#revy x reader

[cloudzoro]

She presses against you in the booth making as clear as possible to everyone within range that you belong to her. Everyone can see her leaning into you, pressing soft kisses against you neck and whispering in your ear but what they can't see is the way her fingers slide in and out of your cunt under the table. She's made sure you've only had one drink and from the outside perspective of your other friends at the bar with you it just looks like she's taking care of you.

You're getting close to an orgasm and you're not sure how much longer you can hide it. You turn to your right only to see she's already watching you. The look on her face isn't smug, she just looks pleased. She studies your face as you get closer to cumming and then right when you're about to cum and make a scene in front of everyone she pulls her fingers from your messy pussy and you whine, leaning into her shoulder.

She subtly licks her fingers and the people sitting next her just assume she's spilt her drink over her hand.

"are you okay?" one of your friends asks, noticing you panting into your girlfriend's shoulder.

"she's fine, just tired. I should probably take her home" she answers for you, slipping from the booth and pulling you out of the bar with her.

___

Robin Nico, Nami, Misa Amane, Saeko Tanaka, Revy Lee, Shoko Ieiri, Lust, Faye Valentine

[amphibiahawks321]

So how about some more Black lagoon stuff with Balalaika and Revy(seperate),just having a boyfriend who just straight up an energetic and affectionate person. He just seems like he shouldn't be in roanapur, much less dating someone like Revy or balalaika, but he is despite being the opposite personality wise.

[in balalaika's office, she's focusing on a map of roanapur, planning a large operation–only for Y/N to bursts inside her office]

M!Reader : Sofiyaa! guess who brought you luuuunch!✨ Figured you needed a break considering you're soooooo underslept!

[Balalaika starts smirking, her eyes start focusing on Y/N Infront of her]

Balalaika : You know you're walking into a war zone don't you dear~? I don't really have much time for a lunch break...

[Her eyes now softened by Y/N's kind gesture]

M!Reader : A war zone? Sounds fun! And things won't be out of control because you're always the one control the operations Sofi!

[Balalaika starts calming down by Y/N's sweet words]

Balalaika : Sighs... Guess you're right sweetheart.... I don't wanna overworked myself too much, if that happened how will i spoil my sweetheart rotten?~

M!Reader : Aww, you know you've given me enough dear!

Balalaika : I know, that's what makes it so much fun~

M!Reader blushing : even overworked you still have the energy to flirt...

[Y/N placed the food down onto her desk which she happily starts eating it, balalaika stares Infront of her to see Y/N excitedly waiting for her comment]

Balalaika : Chuckles... Finally some good food...

[Balalaika says trying to make it look like she's saying it casually so that Y/N would be more happy she's enjoying it (which he did)]

Balalaika : You know, I still can't believe the idea someone so thoughtful and affectionate such as yourself could even be in roanapur my dear

M!Reader : energetic is my middle name baby!

Balalaika : I'm wouldn't be surprised if that's true~♡...... Hmm......

M!Reader : Hm? Something wrong? Oh no... DID I PUT TOO MUCH–

Balalaika : No no, it's nothing dear, I actually just thought of a way you help me relax love

[Y/N gasp dramatically and puts down his hands on balalaika's desk with determination]

M!Reader : What is it!?✨

[A couple of minutes later, Balalaika is still eating her meal but now with Y/N sitting on her lap]

M!Reader blushing : ......

[Balalaika chuckles and she gave Y/N a kiss on his neck]

[Revy outside a bar leaning against a wall, cigarette between her lips looking tough like usual, Y/N shows up in high spirits like usual]

[Y/N walks up to revy and joyfully hugs her making revy shocked but she's basically used to it at this point]

M!Reader : Revy! I miss you so much!

Revy : Yeah yeah, cut the affectionate crap I miss you too...

M!Reader : Since we're off today I was thinking we could do something fun today!

Revy : .....

[Revy starts staring at Y/N like you've lost your mind]

Revy : Fun? You think Hanging out in this shithole is fun?

M!Reader : Come on don't be like that! You're too awesome to be looking grumpy today! Come on just you, me having fun! Trust me it'll be fun!✨

[Revy about to refuse immediately but she sees Y/N genuinely excited to hang out with her....]

[Revy thought 💭]

Fuuck those eyes...

Revy : Sighs... You're absolutely batshit crazy you know that?

M!Reader : Nope! I just wish to see you smile more today!

Revy : .......

[Revy softened a bit by Y/N's dumb yet sweet comment]

[Revy thought 💭]

T-This asshole...

Revy : Sighs... Fine fine let's go, not like I was gonna do anything today anyway, just don't get yourself killed, okay?

M!Reader : With you around? Never!–.....

[Y/N felt revy's hand intertwining and locking itself with Y/N's hand]

M!Reader blushing : ......

Revy : What? Can't I hold my man's hand or some shit? Don't get it through your head too hard hyper boy....

[winnieiscalmeth]

Black Lagoon women react to their real name being called

[Posted on another account but migrated to this one]

Prompt:You simply wanted to see how they would react to being called by their actual name.

Revy "Rebecca" Lee

-She'd probably be the most comfortable with you calling her by her name since its mentioned a couple of times.

-It will still confuse her but wouldn't really give a fuck.

-Would worry about her doing something wrong at first.

"Rebecca can you hand me that?" Revy pauses.

"...huh"

"I said can you hand me the magazine."

"What the fuck did I do now?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why the fuck did you use my real name?!"

"Is it not your name?!"

"Yeah! But don't fucking say it like that you had me scared for a second"

"shit my bad"

Roberta "Rosarita Cisneros"

-Run.

-Nah I'm joking.

-But would deadass be concerned on how you found her real name.

-Panicking internally.

"Rosarita, the little one wanted you-" Roberta stiffened.

"Who."

"..Garcia?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh! I just asked Mr.Lovelace...well more like begged him."

"Don't do that again."

"Noted"

Balalaika "Sofia Irinovskaya"

-Surprisingly calm about it.

-Will still interrogate you.

-And you would have to be a really good detective to be able to find her real name..

"Yo Sofia, Dutch, said you needed my-"

"First off how do you know my name."

"I'm not supposed to know my future wi-"

"Where did you find it"

"...I was snooping around your office when you weren't here."

"Why?"

"I got bored waiting for you"

"What else do you know?"

"Baby-"

[knock-o]

ko speaks⭐️ : guys i have stuff in my drafts like machi and shizuku with reader but i’m so scared to post.. I CANT WRITE FICSS I JUST HAVE IDEAS.. ykw imma post and THEN i’m gonna just go on a trip🙏 and update my blog to be aesthetic heh. AND IM GONNA WRITE FOR REVY GOD THERES A LACK OF THAT .. swear i’m gonna post my other fics too guys..

[ravenna222]

The first one is me and Shitdou, the second is me and Revy from Black Lagoon

⑅˖⁠♡ @luvjiro ⑅˖⁠♡

kinda cute so here you go: link

@humanitys-strongest-bamf and i feed on these.

#: @humanitys-strongest-bamf @yamaguccitadashi @leviismybby @palebrunettesstuff @sixpennydame @afortoru @bertholdts--butt @nevermeyers @t-aomine @youre-ackermine @robynnnhooddd (hi) + you who saw it!

[makipedia]

Revy's reaction to teen reader who wants to learn how to use guns as they develop an obsessive interest in them. The relationship is platonic.

im getting quite a few revy requests lol

-first off she'd be so confused. when u join the black lagoon company this is defo before rock comes in u asked revy how to use a gun.

-"so ya joined our fucking company and you don't know how to fucking use a fucking gun?"

-"yeah ♡"

-she'd roll her eyes then take out one cutlass and point it at the sea. she'll teach you how to shoot, aim and reload it, but never let you use a gun outside of that. EVER. if you ask dutch about it, he'll say no, since revy told him to say no even if u gave him the same puppy eyes that you gave revy.

-though after a while she'd let you use ONE cutlass and shoot ONE bullet on days that she's feeling good. that takes a LOT of time tho, and a LOT of getting used to. meaning you'd have to spend a shit ton of time with her for her to start feeling comfortable with letting some kid using one (1) out of two (2) cutlasses

-THEN after about a year, right before u turn 18, she'd let you use both of them and shoot TWO bullets a cutlass, so that gets you 4 bullets for the day.

-and when u do turn 18, revy sneaks you out to buy your own pair of guns that you get to use on your very own without her having to waste bullets on u lol she's been dealing with that for 2 years

-and then when rock comes in he sees u with an entire collection of guns😭

-"WHERE DID YOU GET ALL OF THESE?!?!?!"

-"hm..some of these i actually bought, others i stole from people on missions. i stole one from balalaika and she hasn't said anything yet!"

-yeah u did steal a gun from balalaika and she knows LOL but she doesn't care, she has tons more anyways and she thinks ur cool, like revy but much nicer

-"you fuckin stole from fuckin balalika? ARE YOU FUCKIN CRAZY?!"

-"yeah!♡"

[tokuteasings]

Kisses - Hiden Aruto, Kamiyama Touma, Igarashi Ikki, Ukiyo Ace

REIWA RIDERS ARE SO FUCKINGI GOOD MAN, OKAY??? IM NOT SORRY Warnings; I love....them?????? PLS????

