. Apologizing for being such a cocktease.Â
âSatoruâŚ?âÂ
Thereâs a change in your voice.Â
Fear? Nerves?Â
Prey finally realizing who is next on the menu?
Satoru is staring. Fully aware of how disarming his eyes can be. Born with godlike vision and somehow the only thing he can see in the room is you.Â
His greed is a threat to National Security. DEFCON Level 1.
His mouth ghosts yours. Barely registering Suguru encasing you from behind. Trailing his palms along your thighs.Â
âSafe word, princess.â Satoru maps every ridge, every teeth indent on that gorgeous bottom lip.
âFor when you need to tap out.â Suguru augments Satoruâs command. Gentle nip at the tip of your ear and you moan. Bitten back and clipped.Â
âSuch pretty sounds,â Shokoâs voice is distant. Breathy. Coated in Cabernet.Â
âI..donâtââÂ
Satoru slices your protest in half. Rolling your bottom lip under his teeth. Biting and licking his way across your pout. At the same time Suguru drops his mouth to your pulse point.Â
âDonât what, sweetheart?â Suguru murmurs into your neck. A filthy fucking whine escapes your lips and Satoruâs fingers go to your nipple.Â
Hard. Pert and neglected. Desperate for attention.
Just like you.Â
The way youâre panting into Satoruâs mouth. Listless and loose, bending into Suguruâs presence behind you.Â
âHe gave you an order, baby.â Suguruâs smile is so tender. Almost torturous against your oversensitive skin.Â
âDonâtâŚah..donât need a safe word.â
 A weak declaration against Satoruâs kiss. Earning yourself a sharp twist of your sensitive buds. And gifting him a kitten squeal that makes his cock twitch.Â
âOhhhh Suguru, Shoko. We have a brat on our hands.â He muses, hovering his lips over yours. Satoru pets the steel rod between his legs. Already dewy with his arousal.Â
You are so beautiful, trying to resist their coordinated touch. The sound of Suguruâs large hand palming your ass reverberates throughout the room.Â
âIâll teach her some manners.âÂ
Suguruâs voice trails down your spine. Slow and sickly sweet. Like maple sap dripping down tree bark mid spring. He caresses the hot sting from his spanking.Â
âIâI have manners.â Voice as small as your frame engulfed between the 6â3 counterparts.Â
âI wonât ask again, princess.â Satoru tilts your chin up to meet his gaze. And Suguru continues sucking kisses into your neck, marking his territory.Â
âUh..mmm..god, Sââ Your eyes flutter closed. An earnest attempt to stay present. And not settle into the fuzzy, warm submission they are baiting you into.Â
âSafe word, now.âÂ
âBâum. Blue? Blue.â Your resolve is about as rigid as cotton.Â
âBlue?â
âWell thatâs not fair.âÂ
Shoko and Suguruâs incredulous reactions intertwine with Satoruâs smug chuckle. A dusty rose high on your cheeks.Â
You know why you chose Blue. Everyone else does, too.Â
âBlue, huh?â Satoru presses a soft kiss on your lips.Â
âTo match me? Noted, baby.âÂ
Shoko melts into her couch. Her heartbeat rattles around her skull. With short, ineffective breaths that taste like full bodied red wine. Wet heat surges around her lace thong.Â
The way youâre writhing between her best friendsâ hands is sinful.Â
Gazing up at Satoru like he is Vincent Van Gogh and the Starry Night above you is the product of his paintbrush.Â
Incoherent as if Suguruâs fingers put the Sun to bed. Whimpering his name like a prayer.Â
Adorable, girl.
God isnât going to save you here.Â
The pads of Shokoâs cool fingers nearly sizzle against her puffy pleasure point. Slick coating her with just one, two, three long stripes against her sticky folds.Â
âGod...fuck..bring her to me.â The grit in Shokoâs tone scrapes along her voice box. Matching the aggressive pace of her fingers against her needy cunt.Â
The boys lock gazes with their third. Cavalier smile tugging against Satoruâs lips. Suguruâs brow touches his hairline.Â
Ladies, first.Â
âYou heard her.â Satoru snakes your arms around his neck and hoists you around his waist in one fluid motion.Â
âSâsatoââ He bullies his tongue back into your mouth. No more protesting, gorgeous.Â
Slow steps towards Shoko, so he can drink from your well. A sweet, delectable spell dripping from your lips. And if Satoru doesnât wake up tomorrow morning after eating your forbidden fruit, then so be it.Â
Suguru lets himself watch you from a short distance.
His hand canât stop rubbing his cock. Shamelessly tugging his heavy rod. Burning your little expressions into his mindâs safe. The way your eyebrows come together at the center whenever Satoru bites your bottom lip. Your desperate grabs for air against his relentless kiss.Â
âHi, pretty.â Shoko drawls the moment Satoru settles you down on her lap. Her thigh digs into your soaked, gummy core. Glazing her skin with your drool.Â
âHi, Sho.â Still panting from Satoruâs embrace. So fragile. A harsh breeze could shatter you to stardust. And Shoko pulsates around nothing.
One hand is firm on your hip. The other tracing mindless shapes on your chest. Leaving a poetic cascade of goosebumps in her wake.Â
Reflexively, you go to caress Shokoâs shoulders only to be caught by Satoruâs enormous grip. Whipping both of your wrists behind your back. While his other hand toys with the erection straining against his pants.
âShe didnât give you permission to touch, did she princess?â He drops his tone into the shell of your ear. Â
âOh, Iââ
âManners, gorgeous.â A gentle reminder in between smearing kisses along your neck. Shoko hooks her index finger along your neckline. One tug and your mouth-watering tits come into full view.Â
âFucking, hell.â
âGod, baby.â
âPerfectâŚfucking perfect.âÂ
Satoru, Suguru and Shokoâs praises crash into one another. God took his time with you. Sculpting a fucking masterpiece.Â
To be praised.Â
To be worshipped.Â
To be taken.Â
Used.Â
Filled.Â
âShoko. I want to hear her.âÂ
Suguruâs command is guttural. Fist snug around the base of his cock. Shameless about the tears of precum falling down his shaft.Â
Shokoâs fingers work their way down to your pulsing clit. You preen into her touch. Pretty, tiny gasps against her cheek.Â
âLet it out, baby.â Shoko coos into your ear. Thumbing little circles around your clit.Â
You bury your face into her neck. Delicious ache swelling between your legs. Grinding along her slender thigh. Honey seeping around your clothed cunt.Â
âSâsho, mmnngh..fuck..â Desperation fans Shokoâs neck. Bucking your hips with your hands restrained.Â
âThere she is.âÂ
Suguruâs fist slams to his hilt. Now close enough to cup your perky mound. Rippling and bouncing with every jolt. Feathering his finger over your pebbled bud.Â
The sudden touch and velvet voice above you drags your gaze upward.Â
And Suguru nearly cums in his hand right then and there.Â
Misty eyes, drool covered lips. Breathy pants. Angelic features rewritten by lust.Â
âSuguru?âÂ
âSuch a good girl. Keep fucking her thigh like that, baby.âÂ
Throaty praise in return. Suguru rips his hand away from his angry length. Staving off his finish.Â
Not yet.Â
Theyâre not remotely close to being done with you yet.
âSheâs so responsive.â Satoru chimes in. Releasing his grip on your wrists.Â
Your hands fly to Shokoâs face. Melding your mouth with hers. Leaking precious sounds, from your lips and your sopping wet core. His hand kneads your neglected breast, pinching your nipple every so often.Â
Satoru and Suguru palming at your tits. Shoko fucking your mouth with her tongue. You humping Shokoâs leg like a dog in heat.
Itâs too much.Â
Wave after wave of pleasure crashes into your groin. You nestle into the crook of her neck. Grasping at her thick, brunette locks.Â
âS-sho, Iâm close, Iâmâmmgh..â
âItâs okay pretty,â Shoko husks. Her thumb at a perfect rhythm and pressure.
âYou can cum, baby.â Suguru rasps, tugging at your nipple at the same time Satoru smacks the supple flesh he was petting.
âOh fuck oh fuckââ
The delicious sting from their touches sends you over the edge. And the wire seated deep in your stomach snaps. Hips stuttering to an abrupt stop.Â
The room stills. Satoru, Suguru and Shoko studying your micro movements through your peak. So quiet that the walls have to lean in to hear you and your lovers breathing.Â
Six eyes laser into your body. Everyoneâs appetite for you simultaneously tripling.Â
Satoru swipes the back of his hand across his mouth. Subconsciously aware of the pool of saliva forming. His manhood mirroring the trail of drool running down his mouth.Â
Heâs always been a fan of dessert.Â
âI need to taste you.âÂ
âAnd I need a front row seat.â Shoko nibbles at your cheek.
Satoru lifts and spins you around on Shokoâs lap in a matter of seconds. You, still gummy and compliant from your orgasm spread your legs weakly over Shoko. Earning you a chorus of praise from your lust-drunk lovers.Â
He drops to his knees. His blushing, weeping tip in hand. Pushing your sodden panties to the side. While Shoko cradles your thigh in her hand, holding you open for her best friend.Â
Your rose blooms in front of him. Dewy with your slick. Candied scent holding all of Satoruâs senses hostage.Â
âLook at how pretty, she is.â He breezes against your swollen pearl. Your petals quiver, and his dick leaks.Â
âSâSatoru..please.âÂ
Satoruâs head is spinning. Entirely drunk off of the sight of you like this. Choking back his own pathetic groans.
His tongue licks a long stripe up your ripe folds. And your taste pollenates his mind for an eternity. An addict with his chosen vice.Â
Your hands magnet to his snowy halo. The melody you sing from his kisses and licks could sink any ship. Echoing in Satoruâs and Shokoâs groin.Â
Shoko is in a complete haze. Molesting herself numb at the way you undulate against Satoruâs eager tongue. Pitiful little mewls that are worthy of a platinum record.
âFeeling good, gorgeous?â Shoko eggs you on. Quickly sinking into her own threatened orgasm.Â
âYâyes..mmgh so..god..â Paper thin squeals from your lips.Â
Crystals line your eyes in response to Satoruâs tongue fucking in and out of your pussy. Suckling your clit. Figures of 8, and 8 and 8 again until your mind is mush.Â
Except Suguru refuses to let you get lost at Satoruâs sea. He grips a handful of your hair, whipping your head in his direction.
Both you and Shoko tilt up to see Suguruâs driveling manhood at your eye level. Veiny, heavy. So clearly abused by his hand. Volcanic eruption in his hooded gaze.Â
âHands on my cock, baby.âÂ
Barely above a whisper, but somehow your body recognizes his authority.Â
And you seem genuinely shocked by your visceral obedience. Immediate acquiescence to Surguruâs will.Â
An approving grin teases Suguruâs lips. Your hands are comically small wrapped around his length.Â
God, he could split you in half.Â
Heavy eyelids from Satoruâs agonizing touch, youâre mystical. Gazing into Suguruâs eyes like his soul is nothing but an appetizer. Yours to swallow, digest, play with.Â
âAsk nicely.â Suguru grunts, as your eyes rake over his leaky cockhead. Longing for a taste.Â
Satoru and Shoko come to a hush. Her fingers slow. Satoru forces himself off of your folds. Somehow knowing the next words to roll off your tongue will shift their brain chemistry, permanently.Â
Palatial lashes fan your utterly fucked-out gaze. Swollen lips millimeters away from Suguruâs blunt tip.Â
âMay I suck your cock, please?âÂ
Filthy-nasty-dirty-fucking-vulgar noises fill the room, while you swirl Suguruâs cum covered head around your tongue.
âFuck. Your lips baby.â He hisses, his hips piston into your pretty, accepting mouth.Â
âSo messy, princess.â Satoru murmurs into your swollen cunt, slipping his fingers past your tight ringlet.
