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pucksandpower · 10 months ago

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Sink or Swim

Charles Leclerc x lifeguard!Reader

Summary: in which Charles learns there are some sports he’s just not cut out for … but at least he got a date with a cute lifeguard out of the whole ordeal

Warnings: near drowning

The salty sea breeze whips through Charles’ hair as he paddles out into the turquoise waters off St Kilda beach in Melbourne. It’s a few days before the Australian Grand Prix, and he’s determined to catch some waves and soak up the laid-back lifestyle before the high-pressure weekend begins.

“You’ve got this, mate!” His surf instructor Brent calls out with an encouraging grin. The tan, stocky Aussie has been giving Charles private lessons, showing him the proper technique for popping up on the board.

Charles gives Brent a tentative smile back, gripping the sides of the board tightly as he bobs up and down on the rolling swell. He’s a world-class driver, but he’s way out of his element here in the ocean. Still, he loves a new challenge.

A decent wave starts to form up ahead. “Here comes one! Remember to pop up when I say!” Brent yells.

Charles takes a deep breath and begins paddling hard as the wave builds momentum. “Pop up! Pop up!”

With all his strength, Charles pulls himself up into a crouched stance on the board — and immediately loses his balance, tumbling head-over-heels into the cool saltwater.

He breaks through the surface, sputtering and laughing at his graceless wipeout. “I’m afraid surfing may not be for me!”

“Don’t give up yet, we’re just getting started!” Brent hollers back with a grin.

For the next couple hours, Charles repeatedly attempts to ride the waves, only to lose his footing or get pitched off every time. He’s soaked and exhausted, but utterly thrilled to be out on the ocean instead of cooped up preparing for the race.

You’re stationed on the beach in your red and yellow lifeguard uniform, watching Charles’ futile surfing attempts through your binoculars. He certainly gets an ’A’ for effort if nothing else.

A solid set of waves starts rolling in, larger than the previous ones. You can see the raw power behind them.

“Big ones coming through!” Brent shouts over the crashing surf.

Charles nods and makes his way into position, paddling furiously as a massive wave rears up ahead of him. He pops up on the board at the optimal moment — and immediately gets launched into the air, flipping upside down violently as the full force of the wave pummels him underwater.

You gasp, realizing Charles hasn’t resurfaced after the extended pounding. In a flash you’re sprinting across the sand and diving into the choppy water, your steely eyes scanning for any sign of him.

There — a limp figure drifting beneath the surface, sinking slowly.

You kick hard, swimming as fast as you can while the current batters against you. Finally you reach him, wrapping your arms tightly around Charles’ motionless body and kicking back up towards the air. You break through, desperately gasping for air.

“Help! Surfer down!” You rasp, hauling Charles’ dead weight towards the shore as Brent and another lifeguard race out to assist.

You lay Charles on his back in the sand, quickly checking for a pulse. Faint and thready … but there. You tilt his head back and seal your lips over his, exhaling two rescue breaths into his lungs to fill them with air.

Nothing.

You interlock your fingers and start performing hard, rapid chest compressions. “Come on, breathe!” You growl through gritted teeth, your powerful arms pounding against Charles’ chest.

Finally — he coughs and sputters, vomiting up saltwater as his eyes flutter open in a daze. You roll him on his side, patting his back firmly as he continues coughing and wheezing.

“Wh-where … am I?” Charles murmurs hoarsely, blinking slowly as he takes in your face hovering over him.

You give him a relieved smile. “Don’t worry, you’re safe on the beach now. I’m the lifeguard who pulled you out, you nearly drowned out there.”

He squints at you, still looking dazed and confused. “Am … am I in heaven? You must be an angel ...”

You can’t help but let out a little laugh at his muddled words, your cheeks flushing slightly. “No, definitely not heaven. Just good old St Kilda beach. How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck,” Charles groans, gingerly touching his heaving chest. “Everything hurts.”

“That’s what happens when you take on a 12 foot wave,” Brent chuckles, toweling off Charles’ soaked hair with a caring hand. “Let’s get you warmed up and looked over, eh?”

With your help, Charles is able to stand unsteadily. You wrap a thick towel around his shoulders, rubbing his arms briskly to get the blood flowing.

“I don’t think surfing is my calling,” he chuckles weakly, leaning into you a little.

“Probably not,” you agree with a smirk. “Best to leave it to the pros from now on. You saved yourself from becoming the first ever Formula 1 driver shark snack.”

Charles laughs, grimacing and holding his ribs. “Ouch … don’t make me laugh, everything hurts when I laugh.”

“Well then let’s get you looked over and make sure nothing’s broken or bruised too badly,” you reply gently. Keeping an arm around Charles, you begin walking him slowly back across the beach towards the lifeguard hut.

As you’re tending to Charles, cleaning the sand off his cuts and wrapping his chest snugly, he gazes at you with wonder. “I don’t even know your name, angel.”

You shake your head with an amused smirk. “It’s Y/N. And I’ll accept being called an angel just this once after saving your life out there.”

“Y/N,” Charles repeats, committing it to memory with a warm smile. “I’ll never forget it. You’re my guardian angel today.”

You can’t help but blush a little at his sincerity and charisma, even soaking wet and battered on the bench. There’s just something magnetic about Charles.

Once he’s patched up, Charles stretches out his legs with a wince. “Thank you for rescuing me. I very clearly should not have tried to take on that monster wave.” His eyes twinkle roguishly. “Though I have to admit, the thought of you giving me mouth-to-mouth was quite nice.”

“Oh stop it,” you laugh, playfully swatting at his shoulder. “I was just doing my job. But you’re welcome, even if it means no more surfing lessons for you.”

“Ah yes, my pro surfing career is tragically cut short,” Charles jokes wistfully. His expression turns more serious. “But in all honesty … you saved my life today, Y/N. I can’t thank you enough for that. I would be lying at the bottom of the ocean if not for you.”

You meet his warm green eyes, his face still holding the fading marks of his near drowning. “I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time to help.”

A charged moment passes between you before Charles clears his throat, looking almost sheepish. “So, uh … I know this might seem a little forward of me. But would you want to maybe come watch me race this weekend? As my personal guest?”

You blink in surprise at the unexpected invitation. “Oh, I-I don’t know, that seems like a lot of-”

“Please, I insist!” Charles cuts you off eagerly. “It’s the absolute least I can do to try and repay my own personal angel for saving me.” He gives you a playful grin. “Unless you make a habit of turning down devilishly handsome race car drivers?”

You roll your eyes at his playful cockiness, but you’re already smiling and shaking your head. “You know what, why not? It could be fun to see you in your natural habitat.”

“Fantastic!” Charles beams happily. “Then it’s a date — well, not a date exactly, more like ...” He stumbles over his words sheepishly.

“It’s a date,” you confirm with an amused smirk, putting him out of his flustered misery.

Charles lights up, reaching out to take your hand warmly in his. “A date it is then. Thank you again, Y/N. I’ll show you a much better time at the race than I did trying to surf today.”

You give his hand a squeeze with a fond smile. “I’ll hold you to that, Charles Leclerc.”

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dilemmaontwolegs · 1 year ago

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Under the Mistletoe || OP81

Pairing: Oscar Piastri x bff!fem!reader Summary: Sick of his friends pining for each other but two stupid to realise it was mutual, Logan sets about making sure they both get their Christmas wish. Warnings: pining, angst, fluff WC: 2.2k

“Hold up, let me find his spare key,” Logan said as he balanced his box on top of the one you already carried.

“Just use mine,” you said as you carefully turned. “Back pocket, left. Other left, dude.”

“My bad.” Logan grabbed the keychain and tried the ones that weren’t your car or letterbox keys. “He gave you a key?”

“Just so I can water the plants while he’s away, and make sure the stove is turned off.”

Logan laughed, turning the right key and opening the door. “He doesn’t even cook.”

You shrugged and followed him into Oscar’s house. “Doesn’t stop him thinking he’s left it on as soon as he’s at the airport.”

It was like walking into your own apartment, there was a home comfort to hanging your keys on the hook that had your initials and hanging your coat on the rack. Picking your box up again, you followed Logan to the kitchen and deposited it on the bench before grabbing two glasses and pouring you both a much deserved drink.

“This is why people don’t believe you are ‘just friends’,” Logan stated, chuckling when you rolled your eyes at him and continued to help yourself to the snacks Oscar kept stocked for you.

“Just shut up and hang the decorations before I overlook your usefulness.”

Logan returned to his box, unpacking the tinsel and bunting that you had bought. “At least you didn’t deny it this time.”

“We are definitely just friends, Lo.” You looked down at the crisp packet and muttered under your breath, “I’m not his type anyway.”

You didn’t notice Logan pause, but you did look up when he shoved his handful back in the box. “What?”

“What?” you echoed.

“What did you say?”

“We are just friends.”

“No, after that.” He leaned back against the kitchen benchtop and crossed his arms. “How do you know you’re not his type?”

“Because we are friends, we talk about these things,” you said with a shrug. “Can we not talk about this right now? He’s going to be home in a few hours.”

“We have time,” Logan said with a shake of his head. “What makes you think you’re not his type?”

You huffed in annoyance and grabbed the decorations yourself, taking them to the living room since Logan was going to be no help. “Because I’m not, okay. He likes funny girls. He wants someone he can have a laugh with to take his mind off work when he gets home. And pretty too, actually he said ‘beautiful’.”

“Okay…” Logan stared at you until you grew uncomfortable.

“And he's surrounded by models at every event.”

“So why isn’t he dating one of them then?”

“Because his standards are obviously high if they aren’t pretty enough for him. I don’t stand a chance.”

Logan shook his head and groaned. “Have you told him that you love him?”

“Of course I have, I tell him all the time.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

You gave him a look that warned him not to ask another stupid question. “I’m not going to risk our friendship when my relationships never end well. I’d rather be his friend forever, than an ex I never see again.”

“God, you are both so stupid.” Logan brushed you aside as you tried to jump and reach the hooks high up the wall. “Give me that before you hurt yourself.”

You watched on as he hung the tinsel around the room with minimal guidance needed and deemed it safe enough to leave him in charge. Oscar was fairly tidy, compared to the other men you know, but his pet hate was making his bed. He would always leave it unmade claiming he was only going to make it messy again that night.

You went upstairs and made the bed before seeing the laundry basket was overflowing. He mustn’t have had time to do it between his trip to Baku, the McLaren Factory and then his short trip home to Melbourne. That was why you were in his house, setting it up for another Christmas he would miss with his family. You didn’t want him to feel alone so you were bringing Australia to him.

You lost track of time when you found his whites mixed in with the colours and you tutted to yourself as you separated them to soak in the sink.

“You don’t have to do that,” Oscar said when he found you in his laundry, both the dryer and the washing machine working as hard as you.

“Hey, you’re home!” You dropped the clothes you were folding and threw your arms around him. His tired chuckle made your heartbeat a little fast as he embraced you back and buried his face in your neck. “How’s mum and dad? And your sisters? Did they like the presents?”

His head grew heavier as he leaned against you and nodded. “Of course they did, you always know what they want.”

“Not me, you,” you corrected as you brushed a hand over his messy hair. “You got them remember.”

Oscar pulled back with a shy smile. “I think everyone knows you are the mastermind. I would have just given them a gift card.”

You laughed at the truth as the dryer finished another load but Oscar took your hand and towed you out of the laundry. “I’ll do it later,” he stated. “Logan’s already got the tree up but there’s one thing missing.”