This is also dedicated to RingoBingo21 on ao3 who also inspired me to write. 

Hiden Aruto

Literally, kissing Aruto is like you’re kissing sunshine incarnate. His smile is like you got hit by a truck made out of pure adrenaline caked up in pure happiness and love and his kisses are always full of excitement and pep in his step.

He always does this thing when he just grabs the sides of your face with his hands and pulls you into his orbit with a gentle sort of brush against your skin and kisses you like you’re his entire world - because you fucking are and it’s so fucking cute okay? After you two part, he has this oh so cute smile to his face and his cheeks are flushed and his lips are kiss-swollen and his eyes are blown and he has this shy yet puppy-like look and it’s so cute and he will probably ask, “Do you wanna…kiss again?”

Loves it when you kiss him as a reward for his lil jokes!!! It’s like candy on top of candy!!!!! It’s literally his favorite thing so he starts making more jokes around you just to earn more kisses.

Laughs into his kisses, smiles into his kisses!!!! Oh so fucking cute!!! Loves it when you peck his face too and Aruto also loves giving you lil pecks here and there as well!!!! His faves are cheek and nose kisses.

Cannot function without a kiss in the first thing in the morning. Will show up to work all pouty and upset if you don’t give him a kiss that morning. Izu has developed a sort of “sensor” to send you messages if Aruto-sachou is being all pouty because of his lack of kisses.

Kamiyama Touma

He smells like books and a sense of home that you can return to after a long hard day at work, vanilla dancing at the edge of his senses and his kisses are just like that. A sense of home that is meant to relax you, ease you into a lull and it’s the same for him. It’s a loosening of shoulders when you two kiss and Touma just melts into a sort of putty in your arms.

He’s always left breathless and flushing after kissing you and it’s this sweet and gentle goofy smile that graces his lips after you two finish. Like a happily ever after in a book, you are his happily ever after.

Touma uses kisses as rewards more often than not. Finish a page of his manuscript? He gets a sweet peck on his cheek. Two pages? A peck on his other cheek. Three pages? A kiss on the lips.

Very publicly affectionate, holding hands and whatnot. Kisses in public are always so sweet too! Anyway you should totes randomly kiss him in public just to make him blush because it’s cute, especially when he tries to use his hat to hide his face.

Kisses to his fingertips always turn him into a blushing mess. It’s due to him always using his hands for something or other and sometimes there’s lil paper cut scars here and there, so kiss those and you’ll hear him stutter and flubber. It’s so fucking cute. Please believe me.

Igarashi Ikki

The first kiss with Ikki doesn’t come until you two are dating and even after the first date. He has to be goaded on by Vice to kiss you and even then…well…his kisses are warm. It’s like the bathhouse his family owns. It surrounds you and encases you in a sweet honey mead that drowns you in a blanket of love and warmth.

Ikki is the kind of person who always asks before kissing you. It’s not that he’s shy, he just wants to establish a set of boundaries between you two - healthy and happy. He doesn’t wanna overstep his bounds even though he wants to, to take you up into his arms and kiss you breathless. He does sweep you into his embrace to kiss every now and then but those are the moments when he is the happiest. Like scoring a goal in a game!

Like Touma, kisses between you are a reward system. Finishing up chores? A kiss to the nose. Finished cleaning the bathhouse together? Pecks on the forehead. Scoring a goal in soccer? A full on kiss to the lips!

Also gets rather pouty when you don’t give him kisses in the morning. But unlike Aruto, is not too too pouty. He adores those lazy kisses in the morning and may try to stay in bed a liiiittle longer with you just to earn some free kisses from you!

Truth be told, another kiss he adores are shoulder kisses and neck kisses. It’s not just for the sexy times but more so because it tickles and it makes him feel safe and warm with you. Plus, those are the easiest kisses to do as you two are relaxing in the baths at the Igarashi bathhouse.

Ukiyo Ace

Kissing him is a thrill, a danger, a risk you need to be willing to make. Ace tastes like a mystery. You can never tell what’s going on inside his head, even as participants of the DGP or as a civilian lover. Ace is someone who keeps you on your toes with kisses, passionate but hidden under layers and layers of sneaky little sly bastard-ness.

On that notion of keeping you on your toes…you can never tell if Ace wants to kiss you or not…or even where! Maybe he may give you a “hint” if you’re lucky. He may glance at your lips and you lean towards him for a kiss but nope! His lips are suddenly on your forehead, so far away from your lips! He would laugh at your pout and “apologize” by giving you a “real kiss” but nope! It’s another misdirected trickery! He will give you a kiss though, don’t worry.

Isn’t shy to public affection and makeouts, even in front of other people. Sure Azuma would roll his eyes, Keiwa and Neon would blush and turn away, but like Ace loooves kissing you! He sees you as a good luck charm and it’s a sort of game between you. Whoever wins the next round of the DGP or chores, etc, gets a kiss!

Even then, Ace doesn’t know when he’s going to lose you - to the DGP or via world resets and really…he kisses you like it’s his last. He teases you, yes, but he cherishes you. So when there are times to relax and kiss each other without the hub-bub of the world around you it’s…a moment of calm and quiet peace. Ace and let down his little walls and wrap you in his arms and kiss you until you are breathless, nuzzle his face into you neck and inhale your scent and realize that you’re there in front of him and won’t leave.

Also adores neck and shoulder kisses but hand kisses to just tease you in public. He loves smoothly turning a simple situation into a kiss like one moment you’re holding hands and the next he brought your hand up to kiss your knuckles!!!!

[katsukistofu]

i a-door you

contents ౨ৎ ⋆ k. bakugo x fem reader. fluff. cursing. food. minor unintentional violence. ⭑ bakugo hits on you. literally.

You’re minding your business, book bag slung across your shoulder, and about to walk through the door to 2A’s classroom when something smacks you in the face.

Not only unprompted, but hard.

“Ow!”

It happens so quickly that you don’t remember squeezing your eyes shut as you stumble backwards, both hands flying to clutch your forehead.

Opening your eyes, you swear you can already feel the spot starting to bruise. The previously closed door to the classroom stood ajar and as the cherry on top of the concussion you just received, someone roughly brushes past you.

Fucking asshole.

You whip around, head still throbbing, about to give whoever it is a peace of your mind and finally speak above an inside voice for the first time since a robot almost fell on you during entrance exams semesters ago, when your teary eyes are met with crimson red ones.

He turns his head to give you a once over and your body freezes as his eyes linger a little longer on the darkening mark where the door got you. Something similar to amusement tugs at his lips.

“Pretty cute.”

You blink, dumbfounded as he casually turns on his heel to walk away.

What. The hell.

Did you literally just get hit on by Bakugo freaking Katsuki.

The identical dropped jaws of your classmates that were visible from inside the open doorway confirmed that what just happened was not in fact a post-traumatic induced hallucination, with Midoriya looking the most gobsmacked, his eyes almost comically bulging out of his skull, and upon glancing at Mina, who quickly gets over her initial shock to grin and shoot you a double thumbs up, she excitedly mouths ‘i told you so,’  and you’re not sure whether to laugh or to cry.

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀:¨ ·.· ¨: ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ `· . ꔫ

The next day, you’re sporting a fresh, new bandaid on your forehead. It was quite a fashion statement, if you do say so yourself.

It was also the last one at the nurse’s so you were pretty happy to nab it, apparently being the brand that everyone chose when they too got their respective boo-boos.

The latte Mina and the girls brought back from your favorite cafe sat on the wooden coffee table in the common area, still steaming. You refused to go out with a huge bruise marring your appearance, even with the bandaid covering the most of it, and you would take the fullest advantage of the injured person princess treatment while it lasted.

All while awkwardly avoiding a certain blond.

Now that you’re thinking about it, he’s honestly always been kind of nice to you, in his own weird way.

Like when you were forced to ask if you could borrow his eraser, because apparently no one else in the class carried one. Imagine saving Japan your first year of highschool and only writing in pen, even for calculus. Is this what the future generation has come to?

After breathlessly rushing the words out in a hushed voice and wondering if he heard you at all, Bakugo doesn’t even turn around from where he’s resting his chin on his hand listening to Present Mic’s enthusiastic lecture on subject-verb agreement, as he reaches an arm behind him to drop it on your desk.

You’re not sure if you remembered to say “your” before “eraser,” so all he probably heard was “can I borrow eraser?” and it still haunts you to this day.

Shaking the thoughts of him from your mind, you flip your history textbook open to page three hundred and ninety four, ‘A Comprehensive Timeline of Quirk Generations.’ You’re attempting to study for your next upcoming quiz in Midnight’s class.

Key word: attempting.

A delicious smell was starting to waft your way from the kitchen across the room, and now you were kind of hungry. You could feel your attention waning and shook your head, the image of your most recent report card filled with straight As sobering you up. Food could come later, right now you had to focus.

Just twenty more minutes of review, then I'll eat.

Bakugo’s placing the breakfast he easily finished whipping up on the counter. As he uses a spatula to gently coax the fluffy soufflé pancakes out of the pan, he notices the familiar petals of your favorite flower decorating the ceramic he’s putting them on.