Beautiful gurgles around Suguruâs shaft. Crystalline streams of spit glazing your puffy tits.Â
You buck into Satoru at a similar, haphazard pace that he strokes his thick rod. Shoko sinks her teeth into your shoulder.Â
âG-gonna c..gonnaââ high pitched, broken warnings spill from your lips. Just as a blinding wave of electricity surges down Shokoâs legs â curling her pedicure inward.Â
âCome on, pretty girl. Cum for me.âÂ
Suguruâs decadent baritone sends both you and Shoko over the hot edge. A cacophony of huffs and whines, coating the walls in your shared ecstasy. Spraying your essence all over Satoruâs face.Â
Heâs slow to stand. Savoring remnants of your peak. He and Suguru exchange sordid glances. Sharing the same thought.
Pretty little doll.Â
Loose limbed and spent in Shokoâs lap. Hair mused. So deeply entrenched into sub space youâll need to sleep it off of to come to your senses.Â
A work of art, you are.Â
But not quite broken, yet.Â
âItâs our turn now, little one.â Deep and measured. Thick with want. Suguru lifts you by your arms off of Shokoâs lap.Â
His back lays flush against the couch. You straddle his muscular lap. Satoru stands directly behind you.Â
Suguruâs manhood is rigid. Youâd have to impale yourself on him to get any closer. Similarly, Satoruâs length makes itself very present along the curve of your spine.Â
âLook at me.â Satoruâs throaty demand comes from above your head.Â
Obedience is the only language you can currently speak, so you tilt back. Soaking in the celestial boy behind you. Closer to God than Man, from this vantage point.Â
âYou want to taste yourself, baby?âÂ
A rhetorical question from Satoru, but you still bobble your head in an eager yes.Â
âSuch a desperate little puppy, arenât you?â Suguru mocks you, taking one of your puffy nipples into his mouth.Â
âShe is.âÂ
Satoru affirms in between spearing your mouth with his warm muscle. Kissing the breath directly from your lungs until youâre air hungry and clawing at his neck. Leaving red streaks on his pale skin.Â
Shoko has since poured herself another glass of red wine. Settling herself on the long arm of her couch.Â
âFar enough to drown into her own spiral. Close enough to register everything they do to you in the the most permanent part of her mind.â
Dèjå Vu.
But this lifetime? This reiteration of events? Itâs fucking sublime.Â
Shokoâs lips curl into a cheshire smile against the rim of her glass. Hedonistic on every single level known to man and she wouldnât have it any another way.Â
Her eyes flicker down to where Suguruâs hands are eclipsing your hips. And Satoruâs hands are cradled into the small of your waist. Hovering you over Suguruâs cock. The weapon of mass destruction that it is.Â
âSuguruâŚSuguru it wonâtâŚâ Beautiful little panic ascending in pitch.Â
âIt wonât, what baby?â He teases. Eyes fixed on you like the apex predator he is.Â
Crimson erupts from the tip of your nose to the tips of your ears. Fluttering away from his quicksand gaze.Â
âWhatâs the matter, pretty? Donât tell me you think you canât handleââ
âI can handle itâI canâŚhandle it.â You cut Satoruâs taunt down, convincing absolutely no one in the roomâ including yourself.Â
But the shred of pride you have left comes forward. Bracing your hands on Suguruâs flexed shoulders. Digging little crescent moons into his olive skin.Â
He can barely bite back the groan in his throat when your wet heat drags along his cockhead.Â
Twitching around your opening.Â
Feigning for entry.Â
âGo ahead, little one.âÂ
âYou can do it, baby.âÂ
âOh FUCK..GOD.â Your volume is nothing in comparison to the fire incinerating your plush walls. Stretching your womanhood in a way thatâs ungodly.Â
Suguru is blinding.Â
Flashing lights. Black spots in the visual field. Floaters everywhere kind of blinding. The prior encouragement from your lovers did nothing to soften his blow.Â
Knowing this would be the result of you trying to work his inhuman length inside yourself, Suguru buries himself in one side of your neck. Satoru mirrors his action on the other side.Â
Gentle adoration. Tender kisses. Light caresses to dull the pain.Â
âSuch a good girl.â
âI knew you could take it, princess.â
âYouâre doing so well for me, pretty girl.â
Suguru rocks his hips in a slow, dreamy pace. Back and forth. Encouraging your body to reset around him. And the pressure. The delicious fucking fullness from his cock is mind numbing.Â
âRâready.âÂ
Barely loud enough to register. But Suguru could hear your red blood cells colliding with one another in your veins if you keep him next to you long enough.Â
âEyes on me when Iâm inside you, sweetheart.âÂ
âYes sir.â
The smile on his lips is no where near as tantalizing as the smile in his crushed velvet eyes.Â
And for a moment that is going to be on cinematic repeat in everyoneâs mind â Suguru thrusts into you like a man trying to repopulate earth. Never once letting you break his eye-contact.Â
Melodic sounds of bodies smacking together ring throughout the room. Beautiful ripples of flesh, like soft waves during low tide. Your wet sex colliding with his. Him locking you into place because nothing else exists at this moment.Â
Both Satoru and Shokoâs jaws are slack. Satoru canât even bring himself to stroke his length thrashing wildly in his hands.Â
This is hypnotizing.Â
A motion picture worthy of an Oscar.Â
You can feel Suguru recreating the shape of your soul. With each thrust. Deliberate. Deep. Ensuring that he will be a part of you, permanently.Â
âGod, ngh Suâfuck..purple..â unintelligible words, incoherent sounds. Youâre grasping at rescue from this pleasure.Â
âHah..â Suguruâs serrated breaths kiss your lips. âTry again.â
âSuguru, please. Iâm cuâIâm pink..pink.â Â
âWrong color, princess.â Satoruâs husks above you. Tears of his thick cum streaming steady down his shaft.Â
Suguruâs bucks into you relentlessly now. Chasing the high you both are riding. Shredding what consciousness you have left. Not that you wanted it, not that you needed it.Â
âFuck.âÂ
Suguruâs hips come to a screeching halt. Floating over Shokoâs cushion. Painting your warm walls with his seed. With you filling his lap with your dew. Delirious, choppy intakes of air between your lips and his.Â
Momentarily forgetting your audience, you instinctively fall into his chest. Every single muscle in your body, suddenly without tone.Â
Satoruâs mouth is ajar.Â
Still not completely comprehending the fact that he just came â hands free â watching his best friend rail the conscious mind out of you.Â
âBlanket, Satoru.â Shoko quietly nudges from her position on the couch.Â
She canât blame him for being stunned in place. Her mind is still reeling at the dessert her eyes just feasted on.Â
âCome here, baby.â Suguru murmurs. Working himself out of you, while Satoru drapes you in Shokoâs throw.Â
âThank you.â A tiny chuckle escapes your lips. Cozying into Suguruâs arms. They should be proud of your manners.Â
And as if you said your cheeky thought out loud, your three lovers break into soft laughter.Â
âWait here.â Satoru presses a chaste kiss to your damp forehead. Disappearing into Shokoâs bathroom a moment after.Â
A small sigh of relief tumbles out of her when she hears the familiar sound of bath water running.Â
Satoru mustâve done this before. Once or twice.
Suguru, too.Â
Judging by the way heâs whispering sweet affirmations in your ear. Lulling you to sleep. In his warm, safe embrace.Â
Sheâs never seen her friend like this.Â
âGirls! Bath time!â Satoru beckons from the bathroom.Â
His voice rustles you out of your post coital daze. Nestling deeper into the crook of Suguruâs neck. Shoko watches the way his eyes rest on your flushed face; stroking his hand along your arm. Intermittently pressing kisses along your hairline.Â
An enchanting, glass doll they were so eager to shatter just a moment ago.Â
âReady, baby?âÂ
Suguru murmurs into your ear. And Shoko just knows heâs hoping for a no. Silently praying for more time with you, pliant in his arms like this.
âMmhm.â Your puffy lips curl up into a sleepy smile. Glossy-eyed, when you finally pull your heavy lids open.Â
Suguruâs breath catches in his throat.Â
Shokoâs heart rattles around its bony cage.
How do you do this? Â
How do you make it so easy to trip and fall so hopelessly in love with you with a bat of an eyelash?Â
ââŚI get it guys, but the water will get cold. And that would be a shame. Because this bath is, perfect.â Â
Satoru teases from the bedroom doorway. Startling Shoko and Suguru out of the trance you unintentionally put them in.Â
âYou donât have to carry me!â A half-protest bubbles from your lips when Suguru stands with you wrapped up in Shokoâs favorite blanket.
âShhh, let me do this sweet girl.â He coos, for your ears only. Navigating around Satoruâs lean stature.Â
Shoko follows closely behind him, itching for her alone time with you.Â
âYouâre going to let her feet touch the ground, Suguru?!âÂ
Her sarcasm is followed by light-hearted laughter settling around your bodies.Â
The four of you in tandem like a world class orchestra. Shoko is already lamenting waking up from this dream.Â
âNot if I can help it.â Suguru sets you down on the kitchen sink. Nudging enough space for his muscular hips between your legs.Â
He cradles your chin in his hand. Taking as many butterfly kisses as youâll allow.
âMmm, goodnight, Suguru.â
His name rolls sweet and soft off of your tongue. Like a dark chocolate truffle, and suddenly Shoko wishes her name was Suguru.Â
Satoru does too. Judging by the way he yanks his counterpart away from you. His eyes caress your face before his hand does.
âHow are you feeling, princess?âÂ
Hushed and saccharine. Doting. As if a decibel too loud is akin to Hollow Purple. Circling his fingers around your thighs.Â
How foreign.Â
Shoko can almost taste Satoruâs concern. Attentive in a way thatâs inconceivable.Â
From her vantage point, she watches you ensnare Satoru in those big, helpless doe eyes. Tempting him to fuck the living daylight out of you (again) but also handle you like a butterfly with a broken wing.Â
âJust a bit worn out, pretty boy.â Said with a dreamy little laugh. And Satoru would chase your voice into the clouds if he could.Â
He drapes your arms around his neck and youâre putty in his hands.Â
âDonât look at me like that, baby.â He grazes the corner of your lips with his. A dull, insistent ache welling between Shokoâs legs.Â
Youâre irresistible like this.Â
âUnless you want us to wear you out, again.âÂ
âSatoru!â Your tiny, ineffectual fists slam against Satoruâs pecs. Making the trio even more fond of you.Â
Their muse.
âAlright boys, I can take it from here.âÂ
Unhurried but finite, Shoko shoos her best friends out of the bathroom. Not before Satoru can steal one last kiss from your swollen lips. Â
In a matter of minutes Shoko is settled in a sea of warm, eucalyptus bubbles. The light sheen of essential oil grazing her skin, still glimmering with remnants of love-making.Â
Her eyes ride the dips and swells of your alluring lines.Â
Balmy skin decorated with lust-drunk imprints from Satoru, Suguru and herself. Hand prints. Tiny crescent moons from fingernails. Ellipses of bite marks. A kaleidoscope of red, blue, deep purple. Living, breathing residue of the desperation â the need â you so easily draw from them.Â
âSuch a pretty girl.âÂ
You flush under Shokoâs praise. Newly stroked desire bubbling in the back of her throat. Youâre so full of averted gazes and warmed cheeks. Twiddling your thumbs. Tentatively shifting a few paces away from the bathtub.Â
So shy, now. Itâs adorable.Â
âCome here, baby.â Shoko curls her fingers inward.
âOkay.â Your response high and thin. Feet moving without resistance.Â
Obedient little doll.Â
Shokoâs wet dreams couldnât even come up with a vision this decadent. Youâre an oil painting. Soft on the hands, even softer on the eyes.Â
You nestle in the warm waters between Shokos legs. Her nipples pebble against your supple flesh. Resting the back of your head on her chest. A lock-in-key fit.Â
Comfortable, serene quiet sheaths the room around you. And Shoko is soaring.Â
âI like you like this.â She presses a small kiss against your temple.Â
âLike what?â You whisper.