Your jaw dropped as you saw the living room had been completely transformed into an Australian Christmas so Oscar would feel at home. A pine tree sat in the corner of the room, needles scattered around the base from trying to manoeuvre it into place. Like the ceiling, green and gold tinsel snaked around the tree but it was the floor that caught your eye.

“The sand was meant to be in the pool,” you laughed as you pointed to the small children’s sized blow up pool still in the box. Logan had poured the bags of golden sand around the tree and the wooden floor now resembled a tiny beach.

“You know, that makes more sense,” Logan admitted.

You bit your lip but it did little to stifle the laugh and when Oscar’s deeper laugh joined there was no holding back. The three of you collapsed laughing onto the couch to embrace the beach themed room and you kicked your shoes off to dig your toes into the sand.

“It’s so weird to imagine,” you chuckled, the snow falling outside a complete contradiction to the scene inside. The central heating had been cranked up to its hottest setting and it truly felt like summer. “Christmas is for making snowmen and having hot chocolate by the fire.”

Oscar draped his arm over the back of your cushion and stretched his legs out after his long flight. “How about next year I can take you home to experience this first hand?”

You smiled at the idea but you couldn’t make that commitment by saying yes, even if you wanted nothing more than to make it happen. “Maybe, let’s just see what the year brings. Who knows, you might want to take your girlfriend home.”

He looked at you with a frown. “I don’t have a girlfriend, yet.”

“Exactly, yet.”

“Idiots,” Logan mumbled as he got up. “I’m getting a drink. You guys want one?”

You both thanked him and as he left the room Oscar patted your knee. “Star time.”

You grinned at the fact he remembered your favourite part of setting the tree up and his hands settled on your hips when you reached it. “I can’t be bothered getting the ladder out,” he said before he picked you up. You placed the glittery star on the highest point and adjusted it a few times more than necessary until Oscar laughed and eased you down. But his hands still remained on your hips. “It’s perfect.”

Logan returned and the moment shattered as you took your drink from him and cleared your throat. “Merry Christmas, my orphan friends.”

“Thanks for the adoption,” Logan chuckled. “If I can’t spend Christmas with my family it’s nice to at least have you guys.”

“That probably sounded better in his head,” Oscar teased before raising his glass too. “But he’s right, thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Your cheeks warmed at the smile on his face and you were sure he felt it when he pressed a chaste kiss to one. A little frazzled, you tried to hide the effect he had on you and pointed to the mess on the floor. “Do you think we can build a sandcastle?”

“No, but I think we can build a snowman. Go put your coat on, I know you want to.”

You didn’t have to be told twice and Logan laughed as Oscar followed you to the backyard. “You two have fun, I like the heat more.”

Your breath misted as it hit the chilly air and you rushed to pull your gloves on, something you should have done before stepping outside.

“Here, let me,” Oscar offered, shoving his own in his pocket in the meantime. He took your woollen mittens and held them open for you before tightening the wrists and sealing the warmth that remained inside. “You look like a marshmallow.”

You bent down and started to collect the snow needed to make the first ball and narrowed your eyes at him when he joined you a moment later, his gloves already on. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” he smirked. “Marshmallows are cute.”

“Cute?” You wrinkled your nose and gently nudged him with your shoulder. “Now that’s an insult.”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “To you or the marshmallow?”

“Uh, both,” you decided with a definitive nod.

“Okay, sorry,” he apologised and then bit his bottom lip as he stared at you over the growing snowball. “Marshmallows are beautiful and my favourite thing in the whole wide world. I love marshmallows.”

“Wow, weirdo, they aren’t that great.”

Logan had been about to ask if you wanted another drink but instead he closed the kitchen window. “Marshmallows, idiots.”

“Not bad for an Aussie,” you commented as you wrapped your arms around his waist and admired the finished product. “A shame you didn’t have a carrot in your fridge.”

Oscar pushed the cucumber nose in further to stop it drooping down before hugging you tighter. “Or a spare scarf, you must be freezing.” He pulled his own off one and draped it around your neck so yours could stay on the snowman. “Ready to go back in?”

You nodded reluctantly and let him go, following him into the warmth where Logan sat in the leather recliner watching Home Alone. “Nice to see you waited for the rest of us,” Oscar noted as he dropped onto the couch and pulled you down with him.

“You know it word for word.”

“So do you.”

“I ran out of things to do,” he said with a shrug.

Everything had been seen up so you were confused by the statement. “What did you do?”

Logan didn’t answer as he tossed another handful of popcorn in his mouth before blindly pointing in your direction, but higher. You and Oscar looked up and found a small wreath hanging where a picture frame of the Albert Park F1 circuit was, woven into the greenery you spotted it - Mistletoe.

“Dude!” “Mate!”

Logan laughed to himself and kept watching the movie. “You know the rules. Kiss or streak in the snow.”

“I don’t remember it being streaking,” Oscar commented as he turned to you.

You looked at him too, your eyes drifting down to his lips. You had spent countless daydreams imagining how they would feel against yours.

“Don’t overthink it, the rule needed changing,” Logan mumbled. “So…”

“It’s really cold outside,” you murmured as you dragged your eyes back up to meet his.

“Way too cold,” he agreed with the smallest of nods. The air was pregnant with the pause before he exhaled and reached for you. His hand curled behind your nape and drew you closer, so slowly you weren't sure he was going to change his mind or thinking you would. If only he knew.

Your heart thumped loudly as you felt his breath on your skin and your hands found their way to his shoulders and ran along the thick muscles that climbed his neck. “Osc,” you whispered softly as you felt the warmth radiating off his lips but still they didn’t touch.

“Yeah?” he asked, the corners tugging up as he heard the need in your tone.

“Please...”

He pulled back just far enough to see the burning desire in your eyes and his thumb stroked your jawline. “Been waiting years for this.”

You couldn’t tell who moved first, but you both moved together, his mouth slanting over yours perfectly like they were made to complement each other. Your fingers tangled in his hair and you tasted the beer on his tongue when he slipped it between your parted lips with a deep moan.

Popcorn rained over your heads and you broke apart to glare at the very smug looking man responsible. “About fucking time! I love you, but you are both idiots.”

#oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri x you #oscar piastri fanfic #oscar piastri fluff #oscar piastri imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #formula 1 fanfic #f1 imagines #f1 x reader #f1 x y/n #f1 x you

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sparkleofpizza · 2 months ago

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The Alchemy

Lando Norris x fem!reader

Two idiots.

THE 2020 SEASON

WINTER BREAK London, England, 2020

Formula 1 might be on a break, but university isn’t. I’ve been studying non stop and working all my free time to get extra credit so I’d be able to graduate early, right at the end of spring so I’d have the rest of the year more chilled out.

But being a 21 year old college student, living alone at an apartment at a college campus meant trouble, obviously, and that’s how after long hours of studying at the library, instead of being in my bed catching up on some sleep, I was at a frat house party.

The music was blaring and I was nursing my third drink of night, but in all honesty completely tired now that the alcohol had relaxed me.

I was sitting on the couch, watching my friends dance around me. I grab my phone to get some pictures of them when I notice a new notification.

Lando: what are u up to on a Friday night as a college student?

Lando and I have been texting non stop since the end of the 2019 season, our friendship solidified. We even hung out a couple of times in between Christmas and new years. And now he has been bugging me that I’ve been working and studying too much.

Me: I’m at a frat house party

He instantly replied back.

Lando: YOURE WHERE DOING WHAT

Me: I’m at a frat house party

I smirk to myself as I texted back the same question then before.

Lando: no way, you’re messing with me

I open the camera of my phone, scratching my arm out as I smile hazily before snapping a picture and sending it to him.

Lando: OMG ARE U DRUNK????

Me: yessss

I expected him to make fun of me, but his answer caught me a bit of guard.

Lando: are u alone?

Lando: who’s with u?

Me: my friends are around here somewhere

There a few minutes of silence from his since and I wonder if our conversation is over. He probably fell asleep.

My phone buzzes again.

Lando: how are u going home?

Me: I’ll walk back to my apartment, why?

He’s typing and typing and typing. I bite my lip anxiously, wondering what he’s going to say. Is he going to ask me to let him pick me up? Like in those romance books where the guy picks up the girl from a party when she’s drunk?

Lando: ok

My face falls momentarily.

Lando: I’m not in London

Lando: be careful and text me when you get home safe

I smile, so he was considering picking me up.

Melbourne, Australia, 2020

The world was insane, and I was going insane with it. I was higenyzing my hand every time I touched something. I was in an alert state of the coronavirus.

“They should have canceled the race.” I say, taking a seat with Lando, Carlos and Caco at the McLaren hospitality. “They are saying there are employees who got infected.”

I squeeze hand sanitizer on my hand, rubbing it.

“You’re talking about as if it’s some kind of zombie apocalypse.” Lando chuckles, draping his arm casually over the back of my chair “Relax, they wouldn’t keep up the race if it wasn’t safe.”

Carlos nods “Lando is right.”

I scoff with a tense smile “Oh, but they would. FIA doesn’t care about it, they care about the money. They always have and always will.”

The boys are silent for a moment before Caco nods his head.

“Hamilton and Vettel said something similar during the press conference.” He says “And they’ve been around the same amount of time you have.”

My phone rings and it’s Sophie calling. I quickly brings it to my ear, listening to what she has to say. My frown only deepens when she says two McLaren employees tested positive for covid and that there are more people around the paddock with symptoms as well.

I hang up the phone.

“The teams principals are gathering together to get FIA to cancel the race.” I tell them, watching as both drivers’ faces fall in disappointment “Two McLaren employees tested positive and there are other people around the paddock who are feeling ill as well.”

We gather our things and start to make our way to the McLaren garage, probably the news will get there first if the race is canceled.

I hang back on the group and Lando slows his steps to walk beside me.

“Can’t believe we just got back and we’re already going to leave and be without racing.” He groans, a whine voice a bit high pitched.

“It’s better for it to be canceled and you getting the chance to race again when it’s safer, then getting sick and ending up in the hospital.”

He sighs, shoulders slumping slightly.

“You’re right. I was just excited to give my all at this new season.”

I smile “I know, and you will soon.”

He smiles back at me, nudging me with his shoulder.

“So, are you gonna be able to graduate this spring?”

“I am! I mean, I’ve been doing everything possible for it to happen and I think it will.”

Lando smiles and for a brief moment his fingers brush against mine in a sweet gesture.

“That’s great. I’ll make sure to be there cheering for you at your graduation.”

And my heart flutters at his words.

PANDEMIC London, England, 2020

“Did I do it right? Are you listening to me?” I ask into the microphone I bought.

Lando’s face show up on the screen of my computer, grinning widely.

“Hiiii! Yes, you did. Now turn on your camera so I can see your face.”

“How do I do it?” I ask, completely lost as I had never used the app discord before. “Oh, never mind, found it.”

“Look at you!” Lando beamed “Are those bunny ears on your hoodie?” I chuckle as I put on the hoodie over my head so he can see the bunny ears “You look adorable! Doesn’t she look adorable, chat?”

I tilt my head to the side, confused.

“Chat? What chat? It’s just the two of us here.”

Lando laughed “I’m streaming, muppet.”

“You’re what?!” I screech “Lando! Why didn’t you tell me we’d be live? I’m in my pijamas!”

He laughs again “You still look adorable and the chat agrees with me.”