It was from a tableware set he picked out when everyone first moved into the dorms. Glasses had assigned everyone groceries among various other things to go shopping for in small groups, and he was paired up with Ponytail to go buy plates.

They were browsing the shelves of a local Daiso store filled with colorful, adorably decorated dishes and rice bowls, when he stopped in front of a price tag, eyes dragging up to study the item it belonged to. The details on it were intricate, and breathtakingly so.

It reminded him of how he felt whenever he looked at you.

Ponytail follows his gaze, and her own eyes brighten.

“Oh, it’s decorated with the favorite flower of–!”

“I know.” He cuts her off, glaring at the floral box set of bowls and plates, before carefully putting it in their cart.

Momo’s eyes widen a bit, before a small, knowing smile spreads across her lips and Bakugo curses at her perceptiveness.

He almost wished he was paired up with that icy-hot bastard instead, who was so oblivious that if you dangled a confession letter in front of him he would have thought you wanted him to proofread it for you.

That was a while ago now, and everyone’s been happily eating meals on the plates they bought ever since.

He tops off the pancakes with a handful of fresh berries and a drizzle of honey, and slides it next to a steaming plate of a kimchi omelette with a zigzag of sriracha sauce already on the counter.

From where he stands, he snorts at your bandaid, noticing the obnoxious amount of Hello Kitty’s plastered all around it. Out of all the bandaids from Recovery Girl’s collection that she kept in her office, of course you would pick the cutest fucking one.

It was undoubtedly something you would like, he thinks, begrudging in his fondness. It was so you.

“Get your ass over here.”

You jump in your spot on the couch at the loud volume of his voice, though it sounded a bit softer than usual. With a finger pointing to yourself, you raise your head in confusion. “Me….?”

Was this about yesterday? Oh my god, was he mad?

You’re not sure why he would be, since he’s not the one that got bitch-slapped in the face by a giant door.

“I don't see anyone else I'd be talking to.” Bakugo scoffs.

He's right, to your increasing dread. The entire common area is completely empty, and you have no choice but to comply with his request.

You’re still nervously fiddling with the edge of your hoodie sleeve, the usual comfort of its softness abandoning you as you approach the kitchen to find him standing at a seat near the counter, arms folded. It hasn’t even been a minute in the same proximity as him and his presence is kind of overwhelming you already.

You’re trying so hard not to stare at his biceps. And just him in general.

“Sit.” he commands, the sound of the metal stool echoing against his hand as he pats it.

You obediently sit down, cursing your lack of a backbone. But his tone didn’t sound like he was planning to take no for an answer, anyway.

“Eat.”

He jabs a thumb at the plate of warm, sweet smelling cloud-like goodness in front of you. You stare at him, wide-eyed.

“This is for me?”

“Huh. You’re slower than I thought you were.” He rolls his eyes and starts to dig into his own plate of omelette in front of him, taking a seat on the stool across from you. It looked good too, as expected. “You’re welcome or whatever.”

With his aggressive blessing and after throwing a quiet but extremely grateful ‘thank you for the meal’ his way, you start to eat.

Your face lights up in joy as the divine taste of spongy goodness and honey spreads across your tongue, and you silently praise his mom for giving birth to the next Gordon Ramsay.

He flicks your forehead as you’re mid-bite in pancake and you yelp in surprise, raising your head to glare at his handsome face. What now? And did he have to be as infuriating as he was good-looking?

That crimson gaze once again stares you down, barely contained amusement dancing in embers of the hot coals of his eyes, and your skin grows warm as you realize you said that last part out loud.

You’re about to give into the urge to run away and take the plate of half-finished pancakes with you when he gruffly speaks up.

“You can’t retain information unless you have something in your stomach, idiot.”

You nod, mouth full, and make a mental note to study on an empty tummy away from him in the future. It’s like he reads your mind because you wince as he scowls, flicking your head again, although a little more gently this time.

Taking care to do it in a spot away from the bandaid covering the injury that he caused, your brain points out.

The both of you continue to eat in comfortable silence.

After a while, your plates are nearly clean.

You smile a little, realizing that you were eating on your favorite plate in the dorm’s kitchen the whole time, and admire the petals of your beloved flowers delicately painted in the center and outer edges of the stark white dish, with the pancakes no longer covering them.

Bakugo notices this, as you softly begin to trace the rim with your finger, and fights the twitch of his lips that threatened to curl upwards.

He’s also noticed those little glances you think you’ve been discreetly throwing his way between the bites of pancake, which you nearly inhaled to his pride.

You could almost be as quiet as that rock-faced animal whisperer of a classmate you both had, but you’ve always sucked at being subtle.

Good thing he hates subtle things.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asks as you start to slide off the tall stool, a hint of smirk in his voice. It was cute, how you think you could run away from him so easily. You stop in your tracks, blinking at him as he rises from his own seat.

Strong, toned arms that you totally haven’t been staring at for the past half hour are slowly placed on both sides of you, caging you against the counter. An embarrassing noise escapes from your lips, and the cold granite bites into your back as you lean away, doing anything to avoid his gaze.

“Look at me.”

He rolls his eyes as you continue to look to the side, suddenly finding the chibi magnets of various high ranking heroes on the fridge to be very interesting.

“I said,” he grabs your chin in his hand, which was so big compared to your face that he could squish your cheeks between his ring finger and thumb, “look at me.

You huff, now forcefully held in place to face him against your will. “I’m looking.”

“Good.”

He leans down and his lips graze your ear, seeming to take great pleasure in only further adding to your embarrassment when he mutters:

“And don’t stand so fucking close to the door next time.”

not bakugo pulling the classic asian parent move and giving u food instead of a proper apology LOLL

[sunsetchicane]

Postcards - Part 2 [LN4]

lando norris x [travel] journalist fem!reader

find the series here

word count: 7.3k

summary: The one where it's six months later and you still find yourself thinking about him. Maybe a another fated meeting will be the second chance you need.

warnings: fluff, banter, yearning, an unrealistic portrayal of London [probably], sexual innuendo, maybe a kiss or two idk, and...angst

author's note: Heyyy team. Back with another part for you. I think I really like this part and I hope you all enjoy! As always, feedback is appreciated!! So please feel free to leave any questions/concerns/comments you have. I hope you like it and keep your eyes peeled for what's coming next! Lots of love! [xoxo elle]

Summer Break July 2022

When walking down Camden Market, you can’t help but feel tucked into history. Life bustles in the walkways. Mothers corral starry-eyed children. Small bunches of friends are bent over their drinks while they taste each other’s. Couples promenade languidly, hands folded together and heads leaned in. Everything and nothing at all happens at Camden. Time stands still, holding tightly to memories and secrets. The brick that makes up the streets and walls stands proud and true, veterans at their trade. Music floats out of shops like dandelion seeds on a summer’s breeze, planting itself wherever fate leads.

It’s only your second day in London. You arrived late into the afternoon yesterday, not feeling up to checking out the subject matter of your project after traveling. Instead, you checked into the small townhouse that you’d be staying at for the duration of your trip and then wandered about the streets of London. You’ve never been to London before, but it was exactly as you’d imagined it. Tall red buses perused the streets. Towering buildings loomed over skinny walkways. But your favorite sight was the sun slipping just below the horizon, relinquishing the world to dusk, and the street lamps casting a warm glow over the summer night. 

Today, however, you weren’t wandering the winding streets of the city, you’re acquainting yourself with one of London’s most well known attractions: Camden Market. When you were young, you saw pictures of it in some magazine you’d found in your school’s library. You’d adored the way the market looked on the page and promised yourself that you would see it for yourself someday and take pictures of your own. And now you are. The dream of a little girl flutters in your chest. You clutch onto your camera as your fingers tremble from the weight of your emotions. You really made it.

Closing your eyes and sighing, you bask in the moment for a second longer before fishing out your phone from your pocket. The market just opened, so you have the entire day to explore and find your story. The history of Camden is so rich that it can be found around every corner, tucked into every shop, and, most importantly, etched into the memories of the people. 

Piecing together a story with stunning visuals here is difficult not for the lack of inspiration, but for the over abundance of it. How you’re going to choose what to share with the world, you have no idea. 

This isn’t your first story with your publication, but it is your first major one. After working on small, local pieces, your boss finally caved and gave you a real assignment. It came in a nick of time, too, because you’d been getting antsy about staying in one place for so long. You needed to get out. But, there’s a lot of pressure to rise to the occasion. If you don’t do well on this piece, who knows when the next time you’ll be assigned something like this again. 

You move through the market, stopping to watch or take pictures or talk with a shop owner here and there. The hustle and bustle keeps you moving, the current of moving bodies too strong to fight.

After a few hours of nonstop walking, you have dozens of ideas scribbled down and photos stored in your camera. You have a few specific shops and names written down to revisit when you come back with a more detailed idea of what your story is going to look like. The thoughts swirling through your brain move at lightspeed.

The only thing that breaks your intense concentration is the wafting smell of cooking food. Involuntarily, your stomach grumbles and your mouth waters at the savory smell. The only part of Camden that you haven’t sampled yet is the food. Suddenly, you’re desperate to find wherever that smell is coming from. You don’t think you’ve ever inhaled something so lovely.