Shokoâs hands travel up your navel, cupping your sensitive tits. You arch into her touch. Kitten mewls escape you. So responsive.Â
âSoft.â Your nipples stiffen between her thumb and index finger.Â
âVulnerableâŚa little broken.â Shoko continues. Catching your needy gaze. Pupils blown to full moons. She hovers her lips over yours. Already parted, hanging open. Ready to receive.Â
âShoko.âÂ
Such a beautiful, pitiful little whine. Tilting your chin up, chasing Shokoâs lips. But she maintains the minimal distance. Instead, kneading your mounds. Drawing a gorgeous melody of whimpers; squirming beneath her ministrations.Â
âI like being the one to put your pieces back together,â Shoko teases, dropping her tone. And you draw her in like a moth to flame.Â
Shokoâs lips slot into yours with ease. Puzzle pieces meant to fit. She swipes her tongue over yours. Nibbles along your puffy bottom lip.
Youâre delicious.Â
And panting, when Shoko finally pulls away. Aurora borealis in your eyes. Sparkling. Expansive.Â
And even though you are putty in her hands right now. Docile and pliant, hanging on every brush of a finger, every kiss. Shoko is falling.
Free falling.
Without a safety stop in sight.Â
#jjk fanfic#sashisu#sashisu x reader#shoko x you#shoko ieri x reader#shoko smut#shoko fluff#poly satosugu#gojo x reader x geto#suguru geto smut#gojo smut#gojo fluff#geto smut#geto fluff#geto x reader#satoru gojo smut#gojo x reader#jjk smut#jjk shoko#jjk satoru#jjk gojo#jjk suguru#suguru smut#gojo satoru x reader#shoko ieiri#satoru gojo x reader#suguru geto x reader#suguru geto x you#suguru geto#shoko x reader
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shine on windowpane
#contemporary art#photography#art#my photos#aesthetic#photooftheday#artists on tumblr#photographers on tumblr#original photography on tumblr#original art#original photographers#my art#digital photography#architecture#nostalgia#my photography#nostalgic#urban exploration#richmond virginia#richmond#window photography#window pane#windows#reflection#refracted light#glow aesthetic#glow
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sweet child o' mine | pt. i
purely just some fun and games putting big grumpy joel miller slap bang in the middle of a romcom. i hope you guys enjoy. dedicated to big sis @mrsmando, who is the light of my life, let herself be completely swept away by this idea into unhinged, whimsical mania with me, and who inspired so many lil details for this story. love u, zhort x
pairing:Â neighbor!joel x fem!reader
summary:Â you strike up a deal to attend a wedding with your neighbor as his date. what could go wrong?
warnings:Â age gap (late 20s reader, late 40s joel), grumpy!joel initially finds reader mildly infuriating, cursing, alcohol consumption, discussion of a car accident (non-graphic) & dead parents, softdom!joel as per, fingering, handjob, comeplay, spitting, drunk unprotected one night stand, creampie, praise kink, one mention of nausea (but nothing happens, my little emetophobic angels), someone falls pregnant and it's not joel miller i'll tell you that much. honk if you love cats!!!
word count: 9.8kÂ
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Itâs just gone seven on a Saturday night when his knuckles rap on your door.
The sun casts tall, angled shapes on your living room wall. Lights the pages before you in a glow of tangerine. Refracts through the glass tumbler on your coffee table and bleeds the amber liquid onto the pale wood surface. Everything lit in some variation of gold, everything bowing its head quietly as the day begins to turn its back.
The house is still. The world feels still, as though transitioning. Like youâre sat in a waiting room, leg bouncing, anticipating something you donât know to look for yet.
Perfect, comfortable, still â until heâs on your porch. And he knocks again.
You snap your book shut and slide it across the table, nudging the heavy glass. The ice clinks, irritated.
âYou mind fasteninâ yourâŚdelicates to your clothesline a little better?â
His voice shoulders its way into your hallway before youâve even pulled the door back enough to see him. Not that you need to see him to know who it is. Youâve lived in Austin three years now and met only one person with a voice as low and toneless as Joel Millerâs. Slung in sarcasm, dripping with disdain. All that.
You cross your arms and slant against the doorframe, unable to mask your amusement. âExcuse me?â
He answers by lifting his left hand. From his pointer finger hang a tiny pair of white panties, lace pattern fluttering in the late summer breeze. You glance over his shoulder as you steal them from his grasp, balling them in your fist.
âUhuh. They were sitting on my back lawn. I have company tonight, yâknow. I canât have womenâs underwear just â lyinâ in my damn yard.â
Your head tilts. Ears prick. âCompany? You hostinâ somethinâ?â
His shoulders drop with a sigh. âNo. I am not hostinâ anythinâ.â
âGood. âcause Iâd want an invite.â
âIf I were hostinâ, youâd be the last person I would invite. And you know that.â
âOuch,â you pout, âthat hurts, Miller. I watered your plants while you were off visiting your brother last month. They woulda died without me there.â
âAnd I am grateful to you,â Joel grumbles, âbut that doesnât mean I need those anywhere in view of my kitchen window.â He throws a pointed finger to your elbow, where your panties sit scrunched in your fist.
You look down to the froth of frill spilling between your knuckles, and back up to his dark features â his glower casting a shadow over the hazel eyes and deepening the creases between his brows. You smirk, a realization dawning.
Company â that he doesnât want seeing a pair of someone elseâs underwear.
âYou have a date.â
Joelâs tongue flicks across the inside of his cheek. He glances over his shoulder and speaks through his teeth. âNo, not a date,â he quietly tells the street.
âBut you have a lady cominâ over. Or at least â someone you donât want seeing these.â You unfold your arms and twirl your fist. The gentle wind lifts the lace.
He grunts. A low hmph. Agreement, you think.
âSounds like a date.â
He hisses, ââs not a date.â
Your stare doesnât slip from his. Not when his brows tighten, not when his jaw does, too. Not even when he sucks a breath between gritted teeth. Your smile widens.
Finally, with a sigh, he concedes. âItâsâŚitâs somebody Tommy ân Maria are tryna set me up with. Alright?â
âSo â a date.â
âIf you donât ââ Joelâs head flicks over to his own driveway at the same time his hand lifts, a pointed gesture you read as â shut the fuck up. âWeâre just having a few drinks. Just â hanginâ out.â
âJust hanginâ out,â you repeat, eyes widening. âOne-on-one. With some woman who â Wait, Tommyâs in Wyoming. How the hell do he and his wife know someone way the hell down here?â
âFrom before they moved. And â Maria ainât his wife. Yet. Theyâre getting married next month.â
Suddenly the sun reappears over the dark horizon. The evening begins to clear up, make sense again. You lift your chin, nodding.
âRight, right. So, she gonna be your plus one, orâŚ?â
The understanding raises his heckles again. Exasperated, he asks, âHow many damn questions are you gonna â? Iâm only here to â to return your ââ He nods once more to the pale fabric in your hand.
A laugh shoots from your nostrils. âWhatâs the matter? You donât like â whatever her name is?â
âLaura.â
âLaura,â you breathe.
âAnd there ainât nothinâ wrong with her. She just â sheâŚâ
âSheâŚ?â
âShe has, like, five cats, and itâs justâŚhair, everywhere. And at their engagement party, she spilled an entire margarita down me. Right down my ââ He sweeps a hand down his front, balling his fists again once they reach the hem of his shirt.
Your lips turn, amused. âFive cats. Cat lady Laura. Well. Have fun, I guess. Thanks for these.â
He acknowledges your raised fist with a bashful glance. Heâs already halfway down your front steps when he says, âKeep an eye on your laundry from now on,â and strides off back to his own place.
Joel has lived here his whole life. In Austin. Youâve no idea when he moved in next door, just that he was here when you did. You donât know much about him at all â the fact he even filled you in enough to tell you about his date is shocking enough.
The day you first arrived, U-Haul truck squealing to a halt by the curb, he found himself unlucky enough to be stood in his front yard watering the blond patches of his grass. He saw you struggling to open the rear door of the truck, and with a grumble and a glance across the street for a more eager rescuer, he tossed his hose and came over to help.
He unclicked the heavy latch and pushed the door up with enough ease to put you to shame. And he seemed to feel some obligation when he saw the mass of belongings stuffed in the back, to help you unload them. Didnât seem overjoyed by the thought, mind you, what with the sigh he let slip when you hopped up and held out the first box.
He indulged you for no more than one hour. Answered every question you had about the neighborhood, dodged every one about himself. He told you about the couple across the street with the newborn baby, told you about your neighbor on the other side who pretends to garden just so she can snoop on everyone elseâs business. And as soon as the last box thudded down on your gleaming living room floor, he nodded, and paced back over to his own property.
He's a good guy. You know this much. Heâs a dick to you most days, but heâs honest, and heâs kind when you catch him in the right light. He takes deliveries for you when youâre not home; he once drove Diane to the vets when she showed up on his doorstep in the dead of night, Fred the Jack Russell ailing in her arms.
Heâs observant. Noticed just this summer the three different plumbers who showed up to your house in the space of two days, and came over as the third guy was leaving â his shining bald head low between his shoulders.
âs the matter? Joel asked, watching the navy overalls sink into the rusted vehicle.
Kitchen sinkâs leakinâ. Fuckinâ â nobody can fix it.
He shouldered you out of the way with his then-trademark sigh and left twenty minutes later, your kitchen finally free of the dripdripdrip youâd been plagued with for a week straight.
Heâs good. Heâs a good neighbor. But, man, is he private.
Youâve never seen the inside of his place. His body blocks it anytime youâre on his doorstep. He has a brother, you know that â though, only since last month, when he asked you to keep an eye on his garden â and you know, now, that the brother is getting married.
You know that he likes country music, know he plays guitar â accidentally. You heard him one day in the spring, when he left his window open and you were lounging by your pool. When he looked out and noticed how youâd angled your sunbed to listen, really listen, he slammed it shut.
You know heâs single and childless and has been for at least the three years youâve lived next door to him.
You know little fucking else.
The words on the curled pages seep into one another. Youâre staring through the book now back in your hands, the shape of your living room blurring around you: the brick fireplace, the still, red light of the TV. The lulling sway of the sheer curtains, pushed like the tides by the air through the open window.
You cross your ankles on the coffee table. Your lips purse. Tongue dabs at the smoky-sweet singe of whiskey on the flesh of your cheeks. From here, you can see the street outside Joelâs house. If â when â Laura pulls up, youâll know. And youâll be here to watch. Survey. Observe.
See what kind of woman a guy like Joel Miller takes to his brotherâs wedding.
Itâs nine fifty-two when she eventually leaves.
Sheâs been in there two hours and seventeen minutes. Her car â a kind of rotten green Chevrolet with one tail light out â sits patiently out front, like even it canât wait to help her fucking disappear.
Youâre hoisting a swollen black bag down your drive when his porch light flickers on and his front door opens. The glossy plastic exhales as it slumps against the trashcan. You dust your hands. Joel hasnât noticed you yet.
ââŚso nice gettinâ to properly know you,â Lauraâs crooning, sidestepping as Joel walks calmly down to her car. Ushering her. You hold back a laugh.
âThanks for cominâ,â he says, his voice falling flat in the windless evening. Heâs a step ahead of her, like a parent leading their child away from the park. Sheâs still babbling about his six-string.
âMaybe next time I can hear a little somethinââŚâ she says, and you know from the way he halts that Joel hears the same questioning tone you do, the way somethinâ curls up at its end.
âMaybe,â he says, curtly. His words curl down. And then nothing else, and Laura â who, now that sheâs a little closer, stood on the curb by her car door, you notice has sweeping golden hair which flicks away from her plump cheeks, and bright eyes which dazzle in the dusky glow â is forced to cough up one last chance.
âI gave you my number,â she says, then, âI didnât get yours?â and this time, itâs definitely a question.
Joel pretends to pat down his pockets. âI musta left my phone in the house.â
You canât help it. A scoff bursts from your lips. But he still doesnât look over.
âWell,â Laura tugs on the handle, âthank you for a lovely eveninâ. Iâll hear from ya.â
Joel smiles but puts a hand on the door, like he might slam it shut for her if she tried to backtrack. But she doesnât. She swings both legs in, pulls it closed, and the engine spurts to life.
As she pulls off, Chevrolet jolting a little, you notice the bright yellow bumper sticker plastered squint beneath the license plate. You walk silently over to Joel, grass prickly under your socks.