I huff, flustered at his words and at the fact that I’m live for god knows how many people while I’m wearing my bunny pajamas. If people didn’t take me serious before, they never will now.

“Now, here’s what we’re going to do.” He claps his hand, a mischievous smile on his face “You’re going to play LOL with me.”

“LOL? But I only know how to play the sims.”

“Yes, you’re going to play LOL. I think it’s the easiest for now.”

As I download the game and start to follow the tutorial, all while sharing my screen with Lando and him judging me at how I can manage to keep dying on the tutorial, I wonder how in the holy hell he managed to convince me to play online with him.

Finally, after an eternity, I finish the tutorial and I start to play with him. Lando keeps instructing me because I don’t even know what buttons to press on my keyboard and he keeps screaming that I’m not running fast enough.

“Oh my God!” I scream “I died! I died!”

Lando laughs delighted.

“My screen is black and white! Why is my screen black and white? Is my computer broken? LANDO!”

That only makes him laugh harder, that infectious laugh of him as I keep yelling questions of what I should do next.

My dad opens the door to my bedroom, peeking his head inside, looking concerned as he calls out my name.

“Are you ok, sweetheart?” He asks, walking further into the room “I can hear you screaming from the living room.”

“Yeah, sorry dad. I’m playing online with Lando and I died.”

My father chuckles, bending down slightly to look at my screen. He smiles at Lando while waving.

“Hello, Lando. Have you been taking care of yourself while quarantining?”

Lando smiles back as he nods “Yes, I have. Your daughter also texts me everyday reminding me what I can and can’t do. It’s like she thinks I will die because I’m living on my own.”

My dad looks amused at me, but he knows I’m right and Lando would have probably set his house or fire by now if I haven’t been instructing him properly on certain things.

My dad pats my head as he stands up straight again “I will leave you kids to it. Take care, Lando.”

“Thank you, Jenson! You too!” Lando smiles. “Now, where were we?”

Later that night, after four hours of online gaming with Lando, I lied in bed scrolling through my social medias. I couldn’t help to read the comments people were making about our live stream together.

Jenson Button worried about Lando I CANT

OMG y/n checking up on Lando daily to make sure he survives

So am I the only one who thinks there’s something there?

She can’t suck on her dads fame anymore bc he’s retired so now she’s going after Norris

I sigh, closing Twitter and putting my phone on the bedside table. People are mean.

Spielberg, Austria, 2020

July and we’re back at Formula 1. The season is being cut short, there won’t be fans attending, but we’re back at racing.

I finished my finals a week ago, just in time to go back to traveling. My dad gave an hour-long lecture about safety and health before finally letting me board the plane.

I haven’t seen Lando and Carlos yet, but I have met uncle Seb who is pissed off at Ferrari for firing him over the phone. I could tell for the way he was talking about meetings and stuff he has to do that he’s plotting something and I couldn’t help but smirk at whatever hell fire he will bring down on Mattia Binotto.

I enter the McLaren garage and I smile underneath my mask as I see Lando talking to his engineer. He turns his head when he hears my footsteps.

He basically bonces on his feet until he meets me halfway.

“Hi!” He says loudly “It’s so good to finally see you in person again!” His eyes are wide “Can I hug you? I want to hug you. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I want to. I haven’t touched anyone in months and and…”

I cut him off with a laugh as I wrap my arms around his middle, resting my head on his chest. Lando brings his arms around me, squeezing me onto his body.

“Hi, Lando. I missed your energetic aura.”

I feel his grin against my shoulder, even with half his face covered in a mask.

“I missed you.” He says back.

He detangles himself from he hug, but keep his hands on my shoulders. He analyzes my face.

“You really do look good with bangs.”

I chuckle, running my hands over the bangs I cut on my hair after a moment of reflection and desperation when I couldn’t leave the house.

“Thank you. It was a moment of… insanity, but at least it looks good.”

He laughs “Oh I know. You texted me like fifteen times saying you did something horrible and it was just bangs.”

I shake my head “Hey, to be fair you called me at two in the morning to ask me how to kill a wasp and I had to wake up my dad to ask him.”

Lando's eyes widened in mock sadness.

“Hey, your dad loves me! I’m sure he was very very delighted to be woken up in the middle of the night to give out instructions on how to kill a wasp.”

I snort out a laugh.

Later that weekend, after the race was finished, I watched as Lando parked his car in p3. It was the first podium of his Formula 1 career. He had been screaming on the radio during the last five laps and I was grinning like an idiot behind my mask.

He got out of the car, helmet still on as he ran to the team, letting them hug him and clap his back. The whole McLaren garage was in a frenzy of celebration.

I’m waiting for him by the parc fermé, to guide him to the podium and then to the press conference room where they interview the winner, second and third place of the race.

Lando takes off his helmet and balaclava and I see his whole face for the first time this year. He has a huge smile on his face as he runs to where I am.

“My first podium!” He yells

I smile “Congratulations, Lando. It was beautiful to watch.”

He wraps his arms around me, jumping around and making me jump with him as I laugh.

“My first podium! Oh fuck! I’m gonna get a trophy!”

I giggle, letting him jump around with me “Yes, you are, Lando, you’re getting a trophy!”

He then stop jumping and just gazed into my eyes, the smile never dropping out of his face.

“Fuck, I’m so glad you’re the one here and not Sophie.”

My heart leaps on my chest.

“I’m glad I’m here, too.”

Silverstone, England, 2020

It was the Silverstone Grand Prix weekend, there were going to be two weekends of races here. My dad had decided to come along since this is his home race and he wants to relive some of the memories.

I walk inside the McLaren hospitality with my dad who is babbling about my graduation to one of the mechanics that have been working here since his driving days.

I hear someone yell my name and I know that voice very well. I turn around and there is Lando, no mask on his face, grinning widely.

“Hey.” I smile back, walking to where he’s sitting

He stands up fast and lifts his hands up, holding a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers.

I gasp in surprise.

“I couldn’t go to your graduation because the attendance was limited, but I couldn’t let it pass by.” He hands me the flowers before enveloping me in a hug “Congratulations, love. I’m very proud of you.”

For some reason his words and sweet gestures make tears gather in my eyes. It’s probably because I was expecting my graduation to be a big even, full of people who I love and cherish and that didn’t happen because of the pandemic.

“Thank you, Lan. This means a lot to me.”

He squeezes me before letting me go. He wipes some of the tears that leaked out to my eyes.

“I know this is a special moment and you wanted it to be a big celebration. We’ll go out to celebrate once things get better, alright? My treat.”

I smile, hugging the flowers to my chest.

“You’re the best, Lan.”

He winked at me.

“Only the best for my best girl.”

My dad stood to the side, watching the scene with a smile on his face. I didn’t know that now, but he took pictures of all of that happening.

Krasnodar Krai, Russia, 2020

Carlos broke the news to the team two weeks ago during our weekly zoom calls. Lando had shut himself out the moment his best friend on the grid said he’s leaving McLaren to go to Ferrari.

He hasn’t been answering my texts or sending me TikToks. He even declined my calls and I was growing not only worried, but annoyed as well.

I knock on his hotel door late at night. My flight had landed an hour ago, I got to the hotel, showered and now here I am knocking on his door.

Lando opens the door, his curly hair disheveled and he’s only in sweatpants.

“You’re not room service.” He says

I glare at him.

“You’ve been ignoring me.” I accuse him, hands on my waist.

“I uh… I’ve been busy…” he stretches the back of his neck “a lot of work.”

“We work together, I know you haven’t been busy.” I glare even harder now “Stop lying to me.”

He stepped to the side and let me inside his room. I walk past him, going to the middle of the room as I stand there with my arms crossed. Lando sits on the bed and looks at me.

“What’s going on with you?” I ask

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” He answered too quickly.

“Lando… you’ve been ignoring me ever since Carlos told us that he’s leaving for Ferrari.”

He grows quiet and looks away from me.

I sigh. “Lando, just because he’s switching teams it does not mean he won’t be your friend anymore. It will be a bit different because you won’t be together all the time like the past two years, but he’s not gonna forget about you.”

He nods. “I know. Carlos already told me all that.”

“Then why have you been ignoring me?” I ask confused. I thought he was isolating because he was sad that Carlos is leaving, but if he’s already on good terms with it, than what’s wrong.

“Because I’m preparing myself from when you leave me as well.” Lando says, he doesn’t look at me, his eyes trained on the carpet floor.

“Wha- What?” I ask completely dumbfounded “What do you mean when I leave you as well?”

He runs a hand through his hair “You’re an intern at the communication department and- and you just graduated from uni. I know you will leave me at the end of the year as well. You’ll move on to much bigger and better things. I’m just… trying to soften the blow of being without you.”

There’s a moment of silence as I process his words. He still won’t look at me and I’m too stunned to speak anything. He’s sad because he doesn’t want to be without me.

Finally, I snap out of it.

“Oh Lando.” I whisper softly, kneeling in front of him and peering up at him. “Lando, no.”

He shakes his head “I know, ok? I’m not dumb…”

I cup his face in my hands to get him to stop talking. He looks at me in surprise and I can see the broken look in his eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Please, don’t lie to me.” He whispered brokenly “Just rip the bandaid already.”

“I’m not lying.” I say, catching a stray tear from his eye with my thumb and wiping it away. “McLaren hired me to be their junior PR manager. You would have known that if you haven’t been declining my calls, you muppet.”

He widens his eyes.

“You’re not leaving?”

I shake my head “No. You’re stuck with me.”

Lando breaths out a laugh, resting his forehead against mine as he closes his eyes.

“Oh, thank god. I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

I smile, enjoying our close proximity.

“You don’t have to say goodbye. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good… good.” He mumbled. “I don’t want you to leave my side.”

We stay like that for a few moments longer, before he helps me stand up from the floor. Lando pats the bed and I soon join him. We lay on opposite sides, he covers us up and we stay in silence, enjoining each other's company as we fall asleep. Right now we don’t need to say anything, everything is understood in the comfortable silence that hugs us.

Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, 2020

It was yet once again the last race of the season.

Lando had a great finish in p5, and although he had a happy smile on his face we took team pictures and toasted, I could see he was sad. This was Carlos's last race as Lando’s teammate. And I could see Carlos was a bit sad as well.

The team principals had gathered together and rented out a club in the city so the party would be just the Formula 1 team and drivers. We had been traveling together all year in the middle of the chaos of the pandemic, so we were all kind of in the same boat, if someone was sick, the odds of everyone else also being sick were extremely high.

I watched from a far as Lewis celebrated his seventh championship. I chuckled as he, Valtteri and Toto started a shot competition between the three of them. Sebastian was chanting chug chug chug and waving his hands around.

I feel the familiar presence of Lando standing beside me as he nurses his drink.

“How was your second year as a Formula 1 employee?” He asks me.

I smile against the rim of my glass. Just one year ago he had asked me the same question, at the rooftop of the VIP lounge at the paddock, hours before the last race of the season began.

“It was weird. My last year as an intern, next year I will have to reinvent myself to be on top of my game.”

“You’re already on the top of your game.” He nudges my shoulder with his arm.

“Yeah, but I still haven’t proved myself here.” I point out.

Lando frowns, turning his body around to look at me. I’m leaning against the wall and now he’s looming over me.

“Have you been getting hate online?”

I give him a weak smile.

“Let’s not talk about this right now. Tonight is about celebrating.”

He’s still frowning and opens his mouth to protest when I cut him off.