After tucking away your notebook and slinging your camera off to your side, you hold your backpack over a shoulder and begin seeking out your lunch. There are a dozen different places to choose from, each producing a signature scent that crawls into the walkways. Signs that don each of the shop’s names does nothing to help you decide, everything speaking to your stomach in a different way. Frustration grows inside of you, fueled by hunger. 

But then, as if the universe had a plan all along to keep you exactly where you were, you see him strolling down the walkway. Lando. Your breath catches in your chest, leaving you feeling lightheaded. Jaw slack and eyes wide, you take the sight of him.

His eyes are following the line of shops over his shoulder, seemingly focused on whatever they have to offer. He’s wearing a pair of jeans that hang from his hips and slouch against his sneakers. His plain black t-shirt hugs his arms and chest, but falls a little looser around his middle. To complete his look, he has a beat up black baseball cap atop his head. It pushes down his curls, framing his neck with soft brown coils. Even from this distance, you can see that his hair is much longer and healthier than when you saw him last.

The first thing you feel when you see him is immense exhilaration. Never were you expecting to see him again. After sending him his print and a postcard, there had been little in the way of communication. A few weeks after sending the package, you received a follow request from him on Instagram. Battling yourself for all of two seconds, you accepted it and then accidentally began stalking his page. He had posted a story only a couple minutes before requesting to follow you. Opening the story, you had found your photo of him tacked up on a wall in his home. 

“My good side. Or so I’ve been told.”

The caption on the story had made you laugh. Staring at your phone, grinning like a fool, all for a boy a thousand miles and a different destiny away. 

Following each other had been the only movement on either front. For a few weeks, you’d pull up his DM and write out message after message. Not one was ever sent. There was no reason for you to reach out to him. Plus, you didn’t know if he even wanted to hear from you. Following you on Instagram is a far cry from being cool with what happened between you half a year ago.

The night you spent together, though it was cut short, still haunts you and holds you.

You had been somewhat keeping up with this season of Formula One just to have a way to stay connected to him in a way. Even if you couldn’t see him or speak with him, at least you could watch from a distance. Every time you’ve tried to stop, tried to forget him, you’ve been unsuccessful. All of your tactics that you’ve been practicing your whole life haven’t been able to eradicate Lando from your system. He’s a bad habit that you can’t break. 

You want him in a way that you’ve never wanted anything before. Slowly, you’re creeping to the edge of your own rules, wondering what fate looks like on the other side.

But, reality comes crashing in when his eyes lazily flick up to yours and the elation that was just coursing through your bloodstream turns icy cold. Terror seizes your chest in an iron grip. You can’t move, you can’t breathe, you can’t even run. 

For a moment you both stand still, completely frozen in time while the world continues on without you. People rush in and out of view, obscuring your vision in millisecond intervals. Everytime you lose sight of him, you wonder if he’ll actually be there. 

He is. He’s really there.

And now he’s walking toward you.

A million questions rush through your head in a panic. Is he still upset at you? What is he going to say? Will you be able to say goodbye again?

Caught in the spinning of your own thoughts, you miss him drawing closer and closer with a stupid grin splitting his face. When you finally snap back into reality, he’s standing right in front of you.

His arms wrap around your waist, hoisting you into the best hug you’ve ever experienced. Hands down. With his touch, every single thought, anxiety, and question evaporate. There’s nothing in this world except for the way his hands hold your waist and his arms flex against your back.

Dropping your bag from your shoulder, you can’t help but toss your arms around his neck, hugging him right back. Smiling wildly, you push your forehead into his shoulder. Your nose fills with the scent of him, sending you reeling all the way back to six months ago when you saw him last.

While you’re in his arms, it feels as though no time has passed. It’s simply the day after you met, both of you ready for your next adventure together.

Together.

The word feels odd to you. It’s so unused in your life. You’ve always been alone. Growing up in the foster care system, you never stayed with someone long enough to use the word ‘together.’ So, there’s never been a desire in you to ever experience ‘together’ with someone. Until now.

“Hi,” Lando says warmly. You can hear the smile in his voice. A rush of heat paints your cheeks red as you pull away from him. As much as you want to keep your hands on him, you drop your hands from his neck and take a small step back. He lets his hands slip away from your waist, your body suddenly cold from the lack of his touch.

“Hi,” you respond, unable to remove the smile on your lips. 

For a couple of seconds you both stand in awe of each other. He’s grown so much, not that you didn’t already know that. His Instagram is regularly updated for race weekends and things in between, so you’ve watched him grow over the last six months. However, nothing compares to seeing him in person. The shitty part is that he looks so damn good. How are you supposed to say goodbye to that face, that smile, again?

“I can’t believe this,” Lando says while adjusting his cap that was thrown askew by the brute force of your embrace. “How have you been?”

“Good,” you say while watching his hands go about their work. “How are you?”

“Alright,” he says while nodding. “But great now. It’s been ages. What are you doing in London?”

Nerves buzz in your chest and fingertips. It almost sounds like he’s missed you. You’ve missed him. You’ve never missed anything the way that you miss him.

“I’m working on a story,” you say breathlessly. “About Camden.”

His face lights up as you tell him about your time in London so far. He seems excited when you tell him that you’re going to be here for a while and are looking forward to doing a little more sightseeing when you can. His eyes are wide and bright as he listens to you. Every once in a while you get caught stumbling over your words because you got lost in the curve of his jaw, or the smattering of freckles on his face, or by those damn eyes. 

Unable to keep talking coherently, you ask him what he’s doing in London. He tells you that he’s on summer holiday and spending a little time with family. He flew into London this morning and came to do some gift shopping for his parents before driving to Bristol.

He’s standing so close to you that you could reach out with little effort and take his hand in yours. The memory of his hand ghosts along your fingers, urging you to just reach out.

But for all of your desires, you have to hold fast to what you know to be true. This is temporary. Everything between you and Lando will pass because it always does. These feelings only feel this full and vivid because he’s standing right in front of you. This is a chance meeting that should never have happened. It only makes things more complicated. 

“What are you doing right now?” Lando asks suddenly, breaking you away from planning an exit strategy. Your heart sinks to your toes. 

“I–well–” You’re floundering. You never flounder. How is this the time that you can’t come up with some witty response or a quick out?

“Would you like to grab lunch? Maybe do a little catching up?” he presses. There’s this look on his face that makes you die a little. His eyes are so bright, lit up by the softest of smiles on his face. He looks perfectly at peace in your presence. There’s a happiness that exudes from his aura, taking you captive in its warm arms.

“Yes.” It comes out in a whisper. You’re barely aware that you actually said it aloud. The answer fell from deep within your heart, spilling out because it had to. You’d like nothing more than to sit across a table from Lando and talk with him until the world comes to an end.

Immediately, you regret your answer. Agreeing to this means spending time with him and reopening the doors you’ve been struggling to keep shut. What you should be doing is locking those doors and throwing away the key. You should be doing everything in your power to do what you do best: to run. The urge is there, pulling you away from Lando and the fate that could be. The familiar safety of running away calls to you. 

But it’s counteracted by the intense desire to stay.

For the second time in your entire life and for the same reason both times, you’re split in two. War rages inside you; mind versus heart; logic versus feeling; safety versus adventure.

Lando reaches over, snapping up your backpack and hauling it over his shoulder. He sends you a wink, which you roll your eyes at. 

“Follow me,” he says while tilting his head back towards the food walkway. Tucking your bottom lip between your teeth to avoid smiling like a fool, you nod your head and fall in step with him. 

Together you waltz along in front of the shops. Lando is looking down a little ways, obviously searching out a particular shop. You can’t help but be grateful that you didn’t have to choose which place to eat at. You probably would have spent the rest of the day hopping from spot to spot, tasting a little bit of everything. 

After a short walk, Lando stops the two of you in front of a small stall. With a smile on his face, he explains what the shop serves. He obviously loves the place and can’t stop rambling on about it while you stand in line. Honestly, you only hear half of what he’s saying. You’re too busy watching the way his mouth moves and how his eyes dart around and the way he moves his hands while he speaks. 

“So, what are you going to get?” he asks. You’d blanked out when he was explaining the menu to you. 

“Just whatever you’re getting. I trust your judgment,” you say while shrugging, trying to be as normal as possible. You’d rather him not know that you’ve been ogling him this whole time. It doesn’t bode well for your attempts to get over him.

“You do?” he asks with a scoff. You laugh then, remembering the ice cream incident from six months ago. His choice was less than stellar, so why would it be different now? Maybe you should reconsider your options.

“No,” you say with a shake of your head. “But I’m giving you a chance at redemption.”

He opens his mouth to reply, but he’s swiftly cut off by the woman behind the counter calling the next customer. Lando walks up in front of you and orders for the both of you. He pays the tender before circling back to you.

“No going back now,” he says while handing you a cup of ice water. Shaking your head at him, you pluck the water from his hand gratefully. 

“What do I owe you?” you ask while reaching for your wallet.

“Nothing,” he says with a smirk. You glare up at him, trying to fry that smug look off his face. The opposite happens, his smirk growing into a grin.