âHonk If You LoveâŚCats,â you murmur, shoulder brushing off his bicep.
He sniffs. Tightens the grip his arms have on his chest. His eyes are fixed on the one red light, slowly shrinking into the distance. âDonât even.â
âGood date?â
âI said donât.â
âShe talk much about her cats?â
âGoodnight.â
âDid you ask their names, at least?â
Heâs backing up, crossing the dark lawn towards his front steps. He looks you up and down, his lips a flat line. Your sweat shorts. Your bare legs. The tight vest top molded around your breasts. His eyes shoot back up. âNo more questions. No more pesterinâ me.â
âNothinâ about the cats? Seriously, dude?â You lift your arms, grinning after his dark figure, swaggering up the porch steps.
Joel ignores you. He disappears through his front door and the light is snuffed. You slink back up to your house, grateful for the blanket of darkness covering the skip in your step.
Eleven hours later, youâre stood in front of your bedroom mirror.
The day melts against your window. Brilliant blue sky, cradling soft puffs of snow-white clouds. Crows on Dianeâs roof cawing, slowly yellowing trees rustling. The bright, hot square across your front where the sun forces her way in.
You turn, taking the loose hem of your sleepshirt in your fingers, and pull it over your body, tossing it to the foot of the bed as you examine the pattern of colors hanging from inside your closet.
You take them one by one, tug them free, slot them back in. Eventually you settle for a gray hoodie, cropped and loose. As you haul it from its hanger, thereâs a whine from the wooden cabinet. A squeal. The top shelf rips from either side, dropping to the closet floor and taking the pole with it.
âWhat the fâ? You gotta be fucking kidding me,â you growl, stepping forward to run your fingers along the splintered wood where the nails have ripped themselves free. Four black holes, jagged insides of the closet pricking your fingertips.
The crumple of clothes and hangers sulks up at you pathetically. You fall back onto your bed with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling. The fan whirs slowly, scooping your gaze and throwing it in lazy circles.
The closet was old, anyways. Was here when you moved. Itâs probably about time you had some new ones built. But fuck, thatâs gonna cost. Ripping the old ones out, building them from scratch. The fan pulls your eyes back around to twelve oâclock.
Joelâs a contractor. He could do âem. Might give you a discounted rate, too, for all the times you move his newspaper from his front lawn to his doorstep for him. Either that, or heâd want something in return. And what handy skills do you have? You once knitted a scarf for you grandma for Christmas. Maybe not Joelâs thing. You can cook mac ân cheese â though one lousy meal isnât payment enough for an entire wall of solid wood, two panes of glass and two daysâ labor.
A favor, maybe. An IOU. What the fuck kinda favor does Joel Miller needâ?
Youâre hopping over the tiny burst of hedge between his yard and yours before the thought is finished, bending to scoop his newspaper up and slotting it under your arm. He answers just as you lift your fist to pound on his door for a second time.
You slap the rolled paper into his chest. âI have an idea.â
He squints at you in the summer light. âWhâ? Didnât I tell you not to pâ?â
âIâll be your date.â
Joel blinks.
âIâll be your date,â you repeat. âI got a wardrobe needs replacing. You do it, for free, and Iâll be your date.â
âYour wardrobe?â
âCrapped out on me this morninâ. I donât want to pay for some stranger whoâll overcharge me ân do a half-assed job. Fix it, ân you donât have to take cat lady Laura to Tommyâs wedding. And you can fix my kitchen sink, too.â
âI already fixed your kitchen sink.â
âItâs back at it. Drippinâ all through the damn night. Drip drip drip ââ
âAlright.â Joelâs palm is up again. He does that a lot when heâs talking to you. âAlright. Wardrobe ân sink.â
âWe have a deal?â you ask, extending your hand.
His chest fills with a thoughtful breath. His eyes scan you up and down, lingering somewhere a little lower than your jaw for a second. And then, the heavy weight of his palm against yours. The tightening of his fingers around your wrist. One sure shake.
Deal.
Two weeks before the wedding, youâre at Joelâs door again.
Heâs in a black tee, dark sweatpants slung low on his hips. His hair is damp, fringe still dripping onto his forehead. He runs a hand through the gray-singed brown and stares at the tangle of fabric slung over your arm. âThe hell is this?â
âDo you know what youâre wearinâ?â
His eyes roll up to meet yours. âDo I know what Iâm wearinâ?â
You nod. âYouâre the best man. Guessing Tommy has you covered?â
âBlack suit,â he says, after a beat.
âThatâs it? He ainât got no theme?â
Joelâs head cocks. âI donât do themes.â
You roll your eyes, ducking under his arm fixed against the doorpost. He manages three words of protest and then shuts the door in resignation, turning to watch as you take his stairs two at a time.
âYou are so damn annoyinâ, you know that?â his voice echoes behind you.
âYou want this date or not, Miller?â you call over your shoulder, following the route through the identical house to your own bedroom â thankful when you nudge the door and it opens to reveal his bland, colorless decor. âVeryâŚgray,â you note, feeling the shadow of him over your shoulder.
You throw the dresses down on his bed, satin and lace and pink and green swimming between one another on his sheets.
âIâm not wearinâ a dress.â
You glower at him. âHa. We have to match.â
He rubs the towel against the back of his head, drying the dark hair. âMatch how?â
âYâknow, your suit ân my dress. If Iâm your date, we have to match.â
âAlready told you. Iâm wearinâ a black suit.â
âRight. But, like â what color tie? And can it be any of these colors?â You hold your hands out, surfing over the sea of shades. âMaybe,â you lift your eyebrows, eyes darting to the pale teal color, âthis one?â
Joel entertains you for all of five seconds, lifting his cheeks in a false grin before they deflate. âNo. Black.â
âJoel.â
He slings the towel over his folded arms, and looks at you plainly. âBlack,â he says again, in a tone of voice which sounds something like a door being slammed shut.
Your eyes thin, and you gather your dresses up in one swipe. âCan you just â? Will you make sure that you match my corsage, at least?â
âWhy the hell are you so hung up on this?â
âIâm not. Iâm just tryna make it believable. You turned down cat lady Laura, this is what you get.â
He sighs, tossing the towel over to his laundry basket. âI will make sure I match your corsage. Happy?â
âHappy. Are you ready?â
âGive me five minutes.â
You huff, head rolling back. âYou are so prima-donna, Joel Miller.â
With a sarcastic chuckle, he shoves you out of his bedroom to get dressed. You saunter down his stairs, drinking in every detail of his home as though itâs the only chance youâll get to see it.
It probably is, when you think about it. You donât imagine heâll be inviting you over for drinks anytime soon.
Your eyes move along the wall as you slowly thump down his stairs, thrown from framed photo to framed photo â a black and white photo of a man with a tousle-haired boy on his lap, the kidâs tongue sticking from the corner of his mouth as he wraps his small hand around the neck of a guitar; an out-of-focus Christmas photo, a family of four sat in front of a million multicolored orbs dotted along the branches of a tree; a kid with skinned knees crouched by a German shepherd, his lanky arms hooked around the dogâs thick neck.
One brown suede jacket hangs from a coat peg at the bottom, Joelâs boots sat loose and unlaced beneath. A dark blue blanket draped over the back of his couch. A painting of a moose over his fireplace. Shelves lining one entire wall decorated with carved-wood animals, with more photographs of times gone and memories made, with books and DVDs that lend your fingertip with a heap of white dust as you drag it across their spines.
Enough to paint a picture, not quite enough to show you the colors. The tones, the depth. Despite your best efforts, the man remains a mystery. You settle with the fact he will never be fully revealed.
The creak of his stairs turns your attention from the guitar on the wall around to his tall figure, fixing the collar of the loose flannel over his shoulders.
âYou ready?â Joel asks, bending with a groan to reach for his boots.
âYep,â you reply, leaning forward to glance into his kitchen while his headâs down. The most you manage to observe are the light drapes, the sunlight shooting through and bouncing off of a white-topped island.
ââs go,â he says, keys dangling from his finger.
It takes twenty minutes to drive to Home Depot.
You chitter in Joelâs ear the entire time, reading from his handwritten list of measurements and supplies needed for your new closet. ân how do you know this is all enough? Because I know. What if you get started and itâs not? I wonât; itâs enough. You sound so sure. Thatâs âcause Iâve done it before, kid. You take many closetless girls out on fake wedding dates, Joel?
âWhatâs our story, then?â you ask in the store, fiddling with hanging packets of door hinges while Joel reads thrice over his note. Your hand dives into the bag of M&Mâs he begrudgingly bought you at a gas station on the way.
âOur story?â he mumbles back, the words slipping under the mental math you can see going on behind his eyes.
âLike, when people ask how we met. Whatâs our meet-cute? Both reached for the same door hinge, our hands touched and lit aflame? That kinda thing?â
He doesnât laugh. Your smile dampens instantly. You kick his boot. âJoel.â
ââsec,â he frowns, âIâm focusing.â
You lean close, pushing on your toes to study the folded slip. His scrawled numbers, the pencil lines blunt and smudged in the creases of the paper.
âTwentytwofortysixeightyninetyfivesixhundredelevenfourtwelvenineteenââ
Joelâs lips seep a maddened sigh; he glances down the aisle like a store attendant might separate you from him if he demanded with enough passion, or maybe if he slipped them a twenty.
âDo you mind?â he barks, his expression a brick wall for your giggles to fall flat to the floor against.
âHome Depotâs your stomping ground. Why the hell do I gotta come watch you pick hinges and timber?â
âBecause itâs your damn closet Iâm fittinâ. Just ââ he swipes two packets from their peg, tossing them into the shopping cart, ââ come on.â
Joel makes off down the muck-colored floor, the overhead lights reflecting harshly in the shiny surface. The front right wheel of the cart trembles as it rolls, nervously leading the two of you down an aisle lined with cylinder tins and pamphlets on Choosing the right finish.
âSo, are your parents gonna be at this wedding?â you ask, taking the cart from Joelâs hands when he drifts off to study a shelf of wood varnish.
His jaw turns towards you, and then back to the tin in his hand. âYeah. Why?â
âDo I get to meet âem?â
âNo.â
âOh, come on. Youâre not gonna introduce your date to your mom and dad?â
He scoffs, stealing a handful of candy. âMy fake date?â
âThey donât know that. Let me meet Mr. and Mrs. Miller.â
He holds two tins up, offering them to you like answer to your question. âMatt or gloss? Guess it donât really matter if Iâm painting âem after.â
âStop fuckinâ ignoring me. I hate when you do that.â
He leans in close, lowering the matt varnish into the cart. âYou think Iâm gonna introduce you ân your potty mouth to my mom?â
You smirk, eyes narrow. âDick.â
âFunny. What color paint you want? You said something about duck egg?â
âPlanning on repainting my room that color, yeah. Hey, you could ââ
He swats your pointed finger away, taking the cart back. âWe shook on new wardrobe. No changinâ the deal,â he mutters, wandering over to the rainbow of paint tins on the opposite side of the aisle.
You follow him over, eyes moving from blue over to green, the tins plastered with the fake smiles of families and fluffy pet dogs on the front. âWhere are your mom and dad from?â you ask.
âAustin,â he replies, eyes squinting to read the small print on the back of one vibrant shade. You shake your head and guide his wrist back to the shelf, where he obediently sets the heavy tin back. âNever known anywhere else,â he adds. âWhat about you? Whereâs Mr. and Mrs. Potty Mouth?â
âUh,â you swipe at your nose awkwardly, âtheyâre up in Allandale. Thatâs where I grew up.â
âThat so? I got a cousin who used to live that way. Used to take my bike up every Saturday. He lived right by this old car shop, all these old classics they used to fix up ân resell.â
âYeah,â you say, âright next to the cemetery, right?â
âThatâs the one,â Joel says, lifting paint tins to the light and setting them down again. âThey live nearby?â
Your breathing shifts, starts to claw its way up your throat. Your chest heats, skin lighting with an irritating anxiety. âTheyâre, um,â you gulp, âtheyâre in the cemetery.â
Joel pauses, letting the tin slip from his grasp with an echoing thud against the wooden shelf which reverberates in your ears a second too long. âOh,â he says, set on your expression.