“How was your second year as Formula 1 driver?”

He chuckles, probably recalling the same memory from last year. He rests his forearm on the wall right beside my head.

“It was good and weird. I got my first podium ever. I also lost my first teammate…” Lando smiles a bit. “And I got you to be here with me one more year.”

I smile, raising my glass.

“Here’s to another year of Norris and Button traveling around the world together.”

Lando grins, clinking his glass against mine.

“Together.” He repeats.

#fanfiction #f1 imagine #f1 smau #f1 social media au #f1 x reader #lando norris #lando norris imagine #lando norris x reader #lando norris x you

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passerkirbius · 8 months ago

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Compulsory Voting Looks Like...?

In my Voting With Spite post, I mentioned that Australia has compulsory voting, and I noted that quite a few people had either positive or negative reactions to that idea. I thought it might be a good idea to talk briefly about what Compulsory Voting actually does to your voting scene.

Now, to be clear, I'm going to be talking about the Australian Experience - that's what I know. I'm aware that Brazil and Belgium both have Compulsory Voting as well, and their experiences are likely to be a bit different. So, let's go through the big ones:

Do you need ID to vote?

Here, the answer is no - an ID can help, because when you get your name marked off the roll at a voting station, they use your name and address, and our driver's licenses have that, but it's not essential. Indeed, if you've changed address and that hasn't been recorded on the roll, you can still vote - this is called a "declaration vote", because the vote is put into an envelope where you "declare" that the information provided is correct, and the vote is counted once the electoral commission has verified the information.

One might think that this open up our system to a lot of fraud, but one of the fun parts about compulsory voting is that voter fraud is very easy to study - in such a system, if someone steals someone else's identity to vote, it will appear that that person has voted twice, and it gets investigated. The only other big fraud option is fraudulent enrolment - and again, because everyone is on the electoral role, if there's concern regarding a fraudulent enrolment, the electoral commission can check with people at the address of the enrolment. The AEC do these sorts of checks after every election, and it turns out, while there are often double votes, most of those are administrative errors (crossing off the wrong person somewhere), or entirely innocent (people with memory issues voting multiple times because they forgot that they'd already voted). During the 2018 election, only 118 cases were deemed worth forwarding to the Federal Police, out of over 20 million votes.

Do Politicians still play to the base?

In Voluntary voting systems, there is a well-known phenomenon where there's an incentive for politicians to, instead of trying to aim for policies that will satisfy the most people, to instead aim directly at their "base", their natural political home voters. The idea is that you don't actually need to persuade the other side to vote for you, you actually need to persuade your side to vote for you. The only prevailing counter to this is that you don't want to be so egregious that you motivate the other side to vote against you.

Historically, this has not been the case in Australia. In Australia, you can depend on your base to vote for you - they aren't going to stay at home, because it's compulsory to vote.

So they play to the centre?

Honestly, it's complicated. The question is often not about whether you're politically "in the middle", but where you live - Just like in other electorates, there are safe seats (where voter movement isn't likely to kick out the incumbent party) and marginal seats (where the margin of votes for a given party is quite small, generally less than 5%). Marginal seats are where political parties can potentially score a seat with only a little bit of a push, so it's standard strategy to build your campaign promises to directly target those marginal voters.

What those marginal voters actually want varies quite a bit, depending on where in the country they are - a marginal seat in Rural NSW need different targeting than a tiny marginal seat in Melbourne. In general these voters are looking for actual improvements in facilities and economic policy, rather than ideology, so while politicians from those seats may be absolute culture warriors, that often isn't what people in the seat are asking about or listening to - they want to know what the nutcase is actually going to do for them.

With that said, rural voters are more likely to want a personal connection to their MP and are much more likely to vote on who they, personally, like the most. This is less the case in Urban electorates, who care much less about who the MP is and what they're like, and much more about their party's platform.

But also also, there is a strong emphasis in politics about playing to "Ordinary Australians", which one can consider a code for "centre views". Of course, Australia as a society is pretty conservative in many ways, so what you consider "centre" may be a little left of what we consider "centre"...

So yeah, not nearly as simple as "playing to the centre" - there's a lot more involved there.

Are there such thing as "Independent" voters?

In Australia, at least, the idea of an "Independent" voter doesn't really exist - Australia's leaders aren't voted for in Primaries, so you don't need to have your political affiliation marked. Some Australians are members of political parties, but that number is tiny - in 2022, the two major parties had 100,000 members between them, in a population of 26 million people - about 0.4% of the population, maybe 0.5% if we count all the minor parties as well.

Are compulsory voters more engaged voters?

In a word? No. Australian society in general doesn't encourage people being overly involved or engaged in politics, especially in working-class subcultures (and of course, every Australian claims to be working class, regardless of their actual class). Like in many places, there's a pressure in face-to-face conversation to suppress political discussion to avoid conflict, and I can assure you that researching your candidates/parties before an election isn't a common activity (and I understand why - there's so many of them).

As a consequence, Australians don't tend to change their vote that often - in fact, studies in Australia have shown that there's a strong correlation between how you vote, and how your parents vote. A Labor voter is likely to stay a Labor voter, and a Liberal voter is likely to stay a Liberal voter, even if they're not a member of the party. This is why most election promises are much more about giving stuff to voters, rather than about legislation around society itself - It's considered safer to deal with infrastructure than it is to deal in culture wars issues.

Wait, if voters don't change often, how do opposition win?

Well, rarely is the honest answer to that question here. Since 1950, the party in federal government has changed only seven times:

Once in 1972, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1975, from Labor to the Coalition (although that one was a particularly odd one)

Once in 1983, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1996, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2007, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 2013, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2022, from the Coalition to Labor

And during that time, there's been 27 elections, so in 20 out of 27 elections, the incumbent won. But with that said, every time the opposition wins, it's in a landslide, winning a huge number of seats.

The reasons for this are obviously complex, but the way I like to think about is that in Australia there's a certain inertia in the voting populace. Once your vote is set, there's not a lot that's going to change that vote - you're generally going to vote for the party that aligns most with you, and that isn't likely to change much. But as a party keeps fucking up (because they always fuck up), the more that votes wobbles - it might, initially, move your party down the preferences, which you might not notice (because it still funnels to you), but eventually, you've pissed off so many people that everyone votes for anyone but you arseholes, which results in the other party getting in with a landslide.

The previous government is usually horrifically savaged, to the point that it takes a few election cycles for them to slowly rebuild numbers, regain talent, and get themselves into a position where, now that the other side has fucked up sufficiently, voters are willing to let them have another shot at the big time.

This, awkwardly, also tends to stifle politically-lead social change, as well. Firstly, it can take decade or more for a party that is willing to engage with your chosen direction of society to become the Government, and even once they are there, it tends to be the case that Governments won't consider leading such changes until they are certain that everyone wants it - The Gay Marriage Postal Survey is an example. Any opinion poll could show you that the majority of Australians were for gay marriage, but the Coalition government of the time was against it. As a delaying tactic, they insisted on a postal survey (it couldn't be a plebiscite, because they couldn't get that through their own MPs) so every Australian had to vote on the issue. The result? 61.6% were for Gay Marriage (and up to 90% in some electorates!).

What if you can't vote?

Australia is something of a world leader in working to ensure that everyone can vote, because it's been generally established that you can't punish someone for not doing something the government has made it impossible for you to do. So, all Australians have access to:

Early Voting (usually for at least 3 weeks before election day)

Postal Voting (and you just have to post it on Election day, it can be received afterwards).

The voting infrastructure is set up that you can vote at any polling station in your state (we now print lower house ballots on demand, so every station has access to every ballot), and there are specific polling stations for interstate voters (where upper house ballots for every state are available).

There are mobile polling stations for voters, so even if you live in a remote town and can't drive to the nearest polling station, polling stations can drive out to you!

These mobile polling stations also attend prisons and hospitals to provide voting access for people who cannot leave to vote.

We even now have telephone voting for Blind folk, with a specialised system set up to allow for a secret ballot, so the phone person assisting the blind voter won't know who the blind voter is.

Australian embassies in other countries are also available for voters, although you are not actually required to vote if you're not in the country during the election campaign.

So, our voting infrastructure is built, as much as is practicable, to ensure that every voter gets every opportunity to vote. If you can't get to a booth on the day, you can early vote or postal vote.

To be clear, this is not a requirement of compulsory voting - it's quite possible to go to this level of effort in a voluntary voting system, and I can absolutely imagine a compulsory voting system that also made it difficult for people to vote (likely disproportionately affecting your political enemies).

Does Compulsory Voting help Minor Parties?

Not really - Preferential voting definitely helps minor parties, but not Compulsory voting. There is one way it might help though - As noted above, if you're pissed off with your current party, you may bump another party higher up on your preferences, even put them as your "1" vote. In a Voluntary voting system, such people might, instead choose not to vote and stay at home, so in that sense, I guess minor parties can be the beneficiaries of voter anger, but of course, that couldn't be the case without preferential voting.

Got more questions? My asks are always open! Ask away!

#australia #mandatory voting #compulsory voting #voting #elections #explainer

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racingliners · 2 months ago

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Had a slagclaren vision. Mainly inspired by Jenson's race day suit. very much not properly edited.

Jenson/Lewis, 1.5k, T but with implied sexual content. Featuring wingmen Bono and Shov. Set Las Vegas GP 2024.

For Old Time's Sake

It’s always been quite unfair just how handsome Jenson Button is. Even way back in 2015 when he grew that awful moustache. When Lewis had first seen Jenson with it, his eyes had widened and he had to work incredibly hard to bury his snicker when he said good morning to his old teammate in the hotel corridor in Melbourne.

Maybe, it was because deep down Lewis still found Jenson painfully gorgeous, but he wasn’t going to admit just how down bad he was to anyone but himself.

Even now, on a cold Saturday night in Las Vegas, with streaks of grey in his sandy blond hair and beard he looks good in a brown velvet suit jacket. Which no one has any business doing.

In the three years Lewis and Jenson had been teammates, their liaisons had been so few that they could both count them on one hand. The first, in a soaking wet Montreal in 2011, Lewis had come to Jenson still carrying some residual anger about their collision wish put Lewis half into the wall and out of the race. Instead of shouting at each other they just spent the whole night fucking each other instead.

Jenson, being Jenson, had been a perfect gentleman with Lewis the whole time. A tiny part of Lewis had always been in love with Jenson ever since.

“Well done today mate.” Jenson said quietly, leaning against the large black plinth behind them while George, Carlos and Max all chattered away about something Lewis couldn’t make out. He got a whiff of Jenson’s cologne and it had immediately gone to his head.

“Thanks man.” Lewis said to his boots. If he looked at Jenson for longer than a second his mouth would probably say something incredibly stupid that he wouldn’t be able to take back without Jenson flashing one of his charming crooked smiles as he laughed.

(So what if more than a tiny part of Lewis was still in love with Jenson? No one actually knew… apart from Shov and Bono. And they didn’t count because they only said so with knowing glances).

“It’s funny,” Bono said, louder than what he usually spoke, to Shov once the bulk of the engineers had cleared out after the post-race debrief. “I had no idea Jenson was staying at our hotel.”

“Yeah I ran into him this morning.” Shov even glanced out of the corner of his eye to see if Lewis was listening. They really were two of the most insufferable engineers Lewis had ever met.