“I think I’ve got it covered,” he says, reminding you that he’s a millionaire with just six words. What a snob. 

“Fine,” you say while stuffing your wallet back into your pocket. “Just trying to have manners. Ever heard of them?” 

His jaw drops and his eyes narrow in a look of disbelief. He’s carrying your bag and paying for your food. He’s actually being quite the gentleman, but you still need to bust his chops a little. The smug idiot deserves it, just a little bit. Behind your amused look, there’s an affection that scares you.

Standing side by side, you wait for your food while making small talk. It shocks you how easy conversation flows between the two of you. Nothing has ever been this perfectly natural for you. It just feels right to be by his side while talking about simple nothings. 

Just as your hunger starts to crest into annoyance, Lando’s number is called. Excusing himself, he jogs over and grabs the two boxes from the counter. The smell hits you before he even arrives back at your side. It takes everything in you not to rip the paper to-go box from his hands and devour the food right there. Instead, Lando leads you both over to an empty picnic table.

Lando plops down onto the bench, setting both boxes in front of him. For a moment, you think about rounding the table to sit across from him. It would put more distance between the two of you, a safety cushion of sorts. 

You sit right next to him. 

Smiling smally, he slides your food in front of you. With a needy sigh, you pop open the box and look at the meal in front of you. It’s chicken strips and fries. Raising your eyes to the sky, you begin to pray to the powers-that-be to keep you from laughing in his face.

“What?” Lando says through a mouth full of fries when he catches you barely holding back your laugh.

“I was wrong when I called you geriatric last December. I know now that you’re actually a child.” you strain to say. Lando simply cocks an eyebrow at you.

“Hater,” he says while popping off the lid to his dipping sauce. “Would a child eat chili mayo?”

Smiling wildly, you watch as he dunks his chicken strip into the mayo. After taking a bite of it, he has a little mayo on the corner of his mouth, not doing anything to negate the child accusations. 

Instead of teasing him anymore, you dive into your own meal. You have to hand it to Lando because these are the best chicken strips you’ve ever had. You don’t tell him that, though. No need to inflate his ego anymore than it already is. 

The two of you eat like you haven’t eaten in years. He polishes off the whole box before you and waits for you to finish.

“Stop watching, you creep,” you say while finishing off the end of your fries.

“I’m not watching you,” he lies. “I’m wondering if you’re going to have that last piece of chicken.”

Rolling your eyes, you toss it into his box. With a cheeky smile, he snatches it up and pops it into his mouth. 

After you’ve both disposed of your trash, you begin taking a lazy walk around the market. There’s an unsaid agreement hanging between you to not acknowledge the fact that you’d only agreed to lunch together, not whatever this is.

“What are you doing for the rest of the day?” Lando asks while watching the shops as you pass them by. A dozen different excuses jump to the surface of why you can’t stay with him for the rest of the day. Shame fills you as you realize that your first instinct to a simple question is to get out of it. For someone who’s living is asking questions and getting answers, you’re horrible at being questioned.

There’s yet again the choice that you were poised with all those months ago. With Lando standing in front of you, do you do the right thing and say goodbye or do you say to hell with your rules and reach out. 

You’ve already tried endlessly to forget him. Maybe you just need to get him out of your system. At least that’s how you justify your decision.

“Not much,” you answer honestly. All you were going to do today was do a little more exploring before returning to your home for the next few days to iron out your story. 

Lando turns to you with a surprised look gracing his features. There’s something else there too, something that surprises you. There’s hope in the way his lips arch upwards and in the tilt of his head. 

“What?” you say in response to the face he pulled, turning your eyes from him to the scenery around you. Looking at him like this has your stomach in knots for so many reasons.

“Nothing,” He says while shaking his head. He sounds so pleased it makes your chest ache.

“If you’re not busy, I can show you around a little,” Lando says distantly while turning to examine some jewelry sold by a nearby shop. His nonchalance is transparent, a false front put up to curb his enthusiasm. In a way, it puts you at ease. You’re both going to pretend that this is just some casual meet up between old friends. If you can’t make yourself run away, maybe you can keep yourself safe this way.

“Don’t you have to get to your parents’ house?” you ask, not wanting to impose on his plans. He shakes his head, telling you that he’ll just go a little later than planned. 

“Alright,” you find yourself saying. Lando freezes, then finally turns around to face you.

“Alright?” he asks, making sure he heard you correctly.

“Where to first?” 

—

For a while in the afternoon, you stroll around the market until Lando finds a present for his parents. Once he buys it and tucks it away into your bag, he tells you that it’s time to explore London. 

He forces you onto one of those buses that has an open air seating area, informing you that it is the best way to see the streets of London. He tells you that when he was a kid, he and his friends used to come on these and mess about. You can’t help but imagine a small Lando running up and down the aisle, causing chaos with a gaggle of little boys while their parents watched on. Parts of him still hold onto that childlike joy and wonder, shining like sunspots through the man he’s becoming. He must have had a happy childhood. An ache that feels like envy pinches at your heart.

You can’t help but wonder who you would be if you grew up the way he did.

After riding around on the bus, he takes you to walk along the River Thames. Crowds of people go about their days around you while you and Lando create your own little world together. Every place that he points out will forever be a reminder of him. His words paint over the sights, coloring them a shade of him in your mind. 

Once you get close to the London Bridge, the two of you walk up to the walkway’s railing that overlooks the river. Instinctively, you pull out your camera to snap a few shots. At first, you take a couple of just the bridge in all its glory. The clear summer sky is a beautiful backdrop to the brilliant bridge that watches over the busy river that flows under it.

Lando has his back to you, his head turned toward the bridge. He’s mumbling something about the ships that skim across the surface of the river. But your attention is turned toward focusing him into the frame. His brown curls blow softly in the wind. The shirt he’s wearing fills and flutters with the river’s breeze. He looks perfect as he leans up against the railing, his arms rested against the top and his hands loosely folded together. The photo you take feels so intimate. For all the business and life going on, the eye is completely drawn to him. He’s captivating.

“Lando,” you whisper, wanting to get his attention while your camera is still raised to your eye. 

Turning around, his face is caught in a look that you’re eternally grateful you caught on camera. There’s the hint of a smile on his lips, his eyes are wide, and his eyebrows are drawn up. He’s ready to answer any question you have, ready to hear anything you have to say. It’s a look straight from a movie scene. The look on his face changes swiftly from pleased to surprised when he sees the camera pointed at him.

“What are you doing?” he asks, a laugh forcing his face into a proper smile.

“Taking pictures,” you answer matter-of-factly.

Rolling his eyes, he begins to make faces at the camera. Without missing a beat, you keep snapping photo after photo of him. After a minute or so, you turn the camera off and drop it back down to your side. Lando watches you carefully, his eyes tracking your every movement. The way he’s staring at you makes you feel exposed and analyzed. Distantly, you think you should be scared of his eyes on you this way. But that’s a problem for another time.

The rest of the day passes easily. Lando brings you to some of his favorite spots around the city. He tells you stories; you listen carefully, trying your best to learn everything you can about him. You can’t help but feel like you’ve known him for a hundred years. The ease at which you speak, the natural way you understand each other's ques and mannerisms, it all feels instinctual. And yet, there’s still that layer of nervous excitement that lights you on fire. Every time your hands brush as you walk or you catch eyes lingering on each other, there’s an electricity that shoots through your heart. 

Lando brings you to a place to grab a bite to eat for supper. As you sit together for another meal, you find yourselves arguing lightheartedly about the stupidest things. All things aside, you realize you haven’t had a friend like this in so long. When you began rejecting relationships with people, it had been a hard adjustment. But over the years, you’d grown so used to being alone that you forgot how lonely you were. Sitting across from Lando, listening to him laugh with you and tease you, it dawns on you just how lonely you’ve been. 

By the time you’re done eating, the sun is starting to sink into the horizon. Golden hues are splattered across the sky, painting the city in orange. Lando promised one more sight that would put all the others to shame. Apparently Big Ben is highlighted by the setting sun and is a must see while in London.

With ice cream cones in hand, he hauls you quickly down the street towards the clock tower. Clouds create ombre lines in the sky, bringing the old clock to life. It’s a sight like none other. Big Ben stands like an ancient soldier keeping watch over his city by harnessing the light and fire of the sun.

Wordlessly, you take a photo of the scene in front of you, but only one. Turning your camera off and holding it loosely at your side, you just take in the view. It’s perfect. Everything about today has been perfect. You haven’t been this happy in a long time. 

Lando looms right next to you, his presence warm and full. A hand ghosts over yours, just the fleeting touches of fingers against your skin. Breathing suddenly becomes difficult, your lungs laboring to take in any oxygen. You don’t move a muscle, afraid that he’ll admit that it was an accident or worse.

But it happens again. One of his hands reaches towards your’s, plucking the camera from it. Then his other hand slides into your now empty one. Instantly, the sky isn’t the only thing on fire. Warmth envelops your body, everything stemming from where your hand fits in his. 

Looking over to him, you watch as he slings the strap of your camera around his neck. He looks over to you, a small smile on his face. As your eyes scan over his tanned features, you catch a small bit of ice cream caught at the corner of his mouth. An amused smile crosses over your face. He’s really never beating those child accusations.