âItâs okay â I donât mind. Itâs â it was a car accident, back when I was eight. I wasnât in it, or anything. I grew up with my grandma. Really, Joel, I donât mind,â you add, when his face falls and he begins to apologize.
âI had no idea,â he says, and you break the eye contact before you break a fucking sweat.
ââs all good,â you murmur, lifting paint tins of your own now, focusing on deblurring your glossy vision, âI got to buy a big house with the money they left.â
It thaws him a little. He snorts, and taps the lid of the tin youâre holding. âThat oneâs nice. You, uh â you okay?â
You finally turn back, the world clearer, colors no longer bleeding into one another through sharp tears. âYeah. Iâm fine. We got everything?â
Joel nods, and wheels the cart around. âYou can meet her, if you want. My mom. Sheâs a little full on, but I reckon you can handle her.â
You smile, following him down the aisle.
A month after he delivered your underwear back to you, youâre back on Joelâs doorstep.
Your hand flicks nervously at your side as you wait for him to answer, petals of your corsage quivering. The clip of his footsteps echoes down the stairs, a deep sound growing louder and louder until the door clinks open and youâre separated only by air.
Joelâs eyes scan down your body at the same time yours scan down his. Black suit, sure enough, just without the jacket, and with his tie slung around his loose collar. You both freeze when your eyes meet again, your lips silently forming the shape of an avalanche of words that refuse to sound until Joelâs do.
âWow, you ââ
ââ look great, I ââ
ââ nice dress, is that â? Sorry ââ
ââ no, Iâm sorry, you were â sorry.â A laugh pushes from your throat. âYou look â you look good. Scrub up well, ân all that.â
âYou too. You â Yeah. Thatâs a nice color, after all. You suit it.â His eyes linger on your chest, your breasts draped in lustrous silk, decorated with the glint of golden jewelry. You notice.
âThanks. After all?â You snort, and Joelâs exterior seems to crack a little.
He steps back, ushering you in. âAlright,â he says, taking the tote with your change of clothes from your wrist. He watches across the street as you step over the threshold, his fingertips light on your back as you pass by, like little shocks of lightning up your spine. âYou know what I meant.â
Your dress swishes around your ankles, your heels clicking along his varnished floor. Your arms lock around your torso, holding your pashmina in place while Joel totters around, tossing his jacket over his shoulders. His shirt stretches from his tight waistband, fabric flattening against his tummy. Your eyes shoot north again when he speaks.
âYou mind doinâ my tie? Itâll end up squint if I do.â
âSure,â you reply, stepping forward.
He buttons the top of his shirt and lifts his chin, staring at the wall behind you as you tug on the black fabric, the silk slipping through your fingers. You steal glances at the trim of his beard, his pink lips beneath the dark bristles; the slope of his nose, the lines on his worn skin.
Heâs rough around the edges, sure, a man in his late forties. But thereâs something soft about him, something familiar andâŚcomfortable. The pages of a used sketchbook, the lived-in material of a favorite dress.
You pull the knot higher until itâs sitting in the notch below his Adamâs apple, smoothing it down and giving his chest a light pat before stepping back again.
âThanks, darlinâ,â he mumbles, and a spark lights in your chest. âOh,â he says, holding a finger up and disappearing into the kitchen. He returns with a little white box, holding it out for you to see.
Your cheeks swell, eyes flitting up to acknowledge the proud look on his face. âVery nice. Good job.â
âYou can do the honors,â Joel says, handing you the boutonniere by the stem.
You pin it through his lapel, straightening it with a focused glance. Joelâs eyes are on you, watching the flutter of your eyelashes, the tilt of your head. âThere,â you whisper, leaning back.
He extends his elbow, something of a smile on his lips. You donât see it often. It beckons a mirrored expression.
Arm in arm, Joel leads you out to the truck, where he helps you up and waits for you to scoop your dress into the footwell before closing the door. You watch patiently as he locks the front door, slings both your bags over his shoulder and jogs back to the truck, tossing them in the backseat before joining you in the front.
âHow come he didnât send a limousine? Or a Jag, or somethinâ?â
âYou think weâre made aâ money?â Joel asks, smirking.
You return the smile, wrapping your shawl over your body. âCan I pick the music?â you ask, earnestly, a tinge of sweetness to your voice.
Joel glances over again, reaches behind your headrest to reverse out of the drive. He runs his tongue along his top teeth. âNo,â he says.
Three hours later, Tommy and Maria are married.
The wedding isâŚbig. Joelâs family is big. The venue â a rustic hotel suite, fairy lights draped from the rafters, blooming flowers sprouting from crystal vases, lace tablecloths and tied chair cushions and wax dripping from thick, naked candles â is big.
Joelâs been good about it â that friendly neighbor you see all too little has been kicked into high gear. He delivered you by hand straight to his mom â a small woman with silver hair neatly twisted into an updo at the back of her head â who took your hand and held it tightly all the way to your seats.
Kind and warm, she asked where you were from, how you met Joel, how long youâd been dating. She offered you some tissues before the ceremony started, then winked and nodded in Joelâs direction as the bridesmaids swept down the aisle.
You lingered behind the photographer while he took photos of the wedding party, instructing them to shuffle a little closer, thatâs it; maâam, with the red hair, lower your bouquet a little; alright, now, everyone: big smiles!
You worried that Joel had kept the same placated smile frozen on his face for so long that it might never melt away, might never return to the stoic scowl youâre so used to seeing on him. You didnât even realize you were staring at him, until he waved you down, flicked his hand, and beckoned you over to the group.
You hesitated. I donât know if I â
Get over here, girl, Tommy had called, grinning alongside his big brother.
The two Millers slotted you in like a jigsaw piece between their bodies, two arms wrapped around your back â Tommyâs, loose on your shoulders, and Joelâs, tight around your waist. He held you close, squeezing you into his side while the photographer praised the party and snapped photo after photo, the flash burning into your eyes by the time he clapped his hands and thanked you all for your patience.
Drink? Joel had asked, and youâd responded with one thumb up, the other massaging your eyelids. He squeezed your shoulder and disappeared into the crowd of bodies.
Heâs still over there â by the bar, a wooden structure draped in ivy and studded by steel bolts. His beer in one hand and your wine in the other. A lean, poised figure stood opposite him â her dress a royal purple, her hair a wave of brown spilling over her bare shoulders.
Sheâs beautiful â a striking charm which draws your eye to her like an arrow directly through the sea of bodies between here and there. Her languid movements, the slow roll of her neck to sweep the hair from one side of her body to the other.
Her head falls back in laugher, her bejeweled hand falls softly on his arm. Your throat closes sharply. Joel nods, angling as if to make off, but she holds onto him and leans in. He laughs, then, at whatever her full lips whisper into his ear, and he finally breaks off from her and returns to you.
He pushes the glass by its base across the smooth tablecloth. Your fingers brush over one another as you trade, the stem sitting between your index and middle. Heâs warm, his knuckles kissing yours.
âHow was it, then, talkinâ to my mom?â Joel asks.
You smile, propping your chin on the heel of your palm. âI like her. Sheâs funny.â And then, when he tosses his head in response, âWho were you talkinâ to?â
Joel follows your eyeline over to the woman in the purple dress. The glint of white crystal on her neck. The drama of dark hair on pale skin. âUh,â he wanders around your back to his chair, âwe used to work together.â
Your nails tap against the glass. âOh, yeah?â
He sniffs. Doesnât meet your eye. âYep.â
âYou were talking to her for a long time.â
He watches a blue orb dance over your head on the wall, a spot of light from the disco ball over the dancefloor. âLotta memories.â
âWhy wonât you look at me?â
His eyes plummet. Fall from the string bulbs straight to your face, sparkling in the rainbow lights. âYou want me to look at you? There.â
You grin. ââs better. If you stare up there long enough, they might stick.â
âSafer to have âem stuck on you, is it?â
âMhm,â your voice echoes around the curve of your wine glass, âbetter view. So, who is she?â
Joel shifts uncomfortably. He twirls the bottle in his fingers. âWeâŚwe were together for some time. A few years.â
âAn ex,â you muse, stain of lipstick left on the rim of your glass. âHow many years?â
âEight.â
You almost choke on your drink. âEight â eight years?â
Joel nods, waiting for you to catch your breath. Expression never changing. Bottle still twirling. âHavenât seen her in a while. We were just catchinâ up.â
âEight fucking years. Why the fuck arenât you married?â
He scoffs. âThatâs a fifth-date question.â He lifts the bottle to his lips, tongue pushes against the glass.
âI donât need five fuckinâ wardrobes,â you quip, and he laughs. Like, genuinely laughs. His head tips back, his teeth show. Your chest swells, confidence and relief blooming there. She didnât make him laugh like that â not from where you were watching.
It becomes something of a mission in the back of your mind â tallying up how many times you can make his chest shudder, his shoulders jerk. How many times he leans in closer and repeats whatever you said, eyes closing over and hand hitting his thigh. How many times he looks at you and your stomach flutters, the blood cartwheels through your veins, the bones of your ribcage readjust and make room for the swelling of your heart.
Within four rounds, youâve lost count.
The thudding beat of the music muffles in your drunken ears, like itâs coming from the next room. Your gaze fixes on the vase in the center of the table, the bouquet spilling over the glass. The wide burst of speckled lilies, the humble blush of tulips between. The colors soften and blur the longer you stare at them.
The jerk of Joelâs shoulders stirs you from your daydream. Thatâs one more.
âWhat?â you ask, head rolling to look over to him.
âYou still in there?â he asks, one word slurring into the next like waves lapping.
You scoff, looking back to the pink flowers. âYou know who has tulips?â you ask him.
He lifts his eyebrows. Who?
âAlice.â
âBrown?â
Your head nods heavily. âOne time, she was out getting her mail, and I had just pulled up in my car on the phone to my best friend â heâd just broken up with his girlfriend, it was a whole thingâŚâ You bat your hand. âAnyway. She pretended to tend to her tulips for forty-five minutes while I sat talkinâ to him in the driveway.â
Joelâs head tilts back with a burst of laughter. âShe hear every word?â
âEvery â damn â word. Stood by the fence listeninâ.â
âThat woman is somâ else,â Joel says, shaking his head. He stares down at the bottle between his fingers. His thumbs play with the curled corner of the label. âDidnât I warn you about her?â
âMhm.â You smile, realizing he has the same memory that you do, locked up somewhere in his mind. The sweat running down his temple, the dark patch between his shoulder blades. His hands gripping the heavier boxes, leaving you to carry the linen, the base of a lamp. Nodding as he wandered back over to his own porch, calling back for you to Holler if you need anythinâ.
The high squeal of the Sweet Child Oâ Mine intro snaps you back to the wedding reception. Tommy and Maria are playing air guitar on the dancefloor over Joelâs shoulder. You unstick your gaze from his white shirt, unsure how long youâve been fucking staring.
Joel sits forward, drags his chair across the polished floor closer to you. He fixes the strap on your dress, untwisting it before settling back again. Your eyes follow his fingers as they leave your shoulder and sit back on the curve of his thigh, lifting when his voice breaks through to your eardrums.
âWhat room number did you say you were, again?â
Your shoulders roll. âThirty-four, I think.â
Joel nods. Points to himself. âThirty-six.â And then he glances over his shoulder, watches as Tommy kneels before Maria and rocks his head, his messy mop of hair tossed across his shoulders. The older Miller brother turns back. âThink theyâll miss us if we call it a night?â
âWeâre callinâ it a night?â
âFigure if Iâm headinâ off then you wonât wanna be sat here by yourself,â Joel says, and heâs right. He stands up, sets the half-empty bottle on the tablecloth and stares down at you. âIâm callinâ it a night,â he tells you. âYou cominâ?â
The colors in the room spin like the reels of a slot machine. Your fingers sit lightly in his outstretched palm, and you pull yourself up alongside him.
ââs a good girl,â he mutters, looking over your shoulder to the doorway, and your eyes sober up long enough to catch the flicker in his eye.