Lewis logged out of his laptop, and deliberately took a very long time to shut it down, pretending not to care. Bono slowly walked over to Lewis with his hands in his pockets, and a very rare but noticeable glint in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, while Lewis cut him off with a glare. Bono adjusted his glasses instead.

“You joining us then?” He asked with a small smile, his hands still in his pockets as he leaned against the table and crossed one ankle over the other.

“I’ll see how I feel when I get back to the hotel.” Lewis nodded slowly. “But you guys can have some champagne on me.”

Instead of joking that at their age and at the start of the triple header champagne wasn’t the wisest of ideas, Shov just smiled and said thank you as he clapped Lewis on the shoulder. They even hugged, which had been an increasing occurrence over the course of the past year. Like every time they said goodbye it was getting ever closer to their final one as teammates.

“Get home safe.” Lewis said softly as he grabbed his bag from under the table and went to leave the engineer’s office.

“You too mate.” Bono smiled and he and Lewis patted each other on the shoulder as Lewis left. He met his security detail at the entrance to hospitality and Lewis managed to leave the circuit without too much fanfare, and before he knew it he was in the car and on the way back to the hotel where Jenson may or may not be.

Lewis closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headrest, and let out a slow exhale.

Fuck.

It was either fate, co-incidence, or the universe choosing to laugh at him that Jenson was in the foyer of the hotel when Lewis walked in through the main doors. They both stopped on their own distant spots and looked at each other, their eyes wide and mouths slightly agape.

Lewis took the first step forward as Jenson hung up his phone call and quickly forced it into his pocket. He was still wearing that damn turtleneck and suit jacket.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Jenson sounded the more breathless of the two. “I thought you and Bono would be tearing up the strip by now.”

Lewis snickered and briefly threw his head back before shaking his head.

“Nah man, we’re both too old for that shit now.”

“Are you too old for a drink in the bar?” Jenson asked sounding half-hopeful. It was almost identical to how their last time together started, back in Sao Paulo in 2012. Lewis had assumed that it was meant to be them saying goodbye.

“We could go up to my suite, I don’t leave until tomorrow.” Lewis slowly scratched at a spot behind his ear and looked around. The foyer was quiet, and anyone currently milling around wasn’t from the paddock. It all felt so temptingly easy. “For old time’s sake?”

Jenson chuckled, and looked down at the ground with his hands in his pockets. He let out a small sigh as his eyes remained stuck on his dress shoes, before he finally looked up at Lewis with his steely blue eyes. Like the sky after a rainstorm.

“Yes.” They both headed for the nearest lift without a word, and were thankfully the only two people in it when it rose to the 12th floor.

They said nothing the whole walk down the corridor, and they didn’t even look at each other. The only sign Jenson gave was when he took one hand out of his pocket, and tightly wound his pinkie finger around Lewis’.

When they finally walked one after the other into Lewis suite they immediately fell into each other’s arms with a long, deep kiss. It was like a routine, Jenson remembered that Lewis liked it when he brushed his thumbs across Lewis’ jaw and Lewis knew that Jenson liked it when Lewis slowly wrapped his arms around Jenson’s waist. Routine. Muscle memory. Definitely not love.

(Though if Jenson did, strangely, ask Lewis to marry him then and there, Lewis’ gut reaction would have been to say yes).

Lewis took his time in unbuttoning Jenson’s suit jacket and insisted he be the one to gently fold it and lay it on the back of the sofa. Velvet needed to be looked after.

Jenson then grabbed Lewis by the hand, and pulled him back in for a messier, more frantic kiss. In case it would be another twelve years before they did this again. Lewis managed to yank Jenson’s turtleneck off his torso and onto the floor.

“Don’t you dare say that you’ve missed me.” Lewis said with a hitched breath as Jenson littered his bare chest with kisses.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of ruining this for anyone.” Jenson’s voice was low and almost gravelly as he carefully peeled Lewis’ boxers off his thighs.

“Just…” Like so many times before, Lewis was rendered breathless by the sigh of Jenson shifting up the bed towards him. “Be gentle with me.”

Jenson brushed the tips of their noses together, before he kissed Lewis slowly, deeply. Almost as if he was saying I love you.

“Anything for you, Lewis.”

Lewis woke to the sun on his skin and Jenson’s face buried into his shoulder. It was exactly like the last time 12 years ago. Lewis woke first and had a hideous knot form in his stomach at the sight of Jenson sleeping peacefully and Lewis was probably going to ruin it with another goodbye that never said what he really meant.

He could say it now, quietly under his breath, and no one would hear. And Lewis would carry it with him for the rest of his days and Jenson wouldn’t even know… which felt awfully unfair.

But life so often was awfully unfair.

So Lewis gently ran the tips of his fingers through Jenson’s hair, and planted a long kiss on his forehead as the sun made Jenson’s eyelashes look like they were made from solid gold.

Perhaps in another life Jenson wakes up first, and calls Lewis darling before opening the bedroom door to let their silly number of dogs in. And they’re both happy. Maybe it could happen if Lewis was brave enough to say what he meant, but he knew today wasn’t going to be that day.

He buried his nose into Jenson’s hair and told himself that if he fell asleep and woke up again, that maybe it would be that day after all.

#if this is actually semi-decent I'll try and find the time to polish it up for ao3 #in the mean time... *jazz hands*#my writing #slagclaren #usual psa that it's fiction based on real people don't share outside of fandom space etc etc etc

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gucciwins · 2 years ago

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idk if u do requests but a fic about Harry’s “how is your head?” show interaction would be amazing 🥲 where he gets the fan backstage and well we know where this goes!!

a few weeks since i've written anything so i hope you enjoy 🤭 word count: 2461 warnings: smut (male pleasure) would love hear your thoughts!!! 🤍🤍🤍

Australia had been a dream from the moment he arrived. Tonight’s show had managed to leave him breathless. He takes a minute to eye the crowd as he walks down the stage to sing Matilda, a change of pace for the night. A sign right in front catches his eye, and he knows he has to read it. There were two people dressed in their best outfits. One stands out to him, the bold red lip standing out against her black top. Safe to say, Harry had always been a fan of red-painted lips. The fan holding the sign has it over the barricade, not blocking anyone’s view. He bit back a smile; she was considerate. He glanced at Ny Oh and decided he would rather indulge in his curiosity than be left with the unknown.

Harry grabs his mic and points down to their signs. “Now, there are two signs here. What are your names?”

“Twenty-six,” the blonde hair person answers, making the red-lipped beauty laugh.

“Asked for your name, not your age,” he corrects her.

The blonde points to herself, shouting “Violet,” and then points to the beauty with red lips, “she’s Y/N also twenty-six.” Harry holds in his laugh but is thankful nonetheless.

“Right, well, your sign says your bestie broke your nose during Melbourne night one. And yours says I broke my bestie’s nose.” Harry shakes his head because it’s a bit odd. Also, the fact that he didn’t spot her in the crowd a few nights ago makes him happy to have spotted her now.

Y/N was doing her best to stay calm because Violet was doing all the freaking out for her. Violet said they had to make the signs as a joke, and if nothing came about, it would make good photos and a great story to share. Well, now Y/N’s feeling grateful to have listened to her. Y/N knew that many said Harry loved eye contact, but she didn’t understand that until today. He was speaking with Violet, but his eyes had not left Y/N’s. He was far enough that she couldn’t note how green they were but close enough to know they had a shine to them under the moon.

“It was an accident,” Y/N is quick to shout.

Harry repeats her words laughing, “well, I’d hope so.” He makes a joke making sure his eyes are on her, hoping she’d find it funny. Y/N takes the teasing in stride. He notices her phone is in her pocket and notes to keep an eye on that during the show.

“Remember, violence is never the answer,” he teases.

“It was her fault,” Y/N shares feeling the need to explain.

Harry’s mouth drops open in disbelief. “Why was it her fault? Her nose is broken.”

Y/N and Violet share a look before falling into a fit of giggles. “I hit her head,” Violet confesses.

Harry listens to them explain and recaps to the crowd. “You headbanged too hard and hit your nose on her head. I didn’t think Satellite was a dangerous song, but here we are now with a broken nose later.”

Y/N knows her time with Harry’s eyes on her is ending soon, so she does something she never thought of doing until she feels his eyes on her.

“No one has asked me how my head is,” Y/N tells him, faking a pout.

He looks dead in her eyes, “well, it’s what happens when you break your friend’s nose.” Harry has those pouted lips imprinted in his mind and doesn’t have the heart to not check back in with her. “How is your head?”

Y/N shrugs, “never had any complaints.” She sends him a wink laughing as his mouth falls open. He walked himself right into that one. The stadium is laughing, and Harry feels his cheeks warm up because he pictures those red lips wrapped around his cock and tries to will the stiffy she caused away.

“We are in Australia, aren’t we?” Harry forces himself to look away from her and instead transition into the saddest song of the night.

The show had Y/N dancing and singing with her best friend. Call her crazy, but she felt Harry come down the stage staring at her, putting on all his best moves to woo her. Y/N had always thought Harry was pretty, but tonight in his pink ringer tee, she thought he was sexy. Harry can wear anything and make it look good because he wears the clothes, and his confidence shines through every time.

The show’s ending comes far too quick. A female security guard makes their way to Y/N, offering her a handshake telling her she has a nice top, and walks away. No one seemed to think anything about it, and she knew that meant no one saw the paper she slipped into her hand. Y/N carefully opens the note telling her to come towards the side entrance because a band member wanted to meet her. A little mention that it’s okay to bring her friend. Y/N decides to enjoy the final song and then share the news with Violet because they were saying yes to going backstage.

Violet could not stop talking as they let the fans move around them. Y/N spotted the security who gave her the note and signaled Y/N to come to her. She helped them around the barricade and took them backstage. Y/N didn’t know what to expect, but she sure didn’t expect to see the Love band sitting on couches, drinks in hand. Y/N and Violet tried to act cool but knew they must look like deer caught in headlights.

“Hi, welcome,” Ny Oh greets. “Your story was hilarious.”

Y/N feels her face flush because it’s kind of embarrassing. She told a sold-out stadium her head was good; specifically, she told Harry Styles. Her favorite singer.

Pauli’s eyes light up in recognition, “oh, you, too, had the best sign so far. Hope you’re okay.” Pauli tells Violet.

Violet thanked him, quick to tell the band how amazing they were. Y/N chimes in and is grateful for how welcoming the band has made them feel. Y/N hates to ruin the conversation but has to use the restroom. Lloyd offers to walk her, which she is thankful for. He points to a room, telling her to take her time that no one was using it. Y/N thanked him before going in to do her business. She walks out and jumps in surprise to see someone sitting on the couch. Not just anyone, Harry Styles.

He smirks, noting how jumpy she is. “Sorry, love.”

She shakes her head, “no, uh, they told me it was okay to use the restroom. Sorry if I’m bothering you.”

Harry shakes his head. “All good. Y/N, right?”

“Right,” she confirms for him. “And you are?”

Harry chuckles under his breath, she’s cheeky, and he loves that. “‘M Harry, love.”

Y/N nods, taking him in. He quickly got out of his outfit for the night and now is only in a hoodie and sweats. She goes to excuse herself, but Y/N knows she doesn’t want to leave his side, not when this might be her only chance at meeting Harry.

“You were amazing tonight. Seen a few of your shows, truly a sight to behold.” Y/N gushes, not caring if he might think of her as a fangirl for saying so because he deserves the praise.