“What?” he says while his face twists from peaceful to concerned.

“Nothing you just have some-” You say while you instinctively reach to wipe his mouth with your thumb. As you make contact, you realize what you’re doing. But it’s too late. You’re close enough now that you can feel his breath on your face. Inches separate you, mere inches.

Slowly, you finish the job you set out to do and wipe the corner of his mouth with your thumb. Hooded eyes greet yours when you dare to look at him.

“Ice cream,” you finish your earlier statement as your hand lingers against his face. Stubble rubs against your fingers, but his skin is soft and warm under it. 

There’s maybe a half a second between you trying to pull your hand away and his coming up to cup your jaw. His thumb props up your chin while his fingers press into the back of your neck. You’re barely able to suck in a breath before his lips are on yours. Sinking into him immediately, you kiss him back with matched passion. He feels divine pressed against you. Fire licks at your body, turning you molten in his grip. 

For the first time possibly ever, you feel confident that where you stand is exactly where you want to be. Reaching out to him, you grab his neck with both hands to pull him closer. 

The kiss is damning, his lips drawing you closer and closer. Letting go is not an option, the end of this isn’t even a thought in your mind. Everything you know is this kiss. The rest of the world has faded away; your past has faded into an obsolete flash. While his hands are on you, there’s hope. While your fingers press into his skin, there’s a future.

His hands start to drift, needing to feel more of you. With gentle but firm fingers, he explores your body. One of his hands comes to rest on your waist while the other splays out against your lower back, encouraging you to arch into him. Butterflies erupt in your stomach, causing you to gasp.

The momentary severing of your connection allows you to breathe for a second. Then your name falls from Lando’s lips in a whisper like honey and you’re submerged once again. Dusk wraps around you while you kiss like the world is ending.

Six months have been spent dreaming of moments like this. Lando has plagued you every day and every night for months. The steady ache that you thought would fade has just been set to rest and replaced with a roaring fire. Down to the very marrow of your bones you feel his kiss. You’re insatiable, needing more of him. 

Neither of you know how long you’ve been standing there when you finally pull apart. Lando doesn’t give any sign that he’s removing his hands from you. Instead, he just holds you close while his head drops between your collar and jaw. A jolt runs down your spine when you feel him placing the gentlest of kisses up your neck. 

“Thank you,” he says while pulling away to look you in the eyes. Reeling back a little, it strikes you as odd that that’s what he’s decided to say after you’ve just experienced the best make out of your entire life. Your reaction doesn’t phase Lando, of course. He just smiles down at you like he knows something you don’t.

“For the photo and the postcard,” he finishes, putting your shock to rest. A baffled laugh rises from your chest and you let your forehead fall against his chest. Laughing with you, he adjusts his arms around waist, pulling you tight against him.

“I can’t believe you’re bringing that up right now.” you laugh into his chest, dumbfounded that he was even thinking about it.

“Why? This is the perfect time to bring it up,” he defends. You pull back in his arms to look at him and give him a confused frown.

“I wanted to wait until I saw you in person so I could thank you properly. Now I have,” he says smugly as if this was his plan all along. Not only had he been thinking about and scheming this all day, he’d been waiting for months to do it. Chills cascade over your skin as you let the weight of that sink in. Maybe he missed you as much as you missed him. It’s an insane thought because you should never have felt that way after meeting him once. Rarely over the last six months have you let yourself hope that he felt the same way. Maybe you should have had a little faith.

But to what end?

The familiar feeling of doubt begins to creep in, but you refuse to ruin one of the best moments you’ve ever experienced. Even if you’ll pay for it later, you’re going to do your best to preserve whatever just passed between you and Lando.

“That’s so cheesy,” you find yourself laughing. Lando squeezes your sides, making you squeal and press into his chest.

“I think you meant ‘romantic,’” he corrects, emulating the conversation that you shared months ago. It makes you smile.

“Maybe I did,” you concede softly. Raising yourself up off his chest, you lean in a press the barest of kisses to his soft lips. He accepts your lips on his with equal tenderness. 

Pulling away for the second time, you press your hands flat against his chest to push away from him. He lets you go, but it takes a few seconds. After you’re free from the circle of his arms, you pull one of his hands into yours and begin walking into the night.

The dying light gives way into a sultry purple and navy blue. The air flits over the water and through the trees on a gentle breeze. With Lando’s hand in yours and your lips still tingling from his kiss, you can chalk this up to the perfect night. 

“Can I take a few pictures?” Lando asks as he pulls you in front of him, your camera held in his other hand. You’d completely forgotten that he had taken your camera from you.

“Sure,” you say while nodding. “Do you know how?”

“Yeah,” He scoffs smugly. “Point and click. Easy as that.”

Blinking at him, you’re slightly in awe of his absolute blind confidence. A man really just believes whatever he wants, doesn’t he.

“Alright,” you say while dropping his hand. “Take a few for me.”

Confidently, he smiles at you and brings the camera to his eye. Then pulls it away with a frown on his face.

“Lens cap,” you tell him while pointing to the end of the camera. His eyes flick to you while his confidence falters for just a second. Once he has the cap removed, he brings the camera back up to his eye. He’s obviously a little more pleased when he can actually see his surroundings through the viewfinder.

Silently, you watch as he struts about taking pictures of this and that. Watching on, you can’t help the smile that spreads onto your face. He’s like a kid in a candy store. Once something catches his eye, he walks over to it and spends minutes on making sure it’s just how he wants it. 

While he gallivants about with your camera, you have a moment to really think about everything that’s happened today. Playing it over in your head, it seems like a movie or as if it wasn’t really happening to you. The person you are with Lando seems so different to the person that you know yourself to be. It’s like the person that you are when you’re around him is this fuller version of yourself. Your broken pieces seem to draw together, finally ready to heal. There’s a joy that you’ve never known when your hand is in his. It feels right; it feels real.

And in the nighttime streets of London, you feel a star of hope being born in your chest. And you hold it tight. Maybe there are some things that don’t have to be temporary. Running is all you’ve ever known. Once a place doesn’t fit your needs or desires, you run away to the next place. But what if there’s somewhere, or someone, out there that will always fit your needs and desires. What if it wasn’t chance that brought together again two people whose paths should never have crossed?

What if you didn’t have to run?

“How do you get them to come up on the screen?” Lando says while fast walking over to you and pulling you from your train of thought. When he reaches you, you pull the camera from his hands. He rounds behind you, placing his chin on your shoulder and his hands around your stomach. Pressing the play button, you bring the pictures onto the display screen. It starts with yours from the beginning of the day. The bright morning shot of the Camden Market sign seems like a lifetime ago. 

You drag the wheel dial back, sending you to the last picture taken. It’s completely dark. 

“What?” Lando mumbles into your shoulder, his body going rigid against you. You have to bite your lip to keep from laughing.

Slowly, you spin the dial backward to keep browsing through his pictures. Nearly every single one is too dark to make out. 

Obviously frustrated, Lando huffs and presses his forehead into your shoulder. You can’t help but laugh at his display of exasperation. His lesson has been well learned.

“I don’t get it,” he says while you turn in his arms. He’s pouty now, his face pinched into a frown.

“Did you adjust the aperture, the ISO, and the shutter speed?” you ask pointedly. He doesn’t give you the dignity of a response. Instead, he pulls his lips into a line and squints his eyes at you. He’s not taking any of your bull shit. Deciding it's your turn to play the smug jerk, you smirk at him.

“Point and click, right?” you tease while slinging the camera around your neck. You reach into Lando’s front pocket while looking him in the eyes to fish out your lens cap. His eyes go wide as your hand slides in and out of his pocket. Tilting your head to the side, you watch as he sucks in a deep breath. You’ve absolutely flustered him, something you don’t think often happens.

“Huh?” he mumbles, obviously not catching what you had said earlier.

“I can give you a lesson on the bus ride to my place if you’d like,” you say with an innocent smile. Lando blinks away his shock and then accepts your offer.

Walking side by side, you make your way to the bus stop. Hopping on the bus to where your house is, Lando leads you to a row and lets you have the window seat. 

While the bus teeters along, you give Lando a brief lesson on camera basics. He nods along, his eyes following your fingers as they dance along the camera. He seems genuinely interested in what you have to say. A warm feeling flares in your chest that he cares about what you do enough to learn about it. 

Too soon, the bus arrives at your stop. Together, you get off the bus and walk towards the town house you’re staying in. Lando has your hand clasped in his while he asks you question after question about cameras. You do your best to answer him, a smile constant on your face.

“This is me,” you sigh quietly while stopping in front of the gate of the house. He stops too, turning to stand in front of you. There’s a question poised on your lips that you already know the answer to were you to ask it. Once more the choice to reach out looms in front of you. 

“How long are you in London for exactly?” Lando asks. He hadn’t asked about it all day. You’ve been wondering when it was going to come up and it finally has.

“Just the next few days,” you tell him. He nods along with your words.

“After that?” he presses while fiddling with your fingers.

“Back to Monaco for a while until I get a new assignment. Probably only a few days,” you admit. “What about you?” 