You totter along the hallway, arm in arm, anchoring yourselves together. Whichever way one sways, the other inevitably follows. Youâre laughing, and Joelâs hushing you, warning that there are folks tryna â tryna sleep, weâre in a fancy place, hey, da-rlinâ, no â you gotta shhhut up.
âGreat party,â you decide, finally docking against your door.
âYeah,â Joel agrees, leaning a little on the wall. The gentle glow of the hallway lights him perfectly; the strong angle of his jaw, the curve of his cheekbones. The hazel pools that make up his irises, the swollen circles of black in the middle. And the twinkle in them, like the moon reflecting on dark water, every time his gaze lifts to you.
Heâs different tonight. Maybe itâs the alcohol. The way it colors everything in a peachy film, all objects softened and rosy and shapeless. But he feels different, too. You suddenly realize, shoulder pressed hard against the cold doorframe, that youâve never touched one another more than you have today. His elbow in yours, his arm around your waist, his hand through yours as you danced together.
âAre you tired?â you ask, head rolling.
âTired? No. Drunk, yeah. Not tired.â He laughs again. Itâs infectious.
âYou wanna come inside?â you ask, words leaping from your giggle.
He takes ten seconds to consider it. Slumps into the wall, steadied only by his forearm pushing him back upright. His watch face catches the light behind him.
âYeah. Fuck yeah, I do.â
Your hand fumbles in your clutch for the keycard, swiping the handle and pushing down heavily. You spill into the dark room, light sneaking in from the sconce outside your window, and spin back to face him, his hand locked tight with yours.
Joel follows you slowly as you back towards the bed, kicking your heels off and tripping over the skirt of your dress. When your legs hit the plush mattress, his body leans into yours. Your lips ghost across his, your words pushing them apart one by one.
âThis ainât â part of the â agreement,â you murmur, the coarse hair of his beard scratching your chin. You pull apart his tie, loosening the knot.
âChanged my mind,â he replies, collapsing on top of you on the bed.
Your head rolls back when his lips suck into your neck. You wrestle with his belt, with the waist of his suit trousers. âNo changinâ the deal, remember?â
âTell me to stop.â
If you had any intention of answering him, your body overrides it. Words lassoed and dragged back down where they came from, your throat opening only to gasp when Joelâs teeth graze the flesh of your breast. His fingers tug on the straps of your dress, letting them fall from your shoulders until your chest sits exposed.
He drags his tongue along your skin, dipping between your tits while his hands massage them, fingers pinching your nipples. Your back lifts and his hands move beneath, following the curve of your spine to where your dress pools loose around your waist. He pushes down, slinking the smooth fabric from your body.
âYou fuckinââŚâ He clicks his teeth, laughing behind them. Another flush of heat washes over your skin.
You giggle, bending your knees to cover the lace panties he knows all too fucking well. Joel stops you, pushes your legs back down with two heavy hands.
âDonât get shy now, baby,â he murmurs, opening your body up again. âYou were so happy about me seeinâ âem a few weeks ago, no?â
ââs different,â you reply, tang of alcohol fueling your words, ânow I just want you to take them off me.â
He cocks his head, drinking every word youâre handing over like itâs water from an oasis. âSuch a dirty girl, ainât you?â
You pull him closer by the collar and line your mouth against his, the tip of your tongue wetting the inside of his lips. âYou got no fucking idea,â you whisper, whipping the shirt from his torso.
Joel growls, flipping you over and pulling you by the shoulders flush against his chest. You hook an arm around his neck, turn to grant him access to your lips. He kisses you like a starved animal, savoring every taste, teeth nipping at your tingling lips.
His hand curves around your hips, pushing beneath your underwear to cup your mound, middle finger pushing on the spongey hood of your clit. Your head falls limp against his collarbone, back arching as Joel holds you steady with an arm around your waist.
ââs alright, baby,â he coos, his tongue licking the shell of your ear. âIâm gonna take good care of ya. Gonna give you what you need, alright?â
A strangled moan unravels across your tongue, echoing into Joelâs mouth. Your hips begin to gyrate, meeting the rhythm of his hand, his finger massaging rough circles into your clit. He smirks, peeling the panties down your thighs.
âAttagirl,â he breathes, âyou want it bad, huh? Gettinâ so worked up so fast. Here.â
He removes his hand from between your legs, ignoring your moan of protest and replacing it with two fingers on your bottom lip. âOpen,â he instructs, and you obey like a fucking dog. He slips them in, thick and heavy, and waits for you to coat them with your wine-stained tongue.
Joel pushes down, forcing a muffled gag from your throat which lifts the corners of his mouth. He shakes his head lightly, whispering, âYou got it, âs okay.â
A thread of saliva strings between his fingers and your lips when he lowers his hand again, trailing his fingers through your folds until heâs dancing along the seam of your cunt. You jolt forward; Joel hauls you back.
âJust fucking â do it,â you whimper, your walls clenching around nothing.
He holds his fingers together, curling and inserting them in a painfully slow motion. Your knees widen on the mattress, body sinking down by instinct to meet his fist, to feel his thick fingers and wide knuckles as deep as theyâll go.
You gasp when Joel begins hooking them inside you, nudging against your walls like your heartbeat against your clit. Your hand lowers, slipping beneath his loose waistband, beneath the elastic of his boxers and around his already solid cock.
Joel groans, fucking you harder on his hand. âFuck, just like that, baby. You feel what you do to me?â
âUhuh,â you reply, voice wanton and broken.
You squeeze him, your fist moving up and down, his warm skin following the movements of your tight grip. His tip is already soaked, precome staining his underwear, dribbling down your thumb.
Joel uses his free hand to shove his pants down, crumpling on the floor at his feet when they free his cock. You carve your mouth around his, the two of you exchanging breath and flicking your tongues together as you fuck one anotherâs hands, the room slowly filling with the hot, muggy smell of sex.
Joelâs the first to cave. With a jerk of his hips, he takes you by the wrist and frees himself from your clutches.
âYouâre gonna make me come, darlinâ,â he murmurs, pulling his fingers from your cunt.
âThatâs kinda the point here,â you reply, teeth bumping into his in a grin.
Joel shakes his head, lifting his hand, glistening with your arousal. âGotta feel this fucking pussy first.â
You smile, parting your lips for him for the second time, suckling on his fingers and licking them clean of your own salty slick. His cock draws sticky trails on the seam of your thigh.
âYeah,â Joel breathes, eyes fixed on the place where you close around him, âthat good, baby? You gonna let me taste you?â
You release his fingers and he pulls you in, tongue slipping against yours with a groan which vibrates against your jaw. When your lips part, you hold your mouth open, your tongue sat on your bottom lip.
Joel reacts instantly, collecting a bead of saliva in front of his teeth and letting it drop into your mouth. You moan and swallow it, a cocktail of beer and whiskey and slick. Joel watches as you lick your lips, the stained-pink coated in a thick, white shine.
âAlright,â he says, letting you fall forward onto the bed. He jacks himself a few times, spitting into his hand and using it to coat his cock.
âWant you to come in it,â you whine, wiggling your ass for him as he lines up at your slit. You can feel the arousal gathered on his tip, dripping down your cunt.
âYeah, baby,â Joel growls, a smirk on his lips as he watches himself slowly disappear inside you. And then â
You both fall silent, mouths hanging wide open as you each feel the width of his cock and the tightness of your cunt. The way your body opens up to accommodate his size, the direct pain and ethereal pleasure of Joel pushing into you.
âFuck,â he groans, your pussy drawing him in with a sweet, wet sound. âBeen thinkinâ about this all fuckinâ day, baby. So damn gorgeous in that dress.â
You slowly move your hips back to meet him at the base of his cock; dark, trimmed hair bristling against your lips. Joelâs hands lock around your waist, holding you steady with his entirety buried inside, letting you adjust to him.
Heâs so fucking big, so wide and deep that your breath tears rugged from your lungs, barreling up your windpipe. Your walls squeeze tight as he pulls out like your body refuses to let him go, like your cells understand better than you do that you were made for this â made for him. Like the only place in the world that he belongs, is somewhere deep inside you.
So big that it hurts, each time he fills you up and stretches you wide open. The pain an eye-rolling, lung-closing, limb-shaking sensation.
Your elbows give, falling chest-first onto the mattress while Joel fucks you hard, his hands gripping your hips. Your cheek and breasts flat against the sheets, your back arched. He slams into you, edging you closer and closer with each meeting of his warm skin against yours, each sopping slap of come and saliva.
The mattress shifts above your head, two valleys where his palms push down heavily, then the weight of his body at the back of your thighs. He towers over you, hips hammering so hard that youâre forced to hook your fingers around his wrists just to stay on the same fucking planet.
âGonna â fuckinâ â come â baby,â he spits, his jaw locked tight. âYou want it in this little pussy? You think she can take it all?â
âMhm,â you whimper, the edges of your words rounded by the silk sheets. âJoel, I â fuck ââ
âYeah, she can,â he agrees, playing with the hair spilling across your shoulders and taking it in a fistful.
The hazy drunken blur begins to turn over in favor of something sharper, something electric pulsing through your veins. Every part of your body alive, everything rising to meet the same high, the same release. You cling onto him, body beginning to melt beneath his.
Joelâs lips press between your shoulder blades. âDonât fight it, baby, let go. I got you.â
You moan his name in one last pathetic attempt before the world whitens. You clench around him as a deafening orgasm shocks through your body, curling your back and forcing your nails deep into Joelâs wrists.
âFuck, baby, fuck me,â Joel gasps. He slams into you one final time before you feel the staggered pump of his come flooding between your walls. âAhh,â he groans, pushing apart your ass cheeks to watch the trickle seep from your cunt. âGood fucking girl. Take it, baby. Thatâs my girl.â
He turns you over onto your back and you wrap your arms around his shoulders, pulling him against your body as he thrusts into you again, tenderly pushing his spend deeper inside. It draws a strained moan from your throat.
ââs alright,â he coos, hips slowing against yours, âjust feel it, baby. You feel how deep I am?â
âUhuh,â you cry, nails digging into his skin, damp with sweat.
âSo fuckinâ full of me,â he says, more to himself, before collapsing alongside you, holding your thigh on his hip, his tip still sheathed inside you.
You lie like that for a while, listening to the distant hum of music from downstairs, the party still raving in the belly of the hotel while you two lay in content bliss somewhere in its ribcage. Tracing one anotherâs features, learning the lines on Joelâs face, the flecks of gray in his eyebrows â all the parts youâre never close nor brave enough to get to know.
His right hand massages your plush waist, his left arm a pillow to rest your heavy, dizzy, drunk head on.
âI wanna do it again,â you whisper, the words sneaking out between heavy breaths.
Joel nods. His bottom lip sticks with sweat to yours. His hips push a little neater into you. âI wanna do it again, too.â
âI wanna do it all night.â
He hasnât stopped nodding. He shrugs, tightens his grip around your shoulders, and tilts his head. âThen letâs do it all fucking night,â he says, and his lips slam back into yours.
The morning after the wedding, Joel drives you home. The truck soars down the highway, the two of you an uncomfortable distance apart. The same sobering distance youâve kept all morning â the unreal aftermath of sex.
The rolling waves of bedsheets between your bodies; the sun sifting her long fingers through his hair as she peered through the curtains. The way youâd silently pushed yourself from the mattress, fragmenting your movements and allowing the spring to dip a fraction at a time so not to wake him. The spongey feel of the hotel carpet under the balls of your feet as youâd tottered to the bathroom. The sharp shot of the lock sliding into place, echoing like a bullet.
He waited until you finished showering to get ready himself. Sat on the edge of the bed patiently and watched your shadow beneath the door, the to-and-fro of your silhouette breaking the sliver of golden light as you dressed your sticky body. When you pulled on the metal lock again, he was sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees, pinching the bridge of his nose. His bare shoulders were curved, and tanned. You blinked twice to store the image and turned away as he stood.
He says he feels hungover. You say you do, too. Itâs the closest you come to talking about it. You hop out of the truck in his drive, your tote bag hooked on your shoulder. The canvas gnawing at the silk inside. Joel tells you heâll see his end of the deal through in a couple weeks.