Harry bends his head, “thank you,” he whispers. He’s nervous. Y/N can tell because he’s playing with the rings on his fingers, but when he raises his head, Harry stares at her like he’s ready to devour her, and Y/N is prepared. She knows this might be for one night but doesn’t have it in herself to tell him no.

“Haven’t done this before,” he explains.

Y/N takes a step closer to him. “A conversation or a one-night stand.”

“Asking a fan backstage.”

Y/N feels her breath hitch at the confirmation that he was the one who invited her backstage. “Can’t say I have either.”

Harry laughs, “Sure, you haven’t. You’re kind of hard to miss in the crowd.”

She can’t help how quick her face warms up at the compliment, “Last time I dated someone in a band, I was in uni, and he played the bass. Can’t say it ended too well.”

“Fuck him then.” Harry shrugs, standing up from the couch and stepping close to her. “You don’t have to stay if you’re not comfortable.”

“And if I want to stay,” she breathes out.

Harry smirks. “Then I’d say get on your knees because it seems you’ve got something to prove.”

Y/N was not expecting him to be so forward, but she had never backed down from a challenge. Y/N loved pleasuring her partners something about having them at her mercy always got her wet and made for the perfect foreplay. “Are you sure?” Y/N checks in with Harry.

“Yes,” he breathes out, overwhelmed seeing her on her knees for him.

With one firm tug, his sweats slide down and frees his dick. He’s hard, and Y/N swears she’s never seen a prettier cock. Y/N palms his bare length, relishing the feel of his smooth skin against her hand. Y/N lets her hand rest, one on each thigh, and her eyes linger on his tiger tattoo for a second too long. She leans in, pressing a soft kiss. Y/N hears him let out the most delicate moan, which urges her forward. She lets her tongue grace the drop of arousal glistening on the tip of his cock. Harry moans out her name, wanting her to take him in her mouth already.

“Okay?”

“Perfect,” he rasps out.

That’s all she needs to begin. Opening her jaw wide, she takes him in her mouth. Her tongue swirls and her cheeks hollow out as she sucks. Harry’s hand finds its way to her hair while she sucks his cock deep in her mouth, showing him how much she wants this. How much she’s enjoying him in her mouth. Y/N sinks her nails into his thighs, and Harry hisses at the pain tightening his grip on her hair, making Y/N moan, needing more, wanting more.

Y/N tilts her head back and peers up at his eyes through her lashes, feeling his length bump against her throat. She notes the heat and desire in his green irises, letting him take a bit more control as his fingers tighten around her hair and move her head to a rhythm that suits him, and Y/N lets him fuck her mouth.

She feels her jaw ache, but she loves this feeling and wants to give him everything he asks for. She wants to be good for him.

“You are so fucking beautiful. Down on your knees for me, staining my cock with those red lips. Fuck, Y/N.” She moans on his length, loving his praise and attention. “You like this cock? Going to let me take what I want like a good girl.”

Y/N nods or tries to as she keeps him in her mouth, not ready to let him go. He moans as he pushes himself deeper, he has all the control, and Y/N loves it. She’s at his mercy. He’s taking what he wants. Y/N’s fish wraps around the base of his cock, wanting him, no needing him to come down her throat. Y/N shifts closer, leaning into him, wanting him deeper. His taste overwhelms her, and Y/N knows she’d never have enough of him.

His movements turn frantic, but it doesn’t stop Y/N. “Y/N, fuck, baby. I’m going to come.” Harry tries to pull away, but Y/N snakes a hand behind, clamping it down on his ass, and pulls him closer. “Fuck baby,” he grunts. Harry throws his head back and lets himself spill into her mouth. She feels every twitch and moan he lets out as he holds her head close to his body as he unwinds.

Y/N is addicted. Blow jobs were fun when your partner was great, and Harry was amazing. He seemed to know how much she could take and pushed her far enough that she got pleasure out of it as well. Y/N pulls away and stares at his cock, her mind full of thoughts of how his cock might feel between her legs, but she won’t be presumptuous.

“Alright, baby?” Harry asks, careful to tuck himself away. Y/N falls back, leaning on her knees, breaking her gaze from his cock to his eyes.

“Good,” she promises. He offers her a hand up, and she takes it. Y/N tries her best to hide her disappointment but also knows she needs to go home with Violet, suddenly remembering this wasn’t the most private place for either of them.

“Are you from here?” Harry asks as he fixes his rings. “Accent is a bit different.”

Y/N laughs, fixing the sleeve of her shirt. She knew what this was and kind of hoped for more but fuck, how couldn’t she want more? He was so good to her. Y/N wishes it had lasted longer, but she knows she’ll never forget it, so she lets him talk about something else to keep it from getting awkward. “I’m from London or living there now.” Y/N accepts the wipe he offers her to clean up her smeared lipstick.

“You know I’m doing a show in London,” he throws out there casually.

Y/N looks away from the mirror to hide her smirk. “Are you?”

“Mhmm…” he comes up behind her, keeping a distance but close enough for her heart to speed up. “Maybe we could meet up.”

Y/N turns around, lifting her head to meet his gaze. “Guess it answers that question.”

Harry stares at you, puzzled. “Which is?”

“How is my head?” She smirks, and Harry blushes red. Y/N is basking in this more timid Harry after she had his cock in her mouth.

“Well, how about you meet me later tonight, and I’ll show you how my head is. Then we’ll see if I can see you in London.”

“Wouldn’t that be a few months away?” Y/N asks, confused.

“I’m a patient man,” he assures her.

Harry kisses her cheek, placing a piece of paper with his number on it in her hand. “See you tonight, Y/N.” He leaves her in the room breathless and excited about what’s to come.

#harry styles #harry styles smut #harry styles x reader #harry styles love on tour #harry styles story #harry styles blurb #harry smut #harry styles writing #harry story #harry fic rec #harry one shot #harry story smut #love on tour #australia

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overtrred28 · 1 month ago

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Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part twenty two]

Words; 1.5k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC), kyra cooney cross x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

masterlist

After 2 days off in Melbourne and a quick flight to Sydney, the team were officially heading into training camp for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup. The first game of the entire tournament being theirs meant alot to the girls, kicking it off on home soil and starting their journey to hopefully take the trophy in front of a home crowd.

Astrid could never have imagined she would be standing here amongst some of the best players in the world, and the people who had become her family.

The training ahead of the game was tough and tiring but all while sticking their heads down and focusing, they still knew how to have fun and enjoy this tournament as best they could. The girls made Tiktoks and other content for social media to show the fans everything that went on behind the games and get them hyped up for the opening match.

The morning of the Ireland game Astrid became very quiet, unusually silent and disengaged from the group. The night before she had woken up many times from nightmares that vocalised all her deep down fears about the upcoming games; That she wasn’t worthy enough for the team, she couldn’t score a single goal and the team hated her for it, that she really was just a young naive girl who didn’t have the skills to solidify her place on the squad. The worst one being her parents looking down on her in disappointment for mess ups and missed shots in every game.

Astrid was thankful that for the tournament they got their own rooms, meaning she didn’t wake someone else up everytime she shot up in bed, gasping for air between her sobs. She wouldn’t dare tell anyone what happened and explain why she was so quiet any more than saying she was focused on the match that night. A lot of those who asked simply dropped their questions after that, but Charli and Kyra were still hung up on her behaviour even hours after greeting her that morning.

They eventually arrived at the stadium and the team's energy shifted. Everyone was switched onto the game and the tournament ahead of them. Astrid was feeling very nervous and uneasy heading into the game, but still tried her best to push past those feelings and get into the zone.

She hadn’t been chosen for the starting eleven but was promised minutes in the second half by Tony which was all she could ask for as a young and less experienced player on the squad. Astrid noted the energy in the stadium as she walked out with the other subs, it was the most amount of support she had felt yet and the game hadn’t even started.

It was a very tough first half, both teams fighting hard and slightly dirty but it proved how much the game meant to every single person out on the pitch. A 0-0 scoreline at half time only pushed the girls to work even harder and stronger in the second half and get some points for a lead in the group stages.

Tony had listed when the subs were going to be made for the second half and Astrid was marked for the 75 minute mark to bring out fresh legs and her super-sub reputation once again.

The roar from the crowd when Steph made that penalty shot as captain on home soil was something Astrid had never heard before. The girls on the side jumped up and down in joy as they watched the girls on the pitch celebrate Steph with the crowd.

Astrid had a fire burning in her belly to push further ahead and safely secure the win in the group stage as she stood on the sidelines, waiting for Cortnee to swap out with her. She ran on and high-fived the girls as she passed them, taking her spot on the left corner as Mary shifted into the middle.

Astrid hadn’t had the chance to get much of a touch onto the ball for the first 10 minutes, but it eventually made its way to the left side of the pitch and onto the feet of Steph. Astrid didn’t have a plan of how she wanted to score but she subconsciously made her way to where she knew she could catch it, somewhere her and Steph had made a connection many times in training this week.

Her mind went quiet as she saw the ball rolling over to her feet, taking off running with it and trusting her team to keep the opposition away from her as she attempted a risky shot. Although Astrid was known for tapping it in from close distance, there was the odd time she had been able to make it from further out. This was one of those times.

Her left foot planted itself in the ground, angling towards the goal as her right foot swung hard and booted the ball up into the air. The crowd went silent as they watched it spin in the air, everyone including Astrid hoping she had planned it well enough to catch the inside corner of the net and not pass over it.

It felt like slow motion for Astrid as she watched it pass by Brosnan’s outstretched fingertips and landing in the white net behind her. The Australian crowd erupted once again with cheers and screams as Astrid began running down the length of the pitch towards Steph. Her smile was wide and her arms reached up to the sky, hands forming a heart shape as she looked up towards the sky.

She looked back down and saw Steph waiting for her with open arms, Astrid jumping into them and holding onto Steph tight. The rest of the girls had followed behind, cheering for their shooting star before dogpiling her and Steph. She was encased with love and pride by her family as their supporters celebrated in the stands with them.

They released and placed plenty of head pats onto Astrid, Steph placing a kiss to her hair before leaving her with just Kyra lingering to walk back to their places together.

“That was fucking insane.” Kyra whispered into her ear, pulling the forward closer as they walked. “I love you.” Astrid whipped her head up with speed, staring at Kyra before she jogged off to her place in the midfield leaving Astrid to quickly run back to her place with a slightly dropped jaw.

The rest of the game played out resulting in a 2-0 win to the Matildas thanks to Steph and Astrid, the crowd once again cheering when the whistle blew and the rest of the squad making their way out to the field, congratulating the Irish team before celebrating with their own.

“I’m so proud of you!” Astrid felt a body jump onto her back, wrapping her legs around her waist out of instinct before turning her head to see Charli’s smiley face like suspected.

“Thanks, Cha Cha.” Astrid smiled awkwardly up at her before she began walking to find Courtney and Kyra on the other side of the pitch, Charli still high up on her back.

“There she is, star of the show.” Courtney began clapping as Astrid and Charli began falling into view of herself and Kyra. Charli jumped down and they all embraced in a group hug.

“Hey Stargirl.” Astrid lifted her head from the closed circle of giggles and turned to find Caitlin walking over to her with someone in a green jersey. “This is Katie.”

“Holy shit.” Astrid cursed softly as she realised Katie McCabe, one of her idols, was standing one metre in front of her. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” She held her hand out awkwardly for a handshake but Katie surprised her by bringing Astrid in for a hug instead. Safe to say she was kind of freaking out but trying to keep her cool.