“I’m going on vacation with my family to Bali for a week and then with some friends to Australia the next week. Then I’ll be in Woking for work,” he says, his eyes not lifting to find yours. The realization hits you like a dump truck. 

“Then the season starts again,” you say, your voice strained.

“And you’ll be on assignment,” he shoots back, his voice the same as yours.

All the hope that’s been accumulating throughout your time with Lando burns to ash in a matter of mere seconds. The guiding star that flared to life just hours ago, collapses in on itself, creating a black hole inside of you. All joy is sucked away, leaving you cold and alone. Where hope once was, despair takes its place.

It’s nearly laughable that you ever thought you wouldn��t have to say goodbye. Even when you tried not to run, the universe did it for you. Thinking that fate brought you together was a child’s wish. It’s fate that’s tearing you apart. There can be no other way for you, running away is the only option. Saying goodbye will always be your fate, your curse.

“I’ll come to Monaco,” Lando says suddenly, his hands gripping yours. His eyes are like fire when you look into them. His face is stormy, angry even. You know the look well. He’s fighting. He’s a fighter.

You remember when you were a fighter.

“Alright,” you choke out, feeling utterly broken. Pulling you close, he takes your lips with his own. You can feel his promise in his kiss, his hope to see you again. It shatters you further. Tears well in your eyes, but you don’t allow them to fall. This pain is what you bargained for and now you’re paying in full. But you kiss him, you kiss him with everything you have because you know it will be the last.

Two fated times your paths crossed.

And two times you were ripped apart by that same fate.

When he pulls away, you can’t look him in the eye. He holds you close while he whispers into your ear.

“I’ll see you in Monaco.” His voice is stern and sure. All you do is nod into his chest. 

When he walks away, he doesn’t say goodbye. He believes that this isn’t one. You know better. 

This time, you don’t look over your shoulder to watch him leave. 

[dr3am5scape]

Mizu saves you

(Mizu x Fem Reader)

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

Summary: Your a princess that were chased by men from your home town. As you were seeking for help, a samurai twice as tall as you came to the rescue. 🤭💕

Warning: (Bit dark content)

How’s everyone day doing? I’m sure it’s doing well💜Tonight I will like to give out another story to read through and enjoy. Pls let me know for Mizu or upcoming characters which are my crushes such as Abby, Kuvira, Revy or so and so fanfics. I have to figure out a story for Abby still, but since I got requests from others, I’ll try to get those started without waiting too long . Besides that, please support my stories. Tysm☺️

A samurai stayed in a brothel at the city for quite some time. But this time it was for the night. She didn't want anyone to come towards as she was in her own time thinking. She never let anyone allowed no company to start causing a problem. Whatever she was doing, you were off to leave her alone til she was done. In the meantime she heard footsteps along the way, trying to ignore. "I said no company please," she says sternly. There was a princess from the main town that have been in some sort of trouble. After all it was you who was in a dangerous situation. "Please sir…” You stutter at your words. Then start freaking out immediately. “I really need your help!" You grab them by the arm. At first you thought it was a man because how well they dressed in a masculine-samurai way, but from the voice, it was sure a woman. “I've been chased by several of men. Please if you can help me before they take me away!" You cried out, tugging piece of cloth that was from the samurai's outfit.

The samurai, known as Mizu, her tone soften quickly when she heard it was a cry for help and that it was literally serious. She turn to face you below, adjusting her glasses. "Stay calm dear. Who's after you actually?" She tried her best to calm you down, but the look on your face tells her that this wasn't the right time to start explaining literally everything and get right to the point. "Look, I'm not sure about their names. They just started attacking few of my bodyguards while I was in my room. I'm a princess coming from this town. And I need someone's help!" You start tearing up, releasing emotions out of your body. Mizu takes note that something was up and that she was willing to gain trust in you.

"Alright. You stay behind me from now on." She says like this type of behavior wasn’t so serious XD. She brings your wrist, turning you around to get behind her back as Mizu takes out her sword slowly, ready to take off. She lead you out of the brothel, walking down to a staircase from outside, seeing if the men were ever gonna approach. You hold onto the back of her arm as you slowly followed her without making a sound. Once you two look around the city in night, few shadows comes from a block away. "There! Right there!" You yell pointing at them. In a quick swift, Mizu drag you to a nearby wall bit far from the men, as she covers your mouth, leaning closer to your height. She didn't want you to make such noise to ruin the time where you two can easily get killed by several of men in groups. From the way Mizu shuts you down, she was literally pinning you to the wall by grabbing your wrist up on the wall with one of her hand as the other on your mouth, keeping you still and steady as possible. She slowly peak out to see if they were coming at her. Few of the guys notice, not realizing it was you two at first, til they start walking by.

You mumble, freaking out when you heard further footsteps. "Stay here. Remain quiet." Mizu says, drawing her sword steadly as few of the guys saw her. She was not having you take your life away from the night. So thankfully, she was that person, the only samurai to save you. (Give you at least another life). The fighting begun when the first men comes running at Mizu with his dagger. She didn't hesitate but to duck under him and slash him from behind. He fall on the ground, done. You didn't notice another guy came as bunch of them runs towards Mizu. She did whatever she can to attack each of them. And one of the men went towards you, trying to kill you. You did your best to throw rocks at him, a way to protect yourself. The guy had his dagger ready to jab in you as he slash you. Your arm was blocked from the dagger and felt the pain of the blood spilling bit. You scream in horror. Right away, Mizu strike the men through the heart, letting him fall on the ground as she bend down to take your hand.

Your face turn pale as you saw all the blood everywhere from every men Mizu attacked. You was so focus on that more than what Mizu was trying to say. A bit blur on your mind, you tried hard not to faint. "Are you hurt, dear?" Mizu asks, still trying to held up her hand at you. You were so speechless, you couldn't think what else to say. "Um..." reaches slowly at her arm. Mizu pulled you up holding you still. Your knees were buckled, as you slowly fainted to the ground. But Mizu catches you before you ever landed straight down.

Few hours later, back in the brothel, you were slightly awake, laying down on a purple mat. Looking around, you can see Mizu carefully pulling up her sleeves to see your wound from the arm. She slowly takes your own sleeve away from this deep scar. Felt like your arm was close to get slice up. Before Mizu was able to open the med kit, she sees your eyes watching her. "...you again..." you said quietly.

You've been unconscious for a little while now since the crazy incident happened earlier. Luckily, Mizu kept calming you down, looking at you; with nothing but a soft expression. "I'll take care of your arm. Must stay still and rest. I got you covered." She says, gently taking her time to stitch your arm, which you wince from the pain. You were able to see her for a quite a few seconds before falling back to a deep sleep.

You thought to yourself: (Who was this…this samurai that…saved my life?)

*Aaaha so glad I figure what to write for tonight :D I was so lazy not writing more stories as I'm suppose to. Been having a passion on writing stories for idk how long. So, enjoy this welcoming fanfic of my beloved, Mizu)

Please reblog would be appreciated!

[cloudzoro]

cw: smut

“Please”, you whimper as she pushes her fingers into you. She's been edging you for ages, working you up to an orgasm and stopping before you finally cum, leaving you a shaking, frustrated mess.

“You'll cum; you just gotta prove you deserve it,” she says, leaning down to kiss you. She's a messy kisser, sucking your tongue into her mouth. She pulls away and spits into your open mouth. “Atta girl”, she praises when you swallow. Her thumb presses against your clit as she continues to finger you. The pads of her fingers are rough from years of work, and they feel so good pressing against your walls. You're quickly approaching another orgasm, and you don't tell her in hopes she'll just let you cum. Unfortunately for you, she can feel the way your pussy squeezes her fingers, and she pulls them out. You let out a pathetic whimper, and she softens slightly. “I'll let you cum. I just want you to do it while I rub myself against your pretty pussy” she says.

She manhandles you into a scissoring position and raises your hips as much as she can. She moves herself between your legs so she can rub her clit against yours. She gives a testing roll of her hips, and the friction feels so good that you can't help but move hips along with her.

“Fuck, keep doing that,” she says, putting more force into her movements. Having been denied already, you're close. You're struggling to keep up your movements, so she holds you in place, grinding down on you. Your orgasm hits you like a freight train. You shake and writhe in her grasp as she continues to rock her hips, making herself cum. It's a sticky mess of cum and sweat, but she wouldn't have it any other way. When you're both in the afterglow of your orgasm, she lays down with her head on your chest. Her hand comes up to feel your heartbeat for a second before squeezing and playing with your boobs. She's insatiable, and her time with you is a very small pocket of peace that doesn't get to relish as much as she'd like. She looks up at you, gaze just as intense and lustful as it had been earlier. “Round two?”

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Nami, Reiju Vinsmoke, Yuki Tsukumo, Revy Lee, Olivier Armstrong, Yoruichi Shihouin, Saeko Tanaka

[amphibiahawks321]

[Request by Anon]

Revy : Shit shit shit! Jeez are you okay?!

[Y/N laying on the ground bleeding from shots]

M!Reader : Don't worry Cough I'm okay!