âReal busy with work,â he mutters apologetically, his wrists still balancing on the steering wheel.
âThatâs good,â you tell him, nodding. âI ainât in any rush. I know where you live, so.â
A relieved laugh pushes from his lips. âI will get to it,â he assures you.
You shrug casually. âWhenever, Joel.â
You donât talk for a few days. A few days bleeds into three weeks. You find yourself stood by his front tires, throwing his newspaper onto the porch and scampering when it lands. The noise like a bomb dropping.
Slowly, as the month draws on, you become braver and braver â daring closer and closer to his front door, until youâre back to marching up the steps like you own the place, depositing the roll on his doormat. Rubbing your thumbs against your fingers to feel the ink like satin.
The door cracks open as you make your way back down his steps one bright morning.
âHey, kid,â Joel murmurs, reaching down for the paper with a groan.
âHey.â
âYou doinâ okay?â he asks, leaning his forearm against the door.
Your head tilts back and forth, your hand lifting to shield your eyes from the sun. âThink I ate somâ bad, maybe. Weird stomach this morninâ.â
Joelâs chin angles. âHope it ainât contagious. Was thinkinâ I could get that closet started for you, maybe tomorrow?â
The offer takes you off guard. You buffer for a few seconds before answering, âSure. Sure, just, uh â just come over whenever, I guess.â
âNine work for you?â
You nod. âNineâs good. See ya then.â
Itâs something like nine when you find out.
You wake feeling groggy. Tired, sluggish. A heavy ache pulling on your breasts as you rise from bed, tender and swollen. You stand in the bathroom, milky morning light filtering in through the doorway, and your stomach lurches. Waves of nausea deep in your belly, rocking back and forth, swirling and spiraling.
Youâve a box under your sink. It makes sense. Before Joel was some date from Hinge, who fucked you against the wall of his living room and who snored so loud that you left before the sun came up. Negative. Like always.
But it never hurts to be sure.
The pack tears like itâs liquid in your hands. Peels back to reveal the plastic white test, the bubblegum pink cap â like itâs something fun and sweet to place the direction of your future into this little device. A clinical compass needle.
Three to five minutes. You set it down on the counter and drag yourself back through to your room, lifting your bedsheets, tucking them under the mattress, heaving your pillows back into place against the headboard. An uncomfortable heat boiling under the surface of your skin, a prickle of sweat clinging to the nape of your neck.
A sickly taste harboring on your tongue, you pad back to the bathroom and swipe the test up. Your eyes scan past the result window to the counter as you reach for your toothbrush â and then snap abruptly back to the tiny oval. Your outstretched hand freezes in midair. Thereâs no fucking wâ
Your arm swings back to reach for the light cord. The bulb hesitates â flickers, like itâs unsure whether to reveal the truth to you. It knows something you donât. Itâs seen something it doesnât want to show you. You stare at the pregnancy test.
Two little pink lines stare back. And Joel knocks at your door.
#forgive me for it not being clm or sof#they're coming very soon i promise#this was too fun an idea not to chase#i have the attention span of my labrador retrievers (nil)#joel miller#joel miller fic#joel miller smut#the last of us#tlou#macfrog#neighbor!joel miller#neighbor!joel#babydaddy!joel miller
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No Fucking Way (pt.1)
have some absolutely adorable interactions with you and the students at the mansion (and a surprise guest)
Ship: Logan Howlett x Mutant!Fem!Reader đŠ¸
Rating: 13+
Wordcount: 4.1k
Warnings: cursing, mentions of animals neglecting their babies, and a story so sweet my teeth hurt
Inspiration: This scene from X2: X-Men United
Series: No Fucking Way
Your feet pounded against the gravel path beneath you. Small rocks and dirt were kicked up by your well-worn sneakers. Warm sweat dampened the cloth of your sweatshirt around your arms and chest. The sun beat down on your flushed face as a cold breeze bit across your nose.Â
It was an absolutely gorgeous, autumn day. Occasional spotted clouds glided at a snailâs pace across a great blue sky. Soft breezes made the great trees surrounding the mansion dance like sheets of amber linen. Red and orange leaves skittered across the yellowing grass fields.
You saw a handful of students out on the lawn enjoying the early morning air. Sybil, a brunette with the ability to see through othersâ eyes, sat beneath a large willow by the fish pond with a notepad in her hands. Vienna sat beside her. A strawberry blonde, bright eyed girl who could channel electricity into the palms of her hands. The two exchanged ideas about whatever Sybil was jotting down in her notepad.
Yuna sat not too far from the whispering pair, fingers twirling above a quickly constructed tower of stones and blades of grass. Her usual deep brown eyes now glowed a subtle violet. The maroon hijab she wore wrapped around her neck matched the crimson hues of the changing leaves in the trees around her.Â
Jane, a kind-eyed tracker, Matt, a red glasses-wearing fighter, and Mads, a short-haired plant bender, sat in a circle, enjoying their morning coffee and tea together. You gave Mads a quick wave as you jogged past, receiving a warm smile and a shower of flower petals left in your wake.
The gravel path led along the left side of the mansion. Emerald ivy crawled up the brick walls like arms reaching from the earth. An occasional window broke up the light colored bricks. Most had their curtains drawn, which you attributed to a large portion of the students being late risers. One or two had the curtains open to allow fresh sunlight into the shared rooms.
You caught a glimpse of Sapph through one of the windows. Her bright smile and blue eyes were almost radiant as she basked in the streams of sunlight. Vases of sunflowers sat on the windowsill in front of her. The light seemed to bend, refracting from Sapphâs palms and hitting the sunflowersâ leaves.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The students were happy, the day was beautiful, and you only had one more lap of the mansion to jog before youâd call it a day.
âMAAAOOOWWW!â
You stopped just short of the empty basketball court. The crimson asphalt was covered in crunchy leaves and green brush from the nearby bushes. Corded nets hanging from the steel hoops swayed in the breeze. You looked around you, trying to find the source of the noise.
âMaaooOOW?â
There it was again. Closer than before. It sounded like it came from an incredibly small source, whatever it was. Your sneakers crossed onto the asphalt, toes kicking at leaves and twigs. You let your eyes scan the area around you. The court was surrounded by a wall of hedges. About waist high to you, it helped keep the court clear of too much debris from the trees.Â
The mansion sat against the hedges. Large, bay windows looked into a sitting area. Hira, a telepath, sat in one of the plush leather armchairs with a novel in her hands. A white hijab wrapped around her head, glasses peeking out over light brown eyes. Daniel, a light-haired strongman, and Jacob, a bearded speedster, sat on the green-clothed couch across from Hira. Dice and rulebooks laid on the coffee table in front of them.
A rustle in the hedges to your left drew your focus from the students inside. The lowest branches shuddered, small green leaves shaken off and falling to the ground below. You knelt on the asphalt and strained your eyes to see through the dense foliage.
âMoowwWOAAOW!â
That was the only warning you got before a tiny gray and white fur ball burst out of the hedge and landed five feet in front of you. Pointed ears folded back, blue eyes widened, arched back covered in long fuzz.
A kitten. A small, angry, fluffy kitten. No more than a few weeks old.Â
You remained where you kneeled on the asphalt, palms upturned and resting on your thighs. You kept a neutral expression on your face as you blinked slowly at the small creature.
After a few moments the kitten relaxed. Its ears faced forward, tail sticking straight up as it approached you. You gingerly extended a hand for it to sniff. Its tiny, pink nose ran across the tips of your fingers as it grew acclimated to your presence.
âHi, little one,â you said through a barely subdued, ecstatic grin. You had always wanted a cat. Ever since you were a kid, you dreamed of a tiny ball of purrs curled up in your lap and effortlessly improving your mood. Not to mention they were ridiculously easy to take care of.
The kitten took a few more moments to sniff at your fingers. Its tiny eyes squinted as it seemed to devote its entire being to assessing your threat level. Once it seemed satisfied, it rubbed its chin across your thumb. You could already feel the purrs rumbling in its throat.
It took everything in you to not explode from the cuteness overload. This little thing, this tiny itty bitty little thing, chose you. You could feel a swell of pure adoration overtake your chest, the gentle warmth spreading from head to toe.
The cat continued to rub on your hand, occasionally nibbling on your fingers with the sides of its mouth. You lifted your free hand in an attempt to pet the kitten. Moving slowly to not startle it, you gently ran your fingers across its fluffy back. An explosion of purrs, like a hive of angry bees, met your affection. The cat dug its little head into the palm of your hand. You took the hint, giving it gentle scratches on the soft spots by its ears.
âYou are the cutest fucking thing Iâve seen in my life,â you breathed in astonishment. The cat seemed to enjoy the compliment, pawing at your hands and attempting to climb closer to your face. You scooped its tiny body in your hands and lifted it to your chest.
Tiny paws kneaded at the fabric of your sweatshirt. Little needle-like claws pulled at the threads. The kitten looked up at you with squinted eyes. You carefully rose to your feet, doing your best to not jostle the miniature creature cradled to your chest.
The cat nestled into the crook of your neck. Its tiny nose puffed against your skin while a category-5 purricane buzzed in your hands.
You would die for this cat and you just met it a minute ago.
Mentally saying âfuck itâ to the rest of your jog, you began to gingerly walk back inside. You avoided walking on the gravel to make as little noise and sudden movements as possible. The cat seemed to appreciate the gesture, with what miniscule amount its tiny brain could comprehend, as a small lick from its rough tongue passed over your neck.
You garnered a few sideways looks from the students on the lawn as you walked by again. Mads cocked her head, fairy themed earrings jingling, at the gentleness in your step and the backtracking in your path.
âYou alright, maâam?â she called out. Jane and Matt perked up at Madsâs exclamation. Jane looked up at you with curiosity written in her features while Mattâs dark brows furrowed.
A quick gesture to the buzzing fur ball in your hands was all the trio needed. Their expressions quickly shifted from confusion to utter joy. They whispered among themselves about the newest addition to the mansion as you passed by.
That method is how you seamlessly moved through the bustling early-risers inside the foyer. One perplexed look was met with a nod to the kitten in your hands and the students parted like the Red Sea. Excited murmurs spread through the students like wildfire. âIs that a cat?â âOh my god, kitty!â âItâs so cute!â âI hope we can keep it!â
The last student you passed before reaching your destination was Bella, a time manipulator. She was just on her way out of the professorâs study, closing the heavy oak door behind her. A kind smile met yours when she looked in your direction.Â
âMorning, maâam. Need to see the- Wait, is that a cat?â she asked, eyes widening.
âShhh. Yes, it is. Could you open the door for me?â you whispered. Bella lifted her first finger to her mouth, winking to indicate she understood, then twisted the brass knob and swung the door open before you.
âGood luck,â she whisper-yelled after you.
A grand office stood before you. Comfortable leather settees were positioned in front of a solid, mahogany desk. Rows and rows of bookshelves filled to the brim lined the walls. Trinkets and remembrances decorated available surfaces and empty wall space.
The professor, or Charles Xavier as you knew him, sat in his motorized wheelchair behind the large desk. His hairless head was lowered, blue eyes darting across the pages of a copy of House of Leaves. A single finger raised next to his aged face to acknowledge your presence.
âOne moment, please. From both you and your new friend,â he said. A minute passed, seconds counted by the paws kneading into your shoulder, before Charles closed the book and met your gaze. A warm smile matched your enthusiastic one, âTo what do I owe the pleasure?â
âI found this little guy outside,â you began. The cat perked up at the mention of itself, eyes blinking up at you then looking at the professor. You ran a finger under the kittenâs chin as you continued, âHe was an angry little fella, all bushy tailed, but he warmed right up to me. He was hiding in the hedges by the basketball court.â
âAh, I see,â Charles replied. He lowered a hand to maneuver his wheelchair. The low buzz of the machinery heralded his movement as he rounded the desk to sit in front of you and the cat.
âI didnât see any other cats around, but the good news is he seems to be old enough for solid food,â you said. The cat blinked slowly at the professor, its little nose sniffing the air in front of it.