“That goal was impressive, nice to see you’ve got a long range shot in ya too.” Katie remarked as they stepped away from each other. Astrid smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

“Thanks, means a lot.” Astrid spoke again towards Katie, but she could feel her friends behind her snickering with Caitlin not so silently.

“Of course. I hear you’re a big Arsenal fan.” Katie comments and Astrid nods her head silently. “Well, let’s just say I hope to play with you and not against you one day.” Katie smiles before saying goodbye to the group and walking off.

“Okay fangirl.” Charli teases after making sure Katie was far enough away.

“Shut the fuck up.” Astrid rolls her eyes and begins to walk to where the team and staff had begun gathering for post match talks.

“Watch your mouth young lady.” Caitlin calls out from behind her with the other girls. Astrid contemplates flipping them the bird but too many cameras and eyes looking at her so she reminds herself to do it later.

to be continued...

#auswnt #matildas #kyra cooney cross #charli grant #steph catley #matildas x reader #alanna kennedy #mackenzie arnold #caitlin foord #sam kerr #original character #woso #woso imagine

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safecrackers1 · 9 months ago

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v5b5 · 1 year ago

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I had a request of Carlitos after AO, just felling exhausted and confessing his fellings because he just wants you to be with him. BUT I ELIMINATED ACCIDENTALLY, IM REALLY SORRY. 😭😭

Btw, I'm still taking requests, so you're free and welcome to ask whatever you want.

Warnings: bad mental health/extremely exhausted Carlos.

~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•°•~•°•~~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•°•~•°•~

You had known Carlos since you both were 18, and always had an especial connection, but you never saw it like anything romantic. For the last 2 years of friendship, you tried to accompany him to some tournaments, so you were now in Melbourne, Australia. Watching his matches and eating sushi the night before. Even though you have been friends for years, a few months ago, you started to realize that this was probably love, because no one travels around the whole world just to support a friend every time they ask for, no?.

But you ignored the fact that his eyes were always on you, and every little thing you do. But now you guys were so distracted to think about stupid theories like those. The night before his match with Zverev, he invited you to eat sushi as usual, but when you arrived at his hotel room you noticed, it was just him.

"It's just you and me?". You ask certainly confused. You entered his room and sat at the edge of his bed. He wasn't a very messy person, but he had a bit of clothes around the room, his suitcase on the floor full of things and the door of the bathroom open, from where you could feel the humidity of a recently used shower, and you could also tell from his semi-wet hair.

"Yes, you wanted to invite someone else?". He asks a bit concerned, you know him very well, he's much of a people pleaser, so you have to reassure him. "No... It's good to be just us". You say with a sweet smile and looking around. "The sushi is almost here". He says looking down at you. "It's ok, I'm not that hungry". You answer sweetly not to worry him. "What about we watch a movie while eating?". You propose with a smile. "Sounds good". He answered with his big representative smile.

Then you took the TV remote and started sapping, and you decided to watch a rom-com. During the dinner, you started to feel very cold, cause Carlos loved to have the A.C at its lowest temperature, and you loved it too, but the humidity from the bathroom didn't help with the cold. Carlos noticed that and hugged you from your shoulders. "Are you cold?". He asked in a whisper near your lobe, you could feel his warmth, it made you feel safe and cozy. "Yes, a little." You answer blushing a little. Then Carlos got up from bed and opened his suitcase and took out one of his Nike favorite hoodies, a very classic but pretty white hoodie with a little logo of a colorful tennis court. "Here, have it". He Said sweetly and extended it to you. You took it and put it on, it was cozy, you could smell his scent. "thanks", you limit yourself to say. The night was amazing, so wonderful that Carlos stayed awake thinking about the situation he was in with his relationship with you, a difficult one... A platonic romantic friendship.

The next day, he was extremely tired, he even fell asleep while eating breakfast. So by the time of the match, he was exhausted physically. He lost the match, for way too much difference. He felt stupid, not enough. He had already tried to improve those aspects of self-sabotage with his psychologist, but today was not his day to think about that. He was destroyed, he felt like nothing.

So when he got to his room, he limited himself to throw his bags to the floor and do the same with his "useless" body. But suddenly he heard a knock, a special one, one that only y/n used with her loved ones. It was something little but he was a person of details, and he liked to remember that kind of things. He wasn't good with birthdays, words or dancing, nor even signing, but learning little details of his loved ones was definitely his thing, it was his way to show love and this was her little detail to remember. He got up from the cold floor and walked a few steps towards the door, his eyes were red from some sobbing on the way to his room, but he felt strong enough to face y/n. He opened the door and just threw himself into her arms, and started sobbing. "I'm sorry". She said sweetly while caressing his nape. "you made everything you could". "No, I didn't made enough". He said to her and also for himself to hear. "of course you did, sometimes it is good to know our limits, maybe your body was just... Exhausted". She says trying her best to comfort him. He picked her up, and carried her to his bed. He jumped to bed with her in his arms. He just wanted to cuddle. "I think I need you... I can't hide it anymore". He says in a sweet voice. "I know you feel it too, I can see it in your eyes". He says looking Deeply into her eyes. "I know you think we guys never notice, but I do". He says before caressing her hand. "Be my girlf..." He couldn't even finish the sentence because you were already kissing him in a sweet subtly way.

~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•°•~•°•~

I'm finally done, I was so tired with uni that I didn't have time to write. But I'm here... Hope you like it. I made a big effort to write this and not to fall asleep while doing it. IM SO TIRED.

BTW

PLEASE LEAVE MORE REQUESTS

#carlos alcaraz #tennisblr #tennis #carlitos alcaraz #carlos alcaraz fanfiction #carlos alcaraz imagines #carlos alcaraz x reader #its 2 am #i don't know what im doing #reblog #carlos alcaraz imagine #im sleepy #love you guys

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locksmithson · 2 years ago

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themultifandomgal · 7 months ago

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From 2010- The Second Half Of Tour

2013

Part 34

Trigger warning- talks about vomiting and feeling sick. I will put a 🚨 when it starts and a ✔️when it’s over and safe to read again.

23rd September- Adelaide

“Thank you to every single one of you. We have been so excited to come back here to Australia” Louis attempts to say Australia in an Australian accent, but it truly doesn’t go well

“Take me home tour is back and it’s kicked off in Adelaide” Niall says

“YN how do you feel about being back here” Harry says in an Aussie accent which doesn’t sound to bad

“I’m just glad Louis isn’t doing an accent anymore” I laugh

“Oi!” Louis nudges me

“Are you having a good day?” Harry asks the audience who of course all scream

“YN you arrive here in Australia before us, any reason why?” Louis asks wiggling his eyebrows “is there a certain Aussie you’ve been linked with?”

“Shut up” I roll my eyes laughing “the next song we’re going to sing for you is What Make You Beautifu”. The music starts playing and Liam starts singing

“You're insecure, don't know what for. You're turning heads when you walk through the door. Don't need makeup to cover up. Being the way that you are is enough” during this Niall and Harry are dancing about and showing off their stomachs to one another which just makes me laugh so much I miss my cue so I end up having to point my mic to the audience so they can sing my part for me.

2nd October- Melbourne

Tonight Liam and his parents, Craig and Leonie, have come to see me perform making me feel super nervous for this show. I look up from my phone to see Harry who’s staring at me

“You ok H?”

“Huh? What? Yeah m’fine”

“You sure because you’ve been staring at me for the last 5 minute”

“Just thinking”

“About?” I press on generally curious to know what going on in the head of the curly brown haired boy

“How Kendal and I will ‘split up April next year then I’ll be on to the next publicity stunt”

“This is ridiculous H. You shouldn’t have to jump from one woman to another”

“I’m the heartthrob of the group, the womaniser. I have to”

“No you don’t” there’s a knock on the door and in walks Liam

“Everything ok in here”

“Yeah”

“No” Harry and I say at the same time “actually Liam can you come back in a bit? Harry and I were just talking about something”

“No it’s ok I think our conversation was over anyway” Harry gets up and leaves brushing past Liam

“Harry wait”

“Woah woah ok whats going on with you and Harry?”

“What? Nothing we were just talking about something”

“Do you have feelings for him?” Liam suddenly asks

“What? No” yes, I think I do, but I can’t do anything about them

“I trust you you” Liam says pulling me into him and hugging me “i just wanted to wish you luck”

“Thank you” I reply, but my mind isn’t on Liam, it’s on Harry.

🚨16th October- Melbourne

I scrunch my nose up trying not to gag at Harry vomiting into a bucket

“That’s it let it out” Niall says patting Harry’s back

“You can’t go on stage tonight” I say disgusted laced in my voice

“No I’m fine” Harry groans

“I don’t get it you only had a headache earlier” Zayn says handing Harry a bottle of water

“H your ill you need to rest” I try to argue

“No I need to join you on stage” Harry hands the bucket over to Paul who takes it from him also looking like he’s about to vomit. Harry opens up the bottle of water and takes a sip “I’ll be fine”

“Just don’t throw up on stage” Zayn says giving Harry a look

“I won’t” Harry replies but I’m not convinced that he’s not going to throw up again, especially since it’s always really warm on stage because of the lights and also running around.

3 times Harry had to go off stage to throw up! 3 times! And each time I asked him to just go and rest in his changing room and his response was “im fine” he isn’t fine he’s ill. I just hope whatever he has isn’t contagious.

✔️ 23rd October- Sydney

“YN?” Harry says walking into my dressing room with a cheek grin on his face

“What do you want?” I reply squinting my eyes at him

“My hairs getting long”

“Ok and?”

“Can I borrow your head band tonight?”

“Why don’t I just cut it for you?” I ask smirking

“Hell no!” he shouts making me pout “please can I just borrow your headband?”

“Fine” I roll my eyes and throw my purple head band at him “it’s probably got foundation on though”

“Thank you your the best”

“I know” I give his a smile and shrug before he leaves my room and heads back to his. I turn to look at Charlotte who’s smiling at me

“What?” I ask now frowning at her

“Oh nothing”

3rd November- Chiba

“Hello!” Harry says into his mic just after we finish up our second song of the night. I grab my water bottle and take a sip “tonight is our final night of the Take Me Home Tour” we all pull sad faces. It truly is sad at how quickly this tour has gone, but at the same time I’m ready for a break… we’ll as much of a break as we get since we will be releasing our next album in 22 days! Then it will back to your again next April

“But we want to make it special and have some fun” Niall says “for the last time on this tour Liam Payne!”

“Hello everyone. Thank you so much for coming to see us. Right this is More Than This” I start of the song

“I’m broken, do you hear me? I’m blinded ‘cause you are everything I see. I’m dancing alone. I’m praying that your heart will just turn around” this song will always be different for me to sing and I’m thankful that I have my boys for support.

And just like that tour is over. Liam phones me just as we come off stage

“Hey, can I call you back in a bit?” I ask wiping them tears from my face while walking next to Niall towards our dressing rooms

“I just wanted to know how it went tonight” Liam says sounding almost irritated

“Erm yeah it was good, just a bit emotional that it’s over”

“Well at least we can spend more time together now”

“Yeah. My flight back to England is tomorrow”

“Will you be going back with Harry and Louis?”

“Well yeah I live with them” I frown feeling confused. Why wouldn’t I go back with them?

“About that…”

“Liam I’ve got to go, I need to get changed and I want to chat with the boys for a bit. I’ll speak to you later” but that night I don’t. Instead I get back to my hotel room and just crash because I’m so exhausted, physically and emotionally.