[Meanwhile the guy who shot Y/N is bleeding on the ground from Revy's bullets trying to escape by crawling]

M!Reader : Revy Cough give me the cloth In my pocket Cough

[Revy grabs the cloth and Y/N presses it directly against the wound]

[Revy saw the guy trying to escape]

Revy : YOU SON OF A BITCH!

[She immediately runs to the guy about to shoot him right in the brain]

M!Reader : Revy stop! Cough We need him!

Revy : I don't give a fuck! I could've lost you!-

M!Reader : Revy!

Revy : .....

[Revy grabs the guy and ties him up so he can't escape and went back to Y/N]

Revy : A-are you sure you're okay? You only have one cloth to cover up one gunshot wound...

M!Reader : Seriously I'm okay Cough I just need to get some help after this and a medkit after this do mind helping me get up?

[Revy helps Y/N gets up]

Revy : Easy there...

[Y/N kiss her cheek]

M!Reader : [Chuckles] worried~?

Revy [Blushes] : W-what kind of dumbass question is that! Yes!

[winnieiscalmeth]

Notes: Baking with the Black Lagoon women.(Going back to basic scenarios) Very ooc as always. <3

милый=Dear

Proofread?: Nope

Rebbeca "Revy" Lee

I'd be lying if I said Revy would like baking. But with enough begging (and bribing) you'll manage to at least have her help you. She'd only read the instructions to you, not putting any effort into helping. Sometimes, misreading them or lying making you mess up the dessert.

"3 teaspoons of ricotta chees-"

"3 what? Give me that!" You stared at the list. "3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese! Are you trying to mess me up?"

"I didn't want to do this shit in the first place dammit! Ya think I'll fuck this up just to make me suffer for longer?!" She was. Revy takes baking with you as a chance to annoy you.

Sofia "Balalaika" Irinovskaya

Bala's always busy so baking with her is rare. But she is great at it. She can tell you messed an ingredient up just by looking at it. On occasion, if you had started to bake by yourself, she'd start helping you.

"What are you making?" She shifted her gaze from you to the bowl.

"Some pancake batter for something else I'm gonna make later." Balalaika stared at it before chuckling and taking the bowl.

"There's too much flower милый. Let me help you"

"Ahh shit"

Edith "Eda" Blackwater

Whenever she's bored and lounging around she goes to your house with random shit to bake. Baking gets chaotic when it comes to her because while your focused on stirring, she's dancing to whatever song on the radio or bothering you.

"The phone rings in the middle of the night, and my father yells what you gonna do with your life!" Eda danced around you.

"Baby, please chill the fuck out" She wrapped her arms wrap around you and leaned closer to your ear.

"And girls! They want to have fun!"

"Eda!"

Rosarita "Roberta" Cisneros

She loves to bake with you. You wouldn't want her to cook with you but she likes to help you by cleaning the utensils you use. Usually, she just hovers around you quietly or is your taste tester.

"Does this taste ok?" You shoved a spoonful of brownie mix in her mouth.

"Hmmm," It tasted a little bland. Could use a little more sugar is what Roberta wanted to say but didn't want to hurt your feelings.

"...is it bad?"

"No! No, it's good-"

"Nope it's definitely bad"

Shenhua

She's usually the one baking, and bossy too but in a loving way. Asking you to get ingredients from the fridge or telling you to wipe down a counter.

"Get me milk out of the refrigerator! And hurry up!"

"Okaay" You lazily walked over to the fridge.

"Come clean these cups too!"

You sighed. "Oh my god"

"What was that?!"

"Yes ma'am!"

[littlemisspascal]

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of my fic The Infinity Cube. I can still remember posting the first chapter, hoping at least one person out there liked it, and I can still remember how it felt to reach the end, a feat that wouldn't have been possible without the support of so many kind souls 💗 I wanted to make something for the occasion and having seen so many amazing web weavings out there, I thought I'd give it my best shot 😊

THE INFINITY CUBE: a journey home

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis // I Choose You by Adam Melchor // When Did It Happen? by Mary Oliver // First Love by Jennifer Franklin // The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde // The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons // The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman // 10 a.m Is When You Come To Me by Louise Bourgeois // Maybe In Another Universe, I Deserve You by Gaby Dunn // Maybe When the Time is Right You Will Find Me Again - K. Tolnoe // We Were Missing the Present by Mahmoud Darwish // Persona (1966) // Matched by Ally Condie // In the Pines by Alice Notley // It Wasn't Love // La Pointe Courte (1955) // "My better half" by Pablo J. Davis // The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller // Bioshock Infinite // Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar // Oh It Was Meant to Be - Kate McGahan // Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell // If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird // Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens // Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore // The Blinding Star by Blanca Varela // Wild Spirit, Soft Heart by Butterflies Rising // Finding You by Kesha // Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths // Web weaving about the untold story in you // "Feel like making a deal with the devil?" // A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara // Reborn: Journals ad Notebooks by Susan Sontag // I love you like a rotten dog // Sax Rohmer #1 by The Mountain Goats // The Bubble (2022) // Rabbit Hole (2010) // Beginning with O by Olga Broumas // How many times can the same thing break your heart? // War of the Foxes by Richard Siken // On Death in Heartbreak // Lonely Day by System of A Down // This Road (The Mirror is a Trap) by Poe // Memory for Forgetfulness by Mahmoud Darwish // "Do you think we're soulmates in another universe?" // Radio Silence by Alice Oseman // "In one timeline we kiss" - Elizabeth Hewer // Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed // Almond Blossoms and Beyond by Mahmoud Darwish // X // The Collected Poems of Alvaro de Campos by Fernando Pessoa // Excerpt from Moony Moonless Sky's 'I am an observer, but not by choice' // @/lookoflove // Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg // "Do you know what it's like to live somewhere that loves you back?" - Danez Smith // Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros // The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White // Home // You and Me

All Pedro Photos - Pinterest // Reader in my story is physically a blank slate, I just really like the photo of Javi + Gabriela touching foreheads

[onyxmilk]

Tsukasa with a S/O who can talk and tame animals (which is a pretty useful power in the stone world tbh)

Tsukasa Shishio x gn!Reader; “Gibberish”

notes; i tried TwT tw; Reader uses They/Them pronouns!, unedited, wc; 0.3k

When he revived [YourName] from stone, he hadn't realized how precious you were to the world and immediately did he regret bringing [YourName] into such a world when they seemed like they weren't ready

It wasn't until that Tsukasa found [YourName] speaking gibberish to one of the animals... and it seemed like it understood exactly what they were saying!

Tsukasa would learn from Ukyo, [YourName]'s closest friend from before stone, that [YourName] could speak to animals.

Obviously, before him and Senku made up, he convinced you to send animals off to act as spies

But once Gen joined Senku, that stopped quickly since Gen would explain that most animals Senku and Co. see chilling around were... spies.

[YourName] felt useless after that, often drawing in the dirt or moving whatever they could to make themselves seem less useless.

Because truthfully, that's all [YourName] had going for them, they weren't strong like most of the people that Tsukasa had revied, they didn't have good hearing like Ukyo, or manipulative ways that Gen could pull.

All [YourName] had was animals.

Tsukasa thought differently though, and he was going to prove that to [YourName].

Awkwardly, the eighteen-year-old brunette asked [YourName] out on night or morning walks, and invited them to eat meals with him, often saving a seat for [YourName] beside him.

Eventually, [YourName] expressed their feelings for Tsukasa and he would reciprocate those fuzzy feelings.

[YourName] would be used against Tsukasa unfortunately with the help of Senku and Gen figuring out the perfect tone, pitch and voice to lure him out.

After everything settlers and Tsukasa was stabbed, [YourName] was one of the last people to say a possible 'goodbye' to him.

And at the same time, they were the one of the first people who greeted Tsukasa when he was revived.

[makipedia]

How would Revy react if Reader was a pro thief because they had a hard time finding a job due to being different as they were bullied for it? The relationship is platonic. Reader isn't a killer like Revy is and helps out sometimes.

finally another request >:)

-i like the idea that the reader isn't a killer cuz i see a lot of readers being like mercenaries or some shit and that's just so fucking dumb like what😐

-but anyways, the reader being a pro thief AND besties with revy?? an unstoppable duo, might i say!

-this is defo before rock comes into the picture, but when you and revy got rejected for the billionth time, that's when you started being a lil pickpocket

-at night revy would see you creeping into your living space with some pocket money and a bunch of nonperishable foods in your hands. revy would be so confused lol

-"where the fuck didja get all this from?"

-"i stole it!♡"

-revy's just looking at you like 👁_👁

"ya stole it?"

-after a while you start getting better and better at it. now you're stealing multiple wallets a day and coming back with hundreds of bucks in your pockets lol.

-IF you ever do get caught, then revy's got your back! she'll happily shoot up the whole bar if someone touches her best friend

-when rock comes into the picture, which is when the show starts, rock is SOOO against the idea of you stealing things😭 you're surprised that he hasn't gotten used to it by now, since he hangs out with revy all the time

-i'll add this but you definitely tried convincing rock to wear that hawaiian shirt😍

-but yeah, you and rock are as thick as thieves! with revy being a killer and you being a pro pickpocket, you two are unstoppable!♡