âIt seems his mother abandoned him. Weaned him off her too quickly and left him stunted. Poor thing,â Charles said, head tilting and lips pulling into a slight frown. You gawked at him.
âYou can read the catâs mind, too?â you asked. The abilities of the mutants around you never ceased to amaze. Especially one as powerful as Charles Xavier.
He smiled at the kitten, oblivious to your gawking, stretching out his hands to you, âMay I?â
You gently lifted the cat off your chest, prying the tiny talons from your sweatshirt, and placed the furball in the professorâs hands. Charles lifted the cat to his chest and ran a gentle hand down its back.
âYouâll need to wake Rogue and Bobby, have them run to the pet store down the road. This one will need plenty of love and nourishment if heâs to thrive,â he said. You stared at him, dumbstruck.
âWe can keep him?â
âHe can stay, as long as he likes. Much is the same with the rest of those who live here,â Charles clarified. The little gray kitten nuzzled against Charlesâs chin, the professorâs smile growing.
âOkay. Okay! Yes! Iâll go get Rogue and Bobby,â you said, absolute jubilation filling your lungs.Â
You left Charles and the cat to continue their telepathic conversation as you raced up the giant, double staircase. Ornately carved wooden banisters ran along the edges of the stairs, polish shining in yellow circles from the chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. When the stairs divided into two sets, running opposite directions, you cut to the right. Your feet skipped over carpeted steps in your haste to reach your destination.
Once your sneakers landed on the second floor, you broke into a jog down the hallway. Door after wooden door flew by you on both sides of the hall. Paintings of peaceful landscapes and glowing sconces lined the wooden walls. A large window sat in the white wall at the end of the hall. Daylight streamed in and cast golden spots on the wood floors.
You stopped at the last door on the left. Rapping three quick knocks on the door, you bounced on your toes. There was a cat in the mansion. A cat! One that would live with you! You silently thanked whatever god it was that decided for you to be next in the cat distribution system.
It took another set of knocks on the door for you to hear movement on the other side. Bleary groans and rustling sheets leaked through the cracks in the door. You bit your lip in an attempt to quell your excitement.
The doorknob turned and a ruffled-looking Rogue appeared in the doorway. Dark hair just barely smoothed down, eyes squinted, robe hastily thrown over a nightgown.
âVampire? Shit, what time is it?â she asked, grogginess laced in her tone.
âDoesnât matter. We have a cat,â you said. Your smile widened as you waited for her response. Rogue eyed you, up and down, as she assessed her living alarm clock.
âLoganâs not a cat. Weâve been over this,â she said. She exhaled a puff of air through her lips to blow at the white bangs that fell over her eyes. You rolled your eyes playfully at the jab.
âNot Logan this time. An actual cat. A kitten,â you explained. Rogueâs eyebrows rose as her eyes widened.
âWait, thereâs a cat?â Bobby called from beyond the door. His blonde head popped up beside Rogueâs. The couple seemed to be much more awake now.
âYup,â you said, annunciating the p. Bobby and Rogue looked at each other, smiles growing, before looking back to you.Â
âWhere is it? Can we see it?â Rogue asked.
âCharles needs the two of you to run and get cat stuff first. Like food, litter, toys. Anything you can think of,â you replied. At the first sign of them objecting, you continued, âYou guys can get literally anything you want. Treats, cat towers, little obstacle courses. Just make sure itâs safe for a younger kitten.â
âWeâre on it, boss!â Bobby said, happiness palpable and blue eyes sparkling, as his hand clapped on Rogueâs clothed shoulder.
â100%. This cat will be spoiled rotten,â Rogue confirmed. With that situation squared away, you gave the pair a quick nod, beaming at them, then took off back down the hallway.
The run back to the professorâs office was an even shorter journey due to you jumping down several steps at a time. A few students looked gravely concerned at your acrobatics. Especially Ash, who helped Jean with patching students up by being a walking pain-reliever.
Your hand caught on the doorframe of Charlesâs office and you swung into the doorway, breathless. He and the cat were much like how you had left them. Tiny gray body tucked against his neck, both having their eyes closed.
âBobby and Rogue are on their way out,â you said. Charles hummed in response, eyes falling open.
âThis oneâs taken a shine to you, my dear. Says youâre the first to treat him kindly,â he said, a proud smile painted across his face. You let out an incredulous laugh.
âGuess he really is one of us, huh?â
âMore than you know,â Charles said through an amused chuckle. You approached the professor and ball of cuddles carefully, attempting to not disturb the little creature.
âMrrpp?â the cat trilled. It squinted at you from beneath Charlesâs chin, paws kneading into the back of the professorâs hands. You could almost hear its purrs from where you stood.
âDoes he have a name?â you asked. You scratched beneath its furry chin as the cat stretched out its jaw into your hand.Â
âI was hoping you might know one,â Charles said. He pressed the cat into your hands and you gladly scooped the little ball of love into your arms. You could feel the purrs emanating from the catâs belly vibrate against your chest. Tiny, thin whiskers tickled along the underside of your jaw.
âJeez, uh. I donât know. Let me think on it,â you responded. It was hard to think when all of your focus was drawn to the fluffy creature cradled in your hands. Charles chuckled at your indecision.
âIâm sure whatever you choose, our newest student will happily respond to it,â he assured. He used his now free hands to dust cat hair off his crisp, navy blue suit. As you turned to walk out, Charles said, âMake sure to give him a bath. This young oneâs lived outside for far too long.â
âWill do,â you said. You shifted your arms so you could better support the cat on your chest, then set a course for the upstairs bathroom closest to your and Loganâs room.
It seemed the news of a cat on campus had spread throughout the student body. A large crowd had gathered outside of Charlesâs study. Students, an array of ages and stages of dress, craned their necks over their peers to try and catch a glimpse.Â
âI wanna see!â Addie, a platinum blonde seven-year-old who could speak any language, called up from the space next to your hip. Your legs were framed by her and Ryan, a nine-year-old brunet with impenetrable skin.Â
âGuys, the cat is very small. He needs quiet!â you said, voice coming out as a stage whisper. A hush fell over the group in front of you. Wide, hopeful eyes blinked up at you. You sighed, untucking the cat from the crook of your neck and holding him in front of you. At the sight of the small bundle of fur in your hands, a buzz of excited whispers passed from ear to ear.Â
âDoes he have a name?â Ryan asked. An echo of agreement sounded around the crowd.
âNot yet, so everyone start brainstorming!â you said. A renewed vigor filled the conversation as names were debated back and forth between students. You used the distraction to slip away, climbing back up the stairs and baring left this time.
This hallway was nearly identical to the one on the opposite side of the stairs. Wooden paneling covered the walls, patterned red carpet stretched down the middle of the floor, potted plants sat here and there. You knocked once on the first door to the right. Receiving no answer, you pushed it open.
Inside was a full bathroom. White tiles lined the walls and floor, the grout a cool gray. Warm patterned shower curtains hung from a steel rod suspended between two walls. A vanity mirror hung on the wall opposite the door. You flicked on the light switch, making the three globes above the mirror glow and send dancing reflections throughout the bathroom.
âAlright, fella. Letâs get you clean,â you said as you sat the cat in the sink. His little, furry body looked like a small sponge sitting in the white porcelain. A confused face looked up at you through squinted eyes.
âMraow?â
âYeah, I know. Youâre not gonna like this part,â you responded. You leaned over, opening the white cabinets below the sink, and pulled out the unscented shampoo Logan liked to use. Straightening up, you noticed the cat had remained where you sat it. Prim, proper, posture like a little gentleman.
You smirked, scritching the top of his head between his ears. His face tilted up into your touch.Â
âSuch a sweet little guy,â you cooed. You gave him a few more well deserved pets before scooping his little body and turning on the faucet. You made sure the handle was turned to a warm, not hot, setting and the pressure was nice and low.Â
The cat startled a bit in your palm at the sudden rush of water. A little paw raised, batting in the air between him and the running water. You dipped a finger in the water and brought it to his nose for proper inspection. A few sniffs, a couple licks, then his chin was rubbing on your fingertip again.
You took it as a good sign, dipping the same hand back under the faucet and letting the water coat your skin. Once enough water had gathered in your hand you lifted it to the catâs back. He tracked your movement. Small, squinted eyes followed your hand as you placed your palm on his back. You felt the water droplets sink into the fluffy, gray fur and soak into his skin.
âThis ok?â you asked, like the cat could give you an answer. The small creature blinked up at you. He seemed unbothered by the moisture. You gave him another palm-full of water to get him adjusted to the temperature, the sensation. Not a peep from this little sir.
You set the cat back in the sink, just the tail end of his back beneath the running faucet. He hunkered down into the smallest loaf youâd ever seen. Front feet tucked under his fuzzy chest, tail curled around his side, eyes blinking slowly up at you. You cupped water in your palm and let it run through his fur. Before too long you had a drenched, buzzing kitten in the sink.
âYou are the strangest creatureâŚâ you wondered aloud. You popped the lid open on Loganâs shampoo and lathered up your hands. Thankfully, you didnât spot any fleas or other parasites hopping on the kittenâs body. Washing out the dirt and grime shouldnât take too long.
âWhy are you hunched over the sink with my soap?â a gruff voice said from behind you. You smiled, looking over your shoulder.
âMorning, sleepyhead,â you greeted. Logan leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. He wore his trademarked white tank top and loose jeans buckled with a brown belt. His dark hair was fluffy and unstyled, long strands hanging in front of his wrinkled eyebrows.
âYou didnât answer my question,â he said. He pushed off the wall and stepped up next to you, his boots clipping on the tiles.
âRight. So, funny story,â you began. You ran your soapy fingers through the catâs soaked fur. Loganâs hip leaned on the counter as he continued to stare at you. Jutting your chin down at the sudsy feline, you continued, âI found this guy outside and he made me think of you.â
âMade you think ofâŚâ Logan trailed off when his hazel eyes landed on the kitten.
âYou know, with his cat ears,â you explained. You scrubbed at the kittenâs purring body while Logan spluttered next to you.
âCat ears?!âÂ
âYeah. Those hair floofs you get when you style your hair. They look like cat ears,â you said. You pretended to ignore the pure indignation spouting from the man next to you. A knowing smirk stretched across your lips.
âI do not have cat ears,â Logan argued.
âYes you do!â Rogue shouted, voice echoing down the hall.
Your indifferent mask broke as you doubled over, cackling. The catâs head tilted as it watched your face disappear below the counter. Logan huffed, arms folding over his chest again.
It took you a few moments to regain your composure. Giggles bubbled up your throat everytime you glanced back at Logan next to you. He rolled his eyes at you.
âYeah, yeah. Whatever,â he grumbled. But, because you knew him so well, you could see the smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
You cleared your throat, squaring your shoulders to rinse off the cat sitting patiently in the sink. Warm water trailed through your fingers and washed away the suds gathered on the kittenâs body. Squinted eyes watched you, blinking slowly and serenely, purrs vibrating against your hands.
âHappy little fuzzball, isnât he?â Logan said. The kitten turned its head to peer at Logan. You ran a wet finger between its ears, smoothing the fur back and washing soap away.
âHe certainly is,â you hummed. When an idea popped in your head, you felt your grin widen and your gaze slip over to Logan next to you, âYou know, he still needs a name.â
âSo name him,â Logan replied instantly. A tentative, large hand reached into the sink and ran two fingers down the catâs soaked back. The kind and delicate gesture only further solidified your idea.
âActually⌠I was hoping you could name him.â
Loganâs eyes snapped up to meet yours, relaxed expression melting into pure confusion.
âWhat?â he asked.
this short story is kind of a tribute to the lovely, lovely folks in the murdock tuna team. i have nothing but love and an endless stream of thanks to give to them. you all have inspired me to be a better artist, a better author, a better person. love you, blob blob đ
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#logan howlett#wolverine#hugh jackman#xmen#logan howlett fanfic#wolverine fanfic#hugh jackman fanfic#xmen fanfic#logan howlett x reader#wolverine x reader#this is so fucking CUTE#like i know i wrote it but i caN'T HANDLE IT#murdock tuna team
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