*Photo edit by harianastyless over on Instagram. All credits go to them

#6th one direction member #one direction x reader #sixth one direction member #one direction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #harry styles x oc #harry styles fanfic rec #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles

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covid-safer-hotties · 5 months ago

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These Are the Drag Artists and Organizers Fighting to Make Queer Spaces More COVID Safe - Published Aug 21, 2024

This article was produced in partnership with The Sick Times.

After becoming disabled by a COVID-19 infection they caught on tour in 2022, Themme Fatale went from being a high-flying trapeze artist to being homebound. Before developing Long COVID, much of the popular circus performer’s career had involved risk — setting themself on fire, flipping through the air, lying on beds of nails — but the danger of these stunts began to shrink in their mind compared to the risk of the airborne virus.

From home in Melbourne, Australia, Fatale began to closely follow Long COVID research, connecting the concerning findings about the disease, which affects every organ system, to their numerous symptoms. What they didn’t understand was why their local queer community — and society at large — continued to put themselves at risk of COVID-19, especially because Long COVID is more prevalent in queer and trans people.

It led Fatale to take action. In February 2024, Fatale launched Clean Air Narm, one of over 30 volunteer-led initiatives around the world modeled after Chicago’s Clean Air Club. These organizations lend out high-quality air purifiers to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by reducing virus in the air at indoor venues.

“I started [Clean Air Narm] because I don't want to see all my friends disabled in the same way that I have been,” they say. “If you lead with a solution, people are sometimes more open to hearing about what the problem is in the first place.”

Guided by a strong commitment to community care, a diverse group of queer performers, drag kings, and other event organizers are filling the gaps of global government failure during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Through clean air organizations, mask requirements at shows, and other COVID-19 mitigation efforts, they are making public spaces more accessible and safer for everyone, all while selling out shows.

Here’s how many clean air clubs work: Organizers fundraise in their communities for a fleet of air purifiers and/or far-UVC devices, lamps that emit a type of ultraviolet light that can reduce indoor airborne microbes by 98%. Because these technologies are expensive — lights and purifiers can each cost thousands of dollars —, clean air organizers offer them to event organizers in their community through a “lending library.”

Volunteers of the clean air initiatives then distribute the purifiers to event organizers who install them at venues, often coupled with other COVID-19 mitigation tools like masks and rapid tests. Mutual-aid groups called mask blocs, which distribute respirators and other items to their communities for free, sometimes help with events, too.

While these precautions make events safer, they don’t fully eliminate the risk of spreading or catching COVID-19 at an event. Clean air initiatives are often careful to advertise events as “COVID-safer,” not “COVID-safe.” Some advocates have also criticized these clean air clubs for prioritizing entertainment events, arguing that resources like air purifiers and high-quality masks should be used for the most vulnerable communities that can’t afford masks, including hospitals, prisons, or public schools.

Still, with COVID-19 at very high levels multiple times a year and many people still going out to concerts and shows, these multiple layers of precaution do reduce spread of the disease in important venues. The fight for cleaner air in public places is broad: Public health experts and others have also proposed clean air mandates in public buildings, including Harvard University’s Healthy Buildings Program, Long COVID Kids, and Congressman Don Beyer’s Airborne Act 2024.

After founding Clean Air Club in 2023, Chicago resident Emily Dupree was met with an overwhelming demand for her club’s HEPA air purifiers. The success led her to write a guide to creating a clean-air organization. More than 30 autonomous initiatives around the world have been implemented and improved on the guide — and they’re popping up quickly.

“What we all have in common is a deep commitment to free access to life-saving technology in the midst of an ongoing pandemic,” says Dupree.

While Clean Air Club purifiers are for any organizers who request them, Dupree has noticed the resource has been more popular with members of the queer community.

“It is not surprising to me that so many of us creating these clean air clubs and putting in so much work for our community are queer,” Dupree says. “This idea of care as a radical and very powerful foundational value for mutual aid organizations is closely aligned with queer politics.”

The queer community is no stranger to mutual aid. During the peak of the AIDS crisis in the ’80s and ’90s, lesbians and other queer people started food banks, devoted their time to caretaking, donated as “blood sisters”, treated people with the disease, and provided other life-saving volunteer services while mainstream society stigmatized and abandoned people with AIDS.

Today, clean air organizations, mask blocs, and other COVID-19 mutual aid groups exist as a temporary solution for the widespread institutional failures of local, city, state, and federal governments that have an obligation to safeguard public health from COVID-19 and have instead completely failed to live up to that obligation, as Dupree says. “[These initiatives] give us a glimpse of what life could be like if only these principles were adopted at a larger scale.”

Dupree would like to see institutions that have the power to make large-scale, permanent changes in the interest of public health — including schools, public transportation departments, and prisons — improve their indoor air quality through the use of air purification and far-UVC technology. She’d also like to see mask requirements reimplemented in high-risk environments like hospitals, where many people have died after being exposed to COVID-19 while seeking life-saving care.

It's pretty straightforward, Dupree says. “What we need from the government is what they did at the turn of the century to eradicate cholera from our public water. We need them to clean our indoor air.”

In the absence of these measures and few to no mitigation efforts today, the public is at continued risk of COVID-19 infections and Long COVID, which affects more than 23 million Americans of all age groups. More than 400 million have the disease around the globe, according to a recent review in Nature Medicine. The ever-present threat of the virus also makes it unsafe for disabled and other high-risk people to participate in everyday life, seek safe medical care, and do essential errands.

While many mutual aid groups are run by queer people, numerous LGBTQ+ organizations and advocacy groups are failing to make their spaces and events safe and accessible. Education about the risk of Long COVID in the community is sorely lacking.

But there are exceptions: In Los Angeles, two drag king-led shows, Disabled Cable and Them Fatale (not associated with Themme Fatale) have made their shows more COVID-safe thanks to the help of testing, mask requirements, and their local clean air organization, Airgasmic.

Founded in 2024 by popular drag king Dick Swagger, Airgasmic runs a lending library of crowd-sourced purifiers specifically for drag shows and other queer events. And while the volunteer service has been successful, it has also exposed how difficult it can be to get venues and some patrons on board with COVID-19 mitigation methods, particularly masking.

“A lot of people aren't keeping up with the science,” Swagger says, explaining that he spends most of his free time volunteering for Airgasmic and educating his community online about COVID-19 and Long COVID. “More people tend to listen to me when I’m in drag.”

Swagger stopped performing live in 2022 after seeing the toll Long COVID has taken on the drag and queer community in Los Angeles. He knows 14 people in his local drag and queer communities with Long COVID, he says, adding that “it is like watching a slow-motion car crash” as more continue to get infected with COVID-19.

“I had to stop performing. I became increasingly frustrated,” he says. “I was trying to protect [my local drag community] and protect myself because I can't afford to become disabled.”

Leona Love, a drag king and queen who co-created Disabled Cable, says one of the most difficult aspects in organizing their show was finding a venue that would help enforce a mask requirement, a challenge other performers and organizers who spoke with Them and The Sick Times also faced.

As an ambulatory wheelchair user, Love says that a lack of accessible venues has kept them from performing at venues in Los Angeles in the past. The underlying ableism in the drag and queer community led them to co-found the show, which highlights disabled performers.

“The way I like to tell it honestly is that it is a project that was born out of rage and channeled into love,” they say.

But after finding a venue called Cantiq in Echo Park that fully supported their mitigation efforts, Love’s first show drew such a large crowd that they had to set a capacity limit for their sophomore performance so it would be less cramped and therefore safer. Now, the event regularly sells out.

“Getting to see the response to our show has been so affirming that our community still does care about COVID-19,” Love says. “We want to keep each other safe. Sometimes it’s about providing the right spaces and the right information to inform people how they can do that.”

“I do wish, however, that there were spaces outside of what we are building that were taking us into consideration as much as we are taking everyone in the community into consideration.”

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theshowliveontour · 8 months ago

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Niall Horan‘s inaugural Melbourne show on The Show tour at Rod Laver Arena marked a monumental milestone in his solo career journey. Having risen from his One Direction roots, Niall has solidified himself as a formidable solo artist with three studio albums to his name, amassing a dedicated and loyal fanbase.

This concert, selling out two nights at Melbourne’s iconic venue, Rod Laver Arena, was not just a musical event but a testament to Niall’s connection with Melbourne, a city he considers a second home. The diverse demographic, comprising seasoned Directioners and newer enthusiasts who may not have witnessed the band’s glory days, contributed to an atmosphere charged with excitement and anticipation. As someone who still has a strong case of One Direction Infection, missing this show was out of the question.

British singer-songwriter Birdy opened the night, creating an incredible pairing with her timeless talent. I’ve been a fan of Birdy since her 2011 cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” went viral when she was just fourteen years old. Her elegant stage presence and brief yet sweet set, although mostly covers including her breakout hit “Skinny Love,” were still a beautiful addition to the evening.

The pre-concert setlist set the perfect vibe, getting the crowd hyped for the main event. The energy was infectious, with everyone radiating joy and happiness. The stage design, featuring old-fashioned curtains and retro graphics in line with his album The Show, added a nostalgic touch to the experience. Niall’s entrance with the hit single “Nice To Meet Ya” was very fitting, and had the crowd moving and grooving.

Seeing Niall take the stage at a venue where I once stood front row during One Direction’s prime was incredibly special. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude for his Melbourne fans, emphasising the city’s significance to him. Having briefly lived in Melbourne post-One Direction’s breakup in 2015, and frequently visiting for extended periods due to family ties, he shared a candid moment saying, “I’ve seen many an Aus Open Grand Final in this very arena – just over there.” He admitted to feeling nervous before the show, attributing it to a sense of homecoming. Reflecting on his boyband days, he briefly mentioned, “Ah, the memories we’ve had in this city, the shows we played, the stadiums we filled…” That moment struck an emotional chord with me, to say the least!

Niall’s band were stellar, and brought a unique folky rock element to the night, especially shining during the acoustic set with “Put A Little Love On Me” and “This Town.”

“You Could Start A Cult” saw Niall take to the stage alone with his guitar- a truly raw and lovely moment. Noticing that a fan needed medical attention, he stopped the show and ensured they got help. When it was safe to do so, he restarted the song and the magic was still there- a testament to the incredible performer he is.

It is well-known that each former One Direction member usually sings one or two One Direction tracks. With the hit single “Night Changes” on his setlist for this tour, fans were shocked and over the moon when the familiar sound of the deep cut “Stockholm Syndrome” started instead. For a moment, I forgot what year it was and fully embraced my sixteen year-old self. He absolutely did the track justice, and Melbourne was treated to a really beautiful moment!

He also treated the Melbourne audience to “Paper Houses” a fan-favourite from his debut solo album, and the first time playing it live in Australia on this tour.

After engaging with fans, reading signs, and even accepting gifts, Niall returned for an electrifying encore. “Save My Life” and the hit single “Slow Hands” wrapped up the night on a high note, leaving everyone buzzing with excitement and euphoria.

The Show was a perfect blend of nostalgia, musical brilliance, and Niall’s genuine appreciation for his fans. His vocals were outstanding, stage presence was infectious and his band was next-level. Whether you’re a longtime Directioner or a new fan of Horan’s solo hits, there’s a little something for everyone at The Show.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Niall’s latest album, The Show, is out now through Capitol Records.

#niall horan #the show live on tour #tslot:melbourne1 #review

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